Leningrad siege survivor supplies needy amid pandemic

By IRINA TITOVA

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In this photo taken on Thursday, April 30, 2020, Galina Yakovleva holds an origami swan made by her, near her van in St.Petersburg, Russia. Every day amid the coronavirus pandemic, 80-year-old Leningrad siege survivor Galina Yakovleva has driven to the city in her white minivan to bring charity groceries and goods to elderly people and families with children in need. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)


ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — As a child during the World War II siege of Leningrad, Galina Yakovleva learned how to make the best of fearful times. Today she’s using those lessons as she brings food and supplies to needy people locked down in the coronavirus pandemic.

The 80-year-old drives a white minivan every day through the city, now named St. Petersburg, on a one-woman charitable mission for the elderly and needy families with children. She’s been doing this for a decade and hasn’t let the virus deter her.

“I’m not afraid of it; I drive my van alone,” she said. “My soul does not let me leave all my people in need without attention.”

“I have arrangements with certain food stores and grocery depots on certain dates of the month. So if I don’t pick up what I am to get, that food will get spoiled and people who need it won’t get it.”

Wasting food is abhorrent to someone who went through the privations of the 1941-44 siege, when the city came under bombardment from Nazi forces, supply lines were cut off and some 800,000 civilians died.

“We never threw away anything. … How can you throw away bread?” she said.

Her kindergarten she attended was bombarded, forcing her and some other children to hide in a cast iron pipe. The shock was so great that she didn’t speak for year afterward, she says.

In adulthood, Yakovleva held several jobs in which she learned skills that she now uses to collect and distribute aid: She variously drove a tractor, an ambulance and a trolley bus.

Yakovleva organized her Dobrota (Kindness) Foundation about 10 years ago to help socially disadvantaged people. She built connections with the city food stores, bakeries, farms and even theaters.


The operation is a lifeline for more than 500 people.

Her activities haven’t changed much during the pandemic, except for some adjustments in picking up and delivering the goods. Men now load her van without direct contact with her and she sometimes leaves her deliveries at a doorstep.

But many of her care recipients still open the door for her and want to communicate.

“I don’t know how I’d live here indoors for a month if not for Galina. She brings me milk, bread, everything so I won’t die from hunger”, said Lyubov Travkina, 83. “I’m amazed. This person lives only for others, not for herself.”

“We should always think of helping others, at least a bit. Not just lie on the sofa,” Yakovleva said.



While nonstop global news about the effects of the coronavirus have become commonplace, so, too, are the stories about the kindness of strangers and individuals who have sacrificed for others. “One Good Thing” is an AP continuing series reflecting these acts of kindness.

AP

SHOSTAKOVICH SYMPHONY #7 LENINGRAD 

Jobless rate spikes to 14.7%, highest since Great Depression

SOMETHING ELSE FOR TRUMP TO BRAG ABOUT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. unemployment rate hit 14.7% in April, the highest rate since the Great Depression, as 20.5 million jobs vanished in the worst monthly loss on record. The figures are stark evidence of the damage the coronavirus has done to a now-shattered economy.

The losses, reported by the Labor Department Friday, reflect what has become a severe recession caused by sudden business shutdowns in nearly every industry. Nearly all the job growth achieved during the 11-year recovery from the Great Recession has now been lost in one month.

The report indicated that the vast majority of April’s job losses — roughly 90% — are considered temporary, a result of businesses that were forced to suddenly close but hope to reopen and recall their laid-off workers. Whether most of those workers can return to their jobs anytime soon, though, will be determined by how well policymakers, businesses and the public manage their response to the public health crisis.

The collapse of the job market has occurred with stunning speed. As recently as February, the unemployment rate was a five-decade low of 3.5%, and employers had added jobs for a record 113 months. In March, the unemployment rate was just 4.4%


The jump in the unemployment rate didn’t capture the full devastation wrought by the business shutdowns. The Labor Department said its survey-takers erroneously classified millions of Americans as employed in April even though their employers have closed down. These people should have been classified as on temporary layoff and therefore unemployed. If they had been counted correctly, the unemployment rate would have been nearly 20%, the government said.

President Donald Trump, who faces the prospect of high unemployment rates through the November elections, said the figures were “no surprise.”

“What I can do is I’ll bring it back,” Trump said. “Those jobs will all be back, and they’ll be back very soon. And next year we’ll have a phenomenal year.”

But economists increasingly worry that it will take years to recover all the jobs lost. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office expects the jobless rate to be 9.5% by the end of 2021.


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FILE - In this May 7, 2020 file photo, a pedestrian walks by The Framing Gallery, closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in Grosse Pointe, Mich. The U.S. unemployment rate hit 14.7% in April, the highest rate since the Great Depression, as 20.5 million jobs vanished in the worst monthly loss on record. The figures are stark evidence of the damage the coronavirus has done to a now-shattered economy.. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

The government’s report noted that many people who lost jobs in April but didn’t look for another one weren’t even counted in the unemployment rate. Their exit helped drive down the proportion of working-age Americans who were employed in April: It’s now just 51.3%, the lowest proportion on record.

In addition to the millions of newly unemployed, 5.1 million others had their hours reduced in April. That trend, too, means less income and less spending, perpetuating the economic downturn. A measure of what’s called underemployment — which counts the unemployed plus full-time workers who were reduced to part-time work — reached 22.8%, a record high.

Though some businesses are beginning to reopen in certain states, factories, hotels, restaurants, resorts, sporting venues, movie theaters and many small businesses are still largely shuttered. As companies have laid off tens of millions, lives have been upended across the country.

One of the newly unemployed, Sara Barnard, 24, of St. Louis, has lost three jobs: A floor manager at a pub and restaurant, a bartender at a small downtown tavern and the occasional stand-up comedian. Her main job was at McGurk’s, an Irish pub and restaurant near downtown that closed days before St. Patrick’s Day. She had worked there continually since high school.


McGurk’s tried selling food curbside, Barnard said, but it was costing more to keep the place open than the money that was coming in. Around that time, the bar where she worked closed, and comedy jobs ended when social distancing requirements forced clubs to close.

McGurk’s is a St. Louis landmark, and Barnard expects it to rebound quickly once it reopens. She just doesn’t know when.

Job losses and pay cuts are ranging across the world. Unemployment in the 19-country eurozone is expected to surpass 10% in coming months as more people are laid off. That figure is expected to remain lower than the U.S. unemployment rate. But it doesn’t count many people who either are furloughed or whose hours are cut but who receive most of their wages from government assistance.

In France, about half the private-sector workforce is on a government paid-leave program whereby they receive up to 84% of their net salary. In Germany, 3 million workers are supported in a similar system, with the government paying up to 60% of their net pay.

In the five weeks covered by the U.S. jobs report for April, 26.5 million people applied for unemployment benefits.

The job loss reported Friday was a smaller figure because the two are measured differently: The government calculates job losses by surveying businesses and households. It’s a net figure that also counts the hiring that some companies, like Amazon and many grocery stores, have done. By contrast, total jobless claims are a measure of just the layoff side of the equation.


For the United States, a key question is where the job market goes from here. Applications for unemployment aid, while high, have declined for five straight weeks, a sign that the worst of the layoffs has passed. Still, few economists expect a rapid turnaround.

A paper by economists at the San Francisco Federal Reserve estimates that under an optimistic scenario that assumes shutdowns are lifted quickly, the unemployment rate could fall back to about 4% by mid-2021.

But if shutdowns recur and hiring revives more slowly, the jobless rate could remain in double-digits until the end of 2021, the San Francisco Fed economists predict.

Raj Chetty, a Harvard economist, is tracking real-time data on the economy, including consumer spending, small business hiring and job postings. Chetty noted the economy’s health will hinge on when the viral outbreak has subsided enough that most Americans will feel comfortable returning to restaurants, bars, movie theaters and shops.

The data suggests that many small businesses are holding on in hopes that spending and the economy will rebound soon, he said. Small business payrolls have fallen sharply but have leveled off in recent weeks. And job postings haven’t dropped nearly as much as total jobs have. But it’s unclear how much longer those trends will persist.

“There’s only so long you can hold out,” Chetty said.

SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=HOOVER

Bug experts dismiss worry about US ‘murder hornets’ as hype

By SETH BORENSTEINyesterday

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FILE - In this April 23, 2020, photo provided by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, a researcher holds a dead Asian giant hornet in Blaine, Wash. FILE - This Dec. 30, 2019 photo provided by the Washington State Department of Agriculture shows a dead Asian giant hornet in a lab in Olympia, Wash. It is the world's largest hornet, a 2-inch long killer with an appetite for honey bees. Dubbed the "Murder Hornet" by some, the insect has a sting that could be fatal to some humans. (Karla Salp/Washington State Department of Agriculture via AP)Insect experts say people should calm down about the big bug with the nickname “murder hornet” — unless you are a beekeeper or a honeybee.

The Asian giant hornets found in Washington state that grabbed headlines this week aren’t big killers of humans, although it does happen on rare occasions. But the world’s largest hornets do decapitate entire hives of honeybees, and that crucial food pollinator is already in big trouble.

Numerous bug experts told The Associated Press that what they call hornet “hype” reminds them of the 1970s public scare when Africanized honeybees, nicknamed “killer bees,” started moving north from South America. While these more aggressive bees did make it up to Texas and the Southwest, they didn’t live up to the horror-movie moniker. However, they also do kill people in rare situations.

This time it’s hornets with the homicidal nickname, which bug experts want to ditch.

“They are not ‘murder hornets.’ They are just hornets,” said Washington Agriculture Department entomologist Chris Looney, who is working on the state’s search for these large hornets.

The facts are, experts said, two dead hornets were found in Washington last December, a lone Canadian live nest was found and wiped out last September and no live hornets have yet been seen this year.

Looney has a message for Americans: These hornets are not coming to get you. “The number of people who are stung and have to seek medical attention is incredibly small,” he said in an interview.

While its nickname exaggerates the human health threat, experts said this hornet is especially big — two inches long — so it does carry more and stronger toxin.

“It’s a really nasty sting for humans,” said University of Georgia bee expert Keith Delaplane. “It’s like the Africanized bee ... A dozen (stings) you are OK; 100 not so much.”

University of Illinois entomologist May Berenbaum said of the worry: “People are afraid of the wrong thing. The scariest insect out there are mosquitoes. People don’t think twice about them. If anyone’s a murder insect, it would be a mosquito.”

Mosquitoes are responsible for millions of yearly deaths worldwide from malaria, dengue fever and other diseases, according to the World Health Organization. Asian giant hornets at most kill a few dozen people a year and some experts said it’s probably far less.

Hornet, wasp and bee stings kill on average 62 people a year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Japan, Korea and China, “people have co-existed with this hornet for thousands of years,” said Doug Yanega, senior scientist at the University of California Riverside Entomology Research Museum.

Yet bug experts across the country are getting worried calls from people who wrongly think they saw the Asian hornet.

“This is 99% media hype and frankly I’m getting tired of it,” said University of Delaware entomologist Doug Tallamy. “Murder hornet? Please.”

Retired University of Montana bee expert Jerry Bromenshenk said in an email, “One nest, one individual hornet, hopefully, does not make an invasion. ... Do we want this hornet — surely not. But the media hype is turbo charged.”

For bees and the people who rely on them for a living this could be yet another massive problem, but it is not one yet.

The number of U.S. honeybees has been dropping for years, with the winter of 2018-19 one of the worst on record. That’s because of problems such as mites, diseases, pesticides and loss of food.

The new hornets would be different. If they get into a hive, they tear the heads off worker bees and the hive pretty much dies. Asian honeybees have defenses — they start buzzing, raising the temperature and cook the invading hornet to death — but honeybees in America don’t.

The worry for beekeeping in Washington is based on a worst-case scenario that officials have to take seriously, Looney said.

Yet even for bees, the invasive hornets are far down on the list of real threats, not as big a worry as the parasitic “zombie fly” because more of those have been seen in several states, Berenbaum said.

For people, the hornets are scary because the world is already frightened by coronavirus and our innate fight-or-flight mechanisms are activated, putting people on edge, said risk expert David Ropeik, author of “How Risky Is It, Really?”

“This year is unbelievable in a horrible, horrible way. Why shouldn’t there be murder hornets?” Berenbaum said.

17 PHOTOS HERE 

SEE
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=MURDER+HORNETS

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Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter: @borenbears

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Carved stone turtle unearthed from Angkor reservoir site

By SOPHENG CHEANG today

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This May 6, 2020, photo provided by Apsara Authority shows a turtle statue displayed on the ground of Srah Srang site in Siem Reap province northwest Cambodia. Cambodian archaeologists have unearthed a large centuries-old statue of a turtle on Thursday, May 7, 2020, in an excavation at the famous Angkor temple complex in the country's northwest. (Apsara Authority via AP)


PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian archaeologists have unearthed a large centuries-old statue of a turtle at the Angkor temple complex.

The 56-by-93 centimeter (22-by-37 inch) carved stone turtle believed to date from the 10th century was discovered Wednesday during digging at what was the site of a small temple that had been built on Srah Srang, one of Angkor’s several reservoirs.

Researchers pinpointed where the temple had been and workers drained water off to enable the dig, which began March 16, said Mao Sokny, head of the excavation team of the Apsara Authority, a government agency that oversees the Angkor archaeological site.


The bottom half of the turtle remained buried Thursday while preparations were being made to lift it out without damaging it.

Angkor was strongly influenced by Hindu culture, and as a result, when a temple or other important structure was built, sacred objects would often be buried in the ground underneath as a gesture to ensure safety and good fortune. In several Asian cultures, turtles are seen as symbols of longevity and prosperity.

The dig also discovered some other rare artifacts, including two metal tridents and a carved head of a naga, a mythical creature.

The Angkor complex is Cambodia’s biggest tourist attraction, as well as a UNESCO World Heritage site and is included in the Cambodian flag.

Mao Sokny said discoveries of such artifacts help Cambodians take pride in their heritage.

Hundreds evacuated as wildfires rage in Florida Panhandle

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN today

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In this Wednesday evening, May 6, 2020 photo, a Florida forestry tractor trailer is parked in Walton County, Fla., near a hot spot from a wildfire. Authorities say firefighters in the Florida Panhandle battled wildfires through the night that have forced hundreds of people to evacuate from their homes. The more than 575-acre fire in Walton County prompted about 500 people to evacuate. (Devon Ravine/Northwest Florida Daily News via AP)

VIDEO AT THE BOTTOM

MILTON, Fla. (AP) — All day it had been sunny. Then it grew dark as the winds began to whip. Daniel Felder stepped out into the road to watch the acrid smoke billow toward him. Ash started raining from the sky like light snow drifting in twilight.

Then came the crackle of fire, and he knew it was time to run.

“Next thing you know, the fire was right there,” said Felder, 45, recounting the harrowing minutes Wednesday afternoon when a raging fire swept through his bucolic wooded neighborhood in Florida’s Panhandle.

Unable to flee, Felder and his landlord waded into a nearby pond until the fire passed.

The house was spared, but the fire took down a barn and turned the surrounding trees into a charred forest of blackened trunks.

The blaze near Milton, Florida, was one of several fires burning through the Panhandle that scorched thousands of acres of woods, razed dozens of structures, including homes, and forced some 1,600 people to evacuate from their neighborhoods.

The 2,000-acre (809-hectare) fire in Santa Rosa County, located just east of Pensacola, prompted the evacuation of 1,100 homes Wednesday. Officials said a few of those residents, in areas south of Interstate 10, have been allowed to return to their homes, although others have been told to stay away. There have been no reports of injuries or deaths.

Officials said 13 homes were destroyed so far in the fire dubbed the Five Mile Swamp Fire. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, some evacuees were sent to nearby hotels to avoid potential problems with crowding.

Firefighters continued battling the erratic fire deep into the night Thursday. With only 35% of the fire contained, it could be days before it can be brought under control, officials said.

A stretch of Interstate 10, northern Florida’s main transportation artery, remained closed in both directions near Pensacola because of smoke.




Gov. Ron DeSantis met with emergency officials at a church parking lot in Milton for an hour Thursday before returning to the state capital of Tallahassee, located about 180 miles (290 kilometers) east.

The fire was feeding on stands of pines in forests strewn with dry needles.

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said in a news conference Thursday afternoon that fire officials are working around the clock to contain the wildfires.

“The threat is far from over and there is no rain forecasted,” Fried said. She asked residents to stay alert and “be ready for a wildfire impacting their neighborhood.”


Sgt. Rich Aloy, with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, was patrolling Wednesday when he and other deputies rescued an older couple trapped by a burning power line. The possibly live wire blocked the two-lane, tree-lined road as smoke engulfed the area. Aloy said he and his deputies just happened upon the couple as they yelled for help.

“Right time, right place,” Aloy said.


In this Wednesday, May 6, 2020 photo, a helicopters carries water to the Five Mile Swamp Fire in Milton, Fla. Authorities say firefighters in the Florida Panhandle are battling wildfires that have forced some 1,600 people to evacuate from their homes. Smoke from the fires caused officials to close a stretch of Interstate 10 in both directions Thursday. (Gregg Pachkowski /Pensacola News Journal via AP)


The Santa Rosa County fire began Monday when a prescribed burn by a private contractor got out of control, Fried said. The conditions created a perfect storm for fire — low humidity and high winds.

“In Florida, when we’re seeing the gusty winds, it’s hurricane season, not necessarily fire season. So the recipe was just right for this fire to make a huge run,” said Ludie Bond, a spokeswoman for the Florida Forest Service.

On four different occasions, she said, the fire made a run for busy Interstate 10. Each time, it jumped the highway and pushed westward by gusts reaching 40 mph (64 kph).

Firefighters were expecting winds to shift and pick up on Friday, adding to the fire’s erratic behavior.

In a place accustomed to hurricanes, officials said many residents were ready to flee when given the word — although scores of people stayed behind, water hoses in hand, to stand against the fire.

Crews from other areas of Florida, including Jacksonville, are assisting firefighters who’ve been working long hours since Monday.

In neighboring Walton County, a 575-acre (233-hectare) fire in Walton County prompted about 500 people to evacuate. Authorities there said multiple structures were lost in the fire, which was 65% contained Thursday morning. Fried said about 33 structures have been damaged so far.

Felder felt fortunate to escape.

“It came close. Lots of trees burned. The home got singed. The barn behind the house was destroyed,” he said.

At the time, his neighborhood was still under voluntary evacuation.

“I knew there was a fire, but it still looked far away,” he said. “But when it got dark, I didn’t know where the fire was. Suddenly it was there.”

When he knew danger was approaching, he ran back into the house to retrieve his cat, Bowser. He heard his landlord hollering for him to head to the pond. He put his cat, shoes and phone in an aluminum boat, and he and his landlord waded into neck-deep water.

“I was afraid, but the panic set in afterward,” he said. “I had never been through anything like this.”

UPDATE   

More evacuations near Indian factory after fatal gas leak

By OMER FAROOQ today

Smoke rises from LG Polymers plant, the site of a chemical gas leakage, in Vishakhapatnam, India, Thursday, May 7, 2020. Synthetic chemical styrene leaked from the industrial plant in southern India early Thursday, leaving people struggling to breathe and collapsing in the streets as they tried to flee. Administrator Vinay Chand said several people fainted on the road and were rushed to a hospital. (AP Photo)
HYDERABAD, India (AP) — Indian authorities evacuated more people from villages near a South Korean-owned chemical factory where a gas leak killed 12 people and left about 1,000 struggling to breathe.

Authorities said the evacuation was precautionary, but it triggered panic among people overnight that another gas leak was occurring.

“No, there was not another leakage,” National Disaster Response Force spokesman Krishan Kumar said Friday.

Factory owner LG Chem said it asked police to evacuate residents because of concerns that rising temperatures at the plant’s gas tank could possibly cause another leak. The company said it was injecting water into the tank and applying other measures to keep temperatures under control.

A state administrator in the district, Vinay Chand, said authorities flew in chemicals from a neighboring state to neutralize the gas completely before allowing people to return to their homes.


A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) soldier is fitted with gear before he proceeds to the area from where chemical gas leaked in Vishakhapatnam, India, Thursday, May 7, 2020. Chemical gas leaked from an industrial plant in southern India early Thursday, leaving people struggling to breathe and collapsing in the streets as they tried to flee. Administrator Vinay Chand said several people fainted on the road and were rushed to a hospital. (AP Photo)

Expert teams were checking the factory’s vicinity for any aftereffects of the gas leak. Residents of five villages are waiting for a clear signal to return to their homes, Chand said.

The initial evacuations on Thursday affected about 3,000 people.

The death toll rose to 12 on Friday with one person dying in a hospital, P.V. Sudhakar, a doctor, said.

Chand said 316 people were being treated in hospitals and were in stable condition. State police chief Damodar Gautam Sawang said 800 people were released after treatment on Thursday.

The chemical styrene, used to make plastic and rubber, on Thursday leaked from the LG Polymers plant on the outskirts of the eastern coastal city of Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh state while workers were preparing to restart the facility after a coronavirus lockdown was eased.

The leak was suspected to have come from large tanks left unattended over the past six weeks.

“Our initial information is that workers were checking a gas storage tank when it started leaking,” said Industries Minister M. Goutham Reddy.


People pour water on a hatchling affected by a chemical gas leak in Vishakhapatnam, India, Thursday, May 7, 2020. Chemical gas leaked from an industrial plant in southern India early Thursday, leaving people struggling to breathe and collapsing in the streets as they tried to flee. Administrator Vinay Chand said several people fainted on the road and were rushed to a hospital. (AP Photo)

Videos and photos from the area showed dozens of people lying unconscious in the streets, arms open wide with white froth trailing from their mouths. People fled on foot, on motorbikes and in open trucks as police officers, some wearing gas masks, rushed to get people out of their homes.

The scene evoked bitter memories of the Bhopal industrial disaster in 1984 that killed at least 4,000 people and injured another 500,000, many of them with chronic health problems today, according to the government.

The blanket of gas spread about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles), sickening people in at least four villages. The leak was stopped by 8 a.m. Thursday, officials said.

A neurotoxin, styrene gas can immobilize a person within minutes of inhalation and be deadly at high concentrations.

LG Chem Ltd. is South Korea’s largest chemical company and produces a range of industrial products, including petrochemicals, plastic and batteries used in electronic vehicles. It is part of the family-owned LG Corp. conglomerate, which also has an electronics arm that globally sells smartphones, TVs and personal computers.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Friday its ambassador to India had expressed regrets and condolences over the gas leak. A ministry statement said the South Korean government is closely monitoring efforts to handle the aftermath.


Firefighters walk with oxygen cylinders outside LG Polymers plant, the site of a chemical gas leak, in Vishakhapatnam, India, Thursday, May 7, 2020. Synthetic chemical styrene leaked from the industrial plant in southern India early Thursday, leaving people struggling to breathe and collapsing in the streets as they tried to flee. Administrator Vinay Chand said several people fainted on the road and were rushed to a hospital. (AP Photo)

LG Chem began operating the plant in Vishakhapatnam in 1997 and its Indian operation is one of the leading manufacturers of polystyrene and expandable polystyrene in the country. The Vishakhapatnam plant has around 300 workers.

The bowl-shaped coastal city in Andhra Pradesh state is an industrial hub known for frequent gas leak accidents. In December 2019, a leak from a pharmaceutical company killed two people.

“We have not learnt from our past mistakes,” said E.A.S. Sarma, a former senior state official, referring to the 1984 Bhopal gas leak.

Considered the world’s worst industrial accident, the leak of methyl isocyanate at a Union Carbide India pesticide plant prompted successive Indian governments to pledge to improve safety standards. But many similar accidents, although on a smaller scale, continue.


People affected by a chemical gas leak are carried out of a truck to an ambulance in Vishakhapatnam, India, Thursday, May 7, 2020. Chemical gas leaked from an industrial plant in southern India early Thursday, leaving people struggling to breathe and collapsing in the streets as they tried to flee. Administrator Vinay Chand said several people fainted on the road and were rushed to a hospital. (AP Photo)

Toxic gas leak at Indian chemical plant kills at least 11 and hospitalizes hundreds

By Vedika Sud, Akanksha Sharma, Jessie Yeung, Esha Mitra and Emma Reynolds, 

CNN Thu May 7, 2020

(CNN)Bodies lay crumpled on the ground beside toppled motorcycles and cars as suffocating toxic gas rose from a chemical plant in southern India in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Roads near the site of the fatal leak in the state of Andhra Pradesh were filled with hundreds of people fleeing the noxious gas, according to footage from the scene, many carrying the injured and unconscious over their shoulders.
Rescuers from India's National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) wearing hazmat suits and gas masks were also seen running with limp bodies in their arms.


Smoke rises from the chemical plant after the leak.

At least 11 people have been confirmed dead and hundreds more have been hospitalized after the incident at an LG Polymers plant, which lies near a village of at least 3,000 people on the outskirts of the city of Visakhapatnam.

Most of the dead were driving or standing on terraces outside their homes when they lost consciousness and fell where they stood, while others slipped into unconsciousness while they were sleeping, said Mekapati Goutham Reddy, minister for Industries, Commerce, and Information Technology in Andhra Pradesh. Three of those who died were children, he added.

Almost 1,000 people were directly exposed to the gas and about 20-25 people are in critical but stable condition, said Kamal Kishore from the National Disaster Management Authority.


A man runs from the toxic gas leak carrying an unconscious child as 5,000 people were evacuated from the area.


A member of India's National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is fitted with protective gear before he enters the area affected by the leak.
The gas has been identified as Styrene, a flammable liquid that is used to make a variety of industrial products, including polystyrene, fiberglass, rubber, and latex.
"When we arrived on the spot a lot of people were lying on the ground unconscious and we evacuated around 1,000 people and rushed them to the hospital," said Tej Bharath, a senior Vishakhapatnam district official.
Gopalapatnam Police helped hundreds of people to escape the apocalyptic scenes in ambulances, police vehicles, and state-provided buses, while others left on their own, said local police Inspector V Ramanayya.
At least 285 people are now in hospital, said K Kanna Babu, managing director of the state's disaster response force. Individuals were taken to hospitals across the city to be treated for exposure of the gas.

How does India, a country of 1.3 billion people, have around 1,000 coronavirus deaths?
Babu said the district administration received the call by around 3:30 a.m. and his team was notified around 5:30 a.m. and were on-field by 6 a.m. But, he added, "we couldn't immediately enter because the smell of the gas was very pungent so we had to wait for half an hour before we could go in and start evacuating people."
The gas came out the factory's chimney and was carried by the wind, he said.
There are 10,000 people within the affected area of the gas leak; about 5,000 have been evacuated.
Photos tweeted by Satya Pradhan, director general of the NDRF, showed team members in hazmat suits and gas masks helping residents to safety.
Disaster response teams have brought the leakage in the silo to a minimum and it is almost under control, authorities confirmed in a press briefing.
"Overall the situation is under control. Now, the situation is of rehab and treatment," said Pradhan.


People affected by the gas leak are carried out of a truck to an ambulance in Vishakhapatnam.

How it happened
It is not immediately clear what led to the leak. However, the plant, which is owned by the South Korean company LG Chem, was preparing to reopen after coronavirus lockdown restrictions were eased, with the gas leak occurring during the process of re-starting operations, according to Bharath, the Visakhapatnam district official.
Reddy, the Andhra Pradesh minister, said workers at the plant had been conducting regular maintenance and gauging whether it was ready to return to full production. It was during this process that they found the leak coming from a storage tank, where the chemical had turned into a gas.

They immediately worked to neutralize the chemical, and had shut down the plant within an hour, Reddy said.
But Reddy said an alarm should have been raised when the gas leaked and asked why that didn't happen.
An LG Chem communications official told CNN that the plant's alarm only detects if raw Styrene is leaked in liquid form, and "something in there reacted," which meant it "leaked in vapor form."
Asked why it had turned into vapor, the official added: "That is something we need to investigate."
In a statement to CNN, LG Chem said it was taking measures to protect residents affected by the leak.
"(We) are currently assessing local town residents' damage situation and are taking maximum necessary measures for the protection of residents and employees together with related organizations," said the statement.
"The factory's gas leak is currently under control. Leaked gas can cause vomiting and dizziness from inhaling. (We) are seeking all measures so that related treatment can be done quickly."


A crowd gathers outside the plant after the leak.


Dead cows on the ground after the leak at an LG Polymers plant, which had recently reopened after the coronavirus lockdown.
"There is no specific antidote to reverse the effect of Styrene. The treatment does remain mainly supportive. Individuals have to be removed from the exposed area," said Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Local police are investigating the cause of the leak and conducting house to house visits in adjoining areas.
Photos of the aftermath has drawn parallels online with the Bhopal disaster -- a gas leak in the central Indian city of Bhopal in December 1984.
Nearly half a million people were exposed to toxic fumes, nearly 4,000 people died in the immediate aftermath, and around 10,000 subsequent deaths have been blamed on the leak, which is now considered one of the world's worst industrial disasters.
This leak is likely not as lethal as the Bhopal disaster, said Reddy, the state minister.

Government response
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet today that he had spoken with officials regarding Thursday's leak, and was monitoring the situation.
"I pray for everyone's safety and well-being in Visakhapatnam," he tweeted.
The state's chief minister is also set to visit the city hospital where residents are being treated, his office confirmed in a tweet.

"The Chief Minister is closely monitoring the situation and has directed the district officials to take every possible step to save lives and bring the situation under control," said the tweet.
The city's civic authority, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), warned residents to stay indoors during the response effort.

"There is gas leakage identified at LG Polymers in Gopalpatnam. Requesting Citizens around these locations not to come out of houses for the sake of safety precautions," GVMC tweeted. "As precautionary measures, the colonies and villages around the industry may leave to safer locations. Please use wet cloth as mask to cover nose and mouth."
Now as efforts turn from evacuation and rescue to investigation, state officials are beginning to look into the cause of the leak.
"Right now we are not taking any action but certainly the burden of proof lies with them (LG) -- to come forward and say what they have done," said Reddy. "We need to understand to what extent was this negligence or what it was. It will all come subsequently once we start ascertaining the situation on the ground."
He said that compensation of $131,000 per family will be given to those who have lost a loved one. LG will be asked to pay what it can and the state government will cover the rest, he added.
This story has been corrected to reflect that the plant has not yet reopened.

CNN's Swati Gupta contributed to this report.

Battle to prevent fresh gas leak at Indian plant

AFP / -A gas leak at the LG Polymers plant killed 12 people and knocked others unconscious in the street

Engineers battled Friday to prevent more toxic gas escaping at a chemical plant on India's east coast, a day after a pre-dawn leak killed 12 people and knocked locals unconscious in the street.

Although the death toll was lower than feared, the accident which left hundreds hospitalised outside the industrial port city of Visakhapatnam evoked memories of Bhopal where a gas leak killed around 3,500 people in 1984.

Late on Thursday the evacuation zone around the plant owned by South Korea's LG Chem was widened with hundreds more people in 10 localities brought to safety as a precaution, police said.

"The situation is better now but we can't say it is completely normal. The temperature in the tanks has been brought down by 120 degrees but we need to being it down further by 25 degrees," senior police officer Swaroop Rani told AFP.

AFP / Gal ROMAGas leak at Indian chemical plant


"Twelve people have died so far. No one is critical. But we have told those who have recovered that they may go either to their relatives' houses or to shelters that we have set up till the situation is completely normal," she said.

Plant owner LG Chem said Friday there was no fresh leak, but as a precautionary measure nearby people should be moved.

The company "made a request to the police to evacuate residents in case of an emergency if the temperature rises in the tank", it said in a statement issued in Seoul.

"Currently, we are taking necessary measures, such as adding water into the tank" to keep it cool.

AFP / -Rescuers evacuate people following the gas leak in Visakhapatnam. Engineers were working to prevent more gas escaping from the chemical plant

Horrifying footage on Indian television showed men, women and children slumped motionless in the streets after the Thursday morning gas escape.

"There was utter confusion and panic. People were unable to breathe, they were gasping for air. Those who were trying to escape collapsed on the roads -- kids, women and all," local resident Kumar Reddy, 24, told reporters.

B K Naik, district hospitals coordinator, said 1,000 had initially been hospitalised. By Thursday afternoon around 600 remained in treatment, with none in a critical condition.

"This is a calamity," Naik told AFP.

AFP photographs taken at the King George Hospital in the city early Thursday had shown two or three patients on each bed, some of them children, and several unconscious.

- Prayers -

"I pray for everyone's safety and well-being in Visakhapatnam," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter.

The plant, operated by LG Polymers, a subsidiary of LG Chem, is on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam.

AFP / STRAround 1,000 people were taken to hospital after the gas leak

The city and the surrounding area are home to around five million people.

The plant had been left idle because of the coronavirus lockdown, according to Rani, an assistant police commissioner in Visakhapatnam.

"(The gas) was left there because of the lockdown. It led to a chemical reaction and heat was produced inside the tanks, and the gas leaked because of that," Rani told AFP on Thursday.

LG Chem confirmed the plant, which makes polystyrene products, was not operating because of the lockdown, but there were maintenance staff at the facility, a spokesman in Seoul told AFP.

- 'Ticking bombs' -

Authorities advised people to wear wet clothes and masks, avoid eating uncovered food and consume bananas and milk to "neutralise the effect of the gas".

According to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the gas was styrene, which is likely carcinogenic and combined with oxygen in the air forms the more lethal styrene dioxide.

The leak happened because the gas was not stored at the appropriate temperature, causing pressure to build up and breaking the valve, the CSE said.

The tank was also "old and not properly maintained" and there was no monitoring mechanism installed to specifically detect styrene, it said.

The incident "shows us that there are ticking bombs out there as the lockdown ends and industries start resuming activities," it add

SEE  UPDATES

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/05/update-indians-recall-horrifying.html

 https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/05/update-more-evacuations-near-indian.html

FOR THOSE OF YOU WITH A DANCE POLE IN THE REC ROOM

AP PHOTOS: Turkish pole dance teacher moves classes online

By ZEYNEP BILGINSOY

In this Thursday, April 30, 2020 photo, Tuba Parlak, 39, a pole dancing performer and instructor performs at her studio in Istanbul, during an online training session for students watching from home, due to the coronavirus restrictions. To stem the spread of COVID-19, Turkey closed down sports facilities in March but Parlak's students continued their pole lessons, using video conferencing. For students not having a pole at home, Parlak has designed a special programme to make sure they stay strong and fit. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

To stem the spread of COVID-19, Turkey closed down sports facilities in March but Tuba Parlak’s students wanted to continue their lessons.

Using the video conferencing app Zoom, Parlak teaches the vigorous exercise from her studio in Istanbul’s hip Cihangir district. She limits her classes to five students as she did in the studio, and says Zoom has made it easier to critique her students’ moves with all video images lined up on her screen.

Some of Parlak’s students had poles installed at home, with a discount from a local pole manufacturer, and others are continuing with pole dance floor work. The classes, most of them advanced, are only available to students that Parlak already worked with.

Parlak, a former arts and culture journalist, started pole dancing in 2015 and turned her passion to full time profession. She says the pandemic, apart from taking her work online, has not altered her day-to-day because she already led an “isolated” life as an athlete.

Drop-out rates are high in this challenging exercise, Parlak says. Her students are looking forward to returning to the studio but it remains uncertain when Turkey will allow sports facilities to re-open.

In this Thursday, April 30, 2020 photo, Tuba Parlak, 39, a pole dancing performer and instructor performs at her studio in Istanbul, during an online training session for students watching from home, due to the coronavirus restrictions. To stem the spread of COVID-19, Turkey closed down sports facilities in March but Parlak's students continued their pole lessons, using video conferencing. For students not having a pole at home, Parlak has designed a special programme to make sure they stay strong and fit.
In this Thursday, April 30, 2020 photo, Tuba Parlak, 39, a pole dancing performer and instructor warms-up at her studio in Istanbul, as she prepares for an online training session for students at home, due to the coronavirus restrictions.To stem the spread of COVID-19, Turkey closed down sports facilities in March but Parlak's students wanted to continue their pole lessons. Using video conferencing, Parlak teaches the vigorous exercise from her studio in Istanbul's hip Cihangir district. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)


In this Thursday, April 30, 2020 photo, Tuba Parlak, 39, a pole dancing performer and instructor prepares at her studio in Istanbul, for an online training session for students at home, due to the coronavirus restrictions. To stem the spread of COVID-19, Turkey closed down sports facilities in March but Parlak's students wanted to continue their pole lessons. Using video conferencing, Parlak teaches the vigorous exercise from her studio in Istanbul's hip Cihangir district. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)


DOING THIS IN HER FORTIES IS AMAZING  AS THIS IS USUALLY A YOUNGER WOMAN'S SPORT

IN NORTH AMERICA POLE DANCING IS FAVOURED BY EXOTIC DANCERS

FOR THE REST OF THE PHOTOS GO HERE https://apnews.com/17783b9afb57deb22d26bc7158dd1e6d

PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX 

America’s business of prisons thrives even amid a pandemic

By ROBIN McDOWELL and MARGIE MASON

FILE - In this March 16, 2011, file photo, a security fence surrounds inmate housing on the Rikers Island correctional facility in New York. As of Wednesday, May 6, 2020, more than 20,000 inmates have been infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus and 295 have died nationwide, at Rikers Island and at state and federal lockups in cities and towns coast to coast, according to an unofficial tally kept by the COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project run by UCLA Law. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — As factories and other businesses remain shuttered across America, people in prisons in at least 40 states continue going to work. Sometimes they earn pennies an hour, or nothing at all, making masks and hand sanitizer to help guard others from the coronavirus.

Those same men and women have been cut off from family visits for weeks, but they get charged up to $25 for a 15-minute phone call — plus a surcharge every time they add credit.

They also pay marked-up prices at the commissary for soap so they can wash their hands more frequently. That service can carry a 100% processing fee.


As the COVID-19 virus cripples the economy, leaving millions unemployed and many companies on life support, big businesses that have become synonymous with the world’s largest prison system are still making money.

“It’s hard. Especially at a time like this, when you’re out of work, you’re waiting for unemployment … and you don’t have money to send,” said Keturah Bryan, who transfers hundreds of dollars each month to her 64-year-old father at a federal prison in Oklahoma.

Meanwhile, she said, prisons continue to gouge.

“You have to pay for phone calls, emails, food,” she said. “Everything.”

The coronavirus outbreak has put an unlikely spotlight on America’s jails and prisons, which house more than 2.2 million people and have been described by health experts as petri dishes as the virus spreads.

Masks and hand sanitizer often aren’t provided. Testing is rarely carried out, even among those with symptoms, despite fears that surrounding communities may be affected. And in some parts of the country, those sickened by the virus languish in sweltering buildings with poor ventilation.

The concerns extend to outsourced prison health care, frequently accused by experts of offering substandard treatment even in the best of times.

Sheron Edwards shares a dorm with 50 other men at Chickasaw County Regional Correctional Facility in Mississippi. Given his past experiences with the prison’s medical provider, Centurion, he worries about what will happen if coronavirus hits.

“I’m afraid they’ll just let us die in here,” he said.

When he was at the state’s notorious Parchman prison several years ago, Edwards said the company refused to pay for costly heart medication and only provided one session of physical therapy when he had to have a six-inch rod and screws placed in his broken ankle.

“Even though that wasn’t life threatening, it was serious,” he said. “With COVID-19, I could actually lose my life.”

More than 20,000 prisoners have been infected and 295 have died nationwide — from Rikers Island in New York City to federal, state, and local lockups coast to coast, according to an unofficial tally kept by the COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project run by UCLA Law.

On Wednesday, officials in San Diego announced the first death of a detainee in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center.

When incarceration rates soared to record highs in the 1980s and ’90s, some corporations saw a business opportunity. They promised lower costs and, in many cases, profit-sharing agreements. Prison and jail administrators started privatizing everything from food and commissary to entire operations of facilities.

Proponents of for-profit prisons say it’s cheaper for private companies to run facilities than the government, arguing it’s easier to cancel contracts and there is more incentive to provide better service. They say that leads to improved living conditions and more effective rehabilitation of the incarcerated back into society with the ultimate goal of reducing recidivism.

But not everyone agrees. In 2019, criminal and immigration justice advocates successfully moved nine major banks, including J.P. Morgan and Bank of America, to stop lending money to private prisons.

Today, some of corporate America’s biggest names, and many smaller companies, vie for a share of the $80 billion spent on mass incarceration each year in the U.S., roughly half of which stays in the public sector to pay for staff salaries and some health care costs, according to the Massachusetts-based nonprofit Prison Policy Initiative.

A new report released Thursday by New York-based advocacy group Worth Rises detailed some 4,100 corporations that profit from the country’s prisons and jails. It identified corporations that support prison labor directly or through their supply chains. The group also recommended divesting from more than 180 publicly traded corporations and investment firms considered to cause the greatest harm to people behind bars and the communities that support them.

“The industry behind mass incarceration is bigger than many appreciate. So is the harm they cause and the power they wield,” said Bianca Tylek, the group’s founder and director.

“They exploit and abuse people with devastating consequences,” she said. “Of course, they aren’t unilaterally responsible for mass incarceration, but they’re part of the ecosystem propping it up.”

The report includes vendors that stock commissaries with Cup Noodles and Tide laundry detergent, along with contracted health care providers that have been sued for providing limited or inadequate coverage to those behind bars.

There are companies like Smith & Wesson that make protective gear for correctional officers and Attenti that supply electronic ankle bracelets. Other household names, such as Stanley Black & Decker, have entire units dedicated to manufacturing accessories for prison doors.

Incarcerated people also work, making everything from license plates to body armor vests and mattresses. In California, some even serve as firefighters. But in some places, they are employed by major corporations such as Minnesota-based 3M.

Billed as a cheap alternative to foreign outsourcing, inmates also previously provided goods to Starbucks, Victoria’s Secret and Whole Foods, sparking an uproar that caused many big-name companies to bow out.

Some people leave their lockups to do jobs in the community, such as fast food restaurants. State-owned businesses have also cropped up around the massive prison labor industries, including some with almost comical names, such as Big House products in Pennsylvania and Rough Rider Industries in North Dakota.

While some jobs might pay minimum wage as required by federal law for goods that enter interstate commerce, the take-home pay of workers in correctional industries can be as low as 20% of their stated wage after garnishment for room and board, restitution and other costs.

Meanwhile, private companies market catalogs full of products to lockups. One website advertises an array of pricey bondage items: Leather bed restraints for $267, ankle hobbles for $144 and a metal waist chain with handcuffs going for $76.95.

An Alabama company markets video conferencing systems as a replacement for in-person visits under a call box with the face of an elderly woman in glasses shown on the monitor inside. Beside it reads the slogan: “Keep Granny’s shank pies away from your facility.”

Bobby Rose, one of the report’s researchers, served 24 years in New York state prisons, where he spent a lot of time thinking about the role money plays in America’s legal system.

He was shocked to learn just how many big-name companies were involved and how much was being made off not only those behind bars, but also their families who are often poor and members of racial minorities — a particularly poignant concept during the pandemic.

“I feel,” he said, “that some of these companies that really profit could have provided ... sanitizer or even gave free soap.”

He still thinks about friends left in prison. Two of them have succumbed to the virus.

Facebook removes accounts linked to QAnon conspiracy theory

By BARBARA ORTUTAY May 5, 2020

In this Aug. 18, 2018 file photo man holds a sign that reads "Q-Nited We Stand" during a rally held by members of Patriot Prayer and other groups supporting gun rights near City Hall in Seattle. Facebook says it has removed several groups, accounts and pages linked to QAnon, taking action for the first time against the far-right U.S. conspiracy theory circulated among supporters of President Donald Trump. The social-media giant made the announcement Tuesday, May 5, 2020 as part of its monthly briefing on “coordinated inauthentic behavior” on its platforms. That’s Facebook's term for fake accounts run with the intent of disrupting politics elections and society. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, file)


OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Facebook says it has removed several groups, accounts and pages linked to QAnon, taking action for the first time against the far-right U.S. conspiracy theory circulated among supporters of President Donald Trump.

The social-media giant made the announcement Tuesday as part of its monthly briefing on “coordinated inauthentic behavior” on its platforms. That’s Facebook’s term for fake accounts run with the intent of disrupting politics elections and society.

In addition to the QAnon accounts, Facebook also removed accounts linked to VDARE, a U.S. website known for posting anti-immigration content, as well as accounts in Russia, Iran, Mauritania, Myanmar and the country of Georgia.


QAnon is a right-wing conspiracy theory centered on the baseless belief that Trump is waging a secret campaign against enemies in the “deep state” and a child sex trafficking ring run by satanic pedophiles and cannibals. For more than two years, followers have pored over a tangled set of clues purportedly posted online by a high-ranking government official known only as “Q.”

The conspiracy theory first emerged in a dark corner of the internet but has been creeping into the mainstream political arena. Trump has retweeted QAnon-promoting accounts and its followers flock to the president’s rallies wearing clothes and hats with QAnon symbols and slogans.

Facebook says it found the QAnon activity as part of its investigations into suspected coordinated inauthentic behavior ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

“We are making progress rooting out this abuse, but as we’ve said before, it’s an ongoing effort,” the company said in its April report on coordinated activity. “That means building better technology, hiring more people and working more closely with law enforcement, security experts and other companies.”

Social media research firm Graphika, which receives funding from Facebook, said in a concurrent report Tuesday that the QAnon network promoted conspiracy theories and tried to sell merchandise, such as T-shirts, using Facebook. The network, Graphika said, appeared to be run by a small group of users who had both real and fake accounts.

The network focused primarily on the “Q” conspiracy theory, but dabbled in others — around the 5G wireless network, the U.S. presidential elections, Bill Gates and the coronavirus, Graphika said.

Full Coverage: AP Fact Check

The research firm found related activity on Twitter as well, but noted that in itself, such activity may not have violated Twitter’s rules. Twitter allows users to post under fake names.

Twitter said if it finds information-operation campaigns that can be reliably attributed to state-backed activity, it removes them. It said Facebook shared details of the accounts it removed, but Twitter didn’t find anything to conclude that an information operation took place on its platform.

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Associated Press Writer Michael Kunzelman in Silver Spring, Maryland, contributed to this story.