Maryland distillery switches from liquor to hand sanitizer


A distillery in Maryland is producing its own hand sanitizer amid shortages of the product tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by David Tulis/UPI | License Photo


March 18 (UPI) -- A Maryland distillery switched production from liquor to hand sanitizer amid shortages of the product stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.

Twin Valley Distillers in Rockville announced it is now producing and selling 4-ounce bottles of hand sanitizer for $4 and 8-ounce bottles for $6.50.

The distillery, the only business of its type in Montgomery County, said it quickly received federal approval to make hand sanitizer from a recipe of ethanol, glycerol, aloe vera gel, lemongrass oil and Vitamin E oil.

"I kind of feel like it is wartime. Every company is pitching in to help out," Eduardo Zuniga, the owner and founder of the distillery, told WJLA-TV. "I studied a lot of American history. During World War I, World War II, the American Revolution, the country came together to help out... I told my wife, 'Maybe we should help out. We have a lot of alcohol. Let's do a test run.' So we did a run just to test it, and it came out perfect."

Jonathan Shair, general manager and head of production for Twin Valley Distillers, said the company wants to make sure the hand sanitizer remains affordable.

"We're not out here to make a killing off of the coronavirus. It's not obviously our goal. We're here to fill a need in the community, and if that can help us keep afloat in the meantime, great," Shair said.

The distillery is limiting sales to two bottles per customer to prevent hoarding and price-gouging reselling.

Concert hall dubbed world's largest mirrored building


The Maraya concert hall in Saudi Arabia has been officially dubbed the world's largest mirrored building. Photo courtesy of Guinness World Records

March 25 (UPI) -- A newly constructed concert hall in Saudi Arabia was awarded a Guinness World Record for the world's largest mirrored building.

The Maraya concert hall, named for the Arabic word for "reflection," in Al Ula was awarded the Guinness record when officials verified the cuboid structure measures 31,955 square feet.

The designers of the building said the mirrored exterior was designed to reflect and highlight the natural beauty of the surrounding desert.

The 500-seat concert hall is intended as a venue for performances, business conferences and other events.

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PUMA
Wild cougar wanders empty streets of Chile's capital
By Ben Hooper

March 25 (UPI) -- A wild cougar made its way to the Chilean capital and spent about 15 hours wandering the city's empty streets before being captured by police and veterinary specialists.

Authorities said the puma was first spotted in the city of Santiago around dawn Tuesday and investigators quickly confirmed that it was a wild animal, and not an escapee from the Metropolitan Zoo.

Police and the Agricultural and Livestock Service enlisted the help of specialists from the zoo to track the mountain lion as it wandered through multiple urban neighborhoods.

The animal was caught on video wandering through streets that had been emptied by the curfew imposed on the city amid the coronavirus epidemic.

Officials said wild cougars had entered the city before, but hadn't previously been documented in neighborhoods so far away from the Andes mountains.

The big cat managed to elude capture multiple times in the backyards of homes, a school campus and local businesses.

Police said the cougar was eventually shot with tranquilizer darts after about 15 hours of wandering the city and was taken to the Metropolitan Zoo, where it will be examined by veterinarians before being released in the mountains.

Ink spill at factory turns Ontario creek bright red
ODD NEWS 
MARCH 25, 2020 

March 25 (UPI) -- An Ontario creek spotted flowing with bright red water was contaminated by ink that spilled from a factory, officials said.

Hikers in Mississauga captured video showing the Etobicoke Creek flowing with red water Tuesday, and the video posted online quickly led discussion of biblical parallels.




Peel Public Works investigated the footage and determined the cause was something less than divine -- an ink spill at a factory in North Mississauga. The agency said more than 100 gallons of ink had spilled into the creek.

"An accident occurred at a factory and the ink spilled," public works officials tweeted.

The agency said personnel from the Ministry of the Environment and Conservation and Parks were working on cleaning up the spill.

"The creek was checked and there were no dead fish or other wildlife seen by either Peel staff, Ministry of Environment or Conservation and Parks staff," Peel Public Works said.

NATURISTS / NUDISM

Survey: 12 percent of at-home workers skip video due to lack of clothes
By Ben Hooper

A survey of stay-at-home workers in the United States found 12 percent of respondents had kept their webcams off during video meetings because they were naked or only partially clothed. Photo by Aksa2011/Pixabay.com


March 26 (UPI) -- A survey of stay-at-home workers in the United States suggests 12 percent of workers have kept their cameras switched off during video calls due to a lack of clothing.

Mentimeter, an interactive presentation tool, announced it commissioned a survey of 1,500 people working from home amid the COVID-19 pandemic and found 12 percent of respondents admitted to keeping their video cameras off during meetings on Zoom, Skype or Google Hangouts because they were naked or only partially clothed.

The company also said 44 percent of those surveyed admitted they dressed in more professional attire specifically for video meetings, while 16 percent said they had re-arranged their homes to look more professional in the background of a video call.

A total 11 percent of respondents reported seeing "something that they considered unprofessional" in the background of a coworker's video call.

The survey also suggests 56 percent of workers feel their opinions are heard less in video calls than during an in-person meetings and 25 percent believe their contributions aren't being acknowledged as much as when working in an office.

Abandoned mines in the West pose safety, environmental hazards

By Jean Lotus UPI 3/27/2020

Abandoned mines in the U.S. West are safety hazards and can cause environmental damage, like the 2015 blowout at Colorado's Gold King mine. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

DENVER, March 27 (UPI) -- As many as one-half million abandoned underground mining sites might exist on U.S. public lands, and at least 215,000 are considered hazardous, according to a new government report. Cleaning them up could costs tens of billions of dollars.

Open mine shafts attract daredevils and cause injuries and falls, state agencies say. Acidic leaks from abandoned mines in mountain headwaters send toxic water pollution downstream.

The findings came after U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., requested an update on hazardous abandoned mines from the U.S. Government Accountability Office as Congress considers the American Energy and Innovation Act, which would fast-track mineral mining permits.

Udall and U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., seek to revise the General Mining Act of 1872, which exempts mineral mining operations from paying the U.S. government royalties on public land, unlike other extractive industries like coal and oil and gas.

Lawmakers propose taxing mineral extraction royalties between 5 and 8 percent on federal lands.

"We absolutely must bring federal hardrock mining laws into the 21st century," Udall said in a statement. "And we have to start by telling these largely foreign mining companies that they need to pay their fair share to deal with the toxic legacy that mining has left across the West and the nation."

Cleanup needed

State agencies hope a national approach to fund mine reclamation could help clean up their dangerous abandoned mines.

Utah, for example, is trying to seal more than 17,000 holes in the ground created by prospectors who walked away from underground tunnel operations when they mined for gold, silver and other minerals, including uranium.

"Most of these mines are unstable," said Steve Fluke, administrator of Utah's Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program. "They've been sitting there for 100-plus years, and support timbers have rotted, shafts have caved in. There can be low oxygen and sometimes radioactive material and leftover explosives."

The Utah program closed 6,000 mines in 30 years and has operated on a shoestring budget of less than $1 million yearly, Fluke said.

"As more people are using ATVs and climbing and recreating in really remote spots, we're discovering more unsealed mines," Fluke said.

'Stay out, stay alive'

Almost 280 abandoned-mine fatalities were reported nationally between 2001 and 2017, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration.

"Stay out and stay alive" is the motto of mine reclamation programs across the West.

But some are drawn to the danger.

"I've been 1,200 feet down a mine shaft with only a rope to get in and back out," said Jeremy MacLee, a Salt Lake City electrician who spelunks down mine shafts for entertainment. "If something goes wrong 800 feet down, you can only depend on yourself."

Some explorers are neither as experienced nor as lucky.

In 2017, near Denver, a teen amateur climber fell and broke his ankle in a foothills mine shaft when his clothesline rope snapped.

"He was extremely fortunate. He fell down 50 feet, when the mine itself is 100 feet deep," said Jeff Graves, director of Colorado's Inactive Mine Reclamation Program. "I don't care what kind of experience they have. We would never recommend that folks enter abandoned mines."

Probably more than 23,000 abandoned mine sites exist in Colorado, Graves said, but no one is sure.

Boulder County resident Haydee Kuner said she has been nervous for decades about the abandoned Black Bird mining operation on her property.

"We had put a barbed wire fence around the 100-foot shaft, but that was not enough," Kuner said. "My son used to explore the horizontal tunnel that went straight into the granite."

Last year, the state's mine reclamation program capped the Black Bird shaft and put a bat-friendly, barred gate on the tunnel. Bats and other creatures like snakes and insects sometimes live in former mines.

Water pollution

Abandoned mines in Colorado's Rocky Mountains have an added risk. Acidic mine leaching can pollute headwaters of rivers and travel many miles downstream.

About 220 Colorado leaching abandoned mine sites are close to waterways in the high Rockies, according to the state's Water Quality Control Division.

Inactive sulfide, buried in ore, reacts after being exposed to air and water, creating sulfuric acid in abandoned and flooded underground mines.

This chemical reaction caused a blowout in 2015 at Colorado's Gold King mine when Environmental Protection Agency Superfund contractors accidentally spilled 3 million gallons of toxic mine water.

The Animas River turned orange, filled with oxidized iron called "yellowboy," along with other leached elements such as cadmium, copper and zinc. Pollution reached Lake Powell, more than 300 miles away.

Finding the money

Cleaning up the 25 most expensive environmental mining leaks has ranged from $50 million to $583 million per site, the new GAO report said.

Nationwide, finding $11.6 billion to clean up dangerous abandoned mines will be a challenge.

In states like Montana and Colorado, coal mining royalties are available for abandoned mine cleanup under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.

But activists say it's a drop in the bucket.

"At about $3 million per year, it's going to take forever to clean up all the abandoned mines in Montana," said Helena-based Bonnie Gestring, northwest program director for environmental group Earthworks.

"There is no dedicated revenue source for the cleanup of abandoned mines at the federal level. That's the only way these cleanups can really be addressed," she said.

Retail flour supplies run low as consumers turn to home baking

BREAD SHORTAGES HAVE LED TO REVOLUTIONSByJessie Higgins

With bread aisles almost bare, more consumers are turning 

to home baking. File Photo by David Tulis/UPI | License Photo

EVANSVILLE, Ind., March 27 (UPI) -- America's flour mills and bakeries are working overtime to meet the skyrocketing demand for baked goods amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Retail sales of baked goods jumped more than 60 percent the week of March 15, according to the most recent data from the Chicago-based analytics firm IRI.

"In talks with our members, some places are producing two to three times as much baked products as they would on a normal week," said Robb MacKie, president and CEO of the American Bakers Association, based in Washington D.C.

Despite the increased output from industrial bakers, many grocery store bread aisles across the country remain bare. And with the number of people either choosing to -- or forced to -- stay home as the coronavirus pandemic grows across the country, more families are turning to home baking to meet their needs.

RELATED Retail meat sales up 77 percent amid coronavirus pandemic

"I think what we're seeing is people are going to the grocery stores, they're seeing the empty bread aisles, and they think, 'I can do that,'" said Sharon Davis, program director for the nonprofit Home Baking Association, based in Topeka, Kan.

The Home Bakers Association website has seen an increase in web traffic over the past weeks from people looking for baking tips and recipes, Davis said. The group plans to launch a new site in response to the interest within the next week that will offer recipes, ideas and other resources.

The sudden increase in at home baking means that flour and other baking supplies also are running low at many stores.

RELATED Potato industry scrambles to meet surging consumer demand

This is not because there is a shortage, said Christopher Clark, vice president of communications and administration at the North American Millers' Association, based in Washington D.C.

Like meat, potatoes and other staple grocery store foods that people have bought in bulk during the pandemic, the flour milling industry is simply struggling to catch up to the sudden spike in demand, Clark said.

"The flour, the grain, it is all there," he said. "It's just a matter of getting it milled, packaged and on the shelf."

RELATED China makes largest U.S. grain purchases since start of trade war

The majority of the nation's flour and other raw baking supplies go to industrial bakers. That supply line is still running uninterrupted, MacKie said.

"So far, knock on wood, we haven't had any challenges getting any of the raw supplies -- the flour, yeast, sugar, packaging materials," MacKie said. "Our industry has adapted to the current situation.

"Our supply chains have adjusted. There's a lot of things to worry about right now, but the one thing you don't have to worry about is the food supply."

As world hunkers down, Trump moves full-speed against US foes

AFP / STR

Members of the Iranian Red Crescent test people for coronavirus symptoms stopped on the Tehran to Alborz highway under a government order to screen every person for the illness

The coronavirus pandemic is shaking up the world, but not US foreign policy.

As billions hunker down to halt the spread of the virus, President Donald Trump has only ramped up sanctions and other pressure against frequent targets such as Iran and Venezuela.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has led calls for an "immediate global ceasefire" to refocus on fighting COVID-19 and on Friday appealed for the "waiving of sanctions that can undermine countries' capacity to respond to the pandemic."

The appeals have fallen on deaf ears in Washington. The Trump administration has kept sweeping sanctions on Iran, one of the countries worst hit by the pandemic, and in recent weeks has blacklisted more Iranians including over the clerical regime's heavy involvement in neighboring Iraq.

On Venezuela, which like Iran has appealed for IMF help to cope with the health crisis, the Justice Department on Thursday unveiled criminal charges on drug-trafficking against President Nicolas Maduro, with a $15 million reward for his arrest.

AFP / Cristian Hernandez

A worker wearing a protective suit disinfects a customer's hands at a municipal market in Caracas

The indictment treated the leftist leader like a common criminal as Washington steps up its more than one-year campaign to oust Maduro, who presides over a crumbling economy.

The Trump administration, which has faced criticism at home for its handling of the crisis, has also launched a rhetorical campaign over the pandemic.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused China of responsibility for spreading the "Wuhan virus" by not stopping it quickly when it first emerged in the metropolis late last year.

He has also sharply criticized the coronavirus response of Iran, which kept flights going to China, its vital economic partner in the face of US sanctions.

- 'Almost like a bad joke' -

Pompeo, in a recent interview, said Iran would use any economic relief to pursue nuclear weapons and back Iraqi Shiite militias who have increasingly fought a proxy war with US forces.

AFP/File / ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has heavily criticized the coronavirus responses of China and Iran

"You see the way... the regime is treating their people in this time of enormous crisis. You see the way that they continue to spend money," Pompeo told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

Many experts agree that Iran, among other countries, made crucial missteps in trying to stem the coronavirus.

But some voiced exasperation that the administration would seek to distract or even topple regimes as a deadly illness infects the globe.

"It's almost like a bad joke. What's worse than a pandemic appearing in a country where there is no government? That is really the last thing that you want," said Max Abrahms, a professor at Northeastern University and fellow at the Quincy Institute, a Washington think tank that advocates military restraint.

AFP / Angela Weiss

Workers manufacture personal equipment such as face shields at the Brooklyn Navy Yard to keep up with demand

"We need to rethink our understanding of US national security. It seems particularly absurd for the United States to invest so heavily in remaking foreign countries at a time when our own nurses in New York City are literally wearing trash bags," he said.

Abrahms said Pompeo and other hawkish US officials were stuck in a mindset of trying to remove adversarial regimes rather than seeing a greater US interest in protecting public health.

"Even countries that we do not like live in the same universe. And we need to work with them to address mutual problems," he said.

Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, questioned the action against Maduro, saying that while his "depravity is undisputed," the charges alone "will not restore democracy in Venezuela nor address the unprecedented humanitarian crisis."

- Whose fault? -

Pompeo quickly points out that the United States has not restricted sales of medicine and other humanitarian goods to Iran -- and that the United States has offered, in general terms, to help.

But many Iranians say humanitarian imports have effectively been blocked as few foreign banks are willing to deal with Iran due to US sanctions, leading to shortages of vital supplies such as masks.

AFP/File / STRINGER

Tehran residents wait outside a metro station to receive packages to protect against the COVID-19 coronavirus disease provided by the Basij, a militia loyal to the Islamic Republic's leadership

Ali Vaez, an Iran expert at the International Crisis Group, which studies peaceful solutions to global problems, said the Trump administration likely believes that any aid would only throw a lifeline to a regime it sees on the brink of falling.

"US indifference to the suffering of an entire nation is bound to have long-term consequences, giving credence to arguments of the Iranian hardliners that Washington's enmity is not just aimed at the leadership," Vaez said.

But Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, which promotes a hawkish line on Iran, said that blaming US sanctions for the health crisis "misses the forest for the trees."

He said the United States should promote humanitarian exports to help ordinary people but ensure that no money goes to the government.

"The only reason American sanctions on Iran persist, and in fact have grown in scale and scope, is because Iranian bad behavior has grown, even during the coronavirus pandemic," he said.

28MAR2020

CORONAVIRUS IS CAPITALIST CRISIS 

IMF chief: 'Clear we have entered recession'

AFP/File / Brendan SmialowskiMore than 80 countries, mostly of low incomes, have asked the IMF for help, the fund's chief Kristalina Georgieva says

The coronavirus pandemic has driven the global economy into a downturn that will require massive funding to help developing nations, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said Friday.

"It is clear that we have entered a recession" that will be worse than in 2009 following the global financial crisis, she said in an online press briefing.

With the worldwide economic "sudden stop," Georgieva said the fund's estimate "for the overall financial needs of emerging markets is $2.5 trillion."

But she warned that estimate "is on the lower end."

Governments in emerging markets, which have suffered an exodus of capital of more than $83 billion in recent weeks, can cover much of that, but "clearly the domestic resources are insufficient" and many already have high debt loads.

Over 80 countries, mostly of low incomes, have already have requested emergency aid from the International Monetary Fund, she said.

"We do know that their own reserves and domestic resources will not be sufficient," Georgieva said, adding that the fund is aiming to beef up its response "to do more, do it better, do it faster than ever before."

She also welcomed the $2.2 trillion economic package approved by the US Senate, saying "it is absolutely necessary to cushion the world's largest economy against an abrupt drop the economic activities."

The US package also is important because it accelerated Washington's $78 billion contribution to the IMF's lending capacity. The fund membership in January approved a plan to double one of its funding baskets -- the New Arrangements to Borrow -- to about $500 billion.

"The U.S. decision to speed up approval of its substantial new contributions to the IMF is a powerful message to the international community and helps solidify the IMF's (overall) US$1 trillion lending capacity," Georgieva said in a statement after the House of Representatives approved the massive rescue package.

President Donald Trump signed the measure into law Friday evening.

It provides direct cash payments to Americans, a huge expansion of unemployment benefits, and grants and loans to businesses to help them weather the economic shutdown.

The IMF chief spoke to reporters following a virtual meeting with the Washington-based lender's steering committee, when she also requested an increase in the fund's fast-deploying emergency facilities from their current level of around $50 billion.

HEY LOOK OVER HERE 

Turkey charges 20 Saudis over Khashoggi murder

AFP/File / Yasin AKGULSaudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a commentator who worked for the Washington Post

Turkish prosecutors on Wednesday charged 20 suspects including two former top aides to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the brutal 2018 murder of Riyadh critic Jamal Khashoggi.

Prosecutors accuse Saudi Arabia's deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri and the royal court's media tsar Saud al-Qahtani of leading the operation against Khashoggi and giving orders to a Saudi hit team.

Khashoggi, 59, a commentator who wrote for The Washington Post, was killed after he entered the Saudi consulate on October 2, 2018, to obtain paperwork for his wedding to Turkish fiancee Hatice Cengiz.

The Saudi insider-turned-critic was strangled and his body cut into pieces by a 15-man Saudi squad inside the consulate, according to Turkish officials.

His remains have never been found despite repeated calls by Turkey for the Saudis to cooperate.

Riyadh insists he was killed in a "rogue" operation.

But the CIA, a UN special rapporteur and Ankara have directly linked the Saudi crown prince to the killing, a charge vehemently denied.

Cengiz on Wednesday welcomed the charges, describing the prosecutor's decision as a "good step towards justice".

She urged the US National Director of Intelligence to publish a report on who is responsible for the murder, and called on Washington to carry out "an international investigation".

"Not holding Jamal's real killers accountable gives those officials a green light to continue their oppression of their people (and) sends the wrong message to the world that the wealthy and powerful are above the law."

- 'Monstrous killing' -

Turkey carried out its own investigation after being unhappy with Saudi Arabia's explanations.

The Istanbul prosecutor's office said in a statement that Assiri and Qahtani were charged with "instigating the deliberate and monstrous killing, causing torment".

AFP/File / Brendan SmialowskiThe CIA, the UN and Turkey have directly linked Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the killing, a charge the kingdom vehemently denies

The murder caused relations between Ankara and Riyadh -- longstanding rivals -- to worsen.

Saudis, who enjoy investing and holidaying in Turkey, were urged to boycott the country last year.

Turkey meanwhile is a key backer of Qatar, especially after a Riyadh-led economic blockade began against the Gulf state in 2017, and is accused of supporting groups including the Muslim Brotherhood.

Saudi Arabia views the Brotherhood as an existential threat.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed Ankara will not give up the case.

"This happened in my country, how am I not going to follow up on that? Of course I'm going to follow up. This is our responsibility," Erdogan told Fox News last year.

- 'Insufficient evidence' -

Eighteen other suspects -- including intelligence operative Maher Mutreb who frequently travelled with the crown prince on foreign tours, forensic expert Salah al-Tubaigy and Fahad al-Balawi, a member of the Saudi royal guard -- were also charged with "deliberately and monstrously killing, causing torment".

They face life in jail if convicted.

Mutreb, Tubaigy and Balawi had been among 11 people on trial in Riyadh. Western officials said many of those accused defended themselves by saying they were carrying out Assiri's orders, describing him as the operation's ringleader.

Five unnamed people were sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia in December while three others were handed jail terms totalling 24 years over the killing.

Qahtani had been investigated but he was not charged by the Saudi authorities because of "insufficient evidence" while Assiri was charged but eventually acquitted on the same grounds.

The Turkish prosecutor said a trial in absentia would be opened against the 20 suspects but did not give a date.

The prosecutors have already issued arrest warrants for the suspects who are not in Turkey.