Month: August 2022

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US

37-year-old woman arrested in fiery wreck near Los Angeles that killed 5

37-year-old woman arrested in fiery wreck near Los Angeles that killed 5

A 37-year-old woman is facing vehicular manslaughter charges in connection with a fiery wreck near Los Angeles Thursday afternoon that left five people dead, including a pregnant woman and a child.

California Highway Patrol said Friday that Nicole Lorraine Linton was behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz sedan when it sped through a red light and slammed into several vehicles in Windsor Hills, a neighborhood southeast of downtown LA

Linton remains hospitalized with moderate injuries and has been arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, CHP said. Her case is being forwarded to the LA County District Attorney’s Office.

“Our office is in close contact with the lead law enforcement agency investigating,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement. “A prosecutor has already been assigned and will be working with law enforcement throughout the weekend. We will provide updates as more information becomes available. The case could be presented to us as early as Monday.”

The violent crash was captured on security video. Multiple people were ejected and two vehicles were engulfed in flames, CHP said.

The car was going at least 50 mph as it raced through the crowded intersection, CHP Officer Franco Pepi said.

Multiple people were killed in a fiery crash near a Windsor Hills gas station at the intersection of West Slauson and South La Brea avenues
Officials investigate a fiery crash where multiple people were killed near Los Angeles on Aug. 4, 2022.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)


The coroner’s office Friday identified one of the deceased victims as Asherey Ryan, a 23-year-old pregnant woman. Her unborn child was listed as “baby boy Ryan” in online coroner’s records. Two other women and a man, as well as a boy, were killed but their names were not made public.

Pepi said eight others were hurt, including Linton. The other victims had minor injuries and included a 33-year-old woman and six children ranging in age from 13 months old to 15 years old, Pepi said.

CHP said Friday that “due to extensive fire damage, it is unknown at this time the make and model of the involved vehicles and which vehicle the involved parties were traveling in.”

A memorial grew outside the intersection Friday, as mourners left flowers and candles in memory of the dead.

Henry Sanchez, who works at nearby Sinclair Gas, was at the indoor register when he heard “the loudest noise I’ve ever heard.”

“The sound of it, it was gut-wrenching,” he told The Associated Press on Friday. “It was like two trains hitting each other, metal on metal.”

He saw people rush to the cars to offer aid but they were kept back by the flames until firefighters arrived.

“I remember everybody trying to get the fire down and help people out as much as they could, but nobody could do anything,” he said.

Another witness to the crash, Veronica Esquivel, told KTLA-TV that a baby was ejected from the vehicle and landed near her.

“All of the sudden, a baby literally flew from the middle of the intersection to the middle of the gas station and landed right on the floor in front of me,” Esquival said. “One of the workers came and saw me with the baby and took the baby out of my hands. … Somebody tried to resuscitate the baby but the baby was gone.”

Debra Jackson told CBS Los Angeles she was about to get out of her car to pump gas when she heard a big explosion.

“The flames just went over everybody,” Jackson said. “The flames went over my whole car and they told me to jump out of my car … because I was trying to get out of my car, to go to the gas pump. And I jumped out of my car and just left my car sitting right there.”

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Categories
Business

Jack Dorsey touts ‘most powerful’ aspect of Block-Afterpay partnership

Jack Dorsey touts 'most powerful' aspect of Block-Afterpay partnership

Afterpay is contributing 10 per cent of Block’s second-quarter gross profit of $US1.47 billion, which was up 29 per cent year-on-year. It ended up paying 47 per cent less for Afterpay than initially intended, after Block shares fell between the time the scrip deal was announced last August at $US29 billion and the close at the end of January, when shares offered to Afterpay investors were worth $ US13.9 billion.

Block shares are down 29 per cent this calendar year but were up almost 18 per cent this past week anticipating a strong second-quarter result. Block said on Friday its EBITDA for the quarter was $US187 million, down 48 per cent on the previous second quarter, but above expectations. Bitcoin was a drag on performance.

Shares fell about 7 per cent in after-hours trading in the US and opened down the same amount on the ASX at $117.24.

Bad debts fall

As analysts pushed for detail on cost reductions, credit quality and the focus on profitability, given macroeconomic headwinds, Mr Dorsey highlighted Afterpay’s “discovery capabilities”. He pointed to a new Cash App “discover” tab, based on Afterpay’s “shop directory”, that was key to driving its exponential growth in Australia. Mr Dorsey said this would help Americans work out where to shop and drive incremental sales to Square.

“We will continue to increase our customers’ ability to discover new products and services within the Cash App and also make it easier for sellers to turn on these features, so they can make more sales,” he said.

Block said Afterpay’s bad debts as a proportion of sales had failed over the quarter while overall sales using the service were higher. Over the second quarter, Afterpay contributed $US208 million of revenue and $US150 million of gross profit, down 2 per cent year-on-year.

Quarterly sales on Afterpay of $US5.3 billion was up 13 per cent year-on-year but softer than expected in the US as spending continued to shift from online to in-store, where Afterpay is underweight. Growth was strong in Australia where spending using Afterpay is more diversified.

Bad debts were 1.02 per cent of sales, better than the 1.17 per cent in the first quarter, as it tightened credit criteria. “We continue to see healthy consumer repayment behaviour, with 95 per cent of installations made on time,” said CFO Amrita Ahuja.

Overall transaction, loan and consumer receivable losses were $157 million, up 225 per cent year-on-year as Afterpay was added to the company. Block said loss rates were consistent with historical ranges, despite rising interest rates in the US. “We will continue to monitor trends closely given the dynamic macro environment,” it said.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Daniel Perlin said the second-quarter numbers “showed solid net revenue, gross profit and adjusted EBITDA against our and the street’s expectations, partially driven by execution in its strategic priorities of growing upmarket with larger merchants, expanding internationally, and building out more omnichannel capabilities”.

“While this is encouraging, we note a material deceleration in [sales using] Cash App,” Mr Perlin said.

While Cash App’s total revenue of $US2.6 billion was down 21 per cent year-on-year, this was driven by volatility in bitcoin. Total net revenue of $US4.4 billion in the second quarter was down 6 per cent year over year and missed expectations, also because of the decrease in bitcoin revenue as users shied away from the volatile cryptocurrency.

‘Super app’ goals

Cash App’s 47 million active users was up 18 per cent. Mr Dorsey said the market should focus on “connections” and “discovery” between retailers and see Afterpay as much as a referral and engagement tool as a financial product.

“This gets to the heart of exactly why we made the acquisition of Afterpay in the first place: we believe that Cash App can ultimately drive a tonne of discovery for merchants all around the world, but especially around local merchants [including] products and services that people would not otherwise have had a signal around,” Mr Dorsey said.

He pointed to aspirations to become a “super app”, distinguishing Cash App from other buy now, pay later players focused mostly on an installation product that is now being mimicked by banks all over the world and other tech players such as Apple. Cash App also offers Cash App Pay and Cash App Loans.

“We believe Cash App ultimately becomes a place you want to check not on a weekly basis but every single day because it consistently gives a good sense of your friends and family, the businesses around you, products and services you are interested in and offers such as Boost all in one place,” Mr Dorsey said. (Boost is a Cash App feature allowing users to round up spending to invest in stocks or bitcoin.)

Block presented a relatively upbeat view of the resilience of the American consumer in the face of the US inflation outbreak, especially discretionary spending. Square’s food and drink vertical delivered the strongest gross profit growth of any vertical over the past five years, it said, and sales from its restaurant sellers more than doubled year-on-year.

Analysts on the conference call pushed for detail on Block’s credit risk and spending discipline. Other buy now, pay later players such as Zip are also being forced by markets towards profitability. Block cut its operating expenditure by $450 million in the first six months and is restricting new hiring. “We are very mindful of profitability and demonstrating discipline here,” Ms Ahuja said.

“Of course, we have to balance that with large market opportunity and taking share gains at a time customers need us. We are continuing to invest given the vast opportunity we have seen. But we also recognize the environment has changed, and we are prepared to adapt and will maintain discipline by pulling back on some of discretionary operating expenses.

“We are focused on demonstrating greater near term profitability as we head into what could be a more volatile macro environment.”

To which JPMorgan’s analyst replied: “That is clear and encouraging.”

The second-quarter loss attributable to stockholders was $US208 million, which was affected by $US57 million of amortization of acquired intangible assets, including some relating to Afterpay, a $US36 million bitcoin impairment loss, and $US17 million in Afterpay deal and integration -related expenses.

As of June 30, the fair value of Block’s bitcoin investment was $U160 million, $US47 million greater than the carrying value of the investment after impairment charges as the price of the improved cryptocurrency.

Categories
Sports

AFL live ScoreCentre: Hawthorn vs Gold Coast, GWS vs Essendon, Western Bulldogs vs Fremantle, Geelong vs St Kilda, Port Adelaide vs Richmond live scores, stats and results

Josh Dunkley smiles and clenches both fists as Aaron Naughton hugs him from behin

The Western Bulldogs and Fremantle are both desperate for a win as the race for top four and finals positions heats up.

Earlier, Hawthorn claimed a hard-fought win over the Gold Coast to end the Suns’ slim hopes of making finals.

Later, Geelong take on St Kilda and Port Adelaide host Richmond.

Follow the live scores, stats and results below.

Western Bulldogs vs. Fremantle

Team stats

Player stats

Hawks hold on to end Suns’ finals hopes

Hawthorn have all but snuffed out Gold Coast’s AFL finals hopes, holding off a final-quarter Suns fightback for a seven-point win in the milestone match of skipper Ben McEvoy.

Veteran Hawk Jack Gunston picked up five goals in Launceston on Saturday afternoon in the 10.10 (70) to 8.15 (63) result in McEvoy’s 250th appearance.

Jarman Impey pats Jack Gunston on the chest in congratulations
The Hawks claimed a well-earned win in Tasmania.(Getty Images: Dylan Burns)

Despite leading at each change, the Hawks had some nervous moments late with the Gold Coast virtually setting up camp in their half.

Trailing by 17 at three-quarter time, the Suns kicked the opening two goals of the fourth term and got within a goal with about five minutes left on the clock.

The Gold Coast were left to rue several muffed opportunities in the final quarter, with big man Mabior Chol and rookie Mac Andrew missing gettable set shots.

McEvoy picked up a crucial mark in defense inside the final two minutes as the Hawks scrambled for their eighth win of the year despite scoring just one point in the last term.

The result leaves the Suns in 11th position on the ladder, two wins outside the top eight with two rounds remaining and a host of teams above them still to play in round 21.

Gunston was on fire early, picking up four of his five goals before half-time.

The Suns were slow out of the blocks and took until the 21st minute to register their opening major but trailed by just eight at the first break.

Hawthorn pulled ahead in the second term with three goals straight, including Gunston’s third which was followed shortly by a fourth on the run, for a 21-point half-time lead.

Hawthorn’s Jarman Impey was put on report in the third quarter for contact on Darcy Macpherson after he kicked the ball following a mark.

Despite having the breeze at their back in the all-important third term, the Suns could only equal Hawthorn’s two goals.

Suns’ livewire small forward Izak Rankine picked up 11 disposals amid reports the Adelaide Crows have offered the 22-year-old a $4 million deal over five years.

Giants finish stronger to beat Bombers

GWS have responded to a week of intense focus and strong internal criticism with a rousing 27-point AFL triumph over Essendon at Giants Stadium.

The fired-up Giants were looking to bounce back after an insipid performance last week but were unable to shake off the Bombers until slamming on seven consecutive second-half goals to set up a 14.12 (96) to 10.9 (69) victory on Saturday.

Jake Stringer grits his teeth while a number of GWS players surround him and grab at him
The Giants came out on top of the scrap against the Bombers.(Getty Images: Brendon Thorne)

The Bombers (7-13) came into the clash having won four of their past five matches but had little answer to the Giants’ improved effort after briefly claiming the lead with two majors just after the main change, only kicking one consolation goal from there .

Jesse Hogan (four goals, 12 marks) set the tone with his intensity as he collected three tackles inside 50 as the Giants dominated that count 16-1, while the key forward was also his usual threat around goal and in the air.

Giants co-captains Stephen Coniglio (20 disposals, one goal) and Josh Kelly (19, one) led from the front in the midfield, while Lachie Whitfield (30, one) was one of the best afield and did plenty of damage with his sharp foot skills.

Harry Perryman (23 touches) was one of few Giants lauded by their coach last week and backed it up with a crucial role keeping Zach Merrett in check.

The Bombers’ star midfielder gathered 19 disposals but his influence on the contest and especially around the stoppages was down on his usual output.

Toby Greene (two goals) looked dangerous throughout but young forward James Peatling had to be subbed out in the second term after he chose to bump rather than tackle Mason Redman and they clashed heads.

Darcy Parish was straight back to his prolific ball-winning best after a month out with a calf injury, collecting 28 disposals and seven clearances and Sam Durham collected 23 touches.

Bombers spearhead Peter Wright had an enthralling duel with the Giants gun defender Sam Taylor but made the most of his chances with two goals, while Matt Guelfi slotted four goals from just six kicks.

The Giants looked eager to make an early impact after coach Mark McVeigh’s scathing post-match criticisms last week, with spot fires breaking out around the ground as both teams lined up for the opening bounce.

When play finally started, Stephen Coniglio rushed forward and snapped a goal after 47 seconds, and after Jake Stringer knocked Harry Himmelberg over before the ball had gone back to the middle the Giants had two goals in as many minutes.

The Giants’ victory snapped a four-match losing streak and lifts them to a 6-14 record and within reach of avoiding their first bottom-four finish since 2014.

GWS will be on the road next week to face arch-rivals Western Bulldogs on Saturday, while Essendon are at home to Port Adelaide on Sunday.

Geelong vs St Kilda

Team stats

Player stats

Port Adelaide v Richmond

Team stats

Player stats

ladder

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Categories
Australia

Great Barrier Reef’s record coral cover is good news but climate threat remains | Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the planet’s natural jewels, stretching for more than 2,300km along Australia’s north-east.

But as well as being a bucket-list favorite and a heaving mass of biodiversity across 3,000 individual reefs, the world heritage-listed organism is at the coalface of the climate crisis.

Yet this week, a report on the amount of coral across the reef showed the highest level in the 36 years of monitoring in the north and central parts.

But that does not mean the crisis is over.

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Ecosystems get hit with multiple threats and disturbances, and for the reef those include invasions by voracious coral-eating starfish, pollution running off from the land and destructive cyclones.

The overwhelming threat is the climate heating, which has caused corals to bleach in masse six times since 1998.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science (Aims), which runs the monitoring program, surveyed 87 reefs. The report counts hard coral – an important measure because their skeletons are what builds structure for reefs.

The increase in coral cover was thanks to a fast-growing acropora corals that are also the most susceptible to heat stress and are favored by coral-eating starfish.

Resilience versus threats

Conditions in recent years have been relatively benign, with few cyclones, low numbers of starfish and two summers dominated by La Niña weather pattern that usually means cooler conditions.

But earlier this year was the first mass coral bleaching in a La Niña year – an event that shocked and surprised marine scientists who expect those cooler years will give corals a clear run to recover. Global heating now means even La Niña years are not safe for corals. The inevitable arrival of a warmer El Niño phase has many extremely worried.

The first ever mass bleaching was in 1998, followed by events in 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2022. One study found only 2% of all reefs have escaped bleaching since 1998.

For the most recent Aims monitoring report, about half the reefs were visited before this summer’s bleaching. While bleaching was widespread, Aims said the heat was likely not high enough to have killed many corals outright.

Depending on the severity of heat stress, corals can survive or die. If corals sit in hotter-than-usual water for too long, they lose the algae that gives them their color and most of their food.

This means coral starvation, so the events have sub-lethal effects on the growth rate, the ability to reproduce and susceptibility to disease.

Reef scientists talk about the resilience of the reef – the ability to bounce back from disturbances.

“There’s no question this is good news,” says Dr David Wachenfeld, chief scientist at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

“But we would be in deep trouble if in 2022, at 1.1C of global heating, the reef had already lost that resilience. We would have no chance of keeping the reef in a healthy condition.

“According to last year’s [UN climate assessment], we are going to be at 1.5C of warming in the next decade. That’s an extremely confronting forecast. To a thermally sensitive ecosystem like the reef, that’s a lot and it’s only about a decade away.”

Global heating of 1.5C is considered a guardrail for reefs, after which the bleaching comes along too quickly for strong recovery.

“We’re on a trajectory to blast past 1.5C and get to 2.6C or 2.7C. So the resilience we see at 1.1C will not continue,” says Wachenfeld.

Unchartered territory

Dr Mike Emslie, who leads the Aims monitoring, says the rise in coral cover was expected, given the relatively benign conditions, but four bleaching events in seven years was uncharted territory.

“We have dodged a couple of bullets in the last couple of years and while this recovery is great, the predictions are the disturbances will get worse,” he says.

In some conservative media, the survey has been used to push arguments the reef is not under threat. “The naysayers can put their heads in the sand all they like, but the frequency of disturbances is going gangbusters,” says Emslie.

Wachenfeld points out that scientists have never said the reef is dead. “Scientists have been ringing an alarm bell, not a funeral director,” he says. “The notion scientists have been misleading people is a nonsense.”

He likens the reef’s resilience to a rubber band that can be stretched many times, but only so far before it snaps.

“It’s hard to predict when that will happen, but it’s a bit like that with the reef,” he says. “We have a limited amount of time to slow and stop the warming. There is no way this resilience can last forever.”

Categories
US

Greg Abbott appoints Justin Berry, indicted Austin officer, to TCOLE

Greg Abbott appoints Justin Berry, indicted Austin officer, to TCOLE

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Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed an indicted Austin police officer accused of using excessive force during 2020 protests to Texas’ regulatory law enforcement agency.

Justin Berry was among 19 Austin police officers indicted earlier this year in the protests spurred by the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Berry is charged with two counts of aggravated assault by a public servant.

He also ran as a Republican for Texas House District 19 but lost in the primary runoff election this year. Abbott had endorsed Berry in the race, saying his “strong conservative values ​​and experience stopping violent crime are exactly what we need in the Texas House.”

Now, at the governor’s hand, Berry will serve on the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, which sets minimum licensing and training standards for police. Abbott did not immediately respond to The Texas Tribune’s request for comment, but in a press release announcing Berry’s appointment Friday, he said the commission ensures “that the people of Texas are served by highly trained and ethical law enforcement, corrections, and telecommunications personnel. ” Berry posted a statement to Twitter on Friday but did not respond to requests for comments.

“The demands and expectations of today’s professional police officer have never been so great,” Berry said about his appointment via Twitter. “I look forward to ensuring Texas has the best police officers in the world. Ensuring those who answer the call to serve their respective communities have the training and resources necessary to be set up for success are a priority to not only keeping Texan’s safe but ensuring trust is earned and maintained by those very communities.”

Sara Mokuria, co-founder of Mothers Against Police Brutality, said Abbott’s decision to appoint Berry to TCOLE is dangerous, not based on public safety and flies in the face of “what’s in the best interests of Texans.”

“This is an indicted officer who is now part of the body licensing and regulating law enforcement agencies,” Mokuria said. “It’s a move in the wrong direction, and it makes us unsafe. And, quite frankly, it’s a message that has been reiterated from the governor’s mansion over and over again, whether that be families in Uvalde who were not safe to send their kids to school, or all Texas residents during the winter storm. Our lives and our safety have consistently been put at risk because of this governor.”

Berry’s exact role in the Floyd protests is unclear, but Austin officers grievously wounded several people after shooting them with “less-lethal” ammunition in the head. That included a 20-year-old Black man police said was not their intended target after a nearby man tossed a water bottle and backpack up toward steps where police were in formation. Video also showed a 16-year-old Hispanic boy collapsing to the ground after police fired a beanbag bullet at him while he was standing alone near the freeway.

The violent police tactics during the protests against police violence were heavily criticized. Along with the indictments of 19 officers, the city of Austin agreed to a $10 million civil settlement with two men shot by police with beanbag rounds, including the 20-year-old.

Chas Moore, executive director of the Austin Justice Coalition, said Abbott appointing Berry despite his indictment “isn’t surprising.” Moore feels the governor said all of the politically correct things after Floyd’s murder but followed up with inaction.

“He’s never cared about making sure that everybody can be safe,” the activist said. “He doesn’t care about the national conversation that happened in 2020, where every state had some form of protest for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, you know. He’s a diehard Texas Republican.”

Eleanor Klibanoff contributed to this story.

When you join us at The Texas Tribune Festival Sept. 22-24 in downtown Austin, you’ll hear from changemakers who are driving innovation, lawmakers who are taking charge with new policies, industry leaders who are pushing Texas forward and so many others. See the growing speaker list and buy tickets.

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Categories
Business

Amazon agrees to buy Roomba maker iRobot for $1.7bn | amazon

Amazon announced it has agreed to acquire the iRobot vacuum cleaner maker for approximately $1.7bn, scooping up another company to add to its collection of smart home appliances amid broader concerns about its market power.

iRobot sells its products worldwide and is most famous for the circular-shaped Roomba vacuum, which is equipped to integrate with various smart home systems.

The acquisition, announced on Friday, is part of Amazon’s bid to own part of the home space through services and accelerate its growth beyond retail, said Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData Retail.

The appliance would join the voice assistant Alexa, the Astro robot and Ring security cameras and others in the list of smart home features offered by the Seattle-based e-commerce and tech giant.

So far, Amazon has not had much success with household robots. The company’s Astro robot, which helps with tasks like setting an alarm, was unveiled last year at an introductory price of $1,000. But its rollout has been limited and has received a lackluster response.

The iRobot acquisition, however, and the company’s strong market reputation provide a “massive foothold in the consumer robot market” that could help Amazon replicate the success of its Echo line of smart speakers, said Lian Jye Su, a robotics industry analyst for ABI Research .

His said it also illustrates the shortcomings of consumer robotics vendors like iRobot, which struggled to expand beyond a niche product and was in a “race-to-the-bottom” competition with Korean and Chinese manufacturers offering cheaper versions of a robotic vacuum.

iRobot’s quarterly results, which were released on Friday, showed revenue plunged 30% primarily on order reductions and delays. The company also announced it was laying off 10% of its workforce.

Amazon said it will acquire iRobot for $61 per share in an all-cash transaction that will include iRobot’s net debt. The company has total current debt of approximately $332.1m as of 2 July. The deal is subject to approval by shareholders and regulators. Upon completion, iRobot’s CEO, Colin Angle, will remain in his position.

Noting that iRobot has been running its robotics platform on Amazon’s cloud service unit AWS for many years, Su said the acquisition could lead to more integration of Amazon speech recognition and other capabilities into vacuums.

The iRobot deal comes as anti-monopoly advocates continue to raise concerns about Amazon’s increasing dominance. The purchase is Amazon’s fourth-largest acquisition, led by its $13.7bn deal to buy Whole Foods in 2017. Last month, the company said it would buy the primary care provider One Medical in a deal valued at roughly $3.9bn, a move that expanded its reach further into healthcare.

On Friday, groups advocating for stricter antitrust regulations called on regulators to block the iRobot merger, arguing it gives Amazon more access into consumers’ lives and furthers its dominance in the smart home market.

The Roomba device, for example, allows users to map out the entirety of their homes room by room and store the maps in the iRobot app for future use. Consumers can then remotely schedule regular cleanings or manually start cleaning jobs of specific rooms directly from the app.

“The last thing American and the world needs is Amazon vacuuming up even more of our personal information,” said Robert Weissman, president of the progressive consumer rights advocacy group Public Citizen.

“This is not just about Amazon selling another device in its marketplace,” Weissman said. “It’s about the company gaining still more intimate details of our lives to gain unfair market advantage and sell us more stuff.”

Landmark antitrust legislation targeting Amazon and other big tech companies has languished for months in Congress as prospects for votes by the full Senate or House have dimmed.

Last month, Amy Klobuchar, the senator from Minnesota who heads the Senate judiciary antitrust panel, urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the One Medical acquisition, in the mold of other critics who have called on regulators to block the purchase over concerns about Amazon’s past conduct and potential implications for consumers’ health data. Regulators also have discretion to challenge Amazon’s $8.5bn buyout of Hollywood studio MGM, which was completed earlier this year.

Founded in 1990 by a trio of Massachusetts Institute of Technology roboticists, including Angle, iRobot’s early ventures led to rovers that could perform military and disaster-relief tasks in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Categories
Sports

Commonwealth Games: Hockeyroos win dramatic and controversial penalty shootout to book final spot

Commonwealth Games: Hockeyroos win dramatic and controversial penalty shootout to book final spot

The Hockeyroos will play for Commonwealth Games gold after scraping past India in a dramatic and controversial penalty shootout in the semifinal.

After being locked at 1-1 at the end of regulation time, Australia booked their spot in the final with a 3-0 win on strokes.

The penalty shootout was not without controversy through, with Australian Rosie Malone able to redo an unsuccessful first stroke after the clock did not start, which she would score.

With their quarter-final loss at last year’s Olympics firmly in their mind, Rebecca Greiner scored the only goal for Australia in the first quarter.

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Categories
Australia

Welfare agencies hand out tents on the Atherton Tablelands as housing crises worsens

a portrait of a man wearing a blue checked shirt and a cap

Most newcomers to Mareeba are enticed by wide open spaces and the promise of at least 300 sunny days a year but, like the rest of regional Australia, it too has a rental crisis.

For Guy Closset, the lure was the prospect of somewhere better to live than in a tent or beneath the condemned building of a disused school in Atherton.

“[My partner] was kicked out of where she was staying and I didn’t want her to be on the street by herself, so I ended up staying with her,” he said.

The couple had been in the Atherton Tablelands, which has one of the lowest rental vacancy rates in Queensland, at 0.2 per cent.

Mr Closset was already living precariously, having lost work when the pandemic broke out.

“I was staying with my mum but I was more couch surfing,” the experienced warehouseman and worker said.

“I was sleeping in the front room, you know, and then I met my partner.”

A crowded market

The move to Mareeba, a larger centre, has allowed Mr Closset and his pregnant partner to live more securely in a caravan at a tourist park, at a cost of $260 a week, while they search for a house.

But Mareeba’s rental vacancy rate is only marginally less tight – 0.3 per cent according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland.

A man wearing a patterned shirt stands in front of a yard
Robert Larkin says it’s become increasingly difficult to find properties for those in need.(ABC Far North Queensland: Christopher Testa)

“A lot of properties that were rented are now being sold, and the new owners are living in them,” Robert Larkin of Mareeba Community Housing said.

Mr Larkin, a housing supervisor who works with those experiencing homelessness, said his organization had about 200 clients on his books at any one time.

He knew of one woman spending 60 per cent of her income on rent.

No emergency accommodation

The shortage of available rentals has made it harder for housing organizations to provide emergency shelter for those in need.

Many have resorted to handing out tents to families with nowhere to go.

Miriam Newton-Gentle, ministry worker and leader of the Salvation Army on the Atherton Tablelands, said the lack of crisis options magnified the problem in the rural area.

“One of the big things is we have absolutely no emergency accommodation,” she said.

“We’ve got small hotels and motels but they can’t take people long term, so when people are rendered homeless, they are absolutely homeless.”

A blanket has been left beneath a wooden staircase of a Queenslander-style building
A camp set up beneath an abandoned building in Cairns.(ABC Far North Queensland: Brendan Mounter)

Mr Larkin said caravan parks were traditionally the “go-to” crisis accommodation of choice for providers in the Tablelands as they were an “easy transition for people who are sleeping rough”.

“But right now, caravan parks are full because we have a lot of travelers coming through with their own camper wagons and so there isn’t as much available,” he said.

“This is probably as tough as it’s been.”

A shortage of homes

The closest crisis accommodation to the Tablelands is in Cairns, just a short drive away.

But Far North Queensland’s largest center is battling the same problem and places are hard to come by.

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Categories
US

Washington DC lightning strike that killed three offers climate warning

Washington DC lightning strike that killed three offers climate warning

Aug 5 (Reuters) – Scientists say that climate change is increasing the likelihood of lightning strikes across the United States, after lightning struck at a square near the White House, leaving three people dead and one other in critical condition.

The hot, humid conditions in Washington, DC, on Thursday were primed for electricity. Air temperatures topped out at 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34 degrees Celsius) – or 5F (3C) higher than the 30-year normal maximum temperature for Aug. 4, according to the National Weather Service.

More heat can draw more moisture into the atmosphere, while also encouraging rapid updraft – two key factors for charged particles, which lead to lightning. A key study released in 2014 in the journal Science warned that the number of lightning strikes could increase by 50% in this century in the United States, with each 1 C (1.8 F) of warming translating into a 12% rise in the number of lightning strikes.

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Fast-warming Alaska has seen a 17% rise in lightning activity since the cooler 1980s. And in typically dry California, a siege of some 14,000 lightning strikes during August 2020 sparked some of the state’s biggest wildfires on record.

Beyond the United States, there is evidence that lightning strikes are also shooting up in India and Brazil.

But even as lightning strikes increase, being hit by one is still extremely rare in the United States, experts say. Roughly 40 million lightning bolts touch down in the country every year, according to the Center for Disease Control – with the odds of being struck less than 1 in a million.

A lightning strike hits a tree in Lafayette Park across from the White House, killing two people and injuring two others below, during an August 4 evening thunderstom as seen in this framegrab from a Reuters TV video camera mounted on a nearby rooftop in Washington, US August 4, 2022. REUTERS/REUTERS TV

Among those who are hit, about 90% survive the order, the CDC says. The country counted 444 deaths from lightning strikes from 2006 through 2021.

The two men and two women struck by lightning on Thursday while visiting Washington’s Lafayette Square, just north of the White House, were among the unlucky few – struck by a bolt that hit the ground during a violent, afternoon thunderstorm.

The lightning hit near a tree that stands yards (meters) away from the fence that surrounds the presidential residence and offices across from the square, which is often crowded with visitors, especially in the summer months.

All four victims sustained critical, life-threatening injuries, and were taken to area hospitals. read more Two of them later died: James Mueller, 76, and Donna Mueller, 75, from Janesville, Wisconsin, the Metropolitan Police Department said.

“We are saddened by the tragic loss of life,” the White House said in a statement on Friday. “Our hearts are with the families who lost loved ones, and we are praying for those still fighting for their lives.”

Later on Friday a third victim, a 29-year-old male, was pronounced dead, the Metropolitan Police Department said. Further details on the victim were being held until the next-of-kin were notified.

Because heat and moisture are often needed to make lightning, most strikes happen in the summer. In the United States, the populous, subtropical state of Florida sees the most people killed by lightning.

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Reporting by Gloria Dickie in London; Additional reporting by Frank McGurty in New York and Chris Gallagher in Washington; Editing by Louise Heavens, Mark Porter & Shri Navaratnam

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

McDonald’s worker shot over cold fries has died

McDonald's worker shot over cold fries has died

A New York McDonald’s worker who was shot in the neck in a spat over cold fries has died, authorities announced on Friday.

Matthew Webb, 23, “succumbed to his injuries” after he was shot Monday outside the Bedford-Stuyvesant fast-food restaurant where he worked in Brooklyn, the NYPD said.

The attack “has been deemed a homicide,” the force said early Friday, stressing that “the investigation remains ongoing”, The NY Post reports.

Michael Morgan, 20, has already been charged with attempted murder and criminal possession of a loaded firearm for opening fire on Webb after his mother was served cold fries.

He is expected to face upgraded homicide charges, prosecutors told a court hearing Thursday, before Webb’s death was confirmed.

The incident unfolded when Morgan’s mother, Lisa Fulmore, complained to workers that her fries were cold and asked to speak to a manager on Monday evening.

When the workers began laughing at her, Fulmore was FaceTiming with Morgan, who came to the restaurant and got into a fight with Webb that spilled out onto the sidewalk. Morgan punched Webb in the face and when he got back up, he pulled out a gun and blasted him in the neck, prosecutors alleged.

His mum later told the police that her son told her “he gotta do what he gotta do.”

The suspect’s girlfriend, Camellia Dunlap, has also been charged with weapons possession for allegedly handing Morgan the gun. She was arraigned later on Wednesday and held on a US$50,000 cash bail, after prosecutors said she admitted to possessing the gun.

Morgan was also charged with an earlier murder after allegedly confessing during questioning about the McDonald’s shooting.

He allegedly killed Kevin Holloman in October 2021.

This article was originally published by The NY Post and was reproduced here with permission.

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