GOP conservatives shutter House to protest McCarthy-Biden debt deal, setting up next budget brawl
Speaker Kevin McCarthy is suddenly confronting a new threat to his power
2023-06-08 06:48
World Bank to conduct rapid assessment of damages after destruction of Ukraine dam
WASHINGTON The World Bank will support Ukraine by conducting a rapid assessment of damages and needs after the
2023-06-08 06:46
'Partridge Family' alum Danny Bonaduce gives brain surgery update, says 'I lived bitch'
Danny Bonaduce said that before the neurological disorder was diagnosed, he met with 100 doctors and it remains unclear why the ailment began
2023-06-08 06:46
Britain to host first global summit on artificial intelligence safety
By Kanishka Singh and Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Britain will host a global summit on artificial intelligence safety later this
2023-06-08 06:45
Global Yields Climb as Traders Lean Toward Fed Hike by July
Amid a slide in global bonds, the Treasury market briefly restored the full pricing of Federal Reserve tightening
2023-06-08 06:45
Workers at Barnes & Noble in Manhattan's Union Square vote to unionize, continuing trend
Workers at the Barnes & Noble in Manhattan’s Union Square, one of the retail chain’s signature stores, have voted to unionize
2023-06-08 06:29
Mapped: The damage caused by Ukraine’s devastated dam
War-torn Ukraine is reeling from the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, which saw its reservoir burst causing chaos for miles around. The catastrophe on Tuesday forced thousands of residents of nearby towns and villages to evacuate their homes as the floodwater barrelled towards them and left some climbing onto rooftops or into trees to escape the raging torrents. Hundreds of thousands more have been left without access to clean drinking water in the region as a result of the eco-disaster on the Dnipro River, prompting relief workers to rush fresh supplies to the area as they struggle with the problems of mass resettlement. While the official tallies report that over 2,700 people have fled from flooded areas on both the Ukrainian and Russian-controlled sides of the river, a true picture of the disaster has yet to emerge given that more than 60,000 people live in the vicinity. Kyiv has blamed Russia for deliberately destroying the Soviet-era infrastructure, with Moscow, inevitably, protesting its innocence and contemptuously suggesting that Ukrainian saboteurs are responsible. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has called the incident “a war crime” and the “largest man-made environmental disaster in Europe in decades”. Russia would certainly appear to have the most to gain from the disaster and President Zelensky did warn as long ago as last November that he believed enemy soldiers had mined the dam and were plotting its destruction. He reiterated that stance in a tweet on Tuesday: “It is physically impossible to blow it up somehow from the outside, by shelling. It was mined by the Russian occupiers. And they blew it up.” For now though, the priority remains coming to the aid of the stricken people of Kherson. Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Oleksandr Kubrakov has warned of the threat to their wellbeing posed by hazardous chemicals and infectious diseases carried by the water as well as from landmines previously placed near the war’s frontline, which have been disturbed by the floods and are now likely to explode. The water in the reservoir feeds a wide area of southern Ukrainian farmland, including the annexed peninsula of Crimea, as well as providing all-important cooling water to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, lying nearby as indicated on the map below. A United Nations nuclear watchdog has attempted to reassure the public by saying that there is “no immediate risk” to the plant, even if it were to run out of water for its cooling systems. There is no such good news for the region’s farmers, however, with the flooding expected to spell instant disaster for this year’s harvest: crops are likely to be washed away, fields left waterlogged and livestock drowned in water that is at serious risk of being contaminated by machine oil, already seen gushing into the Dnipro. The depleted reservoir is also considered unlikely to be able to supply adequate irrigation to the surrounding fields for several years to come, a huge setback for Ukraine’s eventual hopes of economic recovery. All of which is also likely to have consequences for a global food market that has increasingly relied upon Ukraine for the supply of agricultural produce since the end of the Cold War. “There is no doubt that this will lead to large-scale environmental, economic and human consequences,” Mykhailo Podolyak, a chief adviser to President Zelenksy, told The Independent. “The instantaneous death of a large number of fish and animals, the waterlogging of drained lands, and the change in the climatic regime of the region, will later be reflected in the food security of the world. “A one-time reduction of water in a huge reservoir will lead to unpredictable ecological consequences.” Mr Podolyak warned that he expected the floodwaters to reach Mykolaiv, lying 56 miles from the dam and decried the drowning of the entire population of animals at the Kazkova Dibrova zoo on the Russian-held eastern bank of the river as particularly tragic. President Zelensky has already rebuked the officials installed by Moscow to run occupied territories along that bank for failing to respond adequately to the emergency. The Russian authorities he criticised have conceded that they have evacuated fewer than 1,300 people so far in an area where as many as 40,000 people were said to be affected. That compared unfavourably with the estimated 1,700 evacuated on the Ukrainian side to the west, where the population was reportedly around 42,000. According to the independent Russian news outlet Vyorstka, residents of the Moscow-run village of Oleshky, for one, remain stranded, the publisher quoting one woman as saying that her mother, who could not make it to the roof, was in the water clutching a ladder. A volunteer confirmed to Vyorstka that those still awaiting evacuation included children and disabled people. Civilians in Kherson itself were seen clutching personal belongings as they waded through knee-deep water in the streets and rode rubber rafts. Video on social media showed rescuers carrying others to safety and what looked like the triangular roof of a building floating downstream. Aerial footage showed flooded streets in the Russian-controlled city of Nova Kakhovska itself, where Mayor Vladimir Leontyev said seven people were missing, although they were believed to be alive. But perhaps most striking of all has been the aerial shots of the region captured by Maxar Technologies, which give the fullest picture of the damage done seen so far. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Ukraine-Russia war news – live: Exploding mines float through floodwater after Kherson dam attack Massive destruction after Ukraine dam collapse revealed in new satellite images Watch view of flooding in Kherson after destruction of Dnipro river dam The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary
2023-06-08 06:28
Canada wildfires shroud New York in apocalyptic haze
Smoke from Canadian wildfires shrouded New York in a record-breaking apocalyptic smog Wednesday as cities along the US East Coast issued air quality alerts and...
2023-06-08 06:25
DeSantis defends flying migrants to California as he meets with sheriffs near border
Ron DeSantis is defending his state’s decision to fly migrants from the southern border to California
2023-06-08 06:21
FBI agents arrive in Peru for transfer of Joran van der Sloot, suspect in Natalee Holloway case
FBI special agents arrived in Peru on Wednesday for the temporary transfer proceedings of Joran van der Sloot, a law enforcement source familiar with the operation told CNN.
2023-06-08 06:19
What to know about the Florida grand jury in the Trump documents probe
We learned this week that special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating former President Donald Trump for potentially mishandling classified documents, is using a second grand jury in Miami to gather new evidence.
2023-06-08 06:17
Autopsy finds North Carolina man died of 'sudden cardiac arrest' during police confrontation
An autopsy has found that a man who died in January after police officers in North Carolina's capital city repeatedly used stun guns died from “sudden cardiac arrest,” and labeled the death a homicide
2023-06-08 06:16
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