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Mar202021 by adminNo Comments

COVID-19: Thousands protest restrictions in Germany amid surge

World

March 20 (UPI) -- Thousands protested COVID-19 restrictions across Germany on Saturday despite surge in cases. Police estimated 10,000 demonstrators engaged in protests in the central city of Kassel after the court overturned the city's demonstration ban amid the third wave of the pandemic across Europe and rallies in various other cities, Deutsche Welle reported. Advertisement Several protesters, most of whom weren't wearing masks, according to DW, chanted the "Wir sind das Volk ("We are the people") slogan of the peaceful protests that triggered the end of communist East Germany in 1989. Police in Hessen, Germany, tweeted that they used water cannons at the intersection of of Altmarkt to disperse protesters after demonstrators attempted to break police barriers and threw bottles at them...

Mar162021 by adminNo Comments

Hundreds executed, thousands homeless – the human cost of fighting in Tigray

World

The breadth and depth of human suffering in the Ethiopian region of Tigray is perfectly clear to humanitarian workers, human rights groups and the international diplomatic community.After four months of warfare between Ethiopia's national defence force and fighters from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), observers are collecting a worrying selection of data. More than 500,000 Tigrayans have lost their homes. Almost 60,000 have sought refugee status in neighbouring Sudan. Two refugee camps in Tigray have been obliterated by military force. Nearly 70% of 106 health facilities have been looted. Only 13% are functioning normally. Image: An abandoned central pharmacy at the Humera Hospital in Tigray, Ethiopia (Pic: Medecins Sans Frontieres/...

Feb192021 by adminNo Comments

There’s nowhere to hide: Hundreds of thousands live in the shadow of three erupting volcanoes

World

A huge rumble and a belch of steam and rocks erupts from the crater of the volcano that towers above us.It's truly terrifying feeling such power, so near. I looked about me, wondering where I would I hide if the volcano's eruptions suddenly intensified. And then I realised - and it's obvious really - there is nowhere to run and hide. Image: It’s truly terrifying feeling such power, so near Up here, perched high on the side of Guatemala's Pacaya volcano, at the closest monitoring point to the peak of the volcano, one feels very insignificant.To my right, away from the belching crater, a vast lava field plummets towards the valley floor and, in the distance, the towns and villages directly in its path. ...

Jan312021 by adminNo Comments

Thousands join in Jerusalem funerals, flout pandemic rules

Health

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Israelis have participated in a pair of funerals for two prominent rabbis in Jerusalem, flouting the country’s ban on large public gatherings amid the pandemicBy ILAN BEN ZION Associated PressJanuary 31, 2021, 9:59 PM• 5 min readShare to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleJERUSALEM -- Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Israelis thronged a pair of funerals for two prominent rabbis in Jerusalem on Sunday, flouting the country's ban on large public gatherings during the pandemic.The initial funeral procession, for Rabbi Meshulam Soloveitchik, who died at age 99, wended its way through the streets of Jerusalem in the latest display of ultra-Orthodox Israelis' refusal to honor coronavirus restrictions.The phenomenon has undermined the country's aggressive vaccination...

Jan202021 by adminNo Comments

Google investigating ethical AI team member over accessing thousands of sensitive files

Technology

Google is investigating a member of its ethical AI team after they were found to have taken thousands of sensitive files from its servers and shared the information with external accounts.The investigation follows the forced exit of Timnit Gebru, a Black woman and prominent researcher on the team whose departure provoked controversy over Google's attitude to employees from ethnic minority backgrounds. One of Ms Gebru's colleagues, Margaret Mitchell, "had been using automated scripts to look through her messages to find examples showing discriminatory treatment of Gebru," as Axios reported.In a statement sent to Axios, Google confirmed the investigation."Our security systems automatically lock an employee's corporate account when they detect that the account is at risk of compromise due to ...