Friday, February 16, 2018

Six In The Morning Friday February 16

Florida shooting: Nikolas Cruz confesses to police


The teenager accused of killing 17 people at a Florida high school on Wednesday has confessed to the shooting, police say.
Nikolas Cruz, 19, said he arrived on campus and began shooting students before abandoning his weapon and escaping, according to a court document.
He has appeared in court charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
The FBI has admitted it received a tip-off about him last year.
The attack, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, is the deadliest US school shooting since 2012.
"Cruz stated that he was the gunman who entered the school campus armed with a AR-15 and began shooting students that he saw in the hallways and on the school grounds," according to the court document.




Japan had 20,000 applications for asylum in 2017. It accepted 20

Just 0.1% of asylum seekers won the right to remain, as campaigners say ‘door has been closed’ to those in need


Japan accepted just 20 asylum seekers last year – despite a record 19,628 applications – drawing accusations that the country is unfairly closing its door on people in genuine need.
Since 2010, Japan has granted work permits to asylum seekers with valid visas to work while their refugee claims were reviewed, a change the government says has fuelled a dramatic rise in “bogus” applications from people who are simply seeking work.
According to figures released this week, the number of applicants in 2017 rose 80% from a year earlier, when 28 out of almost 11,000 requests were recognised.


Air pollution: Chemicals in soap and paint contribute as many toxic pollutants as car emissions



    Consumer products also emit compounds known to form lung-damaging substances in the atmosphere
     Josh Gabbatiss Science Correspondent
    Chemicals in everyday consumer products including soaps and paints have been revealed as a major source of air pollution comparable with emissions from the transport sector.
    Research suggests products like soap and paints emit significant quantities of petroleum-based chemicals, rivalling cars and other vehicles as the top source of urban air pollution.
    Air pollution has been ranked as the fifth highest health risk in the world and is estimated to kill 40,000 people in the UK every year.

    Ethiopian PM departure brings no change, opposition says



     (AFP) - 
    Ethiopia's opposition reacted cautiously on Friday a day after the surprise resignation of the prime minister, warning it did not herald real change since the ruling party remains in power.
    Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned on Thursday after weeks of anti-government demonstrations and growing splits within the country's ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition.
    With the EPRDF and its allies controlling every seat in parliament, it is unclear what difference Hailemariam's departure will make, said prominent opposition leader Merera Gudina, chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC).

    At diphtheria clinic, medics struggle to treat Rohingya

    by

    Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh - As she sits by her son Mohammad Farooq's bedside at a clinic near Bangladesh's Kutupalong refugee camp, Noor Begum is feeling far more optimistic than she was 24 hours earlier.
    "He had a fever and he was vomiting. He could not eat because of the pain," said Noor, who fled her village of Ludang Para in Buthidaung, Myanmar for Bangladesh as part of the Rohingya exodus that began in late August.
    Mohammad is suffering from diphtheria - a serious bacterial infection with common symptoms such as high fever, a sore throat, difficulties in swallowing and a swelling of the neck.


    CHINESE STATE-OWNED CHEMICAL FIRM JOINS DARK MONEY GROUP POURING CASH INTO U.S. ELECTIONS




    February 16 2018



    WANHUA CHEMICAL, A $10 billion chemical company controlled by the Chinese government, now has an avenue to influence American elections.
    On Monday, Wanhua joined the American Chemistry Council, a lobby organization for chemical manufacturers that is unusually aggressive in intervening in U.S. politics.
    The ACC is a prominent recipient of so-called dark money — that is, unlimited amounts of cash from corporations or individuals the origins of which are only disclosed to the IRS, not the public. During the 20122014, and 2016 election cycles, the ACC took this dark money and spent over $40 million of it on contributions to super PACs, lobbying, and direct expenditures. (Additional money flowed directly to candidates via the ACC’s political action committee.)







    No comments:

    Translate