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Požari u Portugalu i Španiji, 27 osoba poginulo

 

Najmanje 30 ljudi je poginulo u šumskim požarima u Portugalu i Španiji, novi je zvanični bilans žrtava. Portugalska civilna zaštita saopštila je da je 27 ljudi stradalo u požarima koji su izbili u "izuzetnim" vremenskim okolnostima.

Služba prve pomoći saopštila je da je samo u nedelju zabeleženo više od 500 šumskih požara. Ugroženi su distrikti Koimbra, Kastelo Branko, Vizeu i Aveiro.

Portugal je zatražio pomoć Evropske unije i Maroka u gašenju požara.

Požari haraju i severnom Španijom, gde su život izgubile tri osobe.

Neki požari namerno su podmetnuti, najpre u španskom regionu Galiciji, a proširili su ih snažni vetrovi, ostaci uragana Ofelije koji je prošao pored obale.

Španjski ministar unutrašnjih poslova Huan Ignjasio Zoido rekao je da su neke osobe koje su podnetnule požare identifikovani i da im preti do 20 godina zatvora.

Meteorolozi su za posle podne najavili kišu koja će usporiti širenje požara.

Portugal je najsmrtonosniji požar iskusio 17. juna ove godine kada su u području Pedrogao Grande poginula 64 čoveka, a više od 250 je povređeno.

http://rs.n1info.com/a335256/Svet/Svet/Pozari-u-Spaniji-i-Portugalu.html

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Portugal fires burn 520,000 hectares, nearly 60 percent of EU total

 

LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal’s fires have burnt 520,000 hectares of forest this year, 52 times the size of Lisbon and representing nearly 60 percent of the total area burnt in the entire European Union in 2017, data from the EU showed on Wednesday.

The amount of land burnt is the highest ever in Portugal's history, surpassing 425,000 hectares in 2003 - the previous record. The total area burnt in all of the European Union this year was 902,000 hectares (here#).

Portugal represents about 2.1 percent of Europe’s total landmass.

The data shows the massive scale of this year’s fires, which have killed more than a hundred people in the two most deadly incidents. The data showed that in the last lethal fire outbreak, on Sunday, 180,000 hectares burnt.

Portugal’s Socialist government is facing growing criticism for its handling of the fires and on Wednesday the interior minister resigned.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-portugal-fire-area/portugal-fires-burn-520000-hectares-nearly-60-percent-of-eu-total-idUSKBN1CN2F4

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Meeting Dalai Lama will be a 'major offence', China warns world leaders

 

China on Friday warned that it would consider as a "major offence" if any country or foreign leader hosts or meets the Dalai Lama as it deems the Tibetan spiritual leader a "separatist" trying to split Tibet from it.

China routinely protests world leaders meeting the Dalai Lama. It also makes it mandatory for all the foreign governments to recognise Tibet as part of China to have diplomatic relations with Beijing.

It also protested that when the Tibetan spiritual leader was permitted by India to visit various areas in the north-east, including Arunachal Pradesh, this year.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against the Chinese rule in his Himalayan homeland. He has been living in India in exile since then.

"Any country or any organisation of anyone to accept to meet with the Dalai Lama in our view is a major offence to the sentiment of the Chinese people," said Zhang Yijiong, Executive Vice Minister of the United Front Work Department of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC).

"Also, since they have committed to recognising China as a sole legitimate government representing China it contravenes their attempt, because it is a serious commitment," Zhang said on the sidelines of the once-in-a-five-year congress of the CPC.

Zhang said China would not accept the arguments of foreign countries and leaders to meet the 82-year-old Dalai Lama as a religious leader.

"I want to make it clear that the 14th Dalai Lama, the living Buddha handed down by history is a political figure under the cloak of religion," he said.

Without naming India, he said Dalai Lama fled to the "other country" in 1959 "betraying his motherland and setup his so called government in exile".

That "so called government" has the mission of a separatist agenda to split Tibet from China, he said.

"For decades, the group with 14th Dalai Lama as the leader never stopped to achieve that political agenda," he said.

There is no legitimate government that that has recognised the Dalai Lama group, he said, adding that fewer countries and leaders are hosting him.

Some countries may say the Dalai Lama is not a political figure but a religious figure and their officials meet him not in his political capacity.

"But that is not true and not right because every official represent their government and they are political figures," Zhang said.

"So we urge all to exercise caution and prudence to bear in mind the respect for China's sovereignty and for their relations and friendship with China," he said.

Zhang also claimed that Tibetan Buddhism is originated from China.

"It is a special form of religion that originated within China. In the process of development of Tibetan Buddhism, it was influenced by other religions and other cultures, that is true but is not acquired religion," he said.

Zhang said in Tibet, China is encouraging Tibetan Buddhism to reclaim its Chinese orientation.

"It is mainly about introducing or incorporating fine results of Chinese culture in the teaching of Tibetan religion," he said.

"Chinese culture can nurture teachings and tenants of Tibetan Buddhism, so that its teaching can take in the latest fine results of Chinese culture. It is also needed for the development of Chinese Buddhism itself," he said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-meeting-dalai-lama-will-be-a-major-offence-china-warns-world-leaders-2554288

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124 dead, nearly 1,200 infected with plague in Madagascar

 

(CNN)A plague outbreak in Madagascar has infected 1,192 people since August, with 124 deaths, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Madagascar's National Bureau of Risk Management and Disaster reported on Monday.

The majority of cases, 67%, were the pneumonic form of the disease, which can spread from person to person.

Plague is caused by infection with the bacterium Yersinia pestis and is typically spread through the bite of infected fleas, frequently carried by rats, causing bubonic plague. Symptoms include painful, swollen lymph nodes, called bubos, as well as fever, chills and coughing.

Pneumonic plague is more virulent or damaging and is an advanced form characterized by a severe lung infection that can be transmitted from person to person via airborne droplets such as through coughing or sneezing, for example. The incubation period is short, and an infected person may die within 12 to 24 hours.

Both forms can be treated with antibiotics, making early detection a priority.

Of Madagascar's 114 districts, 40 have reported cases of pneumonic plague and less than 30% of people who have had contact with cases can be traced, according to the UN office. Those who've been in contact might need treatment themselves and may pose further risk of spreading the infection.

Cases have been reported in at least 10 cities, including the the larger, more populated, cities of Antananarivo and Toamasina.

But 780 individuals have been cured of their infection since August 1 and six of the affected districts have not reported new cases for 15 days, the UN report states.

Despite the increase in numbers, the trend has been relatively stable, a World Health Organization representative told CNN.Dr. Charlotte Ndiaye, WHO representative in Madagascar, added that about half the deaths are occurring in the community, not health centers, according to government figures, which demonstrates that more work needs to be done to help people understand that treatment is available, and they need to go to health services as quickly as possible.

Plague is endemic to Madagascar, with an estimated 400 cases reported there every year, mostly the bubonic variety, but the current outbreak has affected more areas and started earlier than usual.

It's also unusual for large urban areas to be affected, as they have been this year, the WHO previously told CNN.

The current outbreak began after the death of a man in the central highlands of the country -- a plague-endemic area -- after which the Ministry of Public Health began investigating and tracing his contacts, according to the WHO.

The epidemic has garnered national and international control efforts.

Eight health centers have been designated by WHO to manage plague cases and alleviate the burden on hospitals and health clinics. Last week the International Federation of Red Cross also announced the deployment of a treatment center in the country.

The federation's Secretary General Elhadj As Sy called for global support and launched an emergency appeal for around $5.5 million last week.

WHO has also provided the medications to treat up to 5,000 people and protect 100,000 people who may have been in contact with infected individuals. Both organizations have trained and mobilized thousands of volunteers.

Protocols are also being proposed for safe burial practices to ensure maximum safety and protection from infection.

Public schools are closed and the government has forbidden public gatherings, according to the Red Cross.

The risk of further spread nationally remains very high, WHO stated in its most recent situation report, and risk of regional spread is moderate due to neighboring islands and southern and east African countries.

Samples from patients in Seychelles suspected to be ill with pneumonic plague tested negative, the WHO reported Tuesday.

"The risk of international spread is low, because generally, people with plague are too sick to travel," Ndiaye told CNN in a previous report.

She explained WHO is working closely with Madagascar's airport authorities to ensure control measures -- such as temperature checks and medical teams -- are in place at airports and ports to prevent the spread of infection outside the country.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/25/health/madagascar-pneumonic-plague-outbreak/

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The Internet Archive “Liberates” Books Published Between 1923 and 1941, and Will Put 10,000 Digitized Books Online

 

 

Here at Open Culture, we can never resist the chance to feature books free to read and download online. Books can become free in a number of different ways, one of the most reliable being reversion to the public domain after a certain amount of time has passed since its publication — usually a long time, with the result that the average age of the books freely available online skews quite old. Nothing wrong with old or even ancient reading material, of course, but sometimes one wishes copyright law didn't put quite such a delay on the process. The Internet Archive and its collaborators have recently made progress in that department, finding a legal means of "liberating" books of a less distant vintage than usual.

"The Internet Archive is now leveraging a little known, and perhaps never used, provision of US copyright law, Section 108h, which allows libraries to scan and make available materials published [from] 1923 to 1941 if they are not being actively sold," writes the site's founder Brewster Kahle.

Tulane University copyright scholar Elizabeth Townsend Gard and her students "helped bring the first scanned books of this era available online in a collection named for the author of the bill making this necessary: The Sonny Bono Memorial Collection." Yes, that Sonny Sono, who after his music career (most memorably as half of Sonny and Cher) served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1994 until his death in 1998.

At the moment, the Sonny Bono Memorial Collection offers such 94-to- 76-year-old pieces of reading material as varied as André Malraux's The Royal Way, Arnold Dresden's An Invitation to Mathematics, René Kraus' Winston Churchill: A Biography, Colonel S.P. Meek's Frog, the Horse that Knew No Master, and Donald Henderson Clarke's Impatient Virgin. Kahle assures us that "We will add another 10,000 books and other works in the near future," and reminds us that "if the Founding Fathers had their way, almost all works from the 20th century would be public domain by now." The intentions of the Founding Fathers may matter to you or they may not, but if you're an Open Culture reader, you can hardly quibble with the new availability of dozens of free books online — and the prospect of thousands more soon to come. Stay tuned and watch the collection grow.

 

http://www.openculture.com/2017/11/the-internet-archive-liberates-books-published-between-1923-and-1941-and-will-put-10000-digitized-books-online.html

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Australia child sexual abuse inquiry reports 'catastrophic failures of leadership'

 

Australia's Royal Commission into Institution Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has been investigating since 2012 how the Catholic Church and other institutions responded to sexual abuse of children over a period of 90 years.

Their 17 volume report and 189 recommendations were published on Friday in Canberra.

The investigation found  "multiple and persistent failings of institutions to keep children safe, the cultures of secrecy and cover-up, and the devastating affects child sexual abuse can have on an individual's life."

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, himself a Catholic, called on all Australians to read the report: "What that commission has done is exposed a national tragedy. It's an outstanding exercise in love and I thank the commissioners and those who had the courage to tell their stories," he said.

Australian Catholic Church

While religious, government, educational and professional organizations were included, it was the Australian Catholic Church which was the focus of the commission's study. There were accounts alleging the cover-up of abuse which included moving priests suspected of abuse between parishes to avoid detection.

 

The Church had shown "catastrophic failures of leadership" particularly in the years before the 1990s.

Details of tens of thousands of child victims were reported. The abusers were "not a case of a few rotten apples," the report remarked. "We will never know the true number." The testimonies of some 8,000 survivors of child sex abuse were heard by the commission. More than 60 percent cited the Catholic Church in their personal histories.  The average age of abuse victims at Catholic institutions was 11.

In majority-Christian Australia, Catholicism is the largest denomination.

Recommendations

Recommendations included a National Office for Child Safety and national child safety standards, child abuse reporting and record keeping, to cover all institutions engaged in child-related work. Catholic priests who are told of abuse in the confessional should be obliged to report it under a proposed new law.

It also claimed celibacy contributed to child abuse and that it should be made voluntary for clergy in the Catholic Church.

A new criminal offense should be registered making it easier to prosecute institutions failing to protect children.

President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Denis Hart said the recommendations would be put to the Vatican.

However, he cautioned: "The seal of the confessional, or the relationship with God that's carried through the priest and with the person, is inviolable. It can't be broken."

This article originally appeared on Deutsche Welle. Its content was created separately to USA TODAY. 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/12/15/australia-child-sexual-abuse-inquiry-reports-catastrophic-failures/954740001/

 

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MSF: More than 6,700 Rohingya killed in Myanmar

 

At least 6,700 Rohingya were killed by Myanmar security forces in one month following a government-led crackdown in the country's Rakhine state in late August, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

The figure, published on Thursday in an MSF report, is significantly higher than the numbers reported by Myanmar military officials relating to the same period.

Sidney Wong, MSF's medical director, said the organisation gathered the data in six surveys of survivors of the violence in Myanmar's northwestern Rakhine state, based on research and interviews from a sample population of more than 600,000 people.

Many of these refugees are now sheltering in overcrowded and unsanitary camps in the Myanmar-Bangladesh border area.

"What we uncovered was staggering, both in terms of the numbers of people who reported a family member died as a result of violence, and the horrific ways in which they said they were killed or severely injured," she said.

"The numbers of deaths are likely to be an underestimation as we have not surveyed all refugee settlements in Bangladesh and because the surveys don't account for the families who never made it out of Myanmar."

The report states that at least 9,000 Rohingya died in Rakhine state between August 25 and September 24, with 71.7 percent of those deaths caused by violence.

More than 620,000 Rohingya refugees have fled what the UN has labelled "ethnic cleansing" in Rakhine State since clashes broke out between government security forces and Rohingya fighters on August 25.

The military claims it acted legally in responding to coordinated attacks on border posts by a rebel armed group. Those who fled the violence did so voluntarily, some officials have said.

Myanmar's government has denied allegations of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, but it has refused UN investigators' and journalists' access to areas of the country affected by the violence.

MSF's research, based on the "most conservative estimations", revealed that at least 730 Rohingya children below the age of five-years-old were violently killed between in the month following August 25.

More than 59 percent of those under the age of five killed during that period were shot, 15 percent were burned to death, 7 percent were beaten to death and 2 percent killed in landmine blasts, according to MSF.

Those still entering Bangladesh from neighbouring Myanmar continue to "report being subject to violence in recent weeks", Wong said.

"With very few independent aid groups able to access Maungdaw district in Rakhine, we fear for the fate of Rohingya people who are still there," she added.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a deal last month for the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees, but little is known of its provisions.

State Chancellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who is the de facto leader of Myanmar, has refused to really discuss the plight of the Rohingya.

Aung San Suu Kyi and her government do not recognise the Rohingya as an ethnic group and have blamed violence in Rakhine, and subsequent military crackdowns, on those they call "terrorists".

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/msf-6700-rohingya-killed-myanmar-171214070925193.html

[Iulianus]

пре 1 сат, Џуманџи рече

 

 

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/msf-6700-rohingya-killed-myanmar-171214070925193.html

Pomažemo koliko je do nas.

 

Potpisan protokol o realizaciji pomoći narodu Rohinja

 

Sarajevo, 14. decembar 2017. (MINA) – Danas je između Islamske zajednice u BIH i Turske agencije za saradnju i koordinaciju (TIKA) potpisan protokol o realizaciji pomoći narodu Rohinja i uručen ček od 500.000 KM. Protokol su potpisali u ime Islamske zajednice reisu-l-ulema Husein ef. Kavazović te u ime TIKA-e koordinator za BiH Omer Faruk Alimci, a svečanom potpisivanju su prisustvovali i ambasador Republike Turske nj.e. Haldun Koç kao i predsjednik Odbora za podršku narodu Rohinja Edhem Bičakčić.

Pomenutim protokolom predviđeno je uručivanje 500.000 KM za pomoć Rohinja muslimanima koje su prikupljene dobrovoljnim prilozima u džamijama IZ u BiH i njenoj dijaspori kao i posebnim uplatama. Kako je istaknuto, zahvaljujući ovom protokolu prikupljena sredstva će u potpunosti moći biti iskorištena za potrebe arakanskih izbjeglica obzirom da će predstavnici TIKA-e svojim logističkim kanalima dostaviti ovu pomoć.

„Dirljivo je kada se vidi kako se ljudi iz Bosne i Hercegovine solidarišu i kako odlično razumiju bol i stradanje koje muslimani Rohinje u ovom trenutku proživljavaju. Drago nam je da će u saradnji sa TIKA-om ova pomoć čim prije stići do onih kojima je potrebna i da će osjetiti da nisu zaboravljeni te da ima puno ljudi u svijetu koji misle na njih i koji žele da ublaže njihove patnje“, istaknuo je nakon potpisivanja ambasador Koç koji se ukratko osvrnuo i na dosada realizirane akcije po pitanju pomoći arakanskim muslimanima.

O provedenoj akciji Odbora za podršku narodu Rohinja govorio je predsjednik Edhem Bičakčić:

„Cilj je bio da kroz medije što više upoznao ljude u Bosni i Hercegovini sa kulturom i tradicijom arakanskih muslimana koji danas nažalost žive kao ljudi bez identiteta, bez ikakvih ličnih dokumenata, a sa njihovim narušenim ljudskim pravima se cijeli svijet solidariše. Smatramo da na zemaljskoj kugli nema naroda koji trenutno proživljava i trpi veću golgotu od Rohinja muslimana. Također, željeli smo animirati i našu javnost obzirom da su Bošnjaci ali i ostali narodi u našoj domovini nedavno proživjeli izbjegličko iskustvo i mogu prepoznati šta znači osušiti jednu suzu na licu nekom djetetu“, kazao je između ostalog Bičakčić te dodao da će ova akcija, koja se uručivanjem današnjeg čeka pokazala veoma uspješnom, biti nastavljena i u budućnosti.

Reisu-l-ulema Kavazović se zahvalio svim koji su učestvovali u prikupljanju pomoći:

„Zahvaljujem se muslimanima Bosne i Hercegovine i građanima koji su se odazvali na ovu našu akciju i pokazali svoju solidarnost sa Rohinja muslimanima. Zahvaljujem se i institucijama Republike Turske koje će nam omogućiti da ova pomoć dođe bez velikih troškova. I dosada smo u ovom smislu sarađivali i sa Diyanetom i TIKA-om što ćemo nastaviti i ubuduće“, kazao je između ostalog reisu-l-ulema Kavazović pohvalivši pritom dosadašnji rad Odbora za podršku Rohinja muslimanima kao i trud koji ulažu u uspješnost ove akcije.

Podsjećanja radi, Odbor za podršku narodu Rohinja kojeg je formirao reisu-l-ulema IZ u BiH Husein ef. Kavazović pokrenuo je akciju prikupljanja novčane pomoći za kupovinu životnih namirnica koje bi se distribuirale u izbjegličkim kampovima u Bangladešu u kojima žive prognane Rohinje. 

 

http://www.islamskazajednica.ba/vijesti/mina-vijesti/25984-potpisan-protokol-o-realizaciji-pomoci-narodu-rohinja

 

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TRAPPIST-1 Planets Probably Rich in Water

 

A new study has found that the seven planets orbiting the nearby ultra-cool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 are all made mostly of rock, and some could potentially hold more water than Earth. The planets' densities, now known much more precisely than before, suggest that some of them could have up to 5 percent of their mass in the form of water — about 250 times more than Earth's oceans. The hotter planets closest to their parent star are likely to have dense steamy atmospheres and the more distant ones probably have icy surfaces. In terms of size, density and the amount of radiation it receives from its star, the fourth planet out is the most similar to Earth. It seems to be the rockiest planet of the seven, and has the potential to host liquid water.

Planets around the faint red star TRAPPIST-1, just 40 light-years from Earth, were first detected by the TRAPPIST-South telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in 2016. In the following year further observations from ground-based telescopes, including ESO’s Very Large Telescope and NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, revealed that there were no fewer than seven planets in the system, each roughly the same size as the Earth. They are named TRAPPIST-1b,c,d,e,f,g and h, with increasing distance from the central star [1].

Further observations have now been made, both from telescopes on the ground, including the nearly-complete SPECULOOS facility at ESO’s Paranal Observatory, and from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and the Kepler Space Telescope.  A team of scientists led by Simon Grimm at the University of Bern in Switzerland have now applied very complex computer modelling methods to all the available data and have determined the planets’ densities with much better precision than was possible before [2].

Simon Grimm explains how the masses are found: "The TRAPPIST-1 planets are so close together that they interfere with each other gravitationally, so the times when they pass in front of the star shift slightly. These shifts depend on the planets' masses, their distances and other orbital parameters. With a computer model, we simulate the planets' orbits until the calculated transits agree with the observed values, and hence derive the planetary masses."

Team member Eric Agol comments on the significance: "A goal of exoplanet studies for some time has been to probe the composition of planets that are Earth-like in size and temperature. The discovery of TRAPPIST-1 and the capabilities of ESO’s facilities in Chile and the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope in orbit have made this possible — giving us our first glimpse of what Earth-sized exoplanets are made of!"

The measurements of the densities, when combined with models of the planets’ compositions, strongly suggest that the seven TRAPPIST-1 planets are not barren rocky worlds. They seem to contain significant amounts of volatile material, probably water [3], amounting to up to 5% the planet's mass in some cases — a huge amount; by comparison the Earth has only about 0.02% water by mass!

"Densities, while important clues to the planets' compositions, do not say anything about habitability. However, our study is an important step forward as we continue to explore whether these planets could support life," said Brice-Olivier Demory, co-author at the University of Bern.

TRAPPIST-1b and c, the innermost planets, are likely to have rocky cores and be surrounded by atmospheres much thicker than Earth's. TRAPPIST-1d, meanwhile, is the lightest of the planets at about 30 percent the mass of Earth. Scientists are uncertain whether it has a large atmosphere, an ocean or an ice layer.

Scientists were surprised that TRAPPIST-1e is the only planet in the system slightly denser than Earth, suggesting that it may have a denser iron core and that it does not necessarily have a thick atmosphere, ocean or ice layer. It is mysterious that TRAPPIST-1e appears to be so much rockier in its composition than the rest of the planets. In terms of size, density and the amount of radiation it receives from its star, this is the planet that is most similar to Earth.

TRAPPIST-1f, g and h are far enough from the host star that water could be frozen into ice across their surfaces. If they have thin atmospheres, they would be unlikely to contain the heavy molecules that we find on Earth, such as carbon dioxide. 

"It is interesting that the densest planets are not the ones that are the closest to the star, and that the colder planets cannot harbour thick atmospheres," notes Caroline Dorn, study co-author based at the University of Zurich, Switzerland.

The TRAPPIST-1 system will continue to be a focus for intense scrutiny in the future with many facilities on the ground and in space, including ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope.

Astronomers are also working hard to search for further planets around faint red stars like TRAPPIST-1. As team member Michaël Gillon explains [4]: "This result highlights the huge interest of exploring nearby ultracool dwarf stars — like TRAPPIST-1 — for transiting terrestrial planets. This is exactly the goal of SPECULOOS, our new exoplanet search that is about to start operations at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile.”

Notes

[1] The planets were discovered using the ground-based TRAPPIST-South at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile; TRAPPIST-North in Morocco; the orbiting NASA Spitzer Space Telescope; ESO’s HAWK-I instrument on the Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile; the 3.8-metre UKIRT in Hawaii; the 2-metre Liverpool and 4-metre William Herschel telescopes on La Palma in the Canary Islands; and the 1-metre SAAO telescope in South Africa.

[2] Measuring the densities of exoplanets is not easy. You need to find out both the size of the planet and its mass. The TRAPPIST-1 planets were found using the transit method — by searching for small dips in the brightness of the star as a planet passes across its disc and blocks some light. This gives a good estimate of the planet’s size. However, measuring a planet’s mass is harder — if no other effects are present planets with different masses have the same orbits and there is no direct way to tell them apart. But there is a way in a multi-planet system — more massive planets disturb the orbits of the other planets more than lighter ones. This in turn affects the timing of transits. The team led by Simon Grimm have used these complicated and very subtle effects to estimate the most likely masses for all seven planets, based on a large body of timing data and very sophisticated data analysis and modelling.

[3] The models used also consider alternative volatiles, such as carbon dioxide. However, they favour water, as vapour, liquid or ice, as the most likely largest component of the planets’ surface material as water is the most abundant source of volatiles for solar abundance protoplanetary discs.

[4] The SPECULOOS survey telescopes facility is nearly complete at ESO’s Paranal Observatory.

. . . 

https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1805/

[Grizzly Adams]

Земљотрес на Тајвану...

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/915326/taiwan-earthquake-damage-tsunami-warning-Taipei-Hualian-ring-of-fire

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France: Mass protests against Macron's economic policies

 

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NEWS

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FRANCE

France: Mass protests against Macron's economic policies

Protesters march across the country to protest against government plans to change labour law, scrap social benefits.

an hour ago

Workers are planning to strike two days out of every five throughout the months of April to June [Stephane Mahe/Reuters]

Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers have marched across France to protest against the government's economic policies, including plans to reform public services and slash jobs.

Staff from the national railway company, commonly known as SNCF, were joined on Thursday by employees of the national carrier Air France and other public servants as they took to the streets of the capital, Paris, and other major cities.

The ministry of interior said 323,000 people took part in the nationwide protest, while the country's second largest trade union, the General Confederation of Labour, put the number at about half a million.

The demonstrators are protesting President Emmanuel Macron's plans to trim retirement benefits, overhaul unemployment insurance and allow SNCF’s competitors to enter the French market.

Al Jazeera's Natacha Butler, reporting from Paris, said the SNCF has been operating at a loss for a number of years.

"It has $50m of debt and the government says it must change to remain competitive, especially because under EU rules in 2020, the company will lose its monopoly," she said.

Edouard Philippe, France's prime minister, has previously said the government cannot not afford to sustain the same level of spending.

"The world is changing, the SNCF must change with,” he said in February. “Faced with competition, SNCF cannot remain the only company to recruit workers under a special status."

SNCF staff currently enjoy lifelong civil-servant-like contracts.

Public servants - including air traffic controllers - have also voiced their opposition to the government’s intention of introducing new ordinary work contract and recruiting more staff.

Workers are planning to hold protests two days out of every five through April to June.

This is not the first time workers have taken to the streets to demonstrate against Macron's labour plans.

Protests erupted last year to denounce legislation that would make employment contracts more flexible.

 

Извор: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/03/france-mass-protests-macron-economic-policies-180322203829332.html

[Grizzly Adams]

Французи...

[Lady Godiva]

пре 12 минута, Grizzly Adams рече

Французи...

Што се смејеш? 

[Grizzly Adams]

пре 2 часа, Lady Godiva рече

Што се смејеш? 

Па увек су ми смешни радници државних предузећа који штрајкују за привилегије које неко други треба да им плаћа... А Французи су ту посебна прича.

[Lady Godiva]

пре 8 часа, Grizzly Adams рече

Па увек су ми смешни радници државних предузећа који штрајкују за привилегије које неко други треба да им плаћа... А Французи су ту посебна прича.

А мени су слатки. Само галаме и дижу револуције. Доле влада!