The Doomsday Clock's minute hand has been moved forward by two minutes to 11.47 PM, with experts warning that a global catastrophe is closer than it's been in 30 years.
The symbolic clock, founded in 1947, represents a countdown to possible global catastrophe through nuclear war or climate change.
It's maintained by a board of scientists, academics, and security specialists who periodically change the time - back or forward depending on the level of global risk.
The closer the clock is to midnight, the closer humanity is to a major disaster. The last time the clock was moved forward was in 2012, by just one minute, over nuclear weapons stockpiles and global climate change.
This year's jump of two minutes brings us closer than we've been to a major disaster since the peak of the Cold War.
The rationale for the 11.57 timing is, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS), the continued lack of action over climate change and weapons as well as increased tensions between nations with nuclear warheads - particularly Russia and the USA, which have come to blows over the Ukraine crisis.
"The danger is great, but our message is not one of hopelessness," said Kennette Benedict, BAS executive director, speaking at an announcement today.
She mentioned greenhouse gases transforming the Earth's climate in a dangerous way, leaving millions of people at risk from rising sea levels, famine and “killer storms”.
Benedict said that the BAS was "imploring" citizens to "speak clearly and demand leaders to take necessary steps".
"We're not saying it's too late, but the window for action is closing rapidly. The world needs to awaken from its lethargy."
The BAS was founded in 1945 by physicists who had helped to develop the world’s first atomic weapons under the Manhattan Project. The Doomsday Clock launched in 1947, shortly after their atomic bombs had devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
It's the second time the clock has been at three minutes to midnight. The first was in 1984, during the Cold War, where US-Soviet relations were at their most difficult.
In 1953 it inched to 11.58 - the closest the clock has ever been to midnight - after the United States and the Soviet Union tested nuclear devices within 9 months of each other.
Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/
Friday, January 23, 2015
Thieves use a tractor to rip ATM machine from city wall in daring late night raid
York, UK: Audacious thieves used a JCB digger to rip a cash machine from a wall in an overnight raid.
The cashpoint was dragged out of the wall of the Co-op store in Haxby, York, at around 2.25am yesterday morning.
And the crooks fled the scene with the stolen cash machine in a separate vehicle, abandoning the JCB in the store's car park. Police were called to the incident and found the JCB telehandler still at the scene.
A spokesperson from York CID said: "The investigation is at a very early stage and we are trying to gather as much information as possible to help with our inquiries.
"I am appealing to anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious in the area in the early hours of Thursday morning to get in touch with the police or Crimestoppers as soon as possible."
Jenny Bell, from Haxby Town Council, said: "A JCB drove into the front of the Co-op store. It's still there and whoever did it has taken away the cash machine.
"The cash machine is now missing. How they took it away I do not know."
Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/
The cashpoint was dragged out of the wall of the Co-op store in Haxby, York, at around 2.25am yesterday morning.
And the crooks fled the scene with the stolen cash machine in a separate vehicle, abandoning the JCB in the store's car park. Police were called to the incident and found the JCB telehandler still at the scene.
A spokesperson from York CID said: "The investigation is at a very early stage and we are trying to gather as much information as possible to help with our inquiries.
"I am appealing to anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious in the area in the early hours of Thursday morning to get in touch with the police or Crimestoppers as soon as possible."
Jenny Bell, from Haxby Town Council, said: "A JCB drove into the front of the Co-op store. It's still there and whoever did it has taken away the cash machine.
"The cash machine is now missing. How they took it away I do not know."
Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/
Thursday, January 22, 2015
My boyfriend kidnapped, stripped and tied me on a tree because I wouldn’t spend the night with him
UK: A young mum was dragged from her bed in her pyjamas and driven to an abandoned quarry before being stripped naked and tied to a tree by her boyfriend... because she wanted an early night.
Sophie Lazell, 26, was nodding off when Daniel Jones barged into her home and grabbed her by the hair before bundling her into his car in front of her horrified family.
He then drove his terrified partner miles away to an abandoned quarry in Hampshire where he chillingly told her:
"There's a hole dug for you."
Jones then ordered Sophie to strip naked before tying her to a tree with her pyjamas and driving off, leaving her freezing cold and petrified.
She escaped by breaking free of her makeshift ties, hiding in a bramble bush and running through fields naked for around an hour until she found a house which was occupied by an elderly couple who called 999.
Remarkably, she suffered only cuts and bruises in the attack, although she has been left anxious and “on red alert”.
Speaking publicly for the first time since the incident in December 2013, Sophie, now living at an undisclosed location in UK, said she had spent the day with Jones, but he had become upset when she said she wanted to spend the night alone.
He kept calling her so she turned her phone to silent mode and settled into bed for the night.
Sophie said: “I was just nodding off when I heard a crashing noise.
“It sounded like the front door being kicked in. Then I heard Daniel, shouting.
“He said, ‘Where is she, the liar?’
“I got up and found Daniel wielding a metal bar. He had smashed the TV. He said, ‘come with me'.
“Then my mum appeared, and my kids came out of their room.”
At this point Jones pulled Sophie towards the front door.
In a desperate bid to appease him she offered to run away with him. “I had to calm him down,” she explained.
“I hoped all the commotion would wake a neighbour who’d call the police.
But I didn’t hear any sirens.
“As I was leaving I told my kids it would be all right. But I was terrified.”
Jones drove terrified Sophie for “what seemed like hours” to “a wooded track that led to a deserted quarry.”
Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke
Sophie Lazell, 26, was nodding off when Daniel Jones barged into her home and grabbed her by the hair before bundling her into his car in front of her horrified family.
He then drove his terrified partner miles away to an abandoned quarry in Hampshire where he chillingly told her:
"There's a hole dug for you."
Jones then ordered Sophie to strip naked before tying her to a tree with her pyjamas and driving off, leaving her freezing cold and petrified.
She escaped by breaking free of her makeshift ties, hiding in a bramble bush and running through fields naked for around an hour until she found a house which was occupied by an elderly couple who called 999.
Remarkably, she suffered only cuts and bruises in the attack, although she has been left anxious and “on red alert”.
Speaking publicly for the first time since the incident in December 2013, Sophie, now living at an undisclosed location in UK, said she had spent the day with Jones, but he had become upset when she said she wanted to spend the night alone.
He kept calling her so she turned her phone to silent mode and settled into bed for the night.
Sophie said: “I was just nodding off when I heard a crashing noise.
“It sounded like the front door being kicked in. Then I heard Daniel, shouting.
“He said, ‘Where is she, the liar?’
“I got up and found Daniel wielding a metal bar. He had smashed the TV. He said, ‘come with me'.
“Then my mum appeared, and my kids came out of their room.”
At this point Jones pulled Sophie towards the front door.
In a desperate bid to appease him she offered to run away with him. “I had to calm him down,” she explained.
“I hoped all the commotion would wake a neighbour who’d call the police.
But I didn’t hear any sirens.
“As I was leaving I told my kids it would be all right. But I was terrified.”
Jones drove terrified Sophie for “what seemed like hours” to “a wooded track that led to a deserted quarry.”
Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke
Teenage boy poses undetected as gynaecologist at hospital for one month
Florida, USA: A teenager managed to convince staff he was doctor after posing as a physician at a Florida medical centre for a month.
Mirroring the story line of the Leonardo DiCaprio film Catch Me If You Can, the 17-year-old went undetected for weeks.
Medics at St Mary's Medical Centre in West Palm Beach were only alerted when a patient said they thought they saw a child dressed as a physician.
The schoolboy had donned a stethoscope, surgical mask and a white lab coat, as he walked the hospital’s obstetrics and gynaecology department.
"He presented himself with a patient of our practise and introduced himself as Dr. Robinson," said Dr Sebastian Kent of St. Mary's Medical Centre.
"The first thing I thought was, I am getting old because these young doctors look younger every year."
The teenager was apprehended by security on January 13 when he was in an examination room.
Police have since launched an investigation and have found CCTV footage of the hoax doctor appearing on the hospital ward's for around four weeks.
A statement by the Medical Centre said: "The individual never had contact with any hospital patients and did not gain access to any patient care areas of the hospital at any time.
"The hospital immediately notified local authorities, who took the individual into custody, and we are cooperating with their ongoing investigation."
The boy's mother told police her son has an undisclosed illness and had not been taking his medication.
No charges have been filed by the hospital or police.
Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/
Mirroring the story line of the Leonardo DiCaprio film Catch Me If You Can, the 17-year-old went undetected for weeks.
Medics at St Mary's Medical Centre in West Palm Beach were only alerted when a patient said they thought they saw a child dressed as a physician.
The schoolboy had donned a stethoscope, surgical mask and a white lab coat, as he walked the hospital’s obstetrics and gynaecology department.
"He presented himself with a patient of our practise and introduced himself as Dr. Robinson," said Dr Sebastian Kent of St. Mary's Medical Centre.
"The first thing I thought was, I am getting old because these young doctors look younger every year."
The teenager was apprehended by security on January 13 when he was in an examination room.
Police have since launched an investigation and have found CCTV footage of the hoax doctor appearing on the hospital ward's for around four weeks.
A statement by the Medical Centre said: "The individual never had contact with any hospital patients and did not gain access to any patient care areas of the hospital at any time.
"The hospital immediately notified local authorities, who took the individual into custody, and we are cooperating with their ongoing investigation."
The boy's mother told police her son has an undisclosed illness and had not been taking his medication.
No charges have been filed by the hospital or police.
Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/
Man jailed for two years after sneaking into couples bed while they slept
UK: A drunk intruder sexually attacked a woman after he crept into her bed while she and her husband slept.
After shinning up a drainpipe and climbing in through a bathroom window, Saeem Ullah, 33, had first wandered around the couple’s home.
He then sneaked into their bed as they slept, reports the Rossendale Free Press.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, awoke to find Ullah touching her bottom and “cupping” her private parts, Burnley Crown Court heard.
The hearing was told how the defendant was marched out of the property by the victim’s angry husband, who was unaware at the time that she had been groped.
He was to tell police that had he known, Ullah would not have got out.
A judge, who described the whole incident as “absolutely bizarre” said his response was “typical and appropriate” for a husband.
The defendant, from Haslingden, but of no fixed address, had claimed he thought there was a party at the premises.
Ullah admitted sexual assault following the incident and was jailed for two years.
Judge Beverley Lunt ordered him to sign the sexual offenders register for 10 years.
Prosecutor Paul Brookwell told the court that as far as the woman was concerned, she believed Ullah got in the house through the bathroom window because the door was locked.
Robert Kearney, defending Ullah, said he either went in through the window and opened the back door or went in through the back door and opened the window.
Palm prints were found on the window sill inside the bathroom.
The barrister continued: “He accepts he shouldn’t have gone in there.
He wandered around the house for 10 minutes or so.” “He can’t really have been thinking straight about the consequences of what had gone on."
Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/
After shinning up a drainpipe and climbing in through a bathroom window, Saeem Ullah, 33, had first wandered around the couple’s home.
He then sneaked into their bed as they slept, reports the Rossendale Free Press.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, awoke to find Ullah touching her bottom and “cupping” her private parts, Burnley Crown Court heard.
The hearing was told how the defendant was marched out of the property by the victim’s angry husband, who was unaware at the time that she had been groped.
He was to tell police that had he known, Ullah would not have got out.
A judge, who described the whole incident as “absolutely bizarre” said his response was “typical and appropriate” for a husband.
The defendant, from Haslingden, but of no fixed address, had claimed he thought there was a party at the premises.
Ullah admitted sexual assault following the incident and was jailed for two years.
Judge Beverley Lunt ordered him to sign the sexual offenders register for 10 years.
Prosecutor Paul Brookwell told the court that as far as the woman was concerned, she believed Ullah got in the house through the bathroom window because the door was locked.
Robert Kearney, defending Ullah, said he either went in through the window and opened the back door or went in through the back door and opened the window.
Palm prints were found on the window sill inside the bathroom.
The barrister continued: “He accepts he shouldn’t have gone in there.
He wandered around the house for 10 minutes or so.” “He can’t really have been thinking straight about the consequences of what had gone on."
Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/
Miracle baby who ‘died’ five times finally allowed to leave hospital
UK: A miracle baby whose heart stopped five times after being born at 24 weeks has finally been allowed home.
Isla Allen weighed just 1lb 7oz and has fought deadly conditions including sepsis, lung diseases, and a bleed on the brain and blood infections.
At one point her heart stopped for half an hour and she was deprived of oxygen for 10 minutes. But now, at a healthy 8lb, the five-month-old is strong enough for parents Maxie Skye-Foster, 25, and Anthony Allen, 33, to take her home to brother, Lewis, seven.
Sadly, Isla this month failed her audiology tests and the family have been told she is deaf and will soon be fitted with hearing aids.
Retail assistant Maxie of Hinchingbrooke, Cambs, added: "I'm devastated but I have to remember that Isla may not have even survived.
“We still don’t know what 10 minutes of oxygen deprivation will have done. I’m just grateful she is alive. She will lead a happy life. Her brother is absolutely ecstatic to have her home.”
Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/
Isla Allen weighed just 1lb 7oz and has fought deadly conditions including sepsis, lung diseases, and a bleed on the brain and blood infections.
At one point her heart stopped for half an hour and she was deprived of oxygen for 10 minutes. But now, at a healthy 8lb, the five-month-old is strong enough for parents Maxie Skye-Foster, 25, and Anthony Allen, 33, to take her home to brother, Lewis, seven.
Sadly, Isla this month failed her audiology tests and the family have been told she is deaf and will soon be fitted with hearing aids.
Retail assistant Maxie of Hinchingbrooke, Cambs, added: "I'm devastated but I have to remember that Isla may not have even survived.
“We still don’t know what 10 minutes of oxygen deprivation will have done. I’m just grateful she is alive. She will lead a happy life. Her brother is absolutely ecstatic to have her home.”
Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/
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