- Defense personnel alarmed after memos reveal Air Force leadership warned about accused Pentagon leaker but let him continue working CNN
- Military caught alleged Pentagon leaker mishandling secrets before arrest, prosecutors say CBS News
- Jack Teixeira mishandled classified info twice before high-profile leak, wasn’t removed from position: report Fox News
- Pentagon leak suspect due back in court WCVB Channel 5 Boston
- Massachusetts guardsman had been warned about handling of classified information, prosecutors say Boston 25 News
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Tag Archives: Alarmed
Scientists alarmed over Russia’s ‘risky’ attempt to awaken virus that killed mammoths | World | News
These prehistoric viruses are thought to be up to 400,000 years old and have remained dormant in the frozen remains of woolly mammoths found in Yakutia, Russia, where temperatures can plummet to -55C. This research is being conducted by the Russian Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology.
The Russian lab, also known as Vector aims to understand how viruses evolve by studying such diseases.
The project is being overseen at a former bioweapons lab in Russia’s Novosibirsk region, but Vector hosts 59 maximum security biolabs around the world.
Russian researchers hope to identify the ice age viruses, also named paleoviruses, and revive them.
However, experts have raised concerns over the research, describing it as “risky” and confessing to a lack of confidence in the research facility.
Professor Jean-Michel Claverie, from the National Centre of Scientific Research at the University of Aix-Marseille recently spoke with the Times to express his alarm.
He said: “[Vector’s research] is terrible. I’m totally against it.
“[It] is very, very risky. Our immune systems have never encountered these type of viruses. Some of them could be 200,000 or even 400,000 years old.
“But ancient viruses that infected animals or humans could still be infectious.”
As for trusting Vector’s biosecurity, the scientist added: “I would not be very confident that everything is up to date.”
READ MORE: Worst ‘monster’ US storm in decades leaves at least 60 dead
The World Health Organization found no significant concern during their most recent inspection of the facility in 2019, but the facility has had incidences in the past.
In 2019, a gas explosion caused a fire at a Vector facility, which caused one worker to be left with third-degree burns from the blast.
It also caused windows to shatter, but at the time Vector said: “no work with biological materials was going on”.
Another incident at a Vector lab happened in 2014 when a researcher died after accidentally pricking herself with a needle containing the Ebola virus.
During the Soviet era in 1979, one of Vector’s military research facilities accidentally released spores of anthrax bacteria in the city of Sverdlovsk (now named Yekaterinburg).
The deadly outbreak killed at least 66 people, although Soviet authorities denied for years that such an incident had taken place and blamed the deaths on the consumption of tainted meat.
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Filippa Lentzos, a biosecurity expert at King’s College London, has warned that even the most secure laboratories can be breached.
She said: “Many of us who are analysing and following what they’re doing aren’t convinced that the potential benefits, which are in the far distant future, are necessarily outweighing the very real risks that are in the present.
“Even with generally safe practices, accidents can still happen.”
Japanese city alarmed by biting, clawing, attacking monkeys
TOKYO (AP) — People in a southwestern Japanese city have come under attack from monkeys that are trying to snatch babies, biting and clawing at flesh, and sneaking into nursery schools.
The attacks — on 58 people since July 8 — are getting so bad Yamaguchi city hall hired a special unit to hunt the animals with tranquilizer guns.
The monkeys aren’t interested in food, so traps haven’t worked. They have targeted mostly children and the elderly.
“They are so smart, and they tend to sneak up and attack from behind, often grabbing at your legs,” city official Masato Saito said Wednesday.
When confronted by a monkey, the instructions are: Do not look them in the eye, make yourself look as big as possible, such as by spreading open your coat, then back away as quietly as possible without making sudden moves, according to Saito.
A woman was assaulted by a monkey while hanging laundry on her veranda. Another victim showed bandaged toes. They were taken aback and frightened by how big and fat the monkeys were.
The monkeys terrorizing the community are Japanese macaque, the kind often pictured peacefully bathing in hot springs.
One male monkey, measuring 49 centimeters (1.6 foot) in height and weighing 7 kilograms (15 pounds), was caught Tuesday by the team with the tranquilizer gun. It was judged by various evidence to be one of the attacking monkeys and put to death.
But more attacks were reported after the capture.
No one has been seriously injured so far. But all have been advised to get hospital treatment. Ambulances were called in some cases.
Although Japan is industrialized and urban, a fair portion of land in the archipelago is mountains and forests. Rare attacks on people by a bear, boars or other wildlife have occurred, but generally not by monkeys.
No one seems to know why the attacks have occurred, and where exactly the troop of monkeys came from remains unclear.
“I have never seen anything like this my entire life,” Saito said.
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Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
NASA Alarmed by SpaceX Spacecraft Seemingly Leaking Fuel
This doesn’t seem good at all!
Cargo Fail
SpaceX’s imminent cargo launch has been delayed because its Dragon spacecraft may be leaking fuel.
In a statement, NASA said that it discovered “elevated vapor readings of mono-methyl hydrazine (MMH)” — a volatile fuel used by SpaceX’s Dragon to adjust its orbit and attitude — in “an isolated region of the Draco thruster propulsion system.”
That means the cargo launch, previously scheduled for June 12, will be put on hold while they figure out the source of the potential leak.
Houston told the crew aboard the ISS, who were waiting to receive supplies from the reusable Cargo Dragon spacecraft, that it will launch “no earlier than June 28,” CBS‘ space reporter William Harwood noted.
While this is definitely not great news for the astronauts on the ISS, they won’t have to ration supplies any time soon given that Russia launched its own cargo resupply mission to the space station last week.
NASA mission control told the International Space Station crew today that SpaceX’s next cargo mission won’t launch before June 28, following a delay from this week to probe a possible fuel leak on the Dragon spacecraft.
Read more: https://t.co/4ycS5VNQ3A pic.twitter.com/cLab8kM2LX
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) June 7, 2022
Fuel-geddaboutit
It’s not the first time NASA has had to deal with fuel leaks as of late.
In April, the agency had to delay a “dress rehearsal” for its super-expensive moon rocket launch due to a fuel leak, which was discovered in the wake of a valve issue.
This month’s launch could mark the third time the Cargo Dragon spacecraft dubbed C208 has delivered cargo into space.
While the capsule won’t carry any astronauts to the space station, SpaceX and NASA will likely want to get behind the exact cause of the leak prior to the company’s next astronaut launch later this year, as the spacecraft has plenty in common with Crew Dragon, as Ars Technica points out.
SpaceX has made great strides in making rockets and spacecraft more reusable than ever before — but it may be that some of the company’s hardware is starting to show its age.
READ MORE: Dragon Mission on Hold as Astronauts Conduct Eye Exams, Spacesuit Work [NASA]
More on the ISS: No, These Aren’t Weird Visitors on the Outside of the Space Station
BOJ will be ‘alarmed’ if yen crosses 130 per dollar, says ex-vice minister
The Bank of Japan will be “alarmed” if the yen weakens beyond 130 per dollar, according to Japan’s former vice minister of finance for international affairs, Eisuke Sakakibara.
The yen was trading at 123.77 per U.S. dollar on Wednesday morning Asia.
The Japanese currency fell more than 5% against the greenback in March, despite the yen being seen traditionally as a safe-haven currency. Still, the yen took a hard hit as geopolitical turmoil, such as the Russia-Ukraine war, roiled global markets.
The yen’s weakening comes amid expectations the Bank of Japan would be slower than other central banks in tightening monetary policy.
While its global peers such as the U.S. Federal Reserve have started raising interest rates and are expected to make more aggressive moves to tame inflation, the Japanese central bank has continued its massive stimulus.
The yen’s current levels against the greenback won’t be a problem, said Sakakibara, previously referred to as “Mr. Yen” when he led multiple currency interventions during the 1990s. He pointed out that the dollar-yen traded between 120 and 125 about four or five years ago.
A Japanese national flag flies outside the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on Sept. 27, 2021. The Japanese central bank has for years adopted ultra-easy monetary policy in a bid to achieve its ever elusive inflation target.
Toru Hanai | Bloomberg | Getty Images
“This yen depreciation is a reflection of the dollar appreciation vis-à-vis yen and market expect that depreciation of the yen would probably continue and some people expect that dollar-yen rate toward 130,” said Sakakibara, currently president at Institute for Indian Economic Studies.
“If it goes to 130 — and beyond 130 — that may create some problems,” he told CNBC’s “Asia Squawk Box” on Tuesday. The Bank of Japan “will be alarmed” if the dollar-yen rate goes beyond 130, he added.
Japan’s inflation target
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Tuesday the Japanese currency’s recent moves were “somewhat rapid” but reiterated that a weak yen helps Japan’s economy as a whole, Reuters reported.
Under Kuroda’s leadership, the Japanese central bank has for years adopted an ultra-easy monetary policy in an attempt to achieve its ever elusive inflation target.
“I don’t see the Bank of Japan being particularly upset about it if you keep the inflation goal front and center,” said Manpreet Gill, head of fixed income, currencies and commodities strategy at Standard Chartered Private Bank.
The current situation actually helps the Japanese central bank in achieving inflation, he said, though that may not last as the recent weakness in the yen was driven by dollar strength, and several rate hikes by the Fed have already been factored into the price.
Meanwhile, NatWest Markets’ Galvin Chia said the Bank of Japan is currently in a “difficult situation.”
“The markets have really hopped onto this idea, you know, like we saw over the last two weeks, that the yen should be depreciating,” said Chia, an emerging markets strategist.
“My own personal view is that the BOJ is rightly more concerned about the pace of [the yen’s] depreciation … and sort of the volatility that may create around financial markets as opposed to the level,” he said.
COVID Symptoms to be Alarmed About Most — Eat This Not That
The latest COVID-19 surge is finally coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean the pandemic is over. COVID is still infecting thousands of people and having long-lasting effects on many. Everyone reacts differently to the virus, but doctors warn if you’ve been exposed to COVID, here’s the symptoms to watch out for. Read below to learn about the signs experts tell Eat This, Not That! Health to be concerned about and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Sure Signs You’ve Already Had COVID.
Sean Marchese, MS, RN, a registered nurse at The Mesothelioma Center with a background in oncology clinical trials and over 15 years of direct patient care experience says, “Shortness of breath when impacting daily activities or at rest, should be alarming. This symptom is often a sign that your body isn’t receiving enough oxygen. Low oxygen levels can impact the brain, heart and other sensitive organs in the body. One of the toughest medical challenges to face during the COVID-19 pandemic is how quickly patients destabilize when they aren’t getting enough oxygen. This virus is insidious for lowering someone’s oxygen saturation levels and, after enough time, making it extremely difficult to fully recover. If you’re noticing that it’s harder to breathe during regular activities or while at rest, seek medical attention immediately. If doctors can manage your oxygen levels early, you have a significantly better chance of a less severe COVID-19 infection.”
According to Marchese, “Dizziness, Confusion or ‘Brain Fog’ are all neurological symptoms that are especially concerning for potential long-term brain damage during or after a COVID-19 infection. These symptoms indicate a problem with higher-level thinking and are potential signs of low oxygen or damaged blood vessels in the brain. Even if you’re not experiencing typical COVID-19 symptoms such as cough or shortness of breath, you should talk to your doctor, especially if you’re having new difficulties focusing on a task for extended periods or find yourself confused easily and more often. Your doctor can order medical imaging that can reveal potential damage to the brain caused by COVID-19.”
“A COVID-19 infection can potentially affect the heart, causing chest pain or heart palpitations,” Marchese explains, “There are serious signs to watch out for because they can indicate direct damage to heart tissue that may be irreversible. Heart palpitations can also lead to blood clots or stroke. Some patients have also experienced chest pain after a COVID-19 infection which should not be confused with respiratory symptoms. Chest pain most often indicates a blockage in the heart if not treated quickly. Even if you’re not experiencing typical respiratory symptoms of COVID-19, seek immediate medical care if you’re having new, worsening or concerning chest pain, dizziness, heart palpitations or numbness and tingling in the extremities.”
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Harvard Health states, “Strokes occur when the brain’s blood supply is interrupted, usually by a blood clot. There have been reports of a greater-than-expected number of younger patients being hospitalized for, and sometimes dying from, serious strokes. These strokes are happening in patients who test positive for coronavirus but who do not have any traditional risk factors for stroke. They tend to have no COVID-19 symptoms, or only mild symptoms. The type of stroke occurring in these patients typically occurs in much older patients.
COVID-related strokes occur because of a body-wide increase in blood clot formation, which can damage any organ, not just the brain. A blood clot in the lungs is called pulmonary embolism and can cause shortness of breath, chest pain, or death; a blood clot in or near the heart can cause a heart attack; and blood clots in the kidneys can cause kidney damage requiring dialysis. One possible reason for COVID-related blood clots may be a disturbance in the levels of a protein, called factor V, that is involved in blood clotting.”
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According to Harvard Health, “Common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, dry cough, fatigue, loss of appetite, loss of smell, and body ache. In some people, COVID-19 causes more severe symptoms like high fever, severe cough, and shortness of breath, which often indicates pneumonia.vA person may have mild symptoms for about one week, then worsen rapidly. Let your doctor know if your symptoms quickly worsen over a short period of time. Also call the doctor right away if you or a loved one with COVID-19 experience any of the following emergency symptoms: trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, confusion or inability to arouse the person, or bluish lips or face.”
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Follow the public health fundamentals and help end this pandemic, no matter where you live—get vaccinated or boosted ASAP; if you live in an area with low vaccination rates, wear an N95 face mask, don’t travel, social distance, avoid large crowds, don’t go indoors with people you’re not sheltering with (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene, and to protect your life and the lives of others, don’t visit any of these 35 Places You’re Most Likely to Catch COVID.
US ‘deeply alarmed’ over reports of military coup in Sudan
The top U.S. envoy for the Horn of Africa on Monday took to Twitter to announce his alarm over reports of a military coup in Sudan targeting the country’s tenuous transitional government.
Reports out of the country suggest a coordinated military offensive to blackout the internet in Khartoum, arrest key political figures and raid broadcast companies. A Reuters witness described members of the military and the country’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces stationed in the streets throughout the capital.
Military forces in the country have reportedly placed Prime Minister Abdulla Hamdok under house arrest and have been urging him to come out in support of the coup. The Umma Party, the country’s largest political party, called on people to take to the streets to counter the military, the Associated Press reported.
People gather as fire and smoke are seen on the streets of Kartoum, Sudan, amid reports of a coup, October 25, 2021. (RASD SUDAN NETWORK via REUTERS)
The BBC reported that Khartoum airport is closed, and international flights have been suspended.
Jeffery Feltman, seen here in 2011, said he is ‘deeply alarmed’ by reports of a military coup in Sudan. (JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)
(JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)
A takeover by the military, backed by conservative Islamists, would be a major setback for Khartoum, which has grappled with a transition to democracy since long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir was toppled by mass protests in 2019. There was a failed coup attempt last month.
Demonstrators shout slogans as they gather to support current civilian government during a demonstration in Khartoum, Sudan on October 21, 2021. (Photo by Mahmoud Hjaj/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Jeffery Feltman, the U.S. envoy, had just visited the country in an attempt to cool tensions, Bloomberg reported.
Feltman said in the tweet posted by the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs that a coup would “contravene the Constitutional Declaration and the democratic aspirations of the Sudanese people.”
Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (L) walks with Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (2nd L) during their meeting at the Al Ittihadiyah Palace in Cairo, Egypt on September 18, 2019. (Photo by Egyptian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
He called the development “utterly unacceptable” and said any “changes to the transitional government by force puts at risk U.S. assistance.”
Under Hamdok and the transitional council, Sudan has slowly emerged from years of international pariah status under al-Bashir. The country was removed from the United States’ state supporter of terror list in 2020, opening the door for badly needed international loans and investment.
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The U.S. provided about $337 million to support Sudan’s transitional government after the removal of Al Bashir, the National. The website reported that Feltman’s trip to the country on Saturday is his second in less than a month, which highlights “the level of engagement an concern” there is about a military takeover in Khartoum.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
‘Jurassic Park’ Star Sam Neill Alarmed by New Alan Grant Toy – The Hollywood Reporter
Sam Neill is more than a little taken aback by a new Mattel action figure for his Jurassic Park character, Dr. Alan Grant.
The actor on Monday took to Twitter to say he was both alarmed and flattered by the toy, which comes with removable heads and hands for the paleontologist-turned hero in Steven Spielberg’s iconic 1993 blockbuster.
“Got sent [an] alarming pic of model Alan Grant with REMOVABLE head and hands! (And generous cricket protector). Is this for would-be young murderers to play with? Regardless – could the manufacturer send some, my kids want them?! Only slightly worried,” the actor wrote.
Amblin Entertainment saw the message and tried to hurry things along.
“@Mattel, could you possibly send Sam some Alan Grant figures with removable noggin and hands for his kids to enjoy? ;),” tweeted Spielberg’s production company.
The Alan Grant figure is part of the Mattel Amber Collection for the Dino franchise. The toyline was launched in 2019 and keeps adding characters from the films. The Alan Grant figure is due out in October.
As for Neill, he is not quite done with Dr. Grant yet. The actor, along with Laura Dern (Dr. Ellie Sattler) and Jeff Goldblum (Dr. Ian Malcolm), will reprise his iconic role in the upcoming Jurassic World: Dominion. The film is due out June 10, 2022.
Got sent alarming pic of model Alan Grant with REMOVABLE head and hands ! ( And generous cricket protector ) . Is this for would be young murderers to play with ? Regardless – could the manufacturer send some, my kids want them?! Only slightly worried. pic.twitter.com/tVbqSypiHv
— Sam Neill (@TwoPaddocks) August 9, 2021