INDONESIA
Clouds seeded amid flooding
Authorities yesterday seeded clouds, trying to prevent further rain and flash floods after deluges that hit Sumatra Island over the weekend left at least 58 people dead and another 35 missing. Monsoon rains triggered a landslide of mud and cold lava from Mount Marapi, causing rivers to breach their banks. The deluge tore through mountainside villages in four districts in West Sumatra province just before midnight on Saturday. Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency head Dwikorita Karnawati said that more downpours were forecast. Karnawati said that an air force plane was sent up to shoot salt flares into the clouds in an attempt to get the clouds to release water and break up before they reach the devastated areas, a technique known as cloud seeding. Three rounds of cloud seeding were conducted, Karnawati said, adding that more would take place as needed.
HONG KONG
YouTube blocks song
YouTube has blocked access to videos of a protest song in the territory, days after a court approved an injunction banning the song. Glory to Hong Kong was an anthem of protests in 2019. YouTube said that it would comply with a removal order and block access to more than 32 videos of the song that were deemed to be “prohibited publications” under the injunction. Attempts to access the YouTube videos from the territory yesterday showed that they were unavailable. A message showed saying that “This content is not available on this country domain due to a court order.”
ITALY
‘Mona Lisa’ linked to Lecco
More than 500 years after Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa, an academic believes she has unraveled the mystery about its backdrop. Geologist and Italian Renaissance specialist Ann Pizzorusso said she has pinpointed the location depicted in the scene to Lecco. “When I came to Lecco, I realized he had painted the Mona Lisa here,” Pizzorusso said, speaking of the small town on the shores of Lake Como. The arched bridge depicted in the painting would correspond to the 14th-century Ponte Azzone Visconti, even though previous theories had related it to similar structures in other Italian cities, such as Arezzo and Bobbio. Pizzorusso cites her knowledge of geology to back her claim. “The bridge to me was not the important aspect of painting,” Pizzorusso said. “In the other hypotheses the geology was just incorrect.” Rock formations in Lecco were limestone, which matched what is depicted behind the noblewoman, she said. “When you look at the Mona Lisa, you see this part of the Adda River and you see another lake behind it, which are perfectly shown underneath these sawtooth mountains,” she said from the spot where the scene could have been painted.
UNITED STATES
Sun produces big flare
The sun yesterday produced its biggest flare in nearly two decades, just days after severe solar storms pummeled Earth and created dazzling northern lights in unaccustomed places. “Not done yet,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. It is the biggest flare of this 11-year solar cycle, which is approaching its peak, the agency said. However, Earth should be out of the line of fire this time because the flare erupted on a part of the sun rotating away from it. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the flash of the X-ray flare. It was the strongest since 2005, rated as an X8.7 event.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles. It might sound apocalyptic, but a newly detected asteroid nearly the size of a football field now has a greater than 1 percent chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years. Such an impact has the potential for city-level devastation, depending on where it strikes. Scientists are not panicking yet, but they are watching closely. “At this point, it’s: ‘Let’s pay a lot of attention, let’s
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
CHEER ON: Students were greeted by citizens who honked their car horns or offered them food and drinks, while taxi drivers said they would give marchers a lift home Hundreds of students protesting graft they blame for 15 deaths in a building collapse on Friday marched through Serbia to the northern city of Novi Sad, where they plan to block three Danube River bridges this weekend. They received a hero’s welcome from fellow students and thousands of local residents in Novi Said after arriving on foot in their two-day, 80km journey from Belgrade. A small red carpet was placed on one of the bridges across the Danube that the students crossed as they entered the city. The bridge blockade planned for yesterday is to mark three months since a huge concrete construction
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