NASA Needs to Find Ice on the Moon. This Rover Will Lead the Search.

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NASA Needs to Find Ice on the Moon. This Rover Will Lead the Search.

After sending four rovers to Mars — with a fifth scheduled to launch in July — NASA announced on Thursday a contract for putting its first wheeled robot on the moon.

Astrobotic Technology Inc. of Pittsburgh won a $199.5 million contract to deliver the robotic explorer to the moon in late 2023. The price includes the rocket to launch the mission and the lander that will set the rover down near the moon’s South Pole.

The rover — the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER — is the latest in a series of robotic missions that NASA is financing as part of its renewed interest in the moon.

VIPER is to spend about 100 days rolling around in search of water ice, which is believed to exist in permanently shadowed craters near the moon’s poles — among the coldest places in the solar system.

That water could provide an invaluable resource for future astronauts. It would provide water to drink, and the water molecules could also be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen. That could yield oxygen for astronauts to breathe, as well as propellant for rockets traveling home to Earth or elsewhere in the solar system.

However, the exact location and nature of the water ice is not known. It could be at the surface as frost or buried underground. It might be pure water or bound up in minerals. VIPER’s mission is to figure that out, and the information would help plan where astronauts would land on the moon, which NASA optimistically has scheduled for 2024.

“VIPER is going to be the first robot to actually touch this water ice that we’ve detected,” said Steven Clarke, who recently left his position as deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA’s science directorate for another role at the agency.

The rover will carry a suite of instruments, including a drill that will allow it to investigate what is below the surface.

This will be the first time that NASA has sent a rover to the moon. The Soviet Union sent two in the 1970s, and China has sent two since 2013, including one last year as part of the first mission to land on the far side of the moon. An Indian spacecraft carrying a rover crashed last year during its landing attempt.

In a shift from the past when NASA would design the whole mission including the lander, it is now looking for private companies to provide the transportation to the moon, often shared with non-NASA payloads, a program established in 2018 as Commercial Lunar Payload Services.

This approach, NASA believes, is less expensive and could also aid fledgling companies in establishing profitable businesses.

It follows on a NASA program using a similar commercial approach that recently sent two astronauts, Robert L. Behnken and Douglas G. Hurley, to the International Space Station aboard a spacecraft built by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

In earlier rounds, NASA sought delivery of small and inexpensive experiments, and NASA officials said they expected that perhaps half of the missions might fail, but the rewards justified the risks.

Two launches, including one by Astrobotic, are scheduled to take off next year, and a third is to occur in 2022.

The stakes are higher for VIPER. Weighing close to 1,000 pounds, it is roughly the size of a golf cart — five feet long, five feet wide and about eight feet tall. NASA officials declined to say how much the rover itself will cost.

For Astrobotic, NASA’s newfound focus has changed and accelerated its business.

The company was founded 13 years ago in hopes of winning the Google Lunar X Prize, a competition for the first private spacecraft to land on the moon. That competition expired in 2018 without a winner, but even before then Astrobotic decided to focus on winning commercial payload business.

Astrobotic already had commitments to take about a dozen payloads to the moon, including a Mexican space agency instrument and time capsules. But the NASA contract filled most of the remaining spaces and helped accelerate the development of the market for going to the moon.

“It’s dramatically enabling that to have NASA as the biggest customer,” John Thornton, Astrobotic’s chief executive, said in an interview. “It’s a key driver.”

When the rover launches in 2023, it will sit on the company’s Griffin lander, which is larger than the spacecraft that is to fly the first mission next year. Once on the surface, the rover will drive down one of two ramps and start its search for water.

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Minneapolis police officers: ‘this is not who we are’

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Minneapolis police officers: ‘this is not who we are’

  • The police killing of George Floyd has triggered anti-racism protests around the world. A number of monuments with links to colonialism and slavery have been defaced or pulled down in Europe and the United States as demands for racial justice continue.

  • One of the four former Minneapolis police officers who was charged over the death of Floyd was released on a $750,000 bail.

  • Floyd died on May 25 after a policeman knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. His death has sparked nationwide calls for policing reforms.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo listens to a question at a press conference. [Jim Mone/AP Photo]

22:15 GMT – In open letter, Minneapolis police officers back chief’s efforts to overhaul department

A group of Minneapolis police officers is condemning the officer charged with murder in George Floyd’s death and say they are ready to back the police chief’s promised overhaul of the department.

Fourteen officers signed an open letter Thursday addressed to “Dear Everyone — but especially Minneapolis citizens”.

The letter said Officer Derek Chauvin “failed as a human” and “stripped George Floyd of his dignity and life”.

“This is not who we are,” the letter said.

Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder in Floyd’s May 25 death for pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as he lay handcuffed. The letter makes no mention of three other officers charged with aiding and abetting.

The officers signing the letter, which was obtained by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, said they represent “hundreds” of other officers.

21:33 GMT – Trump: Military cut through protesters like ‘knife cutting butter’

Trump flew to Dallas on Thursday for a roundtable on law enforcement, meeting with officials there and causing further controversy.

“It’s not supposed to be a beautiful scene, but to me it was” Trump said at the event, referring to National Guard troops who went through protesters “like a knife cutting butter”. 

Trump said authorities managed to quell protests in Minneapolis, and “yes there was some tear gas“.

Trump has come under criticism for his handling of nonviolent protesters ahead of a photo-op at a church in Washington, DC, amid ongoing protests over Floyd’s death and police brutality. Demonstrators outside the White House were dispersed with peppery spray, which some authorities initially denied to be tear gas. 

Trump also said the US cannot move forward while  “decent Americans” are accused of being “racist or bigots”.  

US Congress, Trump contest police reforms after protests

The president also expressed his support for police, saying they need more funding, not less. “You have bad apples” wherever you go, Trump said, though there aren’t “too many of them” in the police. 

Trump’s visit was derided due to the exlcusion of three Black Dallas law enforcement leaders. 

Dallas Police Chief U Renee Hall, Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown and District Attorney John Creuzot were not invited. 

19:55 GMT – Celebrities ‘at it again’ with campaign urging white people to take responsibility for racism: report 

A new video campaign of white celebrities “taking responsibility” for not fighting racism emerged on social media to a chorus of critics, the Daily Beast reported.

Kristen Bell, Kesha, Aaron Paul, Stanley Tucci, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Debra Messing are all featured in the first video for the #ITakeResponsibility campaign, which encourages “white people to call out racism and support black lives through various causes”, the Daily Beast wrote it in its article, which called the video a “cringeworthy” public service announcement. 

The black and white video shows the actors speaking sombrely as they take turns reciting a script which reads in part: “I take responsibility for every unchecked moment, for every time it was easier to ignore than to call it out for what it was. Every not-so-funny joke. Every unfair stereotype”. 

Others adopted the campaign’s slogan, admitting their shortcomings. 

The campaign was launched by entertainment production company Confluential Content, in partnership with the NAACP, and aims to “to stand up for our Black friends and family in America. Our goal is to rally the white community, to provide education and encourage action”, according to its website. 

19:21 GMT – ‘Blank’ incident report detailing Breonna Taylor’s death decried

Benjamin Crump, attorney for the family of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, two African Americans kill by police, said he was appalled by a “nearly blank” police report on Taylor’s killing released this week.  

The report, released by Louisville Police on the fatal shooting, is mostly blank, with few details of the incident that spurred days of protests in the city.

The report, dated March 13, the day of the shooting, cites a police-involved death investigation and identifies Taylor, 26, as the victim. But it provides few other details, and some are incorrect.

Taylor was shot eight times by narcotics detectives who had a warrant to enter her apartment. A man inside the home with her, Kenneth Walker, fired once and struck an officer. There is no mention of Walker in the incident report.

The report also has a box to check for forced entry, which was checked “No,” and it also said “none” in a space for the victim’s injuries.

In the notes/narrative section, it simply said “PIU investigation,” which is the department’s Public Integrity Unit. 

Taylor was not named in the report. 

18:26 GMT – Trump tweets ‘ugly’ anarchists in Seattle must be ‘stopped IMMEDIATELY’ 

Trump continued trading barbs with Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Washington Governor Jay Inslee, saying they’re being “taunted” by protesters who set up an “autonomous zone” in the city. 

The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or CHAZ, was declared on June 8 as protests against police brutality swept the US. CHAZ covers about six square blocks in Seattle. Organisers have made it a haven for protest groups and others who seek an alternative to the US system. 

The politicians are being “played at a level that our great Country has never seen before. Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will”, Trump said on Twitter. 

Durkan previously told Trump to “Make us all safe and go back to” his “bunker”, a reference to Trump’s brief stay in an underground bunker during Black Lives Matter protests outside the White House following Floyd’s killing. 

17:23 GMT – West Virginia court says police excessive force ‘has to stop’

A federal appeals court has vacated part of a finding that cleared five West Virginia police officers on qualified immunity grounds in an excessive force lawsuit, which was filed by the estate of a homeless black man shot 22 times in 2013.

Protests in Louisville following the death of Breonna Taylor

A man kneels in front of a line of Kentucky State Troopers during a protest against the deaths of Breonna Taylor by Louisville police and George Floyd by Minneapolis police [Bryan Woolston/Reuters]

A three-judge panel of the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, ruled this week that shielding five Martinsburg police officers for their actions during the summary judgment stage of the lawsuit “would signal absolute immunity for fear-based use of deadly force, which we cannot accept.”

The panel sent the case back to a lower court for further proceedings.

Certain protesters are calling for an end to immunity for police in officer-involved shootings as part of wider reforms. 

“Although we recognise that our police officers are often asked to make split-second decisions, we expect them to do so with respect for the dignity and worth of black lives,” the panel said. “This has to stop.”

16:11 GMT – Names of two Confederate leaders to be removed from US Naval Academy

The names of two members of the Confederacy should be removed from buildings at the US Naval Academy, the chairman of the academy’s Board of Visitors announced.

Representative CA Dutch Ruppersberger, a Maryland Democrat, said the Pentagon should consider removing Confederate names from all military bases as people across the country protest against racial inequality and police brutality.

“There has been discussion of renaming these buildings since at least 2017,” Ruppersberger said in a statement. “As the new Chairman, the time for discussion is over. It’s time for action.” 

Ruppersberger continued by saying those who qualified to study at the academy should not be forced to “see buildings named for men who fought to uphold slavery and promote white supremacy”.

The academy superintendent’s residence is named after Franklin Buchanan, the academy’s first superintendent who left to join the Confederate Navy at the start of the Civil War.

The academy’s Weapons and Systems Engineering division is housed in Maury Hall, named after Matthew Fontaine Maury. He headed the coast, harbour and river defences for the Confederate Navy.

The Republican-led US Senate Armed Services Committee approved an amendment that would require the Department of Defense to rename military bases named after Confederate generals, setting up a clash with President Donald Trump, who opposes that change.

14:15 GMT – Pentagon chief says he was wrong to accompany Trump on church walk

Army General Mark Milley, the US’s top military officer, said he was wrong to have accompanied President Donald Trump on a walk to a church through Lafayette Square, where he was photographed in his combat uniform with the presidential entourage.

“My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics,” Milley said. “As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it.”

Covering the George Floyd protests as a Black journalist | Between Us

The statement by the Joint Chiefs chairman risked the wrath of a president sensitive to anything hinting of criticism of events he has staged. Trump’s June 1 walk through the park to pose with a Bible at a church came after authorities used pepper spray and flashbangs to clear the park and streets of largely peaceful protesters.

Milley said his presence and the photographs compromised his commitment to a military divorced from politics.

“I should not have been there,” Milley said in prerecorded remarks to a National Defense University commencement ceremony.

14:00 GMT - Fitness company apologises for ‘I can’t breathe’ workout

A health club company has apologised on behalf of a franchisee who posted an “I can’t breathe” workout at its gym in Wisconsin.

Photos of the workout instructions drawn on a dry erase board at Anytime Fitness in the city of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin were shared widely on social media and drawn criticism.

The “I can’t breathe” workout included burpees, or squat thrusts, with the instructions “don’t you dare lay down”. It also showed a person in a kneeling position, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

The company said it was “profoundly sorry” that the workout was posted.

“No matter what the intent, we absolutely do not condone the words, illustrations or actions this represents. One of our publicly-stated commitments to antiracism work is to bolster training efforts for our franchise owners to lead with empathy, love and respect. This incident makes it clear we have more work to do in this space,” a statement from the company read.

The workout instructions at the gym have since been removed.

13:00 GMT - One of four Minneapolis police charged over Floyd‘s death freed on bail

One of the four former Minneapolis police officers who was charged over the death of George Floyd was released on bail on Wednesday.

The former police officer released, Thomas Lane, 37, had been held on $750,000 bail and was freed from Hennepin County jail, sheriff’s office records showed.

All four officers have been fired from the Minneapolis police department.

Catch up on Wednesday’s updates here.



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Free daily horoscope, celeb gossip and lucky numbers for 12 June, 2020

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Free daily horoscope, celeb gossip and lucky numbers for 12 June, 2020

TODAY’S MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE:

Kindness is wisdom. — Phillip J. Bailey

TODAY’S WISDOM FROM AROUND THE WORLD:

When the mouse laughs at the cat there is a hole nearby. — Nigerian Proverb

TODAY’S CHINESE PROVERB:

Married couples tell each other a thousand things without speech.

FOR THOSE OF US BORN ON THIS DAY:

Happy Birthday! The months ahead are likely to start with you feeling as though your confidence is being eroded. You’re likely to feel as though everything you do is not quite right, but this will be your overactive imagination distorting things. Tapping into your musical or artistic skills will help bring you out of this mood. A certain aspect will bring out your more assertive side by the end of August, which will be a good thing. December could prove to be a challenging month, but by the end of the year it’s possible that you’ll be feeling happier, luckier, and more confident. As the New Year starts you will turn your attention to more romantic matters and new relationships are especially well starred at this time!

Want to know what the future holds? Get a FREE tarot card reading.

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY:

Famous people born on your birthday include: Timothy Busfield, Vic Damone, Marv Albert, Jim Nabors, Dakota Morton, Anne Frank, Brigid Brophy, Chick Corea, Ally Sheedy

CELEBRITY GOSSIP:

Elle Fanning has been wowing the public at the Cannes film festival, but unfortunately, the pubic have not been quite so keen on her new movie. The planets do indicate that her next movie will be a return to form though!

ARIES DAILY HOROSCOPE | Mar 21 – Apr 19

The day is likely to bring in a softer vibe, but this may not help those issues and matters that require more vigor. You may well be more inclined than usual to defer to more dynamic types. It may be best to discreetly sit on the metaphorical fence when it comes to a trickier choice!

Todays Numbers:  3, 14, 22, 26, 33, 44

TAURUS DAILY HOROSCOPE | Apr 20 – May 20

It’s certainly a day to move past a moment of pride, since a gently optimistic vibe could help you to bring about a U-turn or reversal of an ongoing plan, but so gracefully it may well be regarded a masterstroke by others. By the same token, don’t reject discreet advice!

Todays Numbers: 1, 8, 17, 23, 35, 45

GEMINI DAILY HOROSCOPE | May 21 – Jun 20

Today may feel a little too lax on a couple of fronts and while you may feel tempted to impose order, you’d be unwise to give in to a desire to control everything. Certain plans and efforts may well develop unanticipated complications. It’ll be best to adjust your methods as you go!

Todays Numbers: 2, 16, 24, 27, 33, 48

CANCER DAILY HOROSCOPE | Jun 21 – Jul 22

The planetary vibe may be a little slippery. You’ll certainly be aware of a right way to deal with blunders and glitches. However; you’ll be less aware of the wrong ways. Be sensitive in particular to a suggestion that you have committed an error: there could be something useful to extract!

Todays Numbers:  5, 11, 22, 34, 38, 43

LEO DAILY HOROSCOPE | Jul 23 – Aug 22

While a gentle Mercury/moon mix hints at gradual changes on a practical/ material level, a separate hint of a romantic event could have you rethinking your priorities. There’s a slight inclination to act impulsively in the face of an unexpected encounter. You may be better off holding back a trace!

Today’s Numbers: 2, 7, 16, 25, 31, 42

VIRGO DAILY HOROSCOPE | Aug 23 – Sep 22

There could be a bolt-from-the-blue with regards to romance and/or the emotional front. Planetary transits may well introduce a little confusion when it comes to matters of the heart. There is a definite ‘maybe/maybe not’ vibe hanging around, but it’s not a day to rush decisions!

Today’s Numbers: 5, 14, 21, 30, 39, 45

LIBRA DAILY HOROSCOPE | Sep 23 – Oct 22

A thought-provoking vibe may cause you to focus on your relationships in general. However, it’s not the best day to ask the sort of questions that could stir up past matters. You may be eager to resolve lingering issues, but you may mishear something and possibly misinterpret too much!

Today’s Numbers: 6, 12, 23, 32, 36, 41

SCORPIO DAILY HOROSCOPE | Oct 23 – Nov 21

A tactful vibe will offer discreet support, especially when it comes to something waiting to be resolved. You should be able to deal fairly easily with a particular individual who may be either difficult to read or just outright awkward. It may be a question of figuring out the right approach!

Today’s Numbers:  5, 14, 25, 28, 33, 47

SAGITTARIUS DAILY HOROSCOPE | Nov 22 – Dec 21

There is such a thing as being a little too spontaneous, given that it’s a day where sensible routes will work better than overly exciting and untested ones. In addition; incoming information could be rather confusing, if not outright contradictory. Avoid making bold statements for now!

Today’s Numbers: 6, 15, 22, 26, 32, 49

CAPRICORN DAILY HOROSCOPE | Dec 22 – Jan 19

It may be one of those days where you may need to adjust your approaches according to the circumstances. Where practical issues may require a discreet approach, emotional matters may require more openness. Be aware that you could send out mixed signals on the romance front without realizing it!

Today’s Numbers: 3, 16, 24, 31, 42, 46

AQUARIUS DAILY HOROSCOPE | Jan 20 – Feb 18

A boost of understated energy, courtesy of a gently spirited vibe, could turn today into a subtly successful one. It’s possible that a minor barrier or obstacle will lift. There may well be something to think about. In addition, something recently said may develop a slightly different angle!

Today’s Numbers:  7, 15, 21, 32, 42, 48

PISCES DAILY HOROSCOPE | Feb 19 – Mar 20

It’s perhaps a day to stay within your comfort zone. Very slight material complications may impact indirectly on work/career issues. Anticipated results and outcomes may drift a little off- course and financial matters may require absolute caution. Risky options should be researched thoroughly!

Today’s Numbers:  9, 14, 17, 22, 38, 46

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Weather forecast, alerts and UVB index for all South African provinces, 12 June 2020

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Weather forecast, alerts and UVB index for all South African provinces, 12 June 2020

Weather data provided by the South African Weather Service. For a detailed forecast of your province, click here.

Weather Warnings

Nil.

Weather Watches

  1. Disruptive snowfalls are expected over the western high grounds of the Western Cape, the southern high grounds of the Northern Cape as well as the southern Drakensberg in the morning.
  2. High seas with wave height in excess of 6m is expected between Cape Columbine and Port Alfred in the morning

Special Weather Advisories

  1. Very cold conditions are expected in places over the eastern parts of the Northern Cape, the Free State,
  2. Severe frost expected over the Free State, in places over the eastern parts of the Northern Cape as well as over the southern parts of the North-West Province Saturday and Sunday.

Gauteng:

Temperature: Morning frost expected in the south, otherwise fine and cold.

The expected UVB Sunburn Index: High

Mpumalanga:

Temperature: Fine and cold to cool.

The expected UVB Sunburn Index: –

Limpopo:

Temperature: Fine and cold to cool but warm in the north-east.

The expected UVB Sunburn Index: –

North-West Province:

Temperature: Partly cloudy in the extreme south-west at first, otherwise fine and cold.

The expected UVB Sunburn Index: –

Free State:

Temperature: Partly cloudy in the west at first, otherwise fine and very cold, but cold in the extreme north-east.

The expected UVB Sunburn Index: –

Northern Cape:

Temperature: Cloudy in the west, otherwise fine and cold but very cold over the southern high ground and eastern parts.

Wind: The wind along the coast will be light and variable becoming light to moderate southeasterly by the afternoon.

The expected UVB Sunburn Index: –

Western Cape:

Temperature: Cloudy and cold with isolated showers along the southwestern and southern coastline, becoming partly cloud to fine from the afternoon over the interior.

Wind: The wind along the coast will be fresh to strong northerly to northwesterly becoming westerly to south westerly along the south coast.

The expected UVB Sunburn Index: Low

Eastern Cape:

The Western half – Temperature: Cloudy and cold with isolated showers becoming scattered along the coast and adjacent interior in the morning, otherwise partly cloudy. Snowfalls expected over high lying areas for the morning.

The Western Half – Wind: The wind along the coast will be fresh to strong westerly.

The Eastern half – Temperature: Cloudy and cold with isolated showers in the south west in the morning, otherwise partly cloudy. Snowfalls expected over high lying areas for the morning.

The Eastern half – Wind: The wind along the coast will be fresh to strong westerly.

The expected UVB Sunburn Index: –

Kwazulu-Natal:

Temperature: Fine and cool but cold in the west and midlands.

Wind: The wind along the coast will be fresh to strong south-westerly moderating in the evening.

The expected UVB Sunburn Index: Moderate.



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A critically ill COVID-19 patient just got a double lung transplant

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A critically ill COVID-19 patient just got a double lung transplant

The successful
transplantation of a donor’s lungs to a severely ill COVID-19 patient may offer
others with irreversibly damaged lungs a means of survival.

A young woman whose lungs
were inflamed and scarred beyond repair because of COVID-19 has received a double lung transplant, doctors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago
said in a news briefing June 11. It’s believed to be the first time this
procedure has been used for a coronavirus patient in the United States. Similar
transplants have been reported in Austria and China.

“If she didn’t get the
transplant, she would not be alive,” said Ankit Bharat, a thoracic surgeon at
Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine who headed the transplant team. It’s
not clear yet how many patients whose lungs are destroyed by the coronavirus
could benefit from this approach, he said.

The Northwestern patient, a
Hispanic woman in her 20s, had no health problems before her infection. Almost
as soon as she had arrived at the hospital she needed help breathing with a
mechanical ventilator, a sign of “how sick her lungs already were,” said
Elizabeth Malsin, a pulmonary and critical care specialist at Northwestern
Memorial Hospital.

A COVID-19 infection can
cause pneumonia, leaving alveoli — the little air sacs that allow the lungs and
the blood to swap oxygen and carbon dioxide — inflamed and filled with fluid.
While some people recover from the pneumonia, others may experience long-lasting lung damage (SN: 4/27/20).
The young woman was in the intensive care unit for about six weeks. But once
she’d finally cleared the virus, the damage unleashed by the virus had obliterated
the alveoli.

“Once the lungs get permanently damaged they just don’t get better,” Bharat says.  “We don’t have enough medications to get them back.” The June 5 double lung transplant took about 10 hours — a few hours longer than is usual — because the dense scarring in the patient’s lungs left them stuck to surrounding structures, Bharat said. But she is improving every day, he said, and has been able to FaceTime with her family. “Yesterday she smiled and told me … ‘Doc, thank you for not giving up on me.’”

This section of a lung from a COVID-19 patient who received a double lung transplant shows damage and scarring beyond recovery. A healthy lung looks like a sponge, with lots of air pockets.Northwestern Medicine

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Microsoft bars facial recognition sales to police

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Microsoft bars facial recognition sales to police

Image copyright
Getty Images

Image caption

A US government study suggested facial recognition algorithms were less accurate at identifying African-American faces

Microsoft has become the latest US company to limit the use of its facial recognition technology by police.

The firm said it would not start sales to US police departments until the country approves national regulation of the technology, which critics say is racially biased and easy to abuse.

Amazon and IBM have already made similar moves.

These followed widespread protests over police brutality and racial discrimination.

Amazon on Wednesday banned police from using its tech for one year, while IBM earlier said it would stop offering the technology for “mass surveillance or racial profiling”.

The American Civil Liberties Union has campaigned against such software for years, warning there is a danger it will be used to for widespread “suspicionless” surveillance.

“Microsoft, Amazon and IBM have finally started to take action. But we still have a long way to go to forever end the over-policing and surveillance of black and brown communities,” the organisation said in a statement.

It called on US lawmakers to order an immediate “pause” on law enforcement use of the technology.

Federal vs local

Firms have been under pressure in recent weeks to respond to the protests triggered by George Floyd’s death in police custody.

Microsoft president Brad Smith said at an event that the firm had not sold to police departments and would not start “until we have a national law in place, grounded in human rights, that will govern this technology”.

Microsoft first called for national regulation more than two years ago, warning that inaction could lead such services to “spread in ways that exacerbate societal issues”.

Companies tend to favour national rules, rather than be forced to deal with a patchwork of local laws.

However, there are some concerns that a national law could be a way to override stricter local regulation.

San Francisco, for example, has already banned facial recognition technology by its police and public agencies.

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Coronavirus updates LIVE: Global COVID-19 cases surpass 7.4 million as Australian death toll stands at 102

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Coronavirus updates LIVE: Global COVID-19 cases surpass 7.4 million as Australian death toll stands at 102

The global death toll from coronavirus has passed 417,000 and there are more than 7.4 million known cases of infection, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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Cambodia’s Hun Sen Says Political Ally Can Develop Untouched Island

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Cambodia’s Hun Sen Says Political Ally Can Develop Untouched Island

Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen has given permission to a powerful senator from Cambodia’s ruling party to develop a part of Koh Kong Krau Island, with the announcement coming just days after a group of activists were blocked by authorities from demanding the island be kept in its pristine state.

Described by environmental activists as “untouched,” the 103-km square island in Koh Kong province is widely known for its beauty and abundant natural resources, including green forests, white sandy beaches, clean sea water, waterfalls, and plentiful wildlife.

The island’s inhabitants consist mostly of sustainable fishermen who rely on the island’s natural resources to earn a living.

Speaking to reporters in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh on Thursday, Koh Kong provincial governor Mithona Puthong said that the Koh Kong SEZ company run by Cambodian People’s Party senator and businessman Ly Young Phat received a license to proceed a year ago, on June 14, 2019.

“I can’t tell  you what the possible [negative] impacts of the investment will be, though, since we are still waiting to learn the results of an Environmental Impact Assessment,” she said.

An impact assessment should have been completed before the government gave approval for the investment project to proceed, though, Puon Keo Reaksmey—an activist with the environmental protection group Mother Nature—said, speaking to RFA.

“I think that this project is far from transparent and is not in line with the law, as it was not required to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment before it received approval for a license,” she said, adding, “This was done in secret, to hide it from the public.”

On Thursday, June 4, the Mother Nature group suspended a campaign calling on the government to protect Koh Kong Krau Island after a group of its activists, mounted first on bicycles and then proceeding on foot, were harassed and threatened with arrest the day before by local authorities.

Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment has meanwhile been silent on the investment, but had earlier accused the Mother Nature activists of concealing an anti-government agenda behind its campaign, claiming that the Ministry has been studying the island in order to put it under legal protection as a national park since 2016.

CPP Senator and Hun Sen ally Ly Yong Phat is already known for controlling large parts of Cambodia’s sugar industry for over a decade, with the powerful tycoon sometimes sending armed military police to burn villagers’ crops and trees and take their land by force, according to a March 2017 report by the news source Politico.

Land disputes are a bitter problem in Cambodia, where rural villagers and urban dwellers alike have been mired in conflicts that a U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia has warned could threaten the country’s stability.

Reported by RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Richard Finney.



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Investors, No Longer in Denial About Grim Outlook, Drive Market Down

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Investors, No Longer in Denial About Grim Outlook, Drive Market Down

At least for a day, reality triumphed over hope on Wall Street.

After a frenzied, almost unstoppable three-month climb that seemed to defy both gravity and logic, the stock market plunged on Thursday, as investors decided they could no longer go on behaving as if the American economy had already recovered from the pandemic.

The signals leading to this moment were hard to ignore, even for the most bullish of investors. Coronavirus infections are rising in 21 states. Congress is divided on extending more aid. And on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell, warned that the depth of the downturn and pace of the recovery remained “extraordinarily uncertain.”

For investors, who often make buying and selling decisions by looking at the future, it was altogether too much.

Stocks suffered their worst drop in nearly three months as the S&P 500 stock index fell 5.9 percent — just days after it had recouped its losses for the year. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped nearly 1,900 points, or 6.9 percent. Oil prices also cratered, reflecting the sudden unease that swept across financial markets.

“Chairman Powell threw a bucket of cold water on the thought that the economy is going to go back to where it was in 2019 any time soon,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak, an asset management firm. He added that the market was “ripe for a pullback anyway.”

The rally that hit a pothole on Thursday began in late March after the Fed signaled that it would create as much new money as needed to steady cratering financial markets, and the federal government provided an economic rescue package worth trillions of dollars. The twin actions reassured investors that the government would not let the bottom fall out of the market, giving them the confidence to begin buying stocks again.

Even as tens of millions of Americans applied for unemployment benefits and the national unemployment rate spiked to its highest level since the Great Depression, the S&P 500 rallied by nearly 45 percent. It was the fastest recovery off a market low for the benchmark index since 1933.

In recent weeks, investors couldn’t stop buying the stocks of companies beaten down by the virus, betting that they would rebound quickly as states reopened. But early data from some states that have eased quarantine restrictions, such as Texas and Arizona, have been worrisome. There has been a resurgence of the virus in those states, even as cases in the United States topped two million. On Wednesday, Texas set a record for hospitalizations — which have increased 42 percent in the state since Memorial Day — for the third consecutive day.

“The idea that Covid is fully behind us, or that a V-shaped recovery is in front of us, were put on hold today,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers in Greenwich, Conn.

Even if the rise in cases doesn’t lead to another large-scale lockdown, analysts say it does dash hopes for a return to a more normal environment over the summer and makes a full rebound in particularly exposed industries less likely. And that dragged down some stocks on Thursday.

“Travel and leisure — call it the epicenter stocks — are the ones getting hit the most,” said King Lip, chief strategist at Baker Avenue, a wealth management firm in San Francisco. The cruise lines Norwegian and Carnival were down 16.5 percent and 15.3 percent on Thursday, while United and American Airlines both tumbled roughly 16 percent. Boeing plunged 16.4 percent.

  • Updated June 5, 2020

    • Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?

      So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.

    • How does blood type influence coronavirus?

      A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.

    • How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

      The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

    • Will protests set off a second viral wave of coronavirus?

      Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.

    • How do we start exercising again without hurting ourselves after months of lockdown?

      Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, “start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid,” says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. “When you haven’t been exercising, you lose muscle mass.” Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home.

    • My state is reopening. Is it safe to go out?

      States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

    • What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?

      Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

    • What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

      Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

    • How can I protect myself while flying?

      If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

    • Should I wear a mask?

      The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

    • What should I do if I feel sick?

      If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

Stocks of smaller companies also plummeted on Thursday, with the Russell 2000 index of such companies dropping 7.6 percent. The prospect of another economic slump also hit petroleum prices, with benchmark American crude oil slipping more than 8 percent. The energy sector was the worst-performing part of the stock market, falling 9.5 percent. The natural gas pipeline company Oneok and the oil and gas producer Occidental were both down about 16 percent.

Some of the companies had recently pulled in opportunistic traders hoping the ride the wave, analysts said. But on Thursday, the high-volume sell-off in their shares suggested those speculators were dumping their holdings.

The market may well rebound, as markets tend to do. But analysts see bumps ahead, especially around the passing of another stimulus bill. With the presidential elections just months away, partisan dynamics make it less likely that Congress will be able to approve another large rescue package.

Some on Wall Street even think that the performance of the stock market would have to be much worse than Thursday’s drop — and the economic conditions far more dire — for policymakers like President Trump, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Mitch McConnell to band together and act.

“Thinking Pelosi and McConnell and Trump are all going to come together, it will only happen if the news is really, really bad,” said Michael Purves, the chief executive officer at Tallbacken Capital Advisors, a financial market research firm.

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Iggy Azalea Reveals: ‘I Have A Son’

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Iggy Azalea Reveals: ‘I Have A Son’

“I have a son,” Iggy Azalea revealed on Wednesday.

The Australian rapper didn’t give the boy’s name, explaining that she wanted to maintain some privacy.

“I kept waiting for the right time to say something but it feels like the more time passes the more I realise I’m always going to feel anxious to share news that giant with the world,” she wrote on her Instagram story, per Today and other outlets.

“I want to keep his life private but wanted to make it clear he is not a secret & I love him beyond words.”

The “Fancy” singer, age 30, gave no other details.

Azalea, whose birth name is Amethyst Amelia Kelly, has been dating American rapper Playboi Carti since 2018.

The performer dismissed rumors in April that she had welcomed her first child, according to Entertainment Tonight Canada. “It would be so great if you stopped paying any mind to random tea pages,” she tweeted.



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