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Hurricane Havoc
Hurricane Fiona has been wreaking havoc throughout the Caribbean, leaving 1 million people without running water in the Dominican Republic, slashing power lines in Puerto Rico and leaving millions without electricity, and then slamming into Turks and Caicos on Tuesday.
By Tuesday it had strengthened into a major hurricane, a Category 3 with sustained winds of more than 111 mph. Its heavy rains were threatening “life-threatening flooding” through afternoon in the Turks and Caicos.
At least four people have died from the severe weather, including one in the French territory of Guadeloupe, into which Fiona slammed late last week; two in Puerto Rico; and one in the Dominican Republic, according to officials.
In Puerto Rico, a 58-year-old man was swept away by a swollen river behind his home in Comerío and another man in his 30s died in a fire accident that occurred while he was trying to put gasoline in his generator while it was turned on, officials said.
Running water is a major concern for those in the Dominican Republic. As of Monday, at least 1,018,564 customers there had no access to running water as 59 aqueducts were out of service and several others were only partially functioning, according to Jose Luis German Mejia, a national emergency management official.
Some were also without electricity as 10 electric circuits went offline, emergency management officials said.
Fiona is the first major hurricane – Category 3 or higher – of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season.
People in these countries still remember the catastrophe wrought by Hurricane Maria, when it made landfall five years ago. Still, some are saying that Fiona could be even worse.
In Puerto Rico, more than 1.18 million of the island’s roughly 1.47 million utility customers still were without power as of early Tuesday. It will be days before power is restored.
Many of those without power also have no water, as rain and flooding impacting filtration systems left only about 35% of customers with water service as of Monday.
Typhoon Slams Japan
Typhoon Nanmadol made landfall on Sunday evening onto Japan’s southernmost island of Kyushu, cutting off power to hundreds of thousands and leading to the deaths of at least two people. One person died when his car filled with water; another perished in a mudslide.
Nanmadol registered as one of the strongest typhoons Japan has ever seen, according to the World Meteorological Association.
More than 300,000 households across southwestern Japan have been left without power, prompting local authorities to issue a “special warning” urging residents to seek shelter from the powerful storm.
By Monday evening, parts of Kyushu, Shikoku island and the region of Chugoku experienced rainfall of more than 200 millimeters in 24 hours, with several places breaking records for the most rainfall on a September day. Shikoku’s Yanase saw more than 400 mm of rain.
Officials were warning residents of a “large-scale disaster” due to extensive flooding and landslides, urging them to seek shelter in sturdy buildings or move to higher ground.
Nanmadol is the 14th typhoon Japan has experienced this year and comes after the country grappled with record setting heatwaves in June that caused massive power outages to millions of residents in the capital Tokyo and high numbers of heatstroke among the vulnerable elderly.
14 Nanmadol is expected to travel to central Japan toward Tokyo over the coming days and will maintain much The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 22, 2022 of its strength as it moves, experts warned. Ferries and bullet train services, as well as hundreds of flights, have been canceled across the country due to the dangerous weather. Protests in Iran
Police in Iran have shot and killed at least five people during protests that have been rocking the country. At least 75 others were injured. The protests stem from the death of Mahsa Amini, who was being held in police custody and then died.
Amini, 22, had been arrested by Iran’s morality police last Tuesday.
Officials say she died on Friday after suffering a “heart attack” and then falling into a coma. Her family says she did not suffer from a heart condition.
Edited security camera footage released by Iran’s state media appeared to show Amini collapsing at a “re-education” center where she was taken to receive “guidance” on her attire.
The UN’s Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif issued a statement on Tuesday expressing alarm at “the violent response by [Iranian] security forces” to the demonstrations.
The governor of Tehran, Mohsen Mansouri, has accused the protesters of attacking police and destroying public property, claiming in a Twitter post late Monday that the protesters were “fully organized and trained to create disturbances in Tehran.”
Iran’s morality police are part of the country’s law enforcement and are tasked with enforcing the strict social rules of the Islamic Republic, including its dress code that mandates women wear a headscarf, or hijab, in public.
According to the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), the morality police have expanded street patrols in recent months and have been subjecting women perceived to be wearing “loose hijab” to verbal and physical harassment and arrest. “Meanwhile in the Middle East” Newsletter.
“(OHCHR) has received numerous, and verified, videos of violent treatment of women, including slapping women across the face, beating them with batons and throwing them into police vans,” it said.
Amini’s death have sparked an outrage of protest across the country. The UN said thousands of people have taken to the streets in cities including Tehran, Isfahan, Karaj, Mashhad, Rasht, Saqqes and Sanandaj to demand justice and accountability.
Earthquake Shakes Mexico
On Monday, a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked the southwestern coast of Mexico, killing at least one person. Tremors were reported as far away as Mexico City.
The epicenter was located in Michoacan state, which is home to very few people.
One person lost his life in a shopping center in Manzanillo in the western state of Colima after a fence fell, President López Obrador said on social media, citing José Rafael Ojeda Durán, Secretary of the Navy.
After the quake, there were warnings of a tsunami, although that threat seems to have passed peacefully.
Still, waves reaching up to 3 meters (9.8 feet) were earlier predicted to hit Mexico and occur along the Pacific coasts of Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Peru.
Just five years ago, in 2017, an earthquake had hit Mexico City, killing 216 people.
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Ghana: No More Marburg Virus
This week, Ghana declared the end of an outbreak of Marburg virus, a highly infectious disease similar to Ebola, that was confirmed in July, the president’s office said.
Ghana’s Marburg outbreak was the second in West Africa. The first ever case of the virus was detected last year in Guinea, with no further cases identified.
“The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has officially declared Ghana free from the Marburg virus disease outbreak that was confirmed nearly two months ago,” the presidency tweeted on Monday.
Ghana’s government confirmed its first outbreak of the disease on July 17.
Three cases have been confirmed in total, of which two were fatal. The third was asymptomatic, and the person recovered. Marburg outbreaks since 1967, mostly in southern and eastern Africa. Fatality rates have varied from 24% to 88% in past outbreaks depending on the virus strain and case management, according to the World Health Organization. The host of the virus is the African fruit bat. Those infected develop fever, chills, muscle aches, and a rash.
Tragedy on Quarantine Bus
Twenty-seven people died and another 20 were injured on Sunday when a bus carrying people being quarantined for Covid overturned on a mountain road in southern China. The bus was an official government bus used for transporting people to isolation centers.
China has maintained a strict “zero Covid” policy, putting multiple regions in and out of lockdowns over the last two years. The measures have resulted in extreme situations, such as, in one instance, requiring 20,000 Shanghai bankers to sleep at the office for a number of days amid a breakout.
In June, President Xi Jinping held firm to his commitment to the policy despite considerable economic strain.
In contrast, on Sunday, President Joe Biden declare the pandemic “over.”
Organic Matter on Mars
The Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars 18 months ago, has been finding samples of organic matter near the Jezero Crater, which may have held a lake and a delta many, many years ago on the Red Planet. These samples may help scientists determine if humans ever lived on the planet.
“The rocks that we have been investigating on the delta have the highest concentration of organic matter that we
18 have yet found on the mission,” said Ken Farley, Perseverance project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 22, 2022 Pasadena. The rover’s mission includes looking for signs of ancient microbial life. Perseverance is collecting rock samples that could have preserved these telltale biosignatures. Currently, the rover contains 12 rock samples. A series of missions called Mars Sample Return will eventually take the collection back to Earth in the 2030s. The site of the delta makes Jezero Crater, which spans 28 miles (45 kilometers), of particularly high interest to NASA scientists. The fan-shaped geological feature, once present where a river converged with a lake, preserves layers of Martian history in sedimentary rock, which formed when particles fused together in this formerly water-filled environment.
The rover investigated the crater floor and found evidence of igneous, or volcanic, rock. During its second campaign to study the delta over the past five months, Perseverance has found rich sedimentary rock layers that add more to the story of Mars’ ancient climate and environment.
“The delta, with its diverse sedimentary rocks, contrasts beautifully with the igneous rocks – formed from crystallization of magma – discovered on the crater floor,” Farley said.
Organic molecules are of interest on Mars because they represent the building blocks of life, such as carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, as well as nitrogen, phosphorous and sulfur.
Perseverance, as well as the Curiosity rover, had previously found organic matter on Mars. This time, though, it is in a different area on the planet.
Since February, Ukrainians have been battling Russian forces for their lives. This week, Ukraine made a successful offensive through most of occupied Kharkiv, capturing more territory in one month than Russia has nabbed in five months. The move has galvanized Ukraine’s Western backers as much as it has led to recriminations in Moscow. But what is Putin going to do?
As winter is fast approaching, it is imperative for Russia to prioritize its forces. Will it double down on the Donetsk and Luhansk regions? The Russians currently hold about 20% of Ukrainian land, including Crimea and parts of the south.
Taking Donetsk is a taller order now for the Russians. Seven months of war have shown the shortcomings in Russian logistics, which will get no easier in wetter, colder weather.
Russian forces are feeling squeezed in Kherson, as Ukrainian forces cut off resupply across the River Dnipro and target command posts.
Both sides are seeing issues with personnel. Many of Russia’s fighters are volunteers, and battalions have faced heavy losses. Ukraine has also lost thousands of soldiers, including many from its best units in Donbas.
Ultimately, Ukraine’s battlefield success will depend on a continuing and expanded supply of Western hardware. Meetings in the next few weeks will determine what’s in that pipeline, but inventories in several countries are dwindling.
Western nations – including the United States – are concerned that Ukraine will fight back too hard, in some cases, against Russia, using longer-range rockets than necessary to hit far into Russia. As such, the U.S. has so far resisted Ukrainian requests for long-range Army Tactical Missile Sys-
