The News & Observer
Hurricane Florence slows as it smacks the Carolinas. It may make the danger last longer
Hurricane-force winds are approaching North Carolina as Category 2 Florence reaches the coast.
The National Hurricane Center said sustained hurricane-force winds were hitting Cape Lookout as of 9 p.m. Thursday, and that hurricane conditions are spreading.
The center of Florence — now 300 miles wide — will move over southern North Carolina later today, and is expected to make “a slow motion over eastern South Carolina” Friday night through Saturday, the NHC reported. […]
“Florence is a tremendously large hurricane,” the NHC said. “Hurricane-force winds (74-95 mph) extend outward up to 80 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds (39 to 73 mph) extend outward up to 195 miles.”
OpEd: Climate change is making storms worse. The media needs to report that.
With Hurricane Florence bearing down on the Carolinas, our attention is focused where it needs to be — evacuating the coast, stocking our shelves, and making plans to keep our families safe. But while we do those things, we should be aware that this storm, like others, is partially of our creating.
Climate change has changed the way that scientists conceive of extreme events like hurricanes. There no longer are pure “Acts of Nature,” but through climate change, human activities have some role in altering the weather system. We now must assess the probabilities of extreme events, how those probabilities have changed in a warming world, and how they will change in the future.
But the press is generally reluctant to talk in these terms.
Los Angeles Times
Trump administration expresses little concern after closing of anti-corruption body in Guatemala
A robust anti-corruption agency, seen as a model for Latin America, was created 12 years ago in Guatemala with strong U.S. support, and notched up an enviable record.
The Commission Against Impunity has prosecuted and jailed a former president, vice president, and hundreds of corrupt police officials, politicians and businessmen.
But Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales announced on Aug. 31 that he was shutting the acclaimed commission, citing vague national security concerns. The panel was investigating Morales for possible campaign fraud.
International outrage was swift — but not from the White House.
As Hurricane Florence approaches, environmental disasters in North Carolina loom
Whipping winds and surging ocean waters won’t be the only threats from Hurricane Florence, which is expected to make landfall in North Carolina on Friday.
Rain and rising floodwaters could swamp coal ash basins and hog waste lagoons, washing the byproduct of the state’s industries into rivers and lakes. Environmentalists warn of toxic chemicals, bacteria and other dangers.
The Seattle Times
Mountain goat relocation begins in Olympic National Park
Dangling from a rope beneath a helicopter and wearing blindfolds, the three mountain goats descended slowly from the air into the bed of a pickup truck. A flurry of people wearing medical gloves and helmets guided the goats and gently pinned them down.
Earlier, the wild animals had been shot with either a dart or a net fired from a gun. Then, a handler known as a mugger jumped from the helicopter, calmed the animals and attached them to a sling to fly from the park’s Bailey Range to Hurricane Ridge, where a crew of veterinarians and volunteers had gathered.
The goats are among the first to be removed from the mountain range as part of an effort to rid the Olympics of the nonnative ungulates that national park officials believe ruin park vegetation and pose a threat to visitors.
The Guardian
Volkswagen to stop making its classic Beetle next year
Volkswagen will stop making the Beetle car next year, ending nearly seven decades of production, the company has announced.
The company’s American unit said it would halt output at its plant in Mexico after making two special edition models of the third-generation bulbous bug in July 2019.
The compact Beetle was introduced in Germany in 1938 during the Nazi era and came to the US 11 years later, where it became a symbol of utilitarian transportation often used by hippies.
No-deal Brexit could be as bad as 2008 financial crash, Carney says
The governor of the Bank of England has warned the cabinet that the impact of a no-deal Brexit could be as catastrophic as the financial crisis that crippled the UK economy a decade ago.
During a special cabinet meeting on Thursday to discuss preparations for the UK crashing out of the union, Mark Carney told Theresa May and her senior ministers of the potentially dire economic consequences of leaving on poor terms.
Cabinet sources said he painted a bleak economic picture of unemployment reaching double figures in percentage terms, house prices falling by 25-35% over three years, and transport links with the EU, including air travel and the Eurostar, stalling.
No 10 calls Salisbury suspects' interview 'blatant lies'
An extraordinary interview with the two men identified as suspects in the Salisbury nerve agent attack prompted an angry Downing Street to accuse Russia of responding with contempt and allowing “lies and blatant fabrications” to be aired on a state-funded broadcaster.
The UK government ratcheted up the criticism after the duo accused of poisoning five Britons – and killing one of them – had appeared on broadcaster Russia Today to claim they had been in Salisbury to visit a cathedral which they described as “famous for its 123-metre spire”. […]
Downing Street responded a few hours later. The prime minister’s official spokesman said that the interview contained “lies and blatant fabrications” that “are an insult to the public’s intelligence”. He added: “More importantly, they are deeply offensive to the victims and loved ones of this horrific attack.”
Canadian Press
Interspecies friendship blooms as young narwhal swims with St. Lawrence belugas
The head of a marine research group says a young narwhal that has been spotted swimming with belugas in the St. Lawrence River appears to be just another member of the pod.
Robert Michaud says the wayward arctic mammal was first spotted in 2016 swimming with a group of juvenile belugas in the river, some 1,000 kilometres south of its usual range.
Drone footage captured by the research group earlier this summer confirmed the narwhal is still with the same group and was playing and interacting with them just like any other beluga.
Michaud says the interspecies friendship is rare but not surprising, given that the two species are closely related and have similar habits.
Reuters
U.S. Congress aim to delay border wall funding fight until December
U.S. Congress negotiators on Thursday moved to put off until after the Nov. 6 elections decisions on future funding for… Trump’s multibillion-dollar southwest border wall, as lawmakers advanced legislation funding many other government programs.
Racing against a Sept. 30 deadline when the current fiscal year ends, Republicans and Democrats were showing unusual cooperation in trying to fund most federal agency functions and avoid an embarrassing government shutdown about a month before congressional elections.
A trio of massive spending bills were making their way through Congress to fund military, energy and a range of other programs that otherwise would run out of money on Oct. 1.
U.S. energy secretary to Russia: joint work could help market stability
U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry told his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak in Moscow on Thursday that Washington and Moscow could work together as leading energy producers to ensure global market stability, in remarks made in front of reporters.
Costa Rica strikes, marches against tax plan, testing new president
Thousands of Costa Ricans kept up a fourth day of marches and a wide public workers strike on Thursday to protest a proposed fiscal reform, dealing their center-left president his first major test since taking office in May.
President Carlos Alvarado, 38, won a run-off election against a conservative rival in one of Central America’s most stable nations, known for its eco-tourism.
He called for dialogue with protesters this week and on Thursday met with University of Costa Rica representatives, saying he aimed to reach agreements.
BBC News
Lehman anniversary: The five most surprising consequences
In the decade since the recession, American women had 4.8 million fewer babies than demographers were expecting. […]
Americans born in the mid-1980s have accumulated 34% less wealth than predicted based on previous generations, the St Louis Federal Reserve found. […]
Just two out of five millennials are invested in the stock market. And even those of us who do invest have ventured only about $7,000, according to the Federal Reserve. […]
The homeownership rate of millennials between the ages of 25 and 34 was 37% in 2015 - 8% lower than that of prior generations, according to the Urban Institute. […]
Just 19% of millennials agree with the statement that "generally speaking, most people can be trusted" - compared to 31% for the generation before us, and 40% for our parents' generation, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Brazil meeting votes to protect world's whale population
Members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) have voted to back a Brazilian proposal to give indefinite protection for the world's whale population, following an angry debate.
The non-binding "Florianopolis Declaration" sees whaling as no longer being a necessary economic activity.
The proposal was backed by 40 members with 27 voting against. Pro-whaling states, including Japan, Norway and Iceland, rejected the resolution.
Ars Technica
Here are your 2018 Ig Nobel Prize winners
Ever wondered why so many people don't read instruction manuals, or how many calories are in the human body? Or whether stabbing a voodoo doll representing your horrible boss with pins could help reduce workplace tension? The winners of this year's Ig Nobel Prizes have got you covered. These and other unusual research topics were honored tonight in a ceremony at Harvard University's Sanders Theater.
A quick simulation of Hurricane Florence done without climate change
On Wednesday, we saw the first example of something new—an analysis published before the event even happened. A group led by Stony Brook University’s Kevin Reed ran a very simple computer model experiment on Hurricane Florence—which isn’t due to make landfall until Friday—and quickly released the top-line results. […]
The modeled hurricane clearly stays stronger when simulated under current-day conditions, but it’s also larger. The diameter of the storm is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) greater than in the cooler simulation, which would translate into higher storm surge flooding on the coast.
Russian man pleads guilty, admits he ran notorious Kelihos botnet
The man federal prosecutors say operated the Kelihos botnet has now pleaded guilty.
During a hearing in federal court in Hartford, Connecticut, on Wednesday, Peter Yuryevich Levashov admitted guilt in one count of causing intentional damage to a protected computer, one count of conspiracy, one count of wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft.
The 38-year-old Russian’s botnet, which dated back to 2010, spanned more than 10,000 machines and was primarily used to send out spam, steal logins, distribute ransomware, and more. Federal authorities shut it down in 2017.