All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

‘Invisible killer’: fossil fuels caused 8.7m deaths globally in 2018, research finds

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Pollution from power plants, vehicles and other sources accounted for one in five of all deaths that year, more detailed analysis reveals

Air pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil was responsible for 8.7m deaths globally in 2018, a staggering one in five of all people who died that year, new research has found.

Countries with the most prodigious consumption of fossil fuels to power factories, homes and vehicles are suffering the highest death tolls, with the study finding more than one in 10 deaths in both the US and Europe were caused by the resulting pollution, along with nearly a third of deaths in eastern Asia, which includes China. Death rates in South America and Africa were significantly lower.

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Olympic committee condemns president’s remarks about women as volunteers quit

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Yoshiro Mori of Tokyo organising committee under growing pressure to step down as anger grows

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has condemned derogatory remarks about women by the head of the Tokyo 2020 Games organising committee, Yoshiro Mori, as “absolutely inappropriate”.

The unusually strong intervention came after Mori complained last week that meetings tended to drag on because “competitive” women in attendance “talked too much”.

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Squawking bird blows the whistle on fake video trying to tilt Ecuador election | Ecuador | The Guardian

The pale-browed tinamou, whose call could be heard on the video, is not native to Colombia, where the footage was purportedly shot. “Tinamous are quite primitive birds. They live on the forest floor and they don’t sing; they have short, inflected whistles,” said Sánchez. “It was just luck that this particular species lives in a very small and rare dry forest ecosystem in western Ecuador and north-west Peru.” Although the ELN have previously operated in northern Ecuador, there is no record of activity in those ecosystem areas.

Spelling mistakes, strange accents and unlikely weaponry further undermined the authenticity of the video, which emerged after the Colombian weekly magazine Semana claimed it had uncovered documents showing ELN support for Arauz. The ELN denies the claim and disavowed the video.

Source: Squawking bird blows the whistle on fake video trying to tilt Ecuador election | Ecuador | The Guardian

Tesla’s $1.5 billion Bitcoin bet sends cryptocurrency to record high

He returns to his true nature – sales spoofer. He will be fine when bit coin collapses but many will lose fortunes that never existed in addition to the real money they invested in nothing but hoped for riches.

News that electric carmaker #Tesla has bought $1.5 billion worth of #Bitcoin, and that will start accepting payments in the cryptocurrency, sent its price to record highs. Bitcoin was trading over $47,000 early on Tuesday, according to the website Coindesk. Also today, we look at the boardroom battle for French waste and water giant Suez. Its rival Veolia launched a hostile takeover bid on Monday, after months of wrangling with the company’s board. France’s finance minister has called on the markets regulator to investigate.

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Aid convoy reaches Central African Republic capital after 50-day blockade

An convoy on Monday reached #Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, after a 50-day blockade by #rebels who had cut off the city’s lifeline, the #UN said. FRANCE 24’s Clément Di Roma tells us more.

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