World ‘moves’ to Tanzania as solar eclipse occurs today

TANZANIANS and other international visitors will today witness the annular solar eclipse that will be witnessed in Rujewa and Wang’ing’ombe in Mbeya and Njombe regions respectively.

The two areas, according to astronomy experts, are the best sites for viewing the rare event in which the sun’s disk will change to a ring.

Experts say that the next eclipse in Tanzania is expected to occur after 15 years, thus this global astronomical event is expected to attract a number of scientists, researchers, celebrities and eclipse chasers within and outside the country.

The regional commissioners of the two regions in which the fascinating event will take place have guaranteed security for both local and international guests who will be visiting the areas.

Mbeya Regional Commissioner (RC) Mr Amos Makalla told the ‘Daily News’ yesterday that important measures have been put in place to ensure that people who will be visiting Rujewa in Mbarali District are safe and have access to basic needs from the area.

“Since this historical event will attract local and international visitors, the regional government has taken initiatives to upgrade infrastructures at the area to allow the visitors to enjoy their tour,” Mr Makalla said.

He called upon students across the country to visit Rujewa and witness the historical event which will be useful in their studies. “Students have been learning about solar eclipse theoretically, thus this event is an important opportunity for them to witness how it occurs.”

Mr Makalla noted that the last solar eclipse occurred in the country in 1977 while after the September 1 event the next solar eclipse will be expected to take place in 2035. “The regional leadership is committed to ensure that this event is successful and people returned to their homes safely,” Mr Makalla insisted.

On her part, Njombe Regional Commissioner (RC), Dr Rehema Nchimbi, said that although there have been several events of solar eclipse, but experts describe the one to take place today as historical, because the moon will cover the sun’s disk by between 95 per cent and 99 per cent.

“Although the solar eclipse will also be witnessed in other few areas, experts have identified Wang’ing’ombe in my region and Rujewa in Mbeya as the sites where solar eclipse will be clearly witnessed,” Ms Nchimbi said.

She said that her region has taken measures to create friendly environment for both local and international visitors including their safety. The RC said that as part of promoting domestic tourism, her office in collaboration with other authorities in the region had also conducted campaigns to attract more Tanzanians including students to take part in witnessing the astronomical phenomenon.

According to Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB), the annual solar eclipse will occur from 10:17am to 1:56pm where people in Tanzania will witness first-hand the sun go evening-dim at midday as more than 90 per cent of the sun will be covered by the moon in a partial solar eclipse leaving the sun as a thin crescent.

TTB said the annual eclipse will be seen as a thin bright ring for hundreds of thousands of people living within a 100 kilometre band crossing Southern Tanzania from Congo into Katavi, Mbeya, Ruvuma, to Masasi and out to Mozambique.

Addressing reporters recently, the TTB Acting Managing Director, Mr Philip Chitaunga, said the unique event is crucial for the board to market tourists attractions in the country, particularly in the Southern Highlands. He said that the event can be exploited by students and teachers to learn about the occurrence of annual solar eclipses, which is taught theoretically in schools.

Osama bin Laden’s Son Threatens Revenge Against U.S. For Father’s Assassination

Hamza bin Laden also promised to continue the group’s fight against the United States and its allies.

The son of slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has threatened revenge against the United States for assassinating his father, according to an audio message posted online. Hamza bin Laden promised to continue the global militant group’s fight against the United States and its allies in the 21-minute speech entitled “We Are All Osama,” according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

“We will continue striking you and targeting you in your country and abroad in response to your oppression of the people of Palestine, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and the rest of the Muslim lands that did not survive your oppression,” Hamza said.

“As for the revenge by the Islamic nation for Sheikh Osama, may Allah have mercy on him, it is not revenge for Osama the person but it is revenge for those who defended Islam.”

Osama bin Laden was killed at his Pakistani hideout by U.S. commandos in 2011 in a major blow to the militant group which carried out the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Documents recovered from bin Laden’s compound and published by the United States last year alleged that his aides tried to reunite the militant leader with Hamza, who had been held under house arrest in Iran.Hamza, now in his mid-twenties, was at his father’s side in Afghanistan before the 9/11 attacks and spent time with him in Pakistan after the U.S.-led invasion pushed much of al Qaeda’s senior leadership there, according to the Brookings Institution. Introduced by the organization’s new chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in an audio message last year, Hamza provides a younger voice for the group whose aging leaders have struggled to inspire militants around the world galvanized by Islamic State.

“Hamza provides a new face for al Qaeda, one that directly connects to the group’s founder. He is an articulate and dangerous enemy,” according to Bruce Riedel of Brookings.

   

NASA’s Spacecraft Juno Begins Orbit Of Jupiter

 Five years and hundreds of millions of miles later, Juno is in orbit.

UPDATE: 11:54 p.m. ET — “Welcome to Jupiter!”

After a tense, 35-minute engine burn, NASA’s Juno spacecraft successfully began its orbit of Jupiter late Monday evening, the pivotal moment of the space agency’s five-year long venture to reach the planet.

Hundreds of millions of miles away, the $1.1 billion mission all hung on a single 35-minute engine burn — a maneuver that slowed the spacecraft during its final approach and allowed the craft to sink into orbit around the solar system’s largest planet.

“Jupiter is spectacular from afar and will be absolutely breathtaking from close up,” Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, said in a statement ahead of Monday night’s events.

The solar-powered spacecraft entered the gas giant’s dangerous orbit Monday, just seconds behind schedule, to raucous applause from those gathered at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

NASA reported less than an hour later that Juno had turned its solar panels towards the sun for power, the last crucial move undertaken during the initial phase of the orbit.

The 35-minute engine burn, which began at 11:18 p.m. EST, slowed Juno by 1,212 mph, enough so it could be captured by the planet’s gravitational pull. Still, Juno was traveling some 130,000 mph before it reached Jupiter.

“We’ve only got one shot,” Guy Beutelschies, director of space exploration systems at Lockheed Martin, the company that built and operates Juno, told NPR. “If we miss this flyby, we’re assuming the mission’s over.” But the Fourth of July arrival proved successful.

Now, Juno will continue a lengthy dance with Jupiter, circling the giant planet 37 times over a 20-month period and swinging as close as 2,600 miles of the planet’s cloud tops, NASA said. It will mark the first time a spacecraft has orbited Jupiter’s poles, NASA added, “providing new answers to ongoing mysteries about the planet’s core, composition and magnetic fields.”

The mission is also expected to provide scientists with a better understanding of our solar system as a whole.  “It just so happens, deep inside this body are the secrets we’re after,” a voice-over says in the NASA video below. “Secrets about our early solar system.” The heavily armored spacecraft has been built to withstand the planet’s extreme, radiation-rich environment. But the costly mission is full of unknowns. 

“When you sail into terra incognita, that is always going to make you sit on the edge of your seat, because you don’t really know for sure what you’re facing,” Heidi Becker of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory told National Geographic.   Juno is expected to begin scientific observations following a final engine burn on Oct. 19, after a lengthy phase in which the spacecraft will be captured in the planet’s orbit and all scientific instruments will be turned on. The spacecraft is set to meet a fiery death when it burns up in Jupiter’s atmosphere in February 2018.
For more information about the Juno mission, visit its NASA page.

DALLAS HORROR: 11 COPS SHOT BY ‘SNIPERS’

*At least 11 police officers and 1 civilian have been shot in Dallas.*Officials said two snipers carried out an “ambush-style” attack.*Police are negotiating with one suspect who is still exchanging gunfire with them. *Gunfire first broke out during a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest.

Snipers shot and killed four police officers “ambush-style” after a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas Thursday night, according to Dallas police. At least seven other police officers and one civilian were also injured in the shooting.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown said early Friday morning three suspects were in custody and police were still in negotiations with another suspect, who was being uncooperative and at times exchanging gunfire with officers in a parking garage.

“He told negotiators that the end is coming, and he is going to hurt and kill more of us,” Brown said at a press conference, noting the man had also claimed there were bombs around the structure. “We are being very careful in our tactics so that we don’t injure any of our officers in harm’s way.”

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings added that downtown Dallas would still be considered “an active crime scene” going into Friday, and urged people to check the city’s news updates on which areas to avoid. The FAA also temporarily instituted a temporary flight restriction over the area.

Police said earlier in the night that one suspect had been taken into custody following a shootout with Dallas SWAT officers, and the bomb squad was securing a “suspicious package” found near him. A “person of interest” whose photo DPD had initially circulated turned himself in, according to the department. All signs pointed to the demonstration having been peaceful throughout the evening. The DPD Twitter account included posts about “men, women, boys and girls” gathered in solidarity, while other photos show officers posing with marchers, including a state senator.

Dramatic video of the shooting shows dozens of officers converging on several buildings in downtown Dallas, including a parking garage. In another, several shotscan be heard ringing out as sirens blare in the background.Rev. Jeff Hood, an organizer of the rally, told the Dallas Morning News he was at the front of the protest with an officer before he heard “what sounded like six to eight shots.” “I saw people scramble,” Hood said. “The officer ran towards the shots, I ran away from the shots trying to get people off the streets, and I was grabbing myself to see if I was shot.” Mayor Rawlings said it was “heartbreaking” to lose the four officers. “To say that our police officers put the life on the line everyday is no hyperbole, it is a reality,” he said in the press conference early Friday morning. “We as a city, we as a country, must come together, lock arms and heal the wounds that we all feel from time to time. Words matter. Leadership matters at this time.”In a statement, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said his thoughts and prayers were with the victims, and added, “In times like these we must remember ― and emphasize ― the importance of uniting as Americans.” Earlier Thursday, hundreds had gathered in cities across the country to protest the recent police shootings of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old killed outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile, who was shot during a traffic stop in Minnesota.

 Demonstrators were carrying signs and chanting “no justice no peace” and “hands up, don’t shoot” ― common refrains of the Black Lives Matter movement against police brutality.

Nurse arrested after having sex with dead bodies

Morgue illustration

A nurse was arrested and charged after he was caught having sex with dead bodies at a hospital, according to press reports in California.

The nurse in California, was charged with necrophilia after being caught committing a sexual act with a dead woman.

61-year-old Alejandro Razo was arrested Sunday at the Sherman Oaks Hospital, where he works. Security guards called police after they discovered that a deceased patient had somehow been violated by an employee of the hospital, Los Angeles Police Department Lieutenant Andy Neiman said.

It is still unclear how the suspect was captured, but he was charged with necrophilia and hit with a
violation of a Health and Safety Code.

"It is a very delicate case because you're dealing with someone who is deceased, a loved one of someone who really could not even defend herself, so it is our duty to fight for them," Neiman said.

Committing necrophilia was not a crime in California until 2004. Razo faces up to three years in prison if convicted.

He reportedly paid a $20,000 bond, in order to be free pending the outcome of his trial.

What causes a person to be attracted to dead bodies? Read all about it in this necrophilia article in Wikipedia.

12-year-old girl wins $256,000 lawsuit against her mother

Faith Varden-Carberry

A 12-year-old girl who sued her mother, won $256,000 - according to court proceedings.

Faith Varden-Carberry, who sued her parents and the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland, has been awarded $256,000 following the car accident that killed her younger sister Ava and friend Michaela Logan, in 2007.

The settlement agreement was reached in the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Varden-Carberry, originally from Longford, sued her parents and MIBI through her grandfather Anthony Carberry.

In 2007, Mary Carberry, an alcoholic, blacked out drunk while driving with three children in her car. The younger sister, Ava, who was 6 years old at the time, and her friend Michaela Logan, died after the car went off the road and crashed into a muddy embankment outside Edgeworthstown, Co Longford.

Faith, wearing a seatbelt in the back seat, suffered severe physical and emotional trauma. She was confined to a spinal cast for two months, and went through months of therapy to help her cope with the tragedy.

Mary Carberry had been excluded from driving at the time of the accident, resulting from a previous conviction. However, with two young daughters, she needed a way to get to and from school. Carberry had her daughters ask their father Thomas Varden, whom Mary had little or no relation to, for help. 

Varden agreed to buy a car for the family on the condition that Mary did not drive it. However, Mary Carberry did not adhere to the condition, and ultimately caused the death of the two young children.

While young Faith had brought charges against her father as well, they were later dropped, leaving only her mother and MIBI responsible. Mary Carberry was sentenced to six years in prison with two years suspended, and MIBI was found by the court on Wednesday that they were responsible for a payment of $256,000 to Faith.

Dog helps woman give birth

A dog in a hospital illustration

Pets all over the world are a major part of family life. 

Now, a pregnant woman was allowed to take her dog to a hospital to help the woman throughout her labor and birth.

The maternity ward at St. Michael's Hospital in England, allowed the woman to take her dog inside the delivery room, “because it is a certified therapy dog.”

The presence of the dog was discussed and agreed upon in advance with the hospital’s infection control team giving their approval that it could be in the room during labor as therapy for the woman. A thorough cleaning of the delivery room was done after the dog, named Barney, left.

Head of midwifery at St. Michael's Hospital, Sarah Windfeld, said: "Barney is a certified Pets as Therapy or PAT dog, and it regularly visits patients in the hospital."

Pets as Therapy, is a charity founded in 1983. Volunteers take their own friendly dogs and cats that have been tested and vaccinated, to visit hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, schools and more to provide therapeutic visits for those in need.

To date, there are about 4,500 active dogs and 108 cats in the Pets as Therapy program in the United Kingdom. Each week, these calm friendly dogs and cats give more than 130,000 people, both young and old, the pleasure and opportunity to hug and talk to them.