Massive explosions that rocked the port city of Tianjin were so strong that residents miles away thought they were experiencing an earthquake, witnesses said Thursday as the death toll rose to 50.
Twelve firefighters were among those killed in the twin blasts, which sent massive fireballs into the sky and devastated a warehouse district as well as nearby homes. More than 700 wounded were being treated at hospitals, including 71 in serious condition. No figure was given for those missing.
Chinese authorities did not say what caused the blasts. Local officials said firefighting was suspended on orders of the central government so that a team of chemical experts could assess hazardous materials on site.
.
Death toll rising from massive explosion in Tianjin, China
.
.
Click link below for article, videos and social media:
Police car dashcam video released in court Wednesday shows the police shooting of former Florida A&M University football player Jonathan Ferrell.
The video from Officer Adam Neal’s cruiser shows two patrol cars approaching an already parked third unit. Ferrell is seen walking towards the cars, approaching the officers before running between and past the cars, and the view of the dashcam.
“Get on the ground” is yelled several times before multiple gun shots erupt, followed by an officer saying, “shots fired, shots fired!” and another yelling, “don’t move, don’t move!”
.
Dashcam Video Shows Police Shooting of Jonathan Ferrell
The global “currency war” entered a new phase on Tuesday as China’s surprise devaluation threatened to unleash competitive devaluations and keep monetary policy around the world looser for longer, perhaps even forcing the U.S. Federal Reserve to delay its expected interest rate rise.
“Currency wars,” a phrase used by Brazil’s former finance minister Guido Mantega in 2010 to describe how competing countries explicitly or implicitly weaken their exchange rates to boost exports, have intensified in recent years.
As interest rates have fallen to zero in some developed economies and money printing has proliferated, exchange rate policy has become one of the few remaining levers to stimulate business activity and in some cases avoid deflation. So investors are now concerned that China may elect to keep pushing the yuan lower.
.
Image: Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post
There are the basic things you can do to protect your data and your phone, like avoiding public Wi-Fi networks, enabling built-in tools like “Find My iPhone,” and using a good password. Both iOS and Android phones offer options for turning off “location services,” so apps can’t track your coordinates. But in an age of cyberattacks from renegade hackers, non-state actors, and government spies, it’s not a terrible idea to arm your phone with apps that provide encrypted communication, anonymous browsing, and theft protection.
.
Apps that provide encrypted communication, anonymous browsing, and theft protection.
St. Louis County authorities declared a state of emergency Monday and more than 100 people were arrested on the second day of protests marking a year since a police officer killed Ferguson, Missouri, teen Michael Brown.
The move was announced by County Executive Steve Stenger, who cited the violence that marred protests Sunday night in Ferguson.
“The recent acts of violence will not be tolerated in a community that has worked so tirelessly over the last year to rebuild and become stronger,” Stenger said in a statement.
Twenty-nine of the nation’s top scientists — including Nobel laureates, veteran makers of nuclear arms and former White House science advisers — wrote to President Obama on Saturday to praise the Iran deal, calling it innovative and stringent.
The letter, from some of the world’s most knowledgeable experts in the fields of nuclear weapons and arms control, arrives as Mr. Obama is lobbying Congress, the American public and the nation’s allies to support the agreement.
The two-page letter may give the White House arguments a boost after the blow Mr. Obama suffered on Thursday when Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, a Democrat and among the most influential Jewish voices in Congress, announced he would oppose the deal, which calls for Iran to curb its nuclear program and allow inspections in return for an end to international oil and financial sanctions.
.
President Obama and Michelle Obama arriving on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., on Friday.Credit Susan Walsh/Associated Press
Pro Football Hall of Famer and veteran sports journalist Frank Gifford has died in Connecticut, his family announced on Sunday. He was 84.
In a statement, his family said:
It is with the deepest sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and friend, Frank Gifford. Frank died suddenly this beautiful Sunday morning of natural causes at his Connecticut home. We rejoice in the extraordinary life he was privileged to live, and we feel grateful and blessed to have been loved by such an amazing human being. We ask that our privacy be respected at this difficult time and we thank you for your prayers.
Born in Santa Monica, California, in 1930, Gifford attended the University of Southern California on a football scholarship and went pro after being selected 11th overall in the first round of the 1952 draft.
.
New York Giants halfback Frank Gifford during a workout September 1958 in New York. Rooney / AP, file
The U.S. infant mortality rate has stalled, the latest government report finds, giving Americans one of the worst rates in the developed world.
Just under six out of every 1,000 babies died at birth or in the first year of life in the U.S. in 2013, triple the rate of Japan or Norway and double the rate of Ireland, Israel or Italy, the latest report from the National Center for Health Statistics finds. The rate is barely changed from 2012, although it’s down 13 percent from 2005.
The highest rates were in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana; the lowest infant mortality rates were in Iowa, Vermont and Massachusetts, the NCHS, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found.
Typhoon Soudelor made landfall in Taiwan near the city of Hualien early on Saturday morning local time, CNN reports.
Taiwan evacuated hundreds of people from their homes on Friday as the strongest typhoon to threaten the island in two years churned towards it.
Authorities said 611 people had been moved, most from east coast areas, as Typhoon Soudelor approached. The storm has already claimed its first victims, with two people dead and one missing in choppy waters off the coast of Taiwan’s northeastern Yilan county, the coastguard said.
.
An elderly woman is escorted in Typhoon Soudelor’s strong winds in Taipei, Taiwan, on Aug. 7, 2015. | Credit: Wally Santana/Associated Press
A NASA image of Mars being passed around on social media over the weekend has imaginations running wild.
The photo shows a stone formation in front of what may be a kind of cave. Some say it looks a bit like a crab monster straight out of a science fiction tale.
In the world, human beings are facing various problems. People who are full of greed, anger, and ignorance are seen to be fighting with each other in words and deeds. As the fighting continues, various problems such as civil wars, wars of aggression, and wars of aggression are occurring. As world peace is being destroyed, humans are facing unbearable problems. Innocent children and women are not getting the rights they deserve and deserve. I can't think of one thing every time. What is it? The United Nations. If we look at the responsibilities and duties of the United Nations, I think it is not suitable for solving the problems that are happening in the world today. In fact, the United Nations and the World Security Council, such an organization must rule the world, must be able to give orders, and must have various ways to obey orders. There must be no organization that can influence more than that organization. There should be experts from each country. They can even dominate the superpowers like the US, China, and Britain. Only then will global peace be achieved quickly. Now, if a country with power develops more militarily, economically, or socially than its own country, then powerful countries will jealously seek out enemies and wage war. Or they will attack with fighter jets. In this, innocent people are losing their lives. No one understands the value of a life. You should think about how to achieve global peace by controlling these. If the US continues to be the permanent president of the UN, world peace will never be achieved. If you think carefully, no one sees that they are working for the common good, but for their own benefit, for the benefit of their own country. The permanent president of the UN and the Security Council has rejected this, As a young Rohingya, I have come to realize that only by electing the president and secretary from among the countries in the world through a secret ballot system and governing the world fairly can we achieve global peace. The United Nations and the Security Council are organizations in which any country must govern, give orders, and make them obey their orders. For example, only when a defendant is tried in court can we hold the leaders of the countries in check and control them, can we achieve global peace smoothly. Otherwise, it will not be easy for powerful countries to use various excuses to end this war every year, every year, for the benefit of themselves and their countries. No country's leaders pay any attention to the words of the United Nations and the Security Council. If we look at it in practice, look at the Rohingya issue. Myanmar is a small country. Even that country has been under siege for 8 years. What action can be taken? Why is the UN and the Security Council Powerless? Without such Power, how can the organization bring about global peace? Everyone should think about it. Whether there is a veto or a strong one, all countries in the world can only achieve global peace if they are subject to the UN and the Security Council. Seek peace in the quiet embrace of nature. Peace is an indispensable need of the human race. It is not as if one person can kill another person, and it is as if one country can attack another country, but instead of trying to build peace, we must try to destroy the peace now, and the world is getting hotter and is on the verge of collapse. I especially appeal to all the world experts to urgently try to bring about peace in all parts of the world. Mr, Noor Muhamed Arkhan Rohingya Youth Myanmar
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.