by tyler | Jun 20, 2023 | CNN, europe
Online influencer Andrew Tate, his brother Tristan and two Romanian citizens were indicted Tuesday on charges of human trafficking, rape and setting up a criminal gang, according to a statement from Romanian prosecutors.
The Tate brothers and two Romanian female suspects are under house arrest pending a criminal investigation for abuses committed against seven women, accusations they have denied.
Tate was first arrested in Bucharest, Romania’s capital, in December 2022. He and his brother were detained in police custody until March, before being put under house arrest.
Andrew Tate has also been charged with raping one of the victims, while his brother Tristan has been charged with instigating others to violence.
The Tate brothers will appear at a Bucharest Court Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. (4 a.m. ET), according to CNN affiliate Antena 3. The court will then discuss their preventive measure or house arrest, and set a date for the trial.
Under Romanian law, the case will be sent to the court’s preliminary chamber, where a judge has 60 days to inspect the case files to ensure legality.
Prosecutors have said the Tate brothers recruited their victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship or marriage.
The Tate brothers’ legal team said it “will embrace the opportunity to fight in court and present arguments and evidence” to prove their innocence, according to a statement obtained by CNN affiliate Antena3 in Romania.
The legal team specifies that now “the referral of the case to the Bucharest Court, the judge will set a hearing in which he will either communicate the indictment to the defenders chosen by Andrew and Tristan Tate or set a deadline for communicating the indictment by post. At the same hearing, the judge will discuss whether a preventive measure against the defendants is necessary.”
“Our main objective will be to establish the truth and ensure a fair and impartial legal approach by presenting evidence and proof relevant to the case. The referral of the case for trial will allow us to present a comprehensive body of evidence, diligently gathered and prepared over time, which will undoubtedly be essential in exonerating the defendants.”
Tate, a former professional kickboxer, became infamous for his viral online rants preaching male dominance, female submission and the pursuit of wealth. He has openly advocated for violence against women, and was previously banned from every major social media platform until Elon Musk reinstated his Twitter account after taking over the company.
He shot to prominence last year, leading many to voice alarm about his malign influence on his predominantly young, male audience. School teachers from across the world have reported the growing prevalence of misogynistic views among teenage boys who are fans of Tate’s content.
Before it was taken down, his TikTok account racked up about 11.6 billion views.
by tyler | Jun 19, 2023 | CNN, europe
The US Coast Guard launched a search and rescue operation for a submersible with five people on board that went missing during an expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The military branch received a phone call Sunday informing them the Canadian research ship Polar Prince had lost contact with the underwater vessel and were overdue on checking with their communications, according to Coast Guard spokesperson Lt. Samantha Corcoran.
“Right now, we are just trying to use all efforts and work with international partners to try to get any resources out there to safely locate all five individuals,” she said.
The missing submersible lost contact 1 hour and 45 minutes into its descent, the Coast Guard said.
See our live coverage here.
The group conducting the expedition, OceanGate Expeditions, said it is “exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely.”
“Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families. We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible,” the group said. “We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers.”
Chief Mi’sel Joe of Miawpukek First Nation, which co-owns the Polar Prince, the support vessel on the expedition, said he received a call Sunday afternoon alerting him the sub was two hours overdue and still hadn’t surfaced, and they had lost communication with the sub. At that point, requests for search and rescue had gone out, he said.
OceanGate Expeditions operates a trip taking passengers to the Titanic’s wreckage at the bottom of the ocean for prices starting at $250,000, according to an archived version of its website, accessible via the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
“Follow in Jacques Cousteau’s footsteps and become an underwater explorer — beginning with a dive to the wreck of the RMS Titanic. This is your chance to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary,” the website said. “Become one of the few to see the Titanic with your own eyes.”
The eight-day expedition is based out of St. John’s, Newfoundland and begins with a 400-nautical-mile journey to the wreck site. There, up to five people, including a pilot, a “content expert” and three paying passengers, board a submersible named “Titan” and descend over two hours to the bottom of the ocean to see the Titanic up close.
According to OceanGate, Titan is a 23,000-pound submersible made of carbon fiber and titanium. As a safety feature, the sub uses a “proprietary real-time hull health monitoring (RTM) system” that analyzes the pressure on the vessel and the integrity of the structure, the company states. It also has life support for a crew of five for up to 96 hours, the website states.
The Titanic infamously hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in April 1912, killing over 1,500 people. The wreckage of the Titanic, discovered in 1985, sits in two parts at the bottom of the ocean nearly 13,000 feet below the surface, southeast of Newfoundland.
Unlike a submarine, a submersible has limited power reserves so it needs a mother ship that can launch and recover it, according to NOAA.
CNN has reached out to authorities in Newfoundland, Canada.
A Coast Guard C-130 aircraft and a P-8 Poseidon aircraft with underwater detection capabilities from RCC Halifax are on scene, and a Canadian Coast Guard ship is also heading to the area, Corcoran said.
In an interview with Fox News, First District Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said the Coast Guard is “bringing all assets to bear” in search of the missing submersible.
“So this is a comprehensive approach to try and locate this submersible, but it is a large area of water and it’s complicated by local weather conditions as well,” he said.
One of the individuals on the missing sub posted photos of it on Sunday before its launch.
The photos, posted on a dive participant’s business Instagram page, show the sub sitting in a cradle-like flotation device in the ocean. A caption accompanying the photos said it “had a successful launch” and was “currently diving.”
Another post from the account, posted on Saturday, noted the weather had been bad but a “window” had opened up for Sunday.
CNN is not naming the individual at this time but has reached out to their company for comment.
An expedition participant on board the Polar Prince, the ship that launched the now-missing sub, said they are all “focused on board here for our friends.”
“We have a situation that is now the part of a major Search and Rescue effort, being undertaken by major agencies,” Rory Golden wrote on Facebook after being contacted by CNN. “That is where our focus is right now.”
He asked people not to ask for or speculate on the names of those on the missing sub.
“I have seen some comments already on social media that are highly inappropriate and insensitive,” he said. He added their online and internet options were being restricted “to keep bandwidth available for the coordinated effort that is taking place.”
“The reaction and offers of help globally is truly astonishing, and only goes to show the real goodness in people at a time like this,” he said. He ended the post thanking everyone and saying, “… think positive. We are.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
by tyler | Jun 19, 2023 | CNN, europe
The climate crisis is taking an enormous toll on Europe, which was ravaged by extreme heat, drought, wildfires and glacier melt last year, a new analysis has concluded.
A joint report by the World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service found that last summer was the hottest on record for Europe and caused more than 16,000 excess deaths, according to the report.
“Unfortunately, this cannot be considered a one-off occurrence or an oddity of the climate,” said Carlo Buontempo, the director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, in a statement. He added that current understanding of the climate system “informs us that these kinds of events are part of a pattern that will make heat stress extremes more frequent and more intense across the region.”
Several countries, including the UK, Spain, Switzerland and Italy, saw their hottest years on record in 2022.
Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world, according to the report, and has been warming twice as fast as the global average for the last four decades.
The continent was not only hot but also extremely dry, with big implications for agriculture and water supply. Many parts of the continent saw very low levels of precipitation last year, with France experiencing its driest January-to-September period on record. In Spain, water reserves plunged to just over 40% of capacity, the report found.
Persistent drought and high temperatures fueled intense wildfires. Europe experienced the second-largest burned area on record in 2022, the report found, with Central Europe and the Mediterranean, in particular, seeing large areas scorched by fire.
Glaciers in the European Alps had a bad year, experiencing a record loss of ice mass due to low snowfall, warm temperatures and Saharan dust, which makes glaciers darker, meaning they absorb more heat and melt faster.
And oceans were unusually warm, with average sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic the hottest on record. Rates of warming in parts of the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic and Black Seas, and the southern Arctic were more than three times the global average, the report found.
With the arrival of El Niño, a natural climate phenomenon with a global warming effect, many scientists are concerned 2023 could see even starker climate extremes.
But there are hopeful signs too. The report found that renewable energy generated more electricity than fossil gas for the first time ever last year, with wind and solar accounting for 22.3% of the EU’s electricity, while fossil gas accounted for 20% and coal power for 16%.
“Increasing use of renewables and low-carbon energy sources is crucial to reduce dependence on fossil fuels,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a statement.
by tyler | Jun 19, 2023 | CNN, europe
The US Coast Guard launched a search and rescue operation Monday for a submarine that went missing during an expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic, CNN partner CTV News reported.
The group conducting the trip, Oceangate Expeditions, said it is “exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely.”
“Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families. We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible,” the group said. “We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers.”
The submersible holds up to five people, the company says on its website. It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were on board.
CNN has reached out to the Boston-based Coast Guard and authorities in Newfoundland, Canada.
The Titanic infamously hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in April 1912, killing over 1,500 people. The wreckage of the Titanic, discovered in 1985, sits in two parts at the bottom of the ocean nearly 13,000 feet below the surface southeast of Newfoundland.
More recently, costly private tours have been offered to tourists, allowing people to see the wreck up close.
An archived version of OceanGate’s website, accessible via the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, lays out what passengers can expect on the $250,000 trip.
“Follow in Jacques Cousteau’s footsteps and become an underwater explorer — beginning with a dive to the wreck of the RMS Titanic. This is your chance to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary,” the website said. “Become one of the few to see the Titanic with your own eyes.”
The eight-day expedition is based out of St. John’s, Newfoundland. The trip begins with a 400-nautical-mile journey to the wreck site.
There, up to five people, including a pilot, a “content expert” and three paying passengers, board the submersible named “Titan” and descend to the bottom of the ocean.
“Once the submersible is launched you will begin to see alienlike lifeforms whizz by the viewport as you sink deeper and deeper into the ocean. The descent takes approximately two hours but it feels like the blink of an eye,” the website said.
According to OceanGate, the Titan is a 23,000-pound submersible made of carbon fiber and titanium. As a safety feature, the sub uses a “proprietary real-time hull health monitoring (RTM) system” that analyzes the pressure on the vessel and the integrity of the structure, the company states. It also has life support for a crew of five for up to 96 hours, the website states.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
by tyler | Jun 19, 2023 | CNN, europe
Russia’s Ministry of Defense has claimed that a Ukrainian stronghold was destroyed by a remotely-controlled tank packed with a huge amount of explosives, in what appears to be a new battlefield tactic.
In a post on its Telegram channel at the weekend, the ministry said that “about 3.5 tons of TNT and 5 FAB-100 bombs” were packed into the tank. FAB-100 bombs normally carry a 100-kilogram (220-pound) payload.
In a video shared by the ministry on Saturday, a Russian tank commander, callsign “Bernaul,” said he was assigned with the task of setting up the tank and executing the attack.
“About 300 meters (984 feet) away from the enemy, the tank operator put the vehicle on manual gas, directing it [to the enemy’s] direction. He jumped out and went to the rear. I stayed behind to observe, and after the vehicle approached the enemy’s positions, I detonated it by radio control,” the commander said.
“The explosion was very serious, there were a lot of explosives … as a result, according to radio intercept data, the enemy suffered significant losses,” he added.
Drone video shows the tank static after apparently hitting a mine close to Ukrainian lines. There is then a huge explosion, but it’s unclear why. A moment before the tank explodes, there appears to be a flash coming from Ukrainian positions, which may have been an attempt to destroy the tank.
On Sunday, a prominent Russian war blogger, “Voennyi Osvedomitel,” shared a video from the pro-Russia “Romanov” channel of drone footage that shows the tank detonating. Osvedomitel said the tank hit a mine before reaching its target.
“Sending an unmanned kamikaze tank filled with 6 tons of TNT to Ukrainian positions in Mariinka. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it, blown up by a mine,” he wrote.
It’s not possible to geolocate the incident but the Mariinka area of Donetsk has seen heavy fighting since the Russian invasion began.
CNN has reached out to Ukrainian authorities about the incident.
by tyler | Jun 19, 2023 | CNN, europe
Swiss voters have approved a new law to cut the use of fossil fuels and significantly reduce levels of planet-heating pollution, as the country faces alarming levels of glacier melt.
The law, which was approved by just over 59% of voters during a referendum held on Sunday, requires that the country reach net zero – where it would remove from the atmosphere at least as much planet-warming pollution as it emits – by 2050.
Switzerland currently imports around three-quarters of its energy, with all of its oil and gas coming from abroad.
“These fossil fuels will not be available indefinitely and they place a heavy burden on the climate,” a statement on the Swiss government website said Sunday. The government said it wants to reduce the use of oil and gas while increasing energy produced within Switzerland.
The new bill includes measures to lower energy consumption and support companies to use more climate-friendly technology.
Switzerland intends to invest 2 billion francs ($2.24 billion) into helping people to replace home heating systems run on fossil fuels with those run on renewables, and 1.2 billion francs ($1.34 billion) for businesses to green their technology, André Simonazzi, a Swiss government spokesperson, posted on Twitter.
Switzerland, a country of 8.7 million people, has a system of direct democracy, which allows citizens to trigger a nationwide referendum on proposals that gain more than 100,000 signatures.
A climate law was first introduced back in 2021, including measures to increase taxes on activities that produce high levels of planet-heating pollution, such as flying and driving gas-powered cars. But it was rejected by voters.
This current climate bill was proposed as a response to the Glacier Initiative, set up by the Swiss Association for Climate Protection, which pushed for an end to fossil fuels in order to save the country’s glaciers.
“This law now brings our country on the path to net-zero emissions by 2050 even though there’s still a long way to go until these changes are fully implemented,” said Matthias Huss, a glaciologist at ETH Zurich and who was a member of the Glacier Initiative’s scientific advisory board
The record run of recent climate extremes in Switzerland, and worldwide, “seems to have convinced many citizens that climate change is no longer something looming on the horizon but it’s already here, and everybody is touched by it,” Huss told CNN.
Switzerland has been increasingly feeling the impacts of the climate crisis. The country lost 6% of its glacier volume between 2021 and 2022, according to a recent World Meteorological Organization analysis.
