International
Nine killed in US heavy rain, floods
Nine killed in US heavy rain, floods
At least nine people died at the weekend as torrential downpours drenched parts of the south-eastern US, submerging roads and houses.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said eight people had died in his state and suggested at a news conference on Sunday that the total could go up.
Hundreds of people stranded in flood waters, many stuck in their cars, had been rescued, and Beshear warned residents to “stay off the roads right now and stay alive”.
In Georgia, the ninth death was recorded after a man lying in his bed was struck by an uprooted tree that crashed into his home.
Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina were under some type of storm-related alert this weekend. Almost all of those states suffered catastrophic damage in September from Hurricane Helene.
Between the eight states, more than half a million households were without power on Sunday night, according to poweroutage.us.
A bulk of the death and destruction appears to have occurred in Kentucky, where a mother and her seven-year-old child and a 73-year-old man were among the dead.
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Some parts of Kentucky received up to 6in (15cm) of rain, National Weather Service (NWS) figures show, resulting in widespread flooding issues.
The rapid influx of rain caused river levels to rise quickly and trapped vehicles in feet of water, images posted online show.
Governor Beshear wrote on X that there were over 300 road closures.
He also said that he had written to the White House requesting an emergency disaster declaration and federal funds for affected areas, according to the BBC’s partner CBS News.
President Donald Trump approved the declaration on Sunday, authorising the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), which he has suggested abolishing, to co-ordinate disaster relief efforts.
Officials have cautioned that the worst of the flooding is not over yet.
“The rivers are still going to rise,” Eric Gibson, director of the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management, said on Sunday.
Bob Oravec, a senior forecaster with the NWS, said: “The effects will continue for a while, a lot of swollen streams and a lot of flooding going on.”
In Obion County, Tennessee, heavy rains there caused a levee to break, “resulting in rapid onset flooding”, a local NWS account said on X.
“If you are in the area, GET TO HIGH GROUND NOW! This is a LIFE THREATENING situation,” the post said.
The town of Rives along the Obion River was deluged from the breached flood barrier.
Footage shows brown water rushing over rocks and past trees, as rescue workers in red boats pass flooded homes.
Steve Carr, the Obion County mayor, declared a state of emergency on Facebook and said there would be mandatory evacuations in Rives because of “the rising water, no electricity, and freezing temperature creating a life-threatening situation”.
Located north-east of Memphis, Rives has a population of roughly 300.
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey issued a state of emergency in 10 counties on Saturday and added another three counties to the list on Sunday.
“Please continue to be cautious,” Morrisey said on X.
Kristi Noem, head of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Fema, said she had been in contact with both Governors Beshear and Morrisey, and left voicemails with Governors Bill Lee of Tennessee and Kay Ivey of Alabama.
“While emergency management is best led by local authorities, we reinforced that DHS stands ready to take immediate action to offer resources and support,” Noem said.
Meteorologists have also warned that a polar vortex is making its way early this week towards the northern Rocky Mountains and northern Plains in the middle of the country.
In Colorado, temperatures could drop to as low as 14F (-10C), with the city of Denver reportedly opening shelters for its homeless population this weekend.
Nine killed in US heavy rain, floods
International
$100m coin collection buried for decades to be auctioned
$100m coin collection buried for decades to be auctioned
A coin collection, much of which remained buried underground for over 50 years, is expected to surpass $100 million at auction, according to experts.
Named the Traveller Collection, this extraordinary assemblage is believed to be the most valuable coin collection ever brought to auction.
The coins will be sold gradually over the next three years, with the first auction set for May 20.
Beyond its immense value, the collection’s origins make for a fascinating tale.
Spanning over 100 territories and encompassing coins from ancient times to the modern era, the collection is being auctioned by Numismatica Ars Classica.
What sets it apart is that most of the coins remained hidden underground for half a century before resurfacing.
According to a press release shared with CNN, the anonymous collector behind the collection began acquiring gold coins after the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
Over time, he developed “a taste for coins with great historical interest, beauty and rarity” and eventually amassed approximately 15,000 coins.
During the 1930s, he and his wife traveled extensively across the Americas and Europe, acquiring rare and historically significant coins while meticulously documenting their purchases.
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Despite settling in Europe at a time when Hitler’s Nazi party loomed over the continent, the collector sensed the impending danger. In response, he carefully packed the coins into cigar boxes, which were then placed inside aluminum containers and buried underground, where they remained undisturbed for five decades.
Among the collection is a 50 Toman coin, part of an “exceedingly rare” set minted in Tehran and Isfahan during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
International
AI will replace doctors, teachers, others in 10 years – Bill Gates
AI will replace doctors, teachers, others in 10 years – Bill Gates
Bill Gates, a co-founder of Microsoft, has claimed that improvements in artificial intelligence (AI) over the next decade may render humans superfluous for the majority of work.
In a recent interview with comedian Jimmy Fallon on NBC’s The Tonight Show in February, the billionaire philanthropist discussed how AI may take over many facets of life and business.
Gates remarked that expertise is currently “rare”, emphasising the continuous reliance on human specialists in industries such as medicine and education.
For example, we continue to rely on highly trained individuals, such as “a great doctor” or “a great teacher”, whose knowledge cannot be simply replaced by AI.
However, “with AI, over the next decade, that will become free, commonplace — great medical advice, great tutoring,” Gates said.
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In other words, Gates believes that the world is entering a new era of “free intelligence”, as he described in a recent interview with Harvard University professor and happiness specialist Arthur Brooks.
According to Gates, this transition will result in rapid breakthroughs in AI-powered technology, making them more accessible and affecting almost every part of our lives.
These breakthroughs will vary from more effective treatments and diagnoses to widely available AI instructors and virtual assistants.
“It’s very profound and even a little bit scary — because it’s happening very quickly, and there is no upper bound,” Gates told Brooks.
The discussion of how humans will fit into an AI-powered future continues.
Some analysts suggest that artificial intelligence will improve human productivity rather than completely replacing labour, hence driving economic growth and creating new jobs.
However, Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman cautions that technological improvements in the coming years will disrupt the nature of most occupations across nearly all industries, potentially exerting a “hugely destabilising” influence on the workforce.
AI will replace doctors, teachers, others in 10 years – Bill Gates
International
Poland suspends migrants’ right to apply for asylum
Poland suspends migrants’ right to apply for asylum
Poland has temporarily suspended the right of migrants arriving in Poland via its border with Belarus to apply for asylum.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced it would be happening after the controversial bill, which will allow Polish authorities to suspend this right for up to 60 days at a time, was signed into law by President Andrzej Duda.
Tusk had said it would be adopted “without a moment’s delay” while Duda said the changes were needed to strengthen security on the country’s borders.
But the law has been criticized by rights groups including Human Rights Watch, which said the EU should take legal action against Poland if it was implemented.
The group urged the country’s parliament last month to reject the bill, saying it “flies in the face of Poland’s international and EU obligations” and could “effectively completely seal off the Poland-Belarus border, where Polish authorities already engage in unlawful and abusive pushbacks”.
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The government said previously the suspension would only be applied temporarily to people who pose a threat to state security, for example large groups of aggressive migrants trying to storm the border.
Exemptions will be made for unaccompanied minors, pregnant women, the elderly or unwell, anyone exposed to “real risk of serious harm” by being returned and citizens of countries accused of conducting the instrumentalization of migration – like Belarus
Tusk has dismissed criticism from human rights groups.
“Nobody is talking about violating human rights, the right to asylum, we are talking about not granting applications to people who illegally cross the border in groups organised by Lukashenko,” he said in October.
Since 2021, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland have seen a huge increase in the number of people crossing into their countries illegally from Belarus and Russia.
Polish authorities have sent thousands of troops and border guards to police its border with Belarus and built a 5.5-metre-high steel fence along 186 km of the frontier where at times several thousand migrants have been left stranded.
Rights groups estimate more than one hundred people have died on the borders between Belarus and Poland, Lithuania and Latvia since 2021.
EU eastern flank countries and the European Commission have accused the Belarusian and Russian authorities of weaponising migration to create a new route into the EU to destabilize the bloc.
Poland suspends migrants’ right to apply for asylum
BBC
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