Hindu Tailor Hacked to Death in Bangladesh
Police investigate the crime which occurred in Tangail (Photo courtesy of Dawn)
Following a series of serious assaults and killings in Bangladesh, yet another man has been killed by Islamist groups who claim responsibility for the attacks. Nikhil Joarder, a 50 year old Hindu tailor was killed for making derogatory comments against Islam and was subsequently hacked to death by Ansar al-Islam, a group supposedly affiliated with Al-Qaeda. Others killed include LGBT activists, prominent atheists, and other people with secular beliefs. This rise in extremist activity is a cause for concern for many, but the Bangladeshi government continues to deny extremist activity in the country.
Source and more information can be found here.
Protesters storm into Parliament. (Photo courtesy of National Post)
State of Emergency Declared in Baghdad After Protesters Storm the Parliament
Following a forced entry into the parliament by supporters of the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a state of emergency has been called in Baghdad. Hundreds gathered to protest the failure of Iraqi Officials to conduct a vote for new MP’s. Most of this unrest was sparked by political turmoil. All entrances to Baghdad have been closed to avoid further complications and more violent protesting.
Source and more information can be found here.
Airbnb drops Berlin listings as city cracks down on short-term rentals
A unit owned by Airbnb in Berlin. (Photo courtesy of Airbnb)
Starting May 1st, Berlin’s government have imposed a law where property owners temporarily renting their home to vacation renters without a permit may face six figure fines. After the announcement of this new law, Airbnb, a popular vacation rental company, has scrapped a lot of their rentals in the Berlin area, many in the same neighborhoods. The number of units listed in Berlin declined from 11,000 to 6,700 during the period. While this may be an inconvenience to the company, other sources say that the amount of tourists Berlin sees each year are only a small percentage of the huge number of apartments.
Source and more information can be found here.
Icebergs in Southern Ocean play vital part in conquering global warming.
Research done from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Geography discovered that giant icebergs store up to 20% of the carbon found in the Southern Ocean. About 10% of the ocean’s total carbon sequestration occurs in the Southern Ocean, through both biological and chemical processes. The melting water from these icebergs was found containing unexpectedly high levels of phytoplankton growth, which assists in storing carbon dioxide, thus slowing global warming. The large-scale study, led by Professor Grant Bigg, involved analyzing images of the ocean color from icebergs, which revealed that the increased phytoplankton productivity extends deep into the icebergs and lasts for at least a month after the iceberg melts. Professeur Bigg explains that this may be extremely important in countering global warming, especially because of the expected increase in iceberg calving. This research disproved previous conclusions that icebergs only marginally contribute to the intake of CO2 by phytoplankton.
Source and more information can be found here.
OceanOne, a humanoid robotic diver created by Stanford professors. (Photo courtesy of Stanford News)
Robot recovers sunken treasure from 17th century shipwreck.
Robotic scientists, led by the professor of computer science at Stanford, Oussam Khatib, successfully sent the first automated avatar to retrieve treasure from La Lune, a ship which sank in 1664. The OceanOne robot, which was piloted using virtual reality techniques, combines human skill with robust structure, providing it with the cognitive abilities of a human, while allowing it to performing tasks too dangerous for humans. The robot was created due to the aspiration to study coral reefs beneath the Red Sea, which can only be reached using robots. OceanOne has vision similar to that of humans, and hands which contain force sensors, allowing the operator to feel the weight of the object in the robot’s hands. The robot was able to recover a vase found of the deck of the ship which was in exceptional condition, despite being covered in ocean detritus.
Source and more information can be found here.
