Non-IT News Thread
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Bolivia election: Anger mounts over result confusion
Violent protests have erupted in at least nine cities in Bolivia amid ongoing confusion about the result of Sunday's presidential election.
Suspicion arose among opponents of the incumbent, Evo Morales, after the quick count was surprisingly halted. His main rival, Carlos Mesa, said the quick count's results were fraudulent. Counting is still under way with Mr Morales in first place but currently with not enough of a lead to stave off a second round. Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal is currently running two separate counts. The quick count, at 95.6% of votes verified, puts Mr Morales ahead of Mr Mesa with a lead of 9.33 percentage points. That is just short of the 10-percentage-point advantage he needs to win outright in the first round. If that result were to be confirmed, Mr Morales and Mr Mesa would face each other in a run-off on 15 December. The detailed count shows the two neck and neck. With 72% of the votes counted, Mr Morales just had a 0.58 percentage point lead over Mr Mesa, making a second round highly likely. -
Boeing expects 737 Max to fly again by New Year
Boeing has said it expects its troubled 737 Max aircraft to return to the skies before the end of the year.
The jet was grounded after two fatal crashes, including last year's Lion Air disaster which killed 189 people. Just hours after Indonesian investigators blamed mechanical and design problems for the crash, Boeing said it had developed software updates. The investigators focused on a system used to improve handling and prevent stalling on the Boeing 737 Max. The official report by the Indonesian authorities into the disaster, which occurred 13 minutes after take-off from Jakarta on 29 October 2018, is expected to be published on Friday. But on Wednesday, the authorities informed the victims' families of the findings. -
@mlnews this feels.... unlikely.
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Japan is fucking awesome
Domino’s Japan selling ‘Halloween Roulette’ pizza, which has ghost pepper sauce on one random slice
JAPAN - Finally! A pizza fit for seven of your closest friends and one you absolutely hate!
Just in time for Halloween, Japanese locations of Domino’s are serving up a scare for their very brave — or very masochistic — customers: A new “Halloween Roulette” pizza, which contains a single unmarked slice doused in sauce made from ghost peppers.
The campaign, which runs through Nov. 4, allows customers to order any pizza of their choice before selecting the free “Halloween Roulette” option, which indicates that the kitchen staff has the go-ahead to spike one slice with a small amount of the seriously hot sauce.
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@JaredBusch OMG, awesome.
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BBC News - Uluru ban: What do locals think of the final rush to climb?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-50064572 -
Rats taught to drive tiny cars to lower their stress levels
Learning to drive small cars helps rats feel less stressed, scientists found.
Researchers at the University of Richmond in the US taught a group of 17 rats how to drive little plastic cars, in exchange for bits of cereal. Study lead Dr Kelly Lambert said the rats felt more relaxed during the task, a finding that could help with the development of non-pharmaceutical treatments for mental illness. The rats were not required to take a driving test at the end of the study. -
@mlnews gotta be better than most drivers in Nebraska.
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Images reveal Iceland's glacier melt
A photography project has highlighted the extent of ice loss from Iceland's glaciers.
The project - which also involved the University of Iceland and the Icelandic Meteorological Office - used aerial photos taken by a survey plane in the 1980s. Thousands of images were taken, often of overlapping areas, and the team then used software to transform these into a hi-res 3D model of the terrain. Dr Baxter said this meant that photographs looking straight down on to the landscape could then be re-framed to show the terrain from different angles. He added: "We can then align them with drone photographs that we can take today." -
BBC News - Lovesick teen scales German prison wall to see ex-girlfriend
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50180775 -
BBC News - 'Milestone' in polio eradication achieved
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-50167437 -
BBC News - Southwest Airlines pilots ‘livestreamed plane toilet on hidden camera’
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-50195763 -
Argentina election: Centre-left Alberto Fernández wins presidency
Centre-left opposition candidate Alberto Fernández has been elected president of Argentina in a vote dominated by economic concerns.
Mr Fernández secured more than the 45% of the vote needed to win, beating conservative incumbent Mauricio Macri. Raucous crowds gathered at Mr Fernández's election headquarters to celebrate the result. The vote was held amid an economic crisis that has left a third of Argentina's population in poverty. Mr Macri had trailed behind his challenger in pre-election polls and was trounced by the opposition in primary elections in August. He conceded defeat on Sunday night. Congratulating his political rival, he said he had invited Mr Fernández to the presidential palace on Monday to discuss an orderly transition. -
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BBC News - 'Hash cake' accidentally served at German funeral
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50220091 -
BBC News - Russian 'cannibal' charged after human and animal remains found
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50223959 -
Trump impeachment: Democrats unveil resolution for next steps
Democrats in the US House of Representatives have published a resolution setting out the next steps in their impeachment efforts against President Donald Trump.
The motion sets out a more public phase of the inquiry and hands the lead role in hearings to the chairman of the intelligence committee, Adam Schiff. The House, controlled by the Democrats, will vote on the measure on Thursday. A White House spokeswoman said the resolution was an "illegitimate sham". So far, hearings have been held behind closed doors. This vote to make the impeachment process public is about the procedure, and not a ballot on whether or not to impeach the president. Republicans have criticised Democrats for the closed hearings up to this point, in which Republican lawmakers have also taken part. But Democrats insist they were needed to gather evidence ahead of the public stage of the inquiry, and deny allegations they have been secretive. -
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BBC News - Cat attack: Moscow man faces five years in jail
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50247789 -
Repair cafe - cool idea
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/stories-46195069/why-this-man-will-fix-your-broken-stuff-for-free
