1…………> Stars At Sea: Memories
The celebrated Cunard cruise line was the first to introduce onboard photographers in the 1920s, as ships’ photographers would take snapshots of the passengers, creating prints in the darkroom that were then displayed on long tables the next morning. Travellers were able to put their orders in, and the photographs were then printed in Southampton and posted around the world.
By 1936, when Cunard’s flagship the Queen Mary was launched, the firm employed a fleet of photographers working all night to supply the demand.
http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-43197744
2…………> Encrypted Drug Dealing: Canada
Vincent Ramos, the chief executive of Canada-based Phantom Secure, and four of his associates were indicted by a federal grand jury today on charges that they knowingly and intentionally participated in a criminal enterprise that facilitated the transnational importation and distribution of narcotics through the sale and service of encrypted communications.
This is the first time the U.S. government has targeted a company and its principals for knowingly and intentionally conspiring with criminal organizations by providing them with the technological tools to evade law enforcement and obstruct justice while committing transnational drug trafficking.
“With one American dying of a drug overdose every nine minutes, our great nation is suffering the deadliest drug epidemic in our history,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “Incredibly, some have sought to profit off of this crisis, including by specifically taking advantage of encryption technologies to further criminal activity, and to obstruct, impede, and evade law enforcement, as this case illustrates. The Department of Justice will aggressively prosecute not just drug traffickers, but those who help them spread addiction and death in our communities. I want to thank the FBI, DEA, Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, Washington State Police, the Bellingham and Blaine Police Departments, and all of our law enforcement partners around the world, including Australia, Canada, Panama, Hong Kong, and Thailand for their hard work on this case. Today’s indictment sends a clear message that drug traffickers and criminals cannot hide because we will hunt them down and find them wherever they are.”
3…………> Shoddy Vests: Japan
Toyobo Co. Ltd. of Japan and its American subsidiary, Toyobo U.S.A. Inc., f/k/a Toyobo America Inc. (collectively, Toyobo), have agreed to pay $66 million to resolve claims under the False Claims Act that they sold defective Zylon fiber used in bullet proof vests that the United States purchased for federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies, the Justice Department announced today, being fully aware that Zylon degraded quickly in normal heat and humidity, and that this degradation rendered bullet proof vests containing Zylon unfit for use.
“Bulletproof vests are sometimes what stands between a police officer and death,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “Selling material for these vests that one knows to be defective is dishonest and risks the lives of the men and women who serve to protect us. The Department of Justice is committed to the protection of our law enforcement officers, and today’s resolution sends another clear message that we will not tolerate those who put our first responders in harm’s way.”
4…………> Sharia Country: Indonesia
Amnesty International urged Indonesia to block moves to introduce beheading as a punishment for murder in the country’s conservative Aceh province, by not following countries like Saudi Arabia using it as an effective deterrent.
In addition, it suggested that Indonesia stop drafting laws to criminalise gay sex, sex between unmarried couples.
“Beheading is more in line with Islamic law and will cause a deterrent effect … a strict punishment is made to save human beings,” Syukri M. Yusuf, the head of Aceh’s Shariah Law and Human Rights Office, said on Wednesday.
“We will begin to draft the law when our academic research is completed.”
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-16/indonesia-urged-to-block-moves-to-introduce-beheading/9555100
5…………> Faulty Design: Florida
Six people are now confirmed dead, and more than 10 seriously injured after the newly built 950-tonne bridge crushed vehicles on one of the busiest roads in South Florida.
“Unfortunately, this has turned from a rescue to a recovery operation,” a Miami-Dade police said.
The number of those killed could rise since more vehicles could still be under the concrete and twisted metal, and rescue workers are combing through the rubble of a pedestrian bridge that collapsed onto several lanes of traffic at Florida International University.
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