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A large truck, equipped for draining the sewers, was hauled out of an even larger sinkhole last week in Rome. The fire department, with the help of two large cranes, came to the rescue after a sinkhole opened in Via dei Colli Portuensi in the Italian capital on the morning of April 15. The chasm opened as a heavy truck was driving along the road. The driver was able to get out and was unhurt. In addition, a car that was parked on the side of the road partly sank and had to be recovered. The removal operation was complex because the crews needed to conduct safety checks on the asphalt before the road was reopened to traffic.

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Hunters along the lower Kuskokwim River have been reporting an abundance of ptarmigan this year after a relative dearth of the birds in years prior. But whether that’s because there really are more ptarmigan — or if people are just seeing more — is unclear. Hunting ptarmigan in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta has been relatively easy this year, compared to the last few years. “This year we’ve got lot of ptarmigan all over,” said Daniel Nelson, an elder who lives in Napakiak. “They were kind of declining in number, you know. The past two or three years I’d go ptarmigan hunting and I’d barely see some, just a few flocks. Most of the time I get home with nothing, but this year I return with average of 12 ptarmigan per trip.” Neither the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service nor the Alaska Department of Fish and Game track the number of ptarmigan in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. However, state biologist Phillip Perry said that based on his own experience and what people are telling him, ptarmigan…

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The disaster agency in Guatemala (CONRED) reported heavy rain caused flooding and landslides parts of Quiché Department over the last few days. Over 165 homes have been damaged and 1,500 people displaced. The National Institute for Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology of Guatemala (Insivumeh) recorded 135.9 mm of rain at Playa Grande Ixcan, Quiché Department on 18 April 2021. The heavy rain caused 4 landslides in Chicamán municipality and 2 in Uspantán municipality, where 3 incidents of flooding were also reported. Conred said flooding from the La Taña river damaged around 100 homes in La Taña village, Uspantán, forcing 750 people to evacuate.

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After Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all three counts, the crowds outside the courthouse breathed a sigh of relief and began to celebrate. “Wait! Not so fast!” said BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors to the crowds. “We have more work to do! We haven’t really achieved justice! We must not stop until I can afford to buy a 5th house! Er– I mean, until we dismantle all the systems or whatever!” “Chant with me now! No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace!”

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On Tuesday, a jury found Derek Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in a case that had sparked nationwide riots: The death of George Floyd. During the course of the trial, Judge Peter Cahill mentioned that the court case was getting dangerously close to mistrial. A new interview with an alternate juror named Lisa Christensen, who lives in Brooklyn Center, provides new insight into the courtroom dynamics. “I just had a fascinating sit-down interview with one of the alternate jurors in the Derek Chauvin trial,” Kare 11 reporter Lou Raguse said Thursday on Twitter.

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Earlier, red flags were raised after an unexpected explosion erupted near the Israeli town of Ramle. However, it was later revealed to be part of a “controlled” test being conducted by Israeli-owned defense firm Tomer. Rocket sirens were activated in Abu Karinat, an Israeli village located in the Negev desert, early Thursday after a surface-to-air missile was launched from Syrian territory, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have revealed. Incidentally, the sirens sounded off in an area near Dimona, where Israel’s Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center is situated.

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Backed by President Biden, the House has passed a bill that would make Washington, DC, a state, and with it lock down the Democratic Party’s control of Congress. However, the bill faces an uphill battle in the Senate. The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives voted on Thursday to pass HR. 51, a bill that would see the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, become the 51st US State and the newest state admitted to the union since Hawaii in 1959. The bill passed on a party-lines vote of 216-208. Some activists in the District of Columbia have pushed for statehood for a long time, but their cause was generally regarded as a fringe one, especially as the US Constitution requires that the nation’s capital be located in a federal district, under the direct control of Congress and separate from any other state. To get around this, HR. 51 proposes shrinking the federal district to a tiny sliver of land encompassing the White House, Supreme Court and Capitol.

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More than 1,400 protesters were arrested in Russia on Wednesday as supporters of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny took part in rallies in dozens of cities across the country. The protesters called for the Kremlin critic’s freedom as concerns endure over his deteriorating health after three weeks on a hunger strike. Many of those arrested on Wednesday were seized before the protests had even got underway, including two of Navalny’s most prominent associates in Moscow.

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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday laid out the department’s plans to mobilize the U.S. economy against climate change, defying growing criticism from Republicans over the pace and scope of President Biden’s environmental agenda. In a speech to the International Institute of Finance, Yellen insisted that the U.S. must take an ambitious approach to fighting climate change through the economy despite the challenges of measuring and curbing the economic and financial risks it poses. Republicans and advocates for the oil and gas industry have ripped Yellen and several other financial regulators for laying out plans to account for the financial and economic risks of climate change. Critics argue that holding banks and companies to strict climate-related standards is unfair given the uncertainty surrounding climate risk and a threat to fossil fuel producers.

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A group of female climate activists protested outside the headquarters of HSBC in London, breaking multiple windows and staging a sit-in over the bank’s involvement in financing the fossil fuel industry. Nine women affiliated with the Extinction Rebellion group and Burning Pink political party showed up in Canary Wharf early Thursday. Valerie Brown, who is currently running for mayor of London, was seen among the activists.

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