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Overnight News Digest October 30, 2022 [1]

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Date: 2022-10-30

NPR

Fires from exploding e-bike batteries multiply in NYC — sometimes fatally

NEW YORK — Four times a week on average, an e-bike or e-scooter battery catches fire in New York City. Sometimes, it does so on the street, but more often, it happens when the owner is recharging the lithium ion battery. A mismatched charger won't always turn off automatically when the battery's fully charged, and keeps heating up. Or, the highly flammable electrolyte inside the battery's cells leaks out of its casing and ignites, setting off a chain reaction. "These bikes when they fail, they fail like a blowtorch," said Dan Flynn, the chief fire marshal at the New York Fire Department. "We've seen incidents where people have described them as explosive — incidents where they actually have so much power, they're actually blowing walls down in between rooms and apartments." As of Friday, the FDNY investigated 174 battery fires, putting 2022 on track to double the number of fires that occurred last year (104) and quadruple the number from 2020 (44). So far this year, six people have died in e-bike-related fires and 93 people were injured, up from four deaths and 79 injuries last year.

NPR

Western leaders blast Russia's exit from grain deal that's helped ease global hunger

Odesa, Ukraine – The European Union called on Russia on Sunday to reverse its decision to suspend participation in a grain deal brokered by the United Nations that has helped ease the global food crisis. Western leaders are condemning Moscow's actions, which are triggering a new wave of fears about global hunger and rampant inflation. "Russia's decision to suspend participation in the Black Sea deal puts at risks the main export route of much needed grain and fertilisers to address the global food crisis caused by its war against Ukraine," Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said in a Twitter message. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was deliberately blockading food for the hungry. In a nighttime address, he called Moscow's decision "predictable." He said Russia was already holding up 176 ships carrying more than 2 million tons of food. "This is an absolutely transparent intention of Russia to return the threat of large scale famine to Africa and Asia," Zelenskyy said.

The Guardian

Nearly 2m public sector workers close to quitting over pay, says TUC

Nearly 2 million public sector workers could be close to quitting over poor pay, their representatives have warned, leaving the UK’s public services facing a looming crisis. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said the efforts of millions of key workers got the UK through the worst of the Covid pandemic, but now those same workers were facing another year of “pay misery” at the hands of the government – while the cost of living continues to soar. “Many are now at breaking point because of a toxic mix of low pay, unsustainable workloads and a serious lack of recognition,” said its outgoing general secretary, Frances O’Grady. “After years of brutal pay cuts, nurses, teachers, refuse workers and millions of other public servants have seen their living standards decimated – and now face more pay misery,” O’Grady said. “It is little wonder morale is through the floor and many key workers are considering leaving their jobs for good.”

Al Jazeera

Guantanamo’s oldest inmate Saifullah Paracha freed after 19 years

The oldest inmate at the United States-run Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba Saifullah Paracha has been released to his home country Pakistan after nearly 20 years of detention without trial, the South Asian country’s foreign ministry said. “The Foreign Ministry completed an extensive inter-agency process to facilitate the repatriation of Mr Paracha,” the ministry said in a statement on Saturday. “We are glad that a Pakistani citizen detained abroad is finally reunited with his family.” Businessman Paracha was arrested in 2003 in Thailand and accused of financing the armed group, but he has maintained his innocence. In May, the US approved Paracha’s release concluding only that he was “not a continuing threat” to the US. Like most prisoners at Guantanamo, Paracha – aged 74 or 75 – was never formally charged and had little legal power to challenge his detention.

Reuters

'Golden parachutes' for fired Twitter executives worth $122 million, research firm says

(Reuters) - Three top executives of Twitter Inc fired by new owner Elon Musk stand to receive separation payouts totaling some $122 million, research firm Equilar said on Friday. Musk fired Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, according to people familiar with the matter. He had accused them of misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake accounts on the platform. In an email to Reuters, Equilar, known for its research on executive compensation, valued Agrawal's so-called "golden parachute" at $57.4 million, while Segal's was $44.5 million and Gadde's was $20 million. In addition to those payouts, the three executives also will receive a collective $65 million from Musk in exchange for shares they held in the company he has now taken private.

Deutsche Welle

Ukraine's allies confront a massive reconstruction task

It isn't easy to estimate the cost of rebuilding post-war Ukraine. Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine's prime minister, said in July it would cost $750 billion. The World Bank and European Commission lowered that figure to $349 billion in September. With the war still raging and no end in sight, neither estimate is all that reliable. Russia's invasion has destroyed many as 130,000 buildings, 2,400 schools, and 400 commercial properties, according to Ukraine's economy ministry. Then there is road and rail infrastructure to take into account. Russian forces have also been targeting gas and water utilities more specifically in the last few weeks.All of that comes to one-third of Ukraine's infrastructure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said via video link at a two-day conference in Berlin earlier this week. Germany, which currently chairs the G7, a collection of the world's richest democracies, hosted the event, which also included the European Commission and German business groups. Of course, these goals are still a long way away. Economic output is down 30%, Ukraine's Economy Minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, told the conference via video from Kyiv. Inflation is at 26% and one-third of the country is out of work.

New York Times

Covid, Flu, RSV: Hospitalizations Rise as Wave of Viruses Hits New York

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