Newsbites
Boeing Flight Accident: The door of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 ripped off mid-flight, causing one child's shirt to fly off and passengers’ cell phones to be sucked out of the plane. (video) The Alaskan Airlines flight made an emergency landing back in Portland where it initially took off. No one was seriously hurt during the emergency. Both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines have found additional MAX 9 aircraft within their fleets that have loose hardware components around the door plug areas. This particular plane leaving Portland had been restricted to shorter trips due to reported pressurization alerts during prior flights.
More: Six passengers on the plane have filed lawsuits against Alaskan Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the production process of the Boeing plane.
Ship Attacks in Red Sea: The U.S. launched a 5th round of airstrikes on Thursday targeting Houthi weaponry sites. The Houthis are an Iran-supported rebel group that has controlled much of Yemen since 2014. The group has been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea which they have said is in response to Israel’s war on Hamas. The majority of the vessels have been from Israel, although recently U.S.-operated ships have been attacked as well. Addressing the counter-strikes, President Biden said, “Are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes.”
More: The Red Sea is an important shipping route, with around 30% of global sea trade passing through the corridor.
Earthquake Recovery in Japan: At least 222 people have died from the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit Japan on New Year's Day. The intensity of the earthquake was so strong that it moved the shoreline of the peninsula backwards about 800 ft. (images) Japanese rescue crews, along with two U.S. Blackhawk helicopters are still searching for any missing persons.
Coronavirus Variant Experiments: Chinese scientists in Beijing released a study in which a mutated coronavirus variant was found to have a 100% kill rate in mice. The virus is known as GX_P2V and is a variant of a coronavirus first found in Malaysian pangolins in 2017. The GX_P2V virus attacked the brains of the mice, and all of them died within 7-8 days of the infection. The authors wrote, “This underscores a spillover risk of GX_P2V into humans and provides a unique model for understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2-related viruses.”
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