Russia conducted the first ever rocket launch from its brand new Vostochny cosmodrome. On Thursday, a Soyuz 2.1a rocket blasted off from the civilian cosmodrome in Russia’s far east, on the 51st parallel north in the Amur Oblast. Three scientific research satellites were successfully boosted into orbit by a Soyuz 2.1a rocket after a first attempt was aborted a day earlier by an automated safety control system at the last minute.
At the end of January, when looking at the positioning in the oil futures market, we warned that there is a a "Constant Short Squeeze Threat" because "Oil Shorts Are At All-Time Highs."
Everyone knows what happened next; for those who missed it we explained precisely two months later, following an epic surge in the price of oil, in: "It's Official: The Oil Surge Was Driven By The Biggest Short-Squeeze Ever."
A woman who was involved in a lawsuit over the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Michigan was found shot to death in her home along with another woman. Police found the bodies of two women inside a townhouse on Tuesday, where they also found a one-year-old child unharmed. Both women were shot, and have been identified as Sasha Bell and Sacorya Reed. The child was taken into protective services. Sasha Bell was one of the first of a growing number of people to file a lawsuit in connection to the Flint water crisis after claiming that her child had been lead poisoned.
A worrying swarm of earthquakes have broken out near the Yellowstone supervolcano, near Virginia City Montana and Hebgen Lake. Scientists have warned that the earthquakes pose a significant risk of acting as a catalyst to something much bigger. Marygreeley.com reports: Hebgen lake is the location of the largest earthquake to strike the Intermountain West in recorded history, with a M7.5 showing up in 1959. The swarm is being caused by pressure coming from the West coast.
IKEA has repeated its safety warnings to customers after a third child was crushed to death by its popular Malm range of drawers and bedroom furniture. The company first issued a warning back in July after two children were killed when drawers and wardrobes fell on them. Wales Online reports: The victims, aged two and 23 months, were killed when dressers purchased from the store fell on them, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said. Now a third child has been killed in America after an accident involving a set of drawers from the range, the Manchester Evening News reported.