Moon hosts key ingredients to life Over 50 arrested after mobs ransack stores Dozens dead in explosion
IMAGES from the James Webb Space Telescope reveal that Jupiter’s moon Europa may hold carbon dioxide in the ocean beneath its icy shell, meaning it could harbour conditions suitable for life.
Europa is one of a handful of worlds in our solar system that could potentially sustain life.
Previous research has shown that beneath its water-ice crust lies a salty ocean of liquid water with a rocky seafloor, with salt detected at the surface by Hubble in 2019.
Two independent studies, based on images from JWST, have now concluded that frozen crystals of carbon dioxide found on the surface of Europa originated in the ocean, and not from any external source. The highest concentrations were found in an area known as Tara Regio, a geologically young area of “chaos terrain”, so called because when plumes of warmer water rise to the surface the ice melts, breaks and refreezes, forming chaotic patterns and angles.
PHILADELPHIA — Dozens of people faced criminal charges on Wednesday after a night of social mediafueled mayhem in which groups of thieves, apparently working together, smashed their way into stores in several areas of Philadelphia, stuffing plastic bags with merchandise and fleeing, authorities said.
Police said they made at least 52 arrests. Burglary, theft and other counts have been filed so far against at least 30 people, all but three of them adults, according to Jane Roh, spokesperson for the Philadelphia district attorney’s office.
The flash mob-style ransacking on Tuesday night at dozens of stores including Foot Locker, Lululemon and Apple came after a peaceful protest over a judge’s decision to dismiss murder and other charges against a Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a driver, Eddie Irizarry, through a rolled-up window.
Those doing the ransacking were not affiliated with the protest, Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford said at a news conference, calling the group “a bunch of criminal opportunists”.
At least 18 state-run liquor stores were broken into, leading the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to close all 48 of its Philadelphia retail locations and one in suburban Cheltenham on Wednesday. No employees were hurt on Tuesday night, but “some were understandably shaken,” said liquor board spokesperson Shawn Kelly.
The stores were “closed in the interest of employee safety and while we assess the damage and loss that occurred. We will reopen stores when it is safe to do so and when the damage is repaired,” Mr Kelly said.
Video on social media showed masked people in hoodies running out of Lululemon with merchandise and police officers grabbing several and tackling them to the sidewalk. Photos of a sporting goods store at a mall showed mannequins and sneakers scattered on the sidewalk.
The thefts and unrest stretched from downtown to northeast and west Philadelphia, leaving smashed display windows and broken storefront coverings.
Police said seven cars were stolen from a lot in the northeast.
YEREVAN, Armenia — An explosion at a crowded gas station in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region left scores of people dead and injured as thousands of ethnic Armenians rushed to flee into neighboring Armenia, the separatist territory’s authorities said Tuesday.
Some 28,000 people — about 23 per cent of the region’s population — have fled across the border since Azerbaijan defeated separatists who have governed the breakaway region for about 30 years in a swift military operation last week, according to Armenia’s government.
Residents of NagornoKarabakh scrambled to flee as soon as Azerbaijan lifted a 10-month blockade on the region’s only road to Armenia.