Michigan Train Derailment |
A freight train pulling at least one car carrying agricultural materials derailed yesterday near Michigan\'s Van Buren township, just west of Detroit. It is the second such incident in the Michigan-Ohio-Pennsylvania corridor in two weeks; initial reports suggest no hazardous material was released.
The crash follows the Feb. 3 derailment of a train transporting multiple cars worth of hazardous materials near East Palestine, Ohio (see video). Emergency crews were required to carry out a controlled burn of the leaked chemicals, releasing toxic hydrogen chloride and phosgene gas—a WWI chemical weapon—into the atmosphere, spurring a milewide evacuation.
Ohio residents have heavily criticized the government\'s response to the crash, citing unanswered questions about water contamination, reports of dead animals, and long-term health and environmental effects. The frustration came to a head Wednesday after the rail firm responsible for the crash, Norfolk Southern, pulled out of a meeting with residents.
Tests have reportedly shown no contamination in East Palestine\'s water system; read the preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report on the crash here. |
Chinese officials announced sanctions yesterday against Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Missiles and Defense over the sale of military and defense technology to Taiwan. While not explicitly linked, it marks the latest escalation of tensions between China and the US since a Chinese surveillance balloon traversed the US earlier this month.
Reports now suggest US officials had been tracking the initial spy balloon since its liftoff from China\'s Hainan Island in late January. Officials said the craft was likely meant to surveil military installations in Guam and Hawaii before being blown off course, appearing over Alaska\'s Aleutian Islands Jan. 28 before crossing the US. The balloon was eventually shot down off the South Carolina coast; three other objects downed in the following days were determined as likely for commercial or private research purposes. Both countries have now publicly accused each other of operating vast balloon surveillance networks for years.
Check out this visual deep dive into what else is floating through the skies. |
Codex Sassoon Heads to Auction |
The oldest surviving and most complete Hebrew Bible is set to be auctioned off in May for an estimated $30M to $50M, according to Sotheby’s.
The Codex Sassoon is more than 1,100 years old and is believed to be one of only two ancient manuscripts that contains all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible. It features Masoretic notes from early Middle Age scholars and a thousand years of annotations, transcriptions, commentary, and ownership records. The manuscript is named after David Solomon Sassoon, a collector of Jewish ceremonial art and manuscripts who bought the work in 1929. His estate sold the book in 1978 for roughly $320K. The current owner is Swiss financier Jacqui Safra.
The sale could mark the most expensive historical document ever to be auctioned—a first printing of the US Constitution previously sold for $43M in 2021. See how price estimates are determined.
Take a look inside the text here. |
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