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After firefighters battled the blaze at Grenfell Tower in London early on Wednesday, they turned to a drone for help surveying the damage. Kent Fire and Rescue Service, a department about an hour southeast of London, supplied its drone to the London Fire Brigade, the Kent department said in a statement. As of Friday at noon local time, at least 30 people had died in the fire in the 24-floor tower, and the number will likely rise, according to London’s Metropolitan Police. Authorities said they had found no evidence to suggest that someone intentionally started the fire. A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade tells Newsweek that responders are using the drone “to help monitor the building.” Keep up with this story and more by subscribing now Related: Relatives and neighbors of London fire victims tell of horror The Kent fire department acquired its drone in 2015. The aircraft carries a high-definition camera that provides a live video feed and can detect body heat through thermal imaging technology. Drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, are growing increasingly popular for use by fire departments in the United States and United Kingdom. The aviation authorities in both countries must grant permission for use. In 2007, the West Midlands Fire Service, in Birmingham, a few hours northwest of London, was the first fire-and-rescue service in the United Kingdom to use drones, the department has said. It first used a drone to survey a warehouse site where a blaze had killed four firefighters in November 2007. As of last August, it had three drones, according to a response to a Freedom of Information Act request it published online. The department said it was using an Aeryon SkyRanger, with high-definition still and video imaging and infrared technology, and a DJI Phantom carrying a GoPro camera. It said it was using those for “operational incidents and training to support the on-scene commanders [with] decision-making.” Aeryon, the drone company, whose customers also include the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, situated about four-and-a-half hours northwest of London, said in January that fire departments worldwide are increasingly acquiring drones. Aeryon cited a report from last November that said some 43 fire and rescue agencies had tested its product. The Manchester fire department’s drone, which it acquired in 2015, can fly up to 50 minutes, as high as 400 feet, and as far as 3.1 miles from the controller. Drones are useful when a structure is too risky for firefighters to access. “After a fire, a building can sometimes be too dangerous,” Adam Green, station manager at the Kent Fire and Rescue Service, told a local outlet last September. “But for investigation work, you might be able to see where it started from the burn pattern from the air.” In the U.S., approximately 350 fire departments are using drones, according to Matt Sloane, CEO and co-founder of Skyfire Consulting, which helps departments set up drone programs. That number is still a tiny fraction of the 20,000 to 30,000 fire departments in the country, Sloane points out, but the amount is more than when his company launched in 2014. As for Federal Aviation Administration regulations, he says, “there is still a fairly complex process in place to be able to use them,” but they’re “definitely looking to help departments make this a reality.” The fire departments in Austin, Texas, and Menlo Park, California (home to technology giants such as Facebook), have prominent drone programs, and one in New York City used a drone to respond to a fire for the first time in March. The city said the drone, which it used for a blaze in a six-story building, costs $85,000, weighs 8 pounds and has both a high-definition and an infrared camera. Unlike typical drones, New York’s is tethered with a small electric cable, which gives it unlimited flying time. Firefighters are not the only first responders using drones in the U.S. and U.K. As of January 2016, in England and Wales, more than a quarter of the 43 police forces were considering using drones for operations such as monitoring protests and assisting in investigations and searches, The Times reported. Such uses have been controversial, including in Baltimore, where people have complained about law enforcement monitoring the public from above. Sloane, of Skyfire Consulting, which has worked with 45 fire and police departments, says he understands those worries. “We definitely see some of that resistance, as far as privacy is concerned, on the law-enforcement side,” he says. “One of the things that we tell our clients right at the beginning is get public support on this.” He adds, “There is a lot less controversy when it comes to fire departments, because I think everybody realizes that the fire department is there to help.” Tags:commercial-, distribution-automation, distribution-power-line-monitoring, fault-location, fault-detection |
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Should Manchester United pull off another shock transfer this summer and sign Gareth Bale from Real Madrid, José Mourinho will have to find space for him in his team. United has already spent more than £100 million (about $131 million) this summer, bringing in Swedish center-back Victor Lindelof and Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku. But the possibility of 28-year-old Bale trading Madrid for Manchester could double United's spending this summer. On Wednesday, ESPN reported that United was prepared to pay a world-record sum for Bale and believed that he may leave the Spanish capital, should Kylian Mbappe complete a move to Madrid. But where would the Welshman fit in at Old Trafford? Keep up with this story and more by subscribing now After Lukaku’s arrival, there are currently seven players on United’s books who play in a similar position to Bale. Henrikh Mkhitaryan was signed last summer but made only 15 starts in the Premier League last season. Related: Jose Mourinho and Manchester United Consider World Record Bid For Real Madrid Star United may still extend Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s contract at Old Trafford, but with Lukaku’s arrival this summer, the Belgian striker will, likely, lead the attacking line for Mourinho next season. The Portuguese coach tends to prefer a front three, with two attacking players either side of the striker. Last season, the likes of Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Mkhitaryan and Jesse Lingard filled those roles. All remain at the club. The front-three system suits Bale. In Spain, where he has won one La Liga title and two Champions Leagues, he has formed a formidable attack force along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Bale took up the role on the right, cutting in onto his lethal left foot. But he has shown, particularly in his final season at Tottenham Hotspur, that he is capable of playing behind the striker, given the freedom to roam and find space. During that season, 2012-13, Bale scored 31 goals in 52 games. If Mourinho had Bale and Lukaku in his attack, United would look like strong challengers to win its first Premier League title since 2013. |
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Women in one Kenyan town say they will deny their husbands sex to get them to the polls and voting for their chosen candidate in the upcoming do-over presidential vote on Thursday. Uhuru Kenyatta won the August election with 54 percent, but his victory was overturned by the Supreme Court after his opponent, loser Raila Odinga, claimed the results were hacked. Scores of women in the city of Nyeri, population 230,000, will withhold sex unless their husbands vote for Kenyatta, according to reports from Kenyan media. Keep up with this story and more by subscribing now “We must ensure President Uhuru Kenyatta gets all the votes from here,” one woman told The Star at a rally led by a local official, Rahab Mukami. Women are hoping they can sway the outcome of this election in a country where women make up just 19 percent of Parliament. Sex striking before elections has become a common practice in Kenya, including one in 2009 that sought to get political leaders to work together. Before the August election, a Kenyan lawmaker encouraged women to take part in a sex ban until their husbands registered to vote. “Women, this is the strategy you should adopt," Mishi Mboko, a Kenyan representative, told the BBC. "It is the best. Deny them sex until they show you their voter's card." Odinga supported the modern-day Lysistrata strategy. "August 8 will be a historic day, and no vote will be left without being cast,” Odinga told The Star. “Men will sleep outside. When the day comes, no man should sleep with a woman." Kenyan women don't even need much support from men at the polls, given that 62 percent of registered voters in Kenya are women, according to data obtained by Quartz. Kenyan officials are calling for peace ahead of the second election, which experts say has already caused political and economic instability in the country. The August results have led to protests throughout the country, with some calling for reforms to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. On Sunday, Odinga told his supporters that the commission was ill-prepared for the upcoming election and asked the commission to call it off, according to The Standard. Officials worry that Thursday’s election could lead to violence. Following the 2007 presidential election, tensions erupted, leading to ethnic violence and the murders of dozens of Kenyans. Tags:Remote Digital Signage, wireless ATM solutions, wireless ATM modem, ATM Wireless Connectivity, wireless atm router, ATM cellular |