Flash floods today

'It's a cash burn of half a billion pounds to keep the sector closed each and every month. If we are forced to wait for a longer period then unfortunately there will be little left of the hospitality sector and the 3.2million people who work in it to reopen at that point in May.' … [Read more...] about Boris Johnson will hold No10 press conference at 5pm today as up to 70 furious Tories demand ‘road map’ for lifting lockdown from March – amid fears he is ready to keep Covid restrictions in place until the SUMMER

The Afghan sinkhole reached a staggering low with the Gardez-Khost highway, a 60-mile stretch linking the Ring Road to the eastern borderlands. The contract was turned over to LBG, and construction started in 2003. In November 2010, the federal government slapped LBG with the highest ever fine in a wartime contracting case: $18.7 million in criminal penalties and $50.6 million in civil penalties for overbilling. The company’s former CEO had pleaded guilty in 2014 to defrauding U.S. taxpayers of tens of millions. But the project dragged on, unchecked. By the time the road opened, in 2015, costs had ballooned to nearly $5 million a mile, and it became a never-ending boondoggle. A whistleblower later revealed that LBG had, through dubious methods, paid insurgents not to attack the project. More than 200 gold-star families have since filed a lawsuit against LBG and other defense contractors, alleging these kinds of protection payments “aided and abetted terrorism by directly … [Read more...] about Highway to Hell: A Trip Down Afghanistan’s Deadliest Road

"During one of the most complex and consequential eras in American history, a new generation of NBC News journalists, producers and technicians is providing America with timely, insightful and critically important information, 24/7. I could not be more proud of them," Brokaw said in a statement. … [Read more...] about Tom Brokaw retires after 55 years at NBC News