🌊 Hurricane Beryl lashes the Caribbean with 150 mph winds, Boeing gets ‘sweetheart deal’ on fraud charges, 60-million-year-old seed fossil reveal dinosaur extinction helped spread grapes

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Hurricane Beryl has intensified to a Category 5 hurricane, wreaking havoc across the southeastern Caribbean islands.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) posted on X, stating, “Beryl Becomes a potentially catastrophic Category 5 hurricane In the Eastern Caribbean. Expected to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge to Jamaica later this week.”

On Monday, Beryl made landfall on Carriacou in Grenada, becoming the earliest Category 4 storm in the Atlantic. Fueled by record-warm waters, it wreaked havoc, tearing off doors, windows, and roofs of homes. For more on this development, check out today’s Must-Read.

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> Engineer III - Collaboration & Messaging

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MUST READ

🌊 150 mph roof-ripping winds hit Caribbean: Hurricane Beryl declared Category 5

Grenada’s Prime Minister, Dickon Mitchell, confirmed one fatality and mentioned that communication lines were largely down, making it difficult to assess the full extent of the damage on Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

“In half an hour, Carriacou was flattened,” Mitchell said during a press conference. He later communicated via Facebook that the government was mobilizing relief supplies to the affected islands and urged residents to stay indoors.

The storm caused widespread damage from St. Lucia to Grenada. Streets were filled with debris like shoes, trees, and fallen power lines. Banana trees were broken, and livestock were found dead in fields, with homes nearby leaning dangerously. By late Monday, Beryl’s winds had reached 260 km/h (160 mph), and they are expected to change in strength in the coming days.

🛫 US: Boeing gets ‘sweetheart deal’ on fraud charges, victim families angry

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is preparing to charge Boeing with fraud in connection to two fatal crashes five years ago. However, it is reportedly considering offering the aerospace giant a plea deal.

This news has infuriated the families of the passengers who died in the tragic accidents involving Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which claimed a total of 346 lives.

The proposed plea deal terms, as revealed to the families of the victims, include Boeing paying a fine, facing a three-year probation period, and working under a corporate monitor. The details of the deal were shared with the families during a conference call on Sunday, which led to a wave of anger and frustration.

🍇 Death of dinosaurs helped spread grapes, reveal 60-million-year-old seeds

The extinction of dinosaurs could have paved the way for the spread of grapes. Paleontologists at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History discovered ancient grape seed fossils—ranging between 60 to 19 million years—from the rocks of the Colombian Andes.

Through these super-old fossils, the team identified nine new species of ancient grapes from Colombia, Panama, and Perú.

Grapes have an excellent fossil record going back 50 million years. Interestingly, the oldest grape seed fossils discovered in India are around 66 million years old, corresponding with the catastrophic asteroid impact that changed Earth’s existence.

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IE QUIZ: THE RESULTS

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The answer is: B

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