Texas high school hazing incident with hot sauce, lap dances sends student to emergency room

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An alleged hazing incident at a Texas high school that sent one football player to the hospital with burn injuries has resulted in 21 students being suspended.

The Alamo Heights Police Department is investigating after 21 students were suspended at Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio, Texas stemming from a hazing incident that sent one student to the emergency room with skin burns to his lower body, KENS-TV reported this week.  The football players were reportedly initiating new players onto the varsity team as part of a school tradition that involved hot sauce, cookies, and lap dances. "The senior boys did an initiation, where they went out to the baseball fields and made the younger players put cookies dipped in hot sauce between their butt cheeks," a source told KENS-TV. "Then, they had to race each other, and if any of the cookies fell out the person would have to eat it. They made them do this in an open space completely naked." BOY, 5, DIES AFTER BEING LEFT IN HOT CAR OUTSIDE TEXAS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DURING TRIPLE-DIGIT TEMPERATURES

Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio, Texas (Google Maps)

The source added that some players had hot sauce thrown at them and that some of the freshman were forced to strip down to their boxers and give lap dances to cheerleaders at the party. "Last week, the District received multiple messages through our anonymous tip line regarding safety concerns and allegations of misconduct by some players on the football team," Alamo Heights ISD director of communications Julie Ann Matonis said in a statement. "The alleged incident did not take place on AHISD property nor was it during school hours. District administrators and coaches had no knowledge of any allegations prior to receiving the reports. The District immediately investigated the matter thoroughly and took appropriate action. Because of student confidentiality laws, the District is prohibited from sharing any additional information." BEDRIDDEN TEXAS MOTHER FOUND IN ‘DEPLORABLE’ HEALTH, OPEN BED SORES AND MOLD ON BODY; ADULT CHILDREN ARRESTED Local sports talk radio host Mike Taylor said on Wednesday that "almost the entire" team was punished for the incident receiving two game suspensions, in-house suspensions, and community service. According to KENS-TV, some victims of the hazing incident will also be suspended.  "Nobody would ever want this to happen to their child," Kara Van De Kieft, a parent of junior high students in the district, told the outlet. "It is something that is a concern to me as a parent of somebody who will be going to the high school next year." The Alamo Heights Independent School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Alamo Heights High School (Google Maps)

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The Alamo Heights football team opened their season on Friday night with a 42-39 loss to San Antonio’s Seguin High School. 

Andrew Mark Miller is a writer at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.

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Why the Middle East may be too hot to live in by the end of the century

One after another, European countries such as Spain and Portugal registered record highs this year. The northern hemisphere did indeed witness record temperatures, with wildfires engulfing parts of Europe and drought threatening food supplies. And, often, European cities witnessed hotter conditions than those in the Persian Gulf. But experts say that temperature alone isn't an adequate measure of the livability of a city -- a combination of heat and humidity is. And that's why the Middle East is far less livable than Europe even at the same temperatures. The Middle East is still quite hot. The Iranian city of Abadan set the record for the hottest dry heat temperature this year when it hit 53 degrees Celsius (127 degrees Fahrenheit) on August 5. But combine that with the high levels of humidity in the region and it becomes an even more inhospitable place for human beings. It's harder to cool down when the weather is humid, as our bodies struggle to transfer their heat to "wet" air rather than dry air, making it harder to sweat it out and lower our body temperatures.

The measure of heat combined with humidity is called the wet bulb temperature. The name stems from the way this condition is measured, literally by wrapping a wet cloth around a thermometer and measuring the temperature as the water evaporates. This speaks directly to our body's ability to cool itself through sweating.

"The wet bulb temperature is the lowest temperature that can be reached by evaporative cooling," Tapio Schneider, a professor of environmental science and engineering at the California Institute of Technology, told CNN. The Middle East is especially vulnerable to rising global temperatures. "The region is already warm and can be humid," he said. "Therefore, global warming can push it into the zone where human health is endangered." On July 19, the UK experienced its hottest day on record, surpassing temperatures of 40C for the first time, with a high of 40.3C in eastern England. On the same day, average temperatures in both London and Dubai were 34C -- but the wet bulb temperature in London was 20C, while Dubai was a more painful 27C.

The Persian Gulf is one of the few places in the world ever to record a wet bulb temperature that exceeds the threshold of human survivability, 35C. Since 2005, there have been nine separate occasions of this on record.

A wet bulb temperature of 35C means the body can no longer cool itself to a temperature that can maintain normal functions. "It is a hard threshold for survivability in that independent of age and fitness, humans cannot survive in those conditions; they will die within hours without special exertion," said Schneider. Wet bulb temperatures just under 35C aren't ideal either. "Humans experience heat stress at lower wet bulb temperatures too," he said. "And the degree to which they can survive such heat stress does depend on fitness, age, and pre-existing conditions." The oil-rich Arab states of the Persian Gulf have equipped themselves against the heat, with energy-intensive air conditioning, but other regional countries haven't been as privileged. In Iraq, employees in the city of Basra were asked to stay home due to high temperatures earlier this month. However, households only get up to 10 hours of electricity from the national grid, with those who can afford it paying private generator providers to cover the other hours.

In Gaza, residents cool off in the three to four hours of electricity they get per day, suffering for periods of up to 20 hours with no electricity daily. Similarly, Lebanon's government no longer provides more than two hours of electricity per day. And even in some Gulf Arab states, such as Kuwait, where there is a building boom, access to air conditioning isn't available to all, including construction workers toiling outdoors.

Research by Purdue University found that at around a wet bulb temperature of 32C, it becomes impossible even for healthy people to work outdoors, with physical labor having a limit of 31C.

An MIT simulation found that if the current pace of greenhouse emissions remains constant in the Persian Gulf, annual maximum wet bulb temperatures in cities such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha would exceed the threshold for human survivability (35C) several times a year by the end of the century.

The digest

Saudi activist gets 34 years in prison for Twitter activity

Saudi women's rights campaigner Salma al-Shehab, 33, was sentenced to 34 years in prison on Monday for publishing "false and tendentious rumors on Twitter," according to independent human rights organization ALQST and court documents viewed by CNN.

• Background: Al-Shehab, a PhD student at Leeds University in the United Kingdom, was arrested in January 2021 and subjected to questioning sessions over a period of 265 days before being brought to the Specialized Criminal Court, ALQST said in a statement. The mother of two was initially given a six-year sentence late last year which was increased to 34 years after al-Shehab filed an appeal, according to court documents. The charges filed against her by the Public Prosecution included "providing succor to those seeking to disrupt public order and undermine the safety of the general public and stability of the state, and publishing false and tendentious rumors on Twitter," ALQST added.

• Why it matters: Al-Shehab's prison sentence is the longest ever for a peaceful activist in the kingdom's history, according to ALQST. Lina Al-Hathloul, the organization's head of Monitoring and Communications, told CNN that al-Shehab had been arrested for supporting her sister Loujain al-Hathloul, a prominent activist who spent more than 1,000 days in jail. Lina Al-Hathloul said in the ALQST statement that al-Shehab's sentence "makes a mockery of the Saudi authorities' claims of reform for women and of the legal system," adding that it "shows that they remain hellbent on harshly punishing anyone who expresses their opinions freely."

Israeli army raids Palestinian civil society organizations in the West Bank The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) raided seven offices belonging to five Palestinian civil society organizations in the West Bank on Thursday morning, according to Israel's Ministry of Defense.

• Background: The five groups had been labeled as terrorist organizations by the Israeli government last year, which accused them of acting "undercover on the international front on behalf of the 'Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP),' to support its activity and further its goals." The Palestine Liberation Organization condemned the move, saying it will appeal to human rights organizations "to intervene immediately and condemn the closure of non-governmental organizations and pressure to reopen them."
• Why it matters: The move drew dismay and protests from international organizations. B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights watchdog, condemned the raids and described Israel's accusations as false. "We will continue to work with our colleagues in the Palestinian NGOs to dismantle the apartheid regime," a statement from the organization said. Although not directly connected, the news also comes after the worst bout of violence between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants since a brief war last May. Earlier in August, more than 40 Palestinian militants and civilians, including 15 children, were killed during two and a half days of fighting, after Israel launched strikes on targets of the Islamic Jihad militant group in Gaza. Palestinian militants launched more than 1,000 rockets back toward Israel.

Turkey's Erdogan meets with Ukraine's Zelensky and UN chief Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking alongside his Ukrainian counterpart Volodomyr Zelensky and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the Ukrainian city of Lviv on Thursday, expressed concerns about the ongoing conflict around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, warning of the danger of "a new Chernobyl."

• Background: Ministers from Ukraine and Russia signed an agreement to unblock Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which was brokered by the UN and Turkey in Istanbul on July 22 amid concerns over a global food crisis. Urging Russia and Ukraine to find "the shortest and the fairest way to the negotiating table," the Turkish leader said on Thursday: "I maintain my belief that the war will eventually end at the negotiating table. In fact, [Zelensky] and Guterres echo this view." Zelensky responded by saying he was surprised by Erdogan's suggestion and that he has "no faith in the Russian Federation." "The people who are killing, raping, dropping rockets on our civilian infrastructures every day cannot want peace, so they have to free our territories first," the Ukrainian President added.

• Why it matters: Turkey has been hosting talks between delegates from Russia and Ukraine for months now, and Erdogan has been vying for a mediation role in the conflict. That role was seemingly elevated after Ankara helped broker the deal to allow exports of grain from the blockaded Ukrainian ports. In the process, Erdogan has been engaged in a strategic balancing act between Russia on one side, and Ukraine and the West on the other. At Thursday's meeting in Lviv, the Turkish President said, "We are ready to act as a facilitator or mediator towards the goal of reviving the negotiations over the parameters that took form in Istanbul."

What to watch

Climate change and poor water management are causing alarming droughts across the globe, drying up lakes that once flowed with abundant fresh water. Israel is hopeful, however, that by desalinating sea water from the Mediterranean, it can pump back fresh water into lakes across the country.

Watch the full report here:

Around the region

The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art was forced to temporarily close due to insect infestation, the museum said in a statement and apology on Wednesday.

The news broke after a video posted on the BBC Persian website went viral. It showed two silverfish crawling under the glass of a famous photograph taken by influential German photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher.

"The treasure works of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, national wealth and their proper maintenance are the most important concern of all of us, and the attention and sensitivity of the Iranian art family is a valuable asset," the statement said. Once the museum became aware of the situation, pest control technicians rushed over to tackle the problem, it said. "Fortunately, this work was not damaged, and no insects were seen in the other works of the exhibition," it continued. The statement said that experts will be fumigating the building's exterior spaces, as it is likely the insects entered from outside. The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art is one of the largest art museums in the country, carrying large collections of both Iranian and Western paintings. After the 1979 Iranian Revolution, many of the renowned Western art pieces were stored and hidden in the museum vault for decades. Now, the museum frequently displays artwork from around the world, including the United States and Europe. By Zeena Saifi

Photo of the day

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Woman in Oklahoma climbs through sunroof, rescues 2-year-olds left in hot car at Walmart

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A woman in Oklahoma climbed through the sunroof of a vehicle parked outside a Walmart this week to rescue two 2-year-olds left inside, according to reports. 

The vehicle was reportedly parked in direct sunlight during a 98-degree day.

Elizabeta Babb, 33, was arrested after she exited an Oklahoma City Walmart after shopping for over a half hour while her two toddlers were strapped in their car seats.

The 2-year-old girls were reportedly "unresponsive and buckled in their car seats" when they were found. 

FLORIDA CHILD DIES AFTER BEING LEFT IN A HOT CAR, 11TH IN US THIS YEAR: 'HORRIBLE — AND YET WE EXPECT IT'

A shopper leaves a Walmart store in Bradford, Pa., July 20, 2020.  (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo)

"A retired police officer working security for Walmart stated the vehicle was hot to the touch, and she burned her hand as she attempted to make entry," Oklahoma police said, according to local reporting. 

TEXAS FATHER ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY LEAVING 5 KIDS IN SWELTERING HOT CAR WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING

An unidentified woman crawled through the open sunroof to rescue the girls as others in the parking lot attempted to open the car doors. 

A shopping cart outside a Walmart store in Torrance, Calif. May 15, 2022.  (Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The children were reportedly in shock and crying after being taken from the vehicle and placed in a security vehicle with air conditioning.

According to local reports, Walmart officials called for the driver of the vehicle to come outside, but Babb did not exit the store until she checked out.

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Babb apparently told authorities she had been in the store for "five minutes."

But, according to surveillance footage, she was in the store 35 minutes.

Fox News could not immediately reach the Oklahoma City Police Department for comment. 

This article was written by Fox News staff.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/woman-in-oklahoma-climbs-through-sunroof-rescues-2-year-olds-left-in-hot-car-at-walmart/?feed_id=13555&_unique_id=63013cf0a7f7f

Foot found in Yellowstone hot spring linked to July death

HELENA, Mont. -- Part of a human foot found in a shoe floating in a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park earlier this week is believed to be linked the death of a person last month, park officials said Friday.

The July 31 death is being investigated but officials do not suspect foul play, park officials said in a statement. The statement did not disclose details about how the death is believed to have happened, identify the person who died or say why officials do not suspect foul play.

The shoe was recovered from the park's Abyss Pool on Tuesday after an employee spotted it, park officials said.

News of that discovery led a man from Maryland to contact the National Park Service to report that he and his family had spotted a shoe, floating sole up, in the hot spring on the morning of Aug. 11.

Chris Quinn of Pasadena, Maryland, said in an interview that he sent a photo of the shoe to the park service.

Park spokesperson Linda Veress said in an email that officials could not confirm whether the shoe that was found was the same type of shoe in Quinn's photo.

Abyss Pool, west of the West Thumb area of Yellowstone Lake, is 53 feet (16 meters) deep and the temperature is about 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 Celsius), park officials said.

Park visitors are warned to stay on the boardwalks and trails in thermal areas, where some of the pools and springs have a thin, breakable crust covering the scalding and sometimes acidic water.

At least 22 people are known to have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile (9,000 square kilometer) national park since 1890, park officials have said.

The most recent death happened in June 2016 when a man from Portland, Oregon, left a boardwalk in the the park's Norris Geyser Basin, slipped on gravel and fell into a boiling, acidic spring. No significant human remains were recovered.

The nation's first national park has drawn more than 4 million visitors annually in recent years, with the exception of 2020, when it was briefly closed due to the pandemic.

Historic flooding forced the closure of the entire park for part of June. The park's northern and northeastern entrances are still closed to vehicles.

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Peipert reported from Denver.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/foot-found-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-linked-to-july-death/?feed_id=13142&_unique_id=62ffd7498ce19

Wildfires in West explode in size amid hot, windy conditions

SAN DIEGO -- Wildfires in California and Montana exploded in size overnight amid windy, hot conditions and were quickly encroaching on neighborhoods, forcing evacuation orders for over 100 homes Saturday, while an Idaho blaze was spreading.

In California's Klamath National Forest, the fast-moving McKinney fire, which started Friday, went from charring just over 1 square mile (1 square kilometer) to scorching as much as 62 square miles (160 square kilometers) by Saturday in a largely rural area near the Oregon state line, according to fire officials. The fire burned down at least a dozen residences and wildlife was seen fleeing the area to avoid the flames.

“It's continuing to grow with erratic winds and thunderstorms in the area and we're in triple digit temperatures," said Caroline Quintanilla, a spokeswoman at Klamath National Forest.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Saturday as the fire intensified. The proclamation allows Newsom more flexibility to make emergency response and recovery effort decisions and access federal aid.

It also allows “firefighting resources from other states to assist California crews in battling the fires,” according to a statement from the governor's office.

Meanwhile in Montana, the Elmo wildfire nearly tripled in size to more than 11 square miles (about 28 square kilometers) within a few miles of the town of Elmo. Roughly 200 miles (320 kilometers) to the south, Idaho residents remained under evacuation orders as the Moose Fire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest charred more than 67.5 square miles (174.8 square kilometers) in timbered land near the town of Salmon. It was 17% contained.

A significant build-up of vegetation was fueling the McKinney fire, said Tom Stokesberry, a spokesman with the U.S. Forest Service for the region.

“It’s a very dangerous fire — the geography there is steep and rugged, and this particular area hasn’t burned in a while," he said.

A small fire was also burning nearby, outside the town of Seiad, Stokesberry said. With lightning predicted over the next few days, resources from all over California were being brought in to help fight the region’s fires, he said.

McKinney’s explosive growth forced crews to shift from trying to control the perimeter of the blaze to trying to protect homes and critical infrastructure like water tanks and power lines, and assist in evacuations in California’s northernmost county of Siskiyou.

Deputies and law enforcement were knocking on doors in the county seat of Yreka and the town of Fort Jones to urge residents to get out and safely evacuate their livestock onto trailers. Automated calls were being sent to land phone lines as well because there were areas without cell phone service.

Over 100 homes were ordered evacuated and authorities were warning people to be on high alert. Smoke from the fire caused the closure of portions of Highway 96.

The Pacific Coast Trail Association urged hikers to get to the nearest town while the U.S. Forest Service closed a 110-mile (177-kilometer) section of the trail from the Etna Summit to the Mt. Ashland Campground in southern Oregon.

Oregon state Rep. Dacia Grayber, who is a firefighter, was camping with her husband, who is also in the fire service, near the California state line when gale-force winds awoke them just after midnight.

The sky was glowing with strikes of lightening in the clouds, while ash was blowing at them, though they were in Oregon, about 10 miles (about 16 kilometers) away. Intense heat from the fire had sent up a massive pyrocumulonimbus cloud, which can produce its own weather system including winds and thunderstorms, Grayber said.

“These were some of the worst winds I've ever been in and we’re used to big fires," she said. “I thought it was going to rip the roof top tent off of our truck. We got the heck out of there."

On their way out, they came across hikers on the Pacific Coast Trail fleeing to safety.

“The terrifying part for us was the wind velocity," she said. “It went from a fairly cool breezy night to hot, dry hurricane-force winds. Usually that happens with a fire during the day but not at night. I hope for everyone's sake this dies down but it's looking like it's going to get worse."

In western Montana, the wind-driven Elmo fire forced evacuations of homes and livestock as it raced across grass and timber, according to The National Interagency Fire Center, based in Idaho. The agency estimated it would take nearly a month to contain the blaze.

Smoke shut down a portion of Highway 28 between Hot Springs and Elmo because of the thick smoke, according to the Montana Department of Transportation.

Crews from several different agencies were fighting the fire on Saturday, including the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Fire Division. Six helicopters were making drops on the fire, aided by 22 engines on the ground.

In Idaho, more than 930 wildland firefighters and support staff were battling the Moose fire Saturday and protecting homes, energy infrastructure and the Highway 93 corridor, a major north-south route.

A red flag warning indicated that the weather could make things worse with the forecast calling for “dry thunderstorms," with lightning, wind and no rain.

Meanwhile, crews made significant progress in battling another major blaze in California that forced evacuations of thousands of people near Yosemite National Park earlier this month. The Oak fire was 52% contained by Saturday, according to a Cal Fire incident update.

As fires raged across the West, the U.S. House on Friday approved wide-ranging legislation aimed at helping communities in the region cope with increasingly severe wildfires and drought — fueled by climate change — that have caused billions of dollars in damage to homes and businesses in recent years.

The legislative measure approved by federal lawmakers Friday combines 49 separate bills and would increase firefighter pay and benefits; boost resiliency and mitigation projects for communities affected by climate change; protect watersheds; and make it easier for wildfire victims to get federal assistance.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein has sponsored a similar measure.

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Boone reported from Boise, Idaho.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/wildfires-in-west-explode-in-size-amid-hot-windy-conditions/?feed_id=4537&_unique_id=62e5efa1d6b06