Early Bird: Israel attacked Iran's largest gas field in the world. The Czech Republic fell in the ranking of the happiest countries.
Israel killed the Iranian intelligence minister and allegedly attacked the world's largest natural gas field in Iran. According to the World Happiness Report, the Czech Republic dropped two places, with Finns traditionally at the top, but Slovaks experienced an even more significant drop.
The World's Largest Natural Gas Field Targeted in Attack
Iran has expanded its attacks on key energy facilities in the Middle East, prompting sharp warnings from Gulf Arab states on Thursday, which deemed this move as a dangerous escalation that risks drawing them into direct conflict with Tehran. The attacks followed Israel's assassination of Iran's intelligence minister and reportedly attacking the world's largest natural gas field in Iran, as the war escalated pressure on the region's economic lifeline: energy.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have all condemned the Iranian attacks targeting their natural gas fields, with Saudi Arabia's top diplomat stating that the attacks on the kingdom mean that "the little trust that previously existed has been completely destroyed," according to AP.
Czechs have dropped in the rankings of the happiest countries, with Finland dominating for nine years
The Czech Republic has moved to 20th place in the ranking of the happiest countries, dropping two places. According to the World Happiness Report, Finns are at the top for the ninth year in a row. Neighboring Slovakia experienced an even greater drop, falling from 45th to 54th position, wrote ČTK.
In Switzerland, a person died after a cable car fall
On Wednesday, a gondola fell down a snowy slope at a Swiss ski resort during strong winds, resulting in one fatality. A police spokesperson informed reporters that one person suffered fatal injuries, although the exact cause of death had not been confirmed. According to the police, this individual, whose identity has not been disclosed, was the only person in the cabin. A helicopter was dispatched to the accident site at the Engelberg ski resort in central Switzerland, as reported by the air rescue service Rega according to CNN.
In the USA, 150,000 more people died from Covid-19 than reported, study finds
According to a new study highlighting dramatic discrepancies in the number of unrecorded deaths, the number of premature deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic was much higher than the official figures in the USA. In 2020 and 2021, approximately 840,000 deaths from COVID-19 were recorded on death certificates. However, a group of researchers using artificial intelligence estimates that there were likely an additional 155,000 unrecognized deaths outside of hospitals during this period. This would mean that approximately 16% of COVID-19 deaths were not counted in those years.
The overall conclusions published on Wednesday by the journal Science Advances were close to estimates from other studies on pandemic-related deaths during that period. However, the authors of the new study attempted to pinpoint which deaths were more likely missing from official statistics. These were most often Hispanic Americans who died without an accurate diagnosis in the early stages of the pandemic, reported CNN.
Sources: ČTK, CNN, AP
