Archaeologists have uncovered a tiny house in Pompeii that is filled with elaborate – and sometimes erotic – frescoes, further revealing the ornate way in which Romans decorated their homes. Situated in the central district of the ancient city, the house is smaller than normal and unusually lacks the open central courtyard – known as an atrium – that is typical of Roman architecture, the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, which oversees the site, said in a statement Thursday.

This change could have occurred due to shifting trends in Roman – and particularly Pompeian – society, during the first century AD, archaeologists said. Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, when its buildings and thousands of inhabitants were buried beneath layers of ash and pumice. This coating perfectly preserved the city for millennia, making it one of the most important archaeological sites in the world as it offers an unprecedented insight into Roman daily life.

This latest discovery spotlights the ornate decorations that rich Romans enjoyed in their homes – several frescoes depict mythical scenes and others are decorated with plant and animal motifs on a white background. One small square painting set against a blue-painted wall depicts intercourse between a satyr and a nymph, while another shows Hippolytus, son of the mythical Greek king Theseus, and his stepmother Phaedra who fell in love with him before killing herself when he rejected her in disgust. (CNN)

Photo: A tiny house adorned with elaborate – and sometimes erotic – frescoes has been uncovered in Pompeii…[+]

Three NASA astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut were unexpectedly transferred to a medical facility in Florida, rather than returning to their home base in Houston after their splashdown early Friday morning aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

One of those astronauts remained in the hospital Friday afternoon with a “medical issue,” while the three others flew to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston after a health evaluation at Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola, a hospital near the crew’s splashdown site in the Gulf of Mexico. NASA did not provide any further details about the crew member who remained at the medical facility.

“To protect the crew member’s medical privacy, specific details on the individual’s condition or identity will not be shared,” according to a Friday afternoon statement from NASA news chief Cheryl Warner.

“The one astronaut who remains at Ascension is in stable condition under observation as a precautionary measure,” the statement said.

The four-person crew, which spent nearly eight months aboard the International Space Station before landing in the Gulf of Mexico at 3:29 a.m. ET Friday, had a “safe splashdown and recovery,” NASA said Friday morning.

However, all four astronauts “were taken to a local medical facility for additional evaluation,” according to an update from Warner shared at 8 a.m. ET. The measure was taken for the entire crew “out of an abundance of caution,” according to NASA.

The four crewmates — including NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps and Alexander Grebenkin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos — make up the staff of Crew-8, a routine mission to the International Space Station that Space X carried out on behalf of NASA.

All four astronauts were seen smiling and waving as they exited their Crew Dragon capsule and boarded a recovery ship during a live stream of their splashdown overnight. (CNN)…[+]

Photo: The SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts are seen inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship MEGAN shortly after having landed Friday in the Gulf of Mexico off Pensacola, Florida. (Getty Images)

KINGSTON, Jamaica — A state of public emergency (SOE) has been declared in Rockfort and its surrounding areas within the Kingston East Division. This follows the fatal shooting of five people at a football match in Rockfort on Monday evening.

The SOE was declared after thorough assessments by the security forces which indicated that the elevated levels of violent criminal activity within the designated areas were of such severity and scale that they pose a significant threat to public safety, according to a government release.

The boundaries of the state of public emergency are defined as follows:
West: On the western side, the boundary extends in a northerly direction from the intersection of Michael Manley Boulevard and South Camp Road, then continues north-easterly along Vineyard Road then on to the end of Diana Drive;

North: The northern boundary extends in an easterly direction from Diana Drive to Lexington Avenue, then on to Deanery Road to the intersection to Mountain View Avenue.  The boundary then extends easterly along an imaginary irregular line to the shared parish border of St Andrew and St Thomas;

East: The eastern boundary extends in a southerly direction along the shared parish border of St Andrew and St Thomas to the coast; and

South: The southern boundary extends westerly along the coast of St Andrew, then along the Kingston coastline to the intersection of South Camp Road and Michael Manley Boulevard.

“The safety and security of our citizens is our top priority. This act of terror in Rockfort is a grave threat to the peace of our nation, and we will not allow criminal elements to destabilise our communities. The security forces have been fully mobilised, and we will use all available resources to bring the perpetrators to justice and restore calm,” added Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Dr Horace Chang. (jamaicaobserver)

Photo: Prime Minister Andrew Holness and National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang condemned the slaying of five men at a football match in Pleasant Heights, Rockfort.(Jamaicaobserver)

WASHINGTON – A weak yen is beneficial for Japan’s economy as the boost to exports exceeds the increase in cost of imports, the International Monetary Fund’s Japan mission chief Nada Choueiri told Reuters on Friday.

“Japan is a very outward-oriented economy, and a very open economy,” which means on a net basis, the benefit from rising exports from a weak yen exceeds the rising costs in imports, she said. “So, the yen depreciation on net benefits growth in Japan,” Choueiri said in an interview.

“It’s important to recognize that the Japanese authorities are committed to a flexible exchange rate regime,” she said, when asked whether rapid yen moves would justify Tokyo intervening in the currency market.

The yen has resumed its declines recently against the dollar on expectations that the U.S.-Japan interest rate divergence will remain wide, posing a headache for Japanese authorities who fret of the hit to households and retailers from rising import costs from a weak yen.

On monetary policy, she urged the Bank of Japan to tread cautiously in raising interest rates, as risks to inflation were balanced and there was high uncertainty on the outlook.

“The first priority is to remain data-dependent and analyze all the data that comes, and to be very, very gradual in the process of raising the policy rate,” she said. “But we do see that the path will be towards rate increases over the policy horizon,” she said. (Reuters)

Photo: A banknote of Japanese yen is seen with a currency exchange rate graph in this illustration picture taken. (Reuters)…[+]

AUSTRALIA – Three men died after two light planes collided midair and crashed into a forested area southwest of Sydney on Saturday (Oct 26). Australian police, fire and ambulance crews reached the two wreckage sites, located in a semirural bushland area about 88km southwest of Sydney, on foot. One plane had burst into flames on impact.
New South Wales Police Acting Superintendent Timothy Calman confirmed that a Cessna 182 carrying two people collided with an ultralight aircraft from a nearby airfield carrying one. Further details of the victims have not been disclosed.
Witnesses saw “debris coming from the sky” and tried to help, but “there was probably not much that could’ve been done”, Calman said to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He noted both crashes, about 1km apart, were “not survivable”. NSW Ambulance Inspector Joseph Ibrahim, part of the emergency response team, said to the ABC, “unfortunately, there was nothing they could’ve done”. The cause of the crash will be investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. (Channelnewsasia)…[+]
Photo: Police and firefighters stand near where a few people have died after two light planes collided midair and crashed into a forested area southwest of Sydney. (AP)