Author: Kamila Sukhanova

US airplane had an emergency evacuation on the Thames near Rainham Marshes in East London at 2:30. London City Airport confirmed loss of radar contact with flight US 132 at 2:31 pm. The flight destination was from LCY to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The pilot of US 132 reported that there was an engine failure and no power left to return. He decided to ditch the plane in the water as there were no other safe options. Units from Kent and Essex supported all emergency services that helped at the place of the plane crash along with Thames River police and Royal National Lifeboat Institution. The plane was 100 meters offshore Rainham Marshes Nature Reserve in Purfleet.    

In an hour, all passengers moved onto the aircraft’s wings and into life rafts with the help of RNLI. Essex Ambulance was ready to provide medical checks. US Airways staff reported there were 42 passengers and six crew members on the plane, where only two passengers had minor injuries. However, Essex Police said that one of the passengers was taken to Queens Hospital due to a heart attack. After observation, the passenger suffered from indigestion and was released that evening. Other passengers and the crew were safely evacuated from the plane. Passengers had the decision to either get safely home or back to London City Airport.  

British Transport Police had an investigation on the flight US 132 and what caused it to be disabled. The report stated that the problem was the collision of two drones 1,500 meters east of London City Airport. The plane had an initial examination of engines, where during the process, drone debris was found.  British Transport Police now focused on recovering aircraft for Air Accidents Investigation Branch.   

Besides official help, Purfleet Heritage and Military Centre haven’t stayed aside and contributed to the helping Essex Police, Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the ambulance. In addition, the centre was proud to provide passengers with food, drinks and phone in order to contact relatives. Purfleet Heritage and Military Center stated how they ‘can’t believe everyone got out alive.’   

One of the passengers, Nadine Johnson, has made a comment on Twitter saying, ‘did not expect to spend my birthday standing on the wing of a plane in the middle of the Thames. The pilot is a total legend for getting us down in one piece.’   

If you thought the recent Vogue cover story featuring Adele was enough to catch up with everything that has happened to the platinum record singer behind the closed doors, then you probably haven’t heard about her recent interview with Oprah.   

The CBS’ special Adele One Night Only was aired on Sunday night. It included an exclusive pre-recorded concert at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, where Adele performed some of her songs from the soon to be released album, ’30’.     

The infamous rose garden, where Oprah also interviewed Prince Harry and Meghan, was ready to have Adele for a talk as part of the special. The first time publicly, Adele revealed that she is “embarrassed” and “disappointed” for not making her marriage with Simon Konecki “work”.   

A 33-year-old singer explained, “I’ve been obsessed with a nuclear family my whole life because I never came from one. I, from a very young age, promised myself that when I had kids, that we’d stay together. We would be that united family”.   

Adele and Simon Konecki announced their split in September 2019; the couple shares a nine-year-old son, Angelo.  The singer admitted that she was struggling to explain to Angelo why his parents are no longer together. But she believes dedicating ’30’ to him would help her to answer future questions.   

“The whole album is not about him, it’s about me, and I just wanted for him to hear me talking madly deeply about who I am and how I feel”.   

Apart from divorce, Adele’s body transformation was another topic of discussion. The star admitted that she had severe panic attacks and anxiety after she left her marriage. The only way to cope with it was being out at the gym, where Adele lost 45 kg and managed to deadlift 77 kg. Oprah asked about thoughts on people’s reactions to her new image, where the singer shared that she wasn’t surprised at all as ‘her body has been objectified her entire life.’

“I was body positive then and I’m body positive now. It’s not my job to validate how people feel about their bodies. I feel bad that it’s made anyone feel horrible about themselves – but that’s not my job. I’m trying to sort my own life out. I can’t add another worry.”

Hershey overtakes its competitors with not only well-known sweets but also with its highest percentage of female employees. It is not a secret how ruthless the situation has become with the unemployment among women worldwide since the pandemic.   

The Hershey Company launched in 2020 The Pathways Project to create a more diverse and safer workplace. The Pathways Project believes ‘DEI’ – (diversity, equity and inclusion) is a key to its adequate progress in questions of women finding hard times to get a job. In 2020, Hershey achieved the planned goal of the year, which was a move to pay dollar-for-dollar pay equity for people of colour and salaried women.  

“At Hershey, we are more than female-friendly – we are female-forward”, stated Alicia Petross, Chief Diversity Officer of The Hershey Company. 

According to the company’s 2020 Sustainability Report, the percentages of Hershey having gender diversity and female leaders around the world are 48 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively. As well as the pay equity, Hershey has given additional support to women by making fertility benefits to those who are family-focused, the formation of women’s business resource groups, paid paternity leave and the establishment of career development programs for underrepresented groups.

The Pathways Project set its goal to expand dollar-for-dollar pay equity worldwide and increase the gender and colour representation of Hershey employees by 2025. The company plans to achieve 15 to 20 per cent of people of colour and 40 to 42 per cent of women being occupied with People Leader roles.   

Alicia Petross continued, “From internal initiatives, such as the International Women’s Day HerSHEy’s bar and our ongoing community engagement efforts to support all youth, this recognition is a testament to our continued commitment to gender equity across our organization.”