First murder hornet nest found to have 200 queens capable of spawning new nests

Washington state scientists found about 500 live specimens in various stages of development inside the basketball-sized nest

When scientists in Washington state destroyed the first nest of so-called murder hornets found in the US, they discovered about 500 live specimens in various stages of development, officials said Tuesday.

Among them were nearly 200 queens that had the potential to start their own nests, said Sven-Erik Spichiger, an entomologist leading the fight to kill the hornets.

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‘They give me the willies’: scientist who vacuumed murder hornets braces for fight

Chris Looney helped dismantle the first nest of Asian giant hornets in the US. Now he’s preparing for the next step

The eradication of the first nest of Asian giant hornets on US soil somewhat resembled a science fiction depiction of an alien landing site. A crew of government specialists in white, astronaut-like protective suits descended upon the hornet nexus to vanquish it with a futuristic-looking vacuum cleaner, to the relief of onlookers.

The nest of the fearsome invasive insects, notoriously known as “murder hornets”, was found in a tree crevice near Blaine, in Washington state, via a tracking device attached to a previously captured worker hornet. The Washington state department of agriculture (WSDA) confirmed the nest had been successfully removed, with dozens of live captives taken back for inspection.

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Wildfire smoke closes Yosemite but forecast offers hope for US north-west

California governor warns about climate crisis as new wildfire evacuations ordered north-east of Los Angeles

As wildfires continued to burn across the US west coast, with smoke reaching as far as Europe, California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, issued a stark warning on climate, saying: “The facts are the facts.”

Forecast rain for the Pacific north-west prompted hopes on Thursday of improved fire-fighting conditions in Washington state and Oregon, parts of which have been decimated and swathed in the world’s worst air quality.

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Biden condemns Trump as ‘climate arsonist’ as wildfires burn – live

Trump has landed in California, where he will receive a briefing on the west coast wildfires, which have already claimed at least 35 lives.

“There has to be good, strong forest management, which I’ve been talking about for three years with the states, so hopefully they’ll start doing that,” Trump said.

Trump is in California mispronouncing "Oregon" and insisting that wildfires are caused be poor forest management pic.twitter.com/zydXDoe3DT

Joe Biden closed his climate speech by noting he continues to pray for Americans on the west coast who have been affected by the wildfires.

“We see the light through the dark smoke. We never give up. Always,” Biden said.

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Bigger than London, bigger than New York City: visualizing the size of fires in the US

This interactive map shows the total area burned since 15 August in America’s west, compared with various major cities

Record-breaking wildfires are burning across the American west.

The blazes scorching parts of California, Oregon and Washington state have destroyed millions of acres, leveled entire towns and displaced hundreds of thousands. Dozens of people have been reported dead or missing.

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Fire crews in Oregon and California fight blazes as officials warn of further deaths

  • Dozens still missing and tens of thousands forced to flee
  • Lighter winds and rising humidity help firefighters’ efforts

Fire crews in California and Oregon reported making progress on several blazes over the weekend, as lighter winds and lower temperatures aided the battle against the massive fires raging across the west.

But officials in both states told residents to brace for bad news, as rescue teams start combing through towns and neighborhoods leveled by the infernos.

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Dozens missing in Oregon as historic fires devastate western US

Dozens of people are missing and at least 23 people are believed to have been killed as historic wildfires in the western US forced evacuations, stretched fire crews thin and spawned misinformation.

Residents of Portland, Oregon, awoke on Friday to air thick with smoke pollution that dimmed the sun and turned the skies blood-orange red. Hundreds of firefighters are battling two large wildfires that threatened to merge near the most populated part of Oregon, including the suburbs of Portland, and the governor said dozens of people are missing in other parts of the state.

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US wildfires: Oregon has ‘never seen this amount of uncontained fire’, governor says – live

Washington state’s governor, Jay Inslee, said today that the fires in the state have burned nearly 937 sq miles (2,426km).

“We’ve had this trauma all over Washington,” Inslee said, KHQ-TV reported. The governor was touring the farm town of Malden, which is 35 miles south of Spokane: “But this is the place where the whole heart of the town was torn out.”

Stunned residents of the small Oregon town of Phoenix walked through a scene of devastation Thursday after one of the state’s many wildfires wiped out much of their community, including a mobile home park, houses and businesses, the AP reports on the ground.

There were flames across the street from me, flames to the right of me, flames to the left of me. I just watched everything burn.”

Burned out cars, charred lawn ornaments, rubble. That’s what’s left of this Phoenix mobile home park, which covers abt 20 acres. Flames and smoldering embers still visible here. Everything is blackened by fire.

This was home to abt 300 people. pic.twitter.com/DrDobLKVev

Mayor Chris Luz talks about the loss of Puck’s Donuts. pic.twitter.com/4qz2gLy9Jb

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Oregon fires force 500,000 to evacuate as blazes across American west kill 15

  • Unprecedented fire conditions burn more than 900,000 acres
  • Firefighting resources are stretched thin in three states

More than 500,000 people in Oregon have been forced to evacuate as unprecedented wildfires rage across the state, amounting to more than 10% of the population, authorities said Thursday.

Wildfires searing through the American west have killed at least 15 people, leveled entire neighborhoods and forced stretched firefighting crews to make tough decisions about where to deploy.

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Winds fuel wildfires in California as blazes rage across US west

Region sees amber skies while Washington state faces more acres burned in a day than typically burn in a year

Large, fast-moving fires raged on across the American west on Wednesday, destroying hundreds of homes in the Pacific north-west and sending a dense plume of smoke that turned skies amber across parts of the region.

Related: California, Oregon and Washington battle dozens of fires – live updates

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Seattle: police seek motive after driver hits protesters, killing one

  • I-5 freeway protest hit by car early on Saturday, driver arrested
  • Authorities say road will now be closed to protesters

One person died and one remained in serious condition after a car drove into protesters on a freeway in Seattle.

Summer Taylor, 24, of Seattle, died on Saturday evening at Harborview Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg said.

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Two women injured as car drives through Seattle protest crowd

  • Both women in critical condition, hospital says
  • Driver in custody after incident on Interstate 5

Two women were struck and injured by a car whose driver sped through a protest-related closure on a freeway in Seattle, authorities said on Saturday.

Related: US under siege from 'far-left fascism', says Trump in Mount Rushmore speech

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‘Illegal’: mayor says Trump cannot disband Seattle’s ‘autonomous zone’ – video

Seattle's mayor has defended the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or 'Chaz', a space over several blocks transformed into a community without police which Donald Trump has threatened to disband.

In a tweet, Donald Trump described the protesters as 'domestic terrorists', In another tweet addressing the Seattle mayor, Jenny Durkan, and the Washington governor, Jay Inslee, he told them to 'take back your city NOW… If you don’t do it, I will.'

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Washington governor orders new investigation into police custody death

  • Manuel Ellis, an African American, died three months ago
  • Inslee says investigation will be ‘free of conflicts of interest’

Governor Jay Inslee of Washington has ordered a new investigation into the death of Manuel Ellis, an African American man who died more than three months ago in police custody, following questions over the independence of the investigation.

The move comes one day after a lawyer for the Ellis family released footage from the night of his death, which shows him screaming, “I can’t breathe sir. I can’t breathe,” followed by what sounds like an officer saying, “Shut the fuck up.”

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‘It’s irresponsible’: Washington state sees sudden rise in Covid parties

Gatherings held with the intent of catching, and overcoming, coronavirus are jeopardizing public health says state official

You can call them BYOC parties. That’s bring your own Covid-19.

Health officials in Walla Walla, Washington, are admonishing the sudden rise in so-called “Covid-19 parties” where non-infected guests mingle with those who have tested positive for the virus, ostensibly in hopes of speeding up the process of catching, and overcoming, the virus.

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‘Murder hornets’ in Washington state threaten bees and whip up media swarm

Asian giant hornet, which became more active in the state in April, is the world’s largest and can kill humans with multiple stings

Researchers and citizens in Washington state are on a careful hunt for invasive “murder hornets”, after the insect made its first appearance in the US.

The Asian giant hornet is the world’s largest and can kill humans. But it is most dangerous for the European honeybee, which is defenseless in the face of the hornet’s spiky mandibles, long stinger and potent venom.

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US anti-lockdown rallies could cause surge in Covid-19 cases, experts warn

Epidemiologist predicts ‘new epidemic surge’ as protesters across the US flout social distancing measures

As healthcare workers in Colorado and Pennsylvania staged counter-protests against rightwing anti-quarantine rallies that continue to spread across the US, some experts warned such rallies could cause a surge in coronavirus cases.

Several nurses gathered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Monday, where a protest against stay-at-home orders was taking place. The nurses carried signs urging people to go home.

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