Category Archives: Rhode Island

Secretaries of state ask social media companies for moderation plans on election day

Posted on by

Democratic top elections officials are concerned about inflammatory and AI-generated content

A group of Democratic secretaries of state are calling on social media companies to detail their plans to moderate inflammatory content and artificial intelligence on their platforms during and after election day.

Seven secretaries of state – representing Maine, Rhode Island, Illinois, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and New Mexico – sent the letters to Google, X and Meta on Friday. Secretaries of state typically play some role in overseeing elections in their states.

Continue reading...

Some US states have firearm death rates comparable to countries in conflict, report says

Posted on by

Mississippi’s firearm-related violence rate nearly double that of Haiti, which is plagued by political and gang strife

A new report by the Commonwealth Fund finds some US states have firearm death rates comparable to countries in conflict, and even states with the fewest firearms deaths are far higher than peer developed democracies.

For instance, Mississippi’s rate of firearm-related violence (28.5 per 100,000 people) was nearly double that of Haiti (15.1 per 100,000) in 2021, when mercenaries assassinated the country’s president, unleashing a fresh round of gang warfare which pushed the country into a state of civil war.

Continue reading...

More than 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested across US campuses

Posted on by

Police arrest more than 200 students at UCLA as law enforcement clears camp at Dartmouth, arresting more than 90 students

More than 2,000 people have now been arrested during pro-Palestinian protests across dozens of US college campuses in recent weeks.

Police arrested more than 300 pro-Palestinian demonstrators on college campuses on Wednesday night into Thursday morning, pushing the total past 2,000, according to an Associated Press tally.

Continue reading...

Rope-entangled right whale spotted off coast of New England

Posted on by

The marine mammals are increasingly endangered as warmer waters push them into ship traffic and fishing gear

A North Atlantic right whale has been spotted entangled in rope off New England, worsening an already devastating year for the vanishing animals, federal authorities said.

Right whales number less than 360 and are vulnerable to entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with ships. The entangled whale was seen on Wednesday about 50 miles (80km) south of Rhode Island’s Block Island, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.

Continue reading...

Biden and Trump sweep four primaries including battleground state Wisconsin

Posted on by

Both candidates have clinched nominations, but Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin turnout may hint at 2024 results

Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump won primary elections in four states, including the crucial battleground state of Wisconsin.

Hundreds of delegates were up for grabs in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and Wisconsin on Tuesday, and Biden and Trump have already amassed enough delegates to win their respective nominations. But the turnout could provide more clues about the general election in November.

Continue reading...

Wisconsin, New York, Rhode Island and Connecticut primaries: follow live results

Posted on by

Voters cast ballots in four states including key battleground for Trump and Biden. Get up to speed with the results as they come in

Voters in Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin cast ballots in the presidential primaries on Tuesday. Much attention will be paid to Wisconsin, where voters will signal strength and weaknesses in the critical swing state for Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

There are also options in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Wisconsin for voters to choose “uncommitted” in a show of protest against Biden’s support for Israel in the war in Gaza.

Continue reading...

Rhode Island elects its first Black representative to Congress, Gabe Amo

Posted on by

The Democratic contender defeated Republican Gerry Leonard to win the state’s first congressional district

The Democrat Gabe Amo defeated Republican Gerry Leonard to win Rhode Island’s first congressional district seat Tuesday, becoming the state’s first Black candidate elected to Congress.

The former White House aide succeeds David Cicilline, a former Democratic representative, who stepped down this summer to become president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation.

Continue reading...

At a glance: what you need to know about Canada wildfires and smoky US skies

Posted on by

Hazy skies hung over north-eastern US a day after the midwest received a similar alert from the Environmental Protection Agency

Canada is dealing with a series of intense wildfires that have spread from the western provinces to Quebec, with hundreds of forest fires burning. Wind has carried smoke from the fires southward, triggering air-quality alerts throughout the United States.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday issued a poor air-quality alert for New England, a day after parts of Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota received a similar advisory. Last week, US officials as far south as Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania reported being affected by the wildfires.

Continue reading...

North-east arctic blast sets record -108F wind chill on New Hampshire summit

Posted on by

Dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills dropped as low as -45 to -50F across the rest of the region

Arctic air in the US north-east on Saturday brought dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills including a record-setting -108F (-78C) on the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

Authorities in Massachusetts took the unusual step of keeping the South Station transit hub open so homeless people had a place to sleep. High winds brought down a tree branch on a car in western Massachusetts, killing an infant.

Continue reading...

Man charged with murder in alleged scheme to inherit his mother’s fortune

Posted on by

The man was rescued after his boat sank in 2016 but his mother was not. Investigators found the boat had been tampered with

A man found floating on a raft off the coast of Rhode Island in 2016 after his boat sank was charged in an indictment unsealed Tuesday with killing his mother at sea to inherit the family’s estate.

The eight-count indictment released in federal court in Burlington, Vermont, also says Nathan Carman shot and killed his grandfather, John Chakalos, at his home in Windsor, Connecticut, in 2013 as part of an effort to defraud insurance companies, but he was not charged with that killing.

Continue reading...

Nor’easter lashes eastern US with snow and wind gusts near hurricane force

Posted on by
  • Philadelphia, New York and Boston in path of storm
  • Flooding, high winds and cold weather expected

A nor’easter with hurricane-force wind gusts battered much of the US east coast on Saturday, flinging heavy snow that made travel treacherous or impossible, flooding coastlines and threatening to leave bitter cold in its wake.

The storm thrashed parts of 10 states, with blizzard warnings from Virginia to Maine. Philadelphia and New York saw plenty of wind and snow, but Boston was in the crosshairs. The city could get more than 2ft of snow by early Sunday.

Continue reading...

Rudy Giuliani and Michael Flynn to see honorary university degrees revoked

Posted on by

University of Rhode Island board votes unanimously to revoke degrees given to key allies of Donald Trump in 2003 and 2014

The University of Rhode Island will revoke honorary degrees given to Rudy Giuliani and Michael Flynn, key allies of Donald Trump in his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

The URI board of trustees on Friday voted unanimously to revoke the degrees, which were given to Giuliani in 2003 and Flynn in 2014.

Continue reading...

Henri drenches US north-east as 140,000 lose power in slow-moving storm

Posted on by

National Hurricane Center says storm to slow down further and likely stall near Connecticut-New York line

The slow-rolling storm Henri was taking its time drenching the US north-east on Monday.

Henri, which made landfall as a tropical storm on Sunday afternoon in Rhode Island, had moved north-west through Connecticut. It hurled rain westward far before its arrival, flooding areas as far south-west as New Jersey before pelting north-east Pennsylvania, even as it dropped to tropical depression status.

Continue reading...

Henri makes landfall in Rhode Island, packing high winds and heavy rain

Posted on by
  • Biden says storm has ‘potential for widespread consequences’
  • Inland rainfall seen as major threat in north-east states

Tropical Storm Henri made landfall in Rhode Island on Sunday, packing high winds and heavy rains that were projected to leave devastation from New Jersey and New York up to Massachusetts.

Related: The show did not go on: storm thwarts Central Park concert celebrating city’s Covid comeback

Continue reading...

Henri becomes hurricane as it heads for Long Island and New England

Posted on by
  • Forecasters predict landfall in New York or Connecticut
  • New England has not been hit by hurricane since 1991

Preparations for a monster storm forecast to hit parts of the US north-east were stepped up on Saturday after Henri was promoted to a hurricane as it moved closer to land.

In New York, Andrew Cuomo used his last hours as governor to direct the state response, declaring a state of emergency in some areas and telling residents: “If you have to get to higher ground, it has to be today.”

Continue reading...

Nine injured in Rhode Island shooting, police say

Posted on by

Incident that left at least three critically wounded is believed to be the capital city’s largest shooting

Nine people were wounded in a shooting on Thursday evening in Rhode Island’s capital in what police there believe to be the largest shooting in city history.

Of the nine, three were critically wounded in the shooting just before 7pm, the Providence police chief, Col Hugh T Clements, told reporters at the scene.

Continue reading...

Arabian coins found in US may unlock 17th-century pirate mystery

Posted on by

Discovery may explain escape of Capt Henry Every after murderous raid on Indian emperor’s ship

A handful of coins unearthed from a pick-your-own-fruit orchard in the US state of Rhode Island and other random corners of New England may help solve a centuries-old cold case.

The villain in this tale: a murderous English pirate who became the world’s most-wanted criminal after plundering a ship carrying Muslim pilgrims home to India from Mecca, then eluded capture by posing as a slave trader.

Continue reading...

US braces for post-Thanksgiving Covid surge as 100,000 are hospitalized

Posted on by

Hospitalizations are at twice as many as in April and July spikes, while more than 150,000 test positive nearly every day

Americans are bracing for a surge in Covid-19 cases following the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, as the number of people hospitalized hit an all-time high on Wednesday.

More than 100,000 people are hospitalized, according to data from the Covid Tracking Project, the highest number yet recorded, and nearly twice as many people as were hospitalized at the peak of earlier coronavirus waves in April and July.

Continue reading...

Doctors and medical students across the US push to register patients to vote

Posted on by

More than 60 hospital networks are taking part in campaign as some of the usual ways of registering are curbed by the pandemic

An emergency room doctor in Boston is assembling thousands of voter registration kits for distribution at hospitals and doctor’s offices.

Later this month, students at Harvard and Yale’s medical schools are planning a contest to see which of the Ivy League rivals can register the most voters.

Continue reading...

Rhode Island to vote as midterm primary season winds down Source: AP

Posted on by
Rhode Island's Democratic governor faces a spirited but poorly funded challenge in Wednesday's primary, while the mayor of the state's second-largest city is seeking the GOP nomination for another shot at the governor's seat in November. First, he has to defeat a state lawmaker making her first gubernatorial run.