Representative postponed his own retirement from Washington to help pass Barack Obama presidency’s legislative agenda
Longtime Democratic congressman William D Delahunt, who postponed his own retirement from Washington to help pass the Barack Obama presidency’s legislative agenda, has died after a long-term illness, his family announced.
Delahunt died Saturday at his home in Quincy, Massachusetts, at the age of 82, news reports said.
Continue reading...Former UN climate chief warns of global impact of a possible regression in US green policies
Victory for Donald Trump in the US presidential election this year could put the world’s climate goals at risk, a former UN climate chief has warned.
The chances of limiting global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels are already slim, but Trump’s antipathy to climate action would have a major impact on the US, the world’s second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and biggest oil and gas exporter, according to Patricia Espinosa, who served as the UN’s top official on the climate from 2016 to 2022.
Continue reading...Smalltooth sawfish are behaving oddly, eliciting a first-ever plan to rescue and rehabilitate species from wild
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is launching what the agency described as an emergency response effort in south Florida after emerging reports of smalltooth sawfish spinning, whirling and displaying other abnormal behaviors.
In a statement released last Wednesday, NOAA said that in addition to the abnormal behaviors, there have been reports of fish deaths in the lower Florida Keys, including more than 28 smalltooth sawfish as of 24 March.
Continue reading...Civil rights group denounces congressmember Tim Walberg’s calls to ‘get it over quick’ as a ‘clear call to genocide’
Rather than provide humanitarian aid in Gaza, the US should ensure it is subjected to atomic bombing the way that “Nagasaki and Hiroshima” were at the end of the second world war, a Republican congressman said in shocking remarks that by all indications were recorded recently at a gathering with a relatively small group of his constituents.
The comments by US House representative Tim Walberg of Michigan drew condemnation from progressive political quarters, including from some who expressed disbelief that a former Christian pastor would advocate for what they called the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
Continue reading...Company says information found on the dark web includes social security numbers for current and former account holders
US telecommunications giant AT&T says it has started notifying millions of customers about the theft of personal data recently discovered online.
The company said Saturday that a dataset found on the “dark web” contains information such as social security numbers for about 7.6 million current AT&T account holders and 65.4 million former account holders.
Continue reading...Television star was killed in a motorcycle accident that involved no other parties, representatives say
Chance Perdomo, the British American actor who starred on the television shows Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Gen V, has died in a motorcycle accident. He was 27.
Nobody else was involved in the accident, his representatives said in a statement. No details on the location or date of the accident were shared.
Continue reading...Despite disparagement from John Bolton, critics maintain Trump is clear threat to democracy, given admiration for dictators
A former national security adviser in the Donald Trump White House has said that the ex-president “hasn’t got the brains” to helm a dictatorship, despite his admiration for such rulers.
In an interview with the conservative French outlet Le Figaro, John Bolton, 75, was asked whether Trump had tendencies that mirror dictators like the ones he has previously praised. Bolton not only disparaged Trump’s intellectual capacity, he also disparaged the former president’s professional background, exclaiming: “He’s a property developer, for God’s sake!”
Continue reading...US public health agency alert warns of 422 cases reported in the country last year, the highest number since 2014
An invasive meningococcal disease – which can be deadly to infected people – is on the rise, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned.
In an alert issued on Thursday, the CDC warned that there were 422 cases of the disease reported in the US last year, the highest annual number of cases reported since 2014.
Continue reading...Pushback against Oklahoma’s Judd Blevins transcending partisanship, says organizer: ‘It’s a Nazi and not-Nazi thing’
Voters in the north-west Oklahoma city of Enid are being asked to decide whether a councilmember who attended the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 should be removed from his post.
Iraq war veteran Judd Blevins, 42, was elected to Enid’s city council to be the commissioner of its first ward last year. He soon faced an effort by the Enid social justice committee, which claimed Blevins “embraces the same Nazi ideology [the US] defeated almost 80 years ago” during the second world war.
Continue reading...Yanira Alvarez won lottery’s third-largest prize ever after buying ticket in downtown Los Angeles
Another California lottery player – another big jackpot winner.
Officials on Friday identified the Californian who won the $1.08bn Powerball jackpot last year, satisfying a requirement under state law.
Continue reading...Move follows similar lawsuit by Texas attorney general, raising fear that news outlets could be next targets
The attorney general of Missouri is suing Media Matters, a progressive watchdog group, alleging that it failed to turn over internal documents following its 2023 coverage of hate speech on the social media platform X. The head of the group says news outlets could be the next targets.
“Media Matters has pursued an activist agenda in its attempt to destroy X, because they cannot control it,” the lawsuit said, describing X – formerly known as Twitter – as a “free speech platform” that allows “Missourians to express their own viewpoints in the public square”.
Continue reading...Biden campaign communications director says image could be construed as suggesting physical harm towards president
Donald Trump drew an angry response from the Joe Biden White House as well as other opponents after he posted a video containing the image of the president hog-tied on the tailgate of a passing pickup truck.
The Biden campaign communications director, Michael Tyler, said the provocative image of the truck festooned with Trump 2024 insignia on Friday night could be construed as suggesting physical harm toward the former president’s political rival.
Continue reading...Total solar eclipse on 8 April will be first to touch province since 1979, and Niagara Falls is declared one of the best places to view
The region of Canada surrounding the city that contains a side of – and shares a name with – Niagara Falls has declared a state of emergency as it prepares to welcome up to a million visitors for the solar eclipse in early April.
The total solar eclipse on 8 April will be the first to touch the province since 1979, and Niagara Falls was declared by National Geographic to be one of the best places to see it.
Continue reading...Conservative fifth circuit overturns EPA’s ban prohibiting Inhance from using manufacturing process creating toxic compound
A federal appeals court in the US has killed a ban on plastic containers contaminated with highly toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” found to leach at alarming levels into food, cosmetics, household cleaners, pesticides and other products across the economy.
Houston-based Inhance manufactures an estimated 200m containers annually with a process that creates, among other chemicals, PFOA, a toxic PFAS compound. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in December prohibited Inhance from using the manufacturing process.
Continue reading...Christopher Dorsey, 43 accused of performing alongside other rappers without obtaining permission from authorities
About two months into his supervised release from federal prison on gun charges, the rapper who scored a hit song with Bling Bling has been charged with violating the terms of his supervision after performing alongside other prominent entertainers without authorities’ permission.
A federal judge ordered Christopher Dorsey – or BG, who once belonged to Cash Money Records’ rap supergroup the Hot Boys – released on his own recognizance on Wednesday after his arrest on the charges, records show.
Continue reading...Singer posts on Instagram she resents ‘lies being told about me for clout and views’ and implies she is quitting music industry
The Emmy and Grammy award-winning performer Lizzo seems to have announced her departure from entertainment via a post on her Instagram that ended with: “I QUIT.”
“I’m getting tired of putting up with being dragged by everyone in my life and on the internet,” the singer and flautist wrote. “All I want is to make music and make people happy and help the world be a little better than how I found it. But I’m starting to feel like the world doesn’t want me in it.”
Continue reading...Sources say weapons package authorized even as Washington expresses public concern over anticipated offensive in Rafah
The US in recent days authorized the transfer of billions of dollars worth of bombs and fighter jets to Israel, two sources familiar with the effort said on Friday, even as Washington publicly expresses concerns about an anticipated Israeli military offensive in Rafah.
The new arms packages include more than 1,800 MK-84 2,000lb bombs and 500 MK-82 500lb bombs, said the sources, who confirmed a report in the Washington Post.
Continue reading...Ex-president deserves sanction for Truth Social post that criticized daughter of Juan Merchan, hush-money trial prosecutors say
Manhattan prosecutors asked the judge presiding in Donald Trump’s upcoming criminal trial on charges of covering up hush money to a porn star before the 2016 election to confirm that a recent gag order preventing the former president from making inflammatory comments extends to the judge’s family members.
The prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s office suggested in a two-page letter on Friday that, as far as they were concerned, Trump had violated the gag order by attacking the judge’s daughter in a recent social media post and should be sanctioned for future violations.
Continue reading...Critics say system will infringe on privacy and fuel police abuse of marginalized communities
Hundreds of high-tech surveillance cameras are being installed in the city of Oakland and surrounding freeways to help battle crime, the California governor announced on Friday.
Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said in a news release that the California highway patrol (CHP) has contracted with Flock Safety, a surveillance technology company, to install 480 cameras that can identify and track vehicles by license plate, type, color and even decals and bumper stickers. The cameras will provide authorities with real-time alerts of suspect vehicles.
Continue reading...Los Angeles case revolves around question of whether people in makeshift camps along US-Mexico border are in legal custody
A federal judge has sharply questioned the Biden administration’s position that it is not responsible for housing and feeding migrant children while they wait in makeshift camps along the US-Mexico border.
Recent media reports have shed light on the harsh conditions at sites along the border, where people waiting for processing by US immigration authorities live under open skies or in tents or structures made of tree branches. The camps are often short on food, water and sanitation, relying on groups of volunteers to distribute aid and basic supplies.
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