A primitive Australian fish living in a San Francisco museum is believed to be the oldest living aquarium fish in the world. Methuselah is a four-foot-long (1.2-meter) Australian lungfish, weighing around 40lb (18.1kg). The species has both lungs and gills and is believed to be the evolutionary link between fish and amphibians. The lungfish was brought to the San Francisco museum in 1938 from Australia and now lives at the California Academy of Sciences. The species is threatened and can no longer be exported from Australian waters so biologists at the academy say it's unlikely they'll get a replacement once Methuselah passes away
Continue reading...Category Archives: US News
Spotify removes Neil Young music in feud over Joe Rogan’s false Covid claims
Musician condemned spread of misinformation on platform’s top podcast: ‘They can have Rogan or Young’
The music streaming platform Spotify is in the process of removing Neil Young’s music after the company refused to take down Joe Rogan’s podcast amid the musician’s objections that it spread vaccine misinformation.
Rogan has been described by the New York Times as “one of the most consumed media products on the planet”. His podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience, is Spotify’s most popular. In 2020, Rogan signed a $100m deal that gave the streaming giant exclusive rights to his show.
Continue reading...Antony Blinken says US will ‘uphold principle of Nato’s open door’ for Ukraine – video
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said 'there will be no change 'to Washington’s support for Ukraine’s right to pursue Nato membership, the most contentious issue in relations with Moscow.
The US has presented its written response to Russian demands on Ukraine, offering to negotiate with Russia over some aspects of European security, but not the issue of eventual Ukrainian membership to the Nato alliance.
Blinken was speaking hours after his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, threatened 'retaliatory measures' if the US response did not satisfy the Kremlin
- US holds firm on Ukraine’s right to join Nato in its response to Russian demands
- US politics latest updates
Prince Andrew denies being co-conspirator of Epstein and insists on jury trial
Duke denies Jeffrey Epstein ‘trafficked girls to him’ and demands trial in Virginia Giuffre’s sexual abuse lawsuit
Prince Andrew has denied that he was a co-conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein, and insisted on a jury trial in Virginia Giuffre’s sexual abuse lawsuit against him, his lawyers said in court papers filed on Wednesday.
“Prince Andrew hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the complaint,” his lawyers wrote. The Duke of York also denies that Epstein “trafficked girls to him”, the attorneys said in their legal filings.
Continue reading...US weapons arrive in Ukraine as Biden faces test over allies’ unity – live
- Officials say further Russian invasion in Ukraine likely
- US and allies considering deploying more troops to eastern Europe - report
- Manchin attracts global anger over climate crisis
- Here’s how Republicans ‘dismembered’ a Democratic stronghold
- Sign up to receive First Thing – our daily briefing by email
Joe Biden will meet with several CEOs this afternoon to discuss Democrats’ Build Back Better Act, the $1.75tn spending package that includes massive investments in healthcare, childcare and climate initiatives.
“This afternoon, I’m meeting with CEOs who support passing my Build Back Better Agenda to discuss how it’ll invest in American workers, grow our economy, and lower inflation in the long-term,” Biden said on Twitter.
Continue reading...Methuselah: oldest aquarium fish lives in San Francisco and likes belly rubs
Biologists believe the Australian lungfish, a primitive species with lungs and gills, is about 90 years old with no known living peers
Meet Methuselah, the fish that likes to eat fresh figs, get belly rubs and is believed to be the oldest living aquarium fish in the world.
In the Bible, Methuselah was Noah’s grandfather and was said to have lived to be 969 years old. Methuselah the fish is not quite that ancient, but biologists at the California Academy of Sciences believe it is about 90 years old, with no known living peers.
Continue reading...Rapper Nipsey Hussle and the problem of predictive policing
He was one of LA’s most-loved rappers, and a pillar of his community. But records disclosed after his death revealed that he was also the target of an extensive Los Angeles policing operation
When the rapper Nipsey Hussle was shot and killed in 2019, the city of Los Angeles mourned a charismatic businessman and community figure who had poured the profits of his success in the music industry back into the Crenshaw neighbourhood where he grew up.
Hussle’s funeral was a celebration attended by thousands. Stevie Wonder performed; former president Barack Obama sent a letter celebrating his hopeful vision; and the Los Angeles police chief praised Hussle’s efforts as a peacemaker. But Guardian Los Angeles correspondent Sam Levin tells Michael Safi that, in fact, the Los Angeles police department had long invested extensive resources into policing Hussle’s street corner and his store, Marathon Clothing.
Continue reading...Ukraine: Biden warns Putin of personal sanctions if Russia invades – video
Speaking to reporters in Washington, Joe Biden said he would consider personal sanctions against Vladimir Putin if Russia invaded Ukraine, citing 'severe consequences'. The threat of sanctions came as the US helped prepare for the diversion of natural gas supplies from around the world to Europe in the event that the flow from Russia is cut
Continue reading...Why are Germany and France at odds with the Anglosphere over how to handle Russia?
Analysis: Differing views over Russia within Nato alliance resurface in Ukraine crisis
Can the western alliance against Russia over its buildup of troops on the Ukrainian border hold together? It is a question that politicians and diplomats are increasingly grappling with amid fears that Germany and, to a lesser extent, France are in danger of dividing from the US and the UK, not only over how to respond to any future Russian act of aggression in Ukraine, but also in their assessment of the imminence of the threat.
Every effort is being made to minimise the differences within the Nato alliance, including through regular calls such as the one led by Joe Biden on Monday, but they may be impossible to avoid since they reflect not just different short-term assessments on intelligence, but a deep fissure going back decades about what Germany and France, as opposed to the Anglosphere, regard as the best way to handle Russia.
Continue reading...Biden warns Russia of ‘enormous consequences’ if it invades Ukraine – live
- Pelosi says she will seek re-election
- Biden says any invasion from Russia would ‘change the world’
- President discusses escalating conflict with European leaders
- Sign up to receive First Thing – our daily briefing by email
Staff turnover in the Biden administration is nowhere near what it was under Donald Trump, when senior aides came and went as through a revolving door in a hurricane.
Nonetheless, the press always likes a bit of speculation about who might be in and who might be out, and here comes the Washington Post with an exhaustive examination of how Ron Klain, Joe Biden’s chief of staff, has not had the smoothest first year in the job.
Continue reading...US finalizing plans to divert gas to Europe if Russia cuts off supply
Officials working with global suppliers to avoid European gas crisis if flow from Russia is cut as Biden says he would consider personal sanctions against Putin
The US has helped prepare for the diversion of natural gas supplies from around the world to Europe in the event that the flow from Russia is cut, in an effort to blunt Vladimir Putin’s most powerful economic weapon.
As fears of an invasion of Ukraine have grown, US officials said on Tuesday that they had been negotiating with global suppliers, and they were now confident that Europe would not suffer from a sudden loss of energy for heating in the middle of winter.
Continue reading...Let the wild rumpus start: is the US facing a stock market ‘super-bubble’?
After Jeremy Grantham’s warning, analysts fear more volatility ahead – and will be watching tech’s latest results with interest
The tech sector led US stock markets on a pandemic boom last year. Now markets are whipsawing on fears that the Federal Reserve will end the era of easy money, all while a potential war in Ukraine looms. Some warn of a bigger correction to come on a scale not seen since the dotcom collapse of the late 1990s.
On Monday, US stock markets crashed then rallied. The Dow Jones at one point lost more than 1,000 points before ending up just over 100. Tuesday was more of the same with the Dow losing 800 points only to gain most of it back. Analysts expect more volatile days ahead. The Fed on Wednesday issued its latest update on its plans to raise rates in order to curb inflation, and the world’s largest tech firms are preparing to issue their latest results to investors, who appear to have grown more skeptical about their prospects.
Continue reading...Native American tribes reclaim California redwood land for preservation
Group of 10 tribes inhabiting the area since thousands of years will be responsible for protecting the land dubbed Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ
The descendants of Native American tribes on the northern California coast are reclaiming part of their ancestral homeland, including ancient redwoods that have stood since their forebears walked the land.
Save the Redwoods League, a non-profit conservation group, announced Tuesday that it is transferring more than 500 acres (202 hectares) on the Lost Coast to the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council.
Continue reading...Republicans angry as New York keeps school mask mandate despite ruling
Governor Kathy Hochul has insisted students and teachers should continue to wear face covering despite a judge’s ruling
Republicans in New York reacted furiously on Tuesday after state officials told school administrators to continue enforcing a mask mandate for students and teachers despite a judge overturning it, causing confusion as some districts rushed to make masks optional.
Lee Zeldin, a US congressman from Long Island, addressed the governor he hopes to replace in November.
Continue reading...Patient removed from heart transplant list for refusing Covid-19 vaccine
DJ Ferguson, 31, had previously been prioritized for a transplant by Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston
A Boston-area hospital said it will not perform a heart transplant on a patient who refuses to get a Covid-19 vaccination.
DJ Ferguson, 31, was previously prioritized for a heart transplant at Brigham and Women’s hospital, but is no longer eligible as he refuses to get vaccinated, said Ferguson’s family, according to a report by CBS Boston.
Continue reading...Robert F Kennedy Jr apologizes for Anne Frank comparison in anti-vax speech
- Kennedy’s remarks at Washington rally widely condemned
- Wife Cheryl Hines says reference to Frank ‘reprehensible’
The anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy Jr apologized on Tuesday for suggesting things are worse for people living under Covid restrictions and mandates than they were for Anne Frank, the teenager who died in a Nazi concentration camp after hiding with her family in a secret annex in an Amsterdam house for two years.
His wife, the actor Cheryl Hines, who appears in the HBO hit Curb Your Enthusiasm, distanced herself from her husband in her own tweet on the subject. She called the reference to Frank “reprehensible and insensitive”.
Continue reading...Covid denialist and Bolsonaro ally Olavo de Carvalho died of virus, says daughter
Rightwing radical was a towering figure in Brazil who was adored and abhorred in equal measure by millions of followers and foes
Olavo de Carvalho, the coronavirus-denying mentor of Jair Bolsonaro and Brazil’s radical right, has died in the United States, with one of his children citing Covid-19 as the cause.
“The family … asks for prayers for the professor’s soul,” relatives said on Twitter after announcing the death of the 74-year-old polemicist – a towering figure in contemporary Brazilian politics who was adored and abhorred in equal measure by millions of followers and foes.
Continue reading...Peter Dinklage criticises Disney for ‘backwards’ remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Actor who has a form of dwarfism says the studio’s pride in casting a Latina Snow White is undercut by stereotypes retained elsewhere
Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage has taken aim at Disney for what he called its “fucking backwards” forthcoming live action adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Dinklage, who stars in Joe Wright’s new film, Cyrano, accused the studio of double standards by attending to racial diversity in its cast but falling back on other damaging stereotypes.
Continue reading...UN data reveals ‘nearly insurmountable’ scale of lost schooling due to Covid
Up to 70% of 10-year-olds in low- and middle-income countries lack basic reading skills, with learning losses seen from US to Ethiopia
The scale of the number of children who have lost out on their schooling during the pandemic is “nearly insurmountable”, according to UN data.
Up to 70% of 10-year-olds in low- and middle-income countries cannot read or understand a simple text, up from 53% pre-Covid, the research suggested.
Continue reading...US, UK and Europe totally united in the face of Russia threat to Ukraine, Biden says
Virtual meeting between western powers comes as the US put 8,500 troops on alert and as France prepares to host a meeting of Russian and Ukrainian officials
US president Joe Biden has insisted there was “total” unity among western powers after crisis talks with European leaders on how to deter Russia from an attack against Ukraine.
“I had a very, very, very good meeting – total unanimity with all the European leaders,” Biden told reporters shortly after finishing a one hour and 20 minute video conference on Monday with allied leaders from Europe and Nato.
Continue reading...