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☆ Arkansas Gov. Huckabee Sanders to give Republican response to Biden's State of the Union
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Tyler Clifford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 2 (Reuters) - Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as White House press secretary under Donald Trump, will deliver the Republican response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union address next week, party leaders announced on Thursday. Huckabee Sanders, who describes herself as a conservative reformer, will speak from the state capital Little Rock after Biden's remarks on Tuesday before a joint session of Congress. It will be Biden's first State of the Union since Republicans won control of the House of Representatives in November's election. "Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the youngest governor in the nation and a powerful advocate for the popular, commonsense conservative principles that will put our country back on a better course," McConnell said in the statement. Huckabee Sanders, 40, served as then-President Trump's second press secretary from mid-2017 to mid-2019.

☆ Australia aims for bigger fines a week into Outback hunt for radioactive capsule
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Members of the Incident Management Team coordinate the search for a radioactive capsule that was lost in transit by a contractor hired by Rio Tinto, at the Emergency Services Complex in Cockburn, Australia, in this undated handout photo. Department of Fire and Emergency Services/Handout via REUTERSSYDNEY, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Authorities in Australia will review laws that penalise the mishandling of radioactive material with a A$1,000 ($707) fine as a search for a hazardous capsule lost in the Outback enters a seventh day. The penalty for failing to safely handle radioactive substances is A$1,000 and A$50 per day the offence continues, according to state legislation from 1975. The silver capsule, 6 mm in diameter and 8 mm long, contains Caesium-137 which emits radiation equal to 10 X-rays per hour. Authorities suspect vibrations on the bumpy road loosened screws and a bolt on the gauge letting the capsule fall out.

Due to the tiny size of the capsule and the huge distances involved, authorities warn the chances of finding it are slim. Department of Fire and Emergency Services/APHow rare is it to lose a radioactive device? Radiation Services WA says radioactive substances are transported throughout Western Australia on a daily basis without any issues. A conveyor belt transports iron ore at the Gudai-Darri mine operated by the Rio Tinto in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, June 21, 2022. At that rate, the capsule could be radioactive for the next 300 years, said Deb from RMIT University.

☆ Missing Radioactive Capsule Prompts Search and Concern in Australia
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Rhiannon Hoyle | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A member of an incident management team in Cockburn, Australia, coordinated the search for a radioactive capsule that was lost in transit by a contractor hired by Rio Tinto. ADELAIDE, Australia—In the Australian Outback, authorities are engaged in an unusual search-and-recovery effort. Gone missing is an 8-millimeter-long capsule of radioactive material that can burn or sicken anyone who touches it. Their problem is that it could be anywhere along a 900-mile stretch of highway connecting a Rio Tinto PLC mine to Perth, Western Australia’s state capital, a route featuring small towns and communities in an arid landscape of wiry shrubs and red desert sands. The capsule, which contains a small quantity of radioactive Caesium-137, worked its way loose from a piece of equipment that Rio Tinto had sent to Perth by truck for repair.

☆ Thousands rally for 'Invasion Day' protests on Australia Day holiday
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Thousands of Australians marked the country's national holiday on Thursday with rallies in support of the nation's Indigenous people, many of whom describe the anniversary of the day a British fleet sailed into Sydney Harbour as "Invasion Day". An annual poll by market research company Roy Morgan released this week showed nearly two-thirds of Australians say Jan. 26 should be considered "Australia Day", largely unchanged from a year ago. The rest believe it should be "Invasion Day". Australia's largest telecoms company, Telstra Corp Ltd (TLS.AX), this year gave its staff the option to work on Jan. 26 and take another day off instead. The constitution, which came into effect in January 1901 and can't be amended without a referendum, does not refer to the country's Indigenous people.

☆ Ron DeSantis just notched a win in court. But the judge says he still violated a prosecutor’s free speech rights.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +15 min

In a statement posted on Twitter, DeSantis' office lauded the ruling without addressing those nuances. By suspending Warren, DeSantis also elevated the Democrat’s political profile in his own party. And no one in Hillsborough County was charged with violating that state law when Warren was the county prosecutor. Court testimony from DeSantis administration officials showed that the abortion letter was the major cause of Warren's suspension. Abortion was the only issue mentioned in the first draft of DeSantis' suspension order.

☆ Judge rules for Florida's DeSantis against prosecutor for abortion stance
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Mike Scarcella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DeSantis on Aug. 4 barred Warren from performing any official "act, duty or function of public office." Hinkle found that Warren's suspension violated Florida's state constitution, but the judge said the U.S. Constitution barred him from issuing a reinstatement order "against a state official based only on a violation of state law." The court also wrote that "Mr. Warren's actual performance as a reform prosecutor was conduct, not speech protected by the First Amendment." Lawyers for Warren and a DeSantis representative did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Lawyers for DeSantis argued that the governor suspended Warren from office not over his speech but his conduct as a prosecutor.

☆ Ovidio Guzmán's arrest may be the start of a campaign against El Chapo's sons and the Sinaloa cartel
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Chris Dalby | Insight Crime | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Mexican authorities arrested Ovidio Guzmán, son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, earlier this month. The US has demanded action on fentanyl, and Ovidio's arrest may prompt Mexico to continue a targeted campaign. Ovidio Guzmán López is one of the four sons of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias "El Chapo," who is seeking to continue their father's legacy. Vehicles torched during a January 5 operation to arrest Ovidio Guzman in Culiacan on January 7. In the last couple of years alone, they have mounted targeted operations at rivals within the Sinaloa Cartel and beyond.

☆ California picks up debris from latest storm, braces for the next
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Sharon Bernstein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

At least two more storm systems were set to pound California and the Pacific Northwest starting Friday and over the weekend, the National Weather Service said, including another atmospheric river, systems of dense moisture funneled into California from the tropical Pacific. The state has already been hit with seven such weather systems over the past two weeks. In Monterey County, water from prior storms continued to swell the Salinas River, officials said. The heavy rains have eased California's historic drought but not ended it, the U.S. Drought Monitor showed on Thursday. Even with more atmospheric rivers in the immediate forecast, the state's water system will remained strained in coming years without new infrastructure to capture more storm water, restore flood plains and recycle wastewater.

Last week, the Bruces’ great-grandsons sold it back to the county for nearly $20 million. However, equally as shortsighted is treating this case as a model for reparations for all Black Americans, as some have suggested. Doing so would ignore that true reparation requires repair, and this solution doesn’t address the sources of racial inequality in America’s real estate system. Invariably, Blacks’ property was most endangered when it became valuable, or when it threatened the value of white property and business interests. In gentrifying housing markets, tax sales serve as a lucrative profit source, whose main victims are Black, elderly and low-income people.

☆ Australia PM pledges aid on visit to flood-ravaged northwest
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 9 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised help to repair homes, replace property and rebuild infrastructure as he toured remote flood-ravaged communities across the northwest after "1-in-100-year" floods. Albanese announced on Monday A$10,000 ($6,900) for home repair and up to A$10,000 to replace household goods. "There's going to be massive infrastructure investment required," Albanese told radio station 6PR on Monday from Broome, roughly 2,000 kilometres northwest of state capital Perth. "I'm afraid I've now been to Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and now WA (Western Australia) in the relatively short time that I've been Prime Minister... talking about a 1-in-100-year event over and over again," Albanese said. Military aircraft helped airlift supplies and evacuate residents in cut-off towns such as Fitzroy Crossing, home to roughly 1,000.

☆ Gunmen kidnap 32 people from southern Nigeria train station
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Tife Owolabi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

YENAGOA, NIGERIA, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles have abducted more than 30 people from a train station in Nigeria's southern Edo state, the governor's office said on Sunday. Police said in a statement that armed herdsmen had attacked Tom Ikimi station at 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) as passengers awaited a train to Warri, an oil hub in nearby Delta state. The station is some 111 km northeast of state capital Benin City and close to the border with Anambra state. Edo state information commissioner Chris Osa Nehikhare said the kidnappers had taken 32 people, though one had already escaped. The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) had closed the station until further notice and the federal transportation ministry called the kidnappings "utterly barbaric".

☆ Mexico Boosts Military Presence After Son of Drug Kingpin ‘El Chapo’ Is Captured
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( José De Córdoba | Anthony Harrup | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

MEXICO CITY—Mexico bolstered its military presence in western Sinaloa state on Friday after Sinaloa Cartel gunmen went on a rampage following the capture of Ovidio Guzmán, the son of former kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Defense Secretary Gen. Luis Crescencio Sandoval said 10 military personnel were killed in Thursday’s operation, including seven where the younger Mr. Guzmán was arrested when armed gang members tried to free him near the state capital Culiacán. Another 35 soldiers were wounded, Gen. Sandoval said at a press conference.

☆ Violence hits Mexican cartel stronghold after arrest of El Chapo's son
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Ovidio Guzman Lopez during his arrest in Culiacan, Mexico, on Oct. 17, 2019. An escaped Mexican cartel kingpin known as “El Neto” meanwhile died after a shootout early on Thursday, four days after he fled prison in a violent mass break-out, authorities said. Police arrive on the scene after a store was looted in Culiacan, Mexico, on Jan. 5, 2023. Martin Urista / APAt Culiacan’s airport, a Mexican military flight was able to spirit Guzmán away to Mexico City. Asked if the attempt to capture Guzmán was worth another day of tension and uncertainty in Culiacan, Téllez said, “If they caught him, it was worth it.”

☆ Massive waves, power outages plague California coastal community amid storms
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Kate Fishman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] A member of a Pacific Gas & Electric crew works to repair a power line, following storms in Mendocino, California, U.S. January 5, 2023. At the southern end of Mendocino county, the small towns of Point Arena and Gualala have been largely without power for around 24 hours. About 2,500 households and businesses were without power in the county, which is home to about 91,000 people. California's storied coast road, Highway 1, is closed in four places in Mendocino County because of fallen trees, the California Department of Transportation said. The high tide brought swells that washed debris across the beach and its parking lot, the high waves crashing into the mouth of the Noyo River.

☆ Mexico Captures Son of Drug Kingpin Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Santiago Pérez | José De Córdoba | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ovidio Guzmán, here in a still image from a 2019 video, was captured in the Sinaloa state capital Culiacán. MEXICO CITY—Mexico’s security forces captured Ovidio Guzmán, the son of former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, in antidrug raid in the Sinaloa state capital Culiacán, a senior government official said Thursday. The operation by Mexico’s federal government prompted cartel members to go on a statewide rampage, burning buses and trucks and blocking entrances and exits to Culiacán.

☆ New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Says Her Focus Is on Crime and Housing—With Less Brashness in Albany
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Jimmy Vielkind | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ALBANY, N.Y.—New York Gov. Kathy Hochul enters her first full-term facing an uncertain economy, elevated crime and a dire housing crunch. Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, was inaugurated Sunday as the first woman elected governor of the Empire State. The former lieutenant governor first assumed the office in 2021 following former Gov. Andrew Cuomo ‘s resignation, which came amid a sexual-harassment scandal.

[1/5] High water levels caused by stormwater flood Discovery Park, located in the convergence of the Sacramento River and the American River, in Sacramento, California, U.S. January 4, 2023. The latest "atmospheric river" - an airborne current of dense moisture flowing from the ocean - was expected to drench much of California ahead of a Pacific storm front bringing additional showers to low-lying areas and more snow to the Sierra Nevada Mountains through Thursday. Authorities warned that heavy downpours would likely unleash flash flooding and mudslides, especially in areas where the ground remains saturated from rains that soaked northern California days earlier. Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Wednesday to support the state's winter weather hazards response, and activated California's flood operations center. A separate storm system hovering on Wednesday over parts of the Midwest was forecast to drift off the East Coast by Friday.

NBC News reporters tracked seven bellwether counties as part of the "County to County" project for the 2022 midterm elections. However, as the Omicron variant swept its way across the country last winter, even Democratic voters were in a sour mood, showing pandemic fatigue amid Biden’s stalled legislative agenda. Democrats doubled down on the message even as polls showed GOP Sen. Ron Johnson gaining momentum with a message on crime. For young voters in Dane County, it was a message that worked. Democrats were enthusiastic, and they'll continue to look to Dane County as key to their path to victory in 2024 and beyond.

The Buffalo Airport, which has been closed since Dec. 23, was expected to reopen on Wednesday morning, according to a tweet. A little more than 1,400 energy customers in New York state were without power Wednesday morning — amounting to only 0.02% of the state — according to PowerOutage.us. Storms to batter the West CoastMeanwhile, a total of five separate storm systems will impact the West through next Monday. Oregon State Parks announced emergency closures for Ecola and Cape Meares because of high winds and the potential for falling trees. Colusa and Mendocino counties had 650 and just over 700 power outages as of Wednesday morning, respectively, according to PowerOutage.us.

Residents of Mississippi's largest city are "tired of apologies" but have no choice but to endure ongoing water stoppages in the wake of extreme weather, officials said Tuesday. "I have spoken to residents who are tired of apologies," Mayor Antar Lumumba told reporters Tuesday, saying there's no telling when this current stoppage will end. This past weekend's winter freeze led to broken pipes, leaving thousands of residents of Mississippi's biggest city and state capital without safe, running water. “There is no way to prevent what is happening to our water treatment facility. "They continue to work at the water treatment facility, they continue to be a part of the coordinated effort to repair breaks where they have taken place," the mayor said.

Relentlessly rising rents, eight consecutive interest rate hikes, surging living costs and devastating natural disasters in the past few years have inflamed what was already among the world's least affordable rental markets. In Demographia's International Housing Affordability report this year, Sydney ranked the world's second-least affordable market, behind only Hong Kong. Australia's worst floods on record in the east of the country earlier this year destroyed homes and forced about 40,000 people to evacuate, adding to the housing crisis. SEEKING SOLUTIONSProperty owners say rising costs are forcing them to raise rents. Trina Jones from Homelessness New South Wales said for the move to be successful, homes need to be representative of social and affordable housing, and not aimed at making profits.

☆ Child workers found throughout Hyundai-Kia supply chain in Alabama
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

Hyundai and Kia now have dozens of suppliers in Alabama, according to the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, a business group. The agency, they said, hired underage workers while they worked there. “It was my first job in the United States and this is not what you would expect to see here.”Six other former workers told Reuters they, too, saw underage workers at Ajin’s two factories in Cusseta. Herrera said he raised concerns about the underage workers with managers at SMART, but was brushed off. The officials, wearing shirts that bore Hyundai logos, inspected the assembly line even as underage workers labored there, Herrera said.

☆ Nigerian Army massacred children in war on insurgents, witnesses say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Reuters Graphic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

CJTF members provide the army with intelligence on suspected insurgents, serve as interpreters and help soldiers navigate sometimes unfamiliar terrain. Bello Danbatta, a spokesman for the CJTF, told Reuters that the military and CJTF forces did not target civilians. During combat operations, soldiers told Reuters, it was common to take aim at anyone they came across in areas the army did not fully control. And in a war in which insurgents have forced minors to fight, soldiers said they couldn't even trust in the innocence of children. Soldiers told the women that their children needed injections for malaria and other afflictions, she said.

☆ At least four killed as Cyclone Mandous hits southern Indian state
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MUMBAI, Dec 10 (Reuters) - A cyclonic storm killed at least four people in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Saturday, the top state official said, as heavy rain and strong winds buffeted several districts damaging property and causing power outages. Cyclone Mandous, which made landfall late Friday night, damaged 185 houses and huts, Tamil Nadu’s chief minister, MK Stalin, told reporters. The storm uprooted 400 trees in the state capital Chennai, a hub for auto makers and technology firms. Nearly 25,000 people, including disaster relief personnel, were involved in the relief work, and more than 9,000 people were moved to safety in 201 relief camps, Stalin said. “We are still assessing damages”, he told reporters, as he visited some of the affected areas.

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