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☆ Biden is yet again proposing a minimum tax on billionaires, this time raising it to 25%. But the real challenge will be to get it past Congress.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

US President Joe Biden is proposing a minimum 25% tax bracket for billionaires, per Bloomberg. He had previously called for a minimum 20% tax for the ultra-wealthy. This will be a five percentage point jump over the minimum 20% tax rate that he called for previously. At the time, he was calling for a minimum 20% tax bracket for the super-wealthy. It said in the document that billionaires pay an average tax rate of just 8% in a typical year.

☆ Why lithium-ion batteries found in many products keep exploding
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Officials believe the incident stemmed from a lithium-ion battery of a scooter found on the roof of an apartment building. “In all of these fires, these lithium-ion fires, it is not a slow burn; there’s not a small amount of fire, it literally explodes,” FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh told reporters. For starters, lithium-ion batteries are now in numerous consumer tech products, powering laptops, cameras, smartphones and more. Despite the concerns, lithium-ion batteries continue to be prevalent in many of today’s most popular gadgets. For example, LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries don’t overheat as much as other types of lithium-ion batteries.

☆ Fatal Tesla collision with firetruck under federal investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Federal vehicle safety regulators initiated a new, special crash investigation into a fatal collision that involved a Tesla Model S sedan and a firetruck in Walnut Creek, California, last month, CNBC has confirmed. All new Tesla vehicles in the U.S. come with a standard driver assistance package called Autopilot. The new special crash investigation is part of an extensive NHTSA probe of Tesla's driver assistance systems, and how they perform around parked first responder vehicles. According to records on the agency's website, NHTSA opened a "preliminary evaluation" of Tesla's Autopilot systems on August 13, 2021. "The investigation opening was motivated by an accumulation of crashes in which Tesla vehicles, operating with Autopilot engaged, struck stationary in-road or roadside first responder vehicles tending to pre-existing collision scenes."

☆ Government launches investigation into deadly Tesla accident on California highway over possible use of automated driver technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Tesla hit a fire truck that was parked and blocking lanes on a California freeway last month. The NHTSA opened an investigation Wednesday into whether the car was using a driving assistance system. At least 15 incidents have been reported involving a Tesla crashing into a stationary emergency vehicle, according to The Associated Press. The spokesperson said the department is conducting its own safety investigation and "assessing the repairability" of the $2.1 million fire truck. —Con Fire PIO (@ContraCostaFire) February 18, 2023While the highway patrol is conducting an official investigation into the accident, the fire department spokesperson told Insider the Tesla hit the truck "while traveling at highway speeds."

☆ Factbox: What's in Biden's budget: taxes on buybacks, rail safety, childcare
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Buybacks Biden plans to propose quadrupling the 1% tax on stock buybacks that took effect in January, to encourage companies to invest in their growth instead of boosting shareholders. The White House has said taxing buybacks levels a distortion in the tax system. Rail safetyThe budget is expected to include millions in new funding for railroad safety measures after a series of high-profile accidents and derailments. Billionaire minimum income taxBiden is expected to reiterate his call for a 20% minimum tax on households worth more than $100 million. The White House refers to it as the "billionaire minimum income tax."

☆ Explosion kills 15 in crowded market in Bangladesh capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Firefighters and rescue workers are seen on the site of an explosion in a multi storey building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 7, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir HossainDHAKA, March 7 (Reuters) - At least 15 people were killed and several others injured in an explosion in a crowded market area in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka on Tuesday, a local fire service official said. A bus standing on the opposite side of the building was also damaged in the blast," fire service official Dinomoni Sharma said. It follows the death of three people in an explosion in Dhaka on SundayOn Sunday, three were killed in a suspected gas explosion in Dhaka. On Saturday, seven people were killed and several injured when a fire broke out following an explosion at an oxygen plant in southeastern Bangladesh.

☆ Australian officials warn of bushfire threat as heatwave grips Sydney
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A total of 33 fires are burning across New South Wales (NSW), Australia's most populous state of which Sydney is the capital, with 12 not contained yet. Five public schools have been shut amid a total fire ban across large parts of the state. Two bushfires have been downgraded from emergency warning levels overnight, but officials said they could flare up again. Since late 2020, Australia's weather has been dominated by La Nina, which brings more rain and floods. Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney, Editing by Himani SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ CNN anchor Kasie Hunt gives birth in surprise 13-minute labor
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —CNN anchor and chief national affairs analyst Kasie Hunt and husband Matthew Mario Rivera welcomed their second child to the world last week in an unforgettable way. Their daughter, Grey Hunt Rivera, was born at home on Wednesday morning after just 13 minutes of sudden labor — before there was time to call the paramedics. CNN anchor and chief national affairs analyst Kasie Hunt and newborn Grey. We were expecting her to arrive via a scheduled C section on Thursday morning,” said Hunt and Rivera of the early arrival. “It’s a day we’ll never forget!”Grey Hunt Rivera was born on Wednesday, March 1 at a healthy 8 pounds and 4 ounces.

☆ Sydney swelters through autumn heatwave, bushfire threat looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Renju Jose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/David Gray/File PhotoSYDNEY, March 6 (Reuters) - Parts of Australia's east including Sydney recorded their hottest day in more than two years on Monday with temperatures hitting more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), raising the risk of bushfires. Firefighters are working to contain nearly 40 bushfires across New South Wales, the home state of one-third of Australians, with crews on the ground supported by aircraft. Penrith, a suburb in western Sydney, recorded 40.1 degrees Celsius on Monday afternoon - the hottest day since Jan. 26, 2021 - while some inland towns reached nearly 41 degrees. Australia's east coast has been dominated by the La Nina weather phenomenon - typically associated with increased rainfall - over the last two years, which brought record rains and widespread flooding. In 2022, Sydney recorded its highest annual rainfall since records began in 1858.

☆ Indonesian officials call for audit after Pertamina fire kills 13
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at a fuel storage station operated by Indonesia's state energy company Pertamina, in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 3, 2023. REUTERS/Willy KurniawanCompanies Pertamina (Persero) PT FollowJAKARTA, March 4 (Reuters) - Indonesian officials called for an investigation and an audit of state energy company Pertamina's (PERTM.UL) facilities after a fire at its storage facility killed 13. "I have ordered Pertamina to immediately investigate this case thoroughly," State-Owned Enterprise Minister Erick Thohir said via his Instagram page. Sugeng Suparwoto, who heads parliament's energy committee, called for an audit of Pertamina's facilities. Sugeng also said there should be a bigger distance between Pertamina's storage facilities and residential areas.

☆ Fire at Indonesia's Pertamina fuel storage station kills 17
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Yuddy Cahya Budiman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at a fuel storage station operated by Indonesia's state energy company Pertamina, in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 3, 2023. REUTERS/Willy KurniawanCompanies Pertamina (Persero) PT FollowJAKARTA, March 3 (Reuters) - At least 17 people were killed when a fire broke out on Friday at a fuel storage station operated by Indonesia's state energy company Pertamina (PERTM.UL) in the capital Jakarta, an official at the city's main firefighting unit said. A Pertamina spokesperson said late on Friday that the fire had been extinguished at about 10.30 p.m.Fire was still seen around residents' houses after that, a firefighting station official said on the unit's Instagram account. Near the storage station, residents crowded the area while firefighters carried orange body bags from the fire. The fuel station has a capacity of over 300,000 kilo-litres, according to the country's energy ministry.

☆ Greece Train Crash Leaves at Least 36 Dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Eric Sylvers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Firefighters and rescuers on the scene after the rail accident near Larissa, Greece. A train carrying several hundred people crashed late Tuesday night into a freight train in Greece, killing at least 36 and injuring more than 80. As of late Wednesday morning, 150 firefighters and 30 ambulances were at the scene as the search for survivors and victims continued, according to the Greek fire service. The crash occurred near the city of Larissa on the main line that runs between the Greek capital of Athens and Thessaloniki, the country’s second-largest city.

☆ Vanessa Bryant reaches $28.85 million settlement with L.A. County over helicopter crash photos
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Phil Helsel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Vanessa Bryant, the widow of late NBA legend Kobe Bryant, has reached an almost $30 million settlement with Los Angeles County over photos taken of the scene of the deadly 2020 helicopter crash, an attorney for the county said. The settlement is for $28.85 million and resolves all claims involving the county, Mira Hashmall, lead trial counsel for Los Angeles County in the case, said in a statement. Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant, 41; his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant; and seven other people died in the crash in Calabasas, near the Southern California coast, northwest of Los Angeles. The almost $30 million settlement includes the $15 million awarded to Vanessa Bryant by a jury in August, Hashmall said. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved the settlement, she said.

☆ China spent years angrily trying to shut down the theory that COVID-19 came from its labs. It failed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

China has pushed another theory, suggesting the COVID-19 may have jumped to humans from frozen food shipped from elsewhere in the world. Lab leak theory initially dismissedThe suspicion that COVID-19 may have leaked from a Wuhan lab has circulated since the earliest days of the pandemic. Trump sought to use the pandemic to discredit China, using the xenophobic term "China virus" to describe the disease. A group of scientists criticised the WHO for dismissing the lab leak thesis too hastily, and pointed to gaps in the report's evidence. Yet the lab leak theory has continued to gain credibility, despite China's efforts, and scientists who once dismissed it now think it's a credible explanation.

REUTERS/Lucy NicholsonFeb 28 (Reuters) - Los Angeles County will pay the wife of late basketball star Kobe Bryant nearly $29 million to settle a lawsuit over allegations that sheriff officers and firefighters shared gruesome photos of the helicopter crash that killed Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter. "Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant's courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct," said Luis Li, attorney for Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant's wife. Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people died in the crash in Calabasas, Calif., on Jan. 26, 2020. Kobe Bryant was 41 when he died. The Los Angeles Lakers great and 18-time All-Star won five NBA championships and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2020.

☆ CIA director says Russia is offering to help Iran's advanced missile program in exchange for military aid
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

William Burns said Russia was likely offering Iran help with its missile program in exchange for military aid. Russia has been accused of using Iran-made drones on strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine. National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that US officials believe that Russia may be planning to give Iran military jets after Iran sent much-needed artillery rounds to Russia. While the US has sought to limit Iran's missile program through sanctions, it said in 2019 that Iran had managed to build the "largest missile force in the Middle East." The US and NATO have also said they see evidence that China may be planning to give Russia weapons.

☆ Massive forest fires rage on in eastern Cuba
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Nelson Acosta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HAVANA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Forest fires raged on in Cuba's eastern region on Monday, inching toward more populated ground more than a week after sparking near a national park. More than 2,000 hectares of forest, including plantations and coffee crops, have been devoured by the flames, authorities said, as firefighters, park employees and soldiers battled the blaze. The fires have moved away from the Mensura-Piloto National Park and toward the province of Santiago de Cuba, home of the populous city of the same name, according to officials. The latest fires add to the dozens in January, which authorities said was a higher-than-average figure. Pinar del Rio and Artemisa, in western Cuba, and Camaguey and Holguin, in the central-eastern region, were the areas most affected.

☆ Dozens of Migrants Drown in Shipwreck Off Italian Coast
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Eric Sylvers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Italian firefighters and Red Cross personnel gather at the scene where bodies of migrants washed ashore. At least 43 migrants died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa after their ship broke apart Sunday in stormy weather near the southern Italian coast, according to Italian authorities, spotlighting the European Union’s continued struggles to resolve the issue of illegal immigration. There were at least 120 people on board the boat when it ran into rocks near the coast, the Italian Coast Guard said. Eighty survivors have been found on the beach and in the sea.

☆ Dozens of migrants, including a baby, killed after their overloaded boat was shipwrecked off the coast of Italy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

45 migrants have died trying to reach Italy in a small boat. Up to 180 people are believed to have been aboard when the wooden boat hit rocks. The boat, carrying between 150 and 180 people, broke in half after crashing into a rock in rough seas as it approached Crotone, southern Italy. According to a statement from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the boat was just 20 meters (65 feet) long. Earlier this month, a small boat crossing in Italy o the small island of Lampedusa and carrying a mother and baby among a group of 10 people was lost at sea, Reuters reported.

☆ At least 33 dead in southern Italy after migrant shipwreck - ANSA
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Alvise Armellini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, Feb 26 (Reuters) - At least 33 people have died after a migrant shipwreck off the eastern coast of Italy's Calabria region, ANSA and other Italian news agencies reported on Sunday. "Several dead are reported among the migrants, (and) about 40 survivors," the national firefighters' department wrote on the Telegram messaging app, adding the migrants' ship had run aground by the coast. The Italian coast guard, reported to be on the scene with firefighters and other police forces, was not immediately reachable for comment. Italy is one of the main landing points for migrants trying to enter Europe by sea. According to the International Organization for Migration's Missing Migrants Project, 20,333 people have died or gone missing in the central Mediterranean since 2014.

☆ Exclusive: U.S. plans $550 million aid for Ukraine, Moldova energy security
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Arshad Mohammed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Firefighters work to put out a fire at energy infrastructure facilities damaged by Russian missile strike, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv region, Ukraine November 15, 2022. State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERSSAINT PAUL, Minn., Feb 24 (Reuters) - The United States plans to announce $250 million in aid on Friday to shore up Ukraine's energy infrastructure in the face of Russian attacks and $300 million for Moldova, partly to help Chisinau wean itself from energy dependence on Russia. The $300 million for Moldova includes $80 million in budget support to offset high electricity prices, $135 million for electric power generation projects and $85 million to improve its ability to obtain energy supplies from alternative sources, according to a second draft document. Moldova, a former Soviet republic of 2.5 million people neighboring Ukraine to the west, is one of the poorest nations in Europe and has traditionally been heavily reliant on Russian gas. The money is from a pool of $45 billion for Ukraine included in a broader spending bill passed by Congress last year.

☆ Mudslide disrupts rescue of 53 missing in China mine collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A mudslide has disrupted rescue operations at a coal mine collapse in China's Inner Mongolia region that killed at least two people, injured six and left more than 53 people missing, state media reported on Thursday. The collapse happened on Wednesday at an open-pit mine in the Alxa League operated by Xinjing Coal Mining Co.After the collapse, President Xi Jinping ordered search and rescue efforts, state media reported. "We must make every possible effort to rescue the missing persons and treat the injured," Xi said. Before the mudslide, four rescue teams of 109 people were searching for the trapped miners, state media reported. Authorities also sent 238 firefighters, 41 fire trucks and six rescue dogs to join the rescue and more teams of about 200 people were expected to arrive on Thursday, state media said.

☆ Video shows Trump telling a McDonald's employee he knows the menu 'better than anyone in here'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Former President Donald Trump visited a McDonald's in East Palestine, Ohio, on Wednesday. Upon ordering, Trump tells a McDonald's worker he knows the menu "better than anyone in here." he tells them, before saying: "So, I know this menu better than you do. You can watch the full video here:The former president's love of fast food — especially McDonald's — has been well-documented. Trump loves to eat fast food in part because of a "longtime fear" of being poisoned, journalist Michael Wolff wrote in his book "Fire and Fury."

☆ Donald Trump, who rolled back rail safety regulations and slashed environmental protections, donates Trump-branded water to East Palestine residents
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Donald Trump visited East Palestine, Ohio, on Wednesday, following a disastrous train derailment. Trump's visit raised questions about his administration's rollback of rail safety regulations. The former president dismissed questions about his administration's rollback of Obama-era rail safety regulations saying he "had nothing to do with it." The Trump administration slashed several environmental and rail regulations while in office, most notably rescinding a 2015 proposal to require faster brakes on trains that were carrying highly flammable or hazardous materials. Following his Wednesday news conference, Trump visited a local Ohio McDonald's where he handed out more MAGA hats and bought meals for firefighters.

☆ Death toll from Brazil downpours hits 48, dozens still missing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/7] Volunteers, firefighters, army officers and a civil guard carry the body of a woman who died at one of the landslide sites after severe rainfall at Barra do Sahy, in Sao Sebastiao, Brazil, February 22, 2023. REUTERS/Amanda PerobelliSAO PAULO, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The death toll from heavy rains that devastated coastal areas of Brazil's southeastern Sao Paulo state reached 48 people, official figures showed on Wednesday, but dozens were still missing as search and rescue efforts continued. The number of casualties rose from 46 reported a day earlier, the Sao Paulo state government said in a statement. The city of Sao Sebastiao, located some 200 km (124.3 miles) from Sao Paulo, bore the brunt of the human toll, with 47 of the reported deaths. The floods in coastal Sao Paulo state were the latest in a series of such disasters to recently strike Brazil, where shoddy construction, often on hillsides, can have tragic consequences during the country's rainy season.

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