Новости за 23.10.2023

Relatives of three people who died last year in a flash flood stemming from the largest wildfire in New Mexico’s recorded history are suing the U.S. Forest Service. The wrongful death lawsuit filed in early October alleges the agency was negligent in the management of the prescribed burn that caused the blaze. The complaint also claims the agency failed to close roads and prevent access to areas at risk for flooding that followed the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire. Three West Texas residents were... Читать дальше...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to ban the cancer-causing chemical trichloroethylene. The chemical is known as TCE. It's used in a range of consumer products, including automobile brake cleaners, furniture care products and arts and crafts spray coating. The EPA wants to ban manufacturing, processing and distributing TCE within a year. Companies using it in electric vehicle batteries or in making some refrigerants would be get more time to transition away from it. The EPA has found TCE causes liver cancer... Читать дальше...

Forty years after the bombing that killed 241 U.S. troops in Beirut, the United States is again sending troops to the eastern Mediterranean as tension between Israel and Iran increases over the Israel-Hamas war. Bases housing U.S. troops in Syria and Iraq are coming under attack with suicide drones and rockets, while the Iran-backed Hezbollah is exchanging fire with Israeli troops on a daily basis. The Iran-led axis of resistance is warning that if the U.S. joins the war the fighting will turn into a regional conflict... Читать дальше...

The United Auto Workers union has once again escalated its strikes against Detroit Three automakers, this time adding a factory that makes Ram pickup trucks for Stellantis. The union says in a statement that 6,800 members walked out Monday morning at the Sterling Heights, Michigan, Assembly Plant, a huge profit center for the company. The move came just three days after union President Shawn Fain reported progress in talks with General Motors and Stellantis but said the companies will have to make better offers. Читать дальше...

Israel has ramped up its airstrikes across Gaza, including in areas where civilians have been told to seek refuge. A U.S. official said Monday that Washington has advised Israel to delay a possible ground invasion to allow more time to try and secure the release of captives held by Hamas. Israel has allowed two small aid convoys but no fuel to enter the besieged coastal enclave, where there has been a power blackout for nearly two weeks. Hospitals say they are scrounging for generator fuel in order... Читать дальше...

Anti-abortion groups seeking to build opposition to a reproductive rights measure in Ohio are messaging heavily around a term for an abortion procedure that hasn’t been legal in the U.S. for over 15 years. The opposition campaign and top Republicans increasingly reference partial-birth abortions in ads, debates and public statements. The abortion opponents say partial-birth abortions are an imminent threat if voters approve the constitutional amendment Nov. 7. Partial-birth abortion is a non-medical... Читать дальше...

Mark Barlet founded AbleGamers in 2004. It’s a nonprofit that works to combat social isolation among people with disabilities using “the power of video games.” Most recently, his organization worked with Sony to help create its new Access controller, designed to make it easier for people with disabilities to play. Playing video games has long been a challenge for people with disabilities, chiefly because the standard controllers for the PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo can be difficult, or even impossible... Читать дальше...

The United States has renewed a warning that it would defend the Philippines in case of an armed attack after Chinese ships blocked and collided with two Filipino vessels in the South China Sea. Philippine diplomats summoned a Chinese Embassy official in Manila on Monday for a strongly worded protest following Sunday’s collisions off Second Thomas Shoal, which is also claimed by China. No injuries were reported but the Philippine ships reported damage. China has blamed the Philippines for the collisions... Читать дальше...

The White House says the dozens of U.S. technology hubs President Joe Biden is announcing will help communities across the country become centers of innovation critical to its competitiveness. Biden is designating 31 technology hubs that reach 32 states and Puerto Rico. The tech hubs are designed to help spur innovation in industries concentrated in these areas and to create jobs. The Democratic president is scheduled to announce the tech hubs Monday. The tech hubs are the result of a process the... Читать дальше...

Chevron is buying Hess Corp. for $53 billion and it’s not even the biggest acquisition in the energy sector this month as major producers seize the initiative while oil prices surge. The Chevron-Hess deal comes less than two weeks after Exxon Mobil said that it would acquire Pioneer Natural Resources for about $60 billion. Crude prices are up 9% this year and have been hovering around $90 per barrel for about two months. Chevron said Monday that the acquisition of Hess adds a major oil field in Guyana as well as shale fields in North Dakota.

Throughout its 5-week-old strikes against Detroit’s automakers, the United Auto Workers union has cast an emphatically combative stance, reflecting the style of its pugnacious leader, Shawn Fain. Armed with a list of what even Fain has called “audacious” demands for better pay and benefits, the UAW leader has embodied the exasperation of workers who say they’ve struggled for years while the automakers have enjoyed billions in profits. Yet as the strikes have dragged on, analysts and even some striking... Читать дальше...

Israeli warplanes are striking targets across Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive in the besieged Hamas-ruled territory. Fears of a widening war have grown as Israel struck targets in the occupied West Bank, Syria and Lebanon and traded fire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group. Two aid convoys arrived in the Gaza Strip over the weekend carrying food, water and medical supplies. Israel has not allowed in fuel, which is critically needed for water and sanitation systems and hospitals. The... Читать дальше...

Asian shares have started the week lower, as higher risks of broader conflict in the Middle East cloud market sentiment and bond yields continue to rise. U.S. futures rose while oil prices fell back. On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 1.3% for a fourth straight drop. The Dow sank 0.9% and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 1.5%. The stock market has been struggling under the weight of the bond market, where the yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly topped 5% late Thursday for the first time since 2007. High... Читать дальше...

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says he is preparing to take bold economic measures, including an income tax cut for households hit by inflation and tax breaks for companies to promote investment. The package announced Monday at the opening of a Parliament session is seen as a move to lift his dwindling public support. Previously, Kishida had been considered reluctant to cut taxes because his government must find the funds to double Japan’s defense budget within five years as planned while also... Читать дальше...

The University of Michigan Museum of Zoology recently acquired tens of thousands of reptile and amphibian specimens, including many snakes. Research collections manager Greg Schneider estimates the new material donated by Oregon State University contains around 30,000 snakes. He says that would give Michigan a total of between 65,000 and 70,000 of the slithering vertebrates, surpassing collections at the Smithsonian in Washington, the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the University of Kansas. Читать дальше...

Tens of thousands of people, many of them Chinese, have been caught up in cyber scams based in Southeast Asia. Local and Chinese authorities have netted thousands of people in a crackdown on such schemes, but experts say they are failing to root out the local elites and criminal networks that are running the scams. When scam operations are shut down in one place they often just resurface elsewhere. The problem is an embarrassment for Beijing and is discouraging ordinary Chinese from traveling to... Читать дальше...

The varsity and junior varsity football teams in Lahaina played their first home games since the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century destroyed the town. It was homecoming, and for many of the fans, coaches and the players themselves, being back at the stadium was the closest thing to feeling at home in the months since the Aug. 8 fire. Classes resumed last week at Lahainaluna High and at the two other public schools that survived the Aug. 8 fire, and on Saturday night, both Lahainaluna’s... Читать дальше...

An ambitious 2021 agreement by more than 140 countries and territories to weed out tax havens and force multinational corporations to pay a minimum tax has been weakened by loopholes and will raise only a fraction of the revenue that was envisioned, a tax watchdog backed by the European Union has warned. The landmark agreement, brokered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, set a minimum global corporate tax of 15%. The idea was to stop multinational corporations from using... Читать дальше...

President Joe Biden is facing anew the balancing act of demonstrating full-throated support for America’s closest ally in the Middle East while trying to press the Israelis to act with enough restraint to keep their war with Hamas from metastasizing. Biden is promising to have Israel’s back as it aims to take out the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip and carried out the brutal attacks that killed 1,400 Israelis. But as the crisis in the Middle East unfolds, Biden is facing building pressure... Читать дальше...