Новости за 22.03.2024

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jane Fonda are calling on voters to keep a law banning new oil and gas wells near homes, schools and hospitals as the oil industry fights to overturn it. The governor, celebrities and activists met in Los Angeles on Friday to launch a campaign to keep the 2022 law. Californians will vote on a referendum in November to decide whether to keep the law. Proponents say it will protect the public from the health impacts of oil and gas pollution. Oil... Читать дальше...

A Texas medical panel has rebuffed calls to list specific exceptions to one of the most restrictive abortions bans in the U.S., which physicians say is dangerously unclear and has forced women with serious pregnancy complications to leave the state. The head of the Texas Medical Board also said on Friday that wider issues surrounding the law — such as the lack of exceptions in cases of rape or incest — were beyond the authority of the 16-member panel, twelve of whom are men. Only one member of the board is an obstetrician and gynecologist. Читать дальше...

Louisiana crawfish are in demand despite a shortage of the mudbugs driven by last summer’s drought, extreme heat, saltwater intrusion on the Mississippi River and a hard winter freeze. The state is the nation’s top producer of crawfish, but last year harvested a fraction of what is typical in a season. Potential losses to the state’s crawfish industry are estimated to be nearly $140 million. The tiny crustaceans are a staple in Gulf Coast seafood boils and Louisiana’s way of life, and fans are still buying and selling them... Читать дальше...

A former Georgia insurance commissioner is pleading guilty to conspiring to commit health care fraud. John W. Oxendine of Johns Creek entered the guilty plea Friday in federal court in Atlanta. The crime is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, but the 61-year-old Oxendine is likely to be sentenced to less. The plea says Oxendine agrees to pay nearly $700,000 in restitution to health insurers who lost money. Prosecutors say Oxendine conspired with Dr. Jeffrey Gallups to pressure physicians to order unnecessary medical tests. Читать дальше...

West Virginia has become the 12th state to ban smoking in vehicles with children present. Republican Gov. Jim Justice signed a bill Friday that would fine violators up to $25, but only if a vehicle is pulled over for another offense. Smoking with children present cannot be the main reason a driver is stopped. West Virginia has the nation's highest rate of adult cigarette use at about 22%. The bill's sponsor is state Sen. Tom Takubo. He is a lung doctor. Takubo has said he made a promise long ago... Читать дальше...

House Speaker Mike Johnson is at risk of being ousted. Hard-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia filed a motion to vacate on Friday during a House vote on a $1.2 trillion package to keep government open. Greene says it's a “warning” to the Louisiana lawmaker. It’s the same political dynamic that removed the last Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, months ago. McCarthy's was the first such ouster of a speaker after far-right conservatives revolted over his compromise with Democrats to prevent a federal shutdown. Читать дальше...

Russia and China have vetoed a U.S.-sponsored U.N. resolution calling for “an immediate and sustained cease-fire” in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza to protect civilians and enable humanitarian aid to be delivered to more than 2 million hungry Palestinians. The vote on Friday in the 15-member Security Council was 11 members in favor, three against and one abstention. Before the vote, Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow supports an immediate cease-fire, but he questioned the language... Читать дальше...

Donald Trump says he has almost a half-billion dollars in cash but would rather spend it on his presidential run instead of the $454 million civil fraud judgment against him in New York. The former Republican president hopes to have a court excuse him from a requirement that he prove he’s good for the money while appealing the staggering verdict. A judge in February found that Trump repeatedly lied about his wealth on financial statements given to banks and others to secure loans and make deals. Trump denies that he deceived anyone. Читать дальше...

The FBI is telling people who were on board the Boeing 737 Max that lost a panel in midflight that they might be victims of a crime. In letters to some of the passengers, an FBI victim specialist says the case is currently under investigation by the FBI. A lawyer representing some of the passengers on the Alaska Airlines flight in a lawsuit against Boeing shared the letter with The Associated Press. Published reports and government officials have said the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into the aircraft company. Читать дальше...

Jeep maker Stellantis is laying off about 400 white-collar workers in the U.S. as it deals with the transition from combustion engines to electric vehicles. The company formed in the 2021 merger between PSA Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler says the affected workers are mainly in engineering, technology and software at the headquarters and technical center in Auburn Hills, Michigan, north of Detroit. Affected workers were being notified starting Friday morning. Stellantis says the industry faces unprecedented... Читать дальше...

Champions of organic farming have long portrayed it as friendlier to humans and the earth. But a new study in a California county found a surprising effect as their acreage grew — their conventional neighbors were using more pesticides than before. The researchers, whose work appears in this week's journal Science, say the conventional farmers were likely trying to stay on top of an increased insect threat to their crops. That may be due to spillover of both beneficial insects and pests from organic fields... Читать дальше...

Former President Donald Trump launched his social media platform, Truth Social, in early 2022, after he was banned from major sites such as Facebook and the former Twitter following the Jan. 6 insurrection. While he’s since been reinstated to both, he’s largely stayed off X, the Elon Musk-owned platform that was once his primary megaphone. That’s unlikely to change even as Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs Truth Social, is expected to start trading on the NASDAQ stock market soon. That's... Читать дальше...

Stellantis is recalling nearly 285,000 Dodge and Chrysler sedans because the side air bag inflators can explode with too much force and hurl metal fragments at drivers and passengers. The recall covers air bag inflators on both sides of Dodge Chargers and Chrysler 300 large cars from the 2018 through 2021 model years. The automaker says in documents posted Friday by U.S. safety regulators that moisture may get into the inflators due to a manufacturing defect and cause corrosion and cracks. The documents... Читать дальше...

A U.N. humanitarian official is appealing for more than $4 billion in life-saving aid for more than 10 million Syrians, saying that the country's largely forgotten crisis remains “one of the most deadly to civilians in the world.” Adam Abdelmoula, resident coordinator in Syria for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, made the appeal days after Syria marked the 13th anniversary of the conflict that has killed nearly a half million people and left large parts of the country destroyed. Читать дальше...

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has been asked to testify in court July 2 in the trial of two men who are accused of making deepfake pornographic images using her face and posting them online. Meloni is listed as an injured party in the defamation trial in Sardinia. She is seeking 100,000 euros in damages. Her lawyer says she will donate any award to an interior ministry fund for women who are victims of domestic violence. According to ANSA news agency, Italy’s postal police in 2020 identified the... Читать дальше...

Avian influenza is killing tens of thousands of seals and sea lions in different corners of the world, disrupting ecosystems and flummoxing scientists who don’t see a clear way to slow the devastating virus. The worldwide bird flu outbreak that began in 2020 has led to the deaths of millions of domesticated birds and spread to wildlife all over the globe. This virus isn’t thought to be a major threat to humans, but its spread in farming operations and ecosystems has caused widespread economic turmoil and environmental disruptions. Читать дальше...

Stocks are mixed in Europe and Asia after Wall Street tapped fresh records, led by big gains in chipmakers. Japan's Nikkei 225 topped 41,000 for the first time early Friday but then fell back. Chinese property and tech companies weighed on markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong. On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.3% to an all-time high for a third straight day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.2%. Both also added to their records set a day before. Micron... Читать дальше...

The race is on for Congress to pass the final spending package for the current budget year and push any threats of a government shutdown to the fall. With spending set to expire for several key federal agencies at midnight Friday, the House and Senate are expected to take up a $1.2 trillion measure that combines six annual spending bills into one package. More than 70% of the money will go to defense. While lawmakers could miss the midnight deadline for funding the government, the practical impact... Читать дальше...

The sun is setting on Stumpy, the gnarled old cherry tree that has become a social media phenom. This year's cherry blossom festivities in Washington will be the last for Stumpy and more than 100 other cherry trees that will be cut down as part of a multiyear restoration of their Tidal Basin home. Starting in early summer, crews will begin working to replace the crumbling seawall around the Tidal Basin, the area around the Jefferson Memorial with the highest concentration of cherry trees. When the project is done... Читать дальше...

Australia is set to provide $3 billion to British industry to support the construction of nuclear-powered submarines and ensure its new fleet arrives on time. The announcement at an annual gathering Friday comes a day after the two countries signed a defense and security pact to better meet such challenges as China's increasing presence in the South China Sea and South Pacific. The 10-year deal will boost capacity at a Rolls-Royce factory in the United Kingdom to build the nuclear reactors that will... Читать дальше...

California lawmakers are split on how to best address the retail theft cases that have proliferated in the state. Top Democratic leaders reject calls to reform Proposition 47, an initiative approved by voters in 2014 that reduced penalties for certain retail theft and drug offense charges. Gov. Gavin Newsom says the state has enough tools to go after professional crime rings. He urges lawmakers to work on legislation bolstering existing laws and cracking down on resellers of stolen goods. But Republican... Читать дальше...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A nearly $1 billion Mega Millions jackpot will be up for grabs Friday night, offering the prospect of instant riches for a lucky player after more than three months without a big winner.

Cheating on your spouse is illegal in New York, but the state might soon change that. A bill working its way through the New York Legislature could repeal a more than a century-old law that makes adultery a crime. The obscure law is actually on the books in many other states, though it is almost never enforced. Bill sponsor Assemblyman Charles Lavine says only about a dozen people have been charged under the state’s adultery law since 1972, and of those, just five cases have netted convictions. Adultery... Читать дальше...

A butcher shutting down his shop barely eight months after opening it. A 72-year-old retiree singing in the streets of Buenos Aires to make ends meet. A 34-year-old mother of four struggling to feed her children and surviving mostly by eating in soup kitchens. They’re among thousands of Argentines who say their economic situation is now worse than a year ago as a consequence of the austerity and deregulation measures ordered by President Javier Milei in his first 100 days in office. Yet, support for Milei remains strong... Читать дальше...

Donald Trump’s return to the stock market could be right around the corner. All eyes are on a vote Friday by shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp., a shell company that is looking to merge with the former president’s media business. The deal's approval would open the door for Trump Media & Technology Group, whose flagship product is the social networking site Truth Social, to soon begin trading on the Nasdaq stock market in Digital World’s place. If the merger is greenlit, Trump stands to receive billions ... Читать дальше...