New EPA Limits Target Emissions at Power Plants
The Biden administration is poised to announce limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that could compel them to capture the pollution from their smokestacks, technology now used by fewer than 20 of the nation’s 3,400 coal and gas-fired plants, according to three people who were briefed on the rule. If implemented, the proposed regulation would be the first time the federal government has restricted carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. It would also apply to future plants. Almost all coal and gas-fired power plants would have to cut or capture nearly all of their carbon dioxide emissions by 2040.
Tennessee GOP Exits Legislative Session Early, Punting on Gun Issue
Hundreds of students, parents and teachers marched to the Tennessee State Capitol, day after day, demanding a ban on assault weapons and action on gun control. But on Friday, just under a month after the attack at the school, Republicans instead cut short the year’s legislative session and punted on any measure dealing explicitly with guns. Within two hours of the legislature’s hasty departure, the state’s Republican governor, Bill Lee, announced that he would summon lawmakers back for a special session to revisit the debate, with details expected in the coming weeks.
Almost a Year After Roe Reversal, Abortion Is the Center of 2024 Races
Nearly a year after the Supreme Court turned abortion into a dominant issue of the 2022 midterms, the battle over abortion rights has catapulted to the center of the emerging 2024 election season. From North Carolina to Nevada, Democrats running at every level of government are vowing to make support for abortion rights a pillar of their campaigns, and to paint their opponents as extremists on the issue. And as races intensify, Republicans are caught between the demands of their socially conservative base and a broader American public that generally supports abortion rights.
Many States Try to Limit Gender Care for Adults
Missouri this month became the first state in the country to severely restrict gender treatments for people of all ages, following a series of moves across the country that have been chipping away at transgender adults’ access to medical care. Last year, Florida joined six other states in banning Medicaid from covering some form of gender care for transgender people of all ages. And in at least five states, Republican legislators have proposed bills that would abolish gender care for minors as well as young adults. Some are attempting to ban it for anyone under 21, and others for those under 26.
Florida at Center of Debate as School Book Bans Surge Nationally
Two years into a surge of book bans across the United States, Florida is a hot spot in the clash over what reading material is appropriate for children, with laws that have greatly expanded the state’s ability to restrict books. Historically, books were challenged one at a time; efforts were largely local, led by a parent or a group. But over the past year, access to books, particularly those touching on race, gender or sexual orientation, became increasingly politicized. The shift is particularly evident in Florida, where three state laws passed last year were aimed, at least in part, at reading or educational materials.
After California’s Heavy Rains, Gold Seekers Are Giddy
There’s a fever in California’s gold country these days, the kind that comes with the realization that nature is unlocking another stash of precious metal. California’s prodigious winter rainfall blasted torrents of water through mountain streams. And as the warmer weather melts the massive banks of snow, the rushing waters are detaching and carrying gold deposits along the way. The immense wildfires of recent years also loosened the soil, helping to push downstream what some here are calling flood gold. It is as if Mother Nature had aimed a pressure washer onto the hills and delivered some of the precious minerals still embedded in the rock and dirt.
As War Rages in Sudan, Countries Angle for Advantage
As war consumes Sudan, nations from around the world have mobilized swiftly. Diplomats from Africa, the Middle East and the West have appealed for a halt to the fighting. The rush of international activity reflects a dynamic that loomed over the country well before its two leading generals turned on each other last week: Sudan has been up for grabs for years. The revolution of 2019 spelled new opportunities for outside powers to pursue their own interests in Africa’s third largest country. Western countries had pushed a difficult transition to democracy — while also hoping to counter the expanding influence of China and Russia in Africa.
Evacuations Imperiled Amid Chaos in Sudan
An announced emergency evacuation from Sudan was thrown into confusion Saturday when the U.S. Embassy there said it was too dangerous to evacuate its citizens, just hours after the country’s military chief, who is Sudan’s de facto leader, said in a statement that his troops would facilitate the evacuation of diplomats and citizens from Britain, China, France and the United States “in the coming hours.” Soon after, however, the U.S. Embassy said that “it is not currently safe to undertake a U.S. government-coordinated evacuation of private U.S. citizens.” It was not immediately clear whether the United States planned an evacuation of embassy staff.
Japanese Ship Torpedoed in 1942 Is Found
The wreck of a Japanese ship that sank in July 1942 after it was torpedoed by a U.S. Navy submarine has been found, the Australian government said Saturday. The ship, the Montevideo Maru, was carrying hundreds of prisoners of war, who all died. The ship had no markings indicating that it was carrying prisoners of war and sank carrying more than 1,000 prisoners from about 16 nations, most of them Australian service members. The shipwreck was spotted this month northwest of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines, on the seafloor at a depth of more than 4,000 meters.
Cellphones Across Britain Will Blast a ‘Loud Siren-like’ Alert This Weekend
A “loud siren-like sound” will blare from cellphones for up to 10 seconds across Britain on Sunday as part of a test for a new emergency alert system launched by the British government. Governments and institutions across the world use similar alert systems in life-threatening situations such as dangerous weather. The alerts, which in many cases are sent as notifications or text messages, warn people in the path of danger to get to safety. In Britain, the test of the warning service has prompted a backlash among some, with some officials and organizations encouraging people to turn off the service.
Ukraine Bans the Naming of Locations in Russian
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed two laws that strictly reinforce his country’s national identity, banning Russian place names and making knowledge of Ukrainian language and history a requirement for citizenship. The moves late Friday were Ukraine’s latest steps to distance itself from a long legacy of Russian domination, an increasingly emotional subject since Russia’s full-scale invasion began last year. They also show how forceful Kyiv’s government has become about protecting its cultural identity in a conflict shaped by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to wipe it out. Already, countless streets across Ukraine have been renamed and statues of Russian figures like Catherine the Great have come toppling down.
New Methods to Teach Indigenous Language on Brink of Extinction
When Brian Maracle returned in his mid-40s to the Mohawk community near Toronto that he had left when he was just 5, perhaps the biggest challenge facing him was that he neither spoke nor understood much Kanyen’keha, the Mohawk language. More than a century of attempts by Canada’s government to stamp out Indigenous cultures had left Maracle and many other Indigenous people without their languages. Now, 30 years later, Maracle has become a champion of Mohawk and is helping revive Indigenous languages in Canada and elsewhere through his transformation of teaching methods. Innovative approaches like Maracle’s are crucial, experts say, to overcoming the suppression of Indigenous languages and cultures in Canada.
By wire sources
