Citing grave threat, Scientific American replaces 'climate change' with 'climate emergency'

Scientific American magazine announced Monday that it would stop using the term "climate change" in articles about man-made global warming and substitute "climate emergency" instead. "Journalism should reflect what science says: the climate emergency is here," Scientific American senior editor Mark Fischetti said in a Monday post about the magazine's decision. To make his point, Fischetti pointed to the mounting number of weather-related disasters that most scientists agree stem from climate change.

China brands Japan's plan to release treated Fukushima water into sea as 'extremely irresponsible'

Japan's government has approved a plan to release over one million tonnes of treated water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday. Japan's government argues that the release will be safe because the water has been processed to remove almost all radioactive elements and will be diluted. It has support from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which says the release is similar to processes for disposing of waste water from nuclear plants elsewhere in the world.

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  Japan to release Fukushima water into sea

  Reuters Videos
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  Japan to release contaminated Fukushima water into sea after treatment

  Reuters

Police say fatal shooting of Daunte Wright appears to be accidental

Police in Brooklyn Center, Minn., say the female officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop Sunday accidentally drew a handgun instead of a Taser when she killed him. “There is nothing I can say to lessen the pain of Daunte Wright's family,” Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said during a press conference Monday afternoon. At the briefing, Gannon played bodycam footage of the incident, which shows an officer attempting to handcuff Wright outside his vehicle when Wright suddenly jumps back inside.

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  Brooklyn Center, Minn., police release footage of Daunte Wright shooting, chief says he believes officer mistakenly grabbed gun instead of Taser

  Yahoo News Video
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  NFL players react to Minnesota police shooting of Daunte Wright

  Yahoo Sports

Philippines summons Chinese ambassador over reef dispute

The Philippine government summoned the Chinese ambassador to press its demand for Chinese vessels to immediately leave a reef claimed by Manila in the South China Sea and said their presence was stoking tensions, officials said Tuesday. The escalating feud between Manila and Beijing started after more than 200 Chinese vessels suspected by Philippine authorities to be operated by militias were spotted early last month at Whitsun Reef. The Philippine government demanded the vessels leave then deployed coast guard and patrol vessels to the area but China said it owns the reef and the Chinese vessels were sheltering from rough seas.

Crowd of 23 candidates floods special congressional election in Texas

The race to succeed the only sitting U.S. congressman to have died from COVID-19 has drawn a free-for-all of 23 candidates in a Republican-leaning district of north Texas, where Democrats have made gains in recent years. Representative Ron Wright, a Republican, died of COVID-19 in February. The May 1 special election to replace him will be the first test of the Texas electorate, where Democrats hope to advance, since President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

Biden is reportedly vetting Cindy McCain for an ambassadorship in Rome

President Biden is preparing to nominate a slate of ambassadors, and among them will be Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and a key Biden backer in Arizona last year, Politico reports. McCain is being vetted as the U.S. envoy to the United Nations Food Programme in Rome, a "coveted ambassador post in Western Europe in what would be his administration's first Republican appointee to a Senate-confirmed position," Politico says.

Mistaking Asian woman as white, Asian man attacks her over hate crimes, CA cops say

An Asian man was arrested after California police say he kidnapped and tried to sexually assault an Asian woman, believing she was white, in retaliation for the rise in hate crimes against Asians. Michael Sangbong Rhee, 37, was arrested Thursday night at his Lake Forest home, Irvine police said in a Facebook post. Rhee was charged with kidnapping with intent to commit a sexual assault and is being held at Orange County Jail on $1 million bail.

The World’s 9 Most Expensive Listings Currently on the Market

These fantastical homes range from a 64,000-acre Texas ranch to an oceanside estate in the south of France Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

India to approve coronavirus shots green-lit by WHO, others

India said Tuesday that it will approve the use of all coronavirus vaccines that have been given an emergency nod by the World Health Organization or regulators in the United States, Europe, Britain or Japan. India's Health Ministry said the decision was aimed at hastening the use of shots made in other countries and expanding the “basket of vaccines” available for domestic use. India had earlier given the nod to the AstraZeneca vaccine made by Serum Institute of India and another one made by the Indian company Bharat Biotech.

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  India, overwhelmed by COVID surge, fast-tracks approval for foreign vaccines

  Reuters
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  Botswana probes deaths of two people who took AstraZeneca shot

  Reuters

Texas oil pipelines face dry months as production languishes

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Nearly half of all oil pipelines from the Permian basin, the biggest U.S. oilfield, are expected to be empty by the end of the year, analysts and executives said. Pipeline companies went on a construction spree throughout 2018 and 2019 to handle blistering growth in U.S. crude production to a record 13 million barrels per day (bpd). Major pipeline companies are exploring ways to ship other products in those lines and considering selling stakes in operations to raise cash.

Ousted Myanmar ambassador ordered to leave London residence by military regime

The ousted Myanmar ambassador to the UK has been ordered by the country's military junta to leave his London residence or face prosecution by the new regime. In a hand-delivered letter, Kyaw Zwar Minn, who was last week forced out of the Myanmar embassy at the orders of the regime, has now been told to quit the Hampstead house where he has lived with his family since his appointment in 2013. In a move designed to strengthen the hand of officials loyal to the military government which ousted Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Kyaw Zwar Minn has been given until Thursday to leave.

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  Myanmar's ruling junta issues fresh charges for Suu Kyi

  Associated Press
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  Myanmar's Suu Kyi asks court to let her meet lawyers, activists urge New Year defiance

  Reuters

Cops went to a Florida mom’s home on a child abuse call. Then they saw a Dr. Seuss book

Dr Seuss books have made headlines lately, but not for this reason. According to a police report from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, deputies went to a Largo home on a call of suspected child abuse. When they arrived around 9 p.m.

3 killed in Pakistan in clashes between police, Islamists

Two demonstrators and a policeman were killed Tuesday in violent clashes between Islamists and police in Pakistan, hours after authorities arrested the head of an Islamist party in the eastern city of Lahore, a senior official and local media reported. The policeman was killed in overnight clashes with the supporters of Saad Rizvi, the head of the Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan who was arrested on Monday, a senior police officer Ghulam Mohammad Dogar said. Ten policemen were also wounded in these clashes in the town of Shahadra near Lahore.

St Vincent volcano: Power cuts after another 'explosive event'

There has been another "explosive event" at a volcano on the Caribbean island of St Vincent, with power outages and water supplies cut off. The La Soufrière volcano first erupted on Friday, blanketing the island in a layer of ash and forcing some 16,000 people to evacuate their homes. Scientists warn that eruptions could continue for days - or even weeks.

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  'Huge' explosion rocks St. Vincent as volcano keeps erupting

  Associated Press
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  More flee volcano on Caribbean island of St. Vincent

  Associated Press

Huge gatherings at India's Hindu festival as virus surges

The Kumbh Mela, which runs through April, comes during India's worst surge in new infections since the pandemic began, with a seven-day rolling average of more than 130,000 new cases per day. Hospitals are becoming overwhelmed with patients, and experts worry the worst is yet to come. Critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party say the festival has been allowed at a time when infections are skyrocketing because the government isn't willing to anger Hindus, who are the party's biggest supporters.

World's wealthiest 'at heart of climate problem'

The world's wealthy must radically change their lifestyles to tackle climate change, a report says. It says the world's wealthiest 1% produce double the combined carbon emissions of the poorest 50%, according to the UN. The wealthiest 5% alone – the so-called “polluter elite” - contributed 37% of emissions growth between 1990 and 2015.

Trump turns down meeting with Gaetz amid investigation: report

'My family and I have been victims of an organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official,' the embattled Gaetz said in a statement. Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz has reportedly been denied a meeting with former President Donald Trump amid a sex trafficking probe that has shrouded his political career. The Republican congressman, a staunch supporter and close friend of Trump, believes the former commander-in-chief should run for office again in 2024.

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  Gaetz and Trump rep challenge report that the Florida congressman was denied a meeting with the former president

  Business Insider
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  Matt Gaetz request for meeting with Trump was not snubbed, both sides say

  The Guardian

Ukraine's leader requests a talk with Putin, gets no answer

Ukraine's leader has asked for a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the Russian troop buildup across his country's border and the escalating tensions in eastern Ukraine, but the request has not been answered so far, his spokeswoman said Monday. The concentration of Russian troops along the frontier comes amid a surge of cease-fire violations in eastern Ukraine, where Russia-baсked separatists and Ukrainian forces have been locked in a conflict since Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. More than 14,000 people have died in fighting in eastern Ukraine and efforts to negotiate a political settlement have stalled.

Black Army officer pepper-sprayed by police said he thought he could be murdered as officers gave quickly changing commands

A uniformed Black Army officer was held at gunpoint and pepper-sprayed during a traffic stop. Second lieutenant Caron Nazario filed a lawsuit against the 2 Virginia officers involved. In a complaint, Nazario said they gave conflicting orders and he was worried he would be murdered.

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  U.S. Army lieutenant files suit against two Virginia police officers for assault during traffic stop

  Yahoo News Video
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  Town Fires Officer Who Pepper-Sprayed Black Army Lieutenant During Traffic Stop

  HuffPost

Vietnam country profile

Vietnam, a one-party Communist state, has one of south-east Asia's fastest-growing economies and has set its sights on becoming a developed nation by 2020. It became a unified country once more in 1975 when the armed forces of the Communist north seized the south. This followed three decades of bitter wars, in which the Communists fought first against the colonial power France, then against South Vietnam and its US backers.

What's next as Congress ramps up investigations of Jan. 6

More than three months after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, Congress is still trying to figure out how to move forward and prevent future attacks. While the Senate has already heard testimony from law enforcement leaders who were responsible for failures during the riot, several more committees are examining possible changes to the Capitol Police and a restructuring of the Capitol Police security command. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced last month that seven House panels would be probing the attack after hopes faded for setting up an independent, bipartisan commission.

Scandal-plagued Florida politician Joel Greenberg reportedly tried to leverage his relationship with Rep. Matt Gaetz to get a pardon from Trump

Joel Greenberg tried to use his relationship with Matt Gaetz to get a Trump pardon, Politico reported. Greenberg is facing a slew of federal charges, including sex trafficking of a minor. Gaetz is the focus of an investigation into whether he broke sex-trafficking laws and paid for sex.

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  Indicted Matt Gaetz Pal Paid Former Teen's Legal Fees While Under Investigation: Politico

  HuffPost
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  John Oliver Hilariously Predicts When Matt Gaetz Will Reveal All

  HuffPost

Biden administration can act to help spur Western investment in Venezuela | Opinion

Venezuela's future will depend on foreign investment to rebuild its economy and create jobs and opportunity once again. According to the U.S. Trade Representative, Venezuela's GDP declined by 35 percent in 2019 to $70.1 billion. That same year, American foreign direct investment in Venezuela amounted to $2.2 billion, representing a large chunk of the nation's total economic activity.