First Thing: green up your act, Biden warns world leaders

April 23, 2021 Ava

Good morning.

Joe Biden called on world leaders to “overcome the existential crisis of our time” at a virtual White House summit on the climate crisis yesterday, as he attempted to re-establish US leadership on the subject after the Trump era.

“Particularly those of us that represent the world’s largest economies, we have to step up,” the president said in an opening speech to 40 world leaders, warning that “time is short”. But he also offered incentive: countries could reap economic benefits and create “millions of good paying union jobs” if they adapted to a greener world.

Shortly before the summit began, Biden announced that the US would aim to halve its emissions of greenhouse gases by 2030, based on 2005 levels. Biden challenged other countries to step up their efforts too – and some of them did:

Japan announced it would cut emissions by 46% by 2030, increasing its previous commitments.
South Korea said it would no longer finance overseas coal projects.
Canada increased its target to a 40-45% reduction in emissions by 2030.
China urged countries to be “committed to harmony between man and nature” and said China would drop its emissions more quickly than other countries.

© Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
World leaders are seen on a screen during a climate change virtual summit from the East Room of the White House campus in Washington, DC.

Soon after, research emerged showing that the climate crisis has shifted the planet’s axis. The massive melting of glaciers has tilted the planet’s rotation, according to scientists, giving some indication of the massive impact of human activity on Earth.

The US Postal Service is reportedly monitoring social media posts

The US Postal Service has reportedly been monitoring social media posts, focusing on those planning protests. The surveillance procedure, named the Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP), tracks social media activity that it considers “inflammatory” and shares that information with government agencies, according to a government bulletin obtained by Yahoo News.

The USPS monitored social media accounts about planned protests on 20 March, when the World Wide Rally for Freedom and Democracy was scheduled to take place, the bulletin said. The information collected was shared through Department of Homeland Security facilities.

The Senate just passed a bill against anti-Asian hate crime

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People holding candles and anti-hate signs take part in a candlelight vigil in standing up against Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate and violence, at Almansor Park in Alhambra, California. Photograph: Ringo Chiu/AFP/Getty Images

The Senate has passed a bill to combat the rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, amid a surge in violence during the coronavirus pandemic. The anti-Asian hate crimes bill passed with bipartisan support, with just one senator, Josh Hawley, a Republican of Missouri, voting against it.

What’s is in the bill? The bill would create a new role at the justice department to review hate crime reports linked to the pandemic and support state and local officials in their response to hate crimes. It is hoped the bill will also send a strong signal of condemnation of the crimes.
Where next? It will now have to pass the House, but as that chamber is controlled by the Democrats it is expected to do so. Biden has indicated he will sign the bill once it reaches him for final approval.

Daunte Wright laid to rest

Mourners gathered together for the funeral of 20-year-old Daunte Wright yesterday, a black man who was shot dead by police during a traffic stop two weeks ago. The officer behind the shooting, in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Centre, claimed she mistakenly shot her handgun instead of her stun gun, and has since been charged with manslaughter.

The shooting sparked days of protests, with tensions heightened as the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd took place nearby. Floyd’s relatives were among the mourners at Wright’s funeral.

‘My son should be burying me’ – Wright’s mother, Katie, said at the funeral, as she wept. The veteran civil rights leader the Rev Al Sharpton gave a eulogy, as he had at Floyd’s funeral last year. Ben Crump, the lawyer for the families of Wright and Floyd, led the mourners in a chant of “Daunte Wright’s life mattered”.
Renowned jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold performed at the service. His son was falsely accused by a white woman of stealing her phone in a New York hotel in a high-profile case earlier this year.

In North Carolina, another family mourned the loss of their son to a police shooting. Andrew Brown Jr was shot dead on Wednesday by a deputy sheriff trying to serve a search warrant, in an incident that prompted protests across Elizabeth City. Brown was remembered as “a comedian” with a “great heart” who wanted a better life for his children than the one he experienced.

In other news …

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A medical volunteer of the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) organization takes a blood sample from a patient to be tested for malaria at his home in Barcelona, Anzoategui State, Venezuela. Photograph: Pedro Rances Mattey/AFP/Getty Images

A new malaria vaccine has been highly effective in trials in Africa, offering new hope for tackling a disease that kills 400,000 mostly young children each year. The Oxford University vaccine showed up to 77% efficacy in a 12-month trial of 450 children in Burkina Faso.
The bones of Black children who died in a 1985 bombing are being used as a “case study” by an Ivy League professor in an online forensic anthropology course. The remains are those of one or two children who were killed in the aerial bombing of the Move organization in May 1985, during a conflict between police and the Black liberation group.
Hospitals in Delhi warned they have just a few hours of oxygen supply left, as they issued an SOS alert for help on Friday morning. Hospital staff posted emergency messages on social media warning they could not cope with the demand from coronavirus patients and pleading for assistance.
Biden’s pick for a supreme court reform panel is a conservative defender of Brett Kavanaugh, who suggested Kavanaugh’s accuser, Dr Christine Blasey Ford, could be found guilty of perjury. Progressives have expressed frustration over Adam White’s inclusion on the commission.

Stat of the day: one dose of Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines could reduce the infection rate by 65%

Some good news this morning: One shot of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine reduces infections by nearly two-thirds, a study has found. A second shot of Pfizer caused symptomatic infections to drop by 90%.

Don’t miss this: are police making massage parlour workers more unsafe?

Experts have warned that the fear of being arrested prevents massage parlour workers from going to police when they are victims of crime, making them more vulnerable to violence. Amid a rise in sting operations by police, Marie Solis explores what needs to be done to increase their safety.

Last Thing: a gender reveal party blast was so extreme it rattled neighbours’ homes

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In 2017, a gender reveal party in the Santa Rita mountain foothills sparked a 47,000-acre wildfire. Photograph: AP

So dramatic was the gender reveal blast of a family in New Hampshire that it led people to report an earthquake, and could be heard across the state line, according to police. The family had set off 80 pounds of Tannerite, an explosive which is normally sold as a target for firearms practise. In case you’re wondering; police said that they had seen a video of the reveal and could confirm that the child was a boy.

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Source: Thanks msn.com