Thousands of residents were told Sunday to be prepared to evacuate the historic Old West town of Las Vegas, New Mexico, as powerful winds and drought-parched forests fuel an explosive wildfire that has already burned 104,000 acres and remained just 30 percent contained. Fire crews used bulldozers in a rush to carve firebreaks to protect the city of 14,000, as well as ranches, rural homes, and the castle-like campus of theUnited World College in the nearby village of Montezuma. TheCalf Canyon fire, which has merged with the Hermit’s Peak fire, is the biggest of about a dozen wildfires active in the Southwest before the normal start of peak fire season in June, as experts warn climate change makes wildfires worse. [Reuters]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that another 100 civilians were evacuated from the Azovstal steel factory in the besieged port city of Mariupol. The civilians had sheltered in tunnels under the plant along with hundreds of other civilians and Ukrainian fighters still defending the city against Russian forces. Zelensky said the freed civilians would be taken to a “controlled area” as the United Nations and other international groups try to get more people out. A couple dozen civilians were evacuated on Saturday. Meanwhile, Russia intensified attacks on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Russian forces were close enough to pound Kharkiv with artillery fire, but Ukrainian fighters battled to retake surrounding villages that had fallen under Russian control. [The New York Times]
European Union energy ministers are meeting Monday to discuss possible new sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. They also will talk about how to respond to Russia’s decision to halt natural-gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland. The E.U. has imposed five rounds of sanctions targeting Russian officials, oligarchs, banks, and other companies. The European Commission plans to include restrictions on Russian oil in its next sanctions, although Hungary, Slovakia, and other Russia-dependent countries are resisting. Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, has said it could handle a loss of oil through an embargo or a shutoff by the Kremlin. But the country gets 12 percent of its oil imports from Russia, and German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said the transition to other sources would be “bumpy.” [The Associated Press]
Body image issues aren’t just a girl problem, writes Amy Joyce in The Washington Post.
“Eating disorders are increasing in boys and men but can present differently,”
says Stuart Murray, who treats and studies eating disorders. Body image aspirations in boys tend to be “muscularity oriented,” leading them to work out obsessively while restricting their diets to lean protein. Concerned parents should look out for intensive caloric restriction and rigid dietary rules, such as your son taking his own food to a party, or canceling plans out of commitment to his body image goals. And talking about body image issues with your son from an early age is important: Ask whether they are concerned about bulking up; focus on the body’s functionality, rather than appearance; and encourage them to question their “appearance ideals,” emphasizing that the images they see on social media are unrealistic. [The Washington Post]
The leaked draft of a Supreme Court ruling suggesting the conservative majority had voted to overturn Roe v. Wade touched off a political firestorm. President Biden said it would be a “radical decision” for the court strike down Roe, the case that legalized abortion and has stood for nearly 50 years. Biden called for Congress to cement abortion protections in law. Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama said the conservative majority’s draft decision would
“relegate the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues.”
Antiabortion activists and Republican politicians celebrated the opinion, written by conservative Justice Samuel Alito. “It’s a victory for the most basic right there is — the right to life,” tweeted former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley. [The Washington Post]
Senate Democrats soon will hold a vote on legislation seeking to codify abortion rights into federal law, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday. The announcement came hours after Politico published a leaked draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court could soon overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established the constitutional right to abortion. Several Senate swing votes, including Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), expressed disappointment with the draft Supreme Court opinion. A vote would likely be symbolic, as Democrats lack the 60 votes they would need to get the bill past a Republican filibuster, and also don’t have enough support to weaken the filibuster. [Reuters, The Hill]
Hawaii lawmakers on Tuesday passed a bill to raise the state minimum wage to $18 an hour by 2028, up from the current rate of $10.10. Proponents say families struggling to pay rising food and housing costs badly need the raise. Some businesses have said they can’t pay that much and would have to cut staff or close. Theminimum wage would be the highest out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, although some states have automatic cost-of-living increases, so inflation could push their rates higher by 2028. The state Senate also has passed the measure, so it goes next to Gov. David Ige (D), who is expected to sign it. [The Associated Press]
Russia bombarded railroad stations and other supply lines across Ukraine on Wednesday, accusing the United States and other Western powers of “stuffing Ukraine with weapons.” Russian missiles, launched by air and sea, also destroyed power facilities. The U.S. said there was no indication the strikes impeded the flow of arms to Ukrainian forces. Russian artillery and aircraft hit areas heavy with Ukrainian troops, weapons, and fuel depots. Ukraine did not immediately release damage reports. The attacks came ahead of Russia’s May 9 Victory Day, marking theSoviet Union‘s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Anticipation of the military celebration stoked fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use the occasion to rally support for expanding his war. [The Associated Press, The New York Times]
California condors are back soaring over theRedwood National Park in Northern California, 130 years after they were last spotted in the area. On Tuesday, four condors bred in captivity were put in a staging area with a remote-controlled gate. After the gate was open, two of the condors took their time peering out before finally making their way through the opening and flying away. The other two will have another chance to take off in the near future, The Associated Press reports. The California condor is a New World vulture and the largest North American bird. Starting in the mid-1800s, their numbers began to dwindle, largely due to the condors being shot for sport, the introduction of pesticides like DDT, and habitat destruction. When the wild population dropped to just 22 in the 1980s, biologists started captive-breeding programs at theLos Angeles and San Diego zoos. These programs are working; today, theLos Angeles Times reports, there are 300 wild California condors in the state. [The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times]
There were 14.9 million more deaths globally in 2020 and 2021 than would have been expected had thecoronaviruspandemic not hit, theWorld Health Organization said Thursday. That toll far exceeds the 5.4 million COVID-19 deaths officially reported during this period. Most of the excess deaths were from COVID, some recorded by health authorities and others not. The new WHO figure also included indirect deaths, people who died because the pandemic hindered care for heart attacks and other ailments.
“It’s absolutely staggering what has happened with this pandemic, including our inability to accurately monitor it,”
said Dr. Prabhat Jha, an epidemiologist at St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto who helped make the calculations.
TheBiden administration said Thursday it plans to buy 60 million barrels of crude oil this fall as a first step toward replenishing the country’s strategic oil reserves, CNN reported. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was already at a 20-year low, largely due to sales mandated by Congress, when President Biden in March promised to release 180 million barrels to help bring down a sharp increase in fuel costs tied to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting disruptions to global supplies. The planned buying spree will mark the first time in two decades that the Energy Department has added a large amount of crude to the reserve, which is used as a buffer for national security and the economy when oil prices spike. [CNN]
Russian forces breached theMariupol steel plant where Ukrainian forces in tunnels are making a last stand to keep the key port city from falling completely under Russian control. United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said nearly 500 civilians were evacuated from the plant and surrounding areas this week, and a U.N. aid convoy is trying to reach Mariupol later Friday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said ongoing Russian shelling of the steel plant was making the situation “hell” for the roughly 200 civilians, including many children, still stuck there. On Thursday, U.S. officials said the United States provided intelligence that last month helped Ukrainian forces sink theMoskva, Russia’s Black Sea flagship. [The Washington Post, The New York Times]
A Ukrainian counteroffensive could drive Russian forces back from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
“The Ukrainian counteroffensive north and east of Kharkiv city secured further gains in the last 24 hours and may successfully push Russian forces out of artillery range of Kharkiv in the coming days,”
the U.S.-based think tank said Friday, adding that the Ukrainian operation
“is developing into a successful, broader counteroffensive — as opposed to the more localized counterattacks that Ukrainian forces have conducted throughout the war.”
Kharkiv, located in northeastern Ukraine, has been under constant threat since the war began. [CNBC, Institute for the Study
A joint effort of several authors who do find that nobody can keep standing at the side and that “Everyone" must care about what is going on in today’s world.
We are a bunch of people who do not mind that somebody has a totally different idea but is willing to share the ideas with others and to be Active and willing to let others understand how "today’s decisions will influence the future”. Therefore we would love to see many others to "Act today".
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2 thoughts on “The Week from 01-07 May 2022 according to The Week”