Month: February 2021
More than 160 Confederate symbols came down in 2020, SPLC says
More than 160 Confederate symbols came down last year after the killing of George Floyd prompted a nationwide reckoning with racism. That count comes from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which released new figures Tuesday as part of an update to a report that tracks public symbols associated with the Confederacy across the nation. The
Continue ReadingInternet sleuths have cracked the code hidden in NASA’s Perseverance parachute
Click here for updates on this story TORONTO, Ontario (CTV News) — Last week, the NASA’s new Mars rover, Perseverance, sailed down safely to the planet, a white and red parachute billowing out above the spacecraft carrying it. But the parachute didn’t just help protect Perseverance — it also contained a hidden message. The internet
Continue ReadingCanadian travellers shouldn’t be denied boarding without quarantine hotel booking, gov’t says
Click here for updates on this story SASKATOON, Saskatchewan (CTV News) — A group of Canadians in Zimbabwe were denied a flight back to Canada, after they spent hours unsuccessfully trying to book a government-authorized hotel stay, an incident Transport Canada now says shouldn’t have happened. “We begged an [airline] desk agent to assist us,”
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Biden administration will begin to admit migrants held in tent camp near the US-Mexico border
A tent camp in Matamoros, Mexico, where hundreds of migrants stayed in deplorable conditions after being subject to a Trump-era policy requiring they stay in Mexico until their immigration court date in the US, is being drawn down, the Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday. Over recent years, migrants have set up camp in Matamoros
Continue ReadingThe hot new thing in tech: speaking into your phone
Before last year, 28-year-old Meredith Giuliani thought voice notes were “kind of weird,” and she mostly stuck to texting. But after the pandemic hit, audio messages became a daily routine for her and many of her friends. “This is my way to debrief and tell everybody what’s going on,” she told CNN Business. “It’s not
Continue ReadingSri Lanka Easter bombings investigation calls for former President to be prosecuted
An investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka has called for the country’s former President as well as senior police and intelligence officials to be prosecuted. The commission of inquiry said Wednesday that “criminal proceedings” should be brought against former President Maithripala Sirisena, who left office in November 2019, for “criminal liability
Continue ReadingAll-male boardrooms are a thing of the past at Britain’s top companies
Women now occupy at least one seat on the board of every major British company after a 50% increase in participation rates over five years, according to a report published on Wednesday. While men still dominate the upper ranks of top UK firms, the Hampton Alexander Review found that women now occupy 1,026 board seats
Continue ReadingIn world first, Germany convicts Syrian regime officer of crimes against humanity
A German court has convicted a former Syrian regime officer for crimes against humanity, in a first-ever trial of people linked to the government in Damascus. Former intelligence officer Eyad al-Gharib, 44, was sentenced to four-and-a-half-years in prison by a court in the German city of Koblenz for aiding crimes against humanity. Gharib was convicted
Continue ReadingInvestors are betting on a Macy’s revival. Should they be?
Retailers have been battered by the pandemic, which triggered a plunge in foot traffic and caused demand for products like work clothing to all but evaporate. But stock in Macy’s is now trading close to where it was before Covid-19 rattled markets, while Kohl’s has recovered all its losses. That raises the question: Are these
Continue ReadingIn the days leading up to his crash, Tiger Woods had been teaching golf to movie and sports stars
In the days leading up to the crash that authorities say he was lucky to survive, golf legend Tiger Woods was in his element, hosting a PGA tour event and giving golf lessons to sports stars and actors for a TV special. It was around 7 a.m. PT on Tuesday in Rancho Palos Verdes, near
Continue Reading Federal judge extends block on Biden deportation pause
A federal judge in Texas ruled late Tuesday that a block on the Biden administration’s deportation pause will remain in effect after having previously halted the moratorium on a temporary basis. Just days into Joe Biden’s presidency, Judge Drew Tipton of the Southern District of Texas, a Trump appointee, blocked the administration’s 100-day pause on
Continue ReadingHe had to drop out of Morgan State for financial reasons. Now he’s given $20 million to the university
Two years after Calvin Tyler first enrolled at Morgan State College, he had to drop out because he couldn’t afford it. He took a job as a UPS driver, one of the first 10 in Baltimore. Now — almost 40 years later — Tyler has made the largest-ever private donation from an alumnus to the
Continue ReadingHow Texas’s deregulated market for power led to exorbitant electric bills
Katrina Tanner typically pays around $120 a month for her electric bill during the winter. But last week, as a winter storm caused power outages for millions of fellow Texans, her power stayed on — and she saw online that her bill was $6,225. “I felt almost guilty with these people not having electricity that
Continue ReadingTrump stacked his Cabinet with climate skeptics. Now Republicans are piling on Biden’s climate activist nominee
President Joe Biden nominated the most diverse Cabinet in history, but the Senate, which gets to offer “advice and consent,” is suddenly full of members — mostly Republicans — who are critical of partisan tweets and are carefully scrutinizing nominees’ job qualifications. The attention has chiefly fallen on three domestic policy roles: Office of Management
Continue ReadingHow to view the fight over Deb Haaland and fracking
President Joe Biden nominated the most diverse Cabinet in history, but the Senate, which gets to offer “advice and consent,” is suddenly full of members — mostly Republicans — who are critical of partisan tweets and are carefully scrutinizing nominees’ job qualifications. The attention has chiefly fallen on three domestic policy roles: Office of Management
Continue ReadingBlack History Month: Howard Thurman
He was a shy man who didn’t lead marches or give dramatic speeches. But Howard Thurman was a spiritual genius who transformed history. Thurman was a pastor and professor and mystic whose groundbreaking book, “Jesus and the Disinherited,” was a condemnation of a form of Christianity which Thurman said was far too often “on the
Continue ReadingPuppy born with six legs is a ‘miracle,’ vet hospital says
Like other newborn puppies, Skipper likes to eat, drink water and go to the bathroom. But the border collie and Australian shepherd mix is unique from the rest of her litter: She was born with six legs. “This is a miracle named Skipper. Literally,” Neel Veterinary Hospital in Oklahoma wrote on its Facebook page on
Continue ReadingLA Times reporter explains how he led the way on the Tiger Woods story
A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free right here. Richard Winton, the prominent law enforcement reporter for the Los Angeles Times, was sitting in his home office late on Tuesday morning when he saw a tweet fly across his screen. The tweet was from
Continue Reading First on CNN: Biden’s Covid plan gets backing from more than 150 top business leaders
More than 150 senior executives from some of the largest American companies across several major industries have lined up behind President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, according to a letter obtained by CNN. The group of executives includes the top executives representing some of the powerful business interests in the US, ranging from
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