Scientists who recently travelled to Heard Island in the Southern Ocean fear a deadly strain of bird flu, H5N1, may be infecting wildlife after observing unusually high mortality among elephant seals on the volcanic island.
Samples taken from the seals have been carefully packaged aboard the RSV Nuyina and will be tested on the ship's return to the mainland. Is the strain of bird flu in Australia?
Australia is the only continent free of H5N1 but has been on high alert for its potential arrival, particularly given the devastating effects the disease has had on both wildlife and domestic animals in other countries.
Iceland has seen a spike in insect life over the past four decades or so, said Gisli Mar Gislason, a professor emeritus at the University of Iceland who studied aquatic insects and is writing a book on Icelandic insect identification with Mr. Alfredsson, Mr. Hjaltason and another entomologist.
Recently, that growth has coincided with the skyrocketing number of international travelers visiting the geographically isolated nation. The torrent of planes, cruise ships and cargo boats gives insects more chances to hitch a ride, Dr. Gislason said.
At the same time, climate change has transformed the country. One Icelandic glacier, Okjokull, has completely melted away while some native plants are at risk of extinction as temperatures rise and invasive species arrive.
In the seven years since a Supreme Court decision cleared the way for legalized sports betting, the major U.S. sports leagues have shed any hesitations they had about gambling. They are now profiting — to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars a year — from partnerships with sports betting companies. [emphasis added]
Team owners have made the calculation that the financial upside is worth “the potential expected likely loss if some form of scandal were to come up,” said Marc Edelman, a law professor and director of sports ethics at Baruch College in New York. “But who’s to say whether or not that’s a rational conclusion?”
Former youth pastor Lindsey Whiteside is back in custody following a federal indictment. Whiteside was indicted late last year on felony sexual battery of a minor.
Following the guilty plea, a judge sentenced Whiteside to three years of house arrest and seven years of probation.
Whiteside’s latest federal indictment is for transporting a minor across state lines for sexual purposes.
“I want to emphasize that crimes against children will not be tolerated in Desoto County. We are committed to pursuing justice and protecting the most vulnerable members of our community, the children,” said Desoto County Sheriff Thomas E. Tuggle, II during a press conference Thursday.
“The Cattle Ranchers, who I love, don’t understand that the only reason they are doing so well, for the first time in decades, is because I put Tariffs on cattle coming into the United States, including a 50% Tariff on Brazil. If it weren’t for me, they would be doing just as they’ve done for the past 20 years — Terrible!” the president wrote.
Asked about his social media post Thursday, Oct. 23, Grassley said in a call with reporters that “the president would be better off if he’d keep his mouth shut on that issue and not tweet about it."
“America is the best at providing clean, healthy animals here,” he said . “We have better protocols, better systems – everything.”
Neiman voiced disapproval of Trump’s expressed favor toward increasing Argentinian imports. That and other market manipulations, he said, are only de-incentivizing Americans from raising beef, and eroding the market altogether to a point of concerning reliance on other countries for food security. [emphasis added]
Because of Trump’s Argentina comments, “We’re moving our sale date up to capitalize on some of these really good prices for our product, and we’ve got expenses,” he said. “We’re fighting inflation, equipment costs, fuel costs, all these different things.”
The price of beef may plummet with an influx of imported beef, said Neiman, yet, “I don’t see the price of tractors going down.”
On Tuesday, Musk called Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy a “dangerously stupid dummy” after the Trump official said he would reopen the NASA contract for its Artemis III lunar mission. In 2021, NASA awarded Musk’s SpaceX a $2.9 billion contract to ferry astronauts to the lunar surface by 2027. But given the numerous setbacks to SpaceX’s Starship rocket, the initial Artemis III deadline appears implausible.
For that reason, Duffy, who is moonlighting as the acting administrator of NASA [key word: "acting", said he would “open up the contracts” for the mission. “We’re not going to wait for one company. We’re going to push this forward and win the second space race against the Chinese,” he told CNBC, adding that SpaceX was behind schedule
John Wayne Airport in Orange County, has refused to air a video from U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, which blames Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown. The airport joins several others across the country in declining to show the video, citing a commitment to neutrality in political matters. AnnaSophia Servin, a spokesperson for the airport, stated that the facility aims to provide a safe and welcoming environment for all travelers and remains neutral on political issues.
The video, which features Noem discussing the impact of the shutdown on Transportation Security Administration (TSA) operations, claims that Democrats in Congress are responsible for the funding lapse, affecting TSA employees and operations. Noem emphasized that ensuring a pleasant and efficient travel experience remains TSA's top priority, despite the challenges posed by the shutdown.
Melania's silence, Brown says, "highlights her approach to much of her husband’s second term — and how little she likely cares about the ways her husband’s unnecessary vanity project will affect her potential successors."
The East Wing became the traditional home for the offices of the first lady and her staff, starting with Eleanor Roosevelt. An office formally dedicated to the first lady was established during the Rosalynn Carter administration. [emphasis added]
Former staffers to Melania's predecessors told East Wing Magazine that seeing their former offices demolished was “’jarring,’ ‘a gut punch’ and ‘revolting,'" Brown writes.
