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U.S. lawmakers unveil bill to make Puerto Rico 51st state, as Trump escalates feud with island officials

U.S. lawmakers unveil bill to make Puerto Rico 51st state, as Trump escalates feud with island officials

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The Washington Post reports: House lawmakers will unveil legislation Thursday to make Puerto Rico the 51st state in the nation, pushing to give the island equal voting and economic rights in the U.S. government amid an escalating feud between President Trump and Puerto Rico officials over hurricane relief aid. The legislation, set to be introduced by Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) with the support of Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, comes as several Democratic presidential candidates have embraced calls to grant…

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The plague killing frogs everywhere is far worse than scientists thought

The plague killing frogs everywhere is far worse than scientists thought

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Carl Zimmer reports: On Thursday, 41 scientists published the first worldwide analysis of a fungal outbreak that’s been wiping out frogs for decades. The devastation turns out to be far worse than anyone had previously realized. Writing in the journal Science, the researchers conclude that populations of more than 500 species of amphibians have declined significantly because of the outbreak — including at least 90 species presumed to have gone extinct. The figure is more than twice as large as…

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Good Samaritans aren’t the exception

Good Samaritans aren’t the exception

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Melanie McGrath writes: A few years ago, I was assaulted on a busy street in London by a man who came up behind me. Some details of the assault are hazy, others pin-sharp. I recall exactly what my attacker did, and that the assault was witnessed by rush-hour drivers sitting at a red light. If there were pedestrians nearby, I do not remember them, though the situation suggests that there were people at hand. I do remember that no one…

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EU cannot betray ‘increasing majority’ who want UK to remain, says Tusk

EU cannot betray ‘increasing majority’ who want UK to remain, says Tusk

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The Guardian reports: Donald Tusk has issued a rallying call to the “increasing majority” of British people who want to cancel Brexit and stay in the European Union. In a stirring intervention, the European council president hailed those who marched on the streets of London and the millions who are petitioning the government to revoke article 50. Speaking to the European parliament, Tusk reprimanded those who voiced concerns about a potential lengthy extension to article 50 in the event of…

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks to the concerns of ordinary Americans

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks to the concerns of ordinary Americans

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Chris Cillizza writes: On the day that the Senate rejected — by a vote of 0-57 — the broad strokes of the so-called “Green New Deal,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D), one of the leading voices for the legislation, went off on those who mock the effort as nothing more than an elitist fantasy. It began when Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy (R) introduced an amendment in a meeting of the Financial Services Committee that would force a homelessness bill…

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Republicans may come to regret their mockery of the Green New Deal

Republicans may come to regret their mockery of the Green New Deal

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Sean McElwee writes: Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, brought the Green New Deal to a vote in the Senate on Tuesday. He defeated consideration of the plan 57-0, winning over three Democratic senators and one independent who caucuses with the Democrats. The rest of the Democratic caucus voted “present,” in an attempt to confound Mr. McConnell’s strategy, which was to tie down the Democratic Party to an ambitious proposal from its progressive wing. In his mind, this would clearly…

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The Republican party is the political arm of the fossil fuel industry

The Republican party is the political arm of the fossil fuel industry

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Kate Aronoff writes: For Republicans, the climate crisis is a joke. On Tuesday in the Senate, Mike Lee, a Republican senator for Utah, spent several minutes on the floor showing pictures of Luke Skywalker on Hoth, giant seahorses and Ronald Reagan shooting off a machine gun whilst mounted atop a dinosaur. This was his bid to “treat the Green New Deal”, which came up for a vote in that body on Tuesday, “with the seriousness it deserves”. For a growing…

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Mueller grand jury ‘continuing robustly,’ prosecutor says

Mueller grand jury ‘continuing robustly,’ prosecutor says

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Politico reports: The special counsel grand jury that investigated Russian collusion into the 2016 presidential election is “continuing robustly” despite the end of Robert Mueller’s probe, a federal prosecutor said in court Wednesday. The revelation — while laced with uncertainty — indicates that the ongoing cases Mueller handed off after concluding his probe could still feature significant developments, legal experts said. David Goodhand, an assistant U.S. attorney, acknowledged the grand jury’s active status during a hearing in federal district court…

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Dynasties still run the world

Dynasties still run the world

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Worldwide, 1 in 10 presidents and prime ministers has relatives who were already in politics. Europe and Latin America, both democratic regions, have the highest proportion of leaders who come from political families. Shutterstock By Farida Jalalzai, Oklahoma State University and Meg Rincker, Purdue University Northwest Want to get into politics? It helps if you come from the right family. Our new study, published in the journal Historical Social Research in December 2018, shows that, on average, one in 10…

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No one who matters has read the Mueller report yet

No one who matters has read the Mueller report yet

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Quinta Jurecic writes: Attorney General Bill Barr’s summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s final report—released on Sunday to Congress and the public at a slim four pages—was greeted as putting to rest the questions that have swirled around President Donald Trump’s campaign and its relationship to Russia. But reports of the end of this chapter of Trump’s presidency have been greatly exaggerated. The only document that has so far become public is Barr’s highly truncated summary of Mueller’s report—which is…

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The counterintelligence portion of Mueller’s report that Barr neglected to mention

The counterintelligence portion of Mueller’s report that Barr neglected to mention

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Natasha Bertrand writes: On Sunday afternoon, Attorney General Bill Barr presented a summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s conclusions that contained a few sentences from Mueller’s final report, one of which directly addressed the question of collusion between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia: “The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” In a footnote, Barr explained that Mueller had defined “coordination” as an “agreement—tacit or…

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Federal Reserve official: Climate change is an ‘international market failure’

Federal Reserve official: Climate change is an ‘international market failure’

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Eric Holthaus writes: Climate change was already worrying enough — now a report from the U.S. central bank cautions that rising temperatures and extreme storms could eventually trigger a financial collapse. A Federal Reserve researcher warned in a report on Monday that “climate-based risk could threaten the stability of the financial system as a whole.” But possible fixes — using the Fed’s buying power to green the economy — are currently against the law. Glenn Rudebusch, the San Francisco Fed’s…

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Interior nominee intervened to block report on endangered species

Interior nominee intervened to block report on endangered species

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The New York Times reports: After years of effort, scientists at the Fish and Wildlife Service had a moment of celebration as they wrapped up a comprehensive analysis of the threat that three widely used pesticides present to hundreds of endangered species, like the kit fox and the seaside sparrow. “Woohoo!” Patrice Ashfield, then a branch chief at Fish and Wildlife Service headquarters, wrote to her colleagues in August 2017. Their analysis found that two of the pesticides, malathion and…

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Senate’s phony vote on a Green New Deal

Senate’s phony vote on a Green New Deal

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Inside Climate News reports: Before U.S. lawmakers have even come up with the details of the Green New Deal, they’re facing a vote on it Tuesday in the Senate. It’s a procedural vote—a preemptive roll call engineered by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky in an attempt to embarrass the Democrats and tamp down talk of climate policy. Democrats, in turn, will try to use the occasion to highlight the GOP’s inaction on climate change. That sets the stage…

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