1gridNATION
Wildfire smoke kills tens of thousands of people a year. Here’s how it attacks the body
Smoke from wildfires — which are burning more of the Northern Hemisphere as Earth warms — attacks nearly every system in the human body, killing tens of thousands of people a year, numerous medical studies show. It attacks the body immediately, spiking asthma cases with increased ambulance runs within hours, swamps emergency rooms in a […]
Threat of dangerous flooding continues in Texas while hard-hit areas launch cleanup efforts
UVALDE, Texas | Some parts of Texas remained under threat for dangerous flash flooding Friday as other areas saw water levels recede enough for cleanup efforts following days of punishing downpours blamed for the deaths of two people. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency in the early morning for the city of […]
DHS finds itself back in the headlines after 3 fatal ICE encounters, in a test for Secretary Mullin
WASHINGTON | When Markwayne Mullin took over as Homeland Security secretary from fired Kristi Noem, he pledged to get the department responsible for carrying out the Trump administration’s mass deportations policy out of the headlines. But just months into Mullin’s time in office, the department is squarely in the center of controversy again after three […]
3 islands help control access to the Strait of Hormuz. They’re in the crosshairs of the Iran war
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates | The expanding U.S. military campaign against Iran has put three small islands that sit at the confluence of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz in the crosshairs once again. The islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb — which were seized in 1971 by Iran from […]
America already tried permanent daylight saving time. It lasted less than a year. Could it work now?
NEW YORK | It’s an idea whose time, as it were, may have come — again. The twice-yearly changing of the clocks in the United States could be a thing of the past if legislation currently in Congress that calls for permanent daylight time makes it through. But even as annoying as some find the […]
Trump administration races the clock to rebuild US tariff wall knocked down by Supreme Court
WASHINGTON | The U.S. Treasury last year swelled with revenue from President Donald Trump’s double-digit taxes on imports from almost every country on earth. But the money dried up after the Supreme Court struck down the biggest and boldest of Trump’s tariffs in February. The question now is: Can the president’s trade team make good […]
Ukrainians protest Zelenskyy’s ouster of his popular defense minister
KYIV, Ukraine | President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shook up his wartime government, drawing hundreds of Ukrainians into the streets Thursday to protest the ouster of his youthful defense minister — seen as an innovator of the country’s successful drone technology but who clashed with the traditional military establishment. The personnel overhaul, which included replacing his prime […]
Italian court convicts 30 including former highway operator CEO in deadly 2018 bridge collapse
GENOA, Italy | An Italian court on Thursday convicted the former CEO of Italy’s main highway operator and 29 others in the 2018 Genoa highway bridge collapse that sent vehicles plunging and killed 43 people, a disaster that exposed serious lapses in the maintenance of Italian infrastructure. Dozens of family members of the victims packed […]
After 6 years, Trump brings his election obsession to primetime at the White House
In the weeks after Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden in 2020, the people Trump appointed to run the Department of Justice, cybersecurity agencies and intelligence departments all said the same thing — the election was fair, legitimate and free of major fraud or foreign interference. In his second term, Trump, a Republican, has tried […]
How to protect yourself from the bad air caused by wildfires
When wildfires burn, smoke can travel long distances and degrade air quality far away, posing risks to those breathing it. Fires burning in one state can make the air worse several states away, and wildfires in Canada can send smoke into U.S. cities. Here’s what to know about taking precautions against poor air quality due […]