Know about US Endangered Species Act, April Freeman, Hurricane Florence's aftermath


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 25-09-2018 05:44 IST | Created: 25-09-2018 05:24 IST
Know about US Endangered Species Act, April Freeman, Hurricane Florence's aftermath

Cosby victim asks only for 'justice' at the sentencing hearing

The woman whose complaint led to Bill Cosby's conviction for sexual assault called for justice in brief testimony on the first day of the comedian's two-day sentencing hearing on Monday, where prosecutors asked for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Cosby was convicted in April of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former administrator at his alma mater Temple University, in his Philadelphia-area home in 2004 and faces a possible prison sentence on Tuesday. More than 50 other women also have accused him of sexual abuse going back decades.

Scientists voice opposition to the weakening of U.S. Endangered Species Act

Thousands of scientists joined on Monday to accuse the Trump administration of trying to erode the Endangered Species Act in favor of commercial interests with a plan to revamp regulations that have formed a bedrock of U.S. wildlife protection for over 40 years. The extraordinary critique of the administration's proposal, which was unveiled in July, came in an open letter addressed to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross from three associations representing 9,000 professional biologists.

Florida Democratic congressional candidate dies at 54

A Florida Democrat running for the U.S. House of Representatives in a heavily Republican district has died a little more than six weeks before the November elections, the state's Democratic Party said on Monday. April Freeman, 54, who worked as a writer and producer in the film industry, died of an apparent heart attack, local media quoted her husband as saying.

Dallas police dismiss officer who fatally shot the man in his home

The Dallas Police Department on Monday fired a police officer who is facing a manslaughter charge after fatally shooting a man in his apartment that the officer said she mistook for her own home. Officer Amber Guyger had been dismissed after nearly five years on the job for her actions on the night of the shooting earlier in September, Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall said in a statement. Hall also said Guyger had engaged in "adverse conduct" when she was arrested for manslaughter, without elaborating.

The man who threatened Boston Globe also called NY Times, NFL: prosecutor

U.S. investigators are probing whether a man accused of threatening to kill journalists at the Boston Globe after calling them "the enemy of the people" made similar threats to the New York Times and National Football League, a prosecutor said on Monday. Robert Chain, 68, pleaded not guilty in Boston federal court to charges that he threatened Globe employees in August after the paper coordinated an editorial response by more than 350 newspapers to President Donald Trump's attacks on the media.

Trump Supreme Court nominee rejects 'false accusations'

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh said on Monday he would not step aside after a second woman accused him of sexual misconduct decades ago, with President Donald Trump and fellow Republicans showing no signs of relenting in their push for his Senate confirmation. "The truth is I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone, in high school or otherwise," Kavanaugh said in an interview on Fox News Channel’s "The Story with Martha MacCallum," to air on Monday evening.

The danger remains even as flood waters recede in Hurricane Florence's aftermath

Nearly all rivers and waterways in North and South Carolina will crest Sunday, but most will remain at dangerous flood levels for days to come, the U.S. National Weather Service warned, more than a week after the arrival of Hurricane Florence, which has killed at least 40 people. Swaths of rivers near the Atlantic coast will not crest for days to come, such as the lower Cape Fear River near Wilmington, N.C., one of the hardest hit communities, said Bob Oravec, a meteorologist with the NWS's Weather Prediction Center in College Park Maryland.

High-nicotine e-cigarettes flood market despite FDA rule

The sleek Juul electronic cigarettes have become a phenomenon at U.S. high schools, vexing educators and drawing regulatory scrutiny over their sweet flavors and high nicotine content. Now, a new wave of lower-priced Juul knock-offs is showing up at convenience stores, vape shops and online - despite a U.S. Food and Drug Administration rule banning the sale of new e-cigarette products after August 2016 without regulatory approval.

The night a Chinese billionaire was accused of rape in Minnesota

With the Chinese billionaire Richard Liu at her Minneapolis area apartment, a 21-year-old University of Minnesota student sent a WeChat message to a friend in the middle of the night. She wrote that Liu had forced her to have sex with him. “I was not willing,” she wrote in Chinese on the messaging application around 2 a.m. on August 31. “Tomorrow I will think of a way to escape,” she wrote, as she begged the friend not to call the police.

U.S. judge orders federal protection restored to Yellowstone grizzlies

A federal judge on Monday ordered Endangered Species Act protections restored to grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park, halting plans for the first licensed trophy hunts of the region's Grizzlies in more than 40 years. U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen in Missoula, Montana, sided with environmentalists and Native American groups by overruling the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to strip the Grizzlies of their status as a threatened species, the court order said.

(With inputs from Reuters)

Give Feedback