Fringe scheme to reverse 2020 election splits Wisconsin GOP
First, Wisconsin Republicans ordered an audit of the 2020 election. Then they passed a raft of new restrictions on voting. And in June, they authorized the nation’s only special-counsel investigation into 2020. Now, more than 15 months after former President Donald Trump lost the state by 20,682 votes, a segment of the Republican Party is getting behind a new scheme: decertifying the results of the 2020 presidential election in hopes of reinstalling Trump. The situation in Wisconsin may be the most striking example of the struggle by Republican leaders to hold together their party when many of its most animated voters simply will not accept the reality of Trump’s loss.
One of the infrastructure plan’s biggest winners is the pavement you drive on
Within the $1 trillion of spending authorized by the infrastructure legislation that President Joe Biden signed in November, the asphalt industry may ultimately receive the biggest share. And while roads were always likely to be a key focus of the legislation, the lobbying effort provided the industry a chance to promote what it cast as its environmental consciousness, making funding it more palatable to lawmakers who were concerned about road building fueling climate change. The infrastructure package allocates at least $350 billion over five years to highways and bridges.
After mounting a comeback, eagles face a new threat
The bald eagle, whose resurgence is considered one of the great conservation success stories of the 21st century, is facing a serious threat: lead poisoning. Researchers who tested the feathers, bones, livers and blood of 1,200 bald eagles and golden eagles, another bird of prey in the Northern Hemisphere, found that nearly half of them had been exposed repeatedly to lead, which can lead to death and slow population growth. Many hunters, concerned about effects not only on wildlife but also on game meat consumed by humans, have been moving away from lead ammunition and have begun using copper bullets.
Conflict and climate change ravage Syria’s agricultural heartland
In Syria’s agricultural heartland — a region ravaged by the Islamic State group and armed conflict — prolonged drought and drying rivers have made stability more precarious. In Hasaka, the normally abstract idea of climate change can be seen in the city’s daily bread. The prolonged drought in the region has been linked to climate change worldwide. But in northeast Syria, its effects have been compounded by more than a decade of war, a devastated economy, damaged infrastructure and increasing poverty, leaving a vulnerable society even more at risk of destabilization. Across Syria, the U.N.’s World Food Program reported last summer that almost half of the population did not have enough food.
Ottawa protesters cleared from parliament encampment
The center of a sprawling protest in Ottawa, the Canadian capital, was cleared of demonstrators for the first time in three weeks Saturday, following an aggressive push by armed police officers to drive out the protesters. Starting at about 10 a.m., police advanced on trucks that had been parked on Wellington Street, the thoroughfare in front of the Parliament building, drawing guns on some vehicles and arresting protesters inside and nearby the trucks. The operation was an escalation by authorities to finally end the protests, which began with a convoy of truckers rallying against vaccine mandates and later inspired demonstrations around the world.
Storm Eunice unleashes fierce winds in Northern Europe, killing at least 8
Tens of thousands of homes were without power Saturday, a day after a severe storm pummeled parts of Britain and northern Europe, killing at least eight people, damaging buildings and causing major travel disruptions across the region. The storm, named Eunice by Britain’s weather service, led British authorities to issue a rare weather safety warning for London. Rain and more winds were expected over the weekend, hindering recovery efforts. Britain’s weather service, the Met Office, said a wind gust of 122 mph was recorded Friday on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England.
By wire sources
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