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DNA sucked into air filters can reveal what plants and animals are nearby

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:17 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — DNA is all around us — even in the air we breathe. Now scientists have found that air quality monitoring stations — which pull in air to test for pollution — also pick up lots of DNA that can reveal what plants and animals have been in the area.The method could help solve the tricky challenge of keeping tabs on biodiversity, according to a study published Monday in the journal Current Biology.The findings suggest that biodiversity data has been collected “on massive scales literally for decades — and nobody’s noticed,” said study author Elizabeth Clare, a biologist at Canada’s York University.As animals and plants go through their life cycles, they leave little bits of themselves in the environment — scales, fur, feathers, pollen — which carry their genetic signature.Scientists have long known that this kind of environmental DNA floats around in water, and have used it to track what species are swimming in lakes and rivers. But it’s been harder to get a genetic...

Former Vice President Pence files paperwork launching 2024 presidential bid in challenge to Trump

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:17 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence filed paperwork on Monday declaring his campaign for president in 2024, setting up a challenge to his former boss, Donald Trump, just two years after their time in the White House ended with an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and Pence fleeing for his life.Pence, the nation’s 48th vice president, will formally launch his bid for the Republican nomination with a video and kickoff event in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday, which is his 64th birthday, according to people familiar with his plans. He made his candidacy official Monday with the Federal Election Commission.While Trump is currently leading the early fight for the nomination, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis polling consistently in second, Pence supporters see a lane for a reliable conservative who espouses many of the previous administration’s policies but without the constant tumult.While he frequently lauds the accomplishments of the “Trump-Pence administration,” a Pence...

Czechs ban booze from government planes after alleged harassment scandal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:17 GMT

Gone are the days of three-course meals and bottomless Chardonnay aboard government aircraft for Czech ministerial delegations.Czech Defense Minister Jana Černochová banned alcohol consumption on government planes following an alleged sexual harassment scandal during a trip to South Korea in April. The incident that preceded the booze ban allegedly involved a military doctor who was a member of a transport ministry delegation, who allegedly inappropriately touched a woman who was administering a COVID-19 test aboard a government jet in South Korea.Transport Minister Martin Kupka had said the doctor was “not in the best condition,” hinting he may have been drunk. The man, who denies the accusations, has been in South Korea since the alleged incident.Czech politicians often use private military planes for official government business. The standard ministerial onboard refreshments — a hot meal, salad, dessert, snacks, beer and wine — were previously funded by the defense ministr...

Tory MP Bob Stewart charged with ‘racially aggravated’ offense

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:17 GMT

LONDON — A senior Conservative MP has been charged with public order offenses after a clash with a protestor.Bob Stewart, the Tory MP for Beckenham, was served Monday with two postal charges by the Metropolitan Police.The force opened a case last December following a complaint from human rights activist Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei over an incident in Belgravia, London. Stewart was filmed allegedly telling the man to “go back to Bahrain.”In a statement Monday, the Met said the first of the two charges alleges the use of “threatening or abusive words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour and the offence was racially aggravated.” The second, alternative charge relates to alleged “threatening or abusive words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.”The Met said that both charges relate to the same incident on December 14, 2022 and that the second “is an alternative charge to allow the court discretion on the racial element.”Ste...

EU court finds Poland guilty in rule-of-law dispute

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:17 GMT

BRUSSELS — Sweeping changes to Poland’s judicial system by its nationalist government breach EU law by endangering the independence of judges, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled Monday.The court sided with the European Commission, which claimed that a December 2019 reform that prevented judges from questioning the legality of the appointment of other judges violated EU law. The status of judges is a growing issue in Poland as the government has radically changed the way they are appointed. The reform also allowed the (now liquidated) Disciplinary Chamber of the Polish Supreme Court to penalize judges for their verdicts.“The mere prospect, for judges called upon to apply EU law, of running the risk that such a body may rule on matters relating to their status and the performance of their duties … is liable to affect their independence,” the CJEU said in its ruling.Under EU law, member countries are required to make sure that “any reg...

Former Vice President Pence filing paperwork launching 2024 presidential bid in challenge to Trump

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:17 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence is filing paperwork on Monday declaring his campaign for president in 2024, setting up a challenge to his former boss, Donald Trump, just two years after their time in the White House ended with an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and Pence fleeing for his life.Pence, the nation’s 48th vice president, will formally launch his bid for the Republican nomination with a video and kickoff event in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday, which is his 64th birthday, according to people familiar with his plans. He was set to file papers making his candidacy official with the Federal Election Commission.While Trump is currently leading the early fight for the nomination, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis polling consistently in second, Pence supporters see a lane for a reliable conservative who espouses many of the previous administration’s policies but without the constant tumult.While he frequently lauds the accomplishmen...

Instagram lifts ban on anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after launch of presidential bid

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:17 GMT

New York (CNN) — Instagram announced Sunday it had lifted its ban on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine activist who has launched a presidential bid, two years after it shut down Kennedy’s account for breaking its rules related to Covid-19.“As he is now an active candidate for president of the United States, we have restored access to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s, Instagram account,” Andy Stone, a spokesperson for Instagram’s parent company Meta said in a statement.Kennedy, who has a long history of spreading vaccine misinformation, was banned from Instagram in February 2021.A company spokesperson at the time said Instagram had removed his account for “repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines.”While Kennedy’s Instagram account was banned, his Facebook account remained active. Both platforms are owned by Meta.Kennedy was a leading anti-vaccination voice during the Covid-19 pandemic, using his social media platforms to sow doubt and misinformation abo...

Davenport, Iowa, officials: 3 bodies recovered at apartment collapse site; no others thought missing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:17 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The bodies of three men have been removed from the site of a collapsed six-story apartment building, the police chief in Davenport, Iowa, announced Monday.“We don’t have any other information at this time that there are any additional people missing,” Chief Jeff Bladel said.Branden Colvin Sr.’s body was recovered Saturday. The body of Ryan Hitchcock was recovered Sunday and Daniel Prien early Monday. The discoveries came after authorities announced that the search for survivors had been completed, with attention turning to shoring up the remaining structure so recovery efforts could begin.City officials had said earlier that Colvin, 42; Hitchcock, 51; and Prien, 60; had “high probability of being home at the time of the collapse.” Searching for them has proven to be extremely dangerous. The remains of the six-story apartment building were constantly in motion in the first 24 to 36 hours after it collapsed on May 28, putting rescuers...

Former Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith sells Wilmette home for $1.3M

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:17 GMT

Former Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith and his son, Matt, in April sold a four-bedroom, 2,906-square-foot house in Wilmette for $1.27 million.The house was not the residence of Lovie Smith, who until earlier this year was the head coach of the Houston Texans. However, he and his son paid $820,000 for the house in late 2020.They placed the house on the market in February for $1.25 million and sold it in April for an amount that was above its asking price. Built in 1957, the house has 3-1/2 bathrooms, three fireplaces, hardwood floors on the first floor, wool carpets upstairs, a recently renovated kitchen with an island, an en-suite primary bedroom with a large walk-in closet and a basement with a rec room and an area that has been dug out.Listing agent Kelly Maggio declined to comment on the sale. However, Smith and his son previously owned another house on the exact same street, which they had bought in 2010 for $455,000 and sold in 2013 for $630,000.The primary residence for S...

Lawyer accused in series of alleged cold case rape and assaults, held on $5M bail

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:17 GMT

A Suffolk Superior Court judge on Monday ordered Matthew Nilo, accused in a series of alleged rapes and assaults dating back to 2007 and 2008, held on $5 million bail during an arraignment Monday.Nilo pleaded not guilty to the charges this morning. He can be released if he posts $500,000 cash.Nilo is charged with three counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, one count of assault — attempted rape and one count of indecent assault and battery. The charges stem from alleged incidents in the Terminal Street area of Charlestown on Aug. 18, 2007; Nov. 22, 2007; Aug. 5, 2008; and Dec. 23, 2008, according to information provided by BPD Commissioner Michael Cox last week.An attorney now practicing in New Jersey, Nilo, 35, was arrested last Tuesday at his home in Weehawken, N.J., and agreed to waive extradition during a court appearance there last week.The charges against Nilo were filed after Boston Police, working with the FBI, turned to genetic analysis of evidence that ...