Environmental review

In 2004, soon after the Indian Ocean tsunami left several thousands dead in a deadly attack a day after Christmas, an officer of the Indian Administrative Service, on relief duty in Tamil Nadu, held forth on the efficacy of the immediate response. “Remember,” he said confidently, “there is a robust first line response in Tamil Nadu; it is built into the system. It will kick in at every level, automatically, in times of crisis.” He had fair justification for what he said, for at that time, the response of the State post the tragedy was stunningly well-organised. Eleven years later, after the December 2015 floods in Chennai, it could have been another State all together. In hindsight, it was a watershed moment. December 1, 2015, provided a clear indication that the much-feted, fabled response system of Tamil Nadu had collapsed. And, that included its capital city too. It was also when the people rose as a colossus, resilient, and all this not just on social media, but willing to share … [Read more...] about ‘Rivers Remember – The Shocking Truth of a Manmade Flood’ review: What the 2015 Chennai floods taught us

Sony's wireless earbuds strategy is coming into clearer focus with its new Linkbuds S. Earlier this year Sony released Linkbuds, which include a hole for analog transparency. Those earbuds work well for athletes, students and casual listeners. The Linkbuds S forgo the hole and use microphones to obtain digital transparency when needed; otherwise, they're designed for situations when you probably don't want as much noise as the Linkbuds allow. These new wireless earbuds will be better suited for daily commuters, those working from home and longer-distance travelers. The Linkbuds and Linkbuds S are really connected in name, or philosophy, only. They don't share the same form factor or even the same feature set. They're less siblings than they are cousins. It's a little like how AirPods and AirPods Pro overlap slightly, but not enough to be confusing. Sony isn't scrapping its old earbuds and will still sell the WF-1000XM4, for one. But with the release of the … [Read more...] about Review: Sony Linkbuds S take on AirPods Pro and mostly win

Ministers have snubbed calls for systems to monitor the amounts of untreated sewage pumped into rivers. Campaigners hoped studying the volume of waste legally discharged into waterways would shame companies into cutting the practice. But, despite a demand from the Commons Environmental Audit Committee, the Government has refused to budge. The committee said today: “Following widespread criticism from members of the public, campaigners and parliamentarians, water companies have now committed to improve transparency around the industry’s use of storm overflows. Get a daily morning politics briefing straight to your inbox. Sign up for the free Mirror Politics newsletter “Improved overflow monitoring is essential to transforming understanding the frequency and nature of discharges of sewage from combined sewer overflows. Water companies are coming under increasing pressure to stop discharging sewage into water courses ( Image: Maureen McLean/REX/Shutterstock) … [Read more...] about Ministers snub plea for systems to monitor amount of sewage pumped into rivers

A group of 21 Republican attorneys general argued Friday that the Biden administration’s move to restrict oil and gas project permitting is the latest attack on the industry. “Apparently President Biden doesn’t think the price of gas is high enough,” said Republican Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, who spearheaded the effort. “This is just going to keep exacerbating energy production and gas prices in America. This is nothing but more and more red tape.” “This so-called review won’t address the real concerns facing our citizens—prominently, historically high energy prices,” the Republican states’ letter stated. “It will instead inject unnecessary, duplicative, and inequitable red tape into an already bureaucratically laden process.” A coalition of 21 Republican-led states implored the Biden administration not to axe a key federal permit for oil and gas projects in a filing published Friday. The states argued that a recently-announced review of the permit is … [Read more...] about Republican States Fight Back Against Biden’s Stealth Attacks On Oil, Gas Industry

Prince Charles has delivered his first ever speech at the State Opening of Parliament after the Queen pulled out for the first time in nearly 60 years. The future king, 73, read a short Queen's Speech, which set out the government's priorities for the coming Parliament. He was flanked by Prince William and wife Camilla after it was announced that the 96-year-old monarch would not be present due to mobility issues . The Queen last missed a state opening of parliament in 1959 and 1963, when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and then Prince Edward, when her speech was read by the Lord Chancellor. In a ceremony laden with pomp, Charles read from a script outlining 38 bills , and referenced the cost of living crisis gripping millions of the Queen's subjects. Today's speech included a new crackdown on "guerrilla protests" - with jail sentences of up to six months and unlimited fines for those who glue themselves to roads or "lock on" to public transport infrastructure. … [Read more...] about Queen’s Speech RECAP: Prince Charles opens Parliament for first time in monarch’s place

Even though Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, backed off his statement that the United States is “out of the pandemic phase,” elected officials and much of the public seem to think that he had it right the first time. But if the end of the COVID-19 emergency is at hand, the United States is reaching it with lower vaccination and higher per capita death rates than other wealthy nations. The conventional wisdom is that the American political system failed at public health—by prioritizing individual rights over collective safety; sowing doubt about the benefits of vaccines, masks, and other protective measures; and most important, failing to implement universal health care, paid sick leave, and other safety-net programs. I agree with the conventional wisdom. But there’s plenty of blame to go around. Public health also failed America. The two most important federal public-health agencies, the CDC and the FDA , have been uniformly criticized for muddled … [Read more...] about How Public Health Failed America

Overview: In October 2020, 78 per cent of Chileans approved a proposal to draft a new constitution. A year earlier, the then right-wing President Sebastian Piñera had approved this referendum following large scale protests which saw over a million people taking to the streets – initially triggered by a hike in the Santiago Metro fare. The current left-wing President Gabriel Boric – also a prominent face of the protests— aspires to reform the country’s health, education, housing and pensions system while being “fiscally responsible,” according to Reuters . He assumes the top office at a time when the country’s economy is fragile— experiencing high inflation, reeling under the impact of COVID-19 and surrounded by uncertainty owing to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Also Read Change in Chile: On left-wing leader Gabriel Boric’s win Chile and its constitution at a glance According to the World Bank, Chile has been among Latin America’s fastest-growing economies in … [Read more...] about Explained | What Chile aims to achieve with a new constitution

This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Every Monday, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here. Question of the Week Caitlin Flanagan’s masterful “ Chasing Joan Didion ” has me thinking about travel. What have you learned while away from home? Paint a picture of where you went and share your insights. Conversations of Note Top of the mind: the mass shooting Saturday in Buffalo, New York, in which a white-supremacist terrorist killed 10 people. My colleague Graeme Wood, an expert on murderous extremists , read the killer’s apparent manifesto and grappled with whether it ought to be shared or suppressed. The Los Angeles Times editorial board argued that “Americans have ignored the insidious creep of white supremacy into the public discourse to the point that it has become normalized.” … [Read more...] about Tucker Carlson Deserves Blame—But Not for Buffalo

Construction on a hotly contested North Dakota oil pipeline will be temporarily halted while a Washington, D.C., appeals court considers a Native American tribe’s legal claim that the project would destroy their tribal lands. The DC Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals decided Friday that construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline will be temporarily stopped within 20 miles of Lake Oahe in North Dakota while the court considers whether to order a longer delay. The 1,200-mile pipeline is a joint venture between energy companies Marathon Petroleum Corp. and Enbridge Energy Partners LP, and Energy Transfer Partners. Many of the same environmentalist groups that opposed the Keystone XL pipeline have joined the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAP), which would bring 470,000 barrels of Bakken crude oil per day from western North Dakota to southern Illinois. The nearly $4 billion project has come under incredible scrutiny as protesters and members of the Standing Rock … [Read more...] about US Appeals Court Temporarily Stops Construction On North Dakota Pipeline

Ahead of the upcoming jubilee weekend, ASDA has launched a new range of refreshing drink infusions. Shoppers are encouraged to 'enjoy with your favourite tipple, or add to water for an extra refreshing flavour', after popping open the pots. However, as previously reported by the Manchester Evening News, not everybody has been left best pleased with the plastic packaging, concerned that the range may not be exactly environmentally friendly . Others don't like that the fruit inside has been pre-cut, with some claiming that you could simply just buy whole versions of the fruit inside for far less than the £1.75 price tag. Some shoppers fear the range isn't environmentally friendly ( Image: Craig Bullock/Facebook) Get the news you want straight to your inbox. Sign up for a Mirror newsletter here. One shopper shared a pic of the pots on the popular Snack Reviews Facebook page, where they sparked a range of heated opinions. As shown in the … [Read more...] about ASDA shoppers blast ‘unbelievably lazy’ £1.75 Jubilee party pre-sliced fruit