U.S.

Plant’s owners hope analysis of tiny sample will help to establish how to safely decommission facilityA piece of the radioactive fuel left from the meltdown of Japan’s tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has been retrieved from the site using a remote-controlled robot.Investigators used the robot’s fishing-rod-like arm to clip and collect a tiny piece of radioactive material from one of the plant’s three damaged reactors – the first time such a feat has been achieved. Should it prove suitable for testing, scientists hope the sample will yield information that will help determine how to decommission the plant. Continue reading...

Fred the raccoon was also killed by officials, who said the animals were a risk factor in the spread of rabiesAn orphaned squirrel that became a social media star called Peanut was euthanized after New York authorities seized the beloved pet during a raid on his caretaker’s home, authorities said.After anonymous complaints, officers from the state’s department of environmental conservation (DEC) took the squirrel and a raccoon named Fred from Mark Longo’s home near the Pennsylvania border in rural Pine City on Wednesday, Longo said. Continue reading...

A 61-year-old man was surfing on Friday morning when a shark bit him, completely severing his legA shark bit a Maui surfer on Friday and severed his leg, authorities said.The man, 61, was surfing off Waiehu Beach Park on Friday morning when a shark bit him. Police officers who arrived to the scene first tried to control the bleeding with tourniquets. His right leg was “completely severed just below the knee,” Maui county said in a news release. Continue reading...

Richard Allen’s alleged admission came after investigators struggled over case of Liberty German and Abigail WilliamsProsecutors in the trial of Richard Allen, who is accused of killing two teenage girls in Indiana, continued this week to build their case with testimony from a prison psychologist and law enforcement officials who lent credence to the allegation that Allen confessed to the murders while in prison in 2023.Allen’s alleged admissions came after investigators struggled for years to find the person who killed Liberty “Libby” German, 14, and Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, in 2017 on a hiking trail outside the small town of Delphi. Continue reading...

Concerned students press for their high schools – some with $1bn endowments – to reinvest in clean energyA high school in California has decided not to invest in coal, oil or gas, instead pledging to put money into clean energy. It’s the latest win in a new fossil fuel divestment campus campaign launched by high schoolers across 11 countries that is gaining support in the US.The Nueva School, an elite private school outside San Francisco, pledged in spring 2024 to invest a portion of its $55m endowment in renewable power. The commitment followed months of pressure from students. Continue reading...

Police accused of killing at least 11 unarmed bystanders since 24 October, amid claims poll was riggedSilvio Jeremias was on his way home from his job at a petrol station on the night of 25 October, in Mozambique’s capital Maputo, when he and his friends happened upon a group of protesters demonstrating against that day’s election results.The ruling Frelimo party’s presidential candidate Daniel Chapo secured 70.7% of the vote, according to official results, ensuring the party that has ruled Mozambique since independence in 1975 remained in power, but there were widespread allegations of rigging. Continue reading...

Plaintiffs accuse America Pac of several violations during its operation to support Orange county’s Michelle SteelElon Musk’s troubled canvassing operation on behalf of Donald Trump and the Republican party is now facing a lawsuit in southern California filed by two women who say they were cheated out of wages and expenses as they knocked on doors for an embattled Republican congresswoman.The suit accuses Musk’s America Pac, which has poured more than $100m into this year’s election campaign, of “willful violations of the California labor code” by paying the plaintiffs less than it promised and refusing to make up the difference. Continue reading...

Pedro Sánchez orders largest ever peacetime troop deployment to deal with flooding that has killed 211 peopleSpain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has ordered the country’s largest ever peacetime military deployment, announcing that another 5,000 troops will be drafted in to help deal with the aftermath of this week’s devastating floods, which have killed at least 211 people in eastern, southern and central regions.Speaking after chairing a meeting of the flood crisis committee, Sánchez said the government was mobilising all the resources at its disposal to deal with the “terrible tragedy”, which stuck hardest in the eastern region of Valencia. He also acknowledged that much of the help still wasn’t getting through and called for unity and an end to political bickering and blame games. Continue reading...

Conservative party announces Badenoch has beaten rival Robert Jenrick in ballot of party membersUK politics live – latest updatesEngineer, hacker and Ron DeSantis fan: five things about Kemi BadenochKemi Badenoch is the new Conservative party leader after defeating Robert Jenrick in a members’ vote, becoming the first Black leader of a major UK party and the fourth woman to lead the Tories.Baden took just over 56% of the 95,000 votes, in a poll which had a 73% turnout of eligible members. This amounts to the narrowest win of the four since the party changed its rules to allow party members the final say in contested leadership elections. Continue reading...