In the news
■ Yoshikazu Higashitani, better known as the celebrity gossip YouTuber GaaSyy, was elected to Japan’s upper house in July but never set foot in parliament, so his fellow lawmakers voted 235-1 to expel him, the first such action in the body’s history.
■ Rebecca Adda-Dontoh of the United Nations called it “the human face of the global climate crisis” as Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar contend with the aftermath of Cyclone Freddy, which killed hundreds of people and displaced thousands.
■ Shannon Castellano and a friend planned to spend the weekend seeing world-famous waterfalls on the Havasupai Tribe Reservation in Arizona, but instead they joined a crowd camped out on a helipad waiting to be evacuated from a harrowing flood.
■ Christopher Walsh, a horticulture professor at the University of Maryland, said rising heat levels are worrisome, but “what worries me more is the erratic temperatures” as Washington’s cherry trees are on the verge of peak bloom several days earlier than normal.
■ Michelle Wu, mayor of Boston, said “we can handle it here” as one of the country’s largest Irish enclaves staged its popular St. Patrick’s Day parade Sunday under sunny skies but with blustery wind and temperatures in the 30s.
■ Lamya Essemlali of Sea Shepherd France hailed “a ray of hope” but called it bittersweet as France’s highest administrative body ordered the government to better protect endangered dolphins and porpoises in an industrial fishing hub in the wake of mass deaths.
■ Robert Porco of Fishkill, N.Y., was charged with misdemeanor assault as police say he was the goldmasked protester who was rowdy and ultimately punched a man in the face at a Greenwich Village drag queen story hour hosted by the state attorney general.
■ Kiley Swaine of Redondo Beach, Calif., was paid $750,000 by the city of Torrance after he sued claiming two police officers spray-painted a swastika on his car, with the investigation leading to the discovery of a trove of racist and homophobic text exchanges and the tossing out of dozens of felony cases.
■ Joe Kennedy, the former high school football coach in Bremerton, Wash., who prayed with his players and other students on the field and then won a First Amendment case in U.S. Supreme Court, will return to the sidelines next season, the school district says.