Discovery
‘Turn over big cats’:
A federal judge in Oklahoma has ordered the new owners of an Oklahoma zoo featured in Netflix’s “Tiger King” documentary to turn over all the lion and tiger cubs in their possession, along with the animals’ mothers, to the federal government.
US District Judge John F. Heil III issued the order last week in the case against Jeffrey and Lauren Lowe and the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park based on claimed violations of the Endangered Species Act and the Animal Welfare Act.
“The Lowes have showed a shocking disregard for both the health and welfare of their animals, as well as the law,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jonathan D. Brightbill of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
Jeffrey Lowe’s attorney, Daniel Card of Oklahoma City, didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The Lowes took over operations of the zoo, which was previously run by Joseph Maldonado-Passage — also known as Joe Exotic — and featured in Netflix’s “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.”
Maldonado-Passage was an aspiring country singer. Under the pretense of obtaining music for a planned reality television series, he commissioned country songs from other artists, with his creative contributions reportedly being limited to suggesting song topics and singing some backing vocals. (Agencies)
Quake injures 3 in Argentina:
A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck in northwestern Argentina near the border with central Chile, injuring at least three people, authorities said Tuesday.
Two children and an adult were hospitalized in San Juan province in Argentina after the quake hit just before midnight Monday, provincial Gov. Sergio Uñac said. The shaking caused the collapse of a house, damage to roads and some other buildings in several cities, as well power and water cuts, he said.
The US Geological Survey said the epicenter was 27.6 kilometers (17 miles) southwest of the Argentine town of Porcito and struck at a depth of 14 kilometers (nearly nine miles).
The quake was followed by a magnitude 5.0 aftershock about 15 minutes later and then at least five more strong aftershocks in the next hour ranging from magnitude 5.3 to 4.8, the USGS said. (AP)
Court strikes down ‘rule’:
A federal appeals court struck down one of the Trump administration’s most momentous climate rollbacks on Tuesday, saying the administration acted illegally in issuing a new rule easing federal regulation of air pollution from power plants.
The Trump administration had cited a “fundamental misconstruction” of the Clean Air Act in carrying out the rollback, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled. The decision is likely to give the Biden administration a freer hand to regulate emissions from power plants, one of the major sources of climate-damaging fossil fuel emissions.
Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman Molly Block called the agency’s handling of the rule change “well-supported.”
“The decision risks injecting more uncertainty at a time when the nation needs regulatory stability,” Block said.
The ruling was on a court challenge by environmental groups, some state governments, and others to the Trump administration’s so-called Affordable Clean Energy rule, or ACE rule, for the power sector.
Trump, who campaigned in 2016 on a pledge to bring back the US coal industry, repealed the Obama administration’s plan to reduce emissions from the country’s electric-power generating plants. Called the Clean Power Plan, it was one of President Barack Obama’s legacy efforts against climate change.