Biden to crack down on polluters of poor, minority communities
WASHINGTON — Following through on a campaign promise, the Biden administration Thursday announced a wide-ranging enforcement strategy aimed at holding industrial polluters accountable for damage done to poor and minority communities.
The strategy includes creation of an Office of Environmental Justice within the Justice Department to focus on “fenceline communities” that have been exposed to air and water pollution from chemical plants, refineries and other industrial sites.
The plan also reinstates a dormant program that allowed fines paid by industry as part of a settlement go to river cleanup, health clinics or other programs that benefit the environment or public health. The program was used by presidents from both parties before being eliminated in the Trump administration.
“Although violations of our environmental laws can happen anywhere, communities of color, indigenous communities and low-income communities often bear the brunt of the harm caused by environmental crime, pollution and climate change,’’ Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference.
“And for far too long, these communities have faced barriers to accessing the justice they deserve,’’ he said.
President Joe Biden had promised during the 2020 campaign that he would establish an environmental justice division within the Justice Department and elevate environmental justice issues in an all-of-government approach.
The strategy unveiled Thursday is intended to guide the work of employees throughout the Justice Department, including U.S. attorneys across the country who will begin a renewed focus on environmental justice issues, said Garland and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta.
J&J vaccine: U.S. regulators on Thursday strictly limited who can receive Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine due to the ongoing risk of rare but serious blood clots.
The Food and Drug Administration said the shot should only be given to adults who cannot receive a different vaccine or specifically request J&J’S vaccine. U.S. authorities for months have recommended that Americans starting their COVID-19 vaccinations use the Pfizer or Moderna shots instead.
FDA officials said in a statement that they decided to restrict J&J’S vaccine after taking another look at data on the risk of life-threatening blood clots within two weeks of vaccination.
J&J’S vaccine was initially considered an important tool in fighting the pandemic because it required only one shot. But the single-dose option proved less effective than two doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
New press secretary: President Joe Biden on Thursday named Karine Jean-pierre to be the next White House press secretary, the first Black woman and openly LGBTQ person to serve in the role, replacing Jen Psaki.
Jean-pierre takes on the role as the White House faces an uphill battle to help Democrats hold onto the House and Senate in this fall’s midterm elections, and as the administration struggles to address Americans’ concerns about inflation and the state of the economy.
She also comes into the job
as Biden faces foreign policy challenges, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and North Korea’s escalating nuclear testing program.
Before joining the Biden presidential campaign, Jeanpierre was the chief public affairs officer of the progressive group Moveon.org and a former political analyst for NBC and MSNBC. She also worked in political affairs in the Obama White House.
Psaki is scheduled to leave her post on May 13.
A rare but aggressive kind of uterine cancer appears to be driving an increase in U.S. deaths from the disease, particularly among Black women, researchers reported Thursday. Over eight years, deaths from the aggressive type rose by 2.7% per year, while deaths were stable for the less aggressive kind, their study found.
Black women had more than twice the rate of deaths from uterine cancer overall,
Uterinecancerdeaths:
and of the more aggressive type, when compared to other racial and ethnic groups.
The aggressive kind — called Type 2 endometrial cancer — is more difficult to treat. By the end of the study period, it accounted for about 20% of cases and 45% of deaths. An estimated 65,950 new cases of uterine cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year and 12,550 women are expected to die from it.
A pair of Palestinians went on an attack in a town near Tel Aviv on Thursday night, killing at least three people and wounding four others before fleeing, Israeli authorities said.
Police launched a massive search for the assailants, setting up roadblocks and dispatching a helicopter.
Alon Rizkan, a medic with Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service, described a “very difficult call” when he arrived at the scene in Elad,
Deadly attack in Israel:
an ultra-orthodox town near Tel Aviv. He said he identified three dead people at various locations. At least four others were wounded, one critically, officials said.
Israeli media quoted police as saying there were two assailants, and just before midnight, police said they were still searching for the attackers.
The stabbing, coming on Israel’s Independence Day, was the latest in a string of deadly attacks in Israeli cities in recent weeks.
Israeli-palestinian tensions have soared recently, with the attacks in Israel, military operations in the occupied West Bank and violence at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site. The site, home to the Al-aqsa Mosque, saw new unrest earlier Thursday.
Famous video games: More than 40 years after blazing a trail for female video game characters, Ms. Pac-man was inducted Thursday into the World Video Game Hall
of Fame, along with Dance Dance Revolution, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Sid Meier’s Civilization. Inductees are recognized for their popularity and influence on the video game industry or pop culture over time.
The Ms. Pac-man arcade game was released in 1981 as Midway’s follow-up to Pac-man, which entered the hall as part of the inaugural class in 2015. The Pac-man sequel reimagined the main character to acknowledge the original game’s female fans, according to the hall.
After selling 125,000 cabinets within the first five years, it became one of the best-selling arcade games of all time.
The Class of 2022 was chosen from a field of finalists that included Candy Crush Saga and Words with Friends.
It is the eighth class to be inducted since the World Video Game Hall of Fame was established at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.