Supreme Court ethics code; what climate change cost the U.S
Iowa: Where the Party Comes Together to Win a Presidential Campaign and What Climate Change Costs the U.S. Is It All About The Gene Editing?
Researchers have found their first hint that gene-editing can cut high cholesterol, which could eventually provide new ways of preventing heart attacks and strokes. A study involving 10 patients found that editing a gene inside the liver can significantly reduce levels of “bad cholesterol,” though more testing is needed. Scientists still have many questions, but they are excited about the role gene-editing can play in treating diseases. Read the story and listen to it here.
I noticed that there was something else making me notice being in Iowa, and asking people about these topics. Many seemed to let out a big sigh of either dread or nervousness about what the coming months have in store. If their face were written on the paper, it would read Oh great. here we go again.”
We decided on Iowa because it will be the place where the people of that state will come together to choose a challenger to President Biden. I learned a lot in Iowa.
A year out from the general election, I spent a week in Iowa asking voters how they were feeling about the president, GOP presidential candidates and what issues are most important to them.
Source: Up First briefing: Supreme Court ethics code; what climate change costs the U.S.
What Climate Change Costs the U.S.: An Up First Briefing: Supreme Court Ethics Code; What Do Justices Tell Us?
A major report from the federal government describes how climate change is altering our lives and who is paying the biggest price. Natural disasters cause $150 billion in direct losses every year without including lost wages and mental health expenses, according to the National Climate Assessment. People of color and those in poverty are disproportionately affected.
Israel claims it has evidence of a Hamas military compound beneath the Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital in Gaza City. Israel’s chief military spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, appears in a video that purports to show a tunnel outside the hospital and weapons in a room below it, details NPR can’t independently confirm. Hospitals in Gaza City are in a bad state with patients dying from lack of treatment and even though they have been ordered to evacuate, there is no safe way out.
The U.S. Supreme Court has adopted its first-ever ethics code, bowing to pressure from Congress and the public. The trust in the court has plummeted after it became clear that wealthy people gave gifts to justices. The justices have signed a code that tries to be specific about what they can do. Critics are dissatisfied that it lacks an enforcement mechanism for what they aren’t supposed to do.
Source: Up First briefing: Supreme Court ethics code; what climate change costs the U.S.
The Up First Newsletter: Protests of Israel’s War in Gaza with Hamas and the Violation of Palestinian Civil Liberation Law in the United States
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Israel launched a ground assault on the Gaza Strip in October in response to the death of more than 1,200 people by Hamas. Over 11,000 Palestinians have died in the Israeli military offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry.
The letter was written by internal dissent against the administration’s support of the war, and it calls for an immediate cease-fire and push for humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. It is the latest of several protest letters from officials throughout the Biden administration, including three internal memos to Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken signed by dozens of State Department employees as well as an open letter signed by more than 1,000 employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
More than 400 political appointees and staff members representing some 40 government agencies sent a letter to President Biden on Tuesday protesting his support of Israel in its war in Gaza.
The letter that was submitted on Tuesday and the one circulating among employees is anonymous out of concern for their personal safety and risk of potentially losing their jobs. The State Department does not release public the names of the people who sign the dissent cables.
Although the Biden administration has recently started voicing concern over the high numbers of Palestinian civilians killed while urging Israel to show restraint, that budding criticism does not appear to be placating many in the U.S. government.
The New York Times reviewed a copy of the letter and it urged Mr. Biden to stop the bloodshed in Gaza.
The letter to Mr. Biden was put together by two political appointees who work within the Justice Department and the F.B.I.
Some of the signatories helped Mr. Biden get elected in 2020 and said in interviews they were concerned that the administration’s support of Israel’s war in Gaza clashed with Democratic voters’ stance on the issue.
