The tiny nation of Lesotho is one of the few countries in the world, including the United States, and one of just two in Africa, without mandated paid leave for new mothers. International watchdogs and activists say maternity leave is often poorly enforced, especially since so many African women work in the informal sector. When Makhopotsohad Letsie had her youngest child, she took a three-month break from her job as a riveter to care for her baby boy. Her employer, a large factory in Lesotho’s capital, paid her during that time. She got a grand total of just more than $23. It was not enough to meet her needs, she says, but she had no choice. That amount was not even a quarter of her monthly salary. But she was grateful, she says, because she lives in one of the few countries that does not mandate maternity benefits. Parliament Member and All Basotho Congress spokesman Moeketsi Majoro says paid leave is not a kindness, it is a necessity. He says his party wants to implement a three-month maternity leave policy. “We want everybody to participate, and participate fully in the economy and without the insecurity or the difficult choices of having to raise the future of Lesotho and having to go to work for a minimum wage,” said Majoro. “It is, in fact, an empowerment process that we need to put in place, as a policy.” The International Labor Organization recommends maternity leave of at least …
Poland, Ukraine Develop Gas Hub for Independence From Russia
Poland and Ukraine said Tuesday they are working toward developing a regional gas hub that would end Central and Eastern Europe’s dependence on Russian supplies and keep prices in line with European standards. The region still relies to some extent on Russian natural gas and has been exposed to political pressure from Moscow, which has at times in the past limited supply volumes or hiked gas prices. Governments in the region have been reducing their imports of gas from Russia and seeking other sources. They have also been trying to become more energy-efficient, a task Ukraine still needs to fully undertake. Poland is increasingly importing gas from other regions. Its new liquefied natural gas port has received deliveries by sea from Qatar and is expecting a delivery from the United States this week. Poland is also proceeding with a project to bring in North Sea gas. Poland is sending some of resources on to Ukraine, after the country cut imports from Russia in 2015. Government officials participating in a Poland-Ukraine Gas Conference on Tuesday said the planned hub should be in place by 2022 on the Polish-Ukrainian border. “We now have enough infrastructure to move onwards with the hub,” said Serhiy Makohon, deputy head of Ukraine’s oil and gas company, Ukrtrans’haz. …
Poll: Most Americans Want ‘Aggressive’ Action on Climate Change
Most Americans believe the United States should take “aggressive action” to fight climate change, but few see it as a priority issue when compared with the economy or security, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday. The June 2-4 opinion poll suggests American voters may not penalize President Donald Trump too harshly for walking away from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, even if they would have preferred he keep the country in the deal. The poll found 68 percent of Americans want the United States to lead global efforts to slow climate change, and 72 percent agree “that given the amount of greenhouse gases that it produces, the United States should take aggressive action to slow global warming.” Even so, Americans rank the environment near the bottom of their list of priorities for the country. Only about 4 percent of Americans believe that the “environment” is a bigger issue than health care, the economy, terrorism, immigration, education, crime and morality, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows. “I just kind of feel helpless about it,” Dana Anderson, 54, of Mesa, Arizona, said about climate change. “If something happens to the environment, it is what it is, right?” Anderson, who has multiple sclerosis, said that whatever Trump says about health care will matter to her much more than his thoughts on global temperatures. The poll was conducted after Trump announced on Thursday that the United States would abandon the landmark agreement with 195 countries to slash carbon emissions and curb global warming. The Republican …
Mysterious Hole Spotted on Mars
A massive and deep circular pit on Mars has NASA officials stumped. The image of the hole on the Martian surface was taken by the agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) as it scanned the planet’s south pole region. The hole, which is surrounded by a “Swiss cheese terrain” of frozen carbon dioxide, is likely hundreds of meters across and quite deep. The image also captures a glimmer of light coming from the bottom of the hole, likely a reflection of the Sun off the ice. According to Science Alert, there are several possible ways the hole formed, including a meteorite impact, collapsing lava tubes, floods or some kind of volcanic activity. The “Swiss cheese terrain” is believed to be caused by the sublimation, going directly from solid to gas, of the frozen carbon dioxide. The image was snapped with the MRO’s “High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment,” which allows NASA to see objects on the Martian surface that are larger than one meter from between 200 and 400 kilometers above the Red Planet. MRO has been circling Mars since 2006 and has captured many interesting images, including dust devils and moving sand dunes. …
Qatari Riyal Under Pressure as Saudi, UAE Banks Delay Qatar Deals
Qatar’s currency came under pressure on Tuesday as Gulf Arab commercial banks started holding off on business with Qatari banks because of a diplomatic rift in the region. Banking sources said some banks from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain delayed letters of credit and other deals with Qatari banks after their governments cut diplomatic ties and transport links with Doha on Monday, accusing Qatar of backing terrorism. Saudi Arabia’s central bank advised banks in the kingdom not to trade with Qatari banks in Qatari riyals, the sources told Reuters. The central bank did not respond to a request for comment. Qatar has dismissed the terrorism charge and welcomed a Kuwaiti mediation effort. Doha, the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas exporter, says it has enough reserves to support its banks and its riyal currency, which is pegged to the dollar. Qatari banks have been borrowing abroad to fund their activities. Their foreign liabilities ballooned to 451 billion riyals ($124 billion) in March from 310 billion riyals at the end of 2015, central bank data shows. So any extended disruption to their ties with foreign banks could potentially threaten a funding crunch for some Qatari banks. Banks from the UAE, Europe and elsewhere have been lending to Qatari institutions. Gulf banking sources, who declined to be named because of political sensitivities, said Saudi Arabian, UAE and Bahraini banks were postponing deals until they received guidance from their central banks on how to handle Qatar. “We will not take action …
Cities Push Back as Trump Aims to Cut Anti-Terrorism Funding
Cities are pushing back on the possibility of losing millions of dollars in U.S. anti-terrorism grants under President Donald Trump’s spending plan — the third straight White House that has moved to cut the funding. The proposed budget would cut cash for the program from $605 million to nearly $449 million for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 and require cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas to pay 25 percent of the grants. The administration says it is proposing the cost-share system, similar to other grant programs, to “share accountability” with states and cities. But lawmakers and local officials argue that reducing funding for the Urban Area Security Initiative would undercut efforts to maintain safe communities. Cities have spent the money on command centers, active-shooter training and personnel to patrol airports, transit hubs and waterways. Big cities have been down this road before, with funding fluctuating over the years. President George W. Bush created the grant program after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but scaled it back in his second term. President Barack Obama’s proposed 2017 budget suggested slashing the funding from $600 million to $330 million. In each instance, local politicians reacted with outrage and questioned the wisdom of taking away money in the fight against terrorism. This year, Congress ignored Obama’s guidance and increased funding by $5 million. But some cities that have received grants in previous years have not spent all the money, another reason the White …
Diplomats Plant Seagrass to Celebrate World Environment Day
To celebrate the June 5 World Environment Day, diplomats from more than a dozen foreign embassies and international organizations Monday joined the U.S. State Department to plant underwater seagrass in the Potomac River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. Diplomats told VOA their participation in “green diplomacy” is to help raise awareness of the challenges of clean water here and at home. Underwater grasses growing in shallow waters of the Chesapeake Bay add oxygen to the water, provide wildlife with food and habitat, absorb nutrient pollution, trap sediment and reduce erosion, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Representatives from China, Costa Rica, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Iraq, Malta, Pakistan, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the European Union and the World Bank, have been growing seagrasses in their chanceries or ambassadors’ residences since January 2017. After six months of grow-out, diplomats gathered at the Mason Neck State Park in Lorton, VA to plant their grasses to bolster grass populations and help restore the Chesapeake Bay. Nursing the grasses is a challenge. “My gosh, it is very difficult,” Anggarini Sesotyoningtyas from Embassy of Indonesia’s Economic Affairs office told VOA. “It’s not just like regular plant ‘cause I think it really needs a careful maintenance and care,” said Sesotyoningtyas, adding that the first few days were making sure grass-growing kits were set up correctly, then checking constantly that the seeds were growing. By working with the CBF’s “Grasses for …
Bloomberg Delivers US Pledge to Continue Paris Climate Goals to UN
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg submitted a statement to the United Nations on Monday that over 1,000 U.S. governors, mayors, businesses, universities and others will continue to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement abandoned by President Donald Trump last week. Bloomberg, who is the U.N. Secretary-General’s special envoy for Cities and Climate Change, submitted the “We Are Still In” declaration to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa. He also launched a process to work with local governments and non-state entities to formally quantify the combined – and overlapping – emissions reduction pledges, which will be known as “America’s Pledge,” and submit the report to the United Nations. “Today, on behalf of an unprecedented collection of U.S. cities, states, businesses and other organizations, I am communicating to the United Nations and the global community that American society remains committed to achieving the emission reductions we pledged to make in Paris in 2015,” Bloomberg said in a statement. Signatories to the new initiative include 13 Democratic and Republican governors, 19 state attorneys general, over 200 mayors, and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and small businesses. Trump on Thursday pulled the United States from the landmark 2015 agreement designed to fight climate change, fulfilling a major campaign pledge despite entreaties from U.S. allies and corporate leaders. Although the formal process to withdraw from the Paris agreement takes four years, Trump said the United States will not honor …
Pollution Slowly Killing Planet’s Ocean
The remote South Pacific island of Henderson hit the headlines recently not for its pristine natural beauty, but for the 38 million tons of accumulated plastic and other debris that ocean currents had landed on its shores. The uninhabited island is a UNESCO heritage site and one of the world’s biggest marine reserves. It is also a victim of the pollution that is slowly killing our oceans. “Conserving our oceans and using them sustainably is preserving life itself,” declared U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres at the opening Monday of a week-long Ocean Conference at the United Nations. That is not an understatement. The ocean provides nearly half of the oxygen produced on Earth and its marine bounty feeds billions. Some 4,000 leaders from the worlds of politics, science, academia, business and civil society have gathered for the conference, which kicked off on World Environment Day. They hope to draw attention to the effects of pollution, plastics, climate change, over-fishing and other factors that are affecting all marine life, with potentially disastrous consequences. WATCH: Pollution, plastics damaging the earth’s oceans Plastics: A Top Offender “Marine plastic debris is a slow motion catastrophe waiting to happen,” warned Indonesia’s Maritime minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. Plastics and microplastics plastic particles under 5mm in diameter are among the biggest threats to the ocean and marine life. A World Economic Forum study warns that by 2050 the oceans could contain more plastics than fish. The ocean is overflowing with manmade items, including water …
Forget Butterfly Nets; Today’s Naturalists Capture Specimens on Phones.
A smartphone app lets citizen scientists help professional scientists track changes in the natural world as urbanization, habitat loss, invasive species and climate change shake up ecosystems worldwide. More than 100,000 users on all seven continents are snapping pictures of plants and animals they find and uploading the images using an app called iNaturalist. Those geotagged photos are giving researchers an unprecedented amount of information about what lives where, and how that’s changing with humanity’s expanding footprint. On a spring afternoon in Arlington, Virginia’s Barcroft Park, a half-dozen eager onlookers huddle around a plywood board on the forest floor, waiting for the big reveal. Spray-painted on the board are the words, “wildlife study.” As one volunteer lifts the plywood board, Arlington natural resources manager Alonso Abugattas spots a pair of snakes coiled underneath. “Northern brown, northern brown,” he calls. Another volunteer leans in with smartphone clicking. He uploads the photos to iNaturalist, where crowdsourcing soon confirms Abugattas’ identification. WATCH: App lets citizen scientists help professional scientists That observation, tagged by date, time and location, is now part of a growing database of nearly 5 million species finds all over the world. “Everyone knows that if you want to protect something, you’ve got to know what you have,” Abugattas said. Visitors to the iNaturalist website can search an annotated Google map for what lives in their neighborhood. Or search for where others have found a particular species. As he works to protect Arlington County’s natural spaces, …
Trump Administration Considers Air Blasting in Atlantic in Search for Oil, Gas
The Trump administration is considering letting companies use seismic air guns to look for oil and gas deposits below the Atlantic Ocean, outraging environmentalists and coastal towns and resorts. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says it has gotten five separate requests to carry out the operations. NOAA admits using the high-powered guns may “incidentally but not intentionally harass” marine mammals and reptiles. If the permits are approved, NOAA says companies must carry out a number of strict rules. Observers would keep watch They include placing observers on board ships to watch out for protected species and shut down operations if they are spotted. They also must listen for vocal communications between marine mammals, such as whales and dolphins. The air guns use incredibly powerful blasts of air to look for oil and gas deep under the ocean floor. The companies propose searching for possible drilling sites off the Atlantic coast from Delaware south to central Florida. Environmentalists are furious. They say noise from the guns is one of the loudest man-made sounds created and can kill and injure millions of whales, dolphins, turtles, and other sea animals that depend on sound to communicate and survive. Coastal towns oppose air guns “Coastal communities have the most to lose, but unfortunately their overwhelming opposition may be ignored by the Trump administration,” said Nancy Pyne of the conservation group Oceana. She calls it the first step towards offshore drilling and points to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf …
Justices Side With Religious Hospitals in Pension Dispute
Religious hospitals don’t have to comply with federal laws protecting pension plans, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled Monday in a case that affects retirement benefits for roughly a million workers nationwide. The justices sided with three church-affiliated nonprofit hospital systems being sued for underfunding their employee pension plans. The hospitals — two with Catholic affiliation and one with Lutheran ties — had argued that their pensions are “church plans” that are exempt from the law and have been treated as such for decades by federal officials. Workers asserted that Congress never meant to exempt massive hospital systems that employ tens of thousands of workers. They said the hospitals are dodging legal safeguards that could jeopardize their benefits. Pension plans are required to be fully funded and insured under federal law, but Congress carved out narrow exemptions for churches and other religious organizations. The hospitals claimed the law also exempts plans associated with or controlled by a church, whether or not it was created by a church in the first place. Writing for the court, Justice Elena Kagan said a pension plan operated by a religiously affiliated hospital is exempt from the law “regardless of who established it.” The federal government has long agreed with the hospitals’ understanding of the law. Agencies including the IRS and the Labor Department have assured them for more than 30 years that they are exempt from traditional pension rules. But three federal appeals courts had ruled against the hospitals — California-based Advocate …
US Probes Air Bag Computer Failures in 2012 Jeep Liberty
The U.S. government is investigating complaints that air bag control computers in some Jeep Liberty SUVs can fail, preventing the air bag system from operating properly in a crash. The probe covers about 105,000 of the vehicles from the 2012 model year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted Monday that it has received 44 complaints about the problem involving a computer that detects crashes and controls air bag deployment. No related injuries have been reported. Many drivers told the agency that an air bag warning light came on. In some cases the problem was corrected by replacing the computer, while others kept driving their SUVs with the light on. …
Silk Road Hub or Tax Haven? China’s New Border Trade Zone May Be Less Than It Seems
On the border of China and Kazakhstan, an international free trade zone has become a showpiece of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road initiative to boost global trade and commerce by improving infrastructure and connectivity. Chinese state media are filled with stories about the stunning success of Horgos, the youngest city of China’s new Silk Road. Last month at China’s Belt and Road Summit — its biggest diplomatic event of the year — promotional videos about Horgos’ booming economy ran on a loop at the press center. But Chinese business owners and prospective investors who had recently visited the China-Kazakhstan Horgos International Border Cooperation Center (ICBC), told Reuters they were disappointed by the disconnect between the hype and reality. Rather than the vibrant 21st century trading post of Beijing’s grand vision, Horgos is instead developing a reputation as China’s very own tax haven. “We were so unimpressed by what we saw that after looking around for three hours, we turned around and drove eight hours straight back to Urumqi,” said a businessman from the capital of China’s far western region of Xianjiang, who only wanted to give his surname, Ma, due to the sensitivity of the topic. Several business owners echoed complaints about poor design and low visitor numbers made by Ma, who visited Horgos to investigate the viability of opening a high-end clubhouse. “You’ve got Kazakh farmers walking around with plastic bags full of cheap Chinese T-shirts and you want me to open a club for government …
India Launches Heavy Lift Rocket
India’s heaviest, newly-developed rocket hurtled into space Monday evening carrying a communication satellite of more than three tons from Sriharikota in eastern India. It marks another milestone in the country’s ambitious space program and brings India a step closer to sending astronauts into space. “Today is a historic day.…we have been able to successfully put the satellite into the orbit,” a smiling A.S. Kiran Kumar, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization said after the launch. Space scientists count many benefits of the 640 ton Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk III rocket which can carry a four ton payload into higher orbit. It will reduce India’s dependency on foreign space agencies to put its heavier satellites in space leading to huge savings, it can over time make it possible to send manned missions and enhance deep space exploration capabilities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that the “mission takes India closer to the next generation launch vehicle and satellite capability. The nation is proud!” Although India has been dreaming big in space – mulling a manned mission to space and interplanetary missions to Venus and Jupiter, its lack of heavy lift technology remained a hurdle in giving concrete shape to those plans. “To be very honest there was a major limitation of thinking slightly big in space,” says Ajay Lele at the Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses in New Delhi. “Without a heavy launcher you cannot have ambitious programs. Even though India had gone …
US Productivity Flat in First Quarter, While Labor Costs Up
The productivity of American workers was flat in the first three months of this year, while labor costs rose at the fastest pace since the second quarter of last year. Productivity growth was zero in the January-March quarter after rising at a 1.8 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, the Labor Department reported Monday. It was the weakest performance since productivity had fallen at a 0.1 percent rate in the second quarter of last year but an improvement from an initial reading of a 0.6 percent decline. Productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, has been weak through most of the current recovery. Many analysts believe finding a way to boost productivity growth is the biggest economic challenge facing the country, but there is no consensus on the cause of the slowdown. Labor costs rose at a 2.2 percent rate after having fallen at a 4.6 percent rate in the fourth quarter. It was the fastest gain since April-June of last year. The revision in first quarter productivity had been expected because of the revision to first quarter gross domestic product, the economy’s total output of goods and services. The government initially reported that GDP had risen by a tepid 0.7 percent rate in the January-March perio. But that was revised to show a slightly better reading of a 1.2 percent gain. The boost in output led to the better reading for productivity. Since 2007, productivity increases have averaged just 1.2 percent. That’s …
World’s Oceans in Decline
More than a billion people around the world rely on food from the ocean as their primary source of protein. But as the planet’s oceans become more polluted, they are changing and all kinds of marine life are being impacted. VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer reports that this week ((June 5-9)) more than 4,000 government, scientific, business and civil society leaders will meet in New York to mobilize for action to stop the decline of our oceans. …
Quickly Reporting Cancer Complications May Boost Survival
If you’re being treated for cancer, speak up about any side effects. A study that had patients use home computers to report symptoms like nausea and fatigue surprisingly improved survival – by almost half a year, longer than many new cancer drugs do. The online tool was intended as a quick and easy way for people to regularly report complications rather than trying to call their doctors or waiting until the next appointment. Researchers had hoped to improve quality of life but got a bonus in longer survival. “I was floored by the results,” said the study leader, Dr. Ethan Basch. “We are proactively catching things early” with online reporting. Patients were able to stick with treatment longer because their side effects were quickly addressed, he said. People shouldn’t assume that symptoms are an unavoidable part of cancer care, said Dr. Richard Schilsky, chief medical officer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. “You want to be able to reach your provider as early and easily as possible,” because a sign like shortness of breath may mean treatment isn’t working and needs to be changed, he said. The study was featured at the cancer group’s annual meeting in Chicago on Sunday and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Earlier studies suggest that doctors miss about half of patients’ symptoms. Catching problems sooner Much of this happens between visits when patients are out of sight and out of mind,” …
White House Looks at Sanctions on Venezuela’s Oil Sector
The Trump administration is considering possible sanctions on Venezuela’s vital energy sector, including state oil company PDVSA, senior White House officials said, in what would be a major escalation of U.S. efforts to pressure the country’s embattled leftist government amid a crackdown on the opposition. The idea of striking at the core of Venezuela’s economy, which relies on oil for about 95 percent of export revenues, has been discussed at high levels of the administration as part of a wide-ranging review of U.S. options, but officials said it remains under debate and action is not imminent. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the United States could hit PDVSA as part of a “sectoral” sanctions package that would take aim at the OPEC nation’s entire energy industry for the first time. Complicating factors But they made clear the administration is moving cautiously, mindful that if such an unprecedented step is taken it could deepen the country’s economic and social crisis, in which millions suffer food shortages and soaring inflation. Two months of anti-government unrest has left more than 60 people dead. Another complicating factor would be the potential impact on oil shipments to the United States. Venezuela is the third largest oil supplier for the U.S. after Canada and Saudi Arabia. It accounted for 8 percent of U.S. oil imports in March, according to U.S. government figures. “It’s being considered,” one of the officials told Reuters, saying aides to President Donald Trump have been tasked to have …
Aspiring Chefs Thrive at ‘Restaurant Incubator’
The restaurant business can cause serious heartburn. It’s a mixed salad of bureaucracy, money, and paperwork that keeps some chefs from ever selling that first plate of food. But there may be hope as “restaurant incubators” offer chefs an alternative menu for success. Arash Arabasadi reports from Washington. …
Oregon Wineries Branch Out to Legal Marijuana
Diversification is a growing trend in some sectors of the agriculture industry. Some winemakers in the northwestern state of Oregon are branching out into marijuana as a new business venture. Faith Lapidus reports. …
SpaceX Launches First Recycled Supply Ship
SpaceX launched its first recycled cargo ship to the International Space Station on Saturday, another milestone in its bid to drive down flight costs. After a two-day delay caused by thunderstorms, the unmanned Falcon rocket blasted off carrying a Dragon capsule that made a station delivery nearly three years ago. When this refurbished Dragon reaches the orbiting lab on Monday, it will be the first returning craft since NASA’s now-retired shuttles. The first-stage booster flown Saturday afternoon was brand-new, and as is now the custom, returned to Cape Canaveral following liftoff for a successful vertical touchdown. “The Falcon has landed,” SpaceX Mission Control declared from company headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and a cheer went up. Reusable booster The plan is to launch the booster again, instead of junking it in the ocean as so many other rocket makers do. Just two months ago, SpaceX launched its first recycled booster on a satellite mission. Another flight featuring a reused booster is coming up later this month. This Dragon capsule, meanwhile, came back for take two following a few modifications and much testing. Shortly before liftoff, a SpaceX vice president, Hans Koenigsmann, called the Dragon reflight “a pretty big deal.” It’s all part of the company’s quest, Koenigsmann said, to lower the cost of access to space through reusability. The Dragon soaring Saturday has the same hull and most of the same parts from its 2014 flight. SpaceX installed a new heat shield and parachutes, among a few other things, for the …
Perry Staying Busy, Gaining in Enthusiasm at Energy Department
Rick Perry twice ran for president and appeared as a contestant on TV’s Dancing with the Stars. But since becoming President Donald Trump’s energy secretary, Perry has kept a low profile and rarely has been seen publicly around Washington. Comedian Hasan Minhaj joked at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner that Perry must be “sitting in a room full of plutonium waiting to become Spider-Man. That’s just my hunch.” In truth, Perry has been busy — but far away from the capital. He has toured Energy Department sites around the country, represented the Trump administration at a meeting in Italy and pledged to investigate a tunnel collapse at a radioactive waste storage site in Washington state. Perry has visited a shuttered nuclear waste dump at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain and cautiously began a yearslong process to revive it. Asia trip On Thursday, Perry embarked on a nine-day trip to Asia, where he planned to check on the progress made since a 2011 nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, Japan, and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to help decontaminate and decommission damaged nuclear reactors. Perry also was to represent the United States at a clean-energy meeting in Beijing. The former Texas governor says he’s having the time of his life running an agency he once pledged to eliminate. Perry has emerged as a strong defender of the department’s work, especially the 17 national labs that conduct cutting-edge research on everything from national security to renewable energy. “I’m telling you officially the coolest job I’ve ever …
Trump ‘Believes Climate Is Changing,’ Haley Tells CNN
U.S. President Donald Trump “believes the climate is changing,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley says. “President Trump believes the climate is changing and he believes pollutants are part of the equation,” Haley said during an excerpt of a CNN interview released Saturday. The interview will be broadcast Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. On Thursday, Trump announced the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate change pact, tapping into his “America First” campaign theme. He said participating in the pact would undermine the U.S. economy, wipe out jobs, weaken national sovereignty and put his country at a permanent disadvantage. On Friday, nobody at the White House was able to say whether Trump believed in climate change. In recent years, he has expressed skepticism about whether climate change is real, sometimes calling it a hoax. But since becoming president, he has not offered an opinion. …