Americans 'unknowingly put their pets in danger'
A congressional subcommittee said the popular Seresto flea and tick collar presents "too great" a risk to humans and pets and should be taken off the market. The House Jan. 6 committee reconvenes today with a focus on Mike Pence. The Buffalo shooting suspect faces federal hate crime charges and will appear in court today. Two Americans are feared to have been captured by pro-Russia forces. A heat wave will abate in some parts of the U.S. Scroll down for some less heavy news (and Chris Evans).
🙋🏼♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, and here's Thursday's news.
🌅 Up first: Chinese researchers found a signal that could be from alien civilizations, the country's science ministry reported. Researchers with Beijing Normal University this year found “several cases of possible technological traces and extraterrestrial civilizations from outside the earth,” according to a report published Tuesday in the official newspaper of China's Ministry of Science and Technology. Read more
More news to know now:
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⚠ The city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, fired the police officer charged with second-degree murder in Patrick Lyoya's death.
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🌳 Yellowstone is still closed as flooding recedes. Read this account of the historic deluge from a helicopter pilot who helped people who were stranded.
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🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, criminal justice correspondent Tami Abdollah looks at how new abortion laws could be used to put women in jail. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker.
Public hearing will focus on what Mike Pence did – or didn't – do before Jan. 6, 2021
The House Jan. 6 committee and its witnesses will use today's public hearing to address former President Donald Trump's effort to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election in his favor. The committee is set to unveil more evidence it has gathered from a year investigating the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, with a focus on Trump's attempt to get Pence to reject electors from certain states Joe Biden won. Pence has since publicly said that Trump was wrong to assert that he had the power to overturn the election. Read more
⭕ The committee has pressed Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga about a tour of the Capitol he gave visitors the day before the insurrectionist attack.
⭕ ''Devastating piece of evidence'': Filing reveals a Proud Boys plan to storm buildings Jan. 6.
⭕ Who is Elaine Luria? Virginia rep, facing tough midterm, to help lead Jan. 6 committee's final hearings.
⭕ Previous hearing takeaways: Trump ignored aides and evidence he lost, panel says he ripped off donors.
Buffalo shooting suspect to appear in federal court after being charged
The Justice Department on Wednesday unveiled federal hate crimes charges against the suspected shooter in the Buffalo grocery store massacre last month, when authorities say he specifically targeted Black victims in an assault that left 10 people dead. The 26-count complaint, which includes 10 murder charges, makes Payton Gendron, 18, eligible for a possible death sentence if convicted. He is scheduled to appear in a Buffalo federal court Thursday morning on those federal charges. The criminal complaint filed Wednesday against Gendron coincided with a visit to Buffalo by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who met with the families of the people who were killed and placed flowers at a memorial outside the Tops Friendly Market, which has been closed since the May 14 attack. In the months before the attack, investigators said the gunman allegedly detailed the plot to include the clothes he would wear – helmet and body armor – and weapons he would use to "kill as many blacks as possible." Read more
⚫ In shadow of mass shootings, lawmakers, advocates press senators at hearing for gun violence response.
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The popular Seresto tick and flea collar 'poses too great a risk to animals and humans'
The House Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, part of the House Oversight Committee, the main investigative body in the U.S. House of Representatives, held a hearing Wednesday afternoon to probe the Environmental Protection Agency’s “failure to regulate the Seresto collar as well as Elanco’s refusal to take action to protect pets and their owners from the collar’s harm.” Jeffrey Simmons, president and CEO of Elanco, the company that manufactures Seresto, called the product safe in his testimony. U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., who chairs the panel, launched an investigation into the collar in March 2021 after Investigate Midwest and Paste BN revealed the high number of incidents related to the collar, as well as the EPA’s inaction despite knowing about the issue for nearly a decade. “It is unacceptable that the EPA has been aware of the Seresto collar’s safety concerns for years and has continued to allow Americans to unknowingly put their pets in danger by using a product they have been led to believe is safe,” Krishnamoorthi told Investigate Midwest and Paste BN in a statement before the hearing. Since it entered the U.S. market in 2012, Seresto has been linked to at least 98,000 adverse incidents and 2,500 pet deaths. Read more
🐶 Previous coverage: Watchdog group petitions EPA to ban Seresto pet collar after thousands report harm.
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Two Americans feared to have been captured by Russian-backed forces
Two American veterans from Alabama who went to Ukraine to help fight against the Russian invasion are missing and feared to have been captured by Russian-backed separatists, their family members said. The U.S. State Department is looking into reports that Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, of Trinity, Alabama, and Alexander Drueke, 39, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, haven’t been heard from for days after being in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine, near the Russian border. The news comes as Russia has advanced in its attempts to overtake Sievierodonetsk in the Donbas region, stepping up its efforts to take out Ukraine’s supplies. Read more
🟡 Wednesday's coverage: Biden said the U.S. would contribute an additional $1 billion in security assistance and $225 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
🟡 The U.S. Open will let Russian tennis players compete despite Wimbledon ban.
🟡 The NHL will not allow the Stanley Cup to travel to Russia this summer for player celebrations.
ICYMI: Some of our top stories yesterday
⛽ With gas prices at $5 a gallon, Biden tells oil companies to cut costs for Americans.
💲 The Federal Reserve increased its key interest rate by 0.75% in the biggest hike since 1994. What does that mean for economy and you?
⛳ USGA will allow golfers for Saudi-backed LIV Golf to compete at 2022 U.S. Open, including Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson.
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🧸 Fisher-Price warned consumers not to use infant rockers for sleep after 13 deaths.
🧊 A Florida-sized ''doomsday'' glacier is losing ice at the fastest rate in 5,500 years, a study says.
US heat wave: Some areas to see relief while others will see sweltering temps
Some areas of the U.S. are expected to get relief from a heat wave Thursday, but the hot weather moving out could bring severe thunderstorms east into the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and the mid-Atlantic region, NOAA's Storm Prediction Center forecast. Meanwhile, temperatures are forecast to climb well above normal across much of the Great Basin, Rockies and Southwest Thursday, the National Weather Service said. An excessive heat warning also was issued for parts of California and Arizona, where highs will again soar into the triple digits. Read more
🔥 Staying cool during hot weather: As heat wave impacts millions across the nation, here's how to stay safe.
🔥 A dog shelter in Ohio lost power amid the blazing heat.
📷 Photo of the day: Record heat for many US cities 📷
People flocked to cooler spots in many parts of the U.S. Wednesday as a heat wave pushed temperatures into the 90s and beyond and may have caused the deaths of at least two people. The National Weather Service maintained an excessive heat warning through Wednesday evening for most of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. And the heat advisory in place for the Midwest and South stretched all the way east to the South Carolina shoreline, covering what is home to roughly a third of the U.S. population.
Click here to see more photos of the extreme heat affecting swaths of the nation.
A little less heavy
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Associated Press contributed reporting.