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Companies are buying up cheap carbon offsets − data suggest it may be more about greenwashing than helping the climate

Current News / News & Features /

Carbon offsets have become big business as more companies make promises to protect the climate but can’t meet the goals on their own.

When a company buys carbon offsets, it pays a project elsewhere to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on its behalf – by planting trees, for example, or generating renewable energy. The idea is that ...Read more

Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Gov. Gavin Newsom announces $33 million in funding for California veterans' mental health

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Gov. Gavin Newsom formally proclaimed Monday as Veterans Day in California, which came with a major announcement.

The California Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded $33 million in grants to seven counties through the California Veterans Health Initiative. The grants will go to preexisting community organizations that provide mental ...Read more

Steven M. Falk/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Trump, Musk weigh in on Senate leader contest ahead of vote

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President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk moved to make demands of the next Senate Republican leader, potentially scrambling a race that has been expected to go to one of Mitch McConnell’s longtime allies.

Trump insisted the next Republican leader endorse letting him make recess appointments bypassing the Senate, which Musk quickly said was ...Read more

Pool/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Japan's PM Ishiba faces vote to keep job ahead of Trump meet

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Japan’s parliament is set to elect a prime minister Monday in a mid-afternoon vote that’s likely to keep Shigeru Ishiba in the job despite a national election setback, as the premier prepares for an expected meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump later this month.

Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito...Read more

Scott Olson/Getty Images North America/TNS

'Wicked' dolls' packaging includes link to a porn site. Mattel apologizes

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Toy manufacturer Mattel has apologized for a misprint that appeared on the packaging of its line of "Wicked" dolls and listed an address for an adult website.

The error gained steam this weekend after social media users discovered that the link to the film — wickedmovie.com — was mislabeled, sending consumers to Wicked Pictures, an ...Read more

Danny Lawson/WPA Pool/Getty Images North America/TNS

Prince William intends to do royal duties with a 'smaller r,' emphasizing 'empathy'

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Prince William says he’d like to approach royal duties with a “smaller r,” aiming to inject more empathy, and toning down pomp and circumstance with more personable projects.

“It’s hard to describe what that is all about, but I can only describe what I’m trying to do, and that’s I’m trying to do it differently and I’m trying ...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Firefighters continue to make progress in battle against Mountain fire in Ventura County

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Firefighters continued making progress Sunday against the destructive Mountain fire in Ventura County. The blaze, which has burned more than 20,000 acres and destroyed 134 structures, was about 26% contained early Sunday as firefighters continued mopping up hot spots before winds were expected to pick up again Monday night, authorities said.

...Read more

Carl Juste/Miami Herald/TNS

Miami judge's venomous texts come back to bite her in crumbling death penalty case

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An appellate judge at the center of one of Miami’s biggest criminal cases is facing intense scrutiny after text messages were released showing her pressuring Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle about how to handle the case, denigrating defense attorneys and badmouthing local judges.

Ironically, the text messages sent by Judge...Read more

Haiti's presidential council fires prime minister, names businessman in controversial move

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Haiti’s ruling presidential council has fired the country’s prime minister, Garry Conille, after barely six months and named businessman Didier Fils-Aimé to replace him in an act that some political leaders say is illegal.

This marks the second time in a dozen years that Conille, 58, a career civil servant and development expert with the ...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

A bitter pill: As pharmacies shutter, Pitt experts wonder about the impact on access

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It's no longer a new trend: Large retail pharmacies have been shuttering hundreds of stores across the nation. But an interactive map by University of Pittsburgh pharmacy researchers may help the public visualize the volume of those closures over the past 10 years — and glean the impact the closures may be having on the health of communities. ...Read more

Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post/TNS

Colorado snowstorm cut power to more than 52,000 homes, thousands still without power

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At least 52,000 Colorado homes lost power during the peak of last week’s snowstorm, which dropped feet of wet, heavy snow across the state, according to Xcel Energy.

As of 11 a.m. Sunday, 8,297 homes were without power across Colorado, a jump of nearly 6,000 homes from 10 a.m., according to the energy outlet’s outage map. The majority of ...Read more

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/TNS

Who is Susie Wiles? What to know about Trump's new chief of staff

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President-elect Donald Trump announced that Susie Wiles, who managed his reelection campaign, would become his chief of staff. It makes Wiles the first woman to hold the role, the most senior political appointee in the White House with significant power and influence.

Though she’s considered a “Washington outsider” by some, Wiles is a ...Read more

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Russia says street battles start in strategic East Ukraine city

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Street battles have started in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kurakhove, Russian security agencies told state-run Tass, as Kremlin troops attempt to press their ground advantage at a time each side has ramped up drone launches.

“There is urban fighting in the territory” of the city, the agencies said, adding without evidence that Ukraine’...Read more

Strong earthquakes shake southeast Cuba on the heels of hurricane, islandwide blackouts

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Back-to-back earthquakes hit southeastern Cuba on Sunday, damaging houses, buildings and power lines as well as causing landslides, the goverment said.

The United States Geological Survey reported that a magnitude 5.9 earthquake occurred 21 miles off the municipality of Granma, at about 11 am. Shortly before noon, a larger, magnitude 6.8 tremor...Read more

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/TNS

Biden will make case to Trump's team for Ukraine aid to continue

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President Joe Biden will argue in favor of continued U.S. aid to Ukraine during the transition to President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, according to Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser at the White House.

“President Biden will have the opportunity over the next 70 days to make case to the Congress and to the incoming ...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Mountain fire destroyed their neighborhood but not their resolve. 'We will get through this'

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The residents of Camarillo Heights knew all too well the dangers of fire.

Their corner of Ventura County was battered by powerful Santa Ana winds every fall, and those gusts stoked fires that came close but never swept into their hillside community.

That is until Wednesday, when the Mountain fire made a direct hit, burning numerous homes and ...Read more

Adalberto Roque/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

National Hurricane Center continues to monitor system in Atlantic, Tropical Storm Rafael

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The National Hurricane Center is continues to monitor a system in the Atlantic with low odds of developing into the seasons next tropical depression or storm and weakening Tropical Storm Rafael.

As of the NHC 7 a.m. tropical outlook, disorganized showers and thunderstorms have decreased in area coverage since yesterday near a trough of low ...Read more

Sugar detox? Cutting carbs? A doctor explains why you should keep fruit on the menu

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One of my patients – who had been struggling with obesity, uncontrolled diabetes and the cost of her medications – agreed in June 2019 to adopt a more whole-food plant-based diet.

Excited by the challenge, she did a remarkable job. She increased her fresh fruit and vegetable intake, stopped eating candy, cookies and cakes and cut ...Read more

Dreams of a ‘broken up’ Russia might turn into a nightmare for the West – and an opportunity for China

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Do names on a map matter? When they are in border territories, the answer is probably “yes.”

In 2023, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources ordered that new maps must use the former Chinese names of its lost territories in what is now Russia’s Far East. Vladivostok, home to Russia’s Pacific fleet headquarters, became ...Read more

Can rainbows form in a circle? Fun facts on the physics of rainbows

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Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Can rainbows form in a circle? – Henry D., age 7, Cambridge, Massachusetts

The legend goes that there is a pot of gold hidden at the end of every rainbow. But is there ...Read more