Category: World

The Trump administration is facing backlash after transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced 2,000 video gamers have been hired to serve as air traffic controllers.
Duffy first unveiled the plan to meet the national shortfall this spring and recently took to social media with an update revealing the recruitment drive had been a success.
“In April, we launched a NEW CAMPAIGN to recruit video gamers as air traffic controllers – and supercharged the entire hiring process to get the BEST & BRIGHTEST in faster. The results are HISTORIC.”
Duffy said the 2,000 appointments so far was the most in a single year, adding that a further 2,000 were “in the pipeline”. His post was accompanied by a video compilation of testimonials from some of the new hires expressing their excitement about passing their interviews and getting down to work.
open image in galleryTransportation Secretary Sean Duffy has announced that 2,000 new air traffic controllers have been hired this year after reaching out to..

More than a dozen health conditions are set to be added to the Social Security Administration’s fast-track disability list.
The 14 ailments are being added to Compassionate Allowances, the list launched in 2008 to speed up disability claims for those with severe medical conditions or serious diseases.
“Social Security is strengthening our disability programs and making the disability determination process better, faster, and higher-quality to serve the American public,” SSA Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano said on Tuesday.
“The Compassionate Allowances initiative cuts through red tape and allows us to deliver support to individuals who experience life-changing diagnoses and need help fast.”
open image in galleryFourteen conditions are being added to the Social Security Administration’s fast-track disability list (Getty)With the extra conditions, the CAL now covers 314 illnesses. The additions include cancers primary cardiac sarcoma and Hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma as well as genetic di..

Lebanon has become the first nation in the Arab world to abolish the death penalty, after its parliament voted on Tuesday to replace the punishment with life imprisonment alongside aggravated hard labour.
The tiny Mediterranean country has adhered to an unofficial moratorium on executions since January 2004. Nevertheless, courts have continued to issue dozens of death sentences over the intervening years, which were later suspended or commuted.
A majority of Lebanon's 128-member parliament supported the measure, with opposition coming from the parliamentary bloc of Hezbollah.
Justice Minister Adel Nassar, present during the session, hailed the decision as a “historic step” for the country.
open image in galleryThe vote comes amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East (AFP/Getty)Campaigners and human rights groups advocating for a permanent end to capital punishment also celebrated the vote.
Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon Researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the nation is “marking a fina..

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted the United States was “more affordable” under President Donald Trump, seemingly in an effort to push voters away from progressive Democratic candidates.
In a passionate rant on Fox News’ “Hannity” Monday evening, Leavitt claimed progressive liberal candidates, such as Abdul El-Sayed or Troy Jackson, would turn the U.S. into “a communist h***hole” with policies such as raising taxes or getting rid of private prisons.
“Thanks to President Trump and Republicans and common sense policies across the board, our country is safer, our country is more affordable,” Leavitt said.
But consumer price data – and the public’s general feelings toward the economy – indicates that the country is not more affordable than it was before the 2024 presidential election.
Consumer prices are up 3.5 percent from last year, a gallon of regular gasoline costs more than $4 and median home prices have risen for 36 months straight.
open image in galleryWhite Ho..

Millions of pounds of rotting food inside a fire-damaged storage warehouse in Los Angeles have been creating foul odors in one of the city’s neighborhoods.
A blaze broke out at a cold-storage facility operated by Lineage in Boyle Heights on June 17, before finally being put out a week later on June 24. The site contained over 80 million lbs of beef, poultry, pork and seafood that is still having an impact nearly two months on.
“It smells really bad, like really bad… to the point that you want to throw up,” a local security guard named Mesha told the BBC, comparing the odor to a dead body.
Lisett Navarrete, a 34-year-old who lives in the area, told the Los Angeles Times that the smell is so bad that “you don’t even want to have breakfast.”
“We can’t run away from it, it’s all around us,” she added.
open image in galleryConcerns have been raised over a foul smell emanating from food waste at a Lineage warehouse in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles (AFP/Getty)open image in galleryThe warehou..

The nationwide cyclospora outbreak is very likely a result of sewage contamination in the food supply, according to scientific researchers and public health officials.
The parasite’s spread can become a self-perpetuating cycle. Cyclospora is found only in humans, where it replicates in the intestinal tract, causing severe diarrhea. The organism reproduces by releasing oocysts, which are excreted in those human feces. In the U.S., feces usually end up in sewage systems.
In many states, sewage water is treated – though not always in ways that remove or kill the oocysts – and then released into waterways and can be used to irrigate crops. The oocysts mature in the environment with warm temperatures in about a week. Then a human comes along and eats the irrigated food or drinks the water and gets sick, releasing more oocysts into sewage systems.
open image in galleryCyclospora is found only in humans, where it replicates in the intestinal tract, causing severe diarrhea (Getty Images)I am a..