UN votes to approve new world map which will show true size of Africa

Leer en EspañolThe UN general assembly has voted to replace the traditional world map with one that more accurately reflects the size of all nations.
The approved resolution calls for the world to move away from the traditional Mercator map, which shrinks the size of Africa and exaggerates northern landmasses.
The “Correct the Map” resolution, sponsored by Togo, passed with the support of 164 nations, including the UK. The US was the only nation to vote against it, with six other abstentions.
The resolution is non-binding, but asks governments, schools, international organisations, and technology companies to adopt the Equal Earth projection and other equal-area maps wherever the true scale of continents matters, with the aim of establishing more proportionally accurate maps as a new global norm. It does not seek to ban the Mercator projection outright.
The Mercator projection, which is currently used worldwide, increases distortion the further a region sits from the equator. Since Afr..

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Georgia cop reveals why he shot dead a family’s pet donkey

A Georgia cop has revealed why he shot a family’s beloved pet donkey as his department released the officer’s report to quell outrage over the killing.
Trenton Garner, an officer in Cedartown, Georgia, shot and killed the donkey, named “HeeHaw,” on August 30.
He was sent along with a K-9 handler and a bloodhound team to search for a girl who had been reported missing approximately two hours prior, according to his report.
Garner said he and the other officers were following a trail through the woods and into a pasture. They found footprints near the route and began to search the area with the help of the dogs and a drone team from the Rockmart Fire Department, CBS News reports.
The officers' presence near the fence line scared the horses in the pasture off, but — according to Garner's account — the miniature donkey HeeHaw instead charged at the officers.
open image in galleryHannah Israel with her donkey HeeHaw. The animal was shot and killed by Cedartown, Georgia, polic..

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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin orders 72-hour pause in Kyiv strikes, Moscow claims – as Trump’s envoys fly in

Russian drones hit Coca-Cola plant outside Kyiv, says ZelenskyVladimir Putin’s deputy foreign minister has issued a warning to Donald Trump as envoys for the US president are believed to be heading to Moscow for talks to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The key question ​is the extent ⁠to which ⁠the US administration is prepared to invest in ‌finding a real solution to the current crisis, considering ‌the realities on the ground,” Sergei Ryabkov said.
This, Mr Ryabkov sought to claim, was a situation which was not developing in Kyiv's favour, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, are expected to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday before travelling to Kyiv on Sunday to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, according to US officials.
The trip comes as Russia continues its attacks despite Zelensky’s offer of a temporary air truce. “There will be no airstrikes from our side, and Russia must reciproca..

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Sailors on USS Abraham Lincoln describe ‘the worst deployment that they have ever experienced’ after docking in Thailand

Leer en EspañolU.S. service members assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln are speaking out about their record-long, nearly nine-month deployment at sea, during which they supported the ongoing Iran war.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier — some of whose crew had reportedly suffered from deteriorating mental health — laid anchor off Thailand this week, affording its 5,000 sailors and Marines their first port call in 286 days.
While on shore in the resort town of Pattaya, some service members spoke with MS NOW Pentagon Correspondent Priya Sridhar, who recounted her discussions with them during a subsequent on-camera interview.
“Many of them told me that this was, in fact, the worst deployment that they have ever experienced,” said Sridhar, who formerly served as an officer in the Navy Reserve, according to Mediaite. “It was incredibly hard, and many of them expressed to me that they actually wish that they hadn’t even done a port call at this point.”
“They wanted to just go directly home,”..

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Pennsylvania confirms second death of child with measles after RFK Jr. told CDC director to delete numbers

A Pennsylvania coroner has confirmed a second measles death in a child in the state.
The measles deaths are the first reported in the United States this year amid a 35-year high in infections.
“Just today, we received a report of another child who died with measles, and we’re in the process of doing an investigation,” Lancaster County Coroner, Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, told WHTM Wednesday.
It is unclear if the second death reported by the coroner is further clarification of two deaths already reported, or if this brings the death toll to three.
There has been unusual friction between the state and the federal government after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked his newly appointed CDC director to remove a reference to two Pennsylvania fatalities from the agency’s online measles tracker after questioning whether the virus contributed to the deaths, according to a new report.
open image in galleryHealth and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in Washington, D.C…

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Are Jan 6 rioters getting taxpayer payouts? New lawsuit claims DOJ refuses to say

Donald Trump’s administration insists that a compensation fund for pardoned January 6 rioters is dead for good, but the Department of Justice has refused to say whether government lawyers are working on backdoor plans for taxpayer-funded payouts.
The Justice Department has denied several Freedom of Information Act requests filed by a nonprofit watchdog group, according to a newly filed federal lawsuit. The group is now asking a judge to intervene to force the government to answer.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wants to know whether the Justice Department is working on settlement deals with pardoned rioters after hundreds of members of the mob filed lawsuits against the government “seeking millions of dollars for what they claim are injuries incurred during the investigation and prosecution of their federal crimes,” according to the lawsuit.
They’re all suing under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which taps into the government’s permanent Judgment Fund used to pay co..

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