BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Killing endangered animals while logging a forest or building a dam would not be considered illegal unless the animals were specifically targeted, under a new interpretation of the Endangered Species Act by President Donald Trump's administration that marks a sea change in how the landmark environmental law is enforced.
A directive sent to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees this week says imperiled animals or plants must be intentionally targeted for their killing to be considered illegal.
That's a sharp turnaround from past practice at the wildlife service, which historically held people liable even for accidentally harming protected species such as grizzly bears, manatees and spotted owls.
Experts said the change would allow timber companies to log forests in the Pacific Northwest even if they knew that doing so could kill imperiled birds nesting in the trees, or for developers to build a dam knowing it would kill salmon.
"This cuts against the entire history of the Endangered Species Act," said Dan Ashe, who led the Fish and Wildlife Service under former President Barack Obama.

#species #president #killing

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — A flight that was scheduled to carry Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from Moldova to Norway earlier this week was delayed when authorities closed Moldova's airspace because of a drone incursion, a government spokesperson said.
Moldovan police said a Russian drone crashed on Tuesday in a sunflower field on the outskirts of a village in the district of Riscani, which caused four fires to break out but no injuries.
Government spokesperson Dumitru Ciorici said on Wednesday that Moldova had closed its airspace Tuesday afternoon to protect aircraft flying over the country at the time. The closure delayed three departures, including the flight carrying Zelenskyy.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told broadcaster NRK that Zelenskyy's plane "was nearly hit by a drone as it took off from Moldova" on its way to Oslo for King Harald V's funeral. Zelenskyy arrived in Oslo on Tuesday and met Støre to discuss potential support for Ukraine's air defenses before attending the king's funeral on Wednesday.
Moldovan authorities confirmed the drone came down and exploded 160 kilometers (100 miles) from Chisinau International Airport. The airspace restrictions were lifted and Zelenskyy's plane took off later than scheduled.

#drone

The State Department tells NBC News that 90 Americans are among the hundreds still missing after deadly floods along the Nepal/China border. NBC News' Janis Mackey Frayer reports.

#China #frayer

Newly confirmed Attorney General Todd Blanche, who served as the president's personal defense attorney, tells Meet the Press that President Trump "never has" and "never will" ask him to do something unethical or illegal.

#newly

The eldest son of U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert has been charged with child **** ual exploitation, authorities in Colorado announced Monday, Aug. 10.
Tyler Boebert was arrested Sunday on charges of **** ual exploitation of a child and multiple other charges, the Garfield County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. Tyler Boebert, a New Castle, Colorado, resident, was arrested following an investigation involving the Garfield County Sheriff's Office and the 9th Judicial District Attorney's Office.
The arrest of the Colorado Republican's son comes as the midterms are just months away. Lauren Boebert first joined Congress in 2021 and represents Colorado's 4th Congressional District, an area covering the eastern part of the state that voted heavily for President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
"I love my son," the U.S. representative told USA TODAY in response to a request for comment. "We take these allegations very seriously and pray for everyone affected during this challenging time."
USA TODAY has reached out to Garfield County authorities for further information on the charges.

#Colorado #county #charges #district

Aug 9 (Reuters) - Taylor Farms said on Sunday it was recalling prepared food items containing jalapeños from retailers over concerns about potential ‌salmonella contamination, a few weeks after removing lettuce from Mexico ‌that U.S. authorities linked to the cyclospora parasite.
The California-based supplier said it had voluntarily recalled the products, including salsas and guacamole, after being notified that Coast Citrus Distributors was recalling the fresh peppers.
Taylor said in a statement it was no longer sourcing from a farmer in Sinaloa, Mexico, that was identified as the potential source ‌of the salmonella outbreak.
The ⁠Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said earlier this week they were investigating the ⁠salmonella outbreak, which had sickened 345 people across 27 states and led to 36 hospitalizations.
The U.S. investigation identified restaurants including Chipotle Mexican Grill and Qdoba, a Mexican-style restaurant chain, as having received jalapeños imported by Coast Citrus Distributors. Both ‌restaurants stopped using them, while Coast Citrus recalled the remaining product and notified customers.

#coast #Food

In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) says he believes Troy Jackson is a "strong candidate" who can beat Republican Senator Susan Collins after Jackson replaced Graham Platner on the ballot.

#troy

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The fallout from Venezuela's powerful twin quakes has evolved into a major test for acting President Delcy Rodríguez, sending her scrambling to prevent the humanitarian disaster from becoming a political one as her mandate as interim leader expires Friday.
A day after Rodríguez angrily defended the competence of her government's relief effort at her first news conference since the June 24 disaster, her main rival, exiled Venezuelan ******* el Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado, issued her own appeal.
Machado on Friday argued that the government's quake response exposed its critical weaknesses and that she should return to Venezuela to help "the transition process, especially after the tragedy."
"My presence stabilizes the situation; it is part of the organizing forces that the country needs at a time when the total absence of the state has become evident," Machado said, referring to widespread criticism of the government's earthquake response as slow and disorganized. "The country needs figures it can trust." She spoke to reporters from Panama.
The quakes have killed 2,645 people and injured over 12,500 others, according tallies released Friday by the government. Machado's opposition movement has set up an online database to locate the missing — a list of 36,000 people as of Friday. The party has mobilized volunteers to collect donations in Venezuela and solicited aid from the country's vast diaspora.

Elon Musk is now a trillionaire. The Tesla CEO became the world's first trillionaire on Friday, June 12, as **** eX opened on the Nasdaq at $150 a share and rose, with his stake in the company reaching $819 billion, according to an **** ysis by NBC News. The outlet additionally noted that Musk holds $375 billion stake in Tesla, totaling his net worth from both companies to at least $1.2 trillion as of noon eastern time. As the world's first trillionaire, his net worth exceeds the national GDPs of Taiwan, Sweden, Belgium, and Argentina.

PARIS, June 8 (Reuters) - French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said on ‌Monday he had told public prosecutors ‌to review 70,000 ongoing allegations of violence against minors, after an outcry over the death an 11-year-old girl.
• The girl's death caused outrage after authorities said ‌they had not ⁠acted on previous child rape allegations against the main suspect.
• ⁠The case marked a "terrible failure from the state, and of the justice system," Darmanin said.
• Prosecutors had to review ‌all formal complaints filed with authorities across the country by July 14 as "an absolute priority," he added.
• Asked if he would resign, Darmanin said: "If any ‌shortcomings are identified, I will take responsibility and propose disciplinary actions ranging from a ‌reprimand to dismissal."

President Donald Trump has revealed the lineup for a rally celebrating the nation's 250th anniversary days after a slew of musicians pulled out of performing at a Freedom 250 multi-day concert event.
In a June 4 social media post, Trump announced country singer Lee Greenwood will sing his 1984 hit "God Bless The U.S.A" at the June 24 rally before introducing the headlining act: the president himself.
"We don't want singers with no talent, but big fees to put you to sleep, we've told them all to stay home. All we want is you, me, a few speakers, and the Greatest Music ever played, the same Music you have listened to for years!" Trump wrote.
Freedom 250, the quasi-government group Trump formed to mark America's 250th birthday, was originally planning a 16-day concert series as part of an event coined the "Great America State Fair." But last week, a slew of musicians backed out of performing, with several citing the event's perceived political affiliation and confusion around what they signed up for.
As a result, Trump decided to nix the performances and instead give a speech himself, a White House official previously confirmed. The rally is scheduled for June 24.

A new rule explaining how states need to implement Medicaid work requirements may make it much harder for low-income sick people to maintain health coverage next year.
The long-anticipated rule issued Monday is meant to guide 42 states and the District of Columbia in carrying out the work rules implemented by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. GOP lawmakers and administration officials have described the policy as a way to combat waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicaid program.
The work requirements are set to take effect in January. Beneficiaries who are part of the Medicaid expansion population must work or volunteer at least 80 hours per month, attend school at least part time or participate in job training.
Alternatively, they must prove they qualify for certain exemptions, like caring for a child 13 years or younger or a parent with a disability.
Here are five key takeaways:

By Ted Hesson and David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is canceling most pending contracts initiated under ousted Secretary Kristi Noem, the ‌current secretary said on Wednesday, a move that follows congressional scrutiny and an internal ‌watchdog review of her contracting practices.
During a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, Secretary Markwayne Mullin faced questions from a top Democrat about what steps he had taken to cancel Noem-era contracts.
The move is part of a broader effort by Mullin to unwind contracting practices under Noem that drew bipartisan criticism.
"We are looking at the contracts that weren't already signed, and we did go ‌through and cancel most of those," ⁠Mullin said.

June 2 (Reuters) - Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno said on Tuesday ‌the country intends to join ‌the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and will present its application on Wednesday in Paris.
The CPTPP is a free trade accord among ‌12 countries. ⁠It was first established in 2018 among Australia, Brunei, Canada, ⁠Chile, ******* an, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Britain joined in 2024 and China also hopes ‌to join.
Argentina's plans to join the pact follow its backing for other trade deals in recent months, including a reciprocal trade and investment ‌agreement with the United States and the Mercosur-European Union agreement.
"We will continue to ‌make rapid progress on these agreements," Quirno said during a virtual address to the 43rd Congress of the ‌Argentine Institute of Finance Executives.
(Reporting by Natalia Siniawski, Editing by Daina Beth Solomon)

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Two of Iraq’s most powerful Iran-backed militias said on Tuesday they would begin handing in their weapons to the authorities, a major step in the new government’s effort to rein in militias that have long operated on their own even though they were nominally under state command.
One of the groups, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, said it had formed a committee to oversee the move, inventory its fighters, weapons and equipment, and coordinate with the commander-in-chief of Iraq's armed forces. It cast the decision as a response to calls by Iraq’s top Shiite religious authority and the Iran-aligned Coordination Framework, the largest bloc in Parliament that dominates Iraqi politics.
The second group, the Imam Ali Brigades, made a similar announcement saying the time has come “to build a strong state with full sovereignty.” It added that its aim was now to have weapons only with the state and help boost state institutions.
The war in the Middle East, which the United States and Israel launched on Feb. 28 with strikes on Iran, has exposed the fragility of Iraq’s state institutions and their limited ability to restrain Iran-backed groups.
A parallel confrontation between Washington and the militias has deepened the crisis, with factions acting as an extension of Iran’s regional campaign and escalating attacks on U.S. ****** ets in Iraq before a tenuous ceasefire deal was reached in April.