Author: Press Room

South Carolina has scheduled the execution of an inmate convicted of fatally shooting an off-duty police officer, which would make him the fifth person the state put to death since it resumed executions in the fall following an involuntary 13-year pause.Mikal Mahdi, 41, is set to be executed on April 11 at 6 p.m. at a prison in Columbia, the state Supreme Court announced Friday.Mahdi can choose to die by lethal injection, the electric chair or a firing squad. He must make a decision by March 28, or he will be killed by the electric chair.On March 7, Brad Sigmon…

Researchers have found a way to reduce the duration of a child’s fever.Upper respiratory tract infections are highly reported in the child population, with five to eight URTIs a year common in children, particularly in the first five years of life.University of Milan researchers wanted to know if probiotics could help ease URTI symptoms in the same way they can alleviate gastrointestinal symptoms.Researchers recruited 128 children aged between 28 days and four years for the clinical trial, with one group given a specific blend of three probiotic strains and the other group given a non-active placebo.Children who had the probiotics…

Germany’s next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, set European pigeons flying in circles when he suggested last month that given rising mistrust in President Trump’s commitment to NATO, he wanted to talk to France and Britain about extending nuclear deterrence over Germany.Warning that a “profound change of American geopolitics” had put Poland, as well as Ukraine, in an “objectively more difficult situation,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland suggested the same, while hinting that Poland, with its long history of Russian occupation, might eventually develop its own bomb.Then Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, said this week that it was time for the United…

Donald J. Trump’s electoral victory alarmed most New York Democrats — but not Eric Adams. For Mr. Adams, the mayor of New York City who had been criminally indicted and faced political isolation, it was a golden opportunity.In the weeks before the presidential inauguration, Mr. Adams cozied up to Mr. Trump, his political allies and his family.The mayor called the president-elect on multiple occasions, congratulating him on his election victory and discussing city affairs. He met at a luxury Manhattan hotel with Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s ally and former top aide. And he contacted the president’s second son, Eric…

Pete Buttigieg, the former transportation secretary, ruled out a run for statewide office in Michigan in 2026 and made it clear that he was keeping his 2028 options open.Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois is headed to New Hampshire next month, visiting a traditional battleground in the presidential primary campaign years before any campaign is underway.And even if Iowa isn’t still Iowa, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota found himself on Friday in the state that once kicked off the presidential nominating contest, addressing a group of frustrated and furious Democrats. As the Trump administration marches ahead with an aggressive agenda and…

Simone McGurk says Labor ‘needs to get better’ at spruiking its environment and climate change achievements – after nearly losing her seat of Fremantle.

The Misery Index: It’s not just for people reading my work. (Ha! You thought you were going to hit me with that in the comments, but I just “8 Mile’d” you.)Let’s move on to the point of this story, and yes, there is one (“8 Mile’d” again). A lot of NBA fan bases are enjoying incredibly fun seasons for their favorite teams. Some squads have exceeded expectations and may have fans wondering if an NBA championship is on the way. Other teams have met expectations perfectly and are indeed contending for that Larry O’Brien trophy. And some teams have their…

Marking the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, Guterres speaks out against bigotry, xenophobia and discrimination.United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed concern over “a disturbing rise in anti-Muslim bigotry”, calling on governments to protect religious freedom and for online platforms to curb hate speech. Guterres made the remarks on Saturday to mark the International Day to Combat Islamophobia marked every year on March 15. Rights groups around the world and the UN have noted a rise in Islamophobia, anti-Arab bias and anti-Semitism since the start of Israel’s 17-month war on Gaza. “We are witnessing a disturbing rise in anti-Muslim bigotry.…

House Democrats will hold a “Day of Action” across the country on Tuesday to “aggressively” push back against the “diabolical Republican scheme to enact the largest Medicaid cut in our nation’s history” after Congress passed a spending bill to avert a government shutdown.The Senate voted 54-46 on Friday to pass the stopgap spending bill, with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., as the only Republican to oppose the measure. Nearly all Democrat senators opposed it, but Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with the Democrats, voted to pass the bill.Earlier in the week, the GOP-controlled…

The threat of tornadoes moved east into the Mississippi Valley and the south on Saturday, just a day after a massive storm’s winds damaged buildings, started dust storms that caused fatal crashes and fanned more than 100 wildfires in several central states.Multiple tornadoes were reported in Missouri on Friday. Winds of up to 80 mph were forecast from the Canadian border to Texas, threatening blizzard conditions in colder northern areas and wildfires in warmer and drier areas to the south.Three people were killed Friday in car crashes during a dust storm in Amarillo County, Texas, according to state Department of…