President Biden is slated to visitNew Mexico on Saturday amid a highly active fire season, as anger continues to simmer over the cause of the state’s largest recorded blaze.
The president will meet with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has called for the federal government to cover the entirety of recovery costs from the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon Fires.
The merged fires have spreadover 319,841 acres and were 67% contained, with 2,685 personnel working amidst windy conditions.
Austin rejected Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during his speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
“It’s a preview of a possible world of chaos and turmoil that none of us would want to live in,” he said.
Zelensky also spoke at the summit, stating that “the future rules of this world are being decided” in Ukraine.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin while speaking in Singapore on Saturday articulated that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a “preview of a possible world of chaos and turmoil.”
While speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, Austin remarked on the potential repercussions of the deadly invasion, which was launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February and has been widely condemned by an array of global leaders, notably those from NATO member countries.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is what happens when oppressors trample the rules that protect us all. It’s what happens when big powers decide that their imperial appetites matter more than the rights of their peaceful neighbors. And it’s a preview of a possible world of chaos and turmoil that none of us would want to live in,” he said at the major Asian defense summit.
US and NATO countries are dispatching planes filled with military equipment for Ukraine – here are some of the weapons sent to hold back Russian tanks and aircraft
The US and other NATO countries have sent thousands of weapons to Ukraine in recent weeks.
The shipments include anti-armor and anti-aircraft missiles which could be used against Russian tanks and helicopters .
The weapons are being used by Ukrainian fighters to push back Russian forces.
As fighting in Ukraine enters its third week, reports this week revealed heavily-laden military cargo jets are pouring into an airfield across the border, stacked with weapons and military equipment to help Ukraine’s forces hold back the advance of Russian troops.
Throughout the buildup to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, NATO countries, including the US, insisted they would not send troops to the region amid concern that the presence of their personnel on the ground would lead to a dangerous escalation of the conflict.
That stance has continued since Moscow ordered its troops into Ukraine on the morning of February 24. Instead, NATO nations and other countries are supplying Ukraine’s defence forces – vastly outgunned and outnumbered by Russia’s military – with weapons and equipment that Kyiv hopes will be able to help staunch Russia’s advance.
With heavy transport aircraft continuing to deliver consignments of equipment critical for Ukraine’s defense, we take a look at some of the weapons being sent to Ukraine as it tries to hold back Russia’s advances.
The Pentagon chief then spoke of the importance of the “rules-based international order,” highlighting how Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea all helped Ukraine in the aftermath of the invasion, while also noting the critical contributions from India, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also gave an address to the summit on Saturday — with his speech was conducted virtually — where he emphasized that the global order was being tested in his country.
“I am grateful for your support … but this support is not only for Ukraine, but for you as well,” Zelensky said, per Reuters. “It is on the battlefields of Ukraine that the future rules of this world are being decided along with the boundaries of the possible.”
Since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine, an alliance of leaders — including US President Joe Biden — have continued to appropriate money for arms necessary for the Ukrainian military to fight back against invading forces.
The first few weeks of the war featured critical errors on the part of the Russian military, with the country suffering major losses among its members on the ground and utilizing inadequate equipment.
Russia has recalibrated and in recent weeks has focused its actions largely in eastern Ukraine — largely in the Donbas region, which have included intense battles in the city of Severodonetsk.
Ukraine has pleaded for longer-range weapons from the West in order to counter the weaponry being used by Russia.
Vadym Skibitsky, the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, recently told The Guardian that the battle against Russia is “an artillery war now” and said his forces were currently “losing in terms of artillery.”
On Friday, Austin also met with his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Wei Fenghe, the minister of national defense, where he emphasized that the US did not “seek confrontation or conflict” as it pertains to Taiwan.
Since entering the White House last year, Biden has had several foreign policy rifts with China, largely as it relates to the United States’ stance of “strategic ambiguity” regarding Taiwan, which the Chinese government considers a breakaway province.
If even a small part of the Antarctic ice sheet were to completely crumble into the sea, the impact for the world’s coasts would be severe.
The front of Thwaites Glacier is a jagged, towering cliff.DAVID VAUGHAN/BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY
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Flying over Antarctica, it’s hard to see what all the fuss is about. Like a gigantic wedding cake, the frosting of snow on top of the world’s largest ice sheet looks smooth and unblemished, beautiful and perfectly white. Little swirls of snow dunes cover the surface.
But as you approach the edge of the ice sheet, a sense of tremendous underlying power emerges. Cracks appear in the surface, sometimes…
Defence minister warns his US counterpart China will ‘not hesitate to start war’ if self-ruled island engages in ‘independence plot’.
China’s Defence Minister Wei Fenghe leaves a bilateral meeting with US Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Friday [Caroline Chia/Reuters]
China will “not hesitate to start a war” and “smash to smithereens” any Taiwan independence efforts, its defence minister warned his US counterpart in the pair’s first face-to-face talks.
“If anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese army will definitely not hesitate to start a war no matter the cost,” Defence Minister Wei Fenghe said during a meeting with Lloyd Austin on Friday.
Arizona Game and Fish and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have determined Mexican wolf conservation efforts will be focused south of the I-40 corridor.
PHOENIX — The latest international research study on Mexican wolves says that encouraging recovery of the endangered subspecies north of its outlined historical range would be detrimental to preserving the wolf’s unique characteristics.
The leading wildlife science journal Biological Conservation recently highlighted the new research, further rebuking calls for Mexican wolves to be released far outside their historical range, defined as southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico and the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico. Doing so would encourage genetic mixing with northwestern wolves originally from Canada, which threatens the genetic uniqueness of the Mexican wolf.
“The latest science clearly shows that Mexican wolf dispersal outside the species’ historical range before…
A highly infectious bird flu has caused the deaths of 37 million birds in the U.S.
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona officials have confirmed the first cases in the Southwest of a bird flu that has led to the deaths of 37 million birds from commercial farms in the central and eastern U.S.
The disease was spotted after tests by federal wildlife officials in three wild cormorants that had been found dead in a park in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale, Arizona Game and Fish officials announced this week.
Bird Flu Arizona FILE – A bird lands on the top of the net behind home plate during a spring training baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and the Milwaukee Brewers Wednesday, March 24, 2021, in Phoenix. Arizona officials have confirmed the first cases in the Southwest of a bird flu that has led to the deaths of 37 million birds from commercial farms in the central and eastern U.S. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File) (Ashley Landis)
PHOENIX — (AP) — Arizona officials have confirmed the first cases in the Southwest of a bird flu that has led to the deaths of 37 million birds from commercial farms in the central and eastern U.S.
The disease was spotted after tests by federal wildlife officials in three wild cormorants that had been found dead in a park in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale, Arizona Game and Fish officials announced this week.
The disease has not yet been found in any domestic birds or in commercial operations, the agency said.
But it is a concern, according to Glenn Hickman, president and CEO of Hickman Family Farms, one of the largest egg producers in the Southwest. Hickman operates four chicken ranches in Arizona, one in California and two in Colorado.
The company has stopped any visits to its farms and doublechecked its biosecurity program, which is designed to prevent its approximately 2 million chickens from being infected. Its chickens are kept in barns that are secured so that wild birds can’t enter, and any people or tools that enter are disinfected.
The company dodged a scare recently when the avian flu was found in a flock 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) from one of its Colorado farms, Hickman said Thursday. And while he’s concerned about the Scottsdale find, its not anywhere near as concerning as if a nearby commercial operation had an outbreak.
“Those are a lot scarier because the massive amount of virus that is potentially produced when you have a large population is much more than the relatively small amount of virus per bird in the wild bird population,” he said. None of his farms were affected.
Arizona Game and Fish officials have been closely monitoring for the disease, which had been no closer than Colorado before this week’s announcement, by responding to all calls of dead birds.
Anne Justice-Allen, the department’s wildlife veterinarian, said calls from the public alerted her agency to the dead cormorants, water-loving birds that often nest in groups. The three juveniles had fallen out of their nests and were spotted dead by morning walkers in the park, who called wildlife officials.
“It’s a good thing they did,” Justice-Allen said, because they were able to collect the birds and test them before park workers removed them.
“We had a high suspicion that it was something that we do not normally see,” Justice-Allen said. “We have resident cormorants in the area, and we do not normally see mortality events in them.”
Justice-Allen said a major concern is backyard flocks of chickens, which are allowed in parts of metro Phoenix. The disease has been found in many homeowner flocks across the country.
Bird owners should watch for symptoms like birds not eating or lethargy, runny noses, seizures or diarrhea, she said. Anyone seeing those symptoms should call the state Department of Agriculture.
As of June 3, it had been detected in wild birds in 40 states, but not in California, Arizona, Nevada or New Mexico. Commercial flocks in 19 states have been infected.
Once an infection is found, the birds won’t recover and are killed to prevent spreading the illness, Justice-Allen said.
The outbreak has not only killed domestic fowl. It has also had a heavy toll on bald eagles and other wild bird species, much more so than the nation’s last bird flu outbreak detected in 2014. That outbreak cost more than 50 million domestic poultry.
Hickman said egg producers are so far making up for lost production from outbreaks affecting flocks this year.
“I think I can speak pretty firmly that regardless of how many birds that have been affected and depopulated, there are still eggs on every shelf in every grocery store in America,” Hickman said.
A vegan diet consists entirely of plant-based foods
Plant-based diets can help address a variety of health issues, according to a new expert commentary.
Eating more plants and less animal products may help manage weight and blood sugar.
Nutrients in plants can also help prevent chronic illnesses like cancer and heart disease.
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A plant-based diet might help improve health by managing weight and preventing illness, and doctors should take note, according to a commentary published May 26 in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine.
Doctors with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit organization of health experts advocating for vegan diets, wrote in the commentary that medical experts should be more aware of the evidence-based benefits of diets rich in plant foods like greens, beans, fruits, and nuts.
Plant-based diets may be especially helpful for six common health concerns, research suggests, ranging from cancer and cognitive decline to weight management and stable blood sugar.
Low-calorie plant foods may aid weight loss
Eating a mostly vegan diet could help you maintain a healthy weight, according to the commentary. The authors cite a 2013 study of more than 70,000 people which found vegans tended to weigh nearly 10 pounds less, on average, than their omnivorous peers.
Fiber in plant foods could help prevent cancer, too
Fiber is an important nutrient for long-term health and disease prevention, according to the commentary, and plant-based diets have been linked to lower risk of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and prostate cancer.
Fiber slows the digestion and absorption of glucose as your body breaks down carbohydrates for energy, which helps prevent dips and spikes in blood sugar, dietitians previously told Insider.
As a result, plant foods may also help people who have diabetes manage their blood sugar too, research suggests.
Nutrient-dense plants could protect brain health as you age
The vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients in plant foods could also stave off cognitive decline, evidence suggests. A 2020 study found that combined with other healthy lifestyle factors, eating more vegetables, grains, and legumes was linked to significantly lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Plant foods tend to be low in cholesterol and saturated fat, both of which have been linked to risks for heart health.
Some evidence suggests plant-based diets are linked to lower risk of COVID complications
More research is needed, but the health benefits of eating plants may be protective against the pandemic, according to the commentary. Healthy plant-based diets were linked to significantly lower risk of severe coronavirus infection, one 2021 study found.
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Exposing the Big Game 