China pushes to digitize mines in attempt to make them safer

By HAN GUAN NG

yesterday

PHOTO ESSAY 23 PICS

A miner pulls back the wire fence near the shearer at the mining face of Xiaobaodang Coal Mine near the city of Shenmu in northwestern China's Shaanxi province on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. China is using “smart” technology to try to improve its safety record in coal mines, as part of a push by the National Energy Administration to bolster output and stem frequent accidents and collapses. Huawei Technologies Ltd., better known for telecommunications equipment and the target of U.S. sanctions, has pivoted to other industries including self-driving cars, factories and mines. 

(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

SHENMU, China (AP) — China is using “smart” technology to try to improve its safety record in coal mines, as part of a push by the National Energy Administration to bolster output and stem frequent accidents and collapses.

Smart-mine sensors monitor aspects such as gas buildup and flooding or ventilation levels, and set off an alert if any reach a dangerous level. The sensors, located inside the mine and on carts and tools, transfer the data via 5G, allowing for real-time monitoring by a central command.


Huawei Technologies Ltd., better known for telecommunications equipment, teamed up with state-owned Shaanxi Coal Industry Co to pilot its intelligent coal mine technology in Hongliulin and Xiaobaodang. Huawei has pivoted to other industries including self-driving cars, factories and mines amid U.S. sanctions that led it to report a 70% decline in profits from last year in March.

The system has allowed Shaanxi to reduce the number of people working underground by 42% at the Xiaobaodang mine, while increasing production levels. Miners now work with the help of robots, which monitor equipment while centrally-controlled shearers are used to collect coal.

In March, China said that 53 miners involved in an accident in a large mine in Inner Mongolia were either missing or dead. The mine collapsed in February after a landslide.

FASCISM U$A

GOP uses state capitol protests to redefine ‘insurrection’
TOPSY TURVEY ORWELLIANISM
By KIMBERLEE KRUESI and ALI SWENSON

yesterday

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 Montana Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr hoists a microphone into the air on Monday, April 24, 2023, as her supporters interrupt proceedings in the state House by chanting "Let Her Speak!" in Helena, Mont. The silencing of Zephyr, a transgender lawmaker in Montana, marks the third time in a month that Republicans have attempted to compare disruptive but otherwise peaceful protests at state capitols to insurrections. The tactic follows a pattern set over the past two years when the term has been misused to describe public demonstrations and even the 2020 election that put Democrat Joe Biden in the White House. (AP Photo/Amy Beth Hanson, File)

Silenced by her Republican colleagues, Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr looked up from the House floor to supporters in the gallery shouting “Let her speak!” and thrust her microphone into the air — amplifying the sentiment the Democratic transgender lawmaker was forbidden from expressing.

It was a brief moment of defiance and chaos. While seven people were arrested for trespassing, the boisterous demonstration was free of violence or damage. Yet later that day, a group of Republican lawmakers described it in darker tones, saying Zephyr’s actions were responsible for “encouraging an insurrection.”

It’s the third time in the last five weeks — and one of at least four times this year — that Republicans have attempted to compare disruptive but nonviolent protests at state capitols to insurrections.

The tactic follows a pattern set over the past two years when the term has been misused to describe public demonstrations and even the 2020 election that put Democrat Joe Biden in the White House. It’s a move experts say dismisses legitimate speech and downplays the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump. Shortly after, the U.S. House voted to impeach him for “incitement of insurrection.”

Ever since, many Republicans have attempted to turn the phrase on Democrats.

“They want to ring alarm bells and they want to compare this to Jan. 6,” said Andy Nelson, the Democratic Party chair in Missoula County, which includes Zephyr’s district. “There’s absolutely no way you can compare what happened on Monday with the Jan. 6 insurrection. Violence occurred that day. No violence occurred in the gallery of the Montana House.”

This week’s events in the Montana Legislature drew comparisons to a similar demonstration in Tennessee. Republican legislative leaders there used “insurrection” to describe a protest on the House floor by three Democratic lawmakers who were calling for gun control legislation in the aftermath of a Nashville school shooting that killed three students and three staff. Two of them chanted “Power to the people” through a megaphone and were expelled before local commissions reinstated them.


Montana transgender lawmaker silenced again
Republican legislative leaders in Montana persisted in forbidding Democratic transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr from participating in debate for a second week as her supporters brought the House session to a halt Monday — chanting “Let her speak!” from the gallery before they were escorted out. (April 24)
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As in Montana, their supporters were shouting from the gallery above, and the scene brought legislative proceedings to a halt. Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton condemned the Democratic lawmakers.

“(What) they did today was equivalent, at least equivalent, maybe worse depending on how you look at it, of doing an insurrection in the Capitol,” Sexton, a Republican, told a conservative radio station on March 30.

He later clarified to reporters that he was talking just about the lawmakers and not the protesters who were at the Capitol. He has maintained that the Democratic lawmakers were trying to cause a riot.

To Democrats, Republicans’ reaction was seen as a way to distract discussion from a critical topic.

“They are trying to dismiss the integrity and sincerity of what all these people are calling for,” said Tennessee Democratic Rep. John Ray Clemmons. “They’re dismissing what it is just to avoid the debate on this issue.”

Legal experts say the term insurrection has a specific meaning — a violent uprising that targets government authority.

That’s how dictionaries described it in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the term was added to the Constitution and the 14th Amendment, said Laurence Tribe, a constitutional law professor at Harvard University.

Protests at the capitols in Montana and Tennessee didn’t involve violence or any real attempts to dismantle or replace a government, so it’s wrong to call them insurrections, Tribe said.

Michael Gerhardt, a law professor at the University of North Carolina, said insurrection is understood as a coordinated attempt to overthrow government.

“Disrupting things is a far cry from insurrection,” Gerhardt said. “It’s just a protest, and protesters are not insurrectionists.”

Nevertheless, conservative social media commentators and bloggers have used the word insurrection alongside videos of protesters at state capitols in attempts to equate those demonstrations to the Jan. 6 attack, when thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to halt certification of the presidential vote and keep Trump in office. Some of the rioters sought out then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and shouted “Hang Mike Pence” as they roamed the Capitol.

Republicans’ use of the term insurrection in these cases isn’t just wrong, it’s also strategic, said Yotam Ophir, a University at Buffalo communications professor who focuses on misinformation. Repeating a loaded term over and over makes it lose its meaning and power, he said.

The term also serves two other purposes for Republicans: demonizing Democrats as violent and implying that the accusations against Trump supporters on Jan. 6 were exaggerated, Ophir said.

In Montana, one widely shared Twitter post falsely claimed transgender “insurgents” had “seized” the Capitol, while the right-wing website Breitbart called the protest Democrats’ “second ‘insurrection’ in as many months.”

The Montana Freedom Caucus, which issued the statement that included the insurrection description, also demanded that Zephyr be disciplined. The group includes 21 Montana Republican lawmakers, or a little less than a third of Republicans in the Legislature. It was founded in January with the encouragement of U.S. House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Matt Rosendale, a hardline Montana conservative who backed Trump’s false statements about fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

Republican lawmakers eventually voted to bar Zephyr from participating on the House floor, forcing her to vote remotely. Notably, Republicans largely avoided referencing insurrection when discussing the motion, but some did accuse Zephyr of attempting to incite violence and putting her colleagues at risk of harm.

The Montana and Tennessee examples follow at least two other statehouse protests that prompted cries of “insurrection” from Republicans.

Donald Trump Jr. cited “insurrection” in February in a tweet claiming transgender activists had taken over and occupied the Oklahoma Capitol. But according to local news reports, hundreds of supporters of transgender rights who rallied against a gender-affirming care ban before the Republican-controlled Legislature were led in through metal detectors by law enforcement and protested peacefully.

In Minnesota, some conservative commentators used the word insurrection earlier this month as demonstrators gathered peacefully outside the Senate chambers while lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled Legislature debated contentious bills ranging from LGBTQ issues to abortion. There was no violence or damage.

The rhetoric lines up with the refusal among many Republicans to acknowledge that the Jan. 6 attack was an assault on American democracy and the peaceful transfer of power.

“My colleagues across the aisle have spent so much time trying to silence the minority party that anyone speaking up and amplifying their voice probably strikes them as insurrectionist, even though it doesn’t resemble anything like it,” said Clemmons, the Democratic lawmaker in Tennessee.

RELATED COVERAGE– 

Montana trans lawmaker fights on during 1st day of exile
– 'Blood on your hands': Montana lawmaker's words not unusual
– Montana transgender lawmaker barred by GOP from House floor
– Rep. Zooey Zephyr's town feels divide from rest of Montana

___

Kruesi reported from Nashville and Swenson from New York. Associated Press writers Kate Brumback in Atlanta; Steve Karnowski in St. Paul, Minnesota; Sam Metz in Salt Lake City and Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

Montana trans lawmaker fights on during 1st day of exile

By AMY BETH HANSON, BRITTANY PETERSON and SAM METZ

April 27, 2023

Transgender lawmaker fights for space in hall 

PHOTOS VIDEO

Montana lawmaker Zooey Zephyr began her first day in legislative exile with renewed confidence that Republican lawmakers’ unprecedented vote to silence her has only amplified her message. 


HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr spent her first day in legislative exile Thursday relegated to a bench in a noisy hallway across from a snack bar outside the state House chambers where she is no longer allowed.

Zephyr defiantly stayed put even after the Republican House speaker said she couldn’t be there and a House security officer threatened to move the bench where she had set up her laptop. She listened to debate and voted remotely from there, with a gold sticky note on the wall above her head that read “Seat 31,” her seat assignment in the house. The note was placed there by transgender and nonbinary Rep. SJ Howell.

RELATED COVERAGE

– Montana transgender lawmaker silenced: What to know
– Rep. Zooey Zephyr's town feels divide from rest of Montana
– Polarization means punishment for minority party lawmakers
– Montana transgender lawmaker barred by GOP from House floor

Republicans had wanted Zephyr to participate from behind the doors of the House Minority’s offices a day after they voted to ban her from the House floor for the rest of the session, which ends early next week.

Her refusal to do so came as Democrats sought to keep Zephyr’s banishment in plain view after a week’s worth of nationwide public scrutiny over Republicans’ unprecedented actions to silence her, which continued Thursday.

Republicans moved to sideline Zephyr further by shutting down the two committees she serves on and moving the bills they were to hear to other committees, Democratic Rep. Donavon Hawk said in a statement.

“I walked out yesterday with my head held high and I walked in with my head held high today, ready to do my job,” Zephyr told The Associated Press.

As cameras snapped and espresso beans churned in a machine nearby, Zephyr and Democratic leaders promised she would remain in the public eye unless Republicans elected to further limit where she could go in the Capitol.

“There are many more eyes on Montana now,” Zephyr said. “But you do the same thing you’ve always done. You stand up in defense of your community and you ... stand for the principles that they elected you to stand for.”

The motion Republicans passed bars Zephyr from the marble-pillared House, the gallery above it and a waiting room, but not the public space in the hall where she set up. Minority Leader Kim Abbott said the lawmaker would be voting there, within public view.

The showdown began last week, when Zephyr told lawmakers backing a bill to ban gender-affirming medical care for minors that they would have blood on their hands. The phrase has been used recurrently by both Republicans and Democrats discussing the nation’s most polarizing issues, but Montana House leaders said they would block Zephyr from participating further in the debate until she apologized for saying it.

Zephyr did not back down, instead participating in a protest that disrupted Monday’s House session as observers in the gallery chanted, “Let her speak!” — an action that led to Wednesday’s vote to banish her from the floor.

The Republican response to her comments, and her refusal to apologize for them as demanded, have transformed Zephyr into a prominent figure in the nationwide battle for transgender rights and placed her at the center of the ongoing debate over the muffling of dissent in statehouses.

“Silencing an elected representative, in an attempt to suppress their messages, is a denial of democratic values. It’s undemocratic,” White House Press Secretary Kaine Jean-Pierre said Thursday.

Rep. Zooey Zephyr sits for a portrait at the Montana State Capitol.

 (AP Photo/Tommy Martino)

The attention is a new phenomenon for Zephyr, a 34-year-old serving her first term representing a western Montana college town after being elected in November.

In her interview with the AP, Zephyr likened efforts to silence her to the decision by Tennessee lawmakers to expel two Black representatives for disrupting proceedings when they participated in a gun control protest after a school shooting in Nashville. The two were quickly reinstated.

Tennessee lawmakers not only rejected gun control laws, but by expelling the lawmakers they sent a message saying: “‘Your voices shouldn’t be here. We’re going to send you away,’” Zephyr said.

Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, walks out of the Montana House of Representatives after lawmakers voted to ban her from the chamber. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP)

As in Montana, GOP leaders in Tennessee had said their actions were necessary to avoid setting a precedent that lawmakers’ disruptions of House proceedings through protest would be tolerated.

Tennessee Rep. Justin Pearson, one of the lawmakers who was expelled earlier this month, has called the Montana standoff anti-democratic and Nebraska state Sen. Megan Hunt likened her fight to Zephyr’s after being served notice Wednesday of a complaint filed against her that she said was an effort to silence her voice on a gender-affirming care ban under consideration.

“It’s so important that we not be silent about this from state to state to state. And it’s so important that people stand up against this rising movement, this radical movement, and say it is not welcome,” she said.

Zephyr is undeterred. She said throughout the events of the past week, she has both aimed to rise and meet the moment and continue doing the job she was elected to do: representing her community and constituents.

“It’s queer people across the world and it’s also the constituents of other representatives who are saying, ‘They won’t listen’ when it comes to these issues. It’s staff in this building who, when no one is looking, come up and say ‘Thank you,’” she said.

___

The story has been edited to correct that the color of the sticky note is gold not pink.

___

Metz reported from Salt Lake City. Associated Press reporter Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.

TOXIC DEBRIS

Fish and Wildlife: SpaceX Starship debris covered 350 acres, no wildlife killed


Debris sits in area around the Space X Starship launch pad, in Boca Chica, Texas on Saturday. Starship exploded shortly after takeoff on April 20. U.S. Fish and Wildlife said Wednesday that the debris covered 350 acres. 

Photo by Thom Baur/UPI | License Photo

April 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service documented the fallout from the SpaceX rocket that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last week, scattering debris into the surrounding area.

The service said "no dead birds or wildlife" or debris from the spacecraft launch were found on lands belonging to the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, stating the greatest impact came in the form of damage from the rocket's booster to SpaceX's nearby launchpad.

"Impacts from the launch include numerous large concrete chunks stainless steel sheets, metal and other objects hurled thousands of feet away," the service said.

Debris was dispersed throughout the 385 acres of land belonging to SpaceX and the Boca Chica state park and a 3.5-acre fire was also found south of the launch pad within the state park but the service didn't provide details on a cause or how long it burned.

RELATED SpaceX searches for answers after Starship's fiery demise

"A plume cloud of pulverized concrete that deposited material up to 6.5 miles northwest of the pad site," the service added.

Officials closed Boca Chica Beach and State Highway 4 for two days because of the debris.

Jared Margolis, a senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, told CNBC that the service's count of wildlife fatalities may not be accurate because they were delayed in getting to the park.

"If there were any mortalities from the launch-particularly from concrete chunks and metal being hurled thousands of feet into National Wildlife Refuge lands that are habitat for protected species, such as the piping plover, any carcasses would likely have been dragged off by scavengers, making it difficult to assess the full extent of impacts," Margolis said.

The test flight of SpaceX's Starship rocket, which is eventually set to carry crew and cargo simultaneously, ended with the spacecraft breaking up in what SpaceX commentators called a "rapid unscheduled disassembly."

The Federal Aviation Administration then moved to ground Starship until investigation can make sure "any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety."

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, however, suggested on Twitter that the company could be ready to launch again in "one or two months.

SpaceX Starship launches ... then explodes

1/13


SpaceX's Starship explodes minutes after lift off from Starbase, in Boca Chica, Texas, on April 20,2023. Photo by Thom Baur/UPI | License Photo

Kennedy Space Center in Florida prepares for greater sea-rise problems

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Kennedy Space Center in Florida has spent tens of millions of dollars on shoreline restoration, as well as upgrading a main road and railroad tracks impacted by rising seas and severe storms. Photo courtesy of NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., April 27 (UPI) -- As sea levels rise, NASA managers and engineers at Kennedy Space Center in Florida are keeping a wary eye on potential damage to critical launch structures and other buildings not far from the Atlantic Ocean.

More than a decade ago, the ocean started to encroach on federally protected beaches, penetrating to within some 2,000 feet of critical infrastructure. Now, with more intense hurricanes starting to hit, the work becomes even more crucial.

Historic Launch Pads 39A and 39B, which are close to the water, are vital for NASA and commercial partner SpaceX to continue sending astronauts to the International Space Station and soon to the moon.

Protecting those structures is a high priority for the space agency, and repair and maintenance work are paramount to ensure continued launches, Calvin Williams, associate administrator for NASA's Office of Strategic Infrastructure, said in an interview.

"We have done a lot of reconstruction work to stabilize the coastline and those protective dunes," Williams said.

NASA estimated that by 2019, it had spent $100 million fixing storm damage and rebuilding sand dunes to protect the launch pads.

"It is all at the top of the list and something NASA will have to redo every five years. We want to make sure we are doing all that's necessary to ensure we have launch facilities and research facilities to continue our NASA mission," Williams said.

Part of the infrastructure refurbishment involved upgrading the coastal road and railway, weakened by the increasingly higher winds and waves from hurricanes of unprecedented strength.

Ocean and launch installations aside, losing portions of the nearby Indian River shoreline could have detrimental effects on species such as the gopher tortoises and the Southeastern beach mouse, said NASA's Don Dankert, the environmental planning lead at Kennedy Space Center.

The space center's role is as essential for the U.S. space program as much as the shorelines are vital to Florida's wildlife. The federal property includes pristine beaches on which sea turtles come to lay eggs -- undisturbed and protected from human interaction.

RELATED Storms, erosion a costly problem at NASA's Kennedy Space Center

Dankert stressed the importance of preserving the dunes "because that will help us protect these and other species."

Rebuilding dunes will play an important secondary role by preventing launch pad illumination near the beach from interfering with the nesting and hatching of sea turtles, so they can find their way to and from the ocean.

"The newly hatched sea turtles are disoriented by artificial light," he said. "We want to encourage them to head toward the sea."

Earlier this month, NASA announced a plan to transplant mangrove seedlings -- a natural, efficient barrier to protect against flooding at the space center.

Preserving the area around Launch Pad 39A is crucial for SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who leased the pad from NASA in 2014. Besides using the tower to support a variety of satellite launches, SpaceX assisted in resuming astronaut launches from U.S. soil to live on the International Space Station.

In the years before that, NASA had to rely on Russian spacecraft to transport American astronauts to the space station.

But SpaceX has bigger plans for Launch Pad 39A. Should everything go as Musk envisions with his gigantic Starship, the company will switch operations from west Texas to that launch pad, making it home base for moon missions.

A 450-foot-high tower under construction will rival that of the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building. Moreover, the company recently opened a manufacturing plant at the space center.

With Starship launches, static and dynamic load effects, as well as structural concerns, will produce unprecedented vibrations, which could cause environmental repercussions.

Last week in Texas, a Starship test flight exploded after launch, raining debris and brown grime over a wide area and shaking nearby homes.

Kennedy Space Center infrastructure is about a quarter-mile from the "actual beach," Dankert said. Since the restoration that fixed the large dune erosion, there has been no significant damage, "direct or otherwise."

Remaining concerns are the increasingly record-high tides and unprecedented hurricane-force winds which, in the case of Hurricane Nicole last year, relentlessly hammered the Florida coast and inland areas for several days, with devastating consequences.

Britain passes illegal migration bill to stem English Channel crossings


Britain passed sweeping new laws Thursday that will require security officials to detain and deport anyone arriving on the country's shores in a small boat. Those caught will also be barred from ever returning or applying for British citizenship in the future. 

Photo by EPA-EFE/ANDY RAIN

April 27 (UPI) -- British lawmakers backed controversial government plans Thursday to deter the tens of thousands of people arriving in the country in small boats by making it illegal.

MPs in the House of Commons, parliament's lower house, voted 289-230 to pass the Illegal Migration Bill after the ruling-Conservative government successfully headed off a rebellion by some of its backbenchers.

The bill, which will see all arrivals detained and deported to their own country, or a safe third country such as Rwanda, had met with stiff opposition from about 20 Tory MPs concerned about lumping in unaccompanied children and victims of human trafficking with "illegal immigrants."

The MPs, who were calling for a three-day limit on the detention of children that could only be overridden by a court, backed down after ministers promised to consult with them on a "new timescale."

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, The Children's Society, Action for Children, the National Children's Bureau and Barnardo's, have all strongly criticized the bill.

"We firmly believe that allowing unaccompanied children to be detained for any longer than 24 hours is unacceptable and poses serious risks to their health, safety and protection," the charities said in a joint letter to Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

Former Prime Minister Theresa May and former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith who tabled an amendment reversing the bill's removal of existing stays of deportation for suspected victims of modern slavery or human trafficking, did not push it to a vote.

"Sending victims back to their own country or a third country like Rwanda will simply, at best, make them feel less secure, and therefore less able or willing to give the evidence needed, and at worst will drive them back into the arms of the traffickers and slave drivers," May said.

The bill is expected to encounter bigger problems when it progresses to the House of Lords which could see it amended extensively.

It also faces being challenged by the European Court of Human Rights which has already blocked deportation flights to Rwanda, with which Britain has a migrant-hosting agreement.

The Rwanda policy, which the government attempted to introduce last year, involves a five-year plan to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing and permits those granted refugee status to apply to settle there.

The flights have been grounded ever since the court issued a series of interim injunctions in June.

The bill contains a provision permitting Braverman to ignore future ECHR injunctions in certain circumstances.

When she brought forward the legislation early last month, Braverman admitted there was a more than 50% chance the bill was incompatible with international law.

Despite being profitable, Dropbox cuts 500 jobs as it considers AI's future effect


Dropbox has laid off 500 employees, approximately 16% of its workforce, according to a blog post on the company's website Thursday from CEO Drew Houston

 Photo by Mauritz Antin/EPA-EFE

April 27 (UPI) -- Dropbox announced Thursday it has laid off 500 employees, approximately 16% of its workforce.

CEO Drew Houston announced the changes in a blog post on the company's website.

"First and foremost, I want to recognize the impact this decision has on Dropboxers who are affected and their families, and I take full ownership of this decision and the path that led us here," Houston wrote.

While Dropbox remains profitable, company leadership sees emerging challenges to its business model.

"While our business is profitable, our growth has been slowing," Houston said. "Part of this is due to the natural maturation of our existing businesses, but more recently, headwinds from the economic downturn have put pressure on our customers and, in turn, on our business. As a result, some investments that used to deliver positive returns are no longer sustainable."

The company also said advances in AI will affect the company's future.

"We've believed for many years that AI will give us new superpowers and completely transform knowledge work. And we've been building towards this future for a long time, as this year's product pipeline will demonstrate," said Houston.

A Securities and Exchange Commission filing reveals that the company expects to spend between $37 and $42 million.

Slow sales at Old Navy contribute to Gap having to cut 1,800 jobs

By Patrick Hilsman


April 27 (UPI) -- Gap Inc. is planning to lay off 1,800 workers as the clothing retailer struggles to remain profitable amid stiff competition and poor sales.

"We are taking the necessary actions to reshape Gap Inc. for the future -- simplifying and optimizing our operating model, elevating creativity, and driving better delivery in every dimension of the customer experience," said Gap interim CEO Bob Martin.

Martin said the changes are "aimed at flattening the organizational structure to improve the quality and speed of decision-making."

Notices were sent out to employees being laid off from the international sourcing division on April 18 and 19. Employees being laid off from corporate headquarters will be informed Thursday and Friday, and financial division employees will be notified in May.

RELATEDThe Gap pulls Ye merchandise from shelves, shuts down e-commerce site

A filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission reveals that the layoffs will cost Gap as much as $125 million.

Gap has struggled to remain profitable with a series of crises affecting the clothing retailer's value. The company's stock value has fallen 23% over the past year.

During the quarter ending in April 2022, the company reported a net loss of $162 million, compared to reported profits of $166 million during the same quarter of 2021.

In March, Gap reported fourth-quarter losses of $273 million.

Slow sales at Old Navy, which is owned by Gap Inc., are believed to have contributed to the company's financial issues.

In July, CEO Sonia Syngal stepped down, leaving Martin, who was executive chairman of Gap's board at the time, in the position of interim CEO.

In September, the Gap cut 500 jobs, mostly from the company's corporate offices in New York and San Fransisco and from overseas offices in Asia.

In October, the company pulled Kanye West's Yeezy clothing line and shut down YeezyGap.com in the wake of antisemitic comments made by the rapper

Researchers teach parrots to make video calls

April 27 (UPI) -- Researchers from the United States and Scotland said they taught pet parrots how to make video calls, and the birds developed long-distance friendships as a result.

The team, composed of researchers from Northeastern University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Glasgow, released a study titled Birds of a Feather Video-Flock Together: Design and Evaluation of an Agency-Based Parrot-to-Parrot Video-Calling System for Interspecies Ethical Enrichment.

The study involved parrots learning to ring a bell that would result in a caretaker bringing them a tablet. The birds would use their beaks to select a photo of another bird on the screen, and a video call would then be initiated.

The parrots displayed behaviors during the calls that mimic the behaviors of birds in the wild, the team said.

"What the other bird would do, they would do, singing back and forth," Jennifer Cunha, a parrot behaviorist from Northeastern University, told WHDH-TV. "So, there were a lot of natural behaviors we saw between the two birds, even though there was a screen between them."

The researchers said the parrots started to develop friendships through the video calls, showing preferences for repeatedly placing video calls to the same long-distance companions.

"Some strong social dynamics started appearing," Rébecca Kleinberger, an assistant professor at Northeastern, told the Northeastern Global News.

The study suggests bird-to-bird video calls can improve the behavior and well-being of parrots kept as pets, especially those who are the only parrots in their homes.

"When they're kept as pets, very often they're the only bird in the household," Kleinberger told CBC Radio. "They do not have the opportunity to develop their own species identity."

U$A
Bipartisan support continues for bill legalizing banking for legal marijuana businesses

Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley is a co-sponsor of a bipartisan, bicameral bill to legalize banking services for legal marijuana businesses nationwide. The federal government currently bans legal cannabis businesses from most banking services. 

Photo Ken Cedeno/UPI | License Photo

April 27 (UPI) -- A bipartisan cannabis banking bill in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House would make sure that legal cannabis businesses nationwide could access critical financial services.

Introduced by two U.S. senators and two U.S. House members, the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2023 would fix a huge problem for businesses legally engaged in cannabis sales. Because marijuana is not legal nationwide, cannabis businesses in states that have legalized it often are forced into using cash transactions.

"Forcing legal businesses to operate in all-cash is dangerous for our communities; it's an open invitation to robbery, money laundering, and organized crime-and it's way past time to fix it," said Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. said in a statement. "For the first time, we have a path for SAFE Banking to move through the Senate Banking Committee and get a vote on the floor of the Senate.

As of Monday, 38 U.S. states had legalized medical marijuana while 22 states, 2 territories and the District Of Columbia have enacted measures to regulate the legal adult use of recreational marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
RELATEDRecreational pot legalized in Delaware as governor allows bills to become law

In addition to Merkley, the cannabis banking bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and U.S. Reps. Dave Joyce, R-Ohio, and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.

"Montanans should be able to conduct their small business without fearing for their safety," Senator Daines said in a statement. "My bipartisan bill would provide the security and peace of mind that legal Montana cannabis businesses need to freely use banks, credit unions and other financial products without fear of punishment. This bill will help keep our Montana communities safe, keep crime off the streets, support Montana small businesses and bolster local economies."

"This legislation will save lives and livelihoods. It is past time that Congress addresses the irrational, unfair, and unsafe prohibition of basic banking services to state-legal cannabis businesses," said Rep. Earl Blumenauer in a statement. "The House has passed the SAFE Banking Act on a bipartisan basis seven times. I am delighted that the Senate is joining us in making it a priority."

Sen. Chuck Schumer introduced a bill to legalize marijuana nationally in July 2022. Several polls show overwhelming majority support around the country for legalizing marijuana.

But even with so many states have already decided to legalize, banking access is still legally denied to cannabis businesses despite their otherwise legal status.

The cannabis banking bill would prevent federal regulators from prohibiting or penalizing a bank from providing service to a legitimate state-sanctioned and regulated cannabis business.

Joyce said in a statement, "As it stands, the federal government has denied state-legal cannabis companies the same access to financial services as every other legal business across the Buckeye State and our country. Not only does this distort the market in a growing industry, but it also forces businesses to operate in all cash, making them and their employees sitting ducks for violent robberies. The bipartisan SAFE Banking Act will allow cannabis businesses to operate legally without fear of punishment by federal regulators, making our communities safer."

The Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2023 would stop federal regulators from taking any action on a loan to an operator of a cannabis-related business. It also would prevent federal regulators from terminating or eliminating a bank's federal deposit insurance if they provide banking services to legal cannabis businesses.

US Interior Department announces $146 million for wetlands conservation

By Patrick Hilsman


The Interior Department announced $146 million in funds for wetlands conservation Thursday. A substantial amount of the funds being used to purchase land for conservation was obtained via the sale of Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation stamps.

 Photo courtesy of usstampsonline.com

April 27 (UPI) -- The Department of the Interior announced Thursday that the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission has approved over $146 million to support wetlands conservation projects.

A total of $50.9 million in North American Wetlands Conservation Act grants will be matched by over $73.4 million in partner grants.

More than $21.7 million in funds from the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund will be allocated to support five wetland preserves located in four states.

That includes $1.47 million to purchase 548 acres at the Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana, $1.07 million to purchase 797 acres at the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge in New Hampshire and $1.26 million to purchase 239 acres at the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge in Washington.

Additionally, $11.37 million will be used to purchase 1,335 acres at the Green River National Wildlife Refuge in Kentucky and $6.62 million will be used to purchase 2,482 acres at the Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge, which is also in Kentucky.

Funding for the purchases was mostly obtained via sales of Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps, commonly known as "duck stamps," and from tariffs on firearms and ammunition imports.

"The North American Wetlands Conservation Act is among our most successful tools for the conservation of migratory birds throughout the United States and beyond our borders," said Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz.