Schmidt, an electrical engineer, had been returning to the US on 7 March. His mother did not hear from him until 11 March, when he was transferred to hospital after collapsing. She told NBC news she had no idea why her son had been detained, saying: "I feel helpless, absolutely helpless." Schmidt and his mother moved to the US from Germany in 2007 and got permanent resident cards the following year. He renewed his legal permanent residence status last year and has no active legal issues, his mother said, although she added that he had faced misdemeanour charges about 10 years ago. ... The CBP sent the Guardian the same statement, without further explanation. The statement also said: "When an individual is found with drug-related charges and tries to reenter the country, officers will take proper action." read more
Reports of declining insect populations have received widespread media attention, but evidence for declines has been variable across regions and taxonomic groups. read more
The Donald Trump administration has cancelled several international aid projects, including contracts supporting HIV, polio, and malaria programmes in some of the world's most impoverished communities. Earlier this week, the administration officially terminated these contracts through brief, direct emails. Around 5,800 contracts under USAID have been revoked. These included vital projects such as refugee aid, tuberculosis clinics, and polio vaccination initiatives, according to The New York Times. read more
The official White House social media account shared a photo of President Trump wearing a crown with the words "Long Live the King" on Wednesday. Trump intends to revoke federal approval of New York City's congestion pricing program, fulfilling a campaign promise to reverse the policy that tolls drivers who enter Manhattan's busiest streets to finance repairs to mass transit. read more
I wonder if things like this are optimistic or pessimistic for the business outlook?
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Canadian actor Jasmine Mooney " who had a role in an "American Pie" movie " for 12 days in early 2025.
www.snopes.com
There was no explanation, no warning. One minute, I was in an immigration office talking to an officer about my work visa, which had been approved months before and allowed me, a Canadian, to work in the US. The next, I was told to put my hands against the wall, and patted down like a criminal before being sent to an ICE detention center without the chance to talk to a lawyer.
[...]
Thirty of us shared one room. We were given one Styrofoam cup for water and one plastic spoon that we had to reuse for every meal. I eventually had to start trying to eat and, sure enough, I got sick. None of the uniforms fit, and everyone had men's shoes on. The towels they gave us to shower were hand towels. They wouldn't give us more blankets. The fluorescent lights shined on us 24/7.
Everything felt like it was meant to break you. Nothing was explained to us. I wasn't given a phone call. We were locked in a room, no daylight, with no idea when we would get out.
Anywah, this is the axe this fossil fuel think tank has to grind. This is from their fancifully named "Energy Delusions" page. They don't like the IEA global forecast for fossil fuels, because it doesn't show growth, it shows a leveling off and eventual decrease:
"It is fanciful to forecast that, over the next half-dozen years, the growth in the world's population and economy won't continue a two-century-long trend and lead to increased use of the fossil fuels that today supply over 80% of all energy, only slightly below the share seen 50 years ago."
You can argue that all you want. It's a valid point that countries aren't hitting their Paris targets. It's also a valid point that there really might not be a whole lot of economic growth globally in the next five or ten years.