President Biden seeks acceleration of shift to electric cars
DETROIT — Declaring the U.S. must “move fast” to win the carmaking future, President Joe Biden on Thursday touted a commitment from the auto industry to make electric vehicles up to half of U.S. sales by the end of the decade.
Biden wants automakers to raise gas mileage and cut tailpipe pollution between now and model year 2026. That would mark a significant step toward meeting his pledge to battle climate change as he pushes a shift in the U.S. from internal combustion engines to battery-powered vehicles. He also urged that components needed to make that change — from batteries to semiconductors — be made in the U.S., reflecting a desire to gain industry and union support for the environmental effort, with a future promise of new jobs and billions in federal investments.
“The question is whether we lead or fall behind in the race for the future,” Biden said. Earlier Thursday, the administration announced there would be new mileage and anti-pollution standards from the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department, part of Biden’s goal to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. It said the auto industry had agreed to a target that 40% to 50% of new vehicle sales be electric by 2030. Both the regulatory standards and the automakers’ voluntary target were included in an executive order Biden signed as a gathering of auto industry leaders and lawmakers applauded.
The standards, which have to go through the regulatory process including public comments, would reverse fuel economy and anti-pollution rollbacks done under President Donald Trump. At that time, the increases were reduced to 1.5% annually through model year 2026.
Hard-line President Raisi sworn into office amid regional tension
The protégé of Iran’s supreme leader, Ebrahim Raisi, was sworn in as the country’s new president during a ceremony in parliament Thursday, an inauguration that completes hard-liners’ dominance of all branches of government in the Islamic Republic. The former judiciary chief known for his distrust of the West takes the reins at a tense time. Iran’s indirect talks with the U.S. to salvage a landmark 2015 nuclear deal have stalled, as Washington maintains crippling sanctions on the country and regional hostilities simmer.
“The sanctions must be lifted,” Raisi said in his inauguration speech. “We will support any diplomatic plan that supports this goal.” Raisi stressed his embrace of diplomacy to lift U.S. sanctions and mend rifts with neighbors — a subtle reference to Sunni rival Saudi Arabia — but he also signaled that Iran seeks to expand its power as a counterbalance to foes across the region.
Israel launches airstrikes on Lebanon in response to rockets
Israel on Thursday escalated its response to rocket attacks the previous day from Lebanon by launching rare airstrikes on its northern neighbor, the army and Lebanese officials said. A statement from the Israeli military said jets struck the launch sites from which the rockets were fired, as well as an additional target used to attack Israel in the past. The military blamed Lebanon for the shelling and warned “against further attempts to harm Israeli civilians and Israel’s sovereignty.”
The overnight airstrikes in southern Lebanon were a marked escalation at a politically sensitive time. Israel’s new eight-party governing coalition is trying to keep peace under a fragile cease-fire that ended an 11-day war with Hamas’ militant rulers in Gaza in May. Several incidents leading up to this week’s rocket fire from Lebanon have focused attention on Israel’s northern border. The United States swiftly condemned the attacks on Israel.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Israel’s use of its air force to target Lebanese villages “is the first of its kind since 2006 and indicated the presence of aggressive, escalatory intentions” against Lebanon. In a statement, he said Lebanon would submit a complaint to the United Nations.
Wildfire engulfs small mountain community, leveling businesses
California’s largest wildfire has leveled much of the downtown and some surrounding homes in a small Northern California mountain town. The Dixie Fire tore through Greenville on Wednesday evening, destroying businesses and homes. A photographer on assignment for The Associated Press described seeing a gas station, hotel and bar burned to the ground. The 3-week-old fire has grown to over 428 square miles across Plumas and Butte counties.
Murder charges filed against 2 men after spring break overdoses
Two North Carolina men accused of raping a 24-year-old tourist who overdosed during spring break in Miami Beach, Florida, now face first-degree murder charges. A grand jury in Miami-Dade County found Evoire Collier, 21, and Dorian Taylor, 25, both from Greensboro, North Carolina, responsible for the fentanyl-induced death in March of Christine Englehardt of Richboro, Pennsylvania. She met the men while visiting South Beach and went with them to her room at the Albion Hotel, prosecutors said.
The grand jury added a second first-degree murder charge against Taylor for supplying the same opioid to Walter Riley, 21, from Chicago. He was found unconscious on a nearby street and died March 20, two days after Englehardt was found unresponsive in her hotel room.
The three-page grand jury report accuses the pair of killing Englehardt with their “unlawful distribution of fentanyl” while committing sexual battery and burglary. The men also allegedly took Englehardt’s credit cards and made illegal purchases.
Collier’s attorney, Phil Reizenstein, said he’s “stunned” by the indictment. He said the medical examiner found Englehardt ingested so many different drugs that it was nearly impossible to pin down what caused her death.
$813 million pledged to address Indigenous disadvantage in Australia
Australia’s government pledged $813 million to address Indigenous disadvantage, including compensation to thousands of mixed-race children who were taken from their families over decades.
The $279.7 million to be used to compensate the so-called Stolen Generations by 2026 is the most expensive component of the package. Most members of the Stolen Generations had been under state government control when they were separated from their Indigenous mothers under decades of assimilation policies.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the compensation was a recognition of harm caused by forced removal of children from families.
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