In the latest dig at his rival for the Republican presidential nomination‚ Donald Trump mocked Nikki Haley’s birth name‚ Nimrata Randhawa‚ adding her to the list of foes he’s targeted with racist attacks. The former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador has long used her middle name Nikki and adopted the surname Haley after her marriage in 1996. But Trump repeatedly referred to Haley as “Nimbra” in a Truth Social rant‚ insisting she “doesn’t have what it takes” to be president.

Iran and Pakistan traded missile attacks over the past week‚ supposedly as part of each nation’s efforts to disrupt violence by ethnic separatist groups. The strikes arrived against a backdrop of spiraling conflict in the Middle East‚ meaning any further violence could risk expanding that fighting. To be clear‚ there’s no specific‚ concrete tie between Iran’s conflict with Pakistan and the wider conflicts in the Middle East‚ which include Israel’s war in Gaza as well as a tit-for-tat...

Former first lady Melania Trump delivered a moving eulogy for her mother‚ with many heaping praise on her speech. Amalija Knavs‚ died on January 9 at the age of 78 from an undisclosed illness‚ and the family held a private funeral for her in Palm Beach‚ Florida‚ on Thursday. Former U.S. President Donald Trump was in attendance as was their 17-year-old son‚ Barron.

A Texas prosecutor has convened a grand jury to investigate the Uvalde school shooting that killed 21 people‚ multiple media reported Friday. Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell told the San Antonio Express-News that a grand jury will review evidence related to the Robb Elementary School shooting in 2022 that left 19 children and two teachers dead. She did not disclose what the grand jury will focus on‚ the newspaper reported. Mitchell did not immediately respond to emailed...

A deal to reduce taxes for businesses and increase the child tax credit (CTC) made it out of the House Ways and Means Committee with broad bipartisan support Friday. The tax deal advanced with 40 votes in favor and only three opposed. A last-minute substitution amendment to the $79 billion tax bill tweaked it slightly‚ bringing its total savings to $399 million from $262 million over the 10-year budget window‚ according to the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT). The cost of the proposal...

The S&;P 500 closed at an all-time high on Friday as investors returned to buying equities in force following a short-lived market stumble to start the new year. The broad market index rose 1.23% to settle at 4‚839.81‚ surpassing both the prior record intraday and closing highs from January 2022. Meanwhile‚ the Dow Jones Industrial Average‚ which set its own record at the end of last year‚ added 395.19 points‚ or 1.05%‚ to end at 37‚863.80. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.70% to 15‚...

A report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that there were major flaws in the government’s tracking of foreign land purchases‚ exposing the United States to national security risks. The report‚ which was requested by the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and the House Committee on Agriculture‚ said that the Department of Agriculture does “not share timely data on foreign investments in agricultural land‚” and that the processes in place for sharing the data are...

Did you hear that Andrew Yang‚ the ninth-place contestant in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries and fourth-place finisher in New York City's 2021 mayoral primary‚ endorsed Rep. Dean Phillips (D–Minn.) for president in New Hampshire Thursday? Probably not‚ but here's the quote anyway: "Joe Biden has been an accomplished and substantial president. I endorsed him and voted for him in 2020 and was even a campaign surrogate‚" Yang‚ the founder of the Forward Party‚ said in his prepared...

Fani Willis‚ the Fulton County district attorney prosecuting former President Donald Trump‚ went on trips with the taxpayer-funded special counsel she appointed to the case‚ according to records revealed Friday in a divorce case involving his former spouse. A motion filed last week by a defense attorney for one of Trump’s co-defendants accused Willis of being involved in a romantic and improper relationship with Nathan Wade‚ the main prosecutor leading the Georgia election interference...

One of the biggest problems with coffee production is that it generates an incredible amount of waste. Once coffee beans are separated from cherries‚ about 45% of the entire biomass is discarded.So for every pound of roasted coffee we enjoy‚ an equivalent amount of coffee pulp is discarded into massive landfills across the globe. That means that approximately 10 million tons of coffee pulp is discarded into the environment every year.When disposed of improperly‚ the waste can cause serious damage soil and water sources.However‚ a new study published in the British Ecological Society journal Ecological Solutions and Evidence has found that coffee pulp isn't just a nuisance to be discarded. It can have an incredibly positive impact on regrowing deforested areas of the planet.In 2018‚ researchers from ETH-Zurich and the University of Hawaii spread 30 dump trucks worth of coffee pulp over a roughly 100' x 130' area of degraded land in Costa Rica. The experiment took place on a former coffee farm that underwent rapid deforestation in the 1950s.The coffee pulp was spread three-feet thick over the entire area.Another plot of land near the coffee pulp dump was left alone to act as a control for the experiment."The results were dramatic." Dr. Rebecca Cole‚ lead author of the study‚ said. "The area treated with a thick layer of coffee pulp turned into a small forest in only two years while the control plot remained dominated by non-native pasture grasses."In just two years‚ the area treated with coffee pulp had an 80% canopy cover‚ compared to just 20% of the control area. So‚ the coffee-pulp-treated area grew four times more rapidly. Like a jolt of caffeine‚ it reinvigorated biological activity in the area.The canopy was also four times taller than that of the control.The coffee-treated area also eliminated an invasive species of grass that took over the land and prevented forest succession. Its elimination allowed for other native species to take over and recolonize the area."This case study suggests that agricultural by-products can be used to speed up forest recovery on degraded tropical lands. In situations where processing these by-products incurs a cost to agricultural industries‚ using them for restoration to meet global reforestation objectives can represent a 'win-win' scenario‚" Dr. Cole said.If the results are repeatable it's a win-win for coffee drinkers and the environment.Researchers believe that coffee treatments can be a cost-effective way to reforest degraded land. They may also work to reverse the effects of climate change by supporting the growth of forests across the globe.The 2016 Paris Agreement made reforestation an important part of the fight against climate change. The agreement incentivizes developing countries to reduce deforestation and forest degradation‚ promote forest conservation and sustainable management‚ and enhance forest carbon stocks in developing countries."We hope our study is a jumping off point for other researchers and industries to take a look at how they might make their production more efficient by creating links to the global restoration movement‚" Dr. Cole said.This article originally appeared on 03.29.21