All posts tagged "Lead"

CHICAGO — President Joe Biden’s administration is moving to require utilities to replace every toxic lead pipe connecting homes to water mains during the next decade, though Chicago and several other cities likely will get more time to finish the job. Ingesting tiny concentrations of lead can permanently damage the developing brains of children and contribute to heart disease, kidney failure and other health problems later in life. One study estimated more than 400,00030025-2/fulltext) deaths a year in the U.S. are linked to lead exposure30025-2/fulltext). For decades dust from lead-based pain......

By David Shepardson and Mrinalika Roy (Reuters) -New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Thursday directed state departments to investigate health risks associated with old lead-clad cables left by telecommunication companies. The Wall Street Journal this month reported that telecom companies, including AT&T and Verizon Communications, had left toxic lead cables on poles, underwater and buried under ground across the U.S. including in New York. The investigation is to better understand the inventory and ownership of such cables in New York, Hochul said. As part of the effort, 246 telecommunication c......

The team of US President-elect Joe Biden on Sunday called for the release of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny after he was detained upon arrival at a Moscow airport, as the Trump administration remained quiet on the subject. "Mr. Navalny should be immediately released, and the perpetrators of the outrageous attack on his life must be held accountable," said Jake Sullivan, who will serve as Biden's national security adviser if confirmed by the Senate. "The Kremlin's attacks on Mr. Navalny are not just a violation of human rights, but an affront to the Russian people who want their voices heard.......

Armin Laschet, the centrist premier of Germany's most populous state, took the first step on Saturday towards succeeding Angela Merkel as the next chancellor of Europe’s biggest economy. The centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) selected 59-year-old Laschet to head the party as Germany gears up for national elections in September. Whoever is leader of the CDU is traditionally the party's candidate for chancellor. Laschet fended off a strong challenge from wealthy corporate lawyer Friedrich Merz in a run-off vote at the CDU's first-ever digital party convention, which was framed by the coronav......

India on Saturday started inoculating health workers in what is expected to be the world’s biggest coronavirus vaccination programme. A health worker at a government hospital in Delhi became the first person to receive a vaccine shot in the country of 1.3 billion people, shortly after Premier Narendra Modi kicked off the year-long campaign with a nationally televised speech. India plans to vaccinate 300 million people - nearly equal to the entire population of the United States - by the end of July. "India is today launching the world’s biggest vaccination programme. Never before has this type......

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is due to appear in a London court on Monday to hear the decision over his extradition to the US, where the 49-year-old is facing 18 charges that could land him in jail for 175 years. Washington has charged Assange with violating the Espionage Act by conspiring with former US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to leak a trove of classified material in 2010 relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The secret documents were released on Wikileaks while Assange also collaborated with journalists at prominent news outlets. His supporters and press fr......