Canadian Wildfires: A smokey haze blanketed much of the North, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States as smoke from the Canadian wildfires drifted south. Conditions improved slightly on Friday, although air quality alerts remained in place.
Citizens living in the affected region of the U.S. have been advised to avoid strenuous activity and outdoor exercise and to wear a mask to filter out harmful particles. Many school districts in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic switched to remote classes on Friday.
Meteorologists anticipate for the smoke to shift its direction more to the west on Saturday. Read more at Associated Press.
CNN Ousts CEO Chris Licht: The chief executive officer of CNN, Chris Licht, was ousted on Wednesday after a series of troublesome trends during his first year in the position. Throughout his brief tenure, CNN saw viewership and profits decline as he tried to make CNN more centrist through actions such as firing popular CNN anchor Don Lemon and welcoming former President Donald Trump for a town hall.
David Zaslav, the CEO of CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, has appointed a four-person interim leadership team as CNN begins the search for a new CEO. Read more at Associated Press.
Regressions in LGBTQ+ Rights This Pride Month: June is usually a time of the year for members of the LGBTQ+ community to unite and celebrate. However, this year, many Pride events across the country are being cancelled as new pieces of legislation in various states across the country allegedly threaten the freedom of expression for many in the community.
Human Rights Campaign has declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans after more than 525 pieces of proposed legislation in state houses across the country have been deemed discriminatory. More than 70 of those pieces of legislation have been signed into law so far this year, which is more than double last year's number.
In making the declaration, the Human Rights Campaign released a guidebook pointing to laws that it deems as discriminatory in each state as well as "know your rights" information and resources to help people in those states.
In May, the NAACP and Human Rights Campaign declared a travel advisory for the state of Florida, detailing risks associated with relocating or traveling to the state after six allegedly discriminatory bills passed the Florida legislature. Read more at Associated Press. & Human Rights Campaign.
Donald Trump Charged in Mishandling of Classified Documents: The Department of Justice unsealed the federal indictment against former President Donald Trump on 37 charges pertaining to his handling of classified documents after he left the White House. The documents were found improperly stored at Mar-a-Lago and pertained to the following:
Defense and weapons capabilities of the United States and foreign countries
U.S. nuclear programs
Potential vulnerabilities of the U.S. and its allies to military attacks
Plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack
The indictment claims that Trump was personally involved in the process of packing and moving boxes in January 2021 to Mar-a-Lago and that documents were found in a ballroom, a bathroom, a shower, an office space, Trump's bedroom and a storage room.
The indictment also claims that Trump shared classified documents with a writer, publisher and two staff members who did not possess security clearance to see classified documents. Read more at Axios.
Mass Shootings in US: This week, Gun Violence Archive reported a total of 9 mass shootings resulting in 42 victims injured and 8 victims dead.
World Oceans Day: June 8th marked World Oceans Day. To celebrate, Australian-based Zero Co led thousands of dive crews to remove an estimated 50,000 plastic bottles worth of waste from across the seven seas. The initiative involved crews based out of England, Australia, Canada, Brazil, India, Argentina and Egypt and is part of a clean-up fund initiative that seeks to fund the cleaning of the planet of plastic waste every year for the next 100 years.
This marks the first time there was a planned movement to have crews clean all seven seas on the same day. Read more at Zero Co.
Photo by Brian Yurasits
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