US Politics - Trump cancels summit having to do with North Korea

Lagamorph wrote:So looks like laptops are now to be banned in the cabin of flights from Europe to America.
And it's not entirely clear whether the ban applies to tablets or not.

The Department of Homeland Security will ban laptops in the cabins of all flights from Europe to the United States, European security officials told The Daily Beast. The announcement is expected Thursday.

Initially a ban on laptops and tablets was applied only to U.S.-bound flights from 10 airports in North Africa and the Middle East. The ban was based on U.S. fears that terrorists have found a way to convert laptops into bombs capable of bringing down an airplane. It is unclear if the European ban will also apply to tablets.

However, this move is increasing fears in the aviation industry that as well as guarding against bombs this ban could actually endanger flights. Laptops and tablets denied access to the cabin and added to checked baggage means that devices with a history of lithium-ion battery fires could set off a deadly conflagration in a cargo hold.

The FAA recorded 33 incidents in 2016 of personal electronic devices carried into cabins by passengers causing fire emergencies during flights, according to an FAA document reviewed by The Daily Beast. Of these, three were in laptops and two in tablets.

Meep wrote:The house is heavily gerrymandered in the favour of the GOP but hopefully the Democrats have enough of a majority amongst voters to take control.

GOP Fails to Kill Methane Rule in a Capitol Hill Defeat for Oil and Gas Industry
The rule limits venting and flaring gas, a move the Obama administration estimated would prevent 180,000 tons of methane from leaking into the atmosphere every year.

The Senate on Wednesday rejected a bid to overturn an Obama-era rule that limits climate-warming methane leaks from oil and gas operations on public lands, but the industry, along with its allies in Congress, says it will continue challenging the rule.

The surprise 49-51 vote handed a defeat to the industry, which has pushed Congress to undo the rule under the Congressional Review Act, a little-used law that allows lawmakers to kill rules with a simple majority vote.

The rule, issued by the Department of the Interior at the end of the Obama administration, limits venting and flaring of methane from natural gas and oil drilling operations, a restriction that officials estimated would prevent 180,000 tons of methane from leaking into the atmosphere every year. Methane, the main component of natural gas, has over 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.

Cutting methane emissions was a key element of Obama's plan for meeting the U.S. commitment under the Paris climate agreement, and many experts view methane cuts as an especially efficient way to reduce emissions in the short term. Proponents of the rule also point out that the methane that escapes during the flaring and venting process could power more than 6 million homes.

twitter.com/delmoi/status/862323469245186048

Garth wrote:

twitter.com/TIME/status/862386121493422080

Hexx wrote:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-voter-fraud-commission-popular-vote-loss-election-order-a7730476.html

"Presidential Commission on Election Integrity"

Oh dear god.

twitter.com/TreyYingst/status/862669407868391424

Hexx wrote:

twitter.com/TreyYingst/status/862669407868391424