“Organic and baby carrots sold at grocery stores across the US have been recalled after an E. coli outbreak that has killed one person. So far, 15 people are in hospital and 39 cases have been reported across 18 states, the US’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. The recall covers bagged carrots sold by Grimmway Farms to big supermarket names including Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods’s 365, Target’s Good & Gather, Walmart’s Marketside, Wegmans and others. Officials say that impacted products are likely no longer in store but may still be in homes, and should be thrown away or returned to stores for a refund if so. Most of the infected people live in New York, Minnesota and Washington, followed by California and Oregon, according to the AP news agency.” (11/18/24)
“Incoming Republican Senate majority leader John Thune threatened United States sanctions against the International Criminal Court should it issue arrest warrants on war crimes charges against top Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. ‘If the ICC and its prosecutor do not reverse their outrageous and unlawful [sic] actions to pursue arrest warrants against Israeli officials, the Senate should immediately pass sanctions legislation, as the House has already done on a bipartisan basis,’ he wrote in a post on X. He urged Senator Majority Leader, Democrat Chuck Schumer, to act on the issue even now.” [editor’s note: The ICC has jurisdiction over crimes committed in Gaza and the West Bank, since the state of Palestine is an ICC member state. Nothing “unlawful” about ICC investigating and possibly charging Israelis with, crimes committed there – TLK] (11/18/24)
“Senior Republican Party officials announced Monday that they are filing 12 lawsuits in Pennsylvania as part of an ongoing effort to ‘aggressively’ defend their pickup in the closely watched Keystone State Senate race. Speaking to reporters on a call Monday, GOP officials said they have been working closely with Republican candidate Dave McCormick’s campaign in an effort to protect his Senate win over three-term incumbent Democrat Sen. Bob Casey, who has refused to concede defeat and has secured a statewide recount. Both national and state Republican parties have filed lawsuits in four counties across Pennsylvania, urging the courts to not count mail-in ballots with either incorrect or missing dates, in accordance with a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling this month.” (11/18/24)
“Two masked men broke into Britain’s royal Windsor Castle estate last month and stole two vehicles from a barn, the Sun newspaper reported on Monday. King Charles and his wife Camilla were not in the estate at the time of the incident but Prince William and his family were believed to be at Adelaide Cottage, part of the Windsor Castle estate, the Sun reported. The men used a stolen truck to break through a security gate at night and then scaled a six-foot fence, the paper said. Local police said officers were called to a report of a burglary on Crown Estate land in Windsor, west of London, just before midnight on Oct. 13.” (11/18/24)
“Over 30 places in 15 California counties will be getting new names by Jan. 1, 2025, replacing offensive slurs that still mar sites around the state, the California Natural Resources Agency said Friday. The initiative isn’t new, but the deadline is. In 2021, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland created the Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force to help remove the racist slur ‘squaw’ from places names across America. Haaland’s formal declaration addressed the fact that the term ‘squaw’ has ‘historically been used as an offensive ethnic, racial, and sexist slur, particularly for Indigenous women.’ Early uses of the word confirm a longstanding derogatory association, especially during times when the dispossession and enslavement of Native women were common, according to a report published by Palisades Tahoe resort.” (11/17/24)
“Spirit Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday after the budget airline’s merger efforts collapsed and its losses spiraled out of control. The company’s yellow planes became a symbol of ultra-low cost travel, but it lost hundreds of millions of dollars struggling to make that strategy work. Spirit plunged into bankruptcy after a $3.8 billion deal to sell itself to JetBlue was blocked by a federal judge and after previous efforts to combine with rival Frontier Airlines fell apart.” (11/18/24)
“Two men were killed and a woman was left clinging to life by a knife-wielding maniac who went on an ‘unprovoked’ random stabbing spree in Manhattan Monday morning, Mayor Eric Adams and cops said. The blood-covered lunatic – a homeless man, 51, with eight past arrests in New York City alone – was identified and cuffed by a hero cop thanks to the help of good Samaritans, including a cab driver and a British tourist, said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny and sources. Police have no other suspect, Adams said during a Monday afternoon briefing. ” (11/18/24)
“A special tribunal in Bangladesh on Monday told investigators they have one month to complete their work on ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her close aides who face charges of crimes against humanity after hundreds of people were killed in a mass uprising this summer. Golam Mortuza Majumdar, the head judge of the three-member International Crimes Tribunal, set Dec. 17 for investigators to finish their work, as the tribunal heard updates Monday from police about what the country’s security agencies have done to arrest Hasina and her close aides. The decision came after prosecutors sought more time for the investigation.” (11/18/24)
“A holiday booze cruise event in San Francisco appeared to devolve into chaos this past Saturday when organizers allegedly overbooked the watercraft by dozens of passengers and refused to let many onboard, ticketholders complained. As a result, the party — which was supposed to offer the chance to mingle with beautiful people on a 150-foot luxury yacht — ended with patrons throwing bottles and calling the cops instead. The Friendsgiving event, hosted by Skyline Yacht Cruises near the Embarcadero, was supposed to be smooth sailing: According to the Eventbrite description, patrons would be able to dance, drink and stargaze on a multimillion-dollar yacht while sailing the ‘Insta Worthy San Fran Bay.’ Though it offered ‘a gorgeous fun filled crowd’ on the ship, footage indicates that many were not able to join them.” (11/18/24)
“SpaceX launched what has been a top secret mission just before dusk on Sunday, not releasing the contents of its payload and changing its original mission name. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 5:28 EST. SpaceX called the mission ‘TD7,’ even though regulatory filings and U.S. government agency and regulatory findings, including the Space Force and the Federal Aviation Administration, call the payload ‘Optus-X.’ During live coverage of the launch, a SpaceX commentator said the payload was a communications satellite.” (11/18/24)
