USA – Page 7 – World Top News Now

15Feb

By AdminsNo Comments

Vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr is sworn in as Trump’s health chief after a close Senate vote

Robert F. Kennedy Jr has been sworn as President Donald Trump’s health secretary after a close Senate vote, putting the prominent vaccine skeptic in control of $US1.7 trillion ($2.7m) in federal spending, vaccine recommendations and food safety as well as health insurance programs for roughly half the country. Nearly all Republicans fell in line behind Trump despite hesitancy over Kennedy’s views on vaccines, voting 52-48 to elevate the scion of one of America’s most storied political — and Democratic — families to secretary of the Health and Human Services Department. Democrats unanimously opposed Kennedy. Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, who had polio as a child, was the only “no” vote among Republicans, mirroring his stands against Trump's picks for the Pentagon chief and d...

15Feb

By AdminsNo Comments

Trump officials fired nuclear staff not realising they oversee the country’s weapons stockpile, sources say

Trump administration officials fired more than 300 staffers on Thursday night at the National Nuclear Security Administration — the agency tasked with managing the nation's nuclear stockpile — as part of broader Energy Department layoffs, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. Sources told CNN the officials did not seem to know this agency oversees America's nuclear weapons. An Energy Department spokesperson disputed the number of personnel affected, telling CNN that "less than 50 people" were "dismissed" from NNSA, and that the dismissed staffers "held primarily administrative and clerical roles." Trump administration officials fired more than 300 staffers on Thursday night. (AP) The agency began rescinding the terminations Friday morning. Some...

15Feb

By AdminsNo Comments

Black Hawk helicopter involved in DC mid-air collision may not have heard key instruction, investigators say

The crew of the Army helicopter that collided in midair with an American Airlines jet near Washington, DC’s Ronald Reagan National Airport may have had inaccurate altitude readings in the moments before the crash, and also may not have heard key instructions from air traffic controllers to move behind the plane, investigators said yesterday. National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy told reporters that the recording from the Black Hawk helicopter cockpit suggested an incomplete radio transmission may have left the crew without understanding how it should shift position just before the January 29 crash, in which all 67 aboard the two aircraft were killed. “That transmission was interrupted -– it was stepped on,” she said, leaving them unable to hea...

9Feb

By AdminsNo Comments

Federal judge blocks Elon Musk’s DOGE access to critical Treasury payment system

A federal judge, citing a risk of "irreparable harm", has temporarily restricted Elon Musk's government efficiency team from accessing a critical Treasury Department payment system. The judge's order, issued early on Saturday, temporarily halts access to a sensitive payment system that distributes Americans' tax returns, Social Security benefits, disability payments and federal employees' salaries. US District Judge Paul Engelmayer ordered the destruction of any downloaded information from the payment system by anyone given access to it since January 20, citing "the risk that the new policy presents of the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking". The judge'...

9Feb

By AdminsNo Comments

Google Maps will change the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America

Google is complying with President Donald Trump's executive action that renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Soon, the name change will appear on Google Maps. In a post on X, Google explained that it has a "longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources." The name will be tweaked when the Geographic Names Information System, a government database of names and location data, is updated. Google is complying with President Donald Trump's executive action. (CNN) Google will also change the name of Mount McKinley, the nation's highest peak, from Denali. Former President Barack Obama renamed the Alaska landmark to Denali in 2015 as a nod to the region's native population. Both changes stem...

9Feb

By AdminsNo Comments

Investigators probe fatal Alaska plane crash as crews push to recover wreckage before inclement weather

Recovery crews worked amid freezing temperatures and slushy sea ice Friday to recover the remaining victims aboard a regional airline flight that crashed off the coast of western Alaska. The small commuter aircraft carrying nine passengers and one pilot took off from Unalakleet on Thursday afternoon before disappearing. The plane was later found on Friday about 54 kilometres southeast of Nome, the flight's intended destination, according to the US Coast Guard. All 10 on board were declared dead. This photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, shows a small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on a flight that was bound for the hub community of Nome. (U.S. Coast Guard via AP) (AP) The wreckage is currently resting on sea ice that officia...

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