Good Thursday morning, and happy World Bee Day!
Yes, we are celebrating the fuzzy yellow-and-black flying pollinators without whom we really can’t live.
No, it’s true. Bees pollinate 75 of the approximately 100 crop species that feed 90 percent of the world. Honey bees are responsible for $30 billion a year in crops. Without them, supermarkets would have half the amount of fruit and vegetables they currently offer.
The problem is, and you’ve probably heard this at some point along the way in recent years, the bees are in serious danger. We are losing them at an alarming rate due to a host of factors, not the least of which is climate change.
Other culprits, the loss of habitat, the rise in the use of pesticides, and the crab-like varroa mite that feasts on bees’ blood.
World Bee Day is held on May 20 because it’s the birthday (in 1734) of Anton Janša, the pioneer of beekeeping. He was born to Slovene parents, and in 2017, Slovakia successfully petitioned the UN to create this day in his honor.
There’s an entire industry around renting out pollinators, which is, given the aforementioned issues with bees, in serious trouble. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that honeybee losses in managed colonies hit 42 percent.
The theme for today is “Bee Engaged, Build Back Better for Bees.” The UN is observing this day with an event that calls “for global cooperation and solidarity to counter the threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to food security and agricultural livelihoods alongside prioritizing environmental regeneration and pollinator protection.”
Suggested ways that you can “bee” part of the solution to help preserve our buzzy friends: Plant a bee garden, stop using chemicals on your lawn or garden, support local beekeepers, and more.
Today is also the 10th annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day, which shines a light on digital access and inclusion for the more than 1 billion people living with disabilities and impairments. This day was launched in 2012, and all started with a blog post written by a LA-based web developer named Joe Devon.
To mark this day, Apple is rolling out “Sign Time”. This new feature lets customers communicate with AppleCare and other retail services by using American Sign Language in the United States, British Sign Language in the United Kingdom, and French Sign Language in France through a web browser.
It’s going to be hot again – in the 80s – with a mix of sun and clouds.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden dramatically escalated his public pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the fighting with Hamas that has stretched into a 10th day, as their decades-long relationship faces a stern test.
Biden told Netanyahu in a phone call that he expects “a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire,” the White House said.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is spearheading a largely symbolic push to block the Biden administration from selling hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of bomb kits to Israel.
A cease-fire in the fighting between Israel and Hamas could come as early as tomorrow, as pressure mounts from D.C. and other foreign capitals to bring an end to airstrikes and rocket fire that have claimed a rising number of civilian casualties.
The U.S. has opposed a United Nations resolution that calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas saying it would interfere with efforts by the Biden administration to de-escalate the situation.
Biden, giving his first commencement address as the nation’s commander in chief, urged the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s 2021 graduating class to “go out and be the future” and that their “mission will become even more global and even more important.”
Biden will unveil the first detailed budget proposal of his term in office on May 28, a day later than originally planned.
Biden will sign the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act into law today during a ceremony at the White House.
Jill Biden said Kamala Harris should “go f–k” herself after famously questioning her husband’s record on race during a Democratic primary debate.
In an address to the first AAPI Victory Alliance Unity Summit, Harris emphasized the importance of members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in the election process and in the country’s society.
Federal Reserve officials were optimistic about the economy at a recent meeting – so much so that “a number” of them began to tiptoe toward a conversation about dialing back some support for it.
Senators introduced bipartisan legislation that would be the most significant overhaul of the U.S. Postal Service in years, after the beleaguered agency repeatedly asked Congress for help to address its bleak financial situation.
Thirty-five Republicans joined Democrats in passing a bill to create a bipartisan, independent commission to thoroughly investigate the Capitol riot Jan. 6, giving hope to backers it might also pass the Senate despite Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s opposition.
The resolution will now move to the U.S. Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised a vote, but the necessary Republican backing is weak.
For the second time in a week, House Republicans found themselves facing a contentious vote that Donald Trump has framed as a test of their loyalty, even as the party tries to focus on more unifying topics like criticism of Biden and winning neat year’s elections.
The EU will reopen its borders to visitors who have been fully vaccinated with an approved shot and to those coming from a list of countries considered safe from a coronavirus perspective, permitting broader travel just in time for the summer tourism season.
EU ambassadors also agreed on easing the criteria for nations to be considered a safe country, from which all tourists can travel. However, it’s unclear when it will officially roll out the welcome mat to either group.
They are expected to set a new list this week or early next week. Based on data from the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Britain and a number of other countries would meet the new criteria.
India recorded the world’s highest number of deaths from Covid-19 in a single day, as the country suffers through one of the most ferocious surges of the pandemic.
Vaccination rates across the United States are uneven – a worrisome trend that could obstruct efforts to end the Covid-19 pandemic. Rates range from more than 78% of adults in Vermont with at least one vaccine to less than 45% of adults in Mississippi.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has eased the cold storage rules for the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine so that the doses can be kept longer at normal refrigerator temperatures.
The chief executive of Emergent BioSolutions, whose Baltimore plant ruined millions of vaccine doses, disclosed for the first time that more than 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine are now on hold as regulators check for possible contamination.
The FDA says the change should make the vaccine more widely available by making it easier for doctors’ offices to receive, store and administer the vaccine.
A Covid-19 booster vaccine, when authorized, will likely be needed within a year following initial vaccination, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said.
Health officials in the United Kingdom are trying to be proactive in the fight against COVID-19, especially in ensuring that vaccinated people will be continually protected against variants or if the original vaccine does wear off by the fall.
Actress Selma Hayek says she battled a near-fatal case of COVID-19.
“My doctor begged me to go to the hospital because it was so bad,” Hayek told Variety. “I said, ‘No, thank you. I’d rather die at home.’”
New York nursing homes had more long-duration coronavirus outbreaks than nursing homes in most other states, according to a new study of over 13,000 Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes conducted by federal government watchdogs.
Federal investigators are examining whether New York state officials gave priority access to Covid-19 testing to some of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s close associates and his brother during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Those who received special access to testing and fast results during that period also included Giorgio DeRosa, a top Albany lobbyist and the father of the governor’s most senior aide, Melissa DeRosa.
Cuomo’s family continued to get special access to rapid COVID-19 testing until at least April, even after he came under fire for pulling the same move during the early days of the pandemic.
Prosecutors have recently contacted and scheduled interviews with officials in the Democratic governor’s office who worked on the testing program.
GOP state lawmakers are pushing a bill that prohibits government officials from profiting off their book deals, which comes the same week as it was revealed Cuomo stands to rake in $5 million for his book about his handling of the pandemic.
Cuomo announced some new guidance for child care, day camp, and overnight camp programs in New York.
The guidelines includes 6-foot distancing rules for those who aren’t fully vaccinated and masks for unvaccinated staff and campers over age 2.
New Yorkers who have been vaccinated for Covid-19 were officially allowed to ditch their masks in most outdoor – and many indoor – settings yesterday, as the state lifted many virus-related restrictions that have been in effect for more than a year.
A lot of New Yorkers are hesitant to fully ditch their masks after the trauma of the past year.
Restaurants are scrambling to comply with new rules related to masking and social distancing.
It was less a grand gala than a soft opening, a finish line at the end of a long race that no one wanted to be the first to cross. Many business owners chose to continue requiring customers to wear masks.
Corporate leaders are making fresh determinations on how to structure post-pandemic office life. That question is especially pressing in New York, where remote work has ruptured aspects of the city including retail storefronts and the subway.
New York lawmakers will keep wearing masks or can work remotely for the remainder of the legislative session even as leaders ease capacity restrictions in the Capitol, though it currently remains closed to the public.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie sent a statement saying that capacity limits in the assembly have been eliminated, but members, employees, and visitors must still wear masks in all Assembly workplaces.
The Washington Avenue Armory mass vaccination site in Albany is set to close next week, federal officials confirmed.
Fifty percent of New Yorkers have gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. But for the workers who care for, guard and oversee those in the state’s system of developmental centers, psychiatric hospitals and prisons, the vaccination rate is lower.
The New York attorney general’s office has been criminally investigating the chief financial officer of former President Donald J. Trump’s company for months over tax issues.
Advocates and cannabis-supporting state lawmakers are clashing with the Cuomo administration over the lack of movement on improvements to the medical cannabis program approved in the recently passed adult-use legalization law.
Caught off guard by an infusion of universal pre-kindergarten (UPK) funding in the 2021-22 state budget, local school districts are scrambling to find suitable locations to house classrooms for 4-year-olds before September.
The state Public Service Commission approved the sale of the closed Indian Point nuclear power station from Entergy Corp. to Holtec International, which will decommission the plant, a move that smooths the way for a final transfer.
New York City’s mayoral contest is a tight race between Eric Adams and Andrew Yang, with Adams narrowly winning on the final ranked-choice ballot, according to a mid-May poll of likely Democratic primary voters conducted for the Manhattan Institute.
An 8-year-old boy, his father and another man were wounded in a drive-by shooting in Queens last night, police and sources said.
Saying “he wouldn’t stomach it anymore,” lifelong Republican Benny Zlotnick, the town supervisor of Milton, said he is abandoning the GOP.
Tom Dadey, a former New York Republican leader who abandoned the party in February, has resurfaced in a new political leadership post. He will be the state Conservative Party’s new leader.
After careful deliberation, SUNY opted to pause all University-sponsored international travel for the fall 2021 semester.
The Albany teen arrested in the killing of 18-year-old Chyna Forney intends to plead not guilty when he is arraigned at state Supreme Court in Albany next week, his attorney confirmed.
Albany Common Council President Corey Ellis announced details surrounding a Civilian Public Safety Commission – a recommendation outlined in the Albany Policing Reform and Reinvention Plan.
Amazon wants to build a second large facility in the town of Schodack, a 278,000-square-foot warehouse and truck terminal on Route 150, not far from its existing distribution center that opened last year on Route 9.
Saratoga Springs school board candidates backed by a secret group opposed to the inclusion of anti-racist language in district policy appear to have won two seats on the panel in Tuesday’s election.
It’s less than two months until Saratoga Race Course opens. The lingering question remains over how many people will be allowed in the track this summer.
State police executed a search warrant at the home of Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren.
A former nursing student at Ellis Hospital who was stabbed in the neck during a rampage by a scissors-wielding patient last year is suing the medical facility in state Supreme Court, claiming negligence.
Zhang Yiming, who helped found TikTok’s Chinese parent company and turn it into a globe-straddling internet giant, will step down as its chief executive at the end of the year to focus on long-term strategy.
Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas signed into law one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion measures, banning the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy and thrusting the state into the advancing national debate over reproductive rights.
Microsoft said it plans to largely retire its Internet Explorer browser, adding to the digital scrap heap a product once at the center of one of the tech industry’s biggest battles.
Paul Mooney, the longtime stand-up comedian and actor who frequently collaborated with fellow comic Richard Pryor, has died at the age of 79.
