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Record-breaking heat wave grips western United States

A record early heat wave striking the western United States on Friday is a one-in-500-year event and almost certainly the result of human-caused climate change, experts say. The heat has been toppling records this week and is set to continue into the weekend across western cities while expanding eastward. Four locations in the desert area near the California-Arizona border registered 44.4 degrees Celsius on Friday, a US national record for March. The readings were recorded near Yuma and Martinez Lake in Arizona, and around Winterhaven and Ogilby in California. Read: Intense heatwave grips US, triggering record-breaking temperatures Already, 65 cities have recorded new March highs, ranging from Arizona and California to Idaho, Weather.com reported. Death Valley reached 40°C on Thursday, while typically cool and foggy San Francisco tied its historic March record at 29°C. In Colorado, skiers were seen hitting the slopes shirtless. The National Weather Service issued extreme heat warni...
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Trump sacks portrait gallery director over DEI support

US President Donald Trump said on Friday he had fired the director of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., describing her as a supporter of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and saying she was inappropriate for the role. Trump did not cite any specific actions or comments by Kim Sajet that may have triggered her firing, which he announced in a brief social media post. Representatives for Sajet, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian Institution, which owns the museum, did not immediately reply to requests for comment. "Upon the request and recommendation of many people, I am herby terminating the employment of Kim Sajet," Trump said in his post on Truth Social. https://ift.tt/NUB9q7k Sajet was the first woman to serve as director of the gallery, a landmark Washington institution that houses portraits of distinguished Americans, including every president. It contains over 26,000 works, according to its website. It was not immediately clear whether Trump had the legal authority to fire Sajet. The Smithsonian is technically independent of the federal government, despite receiving most of its budget from the US. Congress. Sajet's firing is the latest salvo in Trump's war against DEJ initiatives. It also comes as Trump seeks to reshape the capital's arts and culture scene, including by dismissing Kennedy Center board members and installing himself a s chairman. Trump's DEI actions have alarmed advocates, who say they effectively erase decades of hard-fought progress on leveling the playing field for marginalized communities. Trump's administration claims DEI initiatives are discriminatory and stifle merit. Sajet, a Nigerian-born art historian, has served as the gallery's director since 2013. In a 2015 interview with Washington Post, Sajet reflected on the gallery's efforts to examine issues of race and gender. "Where are all the women and African Americans?" Sajet told the Post of the gallery's collection. "We can't correct the ills of history. Women and men and women of color — their portraits weren't taken. How are we going to show the presence of absence?"

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At least 32 miners dead after bridge fails at cobalt site in southeast DR Congo

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Indian devotees splurge on jets, gold idols as Hindu temple opens

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