Saturday, December 21

Tag: florida

Genetically modified mosquitoes could be released in Florida and Texas beginning this summer – silver bullet or jumping the gun?
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IN OTHER NEWS, SCIENCE

Genetically modified mosquitoes could be released in Florida and Texas beginning this summer – silver bullet or jumping the gun?

This summer, for the first time, genetically modified mosquitoes could be released in the U.S. On May 1, 2020, the company Oxitec received an experimental use permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to release millions of GM mosquitoes (labeled by Oxitec as OX5034) every week over the next two years in Florida and Texas. Females of this mosquito species, Aedes aegypti, transmit dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika viruses. When these lab-bred GM males are released and mate with wild females, their female offspring die. Continual, large-scale releases of these OX5034 GM males should eventually cause the temporary collapse of a wild population. However, as vector biologists, geneticists, policy experts and bioethicists, we are concerned that current government oversight ...
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IN OTHER NEWS

‘Multiple’ injuries in gas explosion at Florida shopping center

At least 15 people injured as the blast sent large pieces of debris about 91 metres across the street. A powerful explosion from a suspected gas leak ripped through a shopping mall in Florida, injuring at least 15 people. Two of those were in serious condition after the blast in the town of Plantation in south Florida on Saturday. Between 15 and 20 people were injured, deputy fire chief Joel Gordon told reporters. Photos on US news outlets showed a large field of debris outside the Fountains Plaza shopping centre. The photos showed an LA Fitness gym heavily damaged, with its windows blown out. The blast sent large pieces of debris about 91 metres across the street. The fire department called it a gas explosion with "multiple patients". The Sun-Sentinel, a...
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Florida restricts recently restored voting rights to felons
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VIDEO REELS

Florida restricts recently restored voting rights to felons

Florida has the highest number of people who have been disenfranchised because of their criminal records, say campaigners. Voting rights activists in the US state of Florida say they have been forced backwards by a new amendment imposing restrictions on people with criminal records. More than a million convicted felons had their voting rights restored at the beginning of the year. But now thousands are struggling to get to the ballot box. Al Jazeera's Andy Gallacher reports from Miami.
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Shaquille O’Neal Joins Florida Cop to Surprise Kids in Viral Pick-Up Game
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SOCIAL JUSTICE

Shaquille O’Neal Joins Florida Cop to Surprise Kids in Viral Pick-Up Game

When Gainesville, Florida, police officer Bobby White responded to a complaint about a group of kids playing basketball too loudly in the street on Jan. 15, he cried foul. "Can you believe someone is calling to complain about kids playing basketball in the street? Three-time NBA Finals MVP Shaquille O'Neal was humbled by the officer's reaction to the boys and went to the police station on Saturday to surprise Officer White, and offered to back him up in a rematch. Source: Shaquille O'Neal Joins Florida Cop to Surprise Kids in Viral Pick-Up Game - Yahoo
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