Former President Carter enters hospice care after hospitalization
Former President Jimmy Carter, the Georgia native who is the longest living president in U.S. history, has decided against any further medical treatment and has entered home hospice care, the Carter Center said Feb. 18. The Carter Center did not elaborate on the former president’s condition, but the 98-year-old has endured a host of illnesses as he has outlived two presidents who succeeded him along with his own vice president.
U.S. vice president says Russia committed humanitarian crimes
Vice President Kamala Harris said the U.S. has concluded that Russia committed “crimes against humanity” in its invasion of Ukraine and vowed that Moscow would be held to account for its actions. “In the case of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, we have examined the evidence, we know the legal standards, and there is no doubt,” Harris said in an address Feb. 18 to the Munich Security Conference. “The United States has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity. To all of those who are perpetrating these crimes — and to their superiors, who are complicit in these crimes — you will be held to account.”
Death toll rises above 40,000 in Turkey as aftershocks continue
The total number of people in Turkey killed in the devastating earthquake has reached 40,642, the disaster authority AFAD said Feb. 18. Several thousand more died in neighboring Syria. Later on Feb.18, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake shook southeastern Turkey, in the Kahramanmaras area, which was affected by the initial quakes. More than 5,700 aftershocks have been recorded since the original 7.8 magnitude quake hit the Turkey-Syria border region on Feb. 6, AFAD Chairman Yunus Sezer told reporters in Ankara earlier Feb. 18.
Chemical train crash in Ohio shows vacancy at U.S. agency
President Joe Biden has yet to nominate someone to lead the federal agency that regulates the transport of hazardous materials, including the toxic chemicals that spilled following the fi ery derailment of a Norfolk Southern Corp train in Ohio on Feb. 3. The Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has been without an administrator since Biden took offi ce in January 2021.
New California bill bans evictions for arrested tenants and families
California tenants and their families would no longer face mandatory eviction or exclusion based on their criminal histories or brushes with law enforcement under new legislation introduced Feb. 17. Assembly Bill 1418 takes aim at local policies known as “crime-free housing,” which can force landlords to evict tenants accused of breaking the law or refuse to rent to those with prior criminal convictions. The rules make it harder for renters to fi nd and remain in affordable housing.
