France's top diplomat on Saturday continued the country's onslaught of criticism against the United States and Australia, decrying the "duplicity, contempt and lies" surrounding a scrapped submarine order worth more than $60 billion.
Why it matters: In securing an agreement with the U.S. and U.K. to acquire nuclear submarines at the expense of its deal with France, Australia provoked what Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister, described as a "crisis" that could threaten existing Western alliances.
Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday made a surprise visit to Audi Field, where she led the coin toss between Howard University and Hampton University for the inaugural "Truth and Service Classic" football game.
The big picture: Harris is the first graduate of a historically Black college or university (HBCU) to enter the White House, Axios' Russell Contreras reports.
"The time is now to speak up," Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) implored his Republican colleagues in a video message posted Saturday, a day after fellow GOP Rep. Anthony Gonzalez announced his retirement.
Why it matters: Gonzalez was one of 10 House Republicans, including Kinzinger, who voted for impeachment. He said he had decided not to seek re-election against a Trump-backed primary challenger in 2022.
The State Department on Saturday confirmed that a Qatar Airways charter flight left Kabul on Friday with 28 U.S. citizens and seven lawful permanent residents on board.
The big picture: Friday's flight is the third such airlift by Qatar Airways since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, AP reports.
A few hundred demonstrators were met by a heavy law enforcement presence on Saturday at the "Justice for J6" rally outside the fenced-off U.S. Capitol, AP reports.
The latest: Four people were arrested at the rally, including one person with a gun, one with a knife and two with outstanding warrants, per the U.S. Capitol Police.
Heat is typically the No. 1 weather-related killer in the U.S. — but depending on the neighborhood, some city residents experience cooler, more manageable temperatures than others.
Why it matters: Allcities trap heat, with their darkly colored asphalt and energy absorbent buildings — a phenomenon known as the Urban Heat Island effect. However, within these heat islands, some areas are consistently hotter.
The increasing number of extreme weather incidents is spurring calls from emergency services workers and state and local officials for better public health mapping to identify and assist people at risk from environmental disasters.
Why it matters: People of color, especially Black Americans, have been disproportionately affectedby environmental hazards and are more likely to die of environmental causes now and in the future.
A growing environmental threat to communities of color — particularly Black Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans — is the damage some are likely to suffer because of climate change in the coming years.
The big picture: This visual is based on an EPA analysis released this month that explores how warming and rising seas could make life especially miserable for people of color based on where they currently live in the lower 48 states.
A national study out earlier this year from the nonprofit First Street Foundation supports what experts have long believed: The National Flood Insurance Program undercharges for flood insurance in certain areas, making it cheaper and easier for people to live in dangerous places if they’re willing to take the risk.
The big picture: The group found 4.2 million properties across the country face major flood risk and pay too little in flood insurance; a quarter of those were in Florida. And the data show the risk is racially lopsided.
On a cool July dawn, 11-year-old Henry Herrera and his father were outside their home in Tularosa, New Mexico, when they saw a bright light and heard the boom of what turned out to be the world's first atomic bomb test.
Hours later, their home was covered in ash.
Why it matters: Three-quarters of a century later, Hispanic and Mescalero Apache families and descendants of those living near the Trinity Test are dealing with rare cancers that have devastated nearly fourgenerations, while the federal government ignored, dismissed and forgot them.
Most of us take the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink for granted. But for people of color, the environment is often the cause of chronic, sometimes fatal health issues.
In August 2015, Steve Benally walked out of his Halchita, Utah, home on the Navajo Nation and heard a warning: Don't use the water. The Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado, had spilled toxic wastewater into the Animas River watershed.
The big picture: Benally would lose his harvest and suffer from secondary health effects, highlighting just one of the environmental dangers some Native Americans, Black Americans and Latinos face from pollution and poor government oversight.
The Biden administration is concerned that next week's United Nations General Assembly could become a COVID-19 "superspreader event," CBS News reported.
Why it matters: Leaders from around the world will gather in New York City without necessarily abiding by the new requirement that mandates proof of vaccination for all indoor activities.
The Department of Homeland Security on Saturday announced plans to ramp up deportation flights to Haiti out of the small Texas border town Del Rio, starting as soon as Sunday.
Why it matters: Reports have emerged of more than 10,000 migrants, primarily from Haiti, crowded in a temporary camp under the international bridge in Del Rio. Hoping to find refuge in the United States, they've had to bear with filthy conditions and the scorching sun for days, per an NBC News affiliate.
A new study found health care visits for gun injuries rose sharply last year during the pandemic.
Why it matters: The new data from electronic health records helps confirm media reports and preliminary data suggestinga surge in gun violence in many cities.
Americans of color are much less likely than white Americans to experience good air quality or tap water or enough trees or green space in their communities, and they'remore likely to face noise pollution and litter, a new Axios-Ipsos poll finds.
The big picture: Our national survey shows Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely than their white counterparts to live near major highways or industrial or manufacturing plants — and to have dealt in the past year with water-boil notices or power outages lasting more than 24 hours.
Brazil's indigenous affairs agency Funai renewed a land protection order on Friday for the 599,230 acres in Brazil belonging to the Piripkura tribe, Reuters reports.
Why it matters: The renewal, which in the past has lasted for three years, will now only be for six months, putting pressure on the Piripkura tribe who are close to extinction.
