Good morning.
A deadly, atmospheric river-fueled storm caused chaos across California yesterday, battering the state with record amounts of rain, destructive mudslides, and violent winds that left at least three people dead from falling trees.
Nearly 38 million people are under flood alerts across the state and into Arizona, including about 10 million people in Los Angeles county. At least three people have died due to the storm, all struck by trees that toppled over in the fierce weather. But officials warned dangers still lurked in the waters that could continue to rise.
By yesterday afternoon, the storm remained stalled out over the Los Angeles area and forecasters said the unrelenting stream of rain – falling at roughly half an inch an hour – could continue in places, with the National Weather Service (NWS) warning the storm would continue to hammer the region.
The storm has produced alarming amounts of rain so far, with some areas of Los Angeles totaling more than 10in. The University of California, Los Angeles, located on the west side of the city, received more than 11.8in – more than three times the average amount that falls in the entire month of February, UCLA climate scientist Chad Thackeray reported.
How did atmospheric rivers lead to a state of emergency? Much like last year, when record rainfall lashed the state, the storms are attributed to atmospheric rivers, systems that have long played a role in California’s precipitation levels. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration refers to these systems as “rivers in the sky”, as they are long streams of moisture in the atmosphere that span between 250 and 375 miles wide on average.
Blinken heads to Egypt in effort to seek ‘enduring end’ to Israel-Gaza war
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is due to fly to Egypt on his next stop as he continues his fifth tour of the region since the 7 October attacks by Hamas. In Cairo, Blinken is scheduled to meet Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Blinken is later expected to visit Israel as well as Qatar.
He started his visit in Riyadh where he has held talks with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. They discussed “regional coordination to achieve an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza”, said the state department spokesperson, Matthew Miller.
They also spoke of “the urgent need to reduce regional tensions”, Miller said, referring to a surge in attacks across the region that triggered counterattacks by the US and its partners.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Office for theCoordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) has reported in its latest update an “increase in strikes in Rafah on 4 and 5 February” as well as an increased influx of internally displaced people into the area.
What did Blinken say about the talks? Blinken did not answer reporters’ questions as he returned to his hotel, says Reuters, but his diplomatic push has been given fresh urgency with Israeli forces pressing farther south towards Rafah, a Palestinian city on the southern border with Egypt where more than half the population of the Gaza Strip have taken shelter.
Joe Biden joins well-wishers for King Charles as Rishi Sunak says ‘cancer caught early’
The US president, Joe Biden, was among the world leaders who wished the king a speedy recovery after it was announced that the 75-year-old monarch had been diagnosed with cancer.
He joined politicians, religious leaders and celebrities from around the world who reacted to the news by sending the king heartfelt messages of support. The US president, whose son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015, said that dealing with a cancer diagnosis took courage.
The king is facing regular treatment for cancer after receiving a shock diagnosis during a recent hospital stay for a procedure on an enlarged prostate. He has postponed all his public duties and begun medical care in London as an outpatient under the supervision of his specialist team of doctors.
The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, said the cancer had been caught early.
What type of cancer has the king been diagnosed with? The exact diagnosis has not been made public, but the statement announcing the news made clear it is not prostate cancer but a separate issue.
In other news …
The US transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, said human drivers must pay attention at all times after videos emerged of people wearing what appeared to be Apple’s recently released Vision Pro headset while driving Teslas. Despite their names, Tesla’s assisted driving features – Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving – do not mean the vehicles are fully autonomous, Buttigieg said.
US-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria have liberated a Yazidi woman who had been held for a decade by Islamic State (IS), where she was raped and forced to marry extremists. The 24-year-old woman was rescued with her son and daughter during a security operation by Kurdish fighters in Syria’s al-Hawl camp.
Concern is growing for the welfare of a pod of killer whales that appear to have become trapped in drift ice off the coast of Hokkaido in northern Japan. Footage aired by the public broadcaster NHK today showed at least 10 orcas poking out of a small gap in the surface of the water.
Bruce Willis’s wife, Emma Heming Willis, is to publish a book about her experience as a caregiver to her husband after he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. The untitled book will “offer a thoughtful, inspiring guide for those seeking support while navigating a loved one’s dementia”.
Stat of the day: nearly half of US wants Trump election subversion verdict before November, poll says
Nearly half of those in the US want to see Donald Trump’s 2020 election subversion case resolved before the former president runs for the White House again in November, according to a poll published yesterday. Meanwhile, a quarter of Americans do not think Trump will ever concede if he loses a second time to Joe Biden, said the survey, commissioned by CNN. The survey in question found that 48% of those polled believed it was “essential” for there to be a verdict before November’s election. Another 16% said they would at least prefer to see one. More than three-quarters (78%) also think the former president would try to pardon himself of federal charges if he wins another stint in the Oval Office.
Don’t miss this: she wanted to make a chicken sandwich with fewer chemicals for school kids. How hard could it be?
After more than three decades of working to feed students under increasingly difficult circumstances, Katie Wilson was fed up. The leader of the Urban School Food Alliance, a non-profit that supports nutrition programs at the country’s largest school districts, wanted to do something to disrupt a school food status quo she says is “so broken it’s unbelievable”. Between tight budgets and the stranglehold of big corporations on the school food supply, the system seems stacked against healthy options. In 2021, she decided to try something deceptively simple: creating a recipe for a chicken patty. Her quest for a tasty, healthier chicken sandwich for US schoolchildren took nearly three years, writes Jessica Terrell.
Climate check: ancient sea sponges at centre of controversial claim world has already warmed by 1.7C
Between 30 metres and 90 metres below the surface of the Caribbean Sea, an ancient sponge species that grows a hard skeleton has been quietly recording changes in the ocean temperature for hundreds of years. Now those sponges are at the centre of a bold and controversial claim made in a leading scientific journal that, since the start of the Industrial Revolution, the planet may have already warmed by 1.7C – half a degree more than estimates used by the United Nation’s climate panel.
Several leading scientists urged caution, saying the research had “over-reached” and questioned whether such a bold claim could be made based on one sponge species from a single location.
Last Thing: isolated Indigenous people as happy as wealthy western peers – study
People living in remote Indigenous communities are as happy as those in wealthy developed countries despite having “very little money”, according to scientific research that could challenge the widely held perception that “money buys happiness”. Researchers who interviewed 2,966 people in 19 Indigenous and local communities across the world found that on average they were as happy – if not happier – as the average person in high-income western countries.
“I would hope that, by learning more about what makes life satisfying in these diverse communities, it might help many others to lead more satisfying lives while addressing the sustainability crisis,” Eric Galbraith, the lead author of the study said.
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