Good morning.
About 6,500 people are under evacuation orders after a fire at a North Carolina fertilizer plant and fears that it could result in the largest US explosion ever.
The risk of an explosion at the Weaver fertilizer plant, which contains roughly 600 tons of ammonium nitrate, has “greatly diminished” over the days since the blaze ignited.
The fire, which started in the north of Winston-Salem on Monday, is within a one-mile radius of about 2,500 homes, several schools and churches, a correctional facility as well as other commercial and government buildings.
Has it caused air pollution? Locals say the fire has created fumes that “get in your throat and look like a very thick fog”.
What is the Environmental Protection Agency’s role in this? It is not required to regulate facilities with ammonium nitrate under the Clean Air Act risk management plan. Environmental lawyers are calling for this to change.
Woman killed and four others injured after California bus shooting
A 43-year-old woman has been killed and four others injured after a man began shooting on Greyhound bus stopped in northern California.
Police arrested the suspect, 21-year-old Asaahdi Coleman, naked inside a nearby Walmart. Coleman had been exhibiting “paranoid behavior”, the Butte county sheriff, Kory Honea, said, and had accused a bus passenger of being an undercover police officer. He then opened fire as people were exiting the Los Angeles-bound vehicle, which had stopped at an AM/PM convenience store in Oroville, firing more than a dozen times.
The woman died at the scene. An 11-year-old girl, a 25-year-old woman who is pregnant, a 38-year-old man and a 32-year-old man were also injured. At least one of the victims was shot multiple times.
What do we know about the suspect? Coleman was wanted on a warrant out of another county for being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.
Did gun violence rise during the pandemic? The US saw its highest-ever recorded annual increase – 30% – in murders in 2020, FBI statistics show.
Tensions grow as truck blockade paralyzes Ottawa
Hundreds of truck drivers have descended on Ottawa to protest against public health measures, bringing the Canadian capital to a standstill in a situation that some fear could erupt into violence.
The protest has been sparked by a requirement that truckers crossing from the US into Canada be vaccinated against Covid. The vast majority of truckers, and Canadians, are vaccinated.
Police, who say their strategy is to defuse tension, say they believe a number of drivers have weapons, and that there are fears of violence as people call for a counter-protest to the blockade.
Critics of the police response say that other protests, including those by Indigenous peoples, are often met with force.
What does Justin Trudeau say? He dismissed suggestions of using the military to end the blockade, saying it was not going to happen “right now”.
In other news …
Facebook’s parent company has suffered a record single-day fall in stock market value, losing $230bn. Meta’s price fell by 26.4% after the company reported its daily user numbers had dropped for the first time ever.
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are meeting on Friday as tensions grow between Russia and the west. The summit, as Beijing kicks off its Winter Olympics, is the Chinese’s leader’s first face-to-face meeting with a world leader in two years.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is starting to come under fire for being “inaudible” over the mounting crisis in Ukraine. He has been criticised by Kyiv and other east-central European capitals for Germany’s restrictions on weapons exports to crisis regions.
Another adviser to the British prime minister Boris Johnson quit on Friday, following the resignation of four key No 10 officials on Thursday – a day dubbed the “meltdown in Downing Street”. More than 10 MPs have publicly called on Johnson to step down.
Stat of the day: World’s richest 10% accounted for 49% of CO2 emissions in 2015
Wealthy people are responsible for a growing proportion of the world’s emissions, new research shows. In 2010, the richest 10% emitted 34% of global CO2; by 2015, this was 49%. In contrast, the world’s poorest half were responsible for 15% in 2010, falling to 7% in 2015. “High consumption and large carbon footprints are spatially concentrated in high-income cities and suburbs – while their negative effects, such as air pollution, typically spill over into less affluent areas,” study author Prof Aimee Ambrose said.
Don’t miss this – Mitski: ‘I’m a black hole where people dump their feelings’
After the pandemic brought concerts and tours to a screeching halt almost two years ago, singer-songwriter Mitski found time to “learn how to live like a regular person”, baking and gardening at a base in Nashville. The respite from touring followed the success of her fifth album, Be the Cowboy, and the “cultish keenness” of her fanbase that came with it. She tells Ben Beaumont-Thomas about the need for boundaries, when “everyone need[s] a piece” of her, and about what it’s like to be “consumed” as an artist. “I’m a woman in public, allowing myself to be consumed. I put out songs, but really what people are buying is the product that is me.”
Last Thing: Kleptomaniac New Zealand parrot steals GoPro
When a family of hikers left their GoPro out to capture footage of Aotearoa’s native alpine parrot species, the kea, they didn’t expect a directorial debut from one of the New Zealand parrots. Flying off with the camera, the bird captured sweeping mountain views, avant-garde shots and, to close, a “slightly frenzied attack” on the GoPro.
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