Yosemite wildfire threatens ancient sequoias - July 12, 2022

NASA unveiled the first full-color image from the new James Webb Telescope, marking a pivotal moment for deep-space observation. The image is the most detailed infrared view of the Universe to date, featuring a massive group of galaxy clusters that act as a magnifying glass for the objects behind them. The telescope aims to look deeper into space than ever before, filling a mysterious gap in the history of the universe – the first 400 million years after the big bang – and exploring the possibility of life outside our solar system. A U.S. pharmaceutical company has asked the Food and Drug Administration to sell birth control pills over the counter for the first time in 60 years since the approval of oral contraceptives. The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has placed contraceptive access at the heart of reproductive rights debates. Studies have shown more than 50% of pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended and one-third of women have reported difficulties filling birth control pill prescriptions. The request from Paris-based HRA Pharma came the same day the Biden administration told hospitals they “must” provide abortion services if the mother's life is at risk. California firefighters gained ground Monday in a fight against a wildfire on the western flank of the Sierra Nevada, with the blaze 22% contained as of Monday night. The Washburn Fire poses a threat to a grove of giant sequoia trees – some thought to be more than 2,000 years old – and the small community of Yosemite National Park. The intense flames are so powerful that they are creating their own weather system, causing updrafts strong enough to launch debris into the air. The average fire season is already three-and-a-half times longer than it was decades ago, with the number of annual large fires tripling as heat and drought fuel wildfires. A string of robberies at 7-Eleven stores across Southern California Monday left two dead and several wounded after suspects robbed six separate locations on 7-Eleven’s 95th birthday celebration.