California mulls buying out farms to save water in worst drought in 1200 years – National & International News – Mon 6Jun2022

California mulls buying up farms to save water. 13 mass shootings kill 18, wound at least 72 this weekend. US, South Korea fire missiles in warning to North.

NATIONAL NEWS

California mulls buying up farms to save water in worst drought in 1200 years

California’s legislature is considering spending $1.5 billion to buy up farms in the state to save water. The state has been experiencing varying intensities of drought for the last two decades. Based on environmental data, scientists believe this is the worst drought in at least 1,200 years.

Californians are accustomed to conserving water, but the state’s leaders have had a more difficult time convincing agricultural enterprises to do the same. Farms in California provide much of the country’s fruits, nuts and vegetables, all of which are very thirsty crops. Farmers are subject to some allocation restrictions based on seniority. The state recently allocated water allowances for farms throughout the state with some going down to zero.

But farmers who possess “senior water rights” can take as much water as they need from rivers and waterways. Legislators are considering buying up some of these senior water rights to keep water levels up to protect salmon and other fish in vulnerable river systems.

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13 mass shootings killed 18, wounded at least 72 over the weekend

As Republicans and Democrats in Congress reach a standstill on new gun control legislation, 13 more mass shootings took place in 10 states over the weekend. Tennessee, Georgia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, Texas, New York, Nebraska, Michigan and Arizona all saw mass shootings this weekend. Michigan had 3 and Arizona had two.

The FBI classifies a mass shooting as any shooting event where four or more people are shot, not including the shooter. By the end of the last week, there had already been 233 mass shootings across the country just in 2022.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

US, South Korea fire missiles in warning to North Korea

Today, the US and South Korea fired 8 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles into the sea as a show of force to North Korea. In recent weeks, North Korea’s military has been conducting regular missile launches including hypersonic weapons and test launches of inter-continental ballistic missiles. Recently, Washington and Seoul have both expressed fears that the North will also soon resume its nuclear weapons tests. Kim Jong Un put nuclear weapons tests on hold in 2017 following short-lived and ultimately unsuccessful disarmament talks with then-President Trump. The North Korean leader has recently promised to resume these tests.

North Korea is currently battling its first publicly acknowledged outbreak of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. When the pandemic started, the reclusive country shut its borders even more tightly and has not allowed foreign visitors for over two years. As a result, trade with its neighbor and only major ally China have been largely cut off. North Korea has also repeatedly turned down offers of COVID vaccines both from China and Western countries.

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