📌 Drought Warning, Chrome May Be Sold, More

New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued the city's first drought warning in 22 years as its reservoirs dropped below normal.

The warning was issued Monday as wildfires threatened to spread across much of the Eastern US. On Sunday, a Brush Fire Task Force was launched after 271 brush fires ignited citywide in the last two weeks—a record over a 14-day period.

Adams said Monday that October and November saw the second-longest rainless streak in 155 years. Officials said the city's water reservoirs were at about 60% capacity, significantly lower than the 79% for this time of year.

He called on New Yorkers to continue conserving water whenever possible. “If we pull together and save water, we can … avoid a more serious drought that will require further restrictions.”

New York Gov. Kathy also declared a drought watch because of "a historic shortage of rainfall" for the state while elevating 15 counties in mid-Hudson and New York City to a drought warning. The governor also declared a statewide burn ban.

"If you live in one of those areas, please conserve water where possible in the coming weeks," she said on X.

A report says the US Department of Justice will ask a judge to force Alphabet's Google to sell off its Chrome internet browser.

The source said the DOJ will also ask the judge, who ruled in August that Google illegally monopolized the search market, to require measures related to artificial intelligence and its Android smartphone operating system.

Google controls how people view the internet and what ads they see in part through its Chrome browser, which typically uses Google search, gathers information important to Google's ad business, and is estimated to have about two-thirds of the global browser market.

The DOJ declined to comment. In a statement from Lee-Anne Mulholland, Vice President of Google Regulatory Affairs, Google said the DOJ is pushing a “radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case” and would harm consumers.

The company plans to appeal once US District Judge Amit Mehta makes a final ruling, which he will likely do by August 2025.

Leaders of the Group of 20 meet today to discuss sustainable development and the transition to cleaner energy.

The host of the COP29 climate summit a day earlier pled for G20 countries to send a positive signal on the need to tackle climate change and provide clear mandates to help save talks that had bogged down in Baku, Azerbaijan.

In a joint statement, the G20 leaders called for “rapidly and substantially increasing climate finance from billions to trillions from all sources” to pay for the response to climate change.

G20 leaders agreed that COP29 negotiators need to reach a deal on how much money rich nations must provide to poorer developing countries in climate finance.

However, while the G20 statement said nations need to resolve the issue, they still need to indicate the solution at the UN summit, which is slated to end on Friday. Economists suggest that the goal should be at least $1 trillion annually.

A study finds that the over-50s who regularly use the internet are more likely to be happier with their lives.

Researchers from the University of Hong Kong found that ‘silver surfers’ who frequently log on to send or receive emails, make purchases or search for information report better wellbeing than those who don’t.

However, it's not good news for under-50s who enjoy scrolling online. Other research has suggested that for younger people, internet use can be linked to increased anxiety, poor self-esteem, eating disorders and online harassment.

In the study, the team analyzed data from 87,000 people aged 50 and older across 23 countries, who were followed for an average of six years.

For people in their later life who often face mobility and activity restrictions, internet use offers a valuable opportunity and an alternative for accessing health-related information.

A previous study found that silver surfers who persist with using the internet have half the risk of developing dementia compared to those who hardly go online.

A Pew Research Center report says about 20% of Americans regularly get their news from social media influencers.

The findings, drawn from a survey of more than 10,000 US adults and an analysis of social media posts posted this summer by influencers, indicate how Americans consumed the news during the height of the presidential campaign that President-elect Donald Trump won.

Racial minorities, young adults, and lower-income adults are likelier to get their news from influencers. 85% of news influencers are active on X, but many also use Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Most influencers (77%) have no affiliation with traditional media organizations, and 63% are men. Half of the influencers did not express a clear political orientation; among those who did, more identified as conservative than liberal.

Media analysts worry about misinformation from influencers who don't follow editorial standards. 70% of respondents feel the news from influencers is somewhat different from traditional sources, with 25% finding it extremely or very different.

Over 35,000 protested outside New Zealand’s parliament against a bill reinterpreting a deal struck by colonizers and the Māori.

Today’s demonstration marked the end of a nine-day hīkoi, or peaceful protest, that had swept the country. The hīkoi swelled dramatically today as participants, many draped in colors of the Māori flag, marched through the capital, Wellington.

The bill, introduced by the Act political party, which is part of the country's ruling coalition, argues that New Zealand should reinterpret and legally define the principles of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, a document seen as fundamental to race relations.

“They [Māori] seem to want more and more and more,” said Barbara Lecomte, who lives in the coastal suburbs north of Wellington. “There’s a whole cosmopolitan mix of different nationalities now. We are all New Zealanders. I think we should work together and have equal rights.”

Equality, though, is still a way off, said Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, co-leader of Te Pāti Māori (Maori Party). “We can’t live equally if we have one people who are the Indigenous people living ‘less than.’” What the coalition government is doing is “an attempt to divide an otherwise progressive country, and it’s embarrassing.”

Four Los Angeles residents have been arrested after faking a bear attack that damaged their cars for insurance payouts.

The suspects submitted a claim stating a bear damaged the interior of their 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost, providing video evidence of a bear in the vehicle.

Detectives were alerted when two other claims with insurance companies with the same date and location with two different vehicles were filed.

To ensure there was no bear in the video, the California Department of Insurance had a biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife review the three alleged bear videos. They said it was “clearly a human in a bear suit.”

A search warrant led to the discovery of the bear costume in the suspects’ home. The suspects were charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy.