By Ismail Shakil

OTTAWA (Reuters) -Authorities in New York, Toronto and Ottawa on Tuesday warned residents about the health risks from air polluted by smoke from unprecedented early summer wildfires in eastern Canada.

An unusually early and intense start to wildfire season has set Canada on track for its worst-ever year as warm and dry conditions are forecast to persist for months.

There are blazes in nearly all of Canada’s 10 provinces and territories, with Quebec the worst impacted due to multiple fires caused by lightning.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued a health advisory for counties including New York, Bronx, and Queens.

The state recommended residents consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects.

The Canadian capital of Ottawa, which neighbors Quebec, was covered in haze on Tuesday morning, with air quality in category 10+, the worst level on Environment Canada’s Air Quality Health Index, indicating “very high risk”.

“Smoke plumes from local forest fires as well as forest fires in Quebec have resulted in deteriorated air quality,” Environment Canada said in an air quality alert for Ottawa.

The air over Toronto was also polluted and conditions could persist through most of this week, the government run weather agency said.

Wildfire smoke can harm health even at low concentrations, and people with lung or heart diseases as well as older adults, children, and pregnant women were at higher health risk from wildfire smoke, Environment Canada said.

Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Tuesday thanked United States, Mexico, South Africa and France for sending in firefighters to help.

Wildfires are common in Canada’s western provinces, but this year flames have been mushrooming rapidly in eastern Canada, forcing home evacuations and the federal government to send in the military.

About 3.3 million hectares have already burned – some 13 times the 10-year average – and more than 120,000 people have been at least temporarily forced out of their homes.

“I want to highlight that people need to continue to listen to local authorities on how to stay safe, including in places like Ottawa that are affected by smoke from wildfires,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa, editing by Ed Osmond and Alistair Bell)

By Ismail Shakil

OTTAWA (Reuters) -Authorities in New York, Toronto and Ottawa on Tuesday warned residents about the health risks from air polluted by smoke from unprecedented early summer wildfires in eastern Canada.

An unusually early and intense start to wildfire season has set Canada on track for its worst-ever year as warm and dry conditions are forecast to persist for months.

There are blazes in nearly all of Canada’s 10 provinces and territories, with Quebec the worst impacted due to multiple fires caused by lightning.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued a health advisory for counties including New York, Bronx, and Queens.

The state recommended residents consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects.

The Canadian capital of Ottawa, which neighbors Quebec, was covered in haze on Tuesday morning, with air quality in category 10+, the worst level on Environment Canada’s Air Quality Health Index, indicating “very high risk”.

“Smoke plumes from local forest fires as well as forest fires in Quebec have resulted in deteriorated air quality,” Environment Canada said in an air quality alert for Ottawa.

The air over Toronto was also polluted and conditions could persist through most of this week, the government run weather agency said.

Wildfire smoke can harm health even at low concentrations, and people with lung or heart diseases as well as older adults, children, and pregnant women were at higher health risk from wildfire smoke, Environment Canada said.

Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Tuesday thanked United States, Mexico, South Africa and France for sending in firefighters to help.

Wildfires are common in Canada’s western provinces, but this year flames have been mushrooming rapidly in eastern Canada, forcing home evacuations and the federal government to send in the military.

About 3.3 million hectares have already burned – some 13 times the 10-year average – and more than 120,000 people have been at least temporarily forced out of their homes.

“I want to highlight that people need to continue to listen to local authorities on how to stay safe, including in places like Ottawa that are affected by smoke from wildfires,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa, editing by Ed Osmond and Alistair Bell)

(Reuters) – Two people were shot dead and five others wounded after a gunman opened fire in a park in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday as high school graduates and their families emerged from a theater where commencement exercises had just concluded, police said.

Police arrested a suspect, an 19-year-old man, and planned to charge him with two counts of second-degree murder in addition to other possible offenses, interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards and other officials told reporters.

The shooting occurred outside the Altria Theater on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, where local high school graduation ceremonies were being held.

The deceased were men aged 18 and 36, Edwards said. He did not confirm a WWBT television news report that the victims were father and son.

Among the shooting victims, a 31-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries and four other males aged 14, 32, 55 and 58 were expected to survive, Edwards said.

In addition, a 9-year-old girl was struck by a car in the chaos that ensued, and multiple other people were injured in falls or suffered from anxiety, Edwards said.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Tom Hogue and Lincoln Feast)

By Bharat Gautam and Yana Gaur

(Reuters) – Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson released the first episode of his new show on Twitter on Tuesday, weeks after being taken off the air by the network following a damaging defamation lawsuit over false claims of election fraud.

In a roughly 10-minute video captioned “Ep.1” he claimed without evidence that Ukraine was to blame for the destruction of a massive dam in Russian-occupied territory that caused widespread flooding.

The one-time top-rating talk show host on U.S. cable television said he hoped Twitter would be the “short-wave radio under the blankets” with “no gatekeepers”.

“If that turns out to be false, we’ll leave,” he said.

The show is named “Tucker on Twitter” and Carlson said he would be “back with much more very soon.”

Twitter owner Elon Musk tweeted after Carlson posted his video that it “would be great to have shows from all parts of the political spectrum on this platform!”

Fox News Media and its top-rated host Carlson agreed to part ways in late April, less than a week after parent company Fox Corp settled the defamation lawsuit for $787.5 million.

Dominion Voting Systems alleged in its lawsuit that Carlson allowed debunked election-fraud claims about its voting-technology firm to air on his show, while casting doubts on the plausibility of those claims in private messages that emerged in legal filings.

Fox News did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

(Reporting by Yana Gaur and Bharat Govind Gautam in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates)

By Joseph Ax and Eric Beech

(Reuters) -Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Tuesday launched his 2024 presidential campaign with a withering attack on the Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, calling him a “self-serving mirror hog” and faulting other rivals for avoiding direct confrontation.

Christie, 60, was an adviser to Trump’s successful 2016 White House campaign but has since become a vocal critic over the former president’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged.

A former federal prosecutor, Christie presented himself as the lone Republican contender willing to go toe-to-toe with the bellicose Trump.

“A lonely, self-consumed, self-serving mirror hog is not a leader,” he said.

At one point, he delivered a mocking impression of Trump claiming he would build a southern border wall at Mexico’s expense and said Trump, more than Biden, was to blame for the country’s failed immigration policy.

In a post on his social media site, Trump made a reference to Christie’s weight and called him a “failed governor.”

Christie has not fared well in public opinion polling thus far. He netted just 1% support from potential Republican primary voters in a Reuters/Ipsos poll in May, compared with Trump’s 49% support and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ 19% support.

Other Republicans seeking the party’s nomination to challenge President Joe Biden include former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and U.S. Senator Tim Scott. Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, is set to enter the race on Wednesday.

Taking the stage to the sounds of Bruce Springsteen, Christie accused both Trump and Biden of “making us smaller” by dividing Americans. He called Biden a “nice guy” but said he was out of his depth, in a reference to the 80-year-old’s age.

Christie, who has always enjoyed the town hall format, answered questions for nearly two hours after his initial remarks on everything from his anti-abortion stance to his views on China.

When an attendee asked him about the recent debt ceiling agreement struck by Biden and congressional Republicans, Christie praised both sides for averting catastrophe.

“When did compromise become such a dirty word?” he said.

Christie ran for president in 2016 but ended his bid after a disappointing finish in the New Hampshire primary and became the first major figure in the party to back Trump.

He has since disavowed Trump, a shift that may attract Republicans ready to move past Trump. But it remains unclear whether any Republican can prevail in a crowded field without the support of Trump’s still-loyal base.

As an underdog, Christie could end up playing the role of spoiler, as he did in 2016, when his dissection of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio at a debate days before Christie dropped out of the race blunted Rubio’s momentum.

Christie dismissed that notion that he was only running to stop Trump, rather than win.

“How are those two things mutually exclusive?” he asked to laughter. “The guy’s ahead in the polls. Who am I supposed to be worried about, Nikki Haley?”

As a Republican governor in Democratic-leaning New Jersey from 2009 to 2017, Christie was once seen as a rising political star whose confrontational approach earned him plaudits from admirers and accusations of bullying from detractors.

But his tenure was tarnished by the “Bridgegate” scandal, in which two allies shut down lanes at the heavily trafficked George Washington Bridge between New Jersey and New York City to punish a local mayor for failing to endorse Christie’s re-election.

Christie has said he was unaware of the plot, but witnesses at a criminal trial for the two allies testified that the governor knew about the lane closures. On Tuesday, he said he took responsibility for putting his trust in the wrong people, calling it his biggest mistake.

Despite his early support for Trump, Christie was passed over for vice president and for attorney general, and was fired as the head of Trump’s transition team just three days after the 2016 election.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Additional reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Kieran Murray, Stephen Coates and Gerry Doyle)

(Reuters) -Two people were shot dead and several wounded by gunfire that erupted in a park in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday as high school graduates and their families emerged from a theater where commencement exercises had just concluded, police said.

Two suspects were taken into custody following the shooting, which erupted shortly after 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, where local high school graduation ceremonies were being held, interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards and other officials told reporters.

The deceased were men aged 18 and 36, and one of the suspects was a 19-year-old man, Edwards said.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Tom Hogue)

(Reuters) -Two people were shot dead and several wounded by gunfire that erupted in a park in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday as high school graduates and their families emerged from a theater where commencement exercises had just concluded, police said.

Two suspects were taken into custody following the shooting, which erupted shortly after 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, where local high school graduation ceremonies were being held, interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards and other officials told reporters.

The deceased were men aged 18 and 36, and one of the suspects was a 19-year-old man, Edwards said.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Tom Hogue)

(Reuters) – Seven people were wounded by gunfire that erupted in a park in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday as high school graduates and their families emerged from a theater where commencement exercises had just concluded, police said.

Two suspects were taken into custody following the shooting, which erupted shortly after 5 p.m. EDT on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, where local high school graduation ceremonies were being held, interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards and other officials told reporters.

(By Steve Gorman; Editing by Tom Hogue)

(Reuters) – Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Tuesday launched his 2024 presidential campaign by presenting himself as the only candidate in the growing Republican field willing to go toe-to-toe with the “self-serving” front-runner, Donald Trump.

Christie was an adviser to Trump’s successful 2016 White House campaign but has since become a vocal critic over the former president’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged.

A former federal prosecutor, Christie kicked off his White House bid at a town hall-style event at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. He wasted little time attacking Trump directly, accusing him of shirking responsibility for mistakes while caring only about himself.

“A lonely, self-consumed, self-serving, mirror hog is not a leader,” he said.

At another point, he adopted a mocking impression of Trump claiming he would build a southern border wall at Mexico’s expense and said Trump, more than Biden, was to blame for the country’s failed immigration policy.

In a post on his social media site, Trump called Christie a “failed governor” and said his rival’s speech “rambled all over the place.”

Christie, 60, has not fared well in public opinion polling thus far. He netted just 1% support from potential Republican primary voters in a Reuters/Ipsos poll in May, compared to Trump’s 49% support and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ 19% support.

Other Republicans seeking the party’s nomination to challenge President Joe Biden include former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and U.S. Senator Tim Scott. Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, is set to enter the race on Wednesday.

Taking the stage to the sounds of Bruce Springsteen, Christie sought to present himself as a sensible alternative to Trump, saying the former president “made us smaller” by dividing Americans and criticizing Biden for doing the same thing “on the other side.”

When an attendee asked him what he thought of the recent debt ceiling agreement struck by Biden and congressional Republicans, Christie said he was not sure if it was the best possible deal but praised both sides for averting catastrophe.

“Governing is about compromising,” he said. “When did compromise become such a dirty word?”

Christie ran for president in 2016 but ended his bid after a disappointing finish in the New Hampshire primary and became the first major figure in the party to back Trump.

He since has urged Republicans to disavow Trump’s assertions about the 2020 election and told reporters he would not vote for Trump in 2024, even if Trump won the nomination.

That strategy may entice Republican voters who are ready to move past Trump, but it remains unclear whether any Republican can prevail without the support of Trump’s still-loyal base.

As an underdog, Christie could end up playing the role of spoiler, a position he found himself occupying in 2016, when his dissection of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio at a debate days before Christie dropped out of the race blunted Rubio’s momentum.

Christie first emerged as a national figure on the strength of his two terms from 2009 to 2017 as governor of Democratic-leaning New Jersey, where his confrontational approach to politics earned him plaudits from admirers and accusations of bullying from detractors.

His tenure was tarnished by the so-called “Bridgegate” scandal, in which two allies deliberately shut down lanes at the heavily trafficked George Washington Bridge between New Jersey and New York City to punish a local mayor for failing to endorse Christie’s re-election.

Christie has said he was unaware of the plot at the time, but witnesses at a criminal trial for the two allies testified that the governor knew about the lane closures.

Despite his early support for Trump, Christie was passed over for vice president and for attorney general, and was fired as the head of Trump’s transition team just three days after the 2016 election.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Additional reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Alistair Bell and Stephen Coates)

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration will conduct safety assessments of all major U.S. railroads following the Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern operated train in Ohio, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) reviews were sought by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. They will be similar to a recently completed review of Norfolk Southern’s safety culture practices and compliance after its train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, catching fire and releasing over a million gallons of hazardous materials and pollutants.

FRA Administrator Amit Bose told Schumer the agency in a previously unreported June 1 letter the agency will conduct assessments on each major railroad over the next year and it plans to release “an overarching final report assessing issues, trends, and commonalities across all railroads reviewed.”

Bose’s letter said each major railroad will be asked to “develop corrective actions in response to FRA’s recommendations, and FRA will track those to completion.”

Schumer’s office said the actions of the past few months “make it clear that the freight rail industry has perpetuated a culture of cost-cutting and shortcuts that has led to horrific damages in communities, injured workers, and even death.”

Schumer said the reports “will be a good first step to identifying the problems that persist in individual companies as well as what endemic problems permeate across the whole industry.”

The Association of American Railroads, a trade group, said “railroads safety culture is grounded in a commitment to continuous safety improvements, and FRA data continues to validate that rail remains a safe, responsible transportation solution.”

In March, the National Transportation Safety Board opened a special investigation into Norfolk Southern, urging the railroad to take immediate action to review and assess its safety practices.

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy told Schumer in a previously unreported April 7 letter the board did not have the resources to expand its safety review to all major railroads saying it “would strain our already limited resources and delay completion of current investigations.”

Last month, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee approved rail safety legislation that tightens rules on trains carrying explosive substances.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese, Nick Zieminski and Lincoln Feast.)