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Cronkite News •

Does Kamala Harris’ defeat mean the US isn’t ready for a female president?

WASHINGTON – Women have led the governments of nearly a third of the countries on Earth as presidents, prime ministers and chancellors. Vice President Kamala Harris’ defeat kept the 235-year-old glass ceiling in the United States unbroken.

“It absolutely will happen,” said Jean Sinzdak, associate director of the Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics.

Just not yet.

In Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in last month as the 66th president and the first woman on that list. Margaret Tha...
Cronkite News •

Radiation victims call on Speaker Mike Johnson to revive RECA compensation bill

WASHINGTON – People exposed to radiation from atomic bomb tests and uranium mines rallied Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol – along with tribal leaders – to demand action on a stalled compensation program.

“They gave the ultimate sacrifice when it was needed. We should reward the people who didn’t question what needs to be done,” said Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren.

Much of the frustration was aimed at House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has not said whether or when he will put the Radiation Exposu...
Cronkite News •

Arizona oil wells leak methane, tribes and ADEQ have grants to plug them

WASHINGTON – Many oil and gas wells across Arizona with no known owners leak methane into the environment, which tribal, state and federal agencies are responsible for cleaning up.

These wells – referred to as “orphaned” – are often not properly maintained and can lead to surface and groundwater contamination causing pollution, health issues and threats to wildlife.

“For over a century, oil and gas companies have set up their drilling operations across Arizona, taken what they wanted and then...
Cronkite News •

Biden issues formal apology for atrocities at Indigenous federal boarding schools

LAVEEN VILLAGE – President Joe Biden on Friday formally apologized for the 150 years of abuse and harm suffered by Indigenous children that were put into the federal boarding school system.

“I believe it is important that we do know there was generations of Native children stolen, taken away to places they didn’t know, with people they never met, who spoke a language they never heard,” Biden said during a visit to the Gila River Indian Community in front of an emotional crowd. “The federal gove...
Cronkite News •

Trump’s pick for Pentagon chief, Fox News host Pete Hegseth, raises eyebrows

WASHINGTON – Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly was among the combat veterans and Democrats expressing deep skepticism at Donald Trump’s choice of a defense secretary with no national security experience.

“Typically you expect someone in that role to have implemented or made policy – defense policy,” Kelly, a Navy combat pilot, said Wednesday of the president-elect’s pick, conservative Fox News host Pete Hegseth.

Resumes of defense secretaries in recent decades included stints as CIA director, secretary...
Cronkite News •

Congress nears deal on Arizona tribal rights to Colorado River water

WASHINGTON – Seven states that rely on the Colorado River each got a cut of its water under a deal struck over a century ago – a deal that excluded the Hopi, the Navajo and other tribal nations.

After years of pressure and negotiation, Congress is moving to rectify what the tribes have long seen as an injustice that has caused enormous hardship.

“We’re closer than we’ve ever been before in reaching a final settlement,” Bryan Newland, assistant secretary for Indian Affairs with the Department o...
Cronkite News •

2024 presidential election in Arizona: Kamala Harris, Donald Trump battled for crucial swing state

WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump has been reelected, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Associated Press called the race at 3:35 a.m. Wednesday, Arizona time, after a Trump victory in Wisconsin put him over the top.

The 45th and soon to be 47th president is the first convicted felon elected commander in chief. Grover Cleveland was the only other former president returned to office, in the election of 1892.

Arizona was one of seven battlegrounds this year and by the time Tru...
Cronkite News •

Arizona tribes await congressional action on federal diabetes program

WASHINGTON – Federal funding expires at the end of the year for a program that has reduced diabetes among Native Americans. Congress has yet to act, leaving providers and patients worried.

Diabetes is especially prevalent among Native Americans. In Arizona, 27% of Indigenous adults have been diagnosed with diabetes, compared to 10% of the White population, according to 2021 data from the Center for the Future of Arizona.

“It would be very devastating to many tribal communities if the program w...
Cronkite News •

Navajos demand U.S. House revive program for radiation victims

WASHINGTON – Survivors of nuclear testing and uranium mines are ramping up pressure on Congress to reauthorize a federal compensation program that expired in June.

Many of those afflicted since World War II are from the Navajo Nation, which is organizing a rally next week that will include prayers at the Capitol for radiation victims.

“I want Congress to realize that it’s important and we need to pass this bill because some people did not get any … compensation,” said Maggie Billiman, whose fa...
Cronkite News •

Navajos strengthen regulations on uranium ore transportation

WASHINGTON – The first shipment of uranium ore from the new Pinyon Plain Mine near the Grand Canyon began rumbling through Navajo land on July 30 – outraging tribal leaders.

They knew the shipments were coming, but had expected a heads-up from Energy Fuels Inc., especially given the tribe’s painful history of radiation exposure from uranium mining and nuclear bomb tests.

In late August, the Navajo Nation Council adopted legislation requiring a week’s notice before any future shipment from the...