Kenya is weighing selling sovereign green bonds and debt-for-nature swap deals to fund climate projects, President William Ruto

Hurricane Idalia is lashing the Southeast with heavy rain and maintaining winds of 85 mph

Private aviation company Jetex is deploying sustainable aviation fuels, and making its terminals more sustainable.

Unconvinced the Federal Reserve will be able to rein in inflation without triggering a recession, Jamie Patton at

The White House has postponed a Pride event set to take place on the South Lawn because of the smoke from the wildfires in Canada enveloping the nation’s capital. The event that was scheduled for Thursday is now planned for Saturday. It’s set to be the largest Pride Month celebration in White House history as the Biden administration attempts to push back against the Republican Party’s measures to restrict the rights of the LGBT+ community on the state level. If the hope that the air quality in Washington, DC improves, the event will see thousands of attendees for a celebration of LGBT+ families featuring singer Betty Who and DJ Queen HD from Baltimore, according to Reuters. “Today’s Pride event on the White House South Lawn will be postponed until Saturday based on the projected air quality in the region,” the White House said. Ahead of the planned event on Thursday, the administration announced new measures to protect LGBT+ communities. “Over a dozen states have enacted anti-LGBTQI+ laws that violate our most basic values and freedoms as Americans, and are cruel and callous to our kids, our neighbors, and those in our community,” the White House said. The measures include the launch of an “LGBTQI+ Community Safety Partnership,” including that the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division will be the liaison to the community. The administration is also working to strengthen “mental health resources for LGBTQI+ youth, launching a new federal initiative to address LGBTQI+ youth homelessness, releasing federal funding to support programs that help parents affirm their LGBTQI+ kids, and advancing new regulations to protect LGBTQI+ youth in foster care”. “The Department of Education will appoint a new coordinator to address the growing threat that book bans pose for the civil rights of students,” the administration said. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments tweeted on Thursday that “current air quality in the DC region is Code Purple, very unhealthy for all due to ongoing smoke from fires in Canada”. The council added that the region “has not previously recorded a Code Purple day for fine particle pollution, the type of air pollution we are currently experiencing,” and urged residents to reschedule outdoor activities or move them indoors. The smoke settled over the US capital after moving down from the more than 100 wildfires in eastern Canada, with a low-pressure area off the east coast moving the winds in the direction of DC, according to WUSA9. The Capital Weather Gang tweeted: “How long will the wildfire smoke last? Unfortunately, may hang around into this evening and be bad again on Friday morning in the DC area.” The office of DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said that the issue “is likely to continue or worsen through Friday”. The city’s Major League Baseball team, the Washington Nationals, cancelled their game on Thursday and the National Zoo closed its doors for the day. Some residents wore masks for their outdoor errands and families who may walk to school organized carpools to limit their time outside. At the Walmart on Georgia Avenue in DC, the shelves for air purifiers were almost empty on Wednesday evening, according to The Washington Post. Read More ‘It’s like being on Mars’: The smoke in the air in New York is so thick you can feel it in your lungs Air quality – live: New York pollution to remain hazardous as no end in sight for Canada wildfire smoke Biden invites thousands of LGBTQ+ individuals, singer Betty Who, to Pride Month celebration Brawl breaks out at LA school discussing Pride month celebrations David Furnish slams Ron DeSantis for ‘diabolical’ ant-LGBTQ+ policies The Independent Pride List: These are the top 50 LGBT+ change-makers of 2023

Chinese developers’ bonds and shares gained after authorities began drafting a list of 50 real estate firms that

Victoria Beckham discussed her husband David Beckham's alleged romance with Rebecca Loos for the first time in a Netflix docuseries

Scott McTominay's stoppage-time double gave Manchester United a dramatic 2-1 win at home against Brentford, while 10-man Tottenham climbed to the top of the Premier League after a...

The cooler parts of the northern hemisphere are getting hotter. Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, and Canada

An overview of the media in Bosnia-Herzegovina, including links to broadcasters and newspapers.

Team USA and Serbia have their eyes set on the gold medal after advancing to the 2023 FIBA World Cup semifinals with impressive victories today.

A man has sparked a debate on Reddit after he admitted to making an 'obese' passenger pay him an extra $100 because he took up part of his seat. The supposed incident was reported on the infamous subreddit "Am I The A**hole?' where the user asked: 'AITA for making an obese man pay me cash to take up part of my seat on a long flight?' According to the man he was on a 5-hour cross-country flight where he had purposefully booked an aisle seat in a row of just two meaning there was no middle seat; just an aisle and a window seat. The user said that he saw the other passenger coming and was 'crossing his fingers' that he wasn't sitting next to him but sure enough he was. The man continues: "I get up and let him in politely, wanting to at least give him a chance. Well, he sits down and is easily seeping into about 1/3 of my seat. I sit down and am pressed up against him, making me uncomfortable. After a minute, I decided to be upfront and tell him: “Sir, I’m sorry but this situation is not working for me, you’re taking up quite a bit of my seat”. He added that the passenger just gave him a 'shrug' and tried to make himself narrower by tightening his arms but did little to appease the disgruntled man. He eventually decided to consult an air stewardess who told him the only way he they could resolve the issue was to buy another seat or book another flight. There were no other seats available on the plane though and the man admitted that he couldn't wait for a later flight, that's when he decided to make the 'obese' man an offer: "Look, I’ll put up with this if you give me $150 — that’s half the cost of this flight and that would compensate me enough for the circumstances." Amazingly, he claimed that the other man instantly agreed to this deal and not only paid him in cash but also told him that he 'appreciated' it. However, despite both men reportedly being happy with the resolution the man claimed that others on board were quietly judging him and branded him an 'a**hole' for making the other man pay to sit next to him. Needless to say many felt the man was out of order for the way he acted. One person said: "The problem here was that this large dude stuck you with being uncomfortable on your flight, right? Well, the $150 didn't make you any less squished in your seat, so it really feels like you just blackmailed this guy for being fat." Another wrote: "This is ridiculous. You made a scene and embarrassed the man and then made him pay you for a fraction of your seat. You are the epitome of an a**hole." A third added: "You didn’t settle this privately—you humiliated the guy by involving the flight attendant and then demanding $150 to allow him to stay on this flight." Some did defend him though feeling that the other man and the airline were in the wrong. One said: "He should have bought two seats, this is his fault, in fact he got off well with it. He agreed and you agreed. I am sure if the people behind you were in the same position they would have thought differently." A second person wrote: "You compromised. He compromised. It was an awkward situation of nobody's making. I think half the cost of the flight was maybe a bit steep though, if he was only in a third of your seat. Having said that, five hours is a long time." How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.