California Department of Corrections
Scott Peterson resentenced to life in prison, New Zealand to ban cigarettes for future generations, push for 32-hour work week, Biden signs order for net zero by 2050, camels barred for Botox in beauty contest and more news.
Scott Peterson, 49, who was convicted of the 2002 killing of his pregnant wife Lacey Peterson and their unborn baby, was resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Wednesday, NBC reported. Peterson had sought to have his conviction overturned after his attorneys claimed a juror (known only as Juror 7) was untruthful.
Peterson has spent over 15 years on death row in California after being convicted in 2004. A judge also sentenced him to fifteen years to life in prison for the death of the unborn baby. The sentences will run concurrently.
The next generation of New Zealanders will be unable to buy cigarettes, as the nation’s health ministry has passed a law slated to go into effect next year that will ban younger people from purchasing cigarettes, the BBC reported. Under the law, anyone born after 2008 will be unable to buy cigarettes or purchase any tobacco products in their lifetime.
A plumber who found $600,000 in cash and checks in the wall of Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church while doing repairs on November 10, will now receive a $20,000 reward from Crime Stoppers of Houston, NBC reported.
“Evidence from the recovered checks suggests that the discovery was connected to the March 2014 theft,” Crime Stoppers of Houston said in a statement.
The church reported the missing cash and checks stolen from a safe seven years ago.
Four-day work weeks are already widely in place around the world, and progressive US lawmakers are pushing for America to follow suit, CBS reported.
Under a new bill introduced by Representative Mark Takano (D-CA), a 32-hour workweek would be established, with overtime paid after 32 hours of work.
At an annual camel beauty contest held in Saudi Arabia, dozens of camels were barred from the competition after the most thorough crackdown of contestants ever uncovered over 40 contestants had used artificial touchups, including Botox injections, NBC reported. There’s a strong incentive for cheating, as camels in the popular King Abdulaziz Camel Festival compete for $66 million in prize money. Camels are judged on the shape of their heads, necks, humps, dress and postures.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order this week aimed at decreasing the US government’s carbon dioxide emissions by 65 percent by the end of the decade and achieving net-zero by 2050, NBC reported. Biden plans to use the government’s buying power to purchase electric vehicles, use clean energy and create more efficient buildings.
