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Gaza reports say that at least five people were killed and others injured Friday afternoon after aid packages airdropped by the US hit them directly, west of Gaza City. Earlier this week, a Gazan "unboxing" aid packages on social media revealed that they contain four nutritious meals, Tabasco sauce, salt and sugar, and, in addition to the meals, Skittles candies. On Thursday night, US President Joe Biden gave his State of the Union speech to a Joint Session of Congress. “I pledge to all the families that we will not rest until we bring all of your loved ones home,”...

Candy companies will be forced to change their recipes within three years in California or face fines after a new bill was passed in the Golden State. Gavin Newsom signed the so-called 'Skittles ban' Saturday, which outlaws four popular additives that have been linked to cancer, disease and mood disorders. The bill gives food companies three years to strip the ingredients from their products or face fines of up to $10,000. Supporters have heralded the bill as an 'important stand' against 'toxic' chemicals but food companies have hit back, blasting the move as confusing and threatening to raise food prices....

Skittles candy, which has the slogan, "Taste the rainbow," is the latest company to take heat from consumers because of new packaging that has the phrase, "Black Trans Lives Matter." Some consumers are now calling to boycott the candy company for its "woke" approach to support the LGBTQ community. Skittles is a product from the Wrigley Company, which is a division of Mars, Inc. When visiting Skittles.com, the top of the page has a clickable option titled, "SKITTLES Pride," and when clicked, the animation says, "There’s a story in every rainbow." "We’ve given up our rainbow so that the LGBTQ+...

Candy brand Skittles is facing backlash after partnering with GLAAD and altering some of its packaging to include 'Black Trans Lives Matter' messaging. Images of the packet on social media prompted an outpouring of criticism on Twitter today, with many likening the 'woke' marketing to Dylan Mulvaney being used in Bud Light advertising. It's the fourth year Skittles has teamed up with GLAAD (the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) to 'support the LGBTQ+ community by amplifying and celebrating their stories', according to Skittles' official website. In a series of limited edition Pride Packs, the candy company has ditched its...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — This Easter, Americans will devour more than 1 billion Peeps — those radiant marshmallow chicks whose appearance on store shelves each year is as much a herald of spring as azaleas at the Masters. What makes the treats so vibrant is erythrosine, a chemical that shows up on ingredient labels as Red No. 3. It's one of several chemicals, along with titanium dioxide, used to color some of the most popular candy in the country — including Skittles and Hot Tamales. Both chemicals have been linked to cancer. More than 30 years ago, U.S. regulators banned Red...

A proposed California bill could force popular candies like Skittles to change their recipes — or stop selling them in California altogether. In February, Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel introduced Assembly Bill 418, which would prohibit the manufacture, sale and distribution of food products containing five chemicals linked to cancer and other health risks. One of these chemicals is titanium dioxide, which is listed as an ingredient in Skittles on the candy brand's website. Last July, a lawsuit filed in California alleged that Skittles are "unfit for human consumption" because they contain titanium dioxide; however, the lawsuit was dismissed in November. In...

A consumer is suing candy maker Mars, alleging Skittles contain a "known toxin" that makes the rainbow candies "unfit for human consumption." In a lawsuit seeking class-action status filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Thursday, attorneys for San Leandro resident Jenile Thames said that Skittles were unsafe for consumers because they contain "heightened levels" of titanium dioxide. Mars Inc. uses titanium dioxide to produce Skittles' well-known array of artificial colors. In 2016, the candy maker publicly shared its intention to remove titanium dioxide from its products in the coming years, the Thursday complaint noted...

Skittles manufacturer Mars Inc. has been sued by a California woman who claims a colorant used in the candies is dangerous and puts people at risk of damage to their brains and DNA. In a proposed class action filed on Thursday in the Oakland, California federal court, Jenile Thames accused Mars of endangering unsuspecting Skittles eaters by using 'heightened levels' of titanium dioxide, or TiO2, as a food additive. The lawsuit highlighted how titanium dioxide will be banned in the European Union next month after a food safety regulator there deemed it unsafe because of 'genotoxicity,' or the ability to...

Mars Inc. has been sued by a consumer who claims that Skittles candies are unfit to eat because they contain a known toxin that the company had pledged six years ago to phase out. In a proposed class action filed on Thursday in Oakland, Calif., federal court, Jenile Thames accused Mars of endangering unsuspecting Skittles eaters by using “heightened levels” of titanium dioxide, or TiO2, as a food additive. The lawsuit also said titanium dioxide will be banned in the European Union next month after a food safety regulator there deemed it unsafe because of “genotoxicity,” or the ability to...

While retail investors head for the exits as stock prices sharply fluctuate, Evercore ISI’s Julian Emanuel wants to put money to work. He calls the market environment very ugly, but he believes the economy will avert a recession — particularly due to healthy credit markets and continued gains. “The path to higher [stock] prices really is a function of being able to discount the macro news and focus on the fact that you’re still going to have mid-to-high, single-digit earnings growth,” the firm’s senior managing director told CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Tuesday. His S&P 500 year-end target is 4,800, which...

<p>A Southwest Airlines flight attendant based in Las Vegas died Tuesday from COVID-19, according to his family and co-workers.</p><p>Maurice "Reggie" Shepperson, a native New Yorker whose brightly colored pants earned him the nickname Skittles during training in 2014, tested positive for COVID in early July and had been fighting the virus in the hospital for a month, according to Marcia Hildreth, a Southwest flight attendant who called him her best friend.</p>

Skittles is giving up its rainbow for a good cause. From cookies ‘n creme stuffed marshmallows to brand-new Trader Joe’s snacks, it’s shaping up to be great year for sweet stuff. Skittles jumped on the bandwagon too, teasing fans with the return of lime Skittles. While the brand is known for its innovation, coming up with items like Skittles Chewies, the latest product launch is less about taste and more about color—or the lack of it. Skittles Is Giving Up Its Rainbow for Pride Month This Year Like the Oreos limited-edition Pride Package that was released in October for LGBTQ+...

To the right-wing folks who are INCORRECTLY claiming greening the grid caused the power outages in Texas: YOU ARE WRONG! In fact ==> 1) If we had a ton of local rooftop solar on homes and businesses and on solar carport parking lot structures AND storage batteries in those places, including in our homes, a lot more people would have power RIGHT NOW in Texas! 2) The technology exists to allow people to bring electricity into their homes from an electric vehicle’s batteries for up to three to five days. This technology is not yet in widespread use, but it...

U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today introduced legislation to eliminate the cost-share payments required of states and communities included in federal disaster declarations in 2020. The Local Community Emergency Relief Act of 2020 is the second Senate proposal offered this week to mitigate coronavirus-related financial burdens affecting states and cities. Not limited to the COVID-19 emergency declaration, the bill would require the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide a 100 percent cost share for all federal emergency declarations and major disaster declarations during calendar year 2020. “Cities and states are incurring ongoing revenue losses related to the COVID-19 emergency,...

If I were Trayvon Martin’s parents or his family’s attorneys, I would be very nervous. And if I were the media who covered this case — — I would prepare to be mortified. The coverage of this case was a disgrace from day one. To uncover this staggering fraud, Gilbert did what reporters used to do. He immersed himself in the milieu that produced Trayvon Martin. He reviewed the thousands of text messages, tweets, Facebook and Instagram postings sent and received by Martin and his friends. He interviewed George Zimmerman, the only person who knew, Martin’s final words that revealed...

On Monday. September 16, Joel Gilbert will preview his new documentary, “The Trayvon Hoax,” in the 500-seat Ballroom of the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The screening begins at 1 p.m. Admission is free, and Gilbert is encouraging all interested parties to come see for themselves what could be a game-changer in the way the media report racially-charged news. Gilbert’s findings are that significant. Having written a book on the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin — If I Had a Son-- I have been following Gilbert’s progress with interest. In fact, I introduced Gilbert to George Zimmerman, the...

For months now, the focus of Campaign 2018, rightly, has been on control of the House. All the metrics continue to point to a midterm election in which Democrats could seize control of that chamber. But for sheer drama and unpredictability, the contest for control of the Senate could be the place to look. The House is no slam-dunk for the Democrats, but most Republicans following the campaigns are genuinely worried and probably right to be that way. The overall environment is difficult for the GOP because of President Trump and because of the location of the competitive races; suburban...

The parents of Trayvon Martin claim The Weinstein Company is trying to weasel out of its obligation to pay them at least $150,000. Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin filed paperwork in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware on Friday claiming TWC signed a deal in March 2017 promising to pay the six-figure amount to produce a TV series based on their book, "Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin."

David Friend began scouting the former strip coal mine here 16 years ago, with visions that it could one day produce a different sort of energy. The developer persuaded landowners along the blustery ridge in Western Maryland to bless his plans for more than two dozen wind turbines that would tower more than 40 stories high. But after a years-long battle with Allegany County officials and concerned neighbors — a saga that has passed through the local zoning board and state Public Service Commission, and reached Maryland’s highest court — the clear-cut hilltops remain bare. The modern windmills that are...

The Skittles candy company’s colorless campaign, meant to celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month, is being bashed and called a “poorly veiled white supremacist” stunt by social media users. Skittles ditched it’s iconic colorful rainbow bags and released an ad that said: “During Pride, only one rainbow matters. So, we’ve given up ours to show our support.” A portion of the profits from each bag of fruit-flavored candy (purchased exclusively at Tesco grocery stores) will go to LGBT charities, the company said. But the ad campaign was slammed on social media, with several offended users equating the company’s use of an all-white...