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In a masterful opinion, the D.C. Circuit rejected Trump’s bid for immunity

In a masterful opinion, the D.C. Circuit rejected Trump’s bid for immunity

George T. Conway III writes: On July 24, 1974, when the Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, ordering President Richard Nixon to produce the Watergate tapes, the president turned to his chief of staff, Alexander Haig, to understand what had just happened. He later recounted the exchange in his memoirs: “Unanimous?” I guessed. “Unanimous. There’s no air in it at all,” he said. “None at all?” I asked. “It’s tight as a drum.” These words echoed…

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‘Everything beautiful has been destroyed’: Palestinians mourn a city in tatters

‘Everything beautiful has been destroyed’: Palestinians mourn a city in tatters

The Observer reports: Its walls collapsed and its minaret cut short, Gaza’s Omari mosque remains standing but vastly diminished. Around it, the historic old city is also in tatters. The 7th-century mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Gaza, was Gaza’s most famous and its surroundings a focal point of the Palestinian enclave’s history and culture, but the damage done to its heritage over more than 100 days of Israeli bombardment spreads across the city. For the few Palestinians…

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Red Sea attacks: How Yemen’s Houthis have defied Western stereotypes

Red Sea attacks: How Yemen’s Houthis have defied Western stereotypes

Andrew Hammond writes: Demonisation is a familiar play when organisations and governments challenge western policy. One of the arguments now making the rounds about the Houthi movement in Yemen is that its actions against Red Sea shipping have nothing to do with Gaza at all – and that even if Israel stopped the war, the Houthis wouldn’t stop. Underlying this is not just demonisation, but also racism. British officials have repeatedly made such claims in recent days, aiming to justify…

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The Republicans who won’t take yes for an answer

The Republicans who won’t take yes for an answer

David Frum writes: Sometimes, a negotiation produces a deal. Sometimes, a negotiation reveals the truth. Negotiators in the Senate have produced a draft agreement on immigration and asylum. The deal delivers on Republican priorities. It includes changes to federal law to discourage asylum seeking. It shuts down asylum processing altogether if too many people arrive at once. Those and other changes send a clear message to would-be immigrants: You’re going to find it a lot harder to enter the United…

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MAGA convoy on immigrant ‘invasion’: ‘It’s not what I expected, but then again I don’t know what I expected’

MAGA convoy on immigrant ‘invasion’: ‘It’s not what I expected, but then again I don’t know what I expected’

Rex Huppke writes: It’s time for non-brainwashed Americans and the media at large to accept something: Former President Donald Trump’s “MAGA movement” is a tissue-paper tiger. This was on vivid display in Texas over the weekend. A much-ballyhooed convoy of MAGA patriots descended on a town near the southern border, ostensibly ready to protect America from what right-wing politicians like Gov. Greg Abbott cynically, dangerously and falsely call “an invasion.” The “God’s Army” convoy was supposed to be a mighty…

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Republicans fear Trump’s ‘retribution’ campaign: ‘If you are not for him he’s against you’

Republicans fear Trump’s ‘retribution’ campaign: ‘If you are not for him he’s against you’

The Washington Post reports: Donald Trump has promised a presidency of “retribution” if he wins another term in office. Many Republicans fear they might face the brunt of it. The former president has threatened to have donors to his Republican opponent Nikki Haley “permanently barred” from his orbit. A top adviser has vowed to destroy the career of Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), House Freedom Caucus chairman, after he endorsed another Trump challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Trump campaign has…

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Sponge skeletons indicate climate change might be worse than thought

Sponge skeletons indicate climate change might be worse than thought

The New York Times reports: Since the dawn of the industrial age, our species has warmed the planet by considerably more than today’s most widely accepted estimates imply, according to a team of scientists who have gleaned detailed new information about Earth’s past climate from an unusual source: centuries-old sponges living in the Caribbean Sea. Networks of satellites and sensors have measured the rising temperatures of recent decades with great precision. But to assess the full arc of global warming,…

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AI used to decipher the Greek text of 2,000-year-old charred Herculaneum scroll

AI used to decipher the Greek text of 2,000-year-old charred Herculaneum scroll

Nature reports: A team of student researchers has made a giant contribution to solving one of the biggest mysteries in archaeology by revealing the content of Greek writing inside a charred scroll buried 2,000 years ago by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The winners of a contest called the Vesuvius Challenge trained their machine-learning algorithms on scans of the rolled-up papyrus, unveiling a previously unknown philosophical work that discusses senses and pleasure. The feat paves the way for artificial intelligence…

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Through controlled demolitions, Israel is systematically destroying Gaza

Through controlled demolitions, Israel is systematically destroying Gaza

The New York Times reports: A resort hotel overlooking the Mediterranean. A multistory courthouse built in 2018. Dozens of homes, obliterated in seconds, with the pull of a trigger. The damage caused by Israel’s aerial offensive in Gaza has been well documented. But Israeli ground forces have also carried out a wave of controlled explosions that has drastically changed the landscape in recent months. At least 33 controlled demolitions have destroyed hundreds of buildings — including mosques, schools and entire…

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Humanitarian aid agencies appeal for restoration of funding for UNRWA

Humanitarian aid agencies appeal for restoration of funding for UNRWA

In a joint statement, CARE, Interaction, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International, and Save the Children, said: The U.S. decision to temporarily pause funding for UNRWA will dramatically weaken the backbone of the humanitarian response for 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza. It is important to ensure a thorough investigation into the grave allegations by the Israeli government that 12 UNRWA employees directly participated in the heinous attacks on October 7, and to ensure full transparency…

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Jill Habig’s amicus brief gives the Supreme Court’s originalists a taste of their own medicine

Jill Habig’s amicus brief gives the Supreme Court’s originalists a taste of their own medicine

The Guardian reports: When Jill Habig had an office down the hall from Kamala Harris in California, Barack Obama was US president, abortion was a constitutional right and January 6 was just another date on the calendar. A lot has happened since then. On Thursday Habig, now president of the non-profit Public Rights Project (PRP), hopes her arguments will persuade the supreme court that Donald Trump is an insurrectionist who should be disqualified from the 2024 presidential election. Habig has…

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Insurrection and Trump’s ineligibility for office

Insurrection and Trump’s ineligibility for office

Timothy Snyder writes: Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment bans oath-breaking insurrectionists from holding office. The Supreme Court of Colorado has ruled that Trump’s name should not appear on primary ballots in that state. In Trump v. Anderson, the Supreme Court will consider whether Colorado erred. Oral argument begins on Thursday. Under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, Trump disqualified himself from office on January 6th, 2021, at the very latest, when he violated his oath of office and took…

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Chutkan contemplates Trump trial extending deep into 2024, as case remains in limbo

Chutkan contemplates Trump trial extending deep into 2024, as case remains in limbo

Politico reports: The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s Washington, D.C., criminal case acknowledged Monday that the former president’s trial could extend deep into 2024 — though significant uncertainty continues to cloud the timeline. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan told attorneys in another criminal case that she intended to be out of the country in early August — unless Trump’s trial is underway. “I hope not to be in the country on August 5,” Chutkan said in a sparsely attended conference…

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Study of Indigenous and local communities finds happiness doesn’t cost much

Study of Indigenous and local communities finds happiness doesn’t cost much

Autonomous University of Barcelona: Many Indigenous peoples and local communities around the world are leading very satisfying lives despite having very little money. This is the conclusion of a study by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), which shows that many societies with very low monetary income have remarkably high levels of life satisfaction, comparable to those in wealthy countries. Economic growth is often prescribed as a sure way of increasing the…

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