Secrecy in China

Secrecy in China

Michael Schuman writes: The disappearance of Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang has generated a torrent of speculation about what might have happened to him. The mystery points to a larger, and disconcerting, truth: We understand very little about the inner workings of Chinese politics at a moment when we need to know more than ever. China’s Communist regime has always been opaque. But the more China’s global power rises, the more problematic the Communist Party’s secrecy becomes. The decisions made…

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Fears over Antarctic sea ice as yearly ozone layer hole forms ‘very early’

Fears over Antarctic sea ice as yearly ozone layer hole forms ‘very early’

The Guardian reports: The hole in the ozone layer has begun to form early this year, prompting warnings that a larger-than-average hole may further warm the Southern Ocean while the level of Antarctic sea ice is at a record low. Satellite data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts suggests the hole has already begun to form over Antarctica. Dr Martin Jucker, a lecturer at the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, said the…

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Behind all the ‘clean energy’ talk, this is what big oil is actually doing

Behind all the ‘clean energy’ talk, this is what big oil is actually doing

Jason Bordoff writes: If you’ve been listening to the world’s major energy companies over the past few years, you probably think the clean energy transition is well on its way. But with fossil fuel use and emissions still rising, it is not moving nearly fast enough to address the climate crisis. In June, Shell became the latest of the big oil companies to curb plans to cut oil output, announcing that it will no longer reduce annual oil and gas…

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DeSantis’s Florida approves climate-denial videos in schools

DeSantis’s Florida approves climate-denial videos in schools

E&E News reports: Climate activists are like Nazis. Wind and solar power pollute the Earth and make life miserable. Recent global and local heat records reflect natural temperature cycles. These are some of the themes of children’s videos produced by an influential conservative advocacy group. Now, the videos could soon be used in Florida’s classrooms. Florida’s Department of Education has approved the classroom use of material from the Prager University Foundation, a conservative group that produces videos that distort science,…

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Florida schools will restrict access to Shakespeare in English classes

Florida schools will restrict access to Shakespeare in English classes

The Messenger reports: Some Florida educators don’t plan on teaching William Shakespeare in full this fall. Instead, they’re required to teach only excerpts of the plays in an effort to comply with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ conservative education policies. Joseph Cool, a teacher at Gaither High School in Hillsborough County, told the Tampa Bay Times, “There’s some raunchiness in Shakespeare,” and he hardly blames the district for taking the “safe” route in limiting Shakespeare. However, he still thinks the new…

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Special counsel still scrutinizing finances of Trump’s PAC

Special counsel still scrutinizing finances of Trump’s PAC

Politico reports: Special counsel Jack Smith’s probe of efforts by Donald Trump and others to subvert the 2020 election remains ongoing — with at least one interview this week that focused on fundraising and spending by Trump’s political action committee. Meanwhile, the grand jury that indicted Trump last week was spotted meeting Tuesday in the federal courthouse in Washington. In a closed-door interview on Monday with Bernard Kerik, investigators asked multiple questions about the Save America PAC’s enormous fundraising haul…

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UAE tests it’s relationship with the U.S.

UAE tests it’s relationship with the U.S.

The New York Times reports: The ruler of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, is a key American ally who counts on the United States to defend his country. But he has traveled twice to Russia over the past year to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin, and in June, his country was celebrated as the guest of honor at the Russian leader’s flagship investment forum. Later this month, the Emirati and Chinese air forces plan to train…

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The Hunter Biden problem isn’t going away

The Hunter Biden problem isn’t going away

Jill Lawrence writes: It’s time to get nervous about Hunter Biden. It’s tempting to try to dismiss or ignore it all—the constant “Biden & Son” and “Biden Crime Family” emails, the intrusive attempted shaming over the seventh grandchild, the drug addiction, the unpaid taxes, the illegal gun, the investigation by a prosecutor who was named by Donald Trump, the plea deal that’s now on hold. And why not just tune it out? House Republicans can allege wrongdoing by President Joe…

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Just how fast will clean energy grow in the U.S.?

Just how fast will clean energy grow in the U.S.?

Dana Nuccitelli writes: To slash U.S. emissions of climate-warming carbon pollution, many experts have settled on a plan that can be largely described in two steps: Clean up the power grid and electrify everything. If electric vehicles, heat pumps, induction stoves, and some industrial processes can be powered by clean electricity and replace fossil-fueled alternatives, that transition will do most of the work toward decarbonizing the economy and helping the U.S. meet its commitments under the Paris climate agreement. Carbon…

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Racism at heart of U.S. failure to tackle deadly heatwaves, expert warns

Racism at heart of U.S. failure to tackle deadly heatwaves, expert warns

The Guardian reports: Racism is at the heart of the American government’s failure to tackle the growing threat of deadly heatwaves, according to the author of an authoritative new book on the heating planet. Jeff Goodell, an award winning climate journalist, told the Guardian that people of color – including millions of migrant workers who are bearing the brunt of record-breaking temperatures as farmhands, builders and delivery workers – are not guaranteed lifesaving measures like water and shade breaks because…

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Amazon deforestation falls over 60% compared with last July, says Brazilian minister

Amazon deforestation falls over 60% compared with last July, says Brazilian minister

The Guardian reports: Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell by at least 60% in July compared to the same month last year, the environment minister, Marina Silva, has told the Guardian. The good news comes ahead of a regional summit that aims to prevent South America’s largest biome from hitting a calamitous tipping point. The exact figure, which is based on the Deter satellite alert system, will be released in the coming days, but independent analysts described the preliminary data…

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American conservatives are taking cues from Hungary’s Viktor Orbán

American conservatives are taking cues from Hungary’s Viktor Orbán

Michael Ignatieff writes: When in the Spring of 2017 Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s prime minister, made it illegal for the Central European University to offer U.S.-accredited degrees at its Budapest campus, everyone there knew that this was more than an attack on George Soros, the Hungarian American businessman and philanthropist who’d founded the CEU. I was then the university’s president and rector, posts I held from 2016 to 2021, so I witnessed the more than 50,000 citizens of Budapest who marched…

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Prosecutors may not need to show that Trump knew he had lost the election

Prosecutors may not need to show that Trump knew he had lost the election

Hugo Lowell writes: Included in the indictment last week against Donald Trump for his efforts to subvert the 2020 presidential election was a count of obstructing an official proceeding – the attempt to stop the vote certification in Congress on the day his supporters mounted the January 6 Capitol attack. The count is notable, because – based on a review of previous judicial rulings in other cases where the charge has been brought – it may be one where prosecutors…

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Niger’s coup signals trouble

Niger’s coup signals trouble

Amanda Kadlec writes: On the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state to the country earlier this year, Antony Blinken, speaking in the capital of Niamey, hailed Niger as a bastion of democratic stability in a sea of Sahelian chaos. But the internal reality is something quite different. Although their status is much improved over the past 20 years, Nigeriens are among the most economically, educationally and nutritionally deprived populations on the planet. The U.N. ranked Niger the least…

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