News roundup, 9 July 2024

- Democrats in the House and Senate seem reluctant to talk to the media about what was discussed in a meeting this morning about Joe Biden's future. One representative, on being asked if there was a consensus in the meeting, replied that "the consensus was not to talk to you guys". Another, who spoke anonymously to NPR, said the meeting was "like a funeral"; a third, when asked if they were on the same page, replied "We’re not even in the same book". If something isn't done soon, Joe Biden could be remembered as the American version of Paul von Hindenburg.

- Hot on the heels of National Rally's defeat in France's parliamentary elections, party leader Marine Le Pen is being investigated for campaign finance irregularities from her last presidential campaign.

- Michelle Ferreri, Conservative MP for Peterborough-Kawartha, tweeted her thanks to the Peterborough police for their arrest of a suspect in a homophobic hate crime. Pretty reasonable; much as I'd like to condemn everything a Tory says or does, I can't fault her for this. Evidently some of her constituents think otherwise, though; following the tweet she was bombarded with hate messages calling her a "fake Conservative" as well as far worse things.

- Scientists say that Hurricane Beryl, the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, was worsened by high ocean temperatures. Of course you can't tell Texans that, even as they're picking up the pieces from the hurricane hitting the Houston area. The remnants of the hurricane are expected to have an impact as far north as Toronto.

- The world's largest wetland, the Pantanal in Brazil, has not been so wet of late, and as a result has been devastated by wildfires.

- The IDF bombed an encampment of displaced people in Gaza, killing dozens. I guess they figure those people must be mad at being displaced, which obviously makes them a security threat. Can't be too careful, right?

- Several Silk and Great Value dairy substitutes have been recalled due to potential Listeria contamination. None of the products in question are soy-based; perhaps those products are made in a different facility.

- Migrants who arrived on the island of Diego Garcia, in the British Indian Ocean Territory, are being denied legal representation because the US, who operate a military base there, refuses to allow lawyers representing the migrants to set foot on the island. Supposedly this relates to security concerns regarding a site visit of some sort that would coincide with the migrants' hearing.

News roundup, 8 July 2024

 - French voters in the second round of parliamentary elections have largely rejected the far right; Marine Le Pen's National Rally came third after the left alliance and Macron's centrists. The party's parliamentary leader Jordan Bardella, who hoped to become prime minister, declared that "alliances of dishonor" were responsible for the outcome; perhaps he's learned something from the late Jacques Parizeau. Building a viable coalition may take some time; they don't have a lot of experience with hung parliaments there.

- Joe Biden says he's still not quitting. Unless something happens soon, the Democrats are going to be stuck with him for the fall. This is ungood.

- California has imposed permanent restrictions on water utilities across the state, requiring the utilities to reduce their total consumption by around 40%. How the goal is to be met is up to the individual utilities. There are also efforts by the WWF to encourage other places to grow the crops that California has traditionally supplied. Meanwhile in Florida, where the citrus industry has been decimated by disease, efforts are being made to get farmers to grow pongamia trees, potentially a valuable source of biofuel. Getting farmers to switch away from crops they've been growing for years isn't easy, but it's going to be increasingly necessary in the coming years.

- Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to fraud in connection to the 737 Max disasters in 2018 and 2019, following revelations that the company violated a settlement related to the accidents.

- Solar power is growing so fast that it may be the biggest source of energy on the planet in a decade or so. Growth that experts had predicted could take 20 years happened in only 6. And various industries, notably data centres, are moving to "behind the meter" projects that produce electricity in their own microgrids without having to worry about such matters as feed-in tariffs.

- Canada's new anti-greenwashing law is already spooking energy companies into removing claims from their websites about how environmentally friendly they are, even as they try to claim that the sites they've taken down aren't greenwashing.

- 21 species are being removed from the US Endangered Species list; unfortunately the reason is that they are thought to be extinct.

- Ukraine's largest pediatric facility was severely damaged in a Russian missile strike. At least two people were killed there, in addition to 34 others killed in strikes in other locations.