Leaks can make natural gas as bad for the climate as coal, a study says
Natural gas, long seen as a cleaner alternative to coal and an important tool in the fight to slow global warming, can be just as harmful to the climate, a new study has concluded, unless companies can all but eliminate the leaks that plague its use. It takes as little as 0.2% of gas to leak to make natural gas as big a driver of climate change as coal, the study found. That’s a tiny margin of error for a gas that is notorious for leaking from drill sites, processing plants and the pipes that transport it into power stations or homes and kitchens.
Bipartisan measure aims to force release of UFO records
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., majority leader, is pushing legislation to create a commission with broad authority to declassify government documents about UFOs and extraterrestrial matters, in an attempt to force the government to share all that it knows about unidentified phenomena. The measure offers the possibility of pushing back against the conspiracy theories that surround discussions of UFOs and fears that the government is hiding critical information from the public. The legislation, which Schumer will introduce as an amendment to the annual defense policy bill, has bipartisan support, including that of Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
Republicans assail Kerry’s climate strategy as he prepares for China talks
Republicans on Thursday accused John Kerry, President Joe Biden’s special envoy for climate, of being soft on China as he prepared to travel to Beijing to restart discussions between the world’s top two polluting countries. In a contentious hearing before a House Committee on Foreign Affairs panel, Republicans attacked Kerry for not doing enough to persuade China to cut its greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, several also sought to portray Kerry as putting Chinese interests above those of the United States by negotiating with America’s top economic rival. Kerry expects to arrive in China on Sunday for three days of climate talks.
House votes to limit abortion access in the military, bowing to the right
A divided House voted Thursday to restrict abortion access, bar transgender health services and limit diversity training for military personnel, potentially imperiling passage of the annual defense bill as Republicans, goaded by their right flank, loaded the measure with conservative policy dictates. The House voted 221-213 to overturn a Pentagon policy guaranteeing abortion access to service members regardless of where they are stationed, with Republicans propelling it to passage over near-unanimous Democratic opposition. By a vote of 222-211, the House also adopted a measure to bar the military’s health plan from covering gender-transition surgeries — which currently can be covered only with a waiver — and gender-affirming hormone therapy.
New York is ordered by appeals court to redraw House map
A New York appeals court Thursday ordered the state’s congressional map to be redrawn, siding with Democrats in a case that could give the party a fresh chance to tilt one of the nation’s most contested House battlegrounds leftward. Wading into a long-simmering legal dispute, the Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court in Albany said the competitive, court-drawn districts put in place for last year’s midterms had only been a temporary fix. They ordered the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission to promptly restart a process that would effectively give the Democratic-dominated state Legislature final say over the contours of New York’s 26 House seats for the remainder of the decade.
Blinken meets China’s top diplomat in latest bid to ease tensions
Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of a regional summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Thursday. The talks touched on regional and global issues, including “peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” said a State Department spokesperson. The meeting was the latest between U.S. and Chinese officials as the two countries try to ease tensions. Blinken’s visit to China last month was the first by a U.S. secretary of state in five years. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also visited China in June, and John Kerry, President Joe Biden’s special envoy for climate change, is scheduled to arrive in China on Sunday.
Junta’s allies reject Thai election results, derailing top opposition figure
Thailand’s voters in May’s general election dealt a blow to the ruling military junta by supporting a progressive party that challenged the generals and the nation’s monarchy. The generals and their allies responded Thursday by rejecting the party’s leading candidate for prime minister. Parliament failed to elect a new prime minister Thursday evening after the progressive candidate, Pita Limjaroenrat, was unable to muster enough support in the military-backed Senate. Now it is up to parliament to pick from the field of candidates again. A second vote is scheduled for Wednesday. A third, if necessary, would be held a day later.
Mass grave with dozens of bodies uncovered in Sudan, U.N. says
A mass grave with the bodies of at least 87 people who were most likely killed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and their allied militia was uncovered in Darfur, in the west of Sudan, the United Nations said Thursday. The discovery is the latest indication that the fighting raging in Sudan between the army and the RSF is pushing Darfur, a region long blighted by decades of genocidal violence, into a new phase of ethnic war. The victims were mostly members of the ethnic Masalit, a largely African farming community that has been the target of ethnic attacks by Arab militias over many years.
Russian general denounces his bosses as officers are fired or questioned
A top Russian general in Ukraine has lashed out at his bosses after being fired from his command, accusing them of undermining the war effort with dishonesty and politicking, in the latest sign of turmoil within the Kremlin’s military leadership. In a recording released late Wednesday, Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov addressed his troops, accusing his superiors of removing him from his post in retaliation for voicing the truth about battlefield problems to senior leadership behind closed doors. His firing, and the unusual public airing of his grievances, reflected the disarray that has roiled Russia’s military command since a failed mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group three weeks ago.