Good morning.
The World Meteorological Organization says the heatwave in the northern hemisphere is likely to intensify. An estimated 61,000 people may have died in heatwaves last year in Europe alone.
The EU’s emergency response coordination centre issued red alerts for high temperatures for most of Italy, north-eastern Spain, Croatia, Serbia, southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.
In the US, conditions continue to be brutal in many states. Tuesday marked the 19th day the city of Phoenix in Arizona has been subjected to temperatures of at least 110F (43.3C) – the longest stretch of time spent in such extreme heat – as record-breaking summer weather continues to affect millions in the US and around the world.
In Texas, advocates and family members are calling for lawmakers to ensure that all of the state’s prisons are fully air conditioned. “They’re cooking our inmates in the Texas prison system,” said Tona Southards Naranjo, who believes the death last month of her son, Jon Southards, was caused by excessive heat in his prison, the Estelle Unit in Huntsville.
What else is happening? The EU has weighed in with help to combat wildfires in Greece, dispatching four Canadair water bombers as the battle to douse blazes that have raged around Athens intensified. Conflagrations whipped by gale-force winds left a trail of devastation, decimating pine forests, destroying homes and forcing thousands to flee as flames tore through terrain turned tinder dry by extreme heat.
What has John Kerry said about the climate crisis? Kerry, the US climate envoy and former secretary of state, is in Beijing for talks with senior Chinese officials. He said climate change is a “universal threat” and has to be separated from politics during talks between the US and China. Acknowledging the diplomatic difficulties between the two sides in recent years, Kerry said climate should be treated as a “free-standing” challenge that requires the collective efforts of the world’s largest economies to resolve.
Russia launches second night of strikes on Ukraine’s Odesa as fire at Crimea military base sparks evacuations
Russia launched strikes on Ukraines southern Odesa region, the local governor said early this morning, the second consecutive night of attacks on the area since Moscow pulled out of a grain export deal.
Oleg Kiper said there had been a “massive attack”, without providing details. He asked residents to stay in shelters.
Ukraine’s air force said it had detected the launch of Kalibr missiles from the Black Sea, without giving details. A video posted on social media purporting to show the aftermath of a strike showed a multi-storey apartment building with several windows blown out and shards of glass on the street.
Meanwhile, a fire broke out at the military training grounds in the Kirovske district on the Crimean peninsula, the Moscow-backed governor of Crimea said today. Sergei Aksyonov said 2,000 people were to be evacuated.
What else is happening? Ukraine’s air force said on Wednesday it downed 37 out of 63 targets in a Russian overnight missile and drone attack, including 23 suicide drones and 14 cruise missiles. The air force said critical infrastructure and military facilities had been attacked in the night-time strikes, and that the main target was Ukraine’s southern Odesa region.
Judge appears inclined to delay Trump classified documents trial into 2024
The federal judge presiding over Donald Trump’s classified documents case signalled that she could delay the trial until 2024, appearing inclined to find that the matter was sufficiently complex after hearing arguments from prosecutors and the former president’s lawyers yesterday.
The US district court judge Aileen Cannon did not rule from the bench on a timetable during the roughly two-hour pre-trial conference at the courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida, and concluded the hearing by saying she would enter a written order at a later date.
Prosecutors in the office of special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the documents case and the investigation into Trump’s efforts to obstruct the transfer of power, had asked Cannon last week to reject Trump’s suggestion to postpone the trial until after the 2024 election.
The dueling requests from Trump and the justice department present an early test for Cannon, a Trump appointee who is under heightened scrutiny for issuing favorable rulings to the former president during the criminal investigation, before they were overturned on appeal.
What other legal trouble is Trump facing? A new indictment for Trump could be imminent after the former US president announced yesterday morning he had received a letter from the special prosecutor identifying him as a “target” in the justice department’s investigation into the January 6 insurrection. He also already facing prosecution in New York for a hush-money payment to an adult movie star.
In other news …
An American soldier being sent back to the US to face possible disciplinary action crossed in to North Korea during a tour of the demilitarised zone, US officials have said. Private 2nd Class Travis King became the first American detained in the North in nearly five years.
California researchers have found new evidence that several chemicals used in plastic production and a wide array of other industrial applications are commonly present in the blood of pregnant women, creating increased health risks for mothers and their babies.
Authorities in Nevada confirmed yesterday that they served a search warrant this week in connection with the long-unsolved killing of the rapper Tupac Shakur nearly 30 years ago. Shakur, one of the most prolific figures in hip-hop, was killed in 1996 in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. He was 25.
Sixteen people who signed paperwork falsely claiming Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election in Michigan have been criminally charged, Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, announced yesterday. Each of the fake electors was charged with eight felony counts, including multiple counts of forgery.
Stat of the day: US Powerball players face steep odds as jackpot hits $1bn
Powerball players across the US are bracing for the opportunity to win what would be the seventh-highest jackpot in American lottery history tonight. The jackpot is estimated to be about $1bn after the Powerball lottery has gone 38 consecutive drawings without a winning ticket being sold, according to the official website for the game of chance. Someone last won the Powerball on 19 April, when the top prize was nearly $253m, the jackpot – as is typical – has been growing steadily since. A jackpot of $1bn would be the third-largest ever produced by the Powerball, the 31-year-old lottery which is held across 45 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. A winner would have the option of collecting the full amount in annual increments over 29 years or immediately in a one-time, lump sum of nearly $517m before taxes.
Don’t miss this: ‘It was as if my father were actually texting me’ – grief in the age of AI
For all the advances in medicine and technology in recent centuries, the finality of death has never been in dispute. But over the past few months, there has been a surge in the number of people sharing their stories of using ChatGPT to help say goodbye to loved ones. They raise serious questions about the rights of the deceased, and what it means to die. When Sunshine Henle’s mother, Linda, died unexpectedly at the age of 72, Henle, a 42-year-old Floridian, was left with what she describes as a “gaping hole of silence” in her life. Henle, who works in the artificial intelligence industry, made a spur-of-the-moment decision to use ChatGPT to “talk” to Linda. Is Henle’s AI mother a version of the real person? Do we have the right to prevent AI from approximating our personalities after we’re gone? If the living feel comforted by the words of an AI bot impersonation – is that person in some way still alive?
Climate check: Consider the heatwave and floods – can we still save the planet for our children? I think we can
“Where are you at with your five stages of grief for the Holocene? That’s the geological epoch we were living in for the past 11,700 years – the period of time when humans invented agriculture, built cities, invented writing, became ‘modern’, essentially,” writes Gaia Vince. “All of history took place in this epoch, marked by its congenial, relatively predictable climate, in which ice sheets retreated from Europe and North America, and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were high enough to enable the flourishing of grains, like rice and wheat. Now we’ve left those Holocene conditions for the uncharted Anthropocene, an age brought about by human activities and characterised by global climate chaos and ecological degradation. This June was the hottest ever recorded on Earth. July led with the hottest ever day, swiftly followed by a hotter hottest ever day, then the hottest week – and, possibly, the hottest month. Our situation is dire, but we can address it.”
Last Thing: Florida neighborhood hopping mad with lionhead rabbit invasion
Dozens of feral rabbits are driving some residents of a Florida neighborhood hopping mad after the furry creatures that were let loose are taking over the streets and are multiplying like – rabbits. The estimated 60 to 100 lionhead rabbits, named after the furry flowing mane around their heads, are descendants of a group a back-yard breeder illegally let loose when she moved away two years ago. Jenada Isles resident Alicia Griggs is spearheading efforts to raise the thousands it would cost for a rescue group to capture, neuter, vaccinate, shelter and then give the bunnies away to good homes. The runaway rabbits are not an easy problem to solve. “People don’t realize they’re exotic pets and they’re complicated. They have a complicated digestive system and they have to eat a special diet,” said Griggs, a real estate agent. “You can’t just throw any table scraps at them.”
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