Good morning.
As Joe Biden prepares to visit a coal turned wind power plant in Massachusetts today to promote his climate action efforts, he is facing pressure to declare a national climate emergency as temperatures soar across the US and Europe.
Facing political gridlock in Washington, the president could make such an announcement – which would unlock federal resources to address the crisis – as soon as this week, the Washington Post reported yesterday.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said Biden would announce “additional actions” to tackle the climate crisis today but ruled out the declaration of a national emergency for now.
Meanwhile, more than 100 million people in the US are under either a heat warning about dangerous conditions or heat advisories amid record temperatures, as 85 major wildfires burn in 13 states, scorching more than 3m acres (12.m hectares).
What will it mean if Biden declares a climate emergency? The president’s ability to work around Congress remains limited and the impact of declaring a climate emergency, for all its symbolism, remains ambiguous.
What’s happening in Europe? Major incidents were declared by fire services across the UK dealing with multiple blazes on the country’s hottest day since records began, with temperatures reaching 104.36F (40.2C). Meanwhile a large wildfire continues to destroy a pine forest in France as heatwaves break temperature records across the European continent.
Secret Service turned over just one text message to January 6 panel, sources say
The Secret Service turned over just a single text message to the House January 6 committee yesterday, in response to a subpoena for all communications from the day before and the day of the US Capitol attack, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
The Secret Service told the panel the single text was the only message responsive to the subpoena, the sources said, and while the agency vowed to conduct a forensic search for any other text or phone records, it indicated such messages were likely to prove irrecoverable.
House investigators also learned that the texts were seemingly lost as part of an agency-wide reset of phones on 27 January 2021, the sources said – 11 days after Congress first requested the communications and two days after agents were reminded to back up their phones.
The disclosures were worse than the committee had anticipated, the sources said. The panel had hoped to receive more than a single text and was dismayed to learn that the messages were lost even after they had been requested for congressional investigations.
What’s happened to the messages? The Secret Service has said the missing texts were purged as part of a planned agency-wide reset of phones and replacement of devices. Agents were told to back up data to an internal drive, one source said, but that directive appears to have been ignored.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and House colleagues arrested during pro-choice protest
Several prominent Democratic members of Congress were arrested during a protest in support of abortion rights in front of the supreme court, in the aftermath of the historic overturning of Roe v Wade.
The politicians gathered in front of the US Capitol before marching to the court building, chanting “our bodies, our choice” and “we won’t go back.”
The group, which included the prominent progressives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush, stood along a crosswalk in front of the court, which is surrounded by a large black fence claimed to be unclimbable and erected to keep protesters away.
The group sat down in the middle of the street as an act of peaceful civil disobedience, as police gathered around them, broadcasting a pre-recorded message announcing imminent arrest for blocking the street.
How many members of Congress were arrested? CPD Action said 18 congressional members were arrested. Seventeen were women. Andy Levin of Michigan was the sole congressman among them.
In other news …
The US House has passed a bill protecting the right to same-sex and interracial marriages, amid concerns the supreme court’s overturning of Roe v Wade could jeopardize other rights. Forty-seven House Republicans supported the legislation, called the Respect for Marriage Act.
Vladimir Putin has been left awkwardly standing in a room in front of a throng of reporters while waiting to meet his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. It was unfamiliar terrain for the Russian president, who has developed a reputation for keeping world leaders waiting.
One in five adults in the US, equivalent to about 50 million people, believe political violence is justified at least in some circumstances, a new mega-survey has found. As mistrust and alienation from democratic institutions peaks, researchers have been exploring how willing Americans are to commit violence.
Police in San Bernardino, California, fatally shot a 23-year-old Black man on Saturday as he was fleeing, according to surveillance footage that shows an officer firing just seconds after arriving in an unmarked vehicle. The footage shows one of the officers firing at Robert Adams from a distance as he ran away.
Manolo Blahnik, the shoe brand made famous by appearances in Sex and the City, says it has won a legal battle in China to use its own name, paving the way for expansion across the country. The judgment was handed down last month, marking the culmination of a long-running legal battle.
Stat of the day: Netflix’s slump continues as company loses 1 million users in second quarter
Netflix reported better than expected earnings yesterday, experiencing a smaller exodus of viewers than originally forecast even as it struggles to maintain its meteoric pandemic growth. Though Netflix reported its second straight quarterly drop in subscriber growth, and lost 1 million viewers in the second quarter of 2022, it was lower than the 2 million it predicted in its previous report. Shares were up 10% in after-hours trading. In a letter to investors, Netflix said generating more revenue growth was a current focus.
Don’t miss this: Global lost luggage crisis mounts
Many families are taking their first holidays in three years this summer, a hiatus caused by the pandemic and during which airlines and airports undertook drastic cost-cutting as demand fell. As passengers return, the amount of luggage being lost is surging. In April, almost six bags per 1,000 pieces of luggage checked in by passengers were at least temporarily lost by US airlines. Some are calling it the summer of lost luggage, with daily stories of baggage claims swelling as suitcases get caught in a conveyor belt-shaped vortex that only seems to grow.
Climate check: ‘In 10 years, we might not have forests’
The rainforest of the Congo River basin covers 440m acres across six countries. It absorbs about 4% of global annual carbon emissions, sustains rainfall as far away as Egypt and is home to a vast spectrum of rare flora and fauna. Its preservation is deemed key in the fight against global heating. But the Democratic Republic of the Congo has one of the world’s highest deforestation rates, losing 1.2m acres of primary rainforest in 2020. While plans are being made to promote community forestry, there are concerns that efforts to stop logging are not going to plan.
Last Thing: What I learned when I tried naked yoga
“Eventually I peeked beyond my mat and was surprised that everyone around me was naked or nearly so,” writes Kelsy Burke. “I hadn’t noticed people taking their clothes off. When we entered tree pose, I was able to fully take in the room. These were not the bodies we see in commercial porn, on magazine covers, or in TV and movies. These were ordinary bodies, of various ages, shades, shapes and sizes. We were beautiful there in that room, all of us awkwardly balancing on our mats.”
Sign up
First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com
