Thurs - Is Russia Winning? Borexit!

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Today's Worst Joke in the World

Big shout out to my fingers.  I can always count on them.
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees

He Was Nominated For Worst Person By His Son

This angry obit was written by Pfaff’s son Larry Pfaff Jr., who didn’t pull any punches:

Lawrence H Pfaff Sr. was born in Belmont, NY, on April 16, 1941. He passed away on June 27, 2022, living a long life, much longer than he deserved. He is survived by his three children, no four. Oops, five children. Well as of 2022 we believe there is one more that we know about, but there could be more. His love was abundant when it came to himself, but for his children it was limited. From a young age, he was a ladies' man and an abusive alcoholic, solidifying his commitment to both with the path of destruction he left behind, damaging his adult children, and leaving them broken.

Lawrence, Sr's hobbies included abusing his first wife and children. He loved to start projects but never followed through on any of them. He enjoyed the life of a bar fly for many years and had a quaint little living space, studio, above his favorite hole in the wall, the club Nashville.

Lawrence, Sr. did spend over 20 years in the NYPD, but even his time in service was negligent at best. Because of his alcohol addiction, his Commanding Officer took away his gun and badge, replacing them with a broom until he could get his act together.

Lawrence, Sr. did claim to be clean and sober for over thirty years, but never worked any of the twelve steps, including the eighth and ninth steps with his children, making amends. He possesses no redeeming qualities for his children, including the ones he knew, and the "ones he knew about.”

It will be challenging to miss Lawrence, Sr. because he was narcissistic. He was incapable of love. Lawrence, Sr.'s passing proves that evil does eventually die, and it marks a time of healing, which will allow his children to get the closure they deserve. Lawrence, Sr. can be remembered for being a father to many, and a dad to none.

Wackos Resort to Violence Again

A granite monument in the US state of Georgia has been demolished for safety reasons after being damaged in a blast.

An explosion early on Wednesday reduced one of the slabs at the Georgia Guidestones to rubble.

CCTV footage showed a car leaving the scene and authorities are investigating.

Despite being built in 1980, the monument has been nicknamed "America's Stonehenge", a reference to the prehistoric landmark in the UK.

The 19ft-high (5.8m) structure near Elberton, east of Atlanta, was commissioned by a person or a group under the pseudonym RC Christian.

On 22 March 1980, the Georgia Guidestones, weighing 119 tons, were revealed to a crowd of about 100 people.

One crowd member, a local pastor, immediately professed his belief that the stones were built for cult and devil worship because of their similar appearance to Stonehenge.

On each side of the capstone, engraved in four ancient languages - Babylonian cuneiform, Classical Greek, Sanskrit and Egyptian hieroglyphic - were the words: "Let these be guidestones to an Age of Reason."

And written in eight languages - English, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Classical Hebrew, Swahili, Hindi and Spanish - were cryptic instructions for rebuilding society post-Doomsday:

"Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature; Guide reproduction wisely - improving fitness and diversity; Unite humanity with a living new language; Rule passion - faith - tradition - and all things with tempered reason; Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts; Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court; Avoid petty laws and useless officials; Balance personal rights with social duties; Prize truth - beauty - love - seeking harmony with the infinite; Be not a cancer on the Earth - Leave room for nature - Leave room for nature."

The state tourist website ExploreGeorgia.org says the monument serves "as an astronomical calendar, and every day at noon the sun shines through a narrow hole in the structure and illuminates the day's date on an engraving".

The Georgia Guidestones have long been a focus for conspiracy theories. Some believe the monument to be "Satanic" and a "portal to hell".

It has been linked to the "New World Order" theory, about a purported plot by global elites to rule mankind. In 2008, the monument was defaced with the slogan "death to the New World Order" in red paint.

Claims that the stones contained instructions on depopulating the earth have also circulated online. To support this idea, some have quoted the inscription etched on the stones: "Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature."
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The Guidestones became a political issue in the earlier Republic primary for governor as south Georgia teacher Kandiss Taylor, running against incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp, had promoted destroying the stones.

In Taylor's political messages, she urged "striking down Satan's Guidestones."

On Taylor's Facebook page on May 2, she announced: "I am the ONLY candidate bold enough to stand up to the Luciferian Cabal. Elect me Governor of Georgia, and I will bring the Satanic Regime to its knees— and DEMOLISH the Georgia Guidestones."

With All the Threats and Violence from the QOP, This Seems Too Lenient

A federal judge sentenced a former Trump supporter to three years of probation and a $7,000 fine for sending an email threatening to kill Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and three other congresswomen.

David George Hannon, 67, also must undergo mental and substance abuse treatment and have no contact with Omar or Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, according to a report in the Tampa Bay Times.

Hannon, who pleaded guilty in April to threatening a federal official, sent the email after the four Democratic lawmakers held a news conference in July 2019 in response to criticism from former President Donald Trump, who said they should “go back” to the “crime-infested places” from which they came.

“He was doing that because Trump told him to,” his daughter, Elizabeth Hannon Dillon, told the judge during the hearing on Wednesday. “He was a Trump supporter and now he regrets it.”

Borexit!!

Boris Johnson will resign as party leader and U.K. prime minister on Thursday, after more than 50 members of Parliament in his Conservative Party dramatically quit in protest at his leadership.

The News Is Reported With the Theme to Benny Hill



"I'm Batman."  "No, I'm Batman."  "You Are Both Under Arrest!"

Four organisers of a joke Facebook event have been arrested in Egypt on charges of "planning a riot" and "using reactions... to make money".

"Helwan Real Batman Battle" was set up after two users argued in jest over whether they were the caped crusader.

A third proposed that they dress up in superhero costumes and "fight a battle" in Cairo's Helwan district on the night of 13 August to "solve this issue".

"Whoever is still alive is the real Batman," the event's description said.

The post prompted a wave of memes, jokes and quotes, and attracting favourable reactions from Egyptian celebrities.

However, a few days later TV channels loyal to President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi expressed concern about the event, suggesting that it could be used to promote violence against law enforcement agencies.

Well-known TV presenter Lamis al-Hadidi linked the date chosen for the event to the ninth anniversary of the bloody crackdown that followed the military's overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi. More than 900 people were killed when security forces broke up sit-ins by tens of thousands of Morsi supporters in two squares in Cairo on 14 August 2013, according to Human Rights Watch.

Hadidi warned viewers against "taking such things lightly", despite acknowledging that it all started as a joke.

She also urged the organisers to seek a licence from the authorities for the event, noting it was a legal requirement. Unauthorised public gatherings of more than 10 people have been banned in Egypt since 2013.

Social media platforms are still seen by many in Egypt as the last "safe haven" for critics of President Sisi's rule. However, that appears to be a mistaken belief, since there is an interior ministry department tasked with monitoring the platforms 24 hours a day.

The arrest of the "Helwan Real Batman Battle" organisers comes four months before Egypt hosts a UN climate summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Environmental activists fear that the government will ban peaceful protests and gatherings during the Cop27 conference.

Previous Guy Used a Nixon Tactic

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe on Wednesday said an investigation should be launched into how he and former FBI Director James Comey were both selected by the Internal Revenue Service for an intensive tax audit.

“It just defies logic to think that there wasn’t some other factor involved,” McCabe told CNN’s Laura Coates on “Don Lemon Tonight” of his purportedly random selection for the audit, which he characterized as an “incredibly rigorous” and “nerve-wracking” process.

“I think that’s a reasonable question. I think it should be investigated. People need to be able to trust the institutions of government and so that’s why there should be some – we should dig through this and find out what happened,” he continued.

The New York Times reported earlier Wednesday that the IRS conducted intensive tax audits of McCabe and Comey, both fierce critics of former President Donald Trump. The Times noted that the odds of any one person being selected for the audit are about one in 30,600, raising questions about how two of Trump’s most visible critics were both selected.

McCabe told CNN he had not known of Comey’s audit when he received notice from the IRS.

Comey told the Times his audit, which he was made aware of in 2019 when Trump was in office, concluded that he and his wife overpaid their 2017 federal income taxes and he received a $347 refund. McCabe said that his 2021 audit, which focused on his 2019 return, found that he and his wife owed a small amount of money for an “oversight,” which they paid.

Charles Rettig, a Trump appointee, has lead the IRS since 2018. The agency said in a statement to the Times he has no role in selecting candidates for audits.  (So who does?)

The Deadly Minor Traffic Stop

If mass shootings are a uniquely American horror, so, too, are minor traffic stops that end with Black people killed by police. What happened to Jayland Walker, 25 and unarmed when he was shot, isn’t an anomaly. It’s a pernicious fact of Black life, and death, in America.

Walter Scott was reportedly stopped for a non-functioning brake light in South Carolina in 2015. That same year, Samuel DuBose was pulled over in Ohio for a missing front license plate. In 2016, Terence Crutcher was walking near his stalled car on an Oklahoma roadway. Marquintan Sandlin and Kisha Michael were unconscious in their car in California. In a Minnesota suburb, Philando Castile was stopped by police looking for a robbery suspect.

As Derek Chauvin was being tried in 2021 for the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Daunte Wright was pulled over in a nearby suburb for an expired registration tab on his license plate and having air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror. In April, Patrick Lyoya was stopped for improper vehicle registration in Michigan.

Every one of them was ultimately killed by police. Black people aren’t issued tickets. They get death notices. All that changes is the location, the number of shots fired, and how much time activists will have to catch their breath before the next Black motorist dies in a hail of police gunfire.

He Was Shot 60 Times.  Then They Handcuffed His Corpse

Jayland Walker was handcuffed behind his back when his body arrived at the coroner’s office to be processed as part of the investigation into the officers who shot and killed him in Akron last week, according to a medical examiner’s report that was reviewed by CNN.

The preliminary report by the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office contains several pages of thumbnail photos showing Walker dead and handcuffed at the scene. The photos also contain evidence of lifesaving efforts, including what appear to be tourniquets and bandages attached to and lying around his body.

CNN was allowed to review the report but not make copies, per office policy.

Russia Wants Alaska Back

If some Russian officials had their way, Sarah Palin could some day actually see Russia from her house.



Today's Dose of MTG Crazy

Conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) claimed this week’s mass shooting at a parade in Illinois could have been a secret operation carried out by gun control advocates.

“Two shootings on July 4th, one in a rich, white neighborhood and the other at a fireworks display,” she said in a clip posted on Twitter by Patriot Takes, which monitors right-wing media.

Greene was referring to the parade shooting in Highland Park, which left seven people dead, and likely an incident in Philadelphia that left two police officers wounded.

“It almost sounds like it’s designed to persuade Republicans to go along with more gun control,” she said. “I mean, after all, remember, we didn’t see that happen at all the Pride parades in the month of June.”

Then she attempted to appropriate not just the Fourth of July ― celebrated by all Americans ― but the entire month in the name of Donald Trump.

“As soon as we hit MAGA month, as soon as we hit the month that we’re all celebrating, loving our country, we have shootings on July 4th,” said Greene. “I mean, that’s, you know, that would sound like a conspiracy theory, right? Of course. But what’s the definition of right-wing conspiracy theory? Well, by the way, it’s the news that’s just six months early.”

Guns Don't Kill People.  Demons Do.

Former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett, during a Fox News appearance on Wednesday, suggested that expelling demons could be a way to cut back on mass shootings.

Bennett, who served as education secretary under President Ronald Reagan, weighed in on the function of “red flag” laws ― like those in Illinois ― that are designed to keep guns out of the hands of people who are deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.

Bennett, during his Fox News appearance, said parents, schools and police officers are among the people who can “pay more attention” to potential red flags for mass violence. “But, you know, you may need an exorcist, too,” he suggested.

She Will Protect Her Grandchildren By Shooting Them





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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees

Need An Abortion?  How About Going Dutch?

A little-known European medical team is poised to become one of the most important groups in the shifting landscape of U.S. abortion bans.

Aid Access, an online-only service run by a Dutch physician, Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, began shipping abortion pills to Americans from abroad four years ago. The organization’s team consists of about four doctors supervising about 10 medical staff members, and they’re difficult for U.S. authorities to reach because all are outside the country and they ship pills from a pharmacy in India.

Opponents of abortion rights have so far largely found themselves powerless to stop Aid Access from mailing abortion pills even to the most conservative corners of the country, at least while the organization’s opponents don’t control the White House. That has transformed Aid Access nearly overnight from an obscure overseas group into an essential part of the effort to keep abortion accessible nationwide.

“It’s the only clinically supported service that mails to states where telehealth for abortion is banned,” said Ushma Upadhyay, an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.

Gomperts, who founded Aid Access in 2018, said she has no intention of changing her work now that the Supreme Court has overruled Roe v. Wade. Aid Access has been receiving 4,000 requests a day since Roe v. Wade was overturned, she said, up from 600 to 700 a day previously.

Last year, after Texas banned abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, orders from the state tripled in the weeks after the law took effect, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.
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Invasions Have Consequences

Day 134

Fighting

The Ukrainian military said it has so far staved off any significant Russian advance into the north of its Donetsk region, but pressure is intensifying with heavy shelling on the city of Sloviansk and nearby populated areas.

Heavy shelling occurred along the front line in the Donetsk region on Wednesday, but Russian forces made few advances, the United Kingdom’s defence ministry said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian troops were advancing in areas of the country occupied by Russian forces, particularly in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhia.

The mayor of the southern port city of Mykolaiv stressed there are “no safe areas” left in the city and urged residents to leave.

Diplomacy

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has flown into Indonesia’s resort island of Bali for a meeting of G20 foreign ministers, which is set to be overshadowed by tensions triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong, ahead of the G20 meeting, asked China to exert its influence on Russia to halt the war in Ukraine, which she called “immoral”.

Irish prime minister Micheal Martin, during a visit to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, said there will be “no hiding places” for those committing war crimes.

US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have spoken with the wife of US basketball player Brittney Griner, who is jailed in Russia, and reassured her that Washington was working to secure Griner’s release as soon as possible.

Economy

Ukraine’s grain exports plunged 68.5 percent year-on-year to 163,000 tonnes in the first six days of July, the first month of the 2022/23 season, the agriculture ministry said.

A Russian-flagged cargo ship, the Zhibek Zholy, which was suspected of carrying stolen Ukrainian grain, left the Turkish northwestern port of Karasu late on Wednesday, according to Refinitiv ship tracking data.

France must be prepared for possible cuts in Russian gas deliveries linked to the context of the Ukraine war, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said.

Is Russia Winning?

In March, the stated goal of Russian forces was taking the Donbas, and even that, which includes the remaining half of Donetsk province still in Ukrainian hands, has not yet been accomplished.

The very limited nature of the Russian victory in Luhansk was pointed out by a veteran Russian commander, Igor Girkin, also known by the alias Igor Ivanovich Strelkov, who in 2014 served as defence minister for the breakaway Donetsk People’s Republic, and is largely responsible for persuading Putin to undertake military intervention in the Donbas.

“Apparently, the emphatically defensive nature of the battle for Severodonetsk-Lysychansk on the part of the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was deliberate,” Girkin, who has personal knowledge of the terrain, wrote on Telegram.

“The battles were only dragged out with the aim of gaining as much time as possible and inflicting maximum losses on the Russian strike force. After the loss of the main positions was a foregone conclusion, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to withdraw the core of its defending troops, avoiding the encirclement of even a small part of them – both in Severodonetsk and in the area of ​​​​Lysychansk and Zolote-Gorskoye.”

This tactic was confirmed by Luhansk Governor Haidai, who outlined Russian versus Ukrainian advantages: “Only during the storming of Lysychansk, the enemy lost thousands of dead and wounded. Yes, they have an order of magnitude more forces and means, but the Ukrainian army is better prepared and motivated.”

Girkin notes that over the past month, “the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been continuously increasing the number of troops and military equipment in all directions – both ‘active’ and ‘sleeping’, creating a steady superiority in manpower, artillery and armoured vehicles in many of them. At the same time, the enemy continued to form strategic reserves, limiting their entry into battle even at the height of the battle for Severodonetsk-Lysychansk… Conclusion: The Armed Forces of Ukraine are completing preparations for their own active operations in one or more directions.”

Girkin also concludes that the second stage of Putin’s “special operation” in Ukraine has not broken Ukrainian military capacity. On the contrary, Russian difficulties in raising fresh troops mean that it is Russian capacity that is at risk of being worn down completely. Girkin forecasts that Russia could find itself in retreat on the northern front near Kharkiv by the end of the summer as Ukrainian reserves are brought online.

“Further ignoring the above inability may negatively affect the situation on a strategic scale,” he said.
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The Story That Doesn't Get Reported

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County dropped Thursday for the 23rd consecutive day and 24th time in 25 days, decreasing 2.8 cents to $6.236.

The average price has dropped 22.4 cents over the past 25 days, including 1.9 cents Wednesday, according to figures from the AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. The run of dropping prices follows an 18-day streak of increases totaling 36.9 cents.

The average price is 9.1 cents less than one week ago and 15.9 cents lower than one month ago, but $1.901 more than one year ago.

The Orange County average price also decreased for the 23rd consecutive day and 24th time in 25 days, dropping 2.9 cents to $6.141. It has decreased 26.9 cents over the past 25 days, including 2.1 cents Wednesday. The run of dropping prices follows a 17-day streak of increases totaling 35.1 cents.

The Orange County average price is 10.1 cents less than one week ago and 23.1 cents lower than one month ago, but $1.846 more than one year ago.

There Sure Were a Lot of Stories About Rising Prices
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You Can Get Your Prime Rib With Prime (For a Year)

Amazon Prime members in the United States can now get free meal deliveries through Grubhub as part of a growing business partnership between the two companies.

The deal, announced Wednesday, will give Amazon (AMZN)’s paying subscribers the option to sign up for a free one-year Grubhub+ membership (normally $9.99 a month) and receive unlimited free deliveries when they order from restaurants listed on the service.

At the same time, Amazon could become a stakeholder in Grubhub (GRUB)’s business. Amazon has the option to take a 2% stake in Grubhub (GRUB), with the possibility to acquire up to 15% if certain business performance conditions are met, according to an announcement from Grubhub (GRUB)’s Netherlands-based parent company, Just Eat Takeaway.com.

For Amazon, the tie-up has the potential to broaden the appeal of its Prime service, which now costs $139 annually. It also helps bolster its meal delivery efforts. Amazon announced in 2019 that it was shuttering its short-lived restaurant delivery service in the US that delivered food to Prime members.
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The Party's Over

For much of the past decade, tech companies have showered their corporate employees with money and lavish perks to attract and retain talent in a hyper-competitive industry. That dynamic only kicked into overdrive the past couple of years amid a pandemic-fueled boom for tech products and services.

“The hiring was off the charts, paying [salaries] that were probably too high or out of range, where companies would hire four or five people for a sales position when they really only needed two,” said Bill McHargue, founder of San Francisco-based recruitment firm Talent House.

But the situation has started to cool as the tech industry and the broader economy have been hit by the perfect storm of inflation, rising interest rates, fears of a recession and Russia’s war in Ukraine. A wave of tech companies that had been aggressively hiring, from Netflix (NFLX) to Coinbase, have announced layoffs in recent weeks. Many others are also moving to cut costs, with Uber (UBER), Lyft (LYFT), Snap (SNAP), Twitter (TWTR) and Apple (AAPL) all planning to slow or pause hiring.

“They’re not going to hire as many people, they’re going to do much more due diligence, that interview process is going to take a lot longer, the [compensation] is going to get a little bit softer,” said McHargue, whose firm mainly works with early-stage startups.

“I think it’s back to some realistic numbers,” he added, describing the current reduction as returning to pre-pandemic levels. “I think the correction was going to happen, it had to happen, now we just don’t know how long it’s going to last.”

For some tech workers, that could mean whiplash — not just in how easily they can secure a high-paying job, but also in how much leverage they have with management in pushing for specific workplace conditions.
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He Died of a Broken Heart ... Because of a Pig Virus

The first man to receive a transplanted pig heart died of heart failure due to several factors, not organ rejection, leading the doctors involved in the trial to call it a success.

David Bennett, 57, received the genetically modified porcine heart on Jan. 7 after the Food and Drug Administration gave emergency authorization on New Year’s Eve.

Before the transplant, Bennett had been hospitalized for six weeks with a life-threatening arrhythmia and had been connected to a heart-lung bypass machine. He was in end-stage heart failure and did not qualify for a traditional heart transplant.

He died two months later.

When the heart was first transplanted, "we were incredibly encouraged by his progress. His heart was strong, almost too strong for his frail body, but he had a strong will to live," said study co-leader Bartley Griffith, a transplantation professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

“Our findings on autopsy did not show evidence of rejection,” Griffith, who is also the clinical director of the cardiac xenotransplantation program at the school, said. “Instead, we saw a thickening and later stiffening of the heart muscle leading to diastolic heart failure, which means the heart muscle was not able to relax and fill the heart with blood as it is supposed to.”

The heart may have failed due to a drug that is supposed to prevent rejection and infection, but might have damaged the muscle, according to the school.

"The heart was also found to contain evidence of DNA from a latent pig virus called porcine cytomegalovirus (pCMV) through highly sensitive testing that was first detected several weeks after the surgery and was later confirmed during autopsy of the organ," the release said. Whether the virus damaged the heart is under investigation.
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It's Hotter In Europe Than You Realize

Heatwaves over Europe have increased three to four times faster than in the rest of the northern mid-latitudes like e.g. the US or Canada, a new study finds. An international team of scientists looked at observational data from the past 40 years and showed, for the first time, that this rapid increase is linked to changes in the atmospheric circulation. Large-scale winds at 5 to 10km height, the so-called jet stream, are changing over Eurasia. Periods during which the jet stream is split into two branches – so called double jet states – have become longer lasting. These double jet states explain almost all of the upward trend in heatwaves in western Europe, and around 30 percent over the larger European domain.

“While summer heatwaves are not a new phenomenon, what is new is that extreme heat events in Europe have been occurring with greater frequency and intensity in the past years. Just think about the hot and dry summers of 2018, 2019, 2020 and the current heatwave in Europe– and this is expected to get worse,” says Efi Rousi from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and lead author of the study to be published in Nature Communications. “Our study shows that these heat extremes in Europe are linked to double jet streams and their increasing persistence over the Eurasian sector.“

In the study, the scientists looked at how the jet stream – a fast-flowing air current that travels west-to-east around the globe’s Northern hemisphere at around 10 km height – might have contributed to the observed heatwave trends. To conduct the analysis, the scientists defined persistent heatwaves as at least six consecutive days during which the maximum air temperature exceeded the threshold of the 10 percent hottest days in a given location. They examined daily climate data for the two hottest European months, July and August, over a period of 42 years.

“We found that there are typically three states of the jet stream, one of them being the double jet state, consisting of two jet stream branches with increased wind, one over Southern and one over Northern Eurasia,“ co-author Kai Kornhuber, scientist at Columbia University in New York and PIK, explains. While the number of double jet events per year did not change much, the double jet events became longer and thus more persistent. This increased persistence then acts on top of the temperature increases from human-made warming to fuel more intense heatwaves. Kornhuber explains: “Our new results highlight the importance of understanding atmosphere dynamical processes to anticipate future risks of extreme heat and to identify global hotspots such as western Europe.”

The increasing persistence of double jet streams is especially relevant for western Europe, the researchers found. “Our study shows that the increasing persistence of double jets explains about 30 percent of heatwave trends for the whole of Europe. Yet, if we only look at the smaller western European region, it explains almost 100 percent”, says Efi Rousi. “In this region, which coincides with the exit of the storm track coming from the North Atlantic towards Europe, weather systems normally originate from the Atlantic and therefore have a cooling effect – during double jet states the weather systems get diverted northwards and persistent heatwaves can develop over western Europe.” This is in contrast to other European regions like the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe where dry soils are likely more important for the development of persistent heatwaves.
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A Win-Win

The United States has agreed to lift tariffs on Canadian solar products after a trade dispute settlement panel sided with Ottawa earlier this year, Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng said on Thursday.

Canada, arguing that the tariffs violated the terms of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), had sought the assistance of a dispute settlement panel last year.

In February, Canada said the panel had confirmed that the tariffs were "unjustified and in violation" of the trade pact. The United States, too, said it had prevailed on some aspects of the panel's decision.

Washington and Ottawa have been engaged in talks to resolve the dispute since then.
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