Good morning.
Hurricane Ian has precipitated Cuba’s electrical energy grid to break down, leaving your entire nation with out energy, as residents in Florida braced for the arrival of an anticipated catastrophic class 4 storm.
The west of Cuba was hit by violent winds and flooding on Tuesday that affected infrastructure, state-run media reported, whereas a number of the nation’s most necessary tobacco farms have been devastated.
Cuba’s Nationwide Electrical energy Union stated energy was being restored steadily in a single day and this morning. Lázaro Guerra Hernández, from the Electrical Union of Cuba, known as it “an distinctive situation – a complete of zero” electrical energy era. “We're beginning the method of restoring the system. It’s a course of that takes time, it should be accomplished with precision,” he stated.
The place is Hurricane Ian heading? The highly effective storm is heading instantly for Florida’s south-western coast, after putting Cuba with winds of 125mph (205km/h). The storm is predicted to accentuate in energy because it strikes over the Gulf of Mexico and west of Florida’s southern tip on Tuesday night time, earlier than heading towards the Tampa Bay area.
How is Florida preparing? Officers put the area beneath a hurricane warning, alerting individuals of catastrophic storm surges, excessive winds and flooding. Companies in Florida have been shuttering and officers ordered 2.5 million individuals to evacuate earlier than it crashes ashore right this moment.
McConnell endorses bipartisan invoice to forestall efforts to overturn US elections
The Senate Republican chief, Mitch McConnell, stated yesterday he would “proudly help” laws to overtake guidelines for certifying presidential elections, bolstering a bipartisan effort to revise a Nineteenth-century legislation and keep away from any repeat of the January 6 revolt.
The laws would make clear and increase elements of the 1887 Electoral Rely Act, which, together with the structure, governs how states and Congress certify electors and declare presidential winners.
The adjustments within the certification course of are in response to unsuccessful efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to use loopholes within the legislation and overturn his 2020 defeat by Joe Biden.
McConnell made the remarks simply earlier than a committee vote on the laws. He stated he would again the invoice so long as a bipartisan settlement on the language was not considerably modified.
What did he say? “Congress’s course of for counting the presidential electors’ votes was written 135 years in the past,” McConnell stated. “The chaos that got here to a head on January 6 of final yr actually underscored the necessity for an replace.”
US to denounce ‘sham referendums’ at UN safety council
The US will introduce a decision on the UN safety council calling on member states to not recognise any change to Ukraine and obligating Russia to withdraw its troops, US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield stated.
Ukraine’s overseas ministry has stated the “propaganda so-called ‘referendums’ within the quickly occupied territories” are “yet one more Russian crime” and that it considers them “null and nugatory”.
The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has additionally spoken out concerning the referendums, saying he'll introduce additional sanctions in opposition to Russia in response to the “sham” referendums held in occupied Ukrainian areas.
Trudeau stated Canada was “actively partaking with our worldwide companions and allies to make sure a united rejection” and that his authorities supposed to “impose new sanctions on the individuals and entities complicit on this newest try and undermine ideas of state sovereignty”.
What is occurring with theNord Stream pipelines leaks?Sabotage is the most certainly explanation for leaks in two Baltic Sea gasoline pipelines between Russia and Europe, European leaders have stated, after seismologists reported explosions across the Nord Stream pipelines.
What else is occurring? Right here’s what we all know on day 217 of the invasion.
In different information …
The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, is to go to the closely armed border separating North and South Korea tomorrow, amid rising tensions on the peninsula. Harris’s go to will “underscore … the USA’ dedication to face beside [South Korea] within the face of any threats,” the White Home stated.
A prime Republican urged homicide costs for ladies who defy abortion bans in feedback which have not too long ago come to gentle. Doug Mastriano, now the Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, made the feedback in 2019 whereas discussing the abortion invoice he proposed as state senator.
US makes an attempt to bolster ties with Pacific islands have suffered a serious blow on the eve of its landmark summit, with Solomon Islands rejecting a draft US settlement, and Micronesian leaders elevating critical considerations about “inadequate” monetary help to the area, leaked paperwork reveal.
Mohammed bin Salman has been named prime minister of Saudi Arabia in a transfer that consultants stated would in all probability protect the crown prince from a doubtlessly damaging lawsuit within the US in connection to his alleged function within the homicide of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Stat of the day: Half of world’s hen species in decline as destruction of avian life intensifies
Almost half of the planet’s hen species are in decline, based on a definitive report that paints the grimmest image but of the destruction of avian life. The State of the World’s Birds report exhibits that the intensification of agriculture is placing strain on 73% of species. Logging, invasive species, exploitation of pure sources and local weather breakdown are the opposite predominant threats. Globally, 49% of hen species are declining, one in eight are threatened with extinction and not less than 187 species are confirmed or suspected to have gone extinct since 1500.
Don’t miss this: They tried to close down Drag Story Hour. A Montana bookstore fought again
On a Saturday in mid-July, retired police officer and military veteran Jim Thomas joined a vocal crowd exterior an area LGBTQ-owned impartial bookstore and commenced scanning his environment, writes Mara Silvers. Standing 6ft 4in and about 200lbs, with a camouflage baseball hat and scraggly eyebrows, Thomas arrived with a mission: ensure that Drag Story Hour, the family-friendly studying occasion the place glowing drag performers learn kids’s books to youngsters and households, went off and not using a hitch. “I believe it’s incumbent upon us to face up and assist the place we are able to, if we are able to,” stated Thomas.
… Or this:The Guardian’s local weather disaster reporting goes the place others concern – or refuse – to tread
Except for all-out nuclear battle, a very powerful issues that confront us are environmental. None of our hopes, none of our desires, none of our plans and expectations can survive the lack of a liveable planet. And there may be scarcely an Earth system that's not now threatened with collapse. But you'll scarcely realize it. A lot of the media, more often than not, both ignore our environmental disaster, downplay it or deny it. Our mission is to place the setting entrance and centre, writes George Monbiot.
Local weather test: Big growth of oil pipelines endangering local weather, says report
Greater than 24,000km of latest oil pipelines are beneath growth world wide, a distance equal to virtually twice the Earth’s diameter, a report has revealed. The initiatives, led by the US, Russia, China and India, are “dramatically at odds with plans to restrict world warming to 1.5C or 2C”, the researchers stated. The oil pumped via the pipelines would produce not less than 5bn tonnes of CO2 a yr if accomplished, equal to the emissions of the US, the world’s second largest polluter. About 40% of the pipelines are already beneath building, with the remainder in planning.
Final Factor: Bowie’s handwritten Starman lyrics promote for stellar $200,000
David Bowie’s handwritten lyrics to his 1972 tune Starman have bought for greater than $200,000 at public sale, 5 occasions their estimated sale value. The tune featured on his fifth album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, which propelled the musician to worldwide rock and pop stardom. The handwritten lyrics, which have been initially estimated to fetch as much as $42,700 (£40,000) bought for $217.300 (£203,500), together with purchaser’s premium.
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