Gizmodo
Denmark Sets New Record for Wind Energy, Putting Us All to Shame
Denmark hit a major renewable energy milestone in 2019, producing nearly half of its electricity from wind wind alone.
State-run energy operator Energinet announced its new wind record on Twitter Thursday. The renewable energy source now makes up 47 percent of the country’s energy consumption, heating the previous record set in 2017 of 43 percent.
This boost is, in large part, due to the launch of the country’s largest offshore wind farm in the North Sea this year. The Horns Rev 3 wind farm generates enough energy to power about 425,000 Danish homes. The country has been quickly transitioning toward wind energy due to its location on the gusty North Sea. The sea’s bountiful winds are also key to UK clean energy aspirations. The country went live with the world’s largest offshore wind farm last year.
The Washington Post
Interior secretary extends the tenure of federal lands chief — without nominating him
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt on Tuesday extended the tenure of William Perry Pendley as effective head of the Bureau of Land Management — without nominating him to the post.
The administration has left the position of BLM director empty for … Trump’s entire presidency.
Bernhardt delegated “all functions, duties, and responsibilities” to Pendley, who has been a stalwart supporter of selling or opening up federal lands to drilling, mining and other commercial use. The move will last until April 3, unless Bernhardt extends it or Trump nominates Pendley or someone else on a permanent basis.
Pendley’s nomination as the actual head of the BLM would have faced tough Senate confirmation hearings because of his ultraconservative views.
More than 200 Republican members of Congress urge Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision
More than 200 members of Congress — nearly all of them Republicans — on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to reconsider the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision, prompting a wave of protests from Democrats and reproductive rights groups.
The 207 lawmakers signaled their position in an amicus brief supporting a restrictive Louisiana abortion law that is expected to be reviewed by the Supreme Court on March 4.
Practitioners have said the law would force most of the state’s abortion clinics to close, and critics of the measure argue that it unduly burdens a “large fraction” of women seeking access to abortion.
Campaign fundraising hauls solidify Democratic leaders as Trump continues to amass financial firepower
Large sums scooped up by Democrats in the final months of 2019 are solidifying a top tier of candidates heading into the early presidential voting season, with multiple contenders showing signs of strength in the battle for the party’s nomination.
At the same time, … Trump brought in his biggest haul ever last quarter, as his impeachment by the Democratic-controlled House energized his base and produced an outpouring of $46 million. Trump’s reelection campaign barreled into the new year with more than $100 million to spend.
In all, the Democratic presidential candidates together raised at least $118 million in the last quarter — a sum that party strategists said points to the mounting energy and financial resources that will coalesce around the eventual nominee.
The Sydney Morning Herald
'Justified in feeling angry': Premier stands by Constance after he lashes Morrison
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has stood by Transport Minister and Bega MP Andrew Constance after he took an extraordinary swipe at Scott Morrison, saying the Prime Minister received "the welcome that he probably deserved" on the fire-ravaged South Coast.
The Bega MP, who narrowly escaped losing his home when fire tore through Malua Bay, lashed out after Mr Morrison's disastrous visit to Cobargo on Thursday, where he was heckled by locals.
Two dead, 28 missing as evacuations begin from fire-ravaged areas
Two people have been confirmed dead and grave fears are held for a further 28 as evacuations begin from many of Victoria's fire-ravaged areas that have been declared disaster zones.
Evacuees boarded buses at a relief centre and were driven to a boat ramp at Bastion Point before being ferried out to the the waiting naval vessels – HMAS Choules and MV Sycamore – sitting about one kilometre offshore.
Those onboard the larger HMAS Choules will be taken on a close to 17-hour journey to Western Port and then transferred to centres in Melbourne and Geelong. Evacuees aboard the Sycamore have been told they will be taken to Hastings and then bused to either Melbourne or Somerville.
Rockets fired at Baghdad airport, Qassem Soleimani killed
Key Iranian military leader Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis have been killed in an air strike on their convoy in Baghdad airport, an Iraqi militia spokesman told Reuters.
"The American and Israeli enemy is responsible for killing the mujahideen Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Qassem Soleimani," said Ahmed al-Assadi, a spokesman for Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces umbrella grouping of Iran-backed militias.
The Hindu
Narendra Modi asks CAA opponents to protest against ‘atrocities’ of Pakistan
Taking a dig at those protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said: “If they want to carry out agitations, let them carry out agitations against the oppressions of Pakistan against its minorities, including Dalits, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, for the past 70 years.”
Addressing thousands of students and seers of various Mutts on the premises of the Siddaganga Mutt in Tumakuru, Mr. Modi said instead of carrying out agitations against Pakistan which was “oppressing” its minorities, the anti-CAA protesters were opposing the Union government for implementing the CAA and NRC to safeguard the interests of the minorities in Pakistan and other nations.
In 2019, 95 tiger deaths in India, 22 incidents of poaching, says MoEFCC
For the first time in the past three years, the number of tiger deaths in a year in the country has been less than 100. According to data from the Ministry of Forest Environment and Climate Change (MoEFCC), there were 84 cases of tiger deaths in the country and 11 cases of seizures (in which a tiger is presumed dead on the basis of body parts seized by authorities). Both put together, the number of tiger deaths is in 2019 is 95.
In 2018, the number of tiger deaths recorded was 100 (93 mortalities and seven seizures). The number of tiger deaths in 2017 was 115 (98 mortalities and 17 seizures), and the number of tiger deaths in 2016 was 122 (101 mortalities and 21 seizures).
Los Angeles Times
Trump has little to show for his efforts on Iran, North Korea
Trump starts the new year with his foreign policy record pretty much intact: 0 for 3.
None of his most championed causes — a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians, disarmament of nuclear North Korea, the fall of Iran’s leadership — has produced desired results. To the contrary, especially with this week’s storming of the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad, those endeavors have suffered considerable setbacks.
Trump can point to a handful of accomplishments around the globe, such as the military raid that ended in the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Baghdadi, and the House passage last month of a revamped trade deal with Mexico and Canada.
But at least two volatile crises loom large, Iran and North Korea.
In newly blue Orange County, Democrats struggle over how far left is too far
Emma Jenson, standing in front of over 200 Bernie Sanders supporters gathered in the parking lot of a Santa Ana office park, asked for a show of hands to see who had knocked on doors for the 2016 election. Few had.
“Notice that my hand didn’t go up,” the San Clemente resident said. “But things are different now. This is what democracy looks like.”
The ostensible reason for the recent Sunday evening rally was the opening of Sanders’ Orange County campaign office. But Jenson’s remarks about how Democratic people power can beat Republican might resonated with the crowd for reasons beyond their favored candidate.
USA Today
'It simply isn't our time': Julián Castro drops out of 2020 presidential race
Julián Castro, former Housing and Urban Development secretary in the Obama administration, ended his presidential bid Thursday.
Castro, also the former mayor of San Antonio, said "I've determined that it simply isn't our time" in a roughly four-minute-long video and campaign montage released on Twitter.
"It's with a heavy heart and with profound gratitude that I will suspend my campaign for president," Castro said, citing the "circumstances of this campaign season" and the upcoming Iowa caucuses.
Female warriors' tomb suggests basis for Amazons of Greek mythology
The Amazons, a mythical race of female warriors that inspired fictional heroes such as Wonder Woman and Xena the Warrior Princess, may have been more than ancient Greek lore.
The Institute of Archaeology at the Russian Academy of Sciences announced the discovery of a tomb where four women were buried alongside a slew of battle weapons about 2,500 years ago. The findings were published by the Akson Russian Science Communication Association last Wednesday.
The Scythian women represented three generations of female warriors. The eldest was buried with a ceremonial headdress consistent with Amazon myths.
The Denver Post
Gov. Jared Polis wants to “get to the bottom” of Colorado’s drone mystery
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said Thursday he wants to “get to the bottom” of the ongoing drone mystery in rural northeast Colorado even as reports of the unmanned aircraft continue nightly.
“I’m actively monitoring the reports of drone sightings in eastern Colorado and share the expressed concerns of law enforcement and local residents,” Polis said in a statement Thursday, 10 days after mysterious drone sightings were first reported by The Denver Post.
The drones — estimated to have six-foot wingspans — were first reported in Phillips and Yuma counties and since been reported in nine counties across Colorado and Nebraska. They seem to typically fly in groups of six to 10, authorities said, and are usually spotted after sunset and before midnight.
The Atlantic
The World Dick Cheney Built
The vice president had spent most of his career trying to lift the restraints on presidential authority. After 9/11, he did just that.
As soon as the hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Dick Cheney began to take charge.
Stop Believing in Free Shipping
[…] There’s scarcely tastier bait for American shoppers than free shipping, and it’s been transformed from an occasional incentive into something that closely resembles a consumer requirement. But shipping isn’t free for the people who send packages, and an insatiable demand for this perk might be the thing that breaks mom-and-pop retail for good.
AP News
Kentucky AG asks FBI to probe former Gov. Bevin’s pardons
Kentucky’s new Republican attorney general has asked the FBI to investigate a flurry of pardons by former Gov. Matt Bevin.
The pardons have drawn criticism from both sides of the political aisle after media reports highlighted some that went to convicts who had wealthy or politically connected families.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron wrote in a letter Monday that he has sent a formal request to the FBI to “investigate this matter.”
Southern California citrus disease quarantine expands
A Southern California quarantine zone has been expanded in an effort to stop the spread of a disease that threatens the state’s multibillion-dollar citrus industry.
The addition of 107 square miles (277 square kilometers) encompassing the cities of Corona and Norco and part of Chino followed the discovery of a dozen trees with citrus greening disease in Corona, The Press-Enterprise reported Thursday.
The quarantine zone now covers 1,127 square miles (2,919 square kilometers) in parts of Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Backlog of toxic Superfund cleanups grows under Trump
The Trump administration has built up the biggest backlog of unfunded toxic Superfund cleanup projects in at least 15 years, nearly triple the number that were stalled for lack of money in the Obama era, according to 2019 figures quietly released by the Environmental Protection Agency over the winter holidays.
The accumulation of Superfund projects that are ready to go except for money comes as the Trump administration routinely proposes funding cuts for Superfund and for the EPA in general. The four-decade-old Superfund program is meant to tackle some of the most heavily contaminated sites in the U.S. and Trump has declared it a priority even while seeking to shrink its budget.
Des Moines Register
'I am one of the undecided': With a month to go, many likely caucusgoers still unsure about their choice
The venue was packed with more than a thousand people waiting to see Pete Buttigieg, and a chant had broken out for the Democratic presidential candidate a few minutes before he took the stage.
Kasey Peters, inside the hall, did not chant along. He did not hold up a sign for the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor, like some around him, or outwardly applaud Buttigieg's remarks. The 31-year-old compliance analyst was there just to listen.
The Saturday event was only Peters' second time seeing a candidate in person this Iowa caucus cycle. He saw U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts nearly a year ago, when she first announced her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Peters had effectively tuned out the crowded race since then, and he's still undecided.
Marianne Williamson lays off all 2020 campaign staff
Williamson… does not plan to suspend her campaign, according to WMUR, but she no longer employs any campaign staffers.
McClatchyDC
It’s Joe Biden’s race to lose—if he can survive Iowa and New Hampshire
Despite months of hand-wringing over his vulnerabilities, Joe Biden enters 2020 with the biggest and broadest base of support in the Democratic primary.
But if he is going to win the party’s nomination to take on … Donald Trump, he must first survive the gauntlets of Iowa and New Hampshire.
In a race with four closely divided leading candidates, the most important question has become whether Biden can win — or at least stay competitive — in February’s first two contests. It’s far from assured he will. Even as the former vice president has maintained a lead in national polls, he trails in Iowa and New Hampshire.
The Guardian
Jakarta floods: cloud seeding planes will try to break up heavy rain
Indonesia will carry out cloud seeding to try and prevent further rainfall over the capital, Jakarta, and surrounding areas the death toll reached 43 on Friday amid flash floods and landslides.
With more rain forecast, two small planes were readied to drop sodium chloride to break up potential rain clouds in the skies above the Sunda Strait with a bigger plane on standby, said Indonesia’s technology agency.
Torrential rains in the days either side of the new year have inundated swathes of Jakarta and nearby towns. The country’s meteorological agency called it “one of the most extreme” rainfall events since records began in 1866 and said climate change had increased the risk of extreme weather.
Tony Abbott, former Australian PM, tells Israeli radio the world is 'in the grip of a climate cult'
The Israeli public broadcaster has come under fire from angry listeners after broadcasting an interview with Tony Abbott in which he said the world was “in the grip of a climate cult”.
During the interview, recorded on 15 December while his home state of New South Wales was fighting terrifying bushfires, Abbott denied that carbon dioxide was driving global warming. The interview was broadcast on New Year’s Eve in a special show reviewing key international issues of the decade.
Abbott said: “While we still seem to be in the grip of a climate cult, the climate cult is going to produce policy outcomes that will cause people to wake up to themselves.”
Railway Age
Nothing Good Under the Tree for Rail Traffic
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ended Dec. 21, 2019, and, for this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 507,589 carloads and intermodal units, down 10.5% compared with the same week last year.
There was no holiday miracle—total carloads for the week ended Dec. 21 were 245,048 carloads, down 11.5% compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 262,541 containers and trailers, down 9.5% compared to 2018. […]
For the first 51 weeks of 2019, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 12,780,814 carloads, down 4.8% from the same point last year; and 13,550,432 intermodal units, down 5.1% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 51 weeks of 2019 was 26,331,246 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 4.9% compared to last year.
NPR News
Interpol Sends Lebanon Notice About Fugitive Auto Exec Carlos Ghosn
A wanted notice was delivered to Lebanese authorities on Thursday by Interpol for Carlos Ghosn, three days after the former head of Nissan jumped bail in Japan and surreptitiously fled to Beirut via Turkey.
In addition, seven people suspected of being accomplices in Ghosn's escape to Lebanon have been detained in Turkey.
Interpol's Red Notice, as its notification to Beirut is known, is not an international arrest warrant for Ghosn, who is facing financial misconduct charges. It is simply, according to the agency, "a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action."
Israel's Netanyahu Asks Parliament For Immunity From Corruption Charges
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that he will seek immunity from prosecution in corruption charges he's facing.
"I will come to court and quash all the ridiculous libels against me," Netanyahu said, according to the Jerusalem Post. "The immunity law is intended to protect elected officials from manufactured cases, and guarantee that those elected by the people can serve the people according to their will and not the will of the legal officials."
Reuters
Hundreds arrested in Hong Kong in New Year's Day protests: police
Hong Kong police arrested about 400 people in New Year’s Day protests after what started as a peaceful pro-democracy march of tens of thousands spiraled into chaotic scenes with police firing tear gas to disperse the crowds.
The arrests take the total to about 7,000 since protests in the city escalated in June over a now-withdrawn bill that would have allowed extradition to mainland China, and will highlight the apparent absence of any progress towards ending the unrest.
Warren would end 'subminimum' wage in plan to aid disabled U.S. workers
White House hopeful Elizabeth Warren said on Thursday that raising the minimum hourly wage to $15 and ending a program that allow employers to pay disabled workers much less than the minimum would be among steps she would take to ensure financial security for individuals with disabilities. […]
“Though we have made significant progress for the 61 million Americans living with disabilities, we have a lot of ground left to cover,” Warren wrote on the online publishing platform Medium. She noted that 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a law protecting disabled individuals from discrimination.
Ars Technica
Big Pharma celebrates new year by raising prices on over 250 drugs
Leading drug makers rang in the new year by once again raising list prices of their drugs—this time on more than 250 of them, according to an analysis reported by Reuters.
Data examined by healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors found that major drug makers including Pfizer Inc, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, and Sanofi SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, Gilead Sciences Inc, and Biogen Inc hiked prices this week.
The larger price tags applied to a range of medications, from blood thinners to cancer therapies and treatments for respiratory conditions, HIV, arthritis, and multiple sclerosis.