Comment on Donald Trump Backs Down on Plan to Designate Mexican Cartels Terrorists

This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The world’s big banks have handed nearly $7 trillion in funding to the fossil fuel industry since the Paris agreement on carbon emissions, according to research. In 2016, after talks in Paris, 196 countries signed an agreement to limit global heating as a result of carbon emissions to at most 2°C above preindustrial levels, with an ideal limit of 1.5°C to prevent the worst impacts of a drastically changed climate. Many countries have since promised to reduce carbon emissions, but the latest research shows private interests continued to funnel money to oil, gas, and coal companies, which have used it to expand their operations. JP Morgan Chase provided the most of any single bank in the world, $40.8 billion.

Jazz saxophone icon David Sanborn passed away today at 78 years old. The multiple Grammy-winning musician died from a long bout with prostate cancer. Sanborn was diagnosed with polio at three years old and explained how the radio and music aided in his recovery. Playing saxophone was an important part of his recovery, according to his official bio, and by the time he was a teenager he was playing alongside blues legends like Albert King and Little Milton.

Fox's Maria Bartiromo helps GOP Sen. Mike Lee promote the Republican's false narrative that migrants crossing the border are going to vote in federal elections in droves and their latest voter suppression attempt based on that narrative. Just like Speaker Mike Johnson, Lee has no proof that this is happening anywhere, but that didn't stop him from pretending people would risk going to prison by voting illegally during his interview this Sunday: BARTIROMO: Let's talk about the bill that you are pushing, the SAVE Act, and I want to get your take on a free and fair election come November.

Politico: “On Monday, after initially — briefly — shifting in his chair and rolling his eyes as Cohen took the stand, the former president promptly restrained himself. For hours, Trump took in the testimony with his eyes shut, nearly reactionless, moving only occasionally to scratch an itch, whisper or pass a note to his attorney, read a document or glance at the computer monitor in front of him before going back to his shut-eye pose.” “Across the room, Cohen, the state’s top witness, was seeking to make the case against the former president, calmly delivering his testimony as the district attorney’s office, but not yet Trump’s lawyers, questioned him extensively about his years-long role as a personal attorney and fixer for Trump.”

New York Times: “Hogan knows that his side of the party — what he calls ‘the Republican wing of the Republican Party’ — lost that battle. He knows that many of his fellow Never Trumpers have lost re-election, decided to retire or changed their tune. And he is running for Senate anyway, gearing up for a fierce battle that will test whether there is any path forward for anti-Trump Republicans seeking federal office in 2024.” Said Hogan: “I do feel a little bit like I’m running toward the burning building.”

Week 4 of testimony in Donald Trump's first criminal trial (of 4) started off with the most anticipated - and volatile - witness: Michael Cohen. Fully prepared and clearly ready for the day, Cohen was cool, calm and collected, delivering devastating testimony that rebuts most, if not all, of Donald Trump's defenses.