Good news on Ukraine, clean energy, turning desert into farmland
As always, our good-news Friday involves Fix the News’ 20 or so free-to-read items and another 30 that are available to subscribers.
And, as usual, I’ll leave the free items for you. Again today, even though I don’t have time to read many of them, it always gives me a boost to scroll through all the good news — most of which I rarely see elsewhere.
Among the highlights of the items for subscribers:
— “Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky recently celebrated that ‘for the first time in the history of this war, an enemy position was taken exclusively by unmanned platforms – ground systems and drones,’” says Fix the News. There were zero casualties on the Ukrainian side.
Fix the News refers us for more to an article at We Are the Mighty, a military and veteran-oriented media agency.
I also heard about this a few days ago in a Bulwark video, in which Bill Kristol interviewed academic Phillips O’Brien. Here is O’Brien's bio.
O’brien concludes that “Ukraine can win the war.”
— Investors are piling into clean power funds at the fastest rate in five years as the Iran war accelerates a global push for energy security and alternatives to oil and gas, reports the Financial Times. More than $3 billion poured into global exchange traded funds linked to renewable energy in April, in the biggest monthly net inflows since January 2021, the Financial Times says, citing data from Morningstar.
— “Chinese researchers sprayed cyanobacteria onto desert sand and turned it into stable soil in just 10 months,” says Fix the News. “What’s the trick of it? Cyanobacteria oozes sticky sugars that glue loose grains of sand into a crust that’s tough enough to cut wind erosion and trap water — and then those bacteria photosynthesize, leaving behind organic matter, and pull nitrogen from the air, converting it into fertilizer. Drop seeds into the soil 10-16 months later and they’re very happy.” Fix the News cites as its sources Xinhua and The Times of India.
Also in the news
In Hungary, Orban's media empire is crumbling after election defeat
AP live: U.S.-China summit ends with Xi and Trump claiming progress
CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Raul Castro's grandson in Cuba on security and economic stability, officials say
U.S. Border Patrol chief Michael Banks is resigning, in latest Homeland Security Department leadership change
House rejects limits on Iran war on 212-212 tie vote, as 3 Republicans side with Democrats
NYTimes: Inside JFK grandson Jack Schlossberg’s ‘chaotic’ congressional campaign
Senate parliamentarian deals blows to GOP’s immigration enforcement package
Lawyers for Democrats, civil rights groups urge judge to block Trump order that would create eligible voter list, limit mail ballots
South Carolina governor calls lawmakers to return for redistricting special session
Heather Cox Richardson on Trump administration accusations of fraud in public services as a distraction from its own corruption
Supreme Court allows abortion pill mifepristone to remain available by mail nationwide as litigation continues
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