Indonesia Confirms $20 Billion Climate Deal Despite US Exit
Although the US had pledged to contribute billions of dollars according to investment plans drafted for the Just Energy Transition Partnerships, which included deals for Vietnam and South Africa, it withdrew amid the Trump administration's wider retreat from climate action. Analysts said this month the US exit could add further delays, but they expected the deals to survive.
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Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Elon Musk's America Party is nowhere to be seen 1 month later
Elon Musk said he would be forming a new political party on July 5. One month later, he hasn't taken the formal steps to do so. He's also remained a major GOP donor, even amid his feud with Trump. Elon Musk hasn't gone "founder mode" on building the America Party just yet. On July 5, enraged by the passage of the "Big Beautiful Bill" and encouraged by the results of an online poll, Musk said he would form a new political party in the United States. Over a month later, he hasn't taken any of the formal steps necessary to do so, and he hasn't publicly mentioned the idea in weeks. That's despite praise from Mark Cuban and a warning from the head of the Democratic Party that Musk's effort should be "taken seriously." In the meantime, several polls have indicated that while many Americans are hungry for a third party, far fewer are interested in one founded by Musk. This week, one of his top aides at both DOGE and xAI announced that she was breaking off to start her own podcast. Musk has also remained a major GOP donor as he's toyed with the idea of starting a third party and feuded with President Donald Trump, according to campaign finance records made public at the end of July. The tech titan gave a total of $15 million to several GOP super PACs on June 27, including: $5 million to MAGA Inc, which supports Trump; $5 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, which supports GOP senators and Senate candidates; $5 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, which supports Republican House members and candidates. Those donations came just days before Musk said he'd form the America Party — and weeks after he first floated the idea at the beginning of his feud with Trump. "Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?" Musk asked his followers on June 5. All of this isn't to say that Musk couldn't pivot back to the project at some point. And if he did, he'd be joining a club of businessmen who've tried to take on the two-party system over the years. It takes a lot to stand up a new political party, including filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission, collecting signatures to get on the ballot in various states, and recruiting candidates to run in House and Senate races next year. In other words, it's a resource-intensive and time-consuming process, and there's little indication that Musk has undertaken it. Musk did not respond to BI's request for comment for this story. Musk, the world's richest man, is known to go "founder mode" on things that he cares deeply about, devoting extraordinary amounts of energy and time to projects and even sleeping at the office. He did it when he took over Twitter, now known as X. He's done it at Tesla. He did it when he went all-in on supporting Trump in 2024. And he brought that same approach to DOGE, until he began winding down his involvement in late April. If Musk is serious about standing up a new party, we might expect him to bring that same "founder mode" approach to this venture. But so far, it hasn't happened. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Air Force revokes approved retirement for trans service members: 'Complete and utter betrayal'
Alyx, a transgender woman who has served in the Air Force for 15 years, was approved in May for early retirement due to the Trump administration's policy prohibiting trans people from serving and enlisting in the military. On Wednesday, that retirement was revoked under a new Air Force directive. She said she wasn't provided any reason other than that her retirement was 'prematurely" approved, according to documentation she provided to NBC News. 'Being told that I would be discharged for a decision on somebody's part was hard, but then being offered the retirement that I feel I'm owed, that my service is owed, that helped, and then having that yanked away for no reason, with no recourse ... that is complete and utter betrayal,' said Alyx, who is based in Virginia and asked to only use her first name due to fear that she and her family could face harassment. Multiple federal judges initially blocked President Donald Trump's executive order barring trans troops, but the Supreme Court allowed it to take effect in May. As a result of the ban, trans service members were required to choose between voluntary and involuntary separation. Voluntary separation included double the lump payout than an involuntary separation and wouldn't require the service member to pay back any bonuses they had received. Trans airmen who served at least 20 years could apply for retirement, and those with 18 to 20 years of service could apply for early retirement under the Temporary Early Retirement Authority, or TERA. In late May, the Air Force announced in a memo that airmen with 15 to 18 years of service could request early retirement under an exception to TERA. Alyx was placed on indefinite leave in May as a result of the ban, which would've required her to cut her hair short, wear a men's uniform and use the men's restroom at work. She applied for early retirement under the exception so she could receive a pension equivalent to her service and access to full health care benefits. Her application was approved June 16, according to documents she shared with NBC News, and her retirement date was set for Dec. 1. On Wednesday, that decision was reversed for Alyx and about a dozen other service members who were approved for early retirement. 'In accordance with DoD Guidance, the Department of the Air Force approved service members with 18-20 years of honorable service who self-identified to retire under the Temporary Authority for Early Retirement (TERA) program,' an Air Force spokesperson told NBC News. 'Although service members with 15-18 years of honorable service were permitted to apply for an exception to policy, none of the exceptions to policy were approved.' The spokesperson added that service members are still eligible for voluntary or involuntary separation. In response to a question regarding why the previously approved retirements were rescinded, another Air Force spokesperson said in an email that those service members 'were prematurely notified that their TERA applications under the gender dysphoria provision had been approved, but higher level review was required under the DoD gender dysphoria policy for those members (between 15 and 18 years of service).' The spokesperson didn't provide more information about the higher level review or why the Air Force ultimately revoked the retirements. Master Sgt. Logan Ireland, who has served for 15 years and was a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Trump administration's ban on trans service members, also received notice that his previously approved application for early retirement was rescinded on Wednesday 'without any case-by-case review, explanation or legal justification,' Ireland said in a statement provided by GLAD Law, an LGBTQ legal organization. 'Our involuntary removal is being carried out without dignity, without transparency, and without the respect every honorable service member deserves,' Logan said. 'This is not policy, it is betrayal.' Both Alyx and Ireland have deployed overseas, including to Lithuania, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Qatar and South Korea. Alyx said she's most proud of her work overseeing the training of more than 500 airmen at Sheppard Air Force Base. She also armed aircraft that escorted Air Force One. 'There are many of us like that who are determined to continue serving our country honorably with distinction, in spite of the enormous misunderstanding and, in a lot of cases, hatred that we receive from the people that we're defending,' Alyx said. Alyx said the ban and having her retirement rescinded has put her in a precarious financial situation. She bought a home last year assuming she would be able to rely on having a paycheck and housing allowance, but she will lose that. With retirement, she would have at least had her pension. She also struggles with feeling like she was forced to abandon her fellow airmen, who she said have been supportive throughout her career. 'Being told to go home and just sit here on my couch and try to set up for myself later while still receiving a paycheck, while leaving my unit in a shortage of manpower, in a position where they needed somebody, is very difficult for me to stomach,' she said. 'I don't really have a choice.' This article was originally published on Solve the daily Crossword
New York Post
43 minutes ago
- New York Post
Michael Goodwin: Netanyahu taking control of Gaza will end the Israel-Hamas war for good
The decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to have the Israeli military capture Gaza City and then occupy all of Gaza is a bad idea. In fact, it is the worst possible idea — except for all the alternatives. These include letting Hamas keep power in Gaza endlessly and effectively consigning the remaining 20 living hostages to more torture and certain death. Advertisement Another even worse possibility is that soft-headed Western leaders join the antisemites at the United Nations and reward Hamas' terror campaign by making Gaza the centerpiece of a Palestinian state. Facing a global lineup of Jew haters, there is no option for Netanyahu that would gain wide support, let alone universal backing. Israel's isolation is astounding in light of the fact that we are nearing the second anniversary of the Hamas invasion that killed more Jews in one day than on any day since the Holocaust. Advertisement And yet Israel is widely condemned for trying to win the war Hamas started. An obvious conclusion is that the present course of fruitless negotiations with Hamas about a cease-fire is unsustainable. Last month, just days after the White House had expressed optimism about a deal, President Trump got it exactly right when Hamas pulled out of the negotiations. 'It was too bad, Hamas didn't really want to make a deal. I think they want to die and it's very, very bad,' the president told reporters, adding: 'It got to a point where you're going to have to finish the job,' a phrase widely seen as offering support for Israel to expand its military offensive, as Netanyahu (pictured) now aims to do. Advertisement Asked about full Israeli occupation of Gaza, Trump also said: 'I really can't say. It is going to be pretty much up to Israel.' 'Last card we have left' An aide told Axios that the president, who had recently offered criticism of Netanyahu, was deeply moved by the Hamas video of Israeli hostage, 24-year-old Evyatar David, seen being forced to dig what is likely his own grave. 'It influenced the president, and he is going to let the Israelis do what they need to do,' the official said. That's the only sensible position because Hamas has shown repeatedly it isn't interested in signing a cease-fire and hostage deal that Israel can accept. Advertisement Against that reality, it's hard to argue with Netanyahu's conclusion that only added military pressure can change the terrorists' calculations. An aide to Netanyahu put it this way in a media statement: 'We are not willing to remain in the current limbo and we are not willing to surrender to Hamas' demands — so essentially only one option is left, to take a drastic step. This is the last card we have left.' Another unsustainable factor is the jerry-rigged humanitarian aid system that has seen Hamas gunmen hijack the vast majority of aid trucks meant for Gaza's civilians, many of whom reportedly suffer from malnutrition and some are said to be starving. Those aid trucks are crucial, but as the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy notes, a recent UN report concluded 'that between May 19 and Aug. 5, more than 2,600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid crossed from Israel into Gaza.' However, only 300 of these trucks reached their intended destinations in Gaza, with the vast majority, totaling some 2,309 trucks, 'intercepted and looted along their delivery routes.' 'They want casualties' True to cowardly form, the UN report did not distinguish between the parties responsible for the thefts, noting only that the aid was stolen by 'either armed actors or hungry people.' 'Armed actors' is a euphemism for Hamas, but the UN is too cowardly to say even that. Despite the thefts, Israel is repeatedly accused of intentionally starving women and children. Advertisement Somebody might be intentionally starving the civilians, but it's not Israel. In fact, the whole aid system stems from the ridiculous assertion that it is up to Israel to feed and house the civilians whose suffering is the direct result of Hamas' invasion and its evil defense strategy of using its own people as human shields. As Netanyahu said, 'They want people to be civilian casualties. They want a starvation policy that they themselves are trying to put into being. And we're doing everything to reverse that.' Advertisement Sadly, much of the western media is indistinguishable from Al Jazeera in parroting Hamas and blaming Israel for everything. The disgusting trend reached a gutter low when The New York Times published a sickening photo on the top of the front page of its July 25th edition of a mother holding a tiny, sickly-looking baby. The caption claimed 'Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, about 18 months, with his mother, Hedaya al-Mutawaq, who said he was born healthy but was recently diagnosed with severe malnutrition.' The caption added that 'A doctor said the number of children dying of malnutrition in Gaza had risen sharply.' Advertisement Under the caption, the story headline declared: 'Young, Old and Sick Starve to Death in Gaza: 'There Is Nothing'' The point was unmistakable: Israel is starving children to death. After an outcry, five days later, the Times ran what it called an editor's note that upended the claims of the initial photo. The note read: 'This article has been updated to include information about Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, a child in Gaza suffering from severe malnutrition.' Advertisement It continued: 'After publication of the article, The Times learned from his doctor that Mohammed also had pre-existing health problems.' 'War crime' The Times has yet to explain why it failed to confirm the facts before it rushed to print what was effectively a blood libel against Israel. Soft-selling the egregious lapse as needing merely an 'editor's note' is the sort of 'fix' that is appropriate when a person's middle initial is wrong, not when the error is crucial both to the photo and the story about starvation the photo supposedly illustrates. The fact that Israel is up against not only Hamas but many western governments and their leftist media outlets helps explain why the Security Cabinet quickly approved Netanyahu's plan for the takeover of Gaza City. The resolution said residents will have until Oct. 7 to evacuate. The choice of that ominous date was hardly an accident. Predictably, Hamas condemned the Netanyahu plan as a 'full-fledged war crime' and promised it would exact a 'high cost.' Germany also declared its opposition by saying it would impose a partial arms embargo on Israel. That may or may not matter, depending on Israel's next steps and that of regional nations. Netanyahu said he aims to turn Gaza over to unspecified 'Arab forces' after Hamas is finally defeated. That's easier said than done, and it may be that he was merely calling the Arab states' bluff. So far, none have volunteered for the job. They claim to care about the Palestinians, but not enough to actually do anything to help them when given the chance. The Arab states, like most of the world, would rather just condemn Israel.
