Court Blocks Road Through Izembek Alaskan Wildlife Refuge

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Court Blocks Road Through Izembek Alaskan Wildlife Refuge (Maria)

The author writes, “A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a land exchange that would have allowed a contentious road to be built through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, a vast wild area in southwestern Alaska. The decision by Judge Sharon L. Gleason of US District Court for the District of Alaska was a setback for the Trump administration and a victory for Alaska Native tribes and environmental groups that sued to stop road construction.”

US Hits ICC President and Senior Prosecutor With Sanctions in Another Move Against the Court (Reader Steve)

The author writes, “The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on the president of the International Criminal Court and one of its top prosecutors as it continues a campaign to dismantle the tribunal, which it accuses of trying to unfairly prosecute US and Israeli soldiers for alleged crimes in Afghanistan, Iraq and Gaza. The State Department said Tuesday it had hit ICC president Tomoko Akane, a Japanese national, and ICC senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, who is from Senegal, with sanctions that freeze any assets they have in US jurisdictions or come into contact with the US financial system. … The move is the latest by the Trump administration against the ICC, which it says has exceeded its mandate by investigating or trying soldiers, commanders and political officials from countries, such as Israel and the United States, that are not members of the court.”

Trump Sued the BBC — Now Jared and Ivanka May Pay for It (Sean)

From Salon: “In the year the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of its break with the British crown, there is something almost painfully ironic about a broadcaster from the kingdom that once ruled us now being more willing to stand up to Donald Trump than much of the American establishment. But the irony isn’t really the story. The story is that the president filed a $10 billion lawsuit to punish the BBC, and in doing so, he may have handed the corporation a legal instrument to drag his children Ivanka and Donald Jr., and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, into a Miami courtroom to answer for what happened on Jan. 6. The lawsuit was supposed to be another exercise in the familiar Trumpian playbook: File a claim, demand an astronomical sum, bury the target in legal expenses, force a humiliating settlement that gets marketed as a political win.”

What You Need To Know About the Water Crisis in Puerto Rico (Laura)

From Yale Climate Connections: “US citizens in San Juan, Puerto Rico, are spending hours waiting for water trucks after water rationing went into effect amid drought on the island archipelago. Puerto Rico Gov. Jenniffer González declared a state of emergency in late July as the water in key dams dropped below levels that can support communities. Seven of the most populous of the 78 municipalities on the island archipelago are experiencing a rotating schedule of 48 hours — or more — without water, with more than 500,000 people affected. How did this water crisis get so bad?”

There Is No Male Loneliness Crisis. What’s Actually Happening Is So Much Darker (Reader Jim)

From Slate: “Men are lonely, you’ve probably heard. ‘Few men will admit it, but it’s true of most of them,’ declared Los Angeles Times columnist Jean Guerrero in one in a tsunami of recent takes on the ‘male loneliness epidemic.’ Guerrero partially blamed the ‘virtual world’ and its ‘pornography and ideological provocation.’ This discourse often faults men — or at least masculinity — for our empty social calendars. … But the truth is, in aggregate, men are not much lonelier than women. Recent large polls from Pew Research and the found no significant gender gap in self-reported feelings of loneliness. In a KFF survey, more women (18 percent) than men (13 percent) said they always or often feel lonely.”

Daily Music Listening Linked to Big Drop in Dementia Risk (Mili)

The author writes, “Older adults who regularly listen to or play music appear to have significantly lower risks of dementia and cognitive decline. The data suggests that musical engagement could be a powerful, enjoyable tool for supporting cognitive resilience in aging.”

Shattered Skeleton in Scottish Castle Is First Confirmed Death From Trebuchet (Dana)

From Science: “For one 20-something defender of Scotland’s Stirling Castle, death came from above—and arrived very, very quickly. Known to archaeologists as Skeleton 150, the man was killed more than 700 years ago by a massive blow that shattered his skeleton in dozens of places before pinning him to the ground. In a presentation at the biannual European meeting of the Paleopathology Association in Berlin last week, University of Bradford bioarchaeologist Jo Buckberry called the skeleton the first confirmed evidence of trebuchet trauma in the archaeological record. ‘The breaks indicate a very large area of impact and devastation,’ she says. ‘It’s likely the individual was killed by a siege engine.’”