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Climate Threat  Extreme Weather in Europe
MIT Professor: Europe Shouldn't Invest in AC Like the US

Summer heat waves in Europe have sparked a debate about the need for expanded air conditioning in the region. Now MIT professor Carlo Ratti is urging Europe to choose its own path in the fight against the heat and invest in more modern and large-scale solutions than AC.

He wants to cool cities using the ground, rivers or lakes and, in a debate piece for the FT, highlights district cooling systems that exist in Paris and Geneva.

"Instead of having millions of private systems competing for electricity and emitting waste heat, cities can manage heat in the same way they manage water and electricity: through a common network," writes Ratti.

Midterm elections in the US
Sources: Kushner had secret meeting with opposition leaders

Donald Trump's son-in-law and envoy to the Middle East, Jared Kushner, has secretly met with the House of Representatives' opposition leader, the top Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries. This is reported by several sources with insight to the New York Times.

They are said to have discussed possible areas where they have common views, according to the sources. Among other things, they are said to have raised housing policy, migration and the high cost of living.

However, it seems unlikely that the Democrats and the White House will compromise on these areas, according to the sources.

The meeting suggests that the Trump administration is well aware of the likelihood that the Democrats will win a majority in the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, the newspaper writes. In such a case, Jeffries is expected to become speaker, and the meeting may be an attempt by the administration to create opportunities for cooperation already now.

Political situation in Denmark
Frederiksen says no to unsolicited surgery: “I’m happy with my body”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has publicly said no to a direct message from a plastic surgeon on Instagram.

“Hey Mette, should we fix your little spot on your nose?” the message read, which she posted a screenshot of along with her response:

“I’m happy with my body and don’t need a male plastic surgeon to comment on it!”

In the text below the post, she writes that the message was one of the first she received when she returned home from Kyiv, where the last thing she heard was the flight alarm. She writes that she has received countless messages about her appearance over the years, and welcomes messages – but with a focus on the essentials.

The post has received over 20,000 likes and 2,000 comments, many of them appreciative, while some accuse her of focusing on unimportant things herself.

Putin's Russia
Pussy Riot member was an agent for Russian intelligence

A former member of the Russian protest group Pussy Riot was recruited by the FSB intelligence service to spy on other activists, writes The Independent.

Margarita Konovalova founded the movement together with 14 other women in 2011. She has, according to her own statement, leaked information about artists and other Pussy Riot members since 2023.

Konovalova says she became an informant out of fear that her relatives would be killed, and that the recruitment process was just "like in the movies".

- They said I would never be able to prove who murdered my mother, she says.

She was recently smuggled out of Russia and talks about the collaboration in order to be able to help others in a similar situation.