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All too often, we’ve seen the story of the Trump lackey who swears over their unwavering loyalty, only to get nothing in return. It happened to just about every high profile Republican over the last four years who failed to stand up to him, and just about his entire former administration – including a vice president who was nearly murdered by his supporters.

Kevin McCarthy, who spent much of his career as House Minority Leader pretending to disapprove of everything the loudest insurrectionists in his party stand for, is hoping to be the next Speaker of the House, even if he didn’t attend the retirement speech given by the current occupant of that office. He was hoping that his passive embrace of MAGA would be enough and he’d be able to win the nomination easily, with a few Republican defections.

The problem is, a few Republicans have already defected, and McCarthy can only afford two more in his bid to be speaker – with far-right maniacs Matt Gaetz and Andy Biggs already out. If Democrats can piece together a coalition with a few moderates, the rest of the agenda the far right is hoping they can pull off may never come to pass, even with much of it in doubt already.

Even if McCarthy is able to find the votes to squeak by as speaker – it’s already clear he’s committing the worst possible sin you can as a Republican – appearing weak before the base. While Nancy Pelosi was effective at keeping order among a large and diverse caucus, McCarthy is no Pelosi – and if he does become speaker, the question quickly becomes how long he lasts before the GOP has another fight over who takes over, all while the party runs amok like they always do.

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SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) -Countries were struggling to reach agreement at the COP27 climate talks in Egypt on Saturday, with some threatening to walk away if negotiators failed to make progress on fighting climate change.

With the talks already in overtime, officials from the 27-country European Union said they were worried about a lack of progress overnight and even the possibility of backsliding from parts of the COP26 climate deal agreed in Glasgow, Scotland, last year.

“All (EU) ministers … are prepared to walk away if we do not have a result that does justice to what the world is waiting for – namely that we do something about this climate crisis,” EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans told reporters on the sidelines of the summit.

“We’d rather have no decision than a bad decision.”

The outcome of the conference, which was meant to end on Friday, aims to strengthen global resolve to fight climate change, even as a war in Europe and rampant consumer inflation distract international attention.

But after two weeks of talks in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, none of the key issues in discussion this year had been resolved.

The Egyptian COP27 president urged parties to “rise to the occasion” and unite around a final deal, while defending the version so-far drafted.

“The text does keep the 1.5 alive,” said Sameh Shoukry, who is Egypt’s foreign minister.

Negotiators said they had not seen a fresh draft of an overall deal since Friday morning, although they had reviewed separate draft compromises for deals on the stickiest issues.

That draft had reaffirmed past commitments to limit warming to 1.5C, but did not meet demands by some, including the European Union and Britain, to lock in country commitments for more ambitious efforts to curb climate-warming emissions.

Dutch climate minister Rob Jetten said many countries were unhappy at lack of progress on commitments to cut emissions to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius – the threshold at which scientists say the effects of climate change will get much worse.

“It’s simply not good enough,” Jetten told Reuters on the sidelines of the summit. “We’re still waiting for some texts, but it feels like we’re backtracking on Glasgow and that will be unacceptable.”

Friday’s draft for an overall deal also did not take on a suggestion by India that has been backed by the EU and Britain to ask countries to phase down all fossil fuel use, instead of just coal.

The fractious issue of so-called loss and damage payments to countries already being hit by climate impacts had negotiators scrambling Saturday to hash out a deal for a fund to help countries being ravaged by climate-driven floods, droughts, mega-storms and wildfires.

In what the European Union hoped would be a breakthrough on the issue, it agreed Thursday to back the demand of the G77 group of 134 developing countries to set up a special fund.

But while some climate-vulnerable countries such as the Maldives expressed support, it was unclear whether the world’s two biggest economies and polluters – China and the United States – would sign on.

The EU’s offer came with the stipulation that the funding come from a broad base of countries including China, and that only “the most vulnerable countries” benefit from the aid.

Complicating matters, U.S. Special Climate Envoy John Kerry – a powerful force in climate diplomacy – tested positive for COVID-19 after days of bilateral in-person meetings with counterparts from China and the EU to Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.

A deal at COP27 must be made with support from all of the nearly 200 countries present.

For daily comprehensive coverage on COP27 in your inbox, sign up for the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter here.

Millions of Ukrainians in more than a dozen provinces are experiencing severe power disruptions as temperatures plunge and almost half of the country’s energy infrastructure is in need of repair after weeks of Russian attacks, officials in Kyiv said Friday.

Russia, meanwhile, accused Kyiv’s forces of executing a group of its soldiers who were surrendering to Ukraine in what Moscow described as a “massacre” that amounted to a war crime.

The assessment by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal of the widespread damage to the country’s grid comes after weeks of sustained Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure.

“On November 15 alone, Russia fired about 100 missiles at Ukrainian cities. Nearly half of our energy system has been disabled,” Shmyhal said, appealing to European allies for support.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 17 provinces and the capital Kyiv were struggling with power cuts, but engineers were working to repair the power grid and blackouts were becoming less frequent.

The Russian defence ministry said Friday it was only targeting military-linked facilities and that a series of long-range and precision strikes the day before had “hit exactly the designated objects”.

The Kremlin this week blamed the blackouts and their civilian impact on Kyiv’s refusal to negotiate with Moscow, not on Russian missile attacks.

Zelensky on Friday dismissed the idea of a “short truce” with Russia, saying it would only make things worse.

“Russia is now looking for a short truce, a respite to regain strength. Someone may call this the war’s end, but such a respite will only worsen the situation,” he said in remarks broadcast at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada.

“A truly real, long-lasting and honest peace can only be the result of the complete demolition of Russian aggression,” Zelensky said.

– ‘Brutal’ killings –

Nearly nine months of fighting between Ukraine and Russia has spurred credible allegations of war crimes from both sides.

The latest accusations came Friday when Russia accused Ukrainian troops of executing some 10 prisoners of war.

The defence ministry statement referred to videos circulating on Russian-language social media that purport to show the bodies of Russian servicemen who had surrendered and were then killed.

It said this “brutal murder” was not “the first and not the only war crime” committed by Ukrainian forces.

Zelensky did not address Moscow’s claim in his statement Friday.

Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russian forces of committing “war crimes” during their occupation of parts of the Kyiv region in March and also in Kharkiv in the northeast and Kherson in the south, which have been recently reclaimed by Ukrainian troops.

A study by a Yale University group published Friday documented 226 extrajudicial detentions and disappearances in Kherson after Russia seized the province in what appeared to be a “premeditated” campaign.

“These findings demonstrate a range of alarming allegations about treatment of detainees, including allegations of deaths in custody, the widespread use of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, pillage from detainees (and) sexual and gender-based violence,” the report said.

Around a quarter of the 226 people were allegedly subjected to torture and four died in custody, according to the study, which said most of the acts were perpetrated by the Russian military and the FSB security agency.

– Crimea boosts defences –

Following Ukraine’s recapture of part of the Kherson region, Russia said Friday it was strengthening positions in Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.

Moscow used the peninsula, which hosts several important Russian military bases, as a launching pad for its February invasion.

The announcement came as Ukrainian forces were pushing a counter-offensive in the south towards Crimea and after last week’s retaking of Kherson, the capital of the region that borders the strategic peninsula.

With electrical and water supplies cut to the city following the destruction of key utilities by the retreating Russians, residents have been struggling to keep warm as winter sets in.

Zelensky said the government has opened two relief stations where residents can keep warm, drink hot tea and charge their cell phones. He promised more will be opened soon.

“We know that it’s very hard on people because the occupiers destroyed everything when they were retreating,” Zelensky said in his daily address to the nation late Friday. “But we will put everything back online, we will restore everything.”

Kherson regional deputy governor Sergiy Khlan announced that the city’s rail link was being restored, with a first train leaving later in the day.

Russia claimed to have annexed the Kherson region along with three more in September, vowing to defend them with all available military means.

Zelensky has said his forces intend to recapture Crimea as well and has ruled out talks until Russia withdraws its forces from all Ukrainian territory.

In Washington, White House national security spokesman John Kirby sought to refute the notion that the United States was pressuring Kyiv to conduct peace talks.

“Nobody from the United States is pushing, prodding or nudging him to the table,” Kirby told reporters.

The post Power Cuts and Infrastructure Damage After Russian Strike: Kyiv appeared first on Kyiv Post.

Israel’s government authorized the export of weapons to Ukraine that contain Israeli components, indicating a slight shift by Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s stance on the war from his predecessor’s. According to a report published Nov. 17 by Israeli news site Haaretz, they also promised to pay for “strategic supplies” required for Ukraine’s military assistance.

According to senior European diplomates cited in the article, the U.S. requested that Israel assist Ukraine more actively a few weeks agoand permit the shipment of certain air defense systems to Ukraine. Allegedly, Ukraine had asked Israel for several anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense systems.

Later it was decided that Israel would instead pay millions of dollars for the “strategic supplies” the Ukrainian military would require to a NATO member nation that had previously bought and shipped these items to Kyiv.

Additionally, the Israeli Ministry of Defense permitted Western nations to provide Ukraine with weaponry that contained Israeli components, including fire control and electro-optical systems.

Israel has requested that none of the parties participating in these proceedings make it known to the public.

A New York Times article on Oct. 23 also reports that covert Israeli intelligence has beenbeneficial to Ukraine’s efforts to combat Iranian drones.

Israel has been sending tons of humanitarian aid to Ukraine exclusively since Feb. 24. Israel does not intend to provide Ukrainians with weapons, but on Oct. 19 Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz stated that his nation will assist Ukraine in creating an air defense warning system.

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ARCHERS POST, Kenya (AP) — Letoyie Leroshi walked for five days hunting water. After three years of drought in Samburu County, Kenya, the riverbeds were bone-dry.

Then Leroshi found a patch of wettish sand in the sunbaked Ewaso Ng’iro riverbed. He brought a group of fellow herders to dig. They hit water and the jubilant young men broke into song, a traditional call to their cattle and camels.

Harnessing Eastern Africa’s groundwater could be a huge benefit for a region struggling to slake its thirst. Climate change is making drought more likely but, as in much of the continent, people in East Africa and the Horn of Africa lack the resources to tap groundwater on a wide and efficient scale.

For Leroshi and other Kenyan herders, the situation is desperate.

“We had thousands of livestock four years ago when we experienced short rains,” he said. “We have lost hundreds of our cattle and are now worried that if the rains fail yet again, we will lose everything.”

Leroshi and other herdsmen carry weapons and are prepared to fight if attacked by people trying to steal from them.

“Everyone else around is also armed and ready to steal our livestock,” he said.

The British charity WaterAid and the British Geological Survey found that Africa has enough groundwater for most countries to get through at least five years of drought.

“Groundwater has great potential for drought resilience,” said Girma Ebrahim, a hydrogeologist with the International Water Management Institute.

The United Nations water agency estimates that roughly 400 million people across Africa lack access to clean water.

Lmeshen Lekoomet, 54, recently left with the family’s few remaining animals in search of pasture and water.

As his family waited, his 2-year-old became severely dehydrated and malnourished and was hospitalized. Lekoomet never returned.

In the coastal cities of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania in 1997, and in Cape Town in South Africa in 2017, drought led people to use groundwater. In Ethiopia, wells equipped with handpumps outperformed all other sources during a drought in 2015 and 2016.

Africa has 72 giant aquifers that are largely untapped, scientists say. Some farming and pastoral communities in these regions already rely on wells, using digging by hand and with solar-powered equipment.

“This is a game-changer,” said Edwin Macharia, the director of programs for the aid agency Mercy Corps in Ethiopia.

Other regions of the world provide cautionary tales of how the misuse of groundwater can make situations worse.

“Not to say it should not be exploited,” said Philip Wandera, former director of the Kenya Wildlife Service and now range-management lecturer at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. But, he said, “Groundwater is not a quick-fix answer for the current drought … if you have been poor managers of surface water, it means you are likely to do the same with groundwater.”

Only 3% of the total cultivated land in sub-Saharan Africa is irrigated land, according to the U.N. Only 5% of that land is irrigated with groundwater.

Groundwater exploration and construction are impossible without financing. Many countries outside Africa had enough money to create groundwater databases and hydrogeological maps in the 1980s.

“Smallholder farmers who make up most food producers on the continent,” badly need irrigation technology, said Agnes Kalibata, who heads the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.

The U.N. says that, despite concerns about groundwater, the continent’s resources are largely unaffected by climate change.

“Millions of people don’t have enough safe, clean water to meet their daily needs, let alone face the climate crisis,” said Tim Wainwright the chief executive of WaterAid in the United Kingdom. “Governments, along with the private sector, should use COP27 to agree on investments in responsible groundwater use, along with clear management guidelines to harness it.”

Those in Samburu can’t wait much longer, with many herders on the brink of losing everything.

“I have lost 30 cows in a span of two weeks and if it continues like this we will lose many more. Our women and children are also severely affected,” said 30-year-old herder Lemerwas Limayo. “Drought ravages all living things.”

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NATO said Friday that two Russian fighter aircraft had conducted an “unsafe and unprofessional approach” towards alliance naval ships on routine operations in the Baltic Sea.

NATO’s maritime command said the jets flew over “the force at an altitude of 300 feet (91 metres) and a distance of 80 yards (73 metres)” on Thursday morning after the Russian pilots failed to respond to communications.

“NATO deemed the interaction unsafe and unprofessional since it was conducted in a known danger area, which was activated for air defence training, and due to the aircraft altitude and proximity,” a statement said.

“The interaction increased the risk of miscalculations, mistakes, and accidents.”

The statement said that NATO forces had “acted responsibly” in compliance with maritime regulations.

“NATO will respond appropriately to any interference with NATO’s lawful activity in the area that endangers the safety of our aircraft, ships or their crews. NATO does not seek confrontation and poses no threat,” it said.

It comes as tensions have spiralled between the western military alliance and Russia over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Fears of a clash between the two sides were heightened this week after a missile killed two people in Ukraine’s neighbour Poland, which is a NATO member.

The alliance tamped down tensions, saying it was likely one of Kyiv’s air defence rockets.

NATO has doubled its naval presence in the Baltic and North seas since explosions in September at Russia-Europe gas pipelines, which a Swedish investigation on Friday confirmed were due to acts of sabotage.

NATO’s maritime group in the Baltic Sea, including Dutch, Norwegian and Danish vessels, has been conducting operations to increase cooperation with Finland and Sweden, which are on track to join the alliance.

The move by the two Nordic neighbours to drop their longstanding policy of non-alignment and join NATO has upset the Kremlin.

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