📌 Cop29, Gaetz Report, More

Rich and poor countries condemned a draft of a possible deal at the deadlocked UN climate talks.

Faith in the Azerbaijan presidency's ability to produce a deal ebbed on Thursday morning, as the draft texts were criticized as inadequate and providing no “landing ground” for a compromise.

Instead of setting a global goal for at least $1tn in new funds for developing countries to tackle the climate crisis, the text contained only an “X” where numbers should have been.

The governments of almost 200 countries are meeting in Azerbaijan to thrash out a global settlement on climate finance to channel funds to developing countries to help them shift to low-carbon economies and cope with the impact of extreme weather.

Ministers and high-ranking officials have embarked on intense shuttle diplomacy as the two weeks of fraught talks enter their final days. The Cop29 summit is scheduled to end on Friday night, but on Thursday morning, the various positions of developed and developing countries looked as far apart as ever.

Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden said he would vote to release an ethics report into alleged misconduct by ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz.

Earlier Wednesday, the House Ethics Committee voted not to release the details of Gaetz’s report, even after experiencing significant pressure to release its findings. The Wisconsin Rep. said: “It’s very important that everybody has as much knowledge as possible to make an informed decision.”

The report, which some lawmakers say is vital to the Senate voting to confirm Gaetz as attorney general, is reported to detail sexual misconduct claims against the former lawmaker.

Gaetz has also vigorously denied the allegation that he slept with a minor. After receiving Trump's nomination, he resigned from the House, effectively ending the investigation.

Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) moved to force the committee to release its findings through a privileged resolution, which triggers a vote in the House within two legislative days if the committee doesn’t release the information. The committee could also vote to release the report later and has a meeting scheduled for Dec. 5.

Van Orden, who has a fiery history with Gaetz, said it’s “a yes” that he would vote to release the report. “If the rumors are true about Mr. Gaetz’s conduct, then there should be referrals to other agencies, and if they’re not, then there’s a whole lot of people that owe him an apology.”

Gautam Adani and executives at the Adani Group have been indicted over a scheme to pay over $250 million in bribes.

The indictment charges Adani — a billionaire, his nephew Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain with conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud and substantive securities fraud as part of an effort to raise money in the US to build in India “one of the world’s largest solar energy projects,” the Department of Justice said.

Also named were Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, former executives of Azure Power, and Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, and Deepak Malhotra, former employees of Canadian institutional investor Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec.

“The defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars,” US attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.

The Adanis allegedly told investors that Adani Green bonds had a “robust anti-bribery compliance program” and the company “would not pay or promise to pay bribes,” Sanjay Wadhwa, acting director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, said.

The Adani Group was the focus of a Hindenburg Research investigation published in 2023, which alleged the conglomerate operated “a large, fragrant fraud in broad daylight” and that it hid and laundered money through a series of shell companies set up in countries such as Cyprus, the UAE, and Singapore.

A study has found that in six-month stays on the International Space Station, astronauts showed no signs of lasting impairment.

In a study examining how radiation exposure, altered gravity, demanding work conditions, and disrupted sleep patterns affect cognitive performance, researchers at NASA’s Behavioral Health and Performance Laboratory tested 25 astronauts before, during, and after their ISS missions.

The astronauts completed 10 cognitive tests at five time points: before their mission, early and late in their flight, and at 10 and 30 days after returning to Earth. While their processing speed, working memory, and attention slowed compared to Earth-based performance, their accuracy remained unchanged.

The research provides crucial baseline data for future deep space missions to the Moon and Mars, where increased radiation exposure and communication delays could create additional cognitive challenges.

Understanding how the brain functions during extended stays in low Earth orbit will help scientists better prepare for more demanding missions.

A study has linked the bacteria in pregnant women's saliva to their stress and mental health.

The Michigan Prenatal Stress Study analyzed saliva samples and mental health assessments of 224 pregnant women in their second trimester.

Specific bacterial groups were associated with different psychological states: Proteobacteria with recent life stress, Spirochaetes with depression, and Firmicutes and Dialister species with anxiety and depression.

Lifestyle and health factors such as cigarette smoking, dental problems, intimate partner violence, and unplanned pregnancy influenced bacterial patterns. The study suggests supporting maternal mental health through oral care, including dietary changes and probiotic treatments.

A Thai woman received the death sentence in the first of a string of murder cases involving the use of cyanide on 14 friends.

A court in Bangkok found Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, 36, guilty of putting poison in a wealthy friend's food and drink while they were on a trip last year.

Relatives of the friend refused to accept she died of natural causes, and an autopsy found traces of cyanide in her body.

Police arrested Sararat and uncovered other similar deaths going back to 2015. One person she allegedly targeted survived. Police say Sararat, dubbed Am Cyanide by Thai media, had a gambling addiction and targeted friends she owed money to, then stole their jewelry and valuables.

Sararat traveled with her friend Siriporn Khanwong, 32, to Ratchaburi province, west of Bangkok, in April 2023, where they took part in a Buddhist protection ritual at a river, police said. Siriporn collapsed and died after a meal with Sararat, who made no effort to help her, investigators said.

Traces of cyanide were found in Siriporn's body, and her phone, money and bags were missing when she was found, police said.

A United Airlines pilot managed the order and distribution of 30 pizzas to 155 passengers after an emergency landing.

Boise-based Scott Wardle was all set for a flight to Phoenix via Houston, but about 45 minutes into the trip, he received a call from the flight crew that a patient had fallen unconscious.

Though two nurses and a medic were on board, Wardle felt he couldn’t take any chances and landed at Albuquerque at 11 p.m., just as the food court was shutting down.

He suddenly received word that his cabin crew had maxed out their hours, meaning he had to wait for a new set of attendants. “I thought, I got to do something with all these people. I came up with the idea of doing pizza for everyone. It’s an easy thing; most people like pizza.”