First Thing: Democrats ‘too polite’ in fight against fossil fuel giants, says senator

Sheldon Whitehouse was giving his 300th climate speech to the Senate. Plus, the human chain that helped a bookstore relocate

Good morning.

Democrats and the environmental movement have been “too cautious and polite” and need to start loudly calling out the “huge denial operation” of fossil fuel companies, the US senator Sheldon Whitehouse has said.

Whitehouse, one of the US’s most outspoken senators on climate, gave his 300th Time to Wake Up climate speech on Wednesday.

He has been giving the speeches since 2012, and has consistently criticized both main political parties for their weak response to the climate crisis.

• What’s changed since he began giving these speeches? Whitehouse said he had shifted from discussing the facts of climate science to challenging “the fossil fuels’ massive climate denial operation”.

Trump announces 50% tariff on Brazil, claiming ‘witch-hunt’ against Bolsonaro

Donald Trump said he would impose a 50% tariff on Brazil over what he called a “witch-hunt” trial against its former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.

Earlier on Wednesday, the US president announced high tariffs on seven other countries – the Philippines, Brunei, Moldova, Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Sri Lanka – with effect from 1 August.

Trump, who has called Bolsonaro a friend, posted a message on social media saying: “This Trial should not be taking place. It is a witch-hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!”

• How did Brazil’s president respond? Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva rejected Trump’s demand, saying the charges against Bolsonaro, for allegedly plotting to stay in power after losing the election, fell exclusively under the jurisdiction of Brazil’s judicial branch.

US issues sanctions against Francesca Albanese, UN official investigating abuses in Gaza

The Trump administration has announced it will put sanctions on an independent official and human rights lawyer investigating human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories.

The sanctions against Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, mark the latest attempt by the US to penalize critics of Israel’s war in Gaza, and come after it failed to force the UN to fire her.

Albanese has called the war against Palestinians in Gaza a genocide – a position backed by leading genocide scholars and rights organisations, but denied by Israel and the US, its main backer.

In recent weeks, Albanese has written a series of letters urging countries to enact sanctions on Israel to put pressure on it to end its deadly bombardment of Gaza, which the territory’s health ministry says has killed 57,000 Palestinians, widely believed to be a substantial underestimate.

• How has Albanese responded? Al Jazeera quoted her saying the US was using “mafia style intimidation techniques”.

In other news …

• The death toll from the Texas flash floods has reached 119 and search crews are continuing to look for the 173 people still missing.

• War has intensified poverty and hunger in Yemen while aid has been slashed, with families saying they have considered taking their own lives because they cannot feed their children.

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, has urged western powers to place heavy sanctions on Russia after its latest huge round of strikes on Kyiv.

• US shoppers have begun to feel the pinch as the Trump-imposed tariffs push up the cost of some imported goods.

Stat of the day: 40% of children between 12 and 15 limiting their own screen use

Children are increasingly limiting the time they spend on their smartphones, computers and tablets, a study shows, finding that the number of 12- to 15-year-olds who consciously take breaks from their devices has increased to 40% since 2022. The data comes from the audience research company GWI, which surveyed 20,000 young people and their parents across 18 countries.

Don’t miss this: My harrowing time as Patricia Highsmith’s assistant in her final months

Elena Gosalvez Blanco was 20 when she became Patricia Highsmith’s assistant, having read just one of her novels on the way to the job interview. She recounts the dark and claustrophobic atmosphere of the author’s home in Switzerland, and how Highsmith could be, like her characters, “charming but also dark, possessive, irrational and impatient”, as well as her shame about her queerness. At one point, Blanco says, “I fantasized that she might try to kill me.”

Climate check: Why are swathes of young trees dying in some UK woodlands?

In some UK forests all the saplings have died. Biodiversity and environment reporter Patrick Greenfield examined why ancient woodlands are failing to regenerate, as they come under pressure from drought, heat, disease – and deer. As concerns grow that the world’s forests are struggling to survive on a heating planet, what can be done to help seedlings survive?

Last Thing: Human chain helps Melbourne’s oldest bookstore relocate

In a show of community spirit, bibliophiles in Melbourne braved chilly weather to help the city’s oldest bookstore move premises, with 300 of them forming a human conveyor belt to pass thousands of books from the Hill of Content’s old premises to its new store.

Sign up

First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.

Get in touch

If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com