World News

A new point in history has been reached, entomologists say, as climate-led species’ collapse moves up the food chain even in supposedly protected regions free of pesticides

Reports of falling insect numbers around the world are not new. International reviews have estimated annual losses globally of between 1% and 2.5% of total biomass every year.

Widespread use of pesticides and fertilisers, light and chemical pollution, loss of habitat and the growth of industrial agriculture have all carved into their numbers. Often, these were deaths of proximity: insects are sensitive creatures, and any nearby source of pollution can send their populations crumbling.

But what Janzen and Hallwachs are witnessing is a part of a newer phenomenon: the catastrophic collapse of insect populations in supposedly protected regions of forest. “In the parts of Costa Rica that are heavily hit by pesticides, the insects are completely wiped out,” Hallwachs says.

Bill Gates is revealing his plans for the $200 billion he intends to give away through his foundation over the next 20 years, vowing that much of the money will go to Africa.

Gates, who earlier this month told "CBS Mornings" about his plans to donate the bulk of his fortune, disclosed his intentions to focus on Africa on Monday while speaking at Nelson Mandela Hall at the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Gates had previously said his goal was to fund causes that would help save and improve lives around the globe.

Islamabad police have launched a murder probe after a teenage social media influencer was shot dead in her home. The news has reignited fears about the safety of women, particularly those in the public eye.

Police in Islamabad on Tuesday were investigating the killing of 17-year-old Sana Yousaf after she was found shot dead in her home.

The killing of the popular teenager, who had more than a million followers across TikTok and Instagram, has raised renewed concerns over the safety of online personalities in Pakistan, particularly young women.

Police were said to have filed a case against an unidentified suspect after a complaint by Yousaf's mother.

geteilt von: https://sopuli.xyz/post/28142063

https://t.me/SBUkr/14960

Really and truly, a horse can be alive forever. Forever and ever.

https://archive.is/2025.06.02-185023/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/07/animal-cloning-industry/682892/

U.N. inspectors monitoring Iran's Fordow nuclear site confronted a major gap in their knowledge last year as they watched trucks carrying advanced uranium-enriching centrifuges roll into the facility dug into a mountain south of Tehran.

While Iran had notified the International Atomic Energy Agency that hundreds of extra IR-6 centrifuges would be installed at Fordow, the inspectors had no idea where the sophisticated machines had come from, an official familiar with the U.N. monitoring work told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The episode encapsulated how the U.N. nuclear watchdog has lost track of some critical elements of Iran's nuclear activities since U.S. President Donald Trump ditched a 2015 deal that imposed strict restrictions and close IAEA supervision.

Key blind spots include not knowing how many centrifuges Iran possesses or where the machines and their parts are produced and stored, quarterly IAEA reports show. The agency has also lost the ability to carry out snap inspections at locations not declared by Iran.

Gaza's civil defence agency said at least 31 people were killed and many more wounded, which it blamed on "Israeli gunfire" targeting civilians in Rafah.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said its hospital in Rafah received "a mass casualty influx" of people early in the morning on Sunday. It said 21 people were "declared dead upon arrival". It is unclear if the number of people killed reported by the ICRC is separate to the Gaza authorities' report.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its findings from an initial inquiry showed its forces had not fired at people while they were near or within the aid centre. The Israeli military said in a statement that "warning shots were fired toward several suspects who advanced toward" troops approximately 1km from the site.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/30690976

The UN secretary-general has called for an independent investigation into the killing of Palestinians near an aid distribution centre in Gaza on Sunday, amid disputed reports that Israeli forces had opened fire.

Witnesses reported being shot at while waiting for food from the centre in Rafah run by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

The Red Cross said its hospital received 179 casualties, 21 of whom were dead. The Hamas-run Civil Defence agency put the death toll at 31.

On Sunday, the Israeli military denied its troops fired at civilians near or within the site and said reports to this effect were false.

Prime minister seeks to shore up his fragile coalition and vows not to back down

Donald Tusk says he will call a vote of confidence in his government to try to shore up support for his coalition after a bruising setback in Poland’s presidential election.

In his first public comments since Sunday’s election result was declared, the prime minister sought to regain momentum as he promised to “get to work” and submit a number of draft laws.

Congratulating the supporters of the rightwing opposition candidate, Karol Nawrocki, on his win, Tusk said late on Monday the government had a “contingency plan” and vowed to “not stop even for a moment” and double down on his legislative agenda.

Many citizens who don’t want to explain their employment status pay to rent a position in a fake office, with some even assigning fictitious tasks and organizing supervisory rounds

For a daily fee of between 30 and 50 yuan ($4-$7), these companies offer desks, Wi-Fi, coffee, lunch, and an atmosphere that mimics any work environment.

According to a report in Beijing Youth Daily, although there are no contracts or bosses, some firms simulate them: fictitious tasks are assigned and supervisory rounds are even organized.

For a fee, the theatricality can reach unimaginable levels, from pretending to be a manager with his own office to staging episodes of rebellion against a superior.

At the forefront of combat drone technology and production, Ukraine’s UAVs account for 80% of battlefield engagements – and total number will soon grow significantly, says Kyiv.

Ukraine has made significant progress in the development of its drone industry and now has the capacity to produce up to 10 million drones annually.

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, Deputy Defense Minister Oleksandr Kozenko stated that Ukrainian drones are considerably cheaper than other combat UAVs and have already been battle-tested.

“Ukraine has taken its drone sector to a new level, developing innovative solutions not only in the air, but also on land and at sea. Today, our defense industry has the capability to manufacture 10 million drones of various types per year,” he said.

A passenger smuggling dozens of venomous vipers was stopped after flying into the financial capital Mumbai, India, from Thailand, Indian customs officials said.

The snakes, which included 44 Indonesian pit vipers, were "concealed in checked-in baggage," Mumbai Customs said in a statement late Sunday.

"An Indian national arriving from Thailand was arrested," it added.

The passenger also had three Spider-tailed horned vipers — which are venomous, but usually only target small prey such as birds — as well as five Asian leaf turtles.

China has lashed out at Donald Trump’s suggestion that Beijing violated an agreement between the two economic powerhouses that largely rolled back the U.S. president’s damaging tariff plans.

China’s Commerce Ministry said in a statement that it firmly rejects these “unjustified accusations” and vowed to take “forceful measures” to protect its interests, according to Chinese state media.

“The United States has unilaterally and repeatedly provoked new economic and trade frictions, exacerbating uncertainty and instability in bilateral economic and trade relations,” the statement said. “Instead of reflecting on its own actions, the United States has groundlessly accused China of violating the consensus, a claim that grossly distorts the facts.”

Donald Trump was deliberately left in the dark about Ukraine’s unprecedented drone strike in Russia on Sunday, which destroyed nearly a third of the Kremlin’s strategic bomber fleet in a surprise attack.

The large-scale drone attack saw a fleet of drones scattered all across Russia carry out simultaneous attacks on five airbases, wiping out 40 irreplaceable military bombers worth an estimated $7 billion, which have been used to reign terror upon Ukrainian civilians.

“Operation Spider-Web” took over 18 months to plan and was personally overseen by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a source told CBS News.

A massive cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert blanketed most of the Caribbean on Monday in the biggest event of its kind this year as it heads toward the United States.

The cloud extended some 3,200 kilometres from Jamaica to well past Barbados in the eastern Caribbean, and some 1,200 kilometres from the Turks and Caicos Islands in the northern Caribbean down south to Trinidad and Tobago.

"It's very impressive," said Alex DaSilva, lead hurricane expert with AccuWeather.

Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip opened fire as people headed towards a food distribution site a kilometre away at around sunrise on Monday, killing at least three people and injuring dozens, health officials and a witness said. The military said it fired warning shots at “suspects” who approached its forces.

The shooting occurred at the same location where witnesses say Israeli forces fired a day earlier on crowds of people heading towards the food distribution hub in southern Gaza run by the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

The Israeli military said it fired warning shots on Monday toward “several suspects who advanced toward the troops and posed a threat to them,” around a kilometre (1,000 yards) away from the food distribution site at a time when it was closed. The army denied it was preventing people from reaching the site.

Too late, you are a war criminal just like Genocide Joe

For more than three years, most of Russia has viewed the war sparked by the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine from afar.

Now, some say, following an audacious attack by Ukraine that saw hordes of drones smuggled into Russia and then deployed on June 1 to wipe out dozens of long-range bombers, it has arrived on their doorstep.

In the Irkutsk, Murmansk, Ryazan, and Ivanovo regions, drones struck air bases, shocking Russian authorities and citizens.

"It was a fiery hell," residents of the Irkutsk region told RFE/RL's Siberia Realities.

In Siberia, some 4,000 km away, residents appeared to be shaken.

"Now the war has reached us too," residents told Siberia Realities.

The United Kingdom plans to build new nuclear-powered attack submarines and increase military spending in response to threats from Russia and Trump.

The United Kingdom will build new nuclear-powered attack submarines and create an army ready to fight a war in Europe as part of a boost to military spending designed to send a message to Moscow — and Washington.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain “cannot ignore the threat that Russia poses” as he pledged to undertake the most sweeping changes to Britain’s defenses since the end of the Cold War more than three decades ago.