Sudan ‘horror knows no bounds’, says UN, as deaths in Darfur rise
UN rights chief says civilians ‘trapped in dire conditions’ in and around el-Fasher as RSF warns of further 'bloodshed'.
Can Mexico bring back the endangered axolotl?
Pollution has cut the amphibian's numbers by 99.5 percent, but scientists believe Mexico's cultural icon could return.
No Ken do: Trump says US kids may get ‘two dolls instead of 30’ due to tariffs
President acknowledged his tariff war with China could lead to a toy shortage and costlier products
Donald Trump on Wednesday acknowledged that his tariffs could result in fewer and costlier products in the United States, saying American kids might “have two dolls instead of 30 dolls”, but he insisted China will suffer more from his trade war.
The US president has tried to reassure a nervous country that his tariffs will not provoke a recession, after a new government report showed the US economy shrank during the first three months of the year.
Continue reading...Israel Scrambles to Extinguish Wildfires on Outskirts of Jerusalem – The New York Times
- Israel Scrambles to Extinguish Wildfires on Outskirts of Jerusalem The New York Times
- Firefighters battle blazes near Jerusalem as officials investigate cause The Washington Post
- Netanyahu Claims 18 Arrested Over Jerusalem Fires, Though It's Actually Only Three Haaretz
- Government accused of failing to take fire threat seriously despite years of warnings The Times of Israel
- Several countries sending firefighting planes to Israel to help tackle major wildfire ABC News
Israel declares national emergency as wildfires force evacuations
Witnesses tell of ‘walls of flame’ surging across woodland, while high winds disrupt Independence Day events
Wildfires continued to threaten swaths of forest and fields in Israel on Thursday, though firefighters successfully reopened the main road linking the country’s two principal cities.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, declared a national emergency after the fires broke out on Wednesday along the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, prompting police to shut the route and evacuate thousands of people from nearby communities.
Continue reading...Gaza edges closer to famine as Israel’s total blockade nears its third month – CNN
- Gaza edges closer to famine as Israel’s total blockade nears its third month CNN
- Israel redraws Gaza map, limiting Palestinians to a third of the enclave The Washington Post
- Looting of Gaza stores signals worsening hunger crisis Reuters
- The U.S. backs Israel's ban on the U.N.'s Palestinian aid agency at the World Court NPR
- Israel, Gaza, and the Starvation Weapon Foreign Affairs
North Korea and Russia Build First Cross-Border Road Bridge – The New York Times
- North Korea and Russia Build First Cross-Border Road Bridge The New York Times
- North Korea: First road bridge to Russia 'significant' development BBC
- ‘Milestone’: Russia, North Korea begin first road bridge construction Al Jazeera
- North Korea says new bridge to Russia reinforces economic cooperation Reuters
- Russia, North Korea building bridge to create ‘road of friendship' The Kyiv Independent
Rebuilding Bangladesh after Sheikh Hasina’s fall
101 East investigates the downfall of Bangladesh’s ruthless regime and goes inside the fight to reclaim democracy.
Pakistani Kashmir closes seminaries fearing Indian military strikes – Reuters
Workers observe May Day with marches and demos under Trump tariffs shadow
The holiday, also known as International Workers’ Day or Labor Day, marks the struggles and achievements of workers.
Release of activist a “glimmer of hope in extremely dark times”
Columbia University student activist has been freed after being detained at what he thought was citizenship hearing
Profits fall at Premier Inn owner Whitbread on drop in UK bookings
Shares rise on promises to return £2bn to investors through buybacks and dividends, and more hotel openings
Profits at the Premier Inn owner Whitbread have fallen after it was hit by higher costs and a drop in UK bookings, but shares rose on the promise of a share buyback and more hotel openings.
Britain’s largest hotel group, which owns 852 hotels in the UK and 61 in Germany, reported a 14% fall in adjusted pre-tax profit to £483m for the year to 27 February. Revenues dipped by 1% to £2.9bn, as revenue per available room in the UK was down by 2%.
Continue reading...Tesla denies contacting headhunters to replace Musk
The electric car firm says a report that it is hunting for a successor is "absolutely false".
Spain and Portugal blackout blamed on solar power dependency – Financial Times
- Spain and Portugal blackout blamed on solar power dependency Financial Times
- Opinion | How the Lights Went Out in Spain WSJ
- The Spanish state should take over grid operator, says deputy prime minister Reuters
- The great Iberian power cut need not spell disaster for renewables The Economist
- Power Outage in Spain and Portugal Creates a Day of Confusion The New York Times
UK banks put £75bn into firms building climate-wrecking ‘carbon bombs’, study finds
Exclusive: Britain is key financial hub for destructive fossil fuel mega-projects, according to research
Banks in the City of London have poured more than $100bn (£75bn) into companies developing “carbon bombs” – huge oil, gas and coal projects that would drive the climate past internationally agreed temperature limits with catastrophic global consequences – according to a study.
Nine London-based banks, including HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds are involved in financing companies responsible for at least 117 carbon bomb projects in 28 countries between 2016 – the year after the landmark Paris agreement was signed – and 2023, according to the study.
Continue reading...Private firms look to fill research gaps left by federal grant cuts: ‘We can’t wait four years’
Trump and Musk have gut National Institutes of Health and experts are wary of private efforts’ ability to replicate public service
The federal government has slashed research since Donald Trump took office – hacking away at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its grants, staff and long-held partnerships with academia.
Now, some private companies said they want to pick up strands of research that might have otherwise been funded by the federal government. The effort has stoked little optimism among experts, who caution that private efforts cannot remotely replicate the breadth, depth or public service provided by federal funding.
Continue reading...Trump’s attack on federal unions a ‘test case’ for broader assault, warn lawyers
Executive order cites national security to strip bargaining rights from more than 1 million federal workers
The Trump administration is seeking to strip collective bargaining rights from large swaths of federal employees in a test case union leaders argue is part of a broader attack on US labor unions that could land before the US Supreme Court.
A Trump win would deliver a severe blow to labor unions in the US. Some 29.9% of all federal workers were represented by labor unions in 2024 compared to 11.1% for all US workers.
Continue reading...Trump has launched more attacks on the environment in 100 days than his entire first term
Blitzkrieg has hit protections in place for land, oceans, forests and wildlife, and will worsen the climate crisis
Donald Trump has launched an unprecedented assault upon the environment, instigating 145 actions to undo rules protecting clean air, water and a livable climate in this administration’s first 100 days – more rollbacks than were completed in Trump’s entire first term as US president.
Trump’s blitzkrieg has hit almost every major policy to shield Americans from toxic pollution, curb the worsening impacts of the climate crisis and protect landscapes, oceans, forests and imperiled wildlife.
Continue reading...Football-loving Brazilian nun, world’s oldest person, dies at 116
Born on 8 June 1908 in southern Brazil, Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas dedicated her life to God and teaching.
World’s oldest person: Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas dies at 116 – BBC
- World's oldest person: Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas dies at 116 BBC
- Brazilian nun who was the world’s oldest person has died at 116 AP News
- British woman, 115, becomes world's oldest person BBC
- ‘I do what I like’: British woman, 115, claims world’s oldest living person title The Guardian
- World’s oldest person, Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, dies at 116 Catholic News Agency