Ed Davey calls on Keir Starmer to back Canada against Trump attacks

Lib Dem leader says PM should make public show of support for ally against ‘shocking attacks’ on its sovereignty

The leader of the UK’s Liberal Democrats has called on the prime minister to publicly support Canada and oppose the “shocking attacks” on Canadian sovereignty, as the Trump administration further escalates its global trade war against longstanding allies.

Ed Davey, who leads the third largest political party in the UK, has called on Keir Starmer to travel to Canada in a show of support to the nation’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, as the commonwealth nation faces a generational crisis under Trump’s tariff war and suggestions that the country might become the 51st US state.

Continue reading...

‘All the birds returned’: How a Chinese project led the way in water and soil conservation

The Loess plateau was the most eroded place on Earth until China took action and reversed decades of damage from grazing and farming

It was one of China’s most ambitious environmental endeavours ever.

The Loess plateau, an area spanning more than 245,000 sq miles (640,000 sq km) across three provinces and parts of four others, supports about 100 million people. By the end of the 20th century, however, this land, once fertile and productive, was considered the most eroded place on Earth, according to a documentary by the ecologist John D Liu.

Continue reading...

Mexicans searching for missing relatives uncover possible mass killing site – NPR

  1. Mexicans searching for missing relatives uncover possible mass killing site  NPR
  2. Inside a Mexican cartel ‘extermination’ camp: Ovens, shoes and teeth  The Washington Post
  3. Search group in Mexico discovers possible cartel mass killing site  Euronews
  4. Mexico's attorney general promises full investigation into mass grave  Reuters.com
  5. Mexico to Investigate Site of Human Remains at Jalisco Ranch  Bloomberg
Posted in Uncategorized

National Trust creates living gene bank of endangered native black poplar

Cuttings of tree captured by John Constable being planted on restored Devon floodplain

Captured by John Constable in one of his most celebrated paintings, the black poplar tree was once as common as oak and beech in Britain.

Now the rarest and most threatened native species in the country, the National Trust is creating a living gene bank of the black poplar to ensure Constable’s The Hay Wain does not become a tribute to an extinct breed.

Continue reading...

Taiwan’s president labels China a ‘foreign hostile force’ and ramps up security measures citing ‘infiltration’

Lai Ching-te’s speech – which included a proposal to set up military courts – prompted an angry reaction from Beijing, which called him a ‘creator of crisis’

Taiwan’s new president has formally labelled China a “foreign hostile force” and ramped up national security measures in the face of growing threats and a string of spying cases.

The new measures announced on Thursday include a controversial proposal to restore a military court system in Taiwan, which was under martial law until the late 1980s.

Continue reading...

EU lays out ‘massive investment’ boost in defense to deter Russia – POLITICO Europe

  1. EU lays out ‘massive investment’ boost in defense to deter Russia  POLITICO Europe
  2. EU Drafts ‘Massive’ Defense Investment Plan  The Wall Street Journal
  3. EU chief says member countries must use a new defense loan to buy European, not American  The Associated Press
  4. Meet the defense giants that will rearm Europe as the EU eyes a massive military buildup  Fortune
  5. Brussels proposes collective arms purchases for EU member states  Financial Times
Posted in Uncategorized

Putin still intends Ukraine domination, U.S. intelligence reports say – The Washington Post

  1. Putin still intends Ukraine domination, U.S. intelligence reports say  The Washington Post
  2. Putin is using a classic Russian negotiating tactic to delay a ceasefire  The Telegraph
  3. Adam Zivo: Vladimir Putin is a warmonger. Why is anyone surprised?  National Post
  4. Russia’s Peace Demands on Ukraine Have Not Budged  Council on Foreign Relations
  5. What Vladimir Putin really wants from Ukraine  The Spectator
Posted in Uncategorized

Trump says ‘nobody is expelling Palestinians,’ weeks after saying they should be moved to Arab states – CNN

  1. Trump says ‘nobody is expelling Palestinians,’ weeks after saying they should be moved to Arab states  CNN
  2. Trump remark about not "expelling any Palestinians" from Gaza welcomed by America's Arab partners in Mideast  CBS News
  3. Hamas welcomes Trump’s pullback from Gaza mass displacement plan  Al Jazeera English
  4. Gaza’s Future: How Trump’s ‘Riviera’ and the Arab Plan Cross Red Lines  Bloomberg
  5. Egypt appreciates Trump's decision not to displace Gazans  Reuters
Posted in Uncategorized

Putin says Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk must ‘surrender or die’ – Voice of America

  1. Putin says Ukrainian troops in Russia's Kursk must 'surrender or die'  Voice of America
  2. Ukraine denies Trump, Putin '"encirclement" claim  Newsweek
  3. Russia says it retakes another village in drive to push Ukraine out of Kursk  Reuters
  4. Ukraine loses grip on key Russian territory, as Trump says peace ‘is up to Russia now’  CNN International
  5. Ukraine's General Staff says statements about "encirclement" in Russia's Kursk Oblast are untrue, just political pressure  Ukrainska Pravda
Posted in Uncategorized

No Other Land director calls Florida mayor’s campaign against his film ‘very dangerous’

Israeli Oscar-winner Yuval Abraham speaks out after Miami Beach mayor proposed evicting a local cinema for screening the Palestinian-focused documentary

The Israeli director of No Other Land has criticised a Florida mayor’s efforts to evict a local cinema after it screened his Oscar-winning documentary about Palestinian displacement in the West Bank, saying: “Banning a film only makes people more determined to see it.”

Steven Meiner, the mayor of Miami Beach, has issued a draft resolution calling for the termination of the city’s lease agreement with O Cinema, and withdrawing $40,000 in promised grant funding for the nonprofit that runs the independent cinema.

Continue reading...