Headlines: 22-30 June 2026

Saturday, 27 June 2026

Over 900 died and over 3,000 injured in Venezuela earthquakes (LINK) — 27 June 2026

Friday, 26 June 2026

IOM: Pacific Climate Mobility Programme receives 2026 Human Security Award, recognizing their leadership in addressing climate mobility through rights-based and human-centred approaches (LINK) — 26 June 2026

U.S. White House condemns 'targeted sabotage' of reflecting pool as repairs pushed past July 4 celebration (LINK) — 26 June 2026

— Court document says damage included sealant cut with a sharp knife and approximately 70 fence post tops thrown into water.

Mistrial declared in federal arson case related to California Palisades wildfires: accused detained until his retrial begins on October 19. (LINK) — 26 June 2026

— Out of 12 jurors, 10 believed that the suspect, Jonathan Rinderknecht, was innocent. A juror told The Associated Press that it seemed unfair to assign the accused man blame for the fires, given the negligence of other parties. Prosecutors allege that the accused used a barbecue lighter to light a fire on January 1, 2025. The government did not offer direct proof that the man lit the initial blaze, arguing that he had been in the area where it took place and portraying him as an aggrieved individual who sought to take out his anger on society through arson. Fire led to the deaths of 12 people and destroyed entire neighbourhoods along the coast north of Los Angeles.

Parasite affecting 1 in 3 people — Toxoplasma gondii — is a serious risk to human health, scientists warn: can lead to serious eye problems and even vision loss (LINK) — 26 June 2026

— In a new viewpoint paper, researchers argue that toxoplasmosis meets the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for classification as a neglected tropical disease (NTD). This recognition would unlock more funding and health initiatives. Humans can pick up the infection by eating undercooked meat that's been contaminated with the parasite, or by somehow ingesting parasitic eggs from cat feces (perhaps in a litter tray, or the wider environment). It can also be passed to unborn children by newly infected mothers via the placenta. As well as serious health problems, this can cause miscarriages.

Thursday, 25 June 2026

Massive search and rescue effort underway after Venezuela quakes kill at least 188 (LINK) — 25 June 2026

IMO pauses Strait of Hormuz evacuation plan of more than 11,000 sailors stranded there after cargo ship attacked (LINK) — 25 June 2026

Iran strikes vessel in Strait of Hormuz near Oman amid debate over "transit fees" (LINK) — 25 June 2026

Russia's 4th-largest oil refinery shuts down after Ukrainian drone strike, Reuters reports (LINK) — 25 June 2026

U.S. Supreme Court deals a serious blow to the Make America Healthy Again movement by restricting Americans' ability to sue pesticide makers over alleged health harms stemming from their products. (LINK) — 25 June 2026

U.S. Supreme Court lets the Trump administration end legal protections for Haitians and Syrians fleeing violence and natural disaster (LINK) — 25 June 2026

Median annual salary in Switzerland for a full-time job rose to CHF87,000 in 2025, CHF5K more than in 2024 (LINK) — 25 June 2026

Actress Cate Blanchett launches a free registry tool to keep AI from using your likeness (LINK) — 25 June 2026

King Charles III will not live at Buckingham Palace after completion of costly, decade-long refurbishment (LINK) — 25 June 2026

WEF: "Summer Davos" concludes in Dalian, China, with call to scale innovation into growth, jobs and competitiveness (LINK) — 25 June 2026

— WEF: More than 1800 global leaders from 90 countries and regions and across sectors gathered in Dalian to explore how technology and innovation can translate into economic progress and jobs. WEF: "The meeting brought together Li Qiang, Premier of the People's Republic of China; six heads of government; 90 government leaders; 1,000 senior business executives; and more than 200 innovators, among them Technology Pioneers and a record number of 'unicorns'."

— "This is a very different world in which CEOs have to operate," said Margery Kraus, Founder and Executive Chairman, APCO, Co-Chair of the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2026. "The ability to find out who the right stakeholders are and how to engage on a market-by-market basis is really going to be the difference between success and lack of success for some companies."

World Economic Forum: China's 15th Five-Year Plan priorities span innovation, domestic consumption, industrial upgrading, green energy and continued opening to the global economy, speakers said at the World Economic Forum's 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian (LINK) — 25 June 2026

Smarter waste sorting with AI from WasteFlow by EPFL students, Lausanne: "Our system can currently identify 66 different categories of waste, with accuracy rates reaching 98% for some plastics including PET, HDPE and LDPE," says co-founder Théophile Agresti. The company estimates that facilities using its technology could recycle around 6% more material, thus reducing the amount of waste that ends up being incinerated (LINK) — 25 June 2026

— In 2023, EPFL students Valentin Ibars, Théophile Agresti and Theo Vitupier came up with the idea for WasteFlow. Since then, they have graduated from EPFL and have grown the business into a company employing 13 people. The trio joined Blaze, the School's program for student entrepreneurs, which provided structure and a supportive environment. The founders connected with experienced mentors, whose guidance saved them valuable time. The same year, WasteFlow secured a CHF 30,000 Ignition Grant from EPFL and additional support from the Foundation for Innovation and Technology (FIT).

— A BRIDGE Proof of Concept grant from the Swiss government's Innosuisse program and a collaboration with EPFL's Computer Vision Laboratory (CVLab) helped the team move beyond the lab and test the technology in real sorting facilities. They also benefited from EPFL's internship program for master's students and recent graduates: one intern spent six months developing tools to analyze sorting-facility performance and optimize recycling processes. Further internships, funded by WasteFlow and carried out with CVLab, gave students valuable industry experience while bringing additional expertise into the company.

Bitcoin crashes to $58K low: Inflation too hot, economy too strong, rate cuts too far? (LINK) — 25 June 2026

Filmmakers and archaeologists say they have found the first shipwrecks linked to the pirates who once operated from Nassau in The Bahamas (LINK) — 25 June 2026

Wednesday, 24 June 2026

Back-to-back earthquakes in Caracas, Venezuela, including the worst in a century, kill over 30 and injure hundreds (LINK) — 24 June 2026

Red alerts were in place in Britain, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland as the extreme early summer heat forced school closures, travel disruption and alarm about climate change: France records hottest day ever: 29.8 C (LINK) — 24 June 2026

— A high of 44.3 degrees Celsius (111.7 Fahrenheit) was measured in parts of Landes, in the southwest. At least 48 people have died in France from drowning as they tried to escape the crippling heat, authorities said. Conditions are comparable to a 16-day heat wave in August 2003 that caused an estimated 80,000 excess deaths across Europe

WHO announces 2 trials of experimental drugs in Ebola outbreak (LINK) — 24 June 2026

Kyiv using AI-powered Hornet drones to strike deep into Russian territory (LINK video) — 24 June 2026

Russian opposition leader jailed for 7 years over anti-war social media posts in 2022 (LINK) — 24 June 2026

'If AI is to help build a better future, it must be honest about what it costs us now': UN Secretary-General António Guterres urges AI giants to reveal full extent of environmental damage (LINK) — 24 June 2026

— "By 2030, they could use ?more power than all but five countries — and enough water to meet the basic needs ?of all 1.3 billion residents of sub-Saharan Africa for an entire year," he said. His speech (via Reuters) also included the launch of the UN's AI Environmental Transparency Initiative, which offers AI companies the opportunity to publicly disclose water, the environmental impacts of their water usage, carbon emissions, and land use.

UN Working Group calls for action to ensure AI serves equality, not discrimination (LINK) — 24 June 2026

— The Working Group on discrimination against women and girls today warned that the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) and related digital technologies absent meaningful regulation may deepen existing gender inequalities and create new risks for the human rights of women and girls worldwide.

— "AI and digital technologies are reshaping the conditions under which women and girls exercise their rights," the Working Group said. "Without deliberate, gender-responsive governance, these systems risk amplifying exclusion, reinforcing harmful stereotypes, and exacerbating structural inequalities."

— The Working Group identified three urgent preconditions for achieving substantive gender equality in the digital age: closing the digital divide, harnessing AI and digital technologies to bolster rather than undermine women's and girls' human rights, and promoting their meaningful participation and leadership in public and political life. The experts also echoed calls for multilateral dialogue on AI redlines. They expressed alarm about some of the most extreme harms, including the gendered impact of AI in armed conflict and lethal autonomous weapons, climate change, mass surveillance and technology-facilitated gender-based violence. "These harms are not hypothetical, they are already being felt around the world," the Working Group said, stressing that intersecting forms of marginalisation are regularly mirrored and exacerbated by AI.

— They also underscored the potential of AI to advance gender equality, including by expanding access to education, healthcare, financial services, and justice — if developed responsibly and inclusively.

Swiss study finds fewer job ads for career starters as AI reshapes entry-level work (LINK) — 24 June 2026

— An analysis of 7.3 million job advertisements shows entry-level postings down sharply since the years before generative AI, with the steepest declines in roles the tools can most readily take on. The number of Swiss job advertisements aimed at career starters in 2025 was just under a third lower than the average for the period before generative AI arrived, according to a study published on Wednesday by the recruitment portal Jobs.ch.

Amateur hacker from Ethiopia used Claude and OpenAI agents to hack 14 companies (LINK) — 25 June 2026

UN Women: Five reasons why the care economy is one of the most transformative investments of our time (LINK) — 24 June 2026

• An estimated 350 million children require childcare services globally.
• If given a monetary value, unpaid care work would account for up to 40 per cent of GDP in some countries
• Investments in care sectors can create two to three times more jobs than investments in the construction sector.
• Women and girls spend 2.5 times more hours per day on unpaid care work than men.
• Globally, 45 per cent of working-age women (708 million women) are outside the labour market because of unpaid care responsibilities, compared with just 5 per cent of men.
• Women make up 80 per cent of paid domestic workers globally. Yet 90 per cent of domestic workers lack social protection and social security coverage.
• In crisis settings, women spend nearly four times more hours on unpaid care work than men.For example, in Ukraine, women spend 16 more hours per week on unpaid care work than men, resulting in an estimated USD 72.5 billion loss to the economy.
• Investments in care services could create nearly 300 million new decent jobs by 2035.
• Investing in care sectors has the potential to be 30 per cent less polluting than investing in the construction industry.
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— UN Women's Transform Care Initiative aims to strengthen care systems in over 50 countries. By 2035, the initiative has the potential to contribute to:

• Reaching 2.9 billion women and girls;
• Creating 260 million decent jobs for women;
• Freeing up 10 trillion hours of women's and girls' time by 2035.

U.S. Anti-ICE protesters sentenced to decades (30 to 100 years) in prison in latest crackdown on dissent, longer than the harshest sentence handed down to any of the convicted rioters in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021 (LINK) — 24 June 2026

Trump cancels signing of bipartisan housing bill until his SAVE America Act is passed (LINK) — 24 June 2026

Indigenous cultural practices are a climate solution, Conservation International report finds (LINK) — 24 June 2026

UNECE: New global rules clear the road for driverless vehicles: expected to enter into force in roughly one month. (LINK) — 24 June 2026

AI loses out to human wealth managers when the money actually moves, HSBC finds: survey of nearly 10,000 wealthy investors finds AI doing the research and a human adviser making the final call (LINK) — 24 June 2026

Anthropic sends Congress letter accusing China's Alibaba of illicitly accessing AI models (LINK) — 24 June 2026

After 'circling the drain' Trump's DJT stock finally plops in (LINK) — 24 June 2026

— AlterNet: According to Futurism, the stock — which represents Trump's Truth Social social media platform — has been "circling the drain for over a year now." The DJT stock made its public debut in 2022 for just under $10 per share, and it was rapidly hyped up to its all-time high of just under $94.20 before dropping back into the low teens. Then in early 2024, it was relaunched after a merger, briefly shooting up to around $60. Since then it has lost nearly 90 percent of its value, and the decline shows no sign of slowing.

Bill Gates gives Epstein testimony about blackmail fears: newly-published transcript of Gates' testimony to Congressional panel on June 10 (LINK) — 24 June 2026

Europe swelters under deadly 'Omega' heatwave, more records expected (LINK) — 24 June 2026

U.S. Senators brace for another government shutdown after spending talks stall (LINK) — 24 June 2026

Ships start sailing through Hormuz under UN evacuation scheme, IMO says (LINK) — 24 June 2026

China says it has a right to target people overseas who contravene it new ethnic unity law (LINK) — 24 June 2026

Troubled Reflecting Pool faces fresh scrutiny over vandalism claims and duck deaths: President Trump said Tuesday that six people have been arrested (LINK) — 24 June 2026

— AP: An environmental group called on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to investigate after a Mallard duckling carcass was photographed floating in the algae-filled pool, and two other ducks were found dead nearby. The Center for Biological Diversity said Tuesday that the Wildlife Service must enforce the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which protects migratory birds.

Elon Musk loses his trillionaire status as SpaceX stock comes back to Earth (LINK) — 24 June 2026

Tuesday, 23 June 2026

Climate crisis: UN chief lays out solutions blueprint for clean energy transition (LINK) — 23 June 2026

U.N. Secretary-General's call to action on methane (LINK) — 23 June 2026

Senate votes to limit Trump's Iran war powers in rare rebuke (LINK) — 23 June 2026

Iran chief negotiator says Hormuz will be administered by Tehran: State media (LINK) — 23 June 2026

Iran war day 116: US eases Iran sanctions; Lebanon ceasefire holds (LINK) — 23 June 2026

Israel smuggled Starlink systems into Iran to support anti-government protesters, former PM says (LINK) — 23 June 2026

Ukraine destroys key logistics bridge in Crimea, hits over 60 Russian military targets overnight (LINK) — 23 June 2026

The crowd is dumping SpaceX stock: at $154.60, a drop of more than 31% in a matter of days (LINK) — 23 June 2026

The AI-powered World Cup runs on thousands of data workers: human annotators in Brazil, Cambodia, and the Philippines are tracking every movement in the football tournament for teams, broadcasters, and the betting industry (LINK) — 23 June 2026

— The current edition of the FIFA World Cup features a sensor-fitted ball, real-time tracking, artificial intelligence-assisted offside calls, and an AI assistant for each of the 48 teams. Teams today may have in-house data analysts and scientists with doctorates in physics, mathematics, or machine learning and AI experience; data vendors whose workers specialize in player tracking and turning raw video into data; and video platforms that record and tag matches

U.S. Congress passes largest housing affordability bill in a generation (LINK) — 23 June 2026

U.S. Senate Homeland Security Chairman Rand Paul issues subpoena for former chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci about his response to the COVID-19 pandemic (LINK) — 23 June 2026

China sanctions 10 U.S. defense firms in trade clash: simultaneously banned 46 American companies from government procurement contracts, in response to Pentagon blacklisting Chinese firms (LINK) — 22 June 2026

Alibaba sues Pentagon over 'Chinese military company' label (LINK) — 23 June 2026

US: Ransom note re Nancy Guthrie reported she died after abduction and apologized (LINK) — 23 June 2026

Larry Ellison cuts 21,000 jobs at Oracle as AI replaces human workers (LINK) — 23 June 2026

FIFA defends pitch conditions after France and Brazil complain about MetLife Stadium, currently branded as New York New Jersey Stadium for the 2026 FIFA World Cup (LINK) — 23 June 2026

Nassau Cruise Port sees new single-day record of 33,254 passengers on June 8 (LINK) — 23 June 2026

Eiffel Tower closed early on Tuesday as France experienced its hottest day on record (LINK video) — 23 June 2026

Monday, 22 June 2026

US-Iran negotiations end, technical talks will continue: Iran and the United States agreed to create a "de-confliction cell" to address the fighting in Lebanon including the Lebanese government (LINK) — 22 June 2026

— Iran insisted it had again shut the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, while the U.S. said traffic continued.

Guardian: US-Iran talks strained as Trump threats spark Iranian walkout — (LINK)

— The US president had threatened to bomb Iran and even to kidnap the Iranian negotiating team unless the strait of Hormuz was reopened, forcing mediators Qatar and Pakistan to continue negotiations in the background. Iranian state media said the talks had entered a "difficult phase" and recessed after the "publication of an insulting message by the US president". It also said the Iranian delegation met Qatari mediators and then left the negotiating site.

UK PM Starmer resigns as Britain faces its seventh leader in 10 years (LINK) — 22 June 2026

Fox News: Keir Starmer resigns as British prime minister after devastating Labour revolt and local election losses — (LINK)

UK considers requiring social media to prioritize trusted news (LINK) — 22 June 2026

Niger becomes the third country to leave the International Criminal Court, accusing the ICC of practising "selective justice" (LINK) — 22 June 2026

Alan Greenspan, economist and longtime head of the Federal Reserve, dies at 100 from complications of Parkinson's disease (LINK) — 22 June 2026

PassBlue photoessay: The UN Human Rights Office moves out of the Palais Wilson (LINK) — 22 June 2026

Swiss franc holds near seven-month lows as dollar strength persists (LINK) — 22 June 2026