A rocket with a lunar landing craft blasts off on Russia’s first moon mission in nearly 50 years (www.thehindu.com)
“Study of the moon is not the goal,” said Vitaly Egorov, a popular Russian space analyst. “The goal is political competition between two superpowers — China and the USA — and a number of other countries which also want to claim the title of space superpower.”
Fatal Tesla crash may have involved autopilot system (www.forbes.com.au)
Kim Jong Un fires top general, orders North Korean military to ‘gird for war’. (edition.cnn.com)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has fired his top general amid a shakeup of the country’s military leadership and wants his army to “gird for a war,” state media reported Thursday.
Lukashenko taunts Poland again over Wagner troops near border (lemmy.world)
State news agency Belta quoted him on Tuesday as saying that the Poles “should pray that we’re holding onto (the Wagner fighters) and providing for them. Otherwise, without us, they would have seeped through and smashed up Rzeszow and Warsaw in no small way. So they shouldn’t reproach me, they should say thank you.”
Uranium price hike projected after Niger coup spurs slight rise (www.aljazeera.com)
The price of uranium has risen slightly since last week’s military coup in Niger as mining operations have continued in the world’s seventh-largest producer of the radioactive metal, but a consultancy says prices may rise in the coming weeks....
Portugal’s bid to attract foreign money backfires as rental market goes ‘crazy’ (www.theguardian.com)
July 2023 set to be world’s hottest month on record (www.theguardian.com)
Hayao Miyazaki’s final Studio Ghibli film breaks record despite no marketing (www.independent.co.uk)
Why Won't the US Help Negotiate a Peaceful End to the War in Ukraine? (www.jeffsachs.org)
For the fifth time since 2008, Russia has proposed to negotiate with the U.S. over security arrangements, this time in proposals made by President Vladimir Putin on June 14, 2024. Four previous times, the U.S. rejected the offer of negotiations in favor of a neocon strategy to weaken or dismember Russia through war and covert...
Senior North Korean diplomat defects to South (www.bbc.com)
A high-profile North Korean diplomat stationed in Cuba has defected to the South, Seoul’s spy agency has confirmed to the BBC....
French centrists must decide: support the left – or hand the keys of power to the far right? (www.theguardian.com)
Another One Of Russia’s Nuclear-Proof Transports Just Got Blown Up In Ukraine (www.forbes.com)
‘Only Pirates Do This’: China Wields Axes and Knives in South China Sea Fight (www.wsj.com)
The Chinese coast guard came in small boats with axes, long knives and spears....
Canadian warship sharing an anchorage with Russian vessels in Cuba (www.cbc.ca)
The Royal Canadian Navy now finds itself in the unusual position of both shadowing Russian warships as a threat in the Caribbean and sharing an anchorage with them as a guest in the port of Havana — because Canada accepted an invitation to send a patrol ship to Cuba while the Russian navy is in town....
Japan Runs on Vending Machines. It’s About to Break Millions of Them. (www.nytimes.com)
What Hamas Called Its Female Captives, and Why It Matters (www.msn.com)
So to recap the events of a couple of weeks ago:...
As China’s internet disappears, ‘we lose parts of our collective memory’ (www.nytimes.com)
The number of Chinese websites is shrinking and posts are being removed and censored, stoking fears about what happens when history is erased....
Israeli campaign against ICC may be ‘crimes against justice’, say legal experts (www.theguardian.com)
Efforts by Israel’s intelligence agencies to undermine and influence the international criminal court (ICC) could amount to “offences against the administration of justice” and should be investigated by its chief prosecutor, legal experts have said....
White House says Israel’s latest actions in Rafah do not cross US red line (www.theguardian.com)
Why are German young people so easily seduced by AfD's ideas? (www.euronews.com)
Recent voter surveys say between 14% and 22% of under-30s would vote for the far-right Alternative for Germany party in the upcoming European elections. But who are these potential voters?...
Netanyahu admits ‘tragic mistake’ after Israeli strike on Rafah camp kills dozens (www.smh.com.au)
A few NATO countries are lobbying the rest to be bolder when it comes to sending their own soldiers to Ukraine (www.businessinsider.com)
Some European NATO members are talking about putting their troops in Ukraine....
US says Israel’s use of US arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete (apnews.com)
EU agrees €3B raid on Russian assets to buy weapons for Ukraine (www.politico.eu)
Late concession by Belgium paved way for deal on using profits to buy ammo for Kyiv’s war effort....