Rocket scientists build robot probes to gauge melting beneath Antarctic ice shelf
LOS ANGELES — Engineers who specialize in building NASA spacecraft to explore distant worlds are designing a fleet of underwater robot probes to measure how rapidly climate change is melting vast ice sheets around Antarctica and what that means for…
Newborn rattlesnakes at Colorado ‘mega den’ make their live debut
CHEYENNE, Wyoming — A “mega den” of hundreds of rattlesnakes in Colorado is getting even bigger now that late summer is here and babies are being born. Thanks to livestream video, scientists studying the den on a craggy hillside in…
Bird species extinct in Europe returns, and humans must help it migrate
PATERZELL, Germany — How do you teach a bird how, and where, to fly? The distinctive northern bald ibis, hunted essentially to extinction by the 17th century, was revived by breeding and rewilding efforts over the last two decades. But…
Doctor who helped Agent Orange victims wins Magsaysay Award
MANILA, Philippines — A Vietnamese doctor who has helped seek justice for victims of the powerful defoliant dioxin “Agent Orange” used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War is among this year’s winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards — regarded…
Russia pounds Kharkiv, Donetsk regions
Ukraine’s Kharkiv and Donetsk regions continued to be hit by deadly strikes from Russia on Saturday. Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, said on Saturday that a Russian guided bomb attack on a residential building killed two people…
UNICEF issues emergency tender to secure mpox vaccines
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has issued an emergency tender to secure mpox vaccines for crisis-hit countries in collaboration with the Gavi vaccine alliance, Africa CDC, and the World Health Organization, the organizations said in a joint statement Saturday….
Floods in Nigeria kill scores, wash away farmland, raise hunger concerns
ABUJA, Nigeria — Weeks of flooding have killed 185 people in Nigeria and washed away homes and farmlands, the country’s disaster management agency said, further threatening food supplies, especially in the hard-hit northern region. The floods, blamed on poor infrastructure…
Brazil’s block on X comes into effect after judge’s order
Brasilia, Brazil — A block on Elon Musk’s X social network in Brazil started to take effect early Saturday after a Supreme Court judge ordered its suspension, according to AFP. Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes on Friday ordered…
‘Renaissance of illegals’: Since start of war in Ukraine, Russia relies more on bargain-basement spies
Madrid/Washington — They are known as “illegals” — spies who operate under the guise of normal jobs. Since Russia lost many of its valuable spy assets when dozens of diplomats were expelled from Western countries after the invasion of Ukraine,…
Ukrainian air defense downs 24 Russian drones, Kyiv says
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian air defenses shot down 24 out of 52 drones launched by Russia during overnight attacks on eight regions across Ukraine, the air force said Saturday. It said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that…