Flagship

Israeli military at odds with government

The Israeli government and its army are feuding in public after months of simmering tensions over the military campaign in Gaza. The armed forces’ spokesman said this week that “the idea that it is possible to destroy Hamas, to make Hamas vanish — that is throwing sand in the eyes of the public.” His comments drew a sharp rebuke from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has asserted that the war will only end with Hamas’ complete destruction. Days earlier, Netanyahu lashed out at the army’s plan for a limited pause in operations in Gaza to allow for more aid distribution. “There’s an enormous lack of trust. The military no longer believes in the political leadership, parts of which no longer believe in the army,” a retired Israeli general said.

Birds fall from sky in India heat wave

India’s ongoing heat wave, its longest ever, has led to more than 100 deaths and around 40,000 cases of heatstroke, officials said. Birds are falling from the sky and bats are dropping dead from trees as temperatures in northern India reach 122°F (50°C). The heat wave has also sparked broader concerns over how climate change could affect India’s long-term economic ambitions, India Link wrote; a dry start to the monsoon season could hurt the crop yields for sugar and rice and likely “exacerbate existing inflation distress across the world.” Globally, record temperatures this week are suspected to have killed hundreds, if not thousands: At least 300 people have died while performing the annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca.

Apple looks for Chinese AI partner

Apple is seeking a Chinese partner to help integrate artificial intelligence into its next wave of iPhones in the country, but no such deal has been announced. The US tech giant is working with OpenAI to put ChatGPT into its phones, set to release in just a few months, but with ChatGPT blocked in China, Apple has approached Chinese tech giant Baidu and startup Baichuan AI, The Wall Street Journal reported. Foreign tech companies need Beijing’s approval to deploy AI models there over concerns of influencing public opinion, and face major regulatory hurdles. Apple is also struggling to compete with local brands in China that have already integrated AI into their devices; iPhone sales there fell 19% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024.

US could ban world’s biggest drone maker

US lawmakers want to ban a popular Chinese-made drone, in part because of technical capabilities it was forced to add in response to American regulations. A measure that would ban products from Shenzhen-based DJI, the world’s biggest drone maker, mirrors Washington’s concerns over TikTok: Supporters say DJI’s Chinese ownership presents a national security threat, since the drones are connected to the internet and could collect sensitive data. But DJI only added those web capabilities because the US government pressured drone companies to integrate privacy and safety features that require internet infrastructure. American law enforcement, meanwhile, is able to use much more invasive drone technology, 404 Media wrote: “We are ignoring the real threat at home to freak out about an imagined one from abroad.”

Russia eyes nuclear influence

​​​​As Russia’s oil and gas exports dwindle, the country is turning to nuclear power to win geopolitical influence. Before its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia already accounted for about half of all international agreements on nuclear power plant construction, supply, and management, the Financial Times reported. And while Moscow’s fossil fuel exports have suffered under international sanctions, its nuclear industry has gone largely unaffected. State-owned agency Rosatom is a leading exporter of reactors worldwide, and is currently building a $12 billion, 2,400-megawatt installation in Bangladesh. The project not only brings in money for Russia, but will “bind the two countries together for decades and expand the Kremlin’s influence,” the FT wrote.

Chernobyl land declared safe

Ukrainian scientists declared much of the land around Chernobyl safe to farm, nearly 40 years after the catastrophic meltdown of the city’s nuclear reactor. The 1986 explosion and subsequent fire released large amounts of radioactive isotopes, which can remain toxic for decades. But researchers said radiation levels on about 320,000 acres of farmland have now dropped below levels considered unsafe, and while some areas remain above limits, scientists say little of this radiation is transferred to crops. Political obstacles remain, however: Declaring the land uncontaminated would end compensation payments for those living there, which the government is unwilling to do “because of the threat of massive protests,” one analyst told New Scientist.

Rare cat no longer endangered

One of the rarest cats in the world is no longer endangered. The Iberian lynx is now classified as a “vulnerable” species, the International Union for Conservation of Nature announced Thursday, after what one coordinator described as the “greatest recovery of a cat species ever achieved through conservation.” The number of mature wild cats grew from 62 in 2001 to 648 in 2022; the total population of young and mature lynx is now around 2,000, with most clusters located in Spain. The surge is closely linked to conservation efforts ensuring an abundance of the lynx’s main prey, the endangered European rabbit. But the cats aren’t out of the woods yet: Researchers are still concerned about the impact of climate change on the animals.

Dinosaur fossil could be new species

A Triceratops-like fossil with strange, asymmetrical horns may represent a new species of dinosaur. The fossil, found in Montana in 2019, has two horns on its huge frill and two more above its eyes, a pattern never seen before in ceratopsian dinosaurs. Scientists told Science they are unsure whether Lokiceratops rangiformis, named after the blade-wielding Norse god Loki, represents a new species: Ceratopsians show significant variation in headgear. If it is, it could mean as many as five similar species coexisted in the area 78 million years ago. Western North America has seen a fossil boom in recent years, revealing a far greater diversity of dinosaur species than previously thought.

Prolific actor Donald Sutherland dies

Donald Sutherland, the Canadian actor known for playing offbeat authority figures over a seven-decade career, died Thursday at age 88. His more than 200 movie and television credits included M*A*S*H, Pride and Prejudice, and, more recently, the Hunger Games movies, in which he played the chilling character of President Snow, amassing a new generation of fans. Thanks to his persistent work ethic, he “never really seemed like he belonged to a single era,” a New York Times critic wrote. Sutherland often played American soldiers, but was a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War; he and actress Jane Fonda were once put on National Security Agency watchlists over their anti-war advocacy.

Ruins point to lost city

Newly discovered ruins in the United Arab Emirates could be the lost city of Tawam, archaeologists say. Mentioned in ancient Arabic texts, Tawam was believed to have been a major capital in eastern Arabia in the sixth century, famous for pearl-fishing and precious gems. But it fell into decline after the Justinian Plague, which devastated the Middle East around AD 540. Archaeologists last month unearthed the remains of homes packed into narrow streets and large jars bearing Aramaic writing: One said it was “the largest settlement [of its period] by far” found in the region, and “exactly the right period for the city described in the early Islamic geographical sources.”

June 21:

• The Aymara, who make up a majority of Bolivia’s indigenous population, celebrate the New Year.
• The Southern Hemisphere observes the winter solstice.
• France celebrates its annual Fête de la musique, or World Music Day.

Rojak is a colloquial Malay word for “eclectic mix,” and is the name for a Javanese dish that typically combines sliced fruit and vegetables with a spicy dressing.

Xi the non-radical urbanist

What does Xi Jinping think about urban planning? The question could serve as a lens to understand the Chinese leader’s views on governance. Researcher Andrew Stokols reviewed speeches Xi has given over the years, including some found at Xinhua Bookstore’s flagship branch in Beijing. He concluded that Xi’s views on urbanism and cities “can hardly be described as radical,” Stokols wrote in his newsletter Sinocities. Xi has criticized past government approaches that led to pollution, loss of local identity, flashy buildings, and overpriced housing.

He’s promoted architecture with traditional Chinese culture and urban design that puts people’s experiences first. Xi also pushed for giving national bodies more clout than prefectures in city planning. That, Stokols wrote, parallels his larger philosophy of centralizing government power within the Chinese Communist Party.

Ticket to ride

India may just be the perfect country for a high-speed rail network. Given the massive size of its aviation market and the already-congested current rail infrastructure, there is an argument for short flights within the country to be replaced by bullet trains. That’s the case Kyle Chan makes in High Capacity, his newsletter about industrial policy focusing on India and China. Chan designed his own map for what a rail network would look like; a trip from New Delhi to Mumbai would take 4.5 hours, compared to 16 hours currently.

Critics point to the high cost of building such a network, but Chan argued that railways shouldn’t be viewed as a “financial asset” with a direct return on investment. Instead, they drive the country’s broader development. Bullet trains “have the potential to transform India like its conventional railways did in the past. A country as large and rapidly developing as India needs to bet big on its future.”

Manifestation station

Humans have always wanted control over that which they cannot control. Today, many call it “manifesting,” the philosophy that thinking, writing, or saying something can will it into existence. In medieval England, people turned to “cunning” magicians, who were able to supernaturally assist others to find everything from love to missing kitchenware.

Recently, the practice of manifesting has taken off, in part thanks to TikTok trends, along with using crystals to summon magical forces. But such craft is irrational and arguably harmful compared to the olden days of going to a magician for help, Brian Klaas argues in his newsletter The Garden of Forking Paths. The medieval guides worked in collective belief, rather than the individualistic nature of today’s manifestation: “The underlying premise can create a philosophical justification for blaming victims of oppressive social systems. Poor? Should’ve manifested riches!”

Controversy drives fashion trends in South Korea. In April, K-pop executive Min Hee-jin held a much-publicized, tearful press conference denying breach-of-duty allegations made against her by a record label she works with. The simple apparel she was wearing — a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball cap and a green striped sweatshirt — quickly sold out online. From criminals to political figures, problematic and powerful Koreans have spawned fashion copycats for decades, The Korea Herald wrote: “The market here is highly sensitive to those who command a lot of influence — be it positive or negative.” After a notorious fugitive wanted for murder was captured in 1999, the Missoni T-shirt he was wearing at the time led knockoffs to flood the market.

• Can tiny-home mortgages fix California’s housing crisis?
• The US firm planning to fly first the Nigerian to space on Bezos’ rocket
• House panel to scrutinize China’s semiconductor, drone industries