Hamas says Palestinian Deputy Minister of Labour in Gaza killed in airstrike on school — see_link — 7 July 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 21 media reports — (LINK)

— IDF said the strike targeted "terrorists" hiding in the school and a nearby weapon-making facility."Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken in order to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise aerial surveillance and additional intelligence," the IDF said. The deputy minister's wife and children were reportedly killed by an Israeli strike in May.

A weakened West Africa bloc asks Senegalese leader to try to convince breakaway states to return — AP — 7 July 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 14 media reports — (LINK)

Boeing avoids criminal trial over 737 Max crashes after accepting plea deal — theverge — 7 July 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 122 media reports — (LINK)

Napoleon's pistols sell for €1.69m at auction — independent.co.uk — 7 July 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 16 media reports — (LINK)

Institute for the Study of War: Russian offensive campaign assessment, July 7, 2024 — understandingwar.org — 7 July 2024 (LINK)

• The 24 June Nekhoteevka strike demonstrates Ukraine's ability to conduct successful strikes on Russian military targets within Russia using Western-provided weapons to degrade Russian forces' ability to conduct offensive operations in Ukraine.
• Ukrainian drone operators appear to be improving their capabilities to interdict longer-range Russian drones in mid-air, and these technological innovations may allow Ukrainian forces to ease pressures on short-range and medium-range air defense assets if successfully fielded at scale.
• Chechen "Akhmat" Spetsnaz forces likely coerced a Russian milblogger to issue a public apology after he criticized "Akhmat" forces — an illustrative example of unprofessionalism in the Russian military.

— ISW is a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy research organization. Dr. Kimberly Kagan founded ISW in May 2007, as U.S. forces undertook a daring new counterinsurgency strategy to reverse the grim security situation on the ground in Iraq . Frustrated with the prevailing lack of accurate information documenting developments on the ground in Iraq and the detrimental effect of biased reporting on policymakers, Dr. Kagan established ISW to provide real-time, independent, and open-source analysis of ongoing military operations and insurgent attacks in Iraq.

Hamas drops key demand that Israel commit up front to a complete end to the war: Compromise comes as Israeli airstrike in Gaza kills 16, injures 50 others — AP — 6 July 2024 (LINK)

Deadly floods devastate Brazil, Kenya: IFAW’s latest updates: 5,000 animals rescued in Brazil, emergency horse evacuation in Ukraine — decrypt.co — 6 July 2024 (LINK)

Reformist Massoud Pezeshkian elected Iran's president — BBC — 6 July 2024 (LINK)

French cyclist Julien Bernard fined CHF200 for kissing wife during Tour de France stage — BBC — 6 July 2024 (LINK)

The governing body said the fine was for "unseemly or inappropriate behaviour during the race and damage to the image of the sport". Writing on social media, Bernard apologised to the UCI for "having damaged the image of sport" but said he was willing to pay the fine "every day and relive this moment".

Marine Le Pen says French far right will rein in aid to Ukraine, slams soccer star Mbappé, who has made repeated comments in recent weeks seemingly haranguing the far right. — CNN — 5 July 2024 (LINK)

"Mbapp&eactute; doesn't represent French people with an immigration background, because there are far more of them living on the minimum wage, who can't afford housing and can't afford heating," she said.

The top 10 countries receiving U.S. foreign aid: Ukraine, Israel, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, South Sudan, Nigeria, Syria — visualcapitalist — 6 July 2024 (LINK)

The world's 10 most corrupt countries (higher score better): Turkmenistan 18, Equatorial Guinea 17, Haiti 17, Nicaragua 17, North Korea 17, Yemen 16, South Sudan 13, Syria 13, Venezuela 13, Somalia 11 — 247wallst — 6 July 2024 (LINK)

— There are no countries in the world that can boast a 100 score, but Denmark comes the closest with 90. Fortunately, there are also no countries with a 0, although the Federal Republic of Somalia scored the lowest with 11.

— Over two-thirds of the countries on the list scored below 50, while the global average is also below 50, at 43. Furthermore, according to Transparency International, things have only grown worse or remained the same in the past decade.

U.K.:'The Labour Party has won this general election': Sunak concedes defeat — lbc — 5 July 2024 (LINK)

— A disastrous night for the Conservatives, with eight Cabinet ministers losing their seats by the time of Mr Sunak's speech.

General Election exit poll predicts Labour landslide with majority of 170 seats: the Conservatives are set for 131 seats, the lowest number of Tory MPs on record. The exit poll also forecasts the Liberal Democrats on 61 seats, Reform UK on 13 and the Green Party on two — lbc — (LINK) — ground.news: 159 media reports — 5 July 2024 (LINK)

At least 90 migrants drown in shipwreck off Mauritania on 1 July — CNN — 5 July 2024 (LINK)

Pope Francis arch-conservative critic excommunicated by the Vatican — BBC — 5 July 2024 (LINK)

UNOG Newsroom Hurricane Beryl update: OCHA, WMO, IFRC — unognewsroom — 5 July 2024 (LINK)

Heather Cox Richardson: Biden vs Trump in the media: of 92 NYTimes pieces coving Trump, none mentioned Trump’s mental fitness. — substack — 5 July 2024 (LINK)

Handicap International's Broken Chair being restored in July — Handicap International — 5 July 2024 (LINK: in French)

— carpenter Louis Genève and Thomas Büchi, both of whom worked on creating the Broken Chair 27 years ago, and the artist Daniel Berset, will be involved, says Handicap International. The Chair's details: created 1997, 12m high, 5.5 tonnes in weight, material: Douglas fir.

Geneva's financial sector: banks move out of the Quartier des Banques — finews — 5 July 2024 (LINK)

Bitcoin crashes to $53K, but analysts warn the worst isn't over — cointelegraph — 5 July 2024 (LINK)

Israel turbocharges West Bank settlement expansion with largest land grab in decades: plans to approve the construction of 5,300 settlement units — AP — 4 July 2024 (LINK)

— U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric called it "a step in the wrong direction," adding that "the direction we want to be heading is to find a negotiated two-state solution."

EU slaps Chinese electric cars with tariffs of up to 38% — AFP — 4 July 2024 (LINK)

Ukraine receives nearly 6,000 solar panels to power hospitals — kyivindependent — 3 July 2024 (LINK)

UN opens investigation into allegations its Palestine monitor took funds from pro-Hamas lobby groups — allisrael — 3 July 2024 (LINK)

Switzerland's government-owned PostFinance adds ADA, SOL, XRP to its trading options — ambcrypto.co — 3 July 2024 (LINK)

Hundreds of candidates pull out of French run-off in bid to foil far right — Al Jazeera — 2 July 2024 (LINK)

Six dead across Caribbean as downgraded Hurricane Beryl heads toward Jamaica — grist.org — 2 July 2024 (LINK)

240,000 people evacuated in eastern China rainstorms, says state media: Nearly 1 million Anhui residents were affected by rainstorms — AFP — 2 July 2024 (LINK)

First talks with the Taliban since takeover — no women allowed: At the Taliban government’s insistence, no civil society representatives were in the room with the Taliban officials, meaning no women from Afghanistan were included, prompting criticism from rights groups and activists. UN officials met Afghan civil society groups separately. — BBC — 2 July 2024 (LINK)

Haiti's gang violence has displaced more than 300,000 children since March, Unicef says — AP — 2 July 2024 (LINK)

UN rapporteur: Canada failing to protect human rights activists from mining companies operating overseas — globeandmail — 2 July 2024 (LINK)

Scientists discover clean energy offers US nearly $250 billion in health savings: 'These findings can help us target future wind and solar development' — thecooldown. — 2 July 2024 (LINK)

Trump sentencing date in hush money case postponed more than two months to Sept. 18 — CNBC — 2 July 2024 (LINK)

Rudy Giuliani is disbarred in New York for spreading Donald Trump's 2020 election lies: The former New York City mayor had no "good faith basis" to believe lies about widespread voter fraud, the order said — NBC — 2 July 2024 (LINK)

How Zurich is paving the way to a sustainable future — thred.com — 2 July 2024 (LINK)

— Ambitious sustainability programs and recycling systems have cemented Zurich's status as one of the greenest modern cities in Europe — perhaps even the world.

— Locals are accustomed to signing no-car pledges, and have adapted to life in cooperative housing complexes like Blueground, a network of furnished rentals for long-term stays. Tenants are welcomed with a rigorous recycling system, laid out in an extensive manual.

— The Storchen Zürich, a luxury hotel on the Limmat River, has had two recent renovations that have seen the building — which opened in 1375 — eliminate single-use plastics in guest rooms, install a state-of-the-art food recycling program, and a farm-to-table initiative that ensures almost all of its produce is sourced from local farms. An undercover 'green team' also means staff members can observe whether rules are being followed, reporting any green infractions to the general manager.

China's crash: what it means. Did you know it leaves Australia in $10 billion a month free fall? China is Australia’s dominant export market — yahoo.com — 2 July 2024 (LINK)

UN adopts Chinese resolution with US support on closing the gap in access to artificial intelligence — AP — 1 July 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 33 media reports — (LINK)

Hurricane Beryl makes landfall: No storm in recorded history has reached Category 4 this fast, this early — grist.org — 1 July 2024 (LINK)

At least 90 migrants drown in shipwreck off Mauritania — CNN — 1 July 2024 (LINK)

U.S. Chief Justice Sotomayor offers terrifying list of things Trump could do as President after immunity ruling — thedailybeast — 1 July 2024 (LINK)

The Geneva Graduate Institute and André Hoffmann sign an agreement to establish the Hoffmann Centre for Global Sustainability, dedicated to integrated (nature positive and socially equitable) sustainability. — graduateinstitute — 1 July 2024 (LINK)

Will Biden's green jobs policy, creating over 300K jobs, help him win votes? — BBC — 1 July 2024 (LINK)

— The president's landmark 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — his signature green legislation — offered hundreds of billions of dollars in tax incentives, credits and loans to stimulate American manufacturing in clean energy. The most ambitious climate legislation in US history has generated a tsunami of private sector investments, with big implications for the rest of the world. Since the law was passed, more than 300,000 clean energy jobs have been created in the US, according to the advocacy group Climate Power.

National energy and climate plan: what France risks if it fails to comply — euractiv — 1 July 2024 (LINK)

— By failing to meet its renewable energy targets for 2020, and refusing to set similar targets for 2030. France risks a heavy fine and the freezing of European funds. But in practice, imposition of penalties seem a long way off.

Euro gains, reaches 2-week high, and bond markets steady as investors eye French hung parliament — The Guardian UK ● — 1 July 2024 (LINK)

Ukraine's AI drones can target enemy uniforms and vehicles — eurasiareview — 1 July 2024 (LINK)

— A Ukrainian tech startup has created a new AI-powered drone that can identify and target things based on visual cues, such as specific uniforms. These drones can operate together in swarms and communicate with each other. The startup says the drones can make quick decisions on their own. But to avoid mistakes, such as hitting friendly targets, they need human approval before taking action.

We waste two-thirds of the energy in fossil fuels — cleantechnica — 1 July 2024 (LINK)

— The incredibly poor energy efficiency of fossil fuels is partly by design. For a century, the global economy primarily prioritized energy volume-add, not value-add, and invested in boosting energy sales, not the value each unit of energy adds. We invest mostly in energy quantity, not quality and efficiency.