Ukraine's Zelenskiy presses US to greenlight deeper strikes into Russia — 31 August 2024 (LINK)

Six dead hostages discovered in a Gaza tunnel, among them Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin whose parents have been most vocal for a deal — 31 August 2024 (LINK)

U.S.-Iraqi raid in the Anbar Desert on 29 August killed 15 ISIS members, 7 US personnel injured: Officials — 31 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 71 media reports (LINK)

Brazil Supreme Court judge orders X shutdown in country after it failed to comply with earlier legal requirements to name a legal representative: blocking starts — 31 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 251 media reports (LINK)

America has just found energy for millennia in Texas: 30 million tonnes of 'the new oil' hydrogen — 31 August 2024 (LINK)

Israel says Hamas leader in Jenin killed on third day of West Bank operation — 30 August 2024 (LINK)

El Salvador's $135M Bitcoin bet now worth $400M — President Bukele says we have done well — 30 August 2024 (LINK)

Major power outage hits Venezuela's capital, with Maduro government blaming 'sabotage' — 30 August 2024 (LINK)

Former Mexican drug cartel leader who generated 'new era' of organized crime is released from US prison after 14 years of 25-year sentence — 30 August 2024 (LINK)

— Osiel Cárdenas Guillén is the past leader of the Gulf cartel who created the Zetas — a gang of former Mexican special forces soldiers who became his private army and hit squad. It's unclear why he did not serve his full sentence.

Arizona office worker found dead in a cubicle 4 days after last scanning in — 30 August 2024 (LINK)

Chart-topping hip-hop artist Fatman Scoop dies at 53 after collapsing on stage in Connecticut — 30 August 2024 (LINK)

Basel chosen to host Eurovision Song Contest 2025 from 13 - to 17 May — 30 August 2024 (LINK)

Country Ramblers — celebrating 55 Years of bluegrass in Switzerland to sold out houses — 30 August 2024 (LINK)

— Their music remains forceful and enchanting, the shows engaging and full of humour.

WHO announces limited pauses in Gaza fighting to allow for polio vaccinations — 29 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 228 media reports (LINK)

The Israeli military said it has killed five more militants in a large-scale operation in the occupied West Bank, including a well-known local commander — 29 August 2024 (LINK)

U.S.-Iraqi raid in the Anbar Desert on 29 August killed 15 ISIS members, 7 US personnel injured: Officials — 31 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 71 media reports (LINK)

Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, IAEA says — 29 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 84 media reports (LINK)

U.S. State Department Digital Press Briefing: Readout of the ALPS Group Talks on Sudan in Switzerland — 29 August 2024 (LINK)

Millions in south Japan told to evacuate as nation hit by one of strongest typhoons in decades — 29 August 2024 (LINK)

A Hong Kong court convicts 2 journalists in a landmark sedition case — 29 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 93 media reports (LINK)

— Stand News former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam were arrested in December 2021. They pleaded not guilty to the charge of conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications. Their trial was Hong Kong's first involving media since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Stand News was one of the city's last media outlets that openly criticized the government amid a crackdown on dissent that followed massive pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Palestinian officials say Israeli raids across occupied West Bank have killed 9 — 28 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 174 media reports (LINK)

24 missing after heavy floods in N.W. Yemen: authorities — 28 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 29 media reports (LINK)

Binance co-founder Ye Hi denies crypto seizure against Palestinians amid market uptrend — 28 August 2024 (LINK)

— Yi He clarified that the exchange had only restricted a select few user accounts which were linked to illicit activities, in accordance with stringent anti-money laundering (AML) laws.

The U.N. World Food Program is investigating two top officials in Sudan for fraud and hiding information about food aid delivery amid a severe hunger crisis, according to 11 sources — 28 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 13 media reports (LINK)

— Investigators looking at whether staff hid alleged role of Sudan's army in blocking food aid. Probe also investigating disappearance of fuel supplies in Sudan

China willing to engage with UN rights body on Xinjiang (Uyghurs resettlement region) — 28 August 2024 (LINK)

Drones hit Russian oil facility 1500 km from border in first-ever Kirov region attack — 28 August 2024 (LINK)

Namibia will cull 83 elephants and 30 hippos to distribute meat to people hit by drought: planning to cull some 700 wild animals — 28 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 79 media reports (LINK)

— Nearly half of Namibia's population of 2.5 million people is facing food insecurity amid the worst drought conditions to hit the arid southern African nation in 100 years. Food crop and livestock production have been affected and, according to the United Nations last week, 84 per cent of the country's food reserves have been exhausted.

Traders observe a daylong strike across Pakistan to protest rising costs and new taxes — 28 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 28 media reports (LINK)

Paris Paralympics make powerful start in journey from discord to concord — 28 August 2024 (LINK)

— In front of a crowd of 35,000 spectators at the Place de la Concorde, a parade of 128 often jubilant competing nations created a party atmosphere, and an image of a country still "en fete". As the head of the International Paralympic Committee, Andrew Parsons called for a "revolution of inclusion" in his speech.

Breakthrough new cancer therapy kills 99% of cancer cells — 28 August 2024 (LINK)

— The innovative technique leverages the power of molecular vibrations induced by near-infrared light to destroy cancerous cells, offering new hope in the fight against cancer.

Swiss government open to reversing 2017 ban on new nuclear plants: the government intends to draw up an indirect counter-proposal by the end of the year — 28 August 2024 (LINK)

1MDB 2009-2010 scam: Seven-year Swiss federal court prison sentence for Petrosaudi director, a Swiss-Saudi national — 28 August 2024 (LINK)

— He and his deputy, a dual Swiss-British national, were accused of embezzling $1.8 billion from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB between 2009 and 2010. The deputy was sentenced to six years' imprisonment.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov charged with allowing criminal activity on messaging app, enabling the spread of sexual images of children — 28 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 90 media reports (LINK)

— French authorities opened a preliminary investigation in February in response to "the near total absence of a response by Telegram to judicial requests" for data for pursuing suspects, notably those accused of crimes against children, the prosecutor's office said.

Ex-politician found guilty of 2022 murder in Vegas reporter's stabbing death sentenced to life in prison — 28 August 2024 (LINK)

— Robert Telles, a 47-year-old former Clark County public administrator, was convicted in the September 2022 death of Jeff German, a longtime Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter in a trial that highlighted concerns around press safety. The jury found the murder was "willful, deliberate and premeditated" and it was carried out by "lying in wait." Telles wore a disguise — including a large sun hat — and hid outside the reporter's home before fatally stabbing him, prosecutors said.

— Jeff German,69, had written about allegations of wrongdoing in the Clark County Public Administrator's office, reporting that Robert Telles, 47, created a hostile work environment and carried on an inappropriate relationship with a staffer. In part because of those articles, Telles lost his bid for reelection in a Democratic primary in June 2022.

— The prosecution used video and physical evidence to tie Telles to the suspect's disguise, a maroon vehicle at the scene and DNA from under German's fingernails.

— In contrast, the defense said Telles had been framed for the death because he was trying to make changes in his political office that upset the "Old Guard." Telles testified in his own defence during the trial and denied wrongdoing, offering up a conspiracy that a real estate company had hired an assassin to kill the reporter and then frame him. "I want to say, unequivocally, I am innocent. I didn't kill Mr. German," Telles testified.

— There have been 14 journalists killed in the US since 1992, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Report: 80% of AI projects fail, doubling regular IT project failure rates: Executives can take most of the blame — 28 August 2024 (LINK)

— The first and most common reason was industry stakeholders often misunderstanding or miscommunicating what problem needs to be solved using AI and what the technology is capable of achieving. Some executives fail to comprehend how the tech can be applied to their business, what resources are required to implement it, and how long the process will take.

'A crisis entirely of humanity's making': UN chief issues climate SOS on trip to Pacific — 27 August 2024 (LINK)

— Sea-surface temperatures in the south-west Pacific have risen three times faster than the global average since 1980, according to a regional report compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). It also found that marine heatwaves in the region had roughly doubled in frequency since 1980 and become more intense and longer-lasting. The report said 34 mostly storm or flood-related "hydrometeorological hazard events" in the south-west Pacific last year led to more than 200 deaths and affected more than 25 million people.

Australia's highest winter temperature on record: 41.6C in WA's Kimberley — 27 August 2024 (LINK)

UN OHCHR: Afghanistan's "repressive law" must be immediately repealed — 27 August 2024 (LINK)

— "The newly-adopted law on 'Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice' by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan cements policies that completely erase women's presence in public &mdash silencing their voices, and depriving them of their individual autonomy, effectively attempting to render them into faceless, voiceless shadows."

— "This is utterly intolerable. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk calls for this egregious law to be immediately repealed. The long list of repressive provisions that this law imposes on women reinforces a number of existing restrictions that violate their fundamental human rights, including their freedom of movement, their freedom of expression, and their right to live free from discrimination." — news release

— "The law further tightens the grip on the media sector, with a ban on publishing images of human beings, presumably also those of de facto officials. We call on the de facto authorities to immediately repeal this legislation, which is in clear violation of Afghanistan's obligations under international human rights law."

Iran's supreme leader opens door to negotiations with United States over Tehran's nuclear program — 27 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 62 media reports (LINK)

Ukraine's Zelensky vows revenge after massive strikes by Putin's forces kill at least four: Two were killed in Kryvyi Rih and two died in drone attacks in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia — 27 August 2024 (LINK)

Israel has rescued hostage after 10 months of captivity by Hamas in Gaza, military says — 27 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 365 media reports (LINK)

Smugglers throwing migrants off speedboats in Aegean Sea to avoid arrest, says Greek coast guard — 27 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 12 media reports (LINK)

Four arson suspects arrested for setting sugarcane fires in Brazil — 27 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 28 media reports (LINK)

Cuba is facing its worst social crisis since the collapse of the Soviet bloc — 27 August 2024 (LINK)

After immunity ruling, Trump indicted again for trying to reverse 2020 election — 27 August 2024 (LINK)

Swiss government criticised for delay in insect protection — 27 August 2024 (LINK)

— Five years after the House of Representative's Environment Committee voted in favour of better protection for insects, Swiss NGO Birdlife has criticised the government's hesitant action. The loss of valuable habitats continues, it says. Overall, almost 60% of insect species are threatened or potentially threatened in Switzerland; 59 wild bee species (9.6%) have already disappeared, according to the 2024 red list.

Not one Swiss canton on track for Paris climate agreement — 27 August 2024 (LINK)

— According to the rankings, the most climate-conscious canton is Basel City. Appenzell Inner Rhodes lags furthest behind.

"Chocolate breakthrough" reported by Swiss scientists at Zurich's prestigious Federal Institute of Technology: uses the cocoa fruit pulp, the juice, and the husk, or endocarp not just the bean, and eliminates need for sugar — 27 August 2024 (LINK)

Russia's deadly overnight barrage of missiles and drones hits over half of Ukraine — 26 August 2024 (LINK)

Israel and Hezbollah in major missile exchange as escalation fears grow — 26 August 2024 (LINK)

Dollar sinks vs yen, hovers near 2-1/2-year low to sterling on dovish Fed shift — 26 August 2024 (LINK)

Oil climbs on Mideast escalation fears, U.S. rate cut expectations — 26 August 2024 (LINK)

Australia's highest winter temperature on record: 41.6C in WA's Kimberley — 27 August 2024 (LINK)

Hurricane Gilma tracker: See latest details, projected path of storm in Pacific — (LINK)

Libya's eastern government says all oilfields to close due to tensions with the UN-recognized government in Tripoli, citing "force majeure" — 26 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: media reports (LINK)

— The shutdown results from a dispute over the Central Bank of Libya's leadership and threatens a UN-brokered peace deal. Armed factions mobilizing on each side are involved in attempts to replace the Central Bank head, Sadiq al-Kabir.

Telegram founder's arrest part of larger investigation into alleged 'complicity' in child exploitation and drug trafficking — 26 August 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 104 media reports (LINK)

CNN: A Russian Elon Musk with 100 biological children — (LINK)

US Dollar recovers after declining on Friday due to Powell's dovish remarks. — 26 August 2024 (LINK)

Trump threatens to pull out of Harris debate, over Democrats' proposal for hot mikes — 26 August 2024 (LINK)

Nieman Lab: Readers prefer to click on a clear, simple headline — like this one — 26 August 2024 (LINK)

Swiss company says it's no longer viable to build Colorado solar-cell-production site: Meyer Burger Technology's stock skids as its profit target is lowered — 26 August 2024 (LINK)

— Meyer Burger Technology said it is now going to focus on the module production plant in Goodyear, Ariz., which is mostly installed and in the ramp-up phase, and its existing cell-production site in Thalheim, Germany, will now form the backbone of its solar-cell supply.

Researchers in Switzerland carry out Hong Kong endoscope operation from 9,300km away — 26 August 2024 (LINK)