Shooting attack at the West Bank-Jordan border crossing kills 3 Israelis — 8 September 2024 (LINK)

Venezuelan opposition leader Gonzalez lands in Spain seeking asylum after disputed election — 8 September 2024 (LINK)

Two NATO members — Romania and Latvia — say Russian drones violated their airspace — 8 September 2024 (LINK)

48 people confirmed dead in north-central Nigerian fuel tanker-truck collision — 8 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 69 media reports (LINK)

Indonesia arrests seven over Pope Francis online 'terror threats by ISIS — 8 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 58 media reports (LINK)

Two NATO members — Romania and Latvia — say Russian drones violated their airspace — 8 September 2024 (LINK)

Algeria's Abdelmadjid Tebboune re-elected president with 94.7 percent vote — 8 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 160 media reports (LINK)

Ukraine's 'dragon drones' rain molten metal on Russian positions in latest terrifying battlefield innovation — 7 September 2024 (LINK)

Body Shop's 100 remaining UK stores saved after rescue deal struck — 7 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 41 media reports (LINK)

Putin and Switzerland — 7 September 2024 (LINK)

UN-backed human rights experts seek wider arms embargo, 'impartial force' deployed to war-torn Sudan — 6 September 2024 (LINK)

Study: World pumps out 57 million tonnes of plastic pollution a year with over two-thirds originating from the Global South — 6 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 55 media reports (LINK)

— Lagos, Nigeria, emitted the most plastic pollution of any city. The other biggest plastic-polluting cities are New Delhi; Luanda, Angola; Karachi, Pakistan; and Al Qahirah, Egypt. India leads the world in generating plastic pollution, producing 10.2 million tons a year (9.3 million metric tons), far more than double the next big-polluting nations, Nigeria and Indonesia. China, often villainized for pollution, ranks fourth but is making tremendous strides in reducing waste. Other top plastic polluters are Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia and Brazil.

Iceland's last remaining whaling company, Hvalur hf, has been granted a licence to kill up to 128 fin whales this summer "blatantly in contravention of Iceland's own Animal Welfare Act" — 6 September 2024 (LINK)

A fire in a school dormitory in Kenya has killed 17 students and seriously burned 13 others, police say — 6 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 164 media reports (LINK)

Telegram CEO defends himself against French charges in first public comments — 6 September 2024 (LINK)

— Durov promised to step up efforts to fight criminality on the messaging app.

Groundbreaking artificial knee cartilage is stronger and lasts longer than the real thing — 6 September 2024 (LINK)

Swiss probing 11-year-old over extremist posts: media — 7 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 6 media reports (LINK)

Millionaire Swiss lawyer fined a record $110,000 for tailgating in his $60,000 BMW — 6 September 2024 (LINK)

— It's alleged that he was driving behind another car for about a mile and a half, maintaining 8-12m between the vehicles at speeds up to 74mph. In Switzerland, it appears that there are no clear rules on what distance constitutes tailgating, but it is necessary for a law enforcement officer to have witnessed the act and stopped the driver to issue a ticket. Swiss laws take into account the wealth of the lawbreaker when doling out fines.

North Korea executes dozens of officials after floods, landslides: S. Korea report — 5 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 68 media reports (LINK)

Sudan: UN Fact-Finding Mission outlines extensive human rights violations, international crimes, urges protection of civilians — 5 September 2024 (LINK)

China's Xi pledges over $50 billion in financial aid to Africa to deepen ties over three years, exceeding a previous commitment of $40 billion — 5 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 162 media reports (LINK)

DR Congo receives its first batch of nearly 100,000 doses of mpox vaccine — 5 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 85 media reports (LINK)

Macron names EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as France's new prime minister — 5 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 445 media reports (LINK)

Heather Cox Richardson: Russian malign activity and Trump, computer hackers, Ukraine — 5 September 2024 (LINK)

The Swiss government has appointed Jacques Gerber, current Jura Minister for the Economy and Health, as its "Delegate for Ukraine". He will take up his position on January 1, 2025. It's unusual for a politician to move into the Swiss bureaucracy. — 5 September 2024 (LINK)

— Over the next twelve years (by 2036), the Federal Council intends to provide CHF5 billion in support to Ukraine and the wider region, including CHF1.5 billion for the 2025–28 period.

— In June, the Federal Council reaffirmed that Switzerland's private sector should play a key role in Ukraine's recovery efforts. With a stimulus programme providing CHF500 million in funding over a four-year period, the government intends to create incentives for private investment in Ukraine recovery efforts by Swiss companies, thus ensuring visible 'Swissness'.

— Ukrainian refugees receiving skills training in Switzerland may also subsequently provide expertise to help rebuild Ukraine.

In surprise move, Hunter Biden pleads guilty to tax charges — 5 September 2024 (LINK)

— The case centered on Biden's failure to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019, even as he spent millions of dollars on what prosecutors described as an "extravagant lifestyle" replete with escorts, luxury hotels and a sex club membership.

— The last-minute change of plea headed off what would likely have been a painful legal and personal ordeal filled with sordid details of the younger Biden's life when he was addicted to crack cocaine. The case centered on Biden's failure to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019.

Italy luxury yacht victims died of 'dry drowning', first autopsies show: no water in their lungs, tracheas or stomachs— 5 September 2024 (LINK)

— The cause of death of the first four victims suggests that they had found an air bubble in the cabin in which five of the victims' bodies were discovered, and had consumed all the oxygen before the air pocket turned toxic due to carbon dioxide.

Tracking behaviour with AI to understand the brain wins EPFL professor the Swiss Science Prize Latsis 2024 — 5 September 2024 (LINK)

— Mackenzie W. Mathis, a professor at EPFL, teaches mice to play video games while recording their brain activity and behaviour during the process, and critically, she also develops the computer algorithms necessary to analyse the data obtained.

— Mackenzie W. Mathis was born in 1984 in California, where she grew up in the Central Valley, bordered by the Sierra Nevada mountains, where she was an accomplished horse rider. Since that time, she has maintained her passion for animals and their motor skills.

Swiss Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) partners with Crypto Finance to launch crypto asset brokerage: this partnership marks a significant step towards the broader acceptance of cryptocurrencies in Switzerland — 5 September 2024 (LINK)

Grand Bahama 5 years after Dorian: what has been done: rebuilding of homes in High Rock, Pelican Point, and McClean's Town. Through the East Grand Bahama revitalization project, new homes were constructed, and homes were repaired — 5 September 2024 (LINK)

Kyiv suspends Chief of Unmanned Systems amid allegations of treason and Russian ties — 4 September 2024 (LINK)

UNRWA welcomes progress in Gaza polio campaign, calls for permanent ceasefire — 4 September 2024 (LINK)

— Around 187,000 children have received the vaccine. Fighting pauses in areas of vaccinations, continues elsewhere

Human Rights Watch alleges Lebanon and Cyprus violated refugees' human rights and EU funds paid for it — 4 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 12 media reports (LINK)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to visit Haiti as US-backed mission to take on gangs struggles — 4 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 7 media reports (LINK)

The Swiss government has decided to extend the S protection status of people from Ukraine until 4 March 2026. Support measures for beneficiaries of this status are also being maintained.headline — 4 September 2024 (LINK)

Swiss government wants to ban Hamas from Switzerland for five years: the ban also covers organizations affiliated with the Islamist group. — 4 September 2024 (LINK)

Mobile phones are not linked to brain cancer: WHO confirms in major study — 4 September 2024 (LINK)

— In 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified radio wave exposure as a possible carcinogen to humans. The meaning of this classification was largely misunderstood and led to some increase in concern.

— IARC is part of the World Health Organization. Its classification of radio waves as a possible carcinogen was largely based on limited evidence from human observational studies. Also known as epidemiological studies, they observe the rate of disease and how it may be caused in human populations.

Global dengue cases continue to surge: 'Worst year for dengue cases on record': So far this year, there have been more than 11 million cases reported across 80 countries — 4 September 2024 (LINK)

Boko Haram militants on motorcycles attacked a northeast Nigerian village, killing over 100, residents say — 4 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 32 media reports (LINK)

— Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack, stating it was retaliation for villagers alerting security about their activities.

Scientists sound the alarm about shrinking glaciers: 'Glaciers have crossed this important benchmark': melting is happening even faster than previously thought — 4 September 2024 (LINK)

— Tropical glaciers in the Andes Mountains in South America have shrunk to their smallest size since the Ice Age ended more than 11,000 years ago. The tropics have now warmed out of the range of the Holocene Epoch (the name given to the current epoch, spanning the last 11,700 years — though some have proposed human activity pushed us into a new epoch, the Anthropocene).

— "This is the first large region of the planet where we have strong evidence that glaciers have crossed this important benchmark — it is a 'canary in the coal mine' for glaciers everywhere," Boston College professor and paleoclimatologist Jeremy Shakun said.

Feds seize 32 domains linked to Russian AI disinformation campaign — 4 September 2024 (LINK)

— "Among the methods Doppelganger used to drive viewership to the cybersquatted and unique media domains was the deployment of 'influencers' worldwide, paid social media advertisements (in some cases created using artificial intelligence tools), and the creation of social media profiles posing as U.S. (or other non-Russian) citizens to post comments on social media platforms with links to the cybersquatted domains," the agency said.

— Foreign agents set up a fake site designed to look like The Washington Post, but containing articles critical of U.S. policies.

A former Virginia police officer who stormed the U.S. Capitol received a reduced prison sentence of six years, making him one of the first beneficiaries of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limited the government's use of a federal obstruction law — 4 September 2024 (LINK)

North Carolina musician arrested, accused of Artificial Intelligence-assisted $10m fraud caper claiming royalty payments — 4 September 2024 (LINK)

Talented dogs can remember names of toys for at least two years, study finds — 4 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 10 media reports (LINK)

— The Border collie Gaia was the standout dog in the group.

— Dr Claudia Fugazza, the head of the research group at Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary, said: "We know that dogs can remember events for at least 24 hours and odours for up to one year but this is the first study showing that some talented dogs can remember words for at least two years. The findings of our current study cannot be generalized to other dogs because we only tested GWL dogs, individuals that show a special talent for acquiring object words."

Russian missiles blast Ukrainian military academy and hospital, killing more than 50, officials say — 3 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 374 media reports (LINK)

US prosecutors charge Hamas leaders over October 7 attack — 3 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 132 media reports (LINK)

Lebanon's former central bank governor detained in corruption probe — 3 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 51 media reports (LINK)

Uganda's main opposition leader Bobi Wine 'shot in leg' after confrontation with police — 3 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 39 media reports (LINK)

UN experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council: Iran executed more than 400 people this year — 3 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 35 media reports (LINK)

Musk's Starlink backtracks and says it will comply with judge's order to block X in Brazil — 3 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 36 media reports (LINK)

ProPublica: How Telegram became the "center of gravity" for a new breed of domestic terrorists — 3 September 2024 (LINK)

— Alexander Lightner, tapping away on his Samsung Galaxy in Sarasota, Florida, announced his intention to commit mass murder, according to federal court records. He used the coded language of a new breed of neo-Nazis who call themselves Accelerationists. Lightner wrote that he planned to become a "saint" — the term followers use for someone who advances their racist cause through lethal acts of terror — and to set a new "Highscore," or death toll.

Dollar at near two-week highs ahead of labour data deluge — 3 September 2024 (LINK)

Watches of Switzerland: The worst is over for the luxury watch market in U.K.: it reported steadying demand for high-end watches from its stores. Its shares rose by more than 10 per cent in early trades. — 3 September 2024 (LINK)

— The FTSE-250 company's shares have fallen by over 43 per cent this year after a sharp profit decline due to a slowdown in the broader luxury market. Investors have also been spooked by a decline in the price of pricey watches from the market's pandemic-era boom.

WEF: SOS on rising sea levels, and other nature and climate stories you need to read this week — 3 September 2024 (LINK)

• Sea levels in the western Pacific are rising at almost twice the global average rate.
• Lego to replace oil in plastic bricks
• Wildfires that swept through Canadian forests in 2023 released more greenhouse gases than some of the world's largest carbon-emitting countries. In total, 647 megatonnes of carbon was released into the atmosphere, exceeding the 2022 emissions of 10 countries, including Germany, Japan and Russia.

Australian Government test finds that Ai wildly underperforms compared to human employees — 3 September 2024 (LINK)

— In a series of blind assessments, the generative AI summaries of real government documents scored a dire 47 percent on aggregate based on the trial's rubric, and were decisively outdone by the human-made summaries, which scored 81 percent.

Roman military camp discovered at Colm la Runga 7,200 feet (2194m) up in the Swiss Alps — 3 September 2024 (LINK)

— Dating back 2,000 years, this encampment was presumably used by the Roman Legions during a battle at nearby Crap Ses Gorge in 15 B.C.E., amid Emperor Augustus's conquest of the Alps. Geophysical surveys and further excavations also unearthed various weapons and military equipment, such as sling bullets and shoe nails.

— The goal of the project was to create a clear picture of the Roman campaign against the local Suanetes tribe for control over this corner of the Alps, surveying the area with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology to look for traces of military activity.

Scottish home invaders used machete, Toblerone to rob a man of 23.5 Bitcoin: "first robbery in Scotland to involve tracing stolen cryptocurrency" — 3 September 2024 (LINK)

— Three men conducted the home invasion in the town of Blantyre, southeast of Glasgow, and one repeatedly beat a woman at the property with a personalized Toblerone bar and threw her into a bedroom.

Congo says at least 129 died during attempted jailbreak — 2 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 189 media reports (LINK)

Israel's main airport shuts in general strike after 500,000 protesters demand Gaza hostage deal — 2 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 110 media reports (LINK)

UK suspends some arm sales to Israel, citing humanitarian 'risk' — 2 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 181 media reports (LINK)

Ten Nigerian protesters charged with treason — 2 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 55 media reports (LINK)

Putin arrives in Mongolia, a state that is member of the ICC that issued an arrest warrant for him 18 months ago — 2 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 120 media reports (LINK)

— Though Putin has faced international isolation over the invasion of Ukraine, he visited North Korea and Vietnam in June and has also visited China twice in the past year.

Brazil Supreme Court panel upholds judge's decision to block X nationwide — 2 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 147 media reports (LINK)

Venezuela's Maduro condemns 'piracy' after US seizes his 'smuggled' plane — 2 September 2024 (LINK)

Heather Cox Richardson: Trump's re-election strategy — the same way southern white supremacists approached elections from 1876 to 1964 — 2 September 2024 (LINK)

Regular train service through the Gotthard base tunnel resumes more than a year after derailment — 2 September 2024 (LINK)

— Compared with the alternative solution, journey times between German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino will be reduced by an hour.

Beginner's Guide to AI Tools: Empowering Small Businesses with AI — 2 September 2024 (LINK)

— AI Adoption Rates: According to a recent report by McKinsey, 50% of companies have adopted AI in at least one business function. AI is increasingly accessible, with small businesses catching up quickly in areas like customer service and marketing.

— AI in Small Businesses: The 2023 AI Index Report from Stanford University found that 18% of small businesses in the U.S. are currently using AI, with most using it to enhance customer interactions and personalize marketing efforts.

3 Israeli policemen killed in West Bank shooting attack: The Khalil al-Rahman Brigade claimed responsibility — 1 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 85 media reports (LINK)

Germany: Far-right AfD wins first state vote since WWII and is roughly level in another — 1 September 2024 (LINK)

Swiss security experts propose rethinking neutrality, suggest closer ties with NATO and EU — 1 September 2024 (LINK)

Helicopter of Iran's late president Raisi crashed due to weather, final report says — 1 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 157 media reports (LINK)

UN-led campaign to vaccinate children against Polio kicks off in Gaza — 1 September 2024 (LINK)

Tanzania reportedly blocks X amid opposition crackdown — 1 September 2024 (LINK)

Thousands of Turks protest controversial law to remove stray dogs — 1 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 47 media reports (LINK)

Solana memecoin Evil Kamala to skyrocket over 15,000% ahead of exchange listings, while BONK and SHIB Drop — 1 September 2024 (LINK)

Chocolate's future could hinge on success of growing cocoa not just in the tropics, but in the lab because of climate change — 1 September 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 10 media reports (LINK)

UN weather chief Celeste Saulo: We can't let fear of climate change paralyse us — 1 September 2024 (LINK)