International Conference on Financing for Development opens with a renewed global framework to tackle sustainable development challenges (LINK) 30 June 2025

US skips global UN meeting aimed at raising trillions to combat poverty (LINK) 30 June 2025

— At the last preparatory meeting on June 17, the United States rejected the outcome document that had been negotiated for months by the U.N.'s 193 member nations and announced its withdrawal from the process and the Seville conference.

— The Seville Commitment document, approved by consensus, will be adopted by conference participants without changes. It says delegates have agreed to launch "an ambitious package of reforms and actions to close the financing gap with urgency."

— It calls for a minimum tax revenue of 15% of a country's gross domestic product to increase government resources, a tripling of lending by multilateral development banks and scaling up of private financing by providing incentives for investing in critical areas like infrastructure. It also calls for reforms to help countries deal with rising debt.

UN expert urges criminalizing fossil fuel disinformation, banning lobbying: Rapporteur calls for defossilization of economies and urgent reparations to avert 'catastrophic' rights and climate harms (LINK) 30 June 2025: Report in PDF — (LINK)

Trump revokes US sanctions on Syria (LINK) 30 June 2025

Two more ICE deaths put US on track for one of deadliest years in immigration detention: uban person, 75, reportedly died in immigration detention last week, marking 13th migrant death in ICE jails in 2025 (LINK) 30 June 2025

Trump delays by one month plan to cut satellite data access crucial to hurricane forecasting: Scientists have warned loss of data access to Noaa and Nasa experts could set hurricane forecasting 'back decades' (LINK) 30 June 2025

Robert Reich: Trump's giant budget-busting, Medicaid-shattering, shafting-the-poor-and-working-class, making-the-rich-even richer bill is a travesty, the worst Bill in history (LINK) 30 June 2025

USAID cuts could lead to 14 million deaths over the next five years, researchers say (LINK) 30 June 2025

Elon Musk says he'll form the 'America Party' if Trump's 'insane' spending bill passes (LINK) 30 June 2025

U.S. Supreme Court throws out appellate rulings in favor of transgender people in 4 states (LINK) 30 June 2025

Ukrainian forces push Russian army away from Sumy, General Staff says (LINK) 30 June 2025

Dalai Lama, who turns 90 on July 6, 2025, set to reveal succession plan as China watches, hints Tibetan Buddhist institution could live on (LINK) — ground.news: 106 media reports (LINK) 30 June 2025

Bryan Kohberger agrees to plea deal to avoid death penalty in Idaho student killings (LINK) 30 June 2025

Italy to issue half million non-EU work visas over next three years in face of labour shortages (LINK) 30 June 2025

— A total 164,850 people will be allowed in next year, aiming to reach a cumulative total of 497,550 new entries by 2028.

Iran revises Evin prison strike toll on 23 June to 71 as judiciary reports 935 war dead (LINK) — ground.news: 264 media reports (LINK) 30 June 2025

— Iran also confirmed that top prosecutor Ali Ghanaatkar had been killed in the attack. Ghanaatkar's prosecution of dissidents, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, had led to widespread criticism by human rights groups.

Trump's justice department issued directive on 11 June to strip naturalized Americans of citizenship for criminal offenses (LINK) 30 June 2025

U.S. Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem secretly pocketed $80K from dark money group: report (LINK) 30 June 2025

Scientists discover a new creature that exists between life and not-life<: newly discovered organism appears to straddle the line between virus and cellsmall> (LINK) 30 June 2025

— Like a virus, this new organism 'Sukunaarchaeum mirabile' outsources some functions to its host, but can still create its own ribosomes and RNA. Its genome is also surprisingly small, and is roughly half the size (238,000 base pairs) of the next-smallest archaeal genome. Researchers in Canada and Japan outlined how they identified the new cellular entity named after a deity in Japanese mythology known for its small stature. Led by Ryo Harada, a molecular biologist from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the team chanced upon this strange creature while studying the bacterial genome of the marine plankton Citharistes regius. Within the genomic data, Harada and his team found a loop of DNA that didn't match with any known species. They eventually determined that the organism belonged to the domain Archaea — a group associated with prokaryotic cells, but from which eukaryotic cells (i.e. you and me) ultimately descended a couple billion years ago. "The discovery of Sukunaarchaeum pushes the conventional boundaries of cellular life and highlights the vast unexplored biological novelty within microbial interactions," the researchrs write. "Further exploration of symbiotic systems may reveal even more extraordinary life forms, reshaping our understanding of cellular evolution."

The ongoing heatwave in Switzerland has forced the Beznau nuclear power plant, which relies on water from the River Aare, to halve its output. (LINK) 30 June 2025

Heartbreaking truth behind 'Afghan girl' photo (LINK) 30 June 2025

Russia launched its largest aerial attack of the war, Ukraine says (LINK) 29 June 2025

— Moscow fired 537 aerial weapons toward Ukraine, including 477 drones and decoys and 60 missiles, according to Ukraine's air force. Among these weapons, 249 were shot down and 226 were lost, likely electronically jammed.

Canada rescinds tech tax on U.S., Canadian Prime Minister Carney says trade talks with US have resumed (LINK) 29 June 2025

Idaho firefighters killed in ambush, SWAT team find man with firearm dead on Canfield Mountain, Idaho, after hours-long manhunt (LINK) 29 June 2025

— "We do believe the suspect started the fire and we do believe that it was an ambush and it was intentional," sheriff said, noting that a preliminary investigation suggests there was only one gunman. "This was a total ambush. These firefighters did not have a chance."

"After studying hundreds of studies of vaccine safety, I can see some of what RFK Jr. gets wrong" (LINK) 29 June 2025

Tips for expat retirees, from expat retirees (LINK) 29 June 2025

Italy and Spain bake in temperatures above 40°C as cities issue red alerts and regions mull work bans (LINK) 29 June 2025

Rescuers evacuate 50,000 from the Seferihisar district near Izmir as Turkey battles wildfires (LINK) — ground.news: 95 media reports (LINK) 29 June 2025

NPR: estimated 100,000 march in Budapest Pride event in defiance of Orbán party's ban (LINK) 28 June 2025

— Organizers called it the largest LGBTQ+ Pride event in Hungary's history. Authorities installed additional cameras throughout the city centre before the march, and were expected to use facial recognition tools to identify individuals who attend the banned event. According to the new law, being caught attending Pride could result in fines of up to 200,000 Hungarian forints ($586).

Senate passed Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" with 51-49 vote (LINK) 28 June 2025

UNCTAD financing for development Sevilla 30 June-2 July 2025: draft outcome document from 17 June (LINK) 28 June 2025

At least 1.2 million Afghans forced to return from Iran and Pakistan this year, says UN (LINK) — ground.news: 20 media reports (LINK) 28 June 2025

Donald Trump's approval rating has dropped to an all-time low, according to Newsweek's latest poll tracker: 43% of Americans currently approve of Trump's performance, while 53% disapprove (LINK) 28 June 2025

U.S. Republican plans to sell millions of acres of federal land for development and housing dropped: withdrawn from President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act after it drew significant opposition from both sides of the political aisle (LINK) 28 June 2025

Pam Bondi axes Jan. 6 prosecutors in 'horrifying' purge (LINK) 28 June 2025

Meidas+: Trump's court victory masks political freefall (LINK) 28 June 2025

— As the President basks in Supreme Court victories and executive power grabs, his core supporters are peeling away — and the consequences may be deeper than he thinks.

US sees spate of arrests of civilians impersonating ICE officers because of trend of agents detaining people while masking and wearing plainclothes (LINK) 28 June 2025

Death toll in Antioquia, Colombia, landslide rises to 22 with 8 missing (LINK) — ground.news: 22 media reports (LINK) 28 June 2025

5 famous events in history that never really happened (LINK) 28 June 2025

5 historical movies that got it all wrong: Braveheart, JFK, Gladiator, Pocahontas, 10,000 BC (LINK) 28 June 2025

UN watchdog: Iran nuclear programme 'suffered enormous damage' (LINK) — ground.news: 13 media reports (LINK) 26 June 2025

— IAEA director Rafael Grossi says Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Fordow is "no longer operational" after a massive U.S. airstrike. "The attacks that began on June 13 caused very significant physical damage at three sites: Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow, where Iran had concentrated most of its uranium enrichment and conversion abilities," he said. "There are other nuclear sites in Iran that have not been hit," he added. "I know there is much debate about the degree of annihilation, total destruction, etc. What I can tell you, and I think everyone agrees on this, is that very considerable damage has been caused." Grossi said his inspectors have not yet gained access to the damaged Iranian sites, but "we know these facilities inside out," so "we can draw fairly accurate conclusions by looking at satellite images and so on about the type of damage and the consequences of what happened." "Iran is a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and, therefore, must have an inspection system, and this can't be unilaterally suspended," he said.

The US military did not use bunker-buster bombs on Isfahan nuclear bunker, one of Iran's largest nuclear sites, last weekend because the site is so deep that the bombs likely would not have been effective, the US' top general told senators during a briefing (LINK) 26 June 2025

Global public debt hits a record $102 trillion in 2024, striking developing countries hardest (LINK) 26 June 2025

— Since 2010, developing countries' debt has grown at double the pace of advanced economies. Today, 3.4 billion people live in countries spending more on interest payments than on health or education.

RFK Jr's advisers back U.S. flu vaccination, but not shots with a rarely used preservative that antivaccine groups have falsely tied to autism (LINK) 26 June 2025

Shell denies reports that the energy giant is in talks to take over BP (LINK) 26 June 2025

WEF New Champions: Entrepreneurship for a New Era: roundup (LINK) 26 June 2025

Closing session roundup — (LINK video 15min)

The Supreme Court blocked Planned Parenthood from suing South Carolina over the state's decision to pull the organization's Medicaid funding because it provides abortions, a decision that could prompt other red states target the organization and make it harder for other Medicaid beneficiaries to choose their doctor (LINK) 26 June 2025

Trump Organization removes 'made in the USA' tag for its gold T1 smartphone (LINK) 26 June 2025

— The T1's webpage now has a reference to "American-Proud Design". The website says the device is "brought to life right here in the USA".

Trump admin plans to re-deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia as criminal case falters (LINK) 26 June 2025

— The Justice Department reportedly informed the court that once Abrego Garcia is released from federal custody on bail, as a judge recently ordered, they plan to have him arrested by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). DOJ attorney Jonathan Guynn said the government would then initiate the process of deporting Abrego Garcia to a third-party nation that is not El Salvador, his country of birth and where a judge previously barred his deportation over concerns for his safety.

US citizen arrested during Ice raid in what family describes as 'kidnapping': Andrea Velez, 32, a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona, had just been dropped off at work by her mother and sister on 24 June (LINK) 26 June 2025

— Authorities have not told lawyers what charges Velez faces, but an official with the Department of Homeland Security told media that she was arrested for assaulting an Ice officer. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pew Research Centre: How many people leave a news site when asked to pay? Only 17% of people were willing to hand over their cash to pay for a subscription in the past year, with 83% just moving on when they have bumped into a paywall (LINK) 26 June 2025

— Part of the problem could be that readers interested in perhaps just one news article are usually only given the option to buy a long-term subscription, which often means only regular readers of a site are willing to pay for access. But 49% of those polled said that they were mostly motivated not to pay because "there are plenty of other free news articles." Another 32% said they weren't interested enough in the story to pay. Only 10% said the cost was too high, and 8% said that when they did pay, what they got wasn't worth the cost.

— Gannett Co. Inc., which publishes around 200 regional and local daily newspapers in the U.S., making it the largest newspaper group in the country, has 1.8 million digital subscribers across all of them, generating $43.3 million in revenue. That was 7.6% of the company's total revenue of $572 million in the last quarter. Overall, Gannett has seen its total revenue decline by 24% from the same quarter three years ago.

RFK Jr. says US won't donate to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in a video address at its pledging summit (LINK) 25 June 2025

— "I call on Gavi today to re-earn the public trust and to justify the $8 billion that America has provided in funding since 2001," he said. "And I'll tell you how to start taking vaccine safety seriously: Consider the best science available, even when the science contradicts esstablished paradigms. Until that happens, the United States won't contribute more to Gavi."

Trump rejects leaked intelligence that says strikes did not destroy Iran nuclear programme (LINK) 25 June 2025

Oil prices rise as investors assess Iran-Israel ceasefire (LINK) 25 June 2025

Ruble-linked stablecoin points to shady whale activity and potential laundering (LINK) 25 June 2025

Nestlé fined CHF500,000 by Swiss canton of Vaud for unauthorized and disguised use of activated carbon filters in the production of mineral Henniez water from 2008 to 2022 (LINK) 25 June 2025

— The use of these filters means that Henniez should not have been sold as mineral water, the Vaud public prosecutor's office said. Inspectors found that consumers had been deceived by the unauthorized mention of mineral water on the packaging. This had given Nestlé an economic advantage, which was to be compensated by the claim for compensation. However, the fine also takes into account the fact that the filtration was not harmful to consumers. In addition, Nestlé Waters had cooperated extensively with the authorities.

Videos show driverless Tesla 'robotaxis' braking hard without warning and on wrong side of the road (LINK) 25 June 2025

"The best art fair in the world": standout works from Art Basel 2025, from Leonora Carrington's painted triptych depicting a Mexican actress's dreams to Michelangelo's large-scale installation of mirrors (LINK) 25 June 2025

— "Art Basel in Basel is still considered the best art fair in the world. With 289 prominent international galleries from 42 countries and territories, the fair celebrated its 55th year in the picturesque Swiss city of Basel, beautifully situated along the Rhine River. Attracting 88,000 attendees during its preview and public days, the fair welcomed collectors, curators, and art lovers from around the globe, including representatives from over 250 prestigious museums and foundations."

Ceasefire, strikes and fury from Trump: chaotic 24 hours in Israel-Iran war (LINK) 24 June 2025

— There were reports of Israeli strikes killing nine people in the northern Iranian province of Gilan early on Tuesday morning local time, and five people killed in an Iranian strike on Beersheba in Israel. Trump: "Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I've never seen before, the biggest load that we've seen. I'm not happy with Israel … I'm not happy with Iran either."

Israel and Iran accept a ceasefire plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump to end their 12-day war (LINK) 24 June 2025

— The acceptance of the deal by both sides came after Tehran launched a final onslaught of missiles targeting Israel that killed at least four people early Tuesday morning, while Israel launched a blitz of airstrikes targeting sites across Iran before dawn.

Thailand announces new border restrictions as tensions with Cambodia soar (LINK) — ground.news: 22 media reports (LINK) 24 June 2025

Democratic socialist and Muslim Zohran Mamdani stuns Andrew Cuomo in NYC mayor primary (LINK) 24 June 2025

— Results on Tuesday night showed Mamdani with a commanding lead, but falling short of the 50% threshold needed to win outright. Born in Uganda, his family moved to New York City when he was seven. He has posted one campaign video entirely in Urdu and mixed in Bollywood film clips. In another, he speaks Spanish. Mamdani's strong support of Palestinians and criticism of Israel put him at odds with most of the Democratic establishment.

Presentation for CDC advisers appears to cite nonexistent study to support claims about risk of vaccine preservative (LINK) 24 June 2025

— The presentation was taken off the CDC website later Tuesday and replaced with a version that does not include the citation.

Federal judge halts Trump's order to end collective bargaining rights for 1m federal workers (LINK) 24 June 2025

Trump administration scrambles to rehire key federal workers after DOGE firings (LINK) 24 June 2025

Photos show Swiss glaciers' uncertain future as 'ambassadors of climate change' (LINK) 24 June 2025

— Switzerland is continental Europe's glacier capital, with some 1,400 that provide drinking water, irrigation for farmland in many parts of Europe including French wine country, and hydropower that generates most of the country's electricity. The number has been dwindling. The Alpine country has already lost up to 1,000 small glaciers, and the bigger ones are increasingly at risk.

Google faces UK clampdown as watchdog floats market power rules (LINK) 24 June 2025

The US Treasury reports $258B surplus, its 2nd biggest monthly surplus in history (LINK) 24 June 2025

— According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the surplus was driven by "large individual tax deposits", with April being the due date for final payments on prior-year taxes and the first installment of quarterly estimated taxes for many individuals and businesses. Customs duties, a reflection of Trump's tariffs, generated $15.6 billion in April, more than double the $6.3 billion collected during the same month last year. Yahoo Finance: "Still, tariff revenue remains modest compared to other major contributors. Despite the hefty surplus, one strong month isn't enough to reverse the broader fiscal trend. From October 1 through April 30, the U.S. government brought in $3.110 trillion in revenue but spent $4.159 trillion, resulting in a $1.049 trillion deficit for the fiscal year so far."

The woman who bested Big Oil: Sarah Finch's victory against Surrey County Council in the U.K. Supreme Court last summer sunk billions of pounds worth of oil and gas projects (LINK) 24 June 2025

'Extinction crisis' could see 500 bird species vanish within a century, triple the number of birds that went extinct in the previous 500 years (LINK) 24 June 2025

Donald Trump confirms Iran warned ahead of Qatar military base attack (LINK) — ground.news: 111 media reports (LINK) 23 June 2025

Switzerland not Viet Nam to host UNCTAD16 in Geneva 20-23 October 2025: "not possible to finalize the agreement with Viet Nam within the timeframe required to hold the conference in October 2025" (LINK) 23 June 2025

— Geneva is the city where the 1st UN Conference on Trade and Development was held in 1964.

Ukraine targets Russian oil lifeline supplying Kremlin troops in Donbas (LINK) 23 June 2025

Russian mass missile, drone attack on Kyiv kills at least 9, injures 33 (LINK) 23 June 2025

EU countries abandon anti-greenwashing talks after Italy pulls out (LINK) 23 June 2025

— The proposed law preventing companies from making misleading environmental claims now looks unlikely to be enacted. The negotiations were due to continue on Monday.

US digs heels in over China's bid to host ITU's World Radiocommunication Conference in 2027: the other contender, Rwanda, withdrew last week (LINK) 23 June 2025

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres quietly promoted a fellow Portuguese staffer to the rank of assistant secretary-general in March 2025 as other UN personnel, especially junior and midlevel workers with weak contracts, face uncertainty about their jobs and future in the organization (LINK) 23 June 2025

— Miguel Graça, a director in the executive office of the secretary-general, was promoted to the position of assistant secretary-general, or ASG, in March 2025, the same month Guterres announced his UN80 initiative. The plan is meant to make the UN more efficient by shrinking agencies, funds and programs systemwide by 20 percent cuts this year.

Embattled Thai PM reshuffles Cabinet as crisis rages (LINK) — ground.news: 36 media reports (LINK) 23 June 2025

World Bank grants South Africa a $1.5B loan for infrastructure upgrade and green energy transition (LINK) — ground.news: 15 media reports (LINK) 23 June 2025

— "Landmark step towards revitalizing its economy and overcoming deep-rooted infrastructure challenges."

Oil gains and US stock futures, Asian shares slip after US strikes Iran nuclear sites (LINK) 23 June 2025

Oman plans to impose personal income tax of 5% max from 2028, a first among Gulf states (LINK) — ground.news: 34 media reports (LINK) 23 June 2025

Scientists warn the Gulf Stream is on the verge of collapse with apocalyptic consequences: weakening for 100 years (LINK) 23 June 2025

— UK would be "fundamentally less habitable than it is at the moment." Temperatures could drop by 10C, and climate would be similar to that of Scandinavia. One study said it could collapse anywhere between 2025 and 2095.