PBS News: Lured by Russia, African soldiers end up on deadly front lines of Ukraine war A PBS News segment on men from African countries whom Russia lures into its war against Ukraine with promises of jobs, hefty bonuses and citizenship. Ukrainian authorities estimate that Russia has recruited 27,000 foreign nationals from 130 countries since 2022. African soldiers […]
links: 03.07.2026
The Athletic: There are 99 French-born players at this World Cup. Welcome to the beating heart of global football The Athletic reports that 99 players at this year’s World Cup were born in France — more than in any other country (the Netherlands is a distant second with 67) — and many of them represent other national teams: […]
links: 02.07.2026
PBS News: Defying Pope Leo XIV, traditionalists go ahead with bishop consecrations in Switzerland PBS News reports that the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, in open defiance of Pope Leo XIV, consecrated four bishops without papal consent in Écône, Switzerland — an act that under church law brings automatic excommunication for both the new bishops and the […]
links: 30.06.2026
Wired: How Hunter Biden Won the Internet Wired spent months talking to Hunter Biden — the son of a former US president — about his return to public life. For three years he stayed silent and painted in a Malibu garage, but in May, after nearly a decade away, he began posting on X again and gained more […]
links: 29.06.2026
The New York Times: The Generational Force Hollowing Out the Economy A New York Times opinion piece argues that the vast artificial-intelligence buildout — already more than a trillion dollars a year — is not propping up the US economy, as is commonly assumed, but on the contrary is strangling it: data centres are soaking up so much […]
links: 27.06.2026
Le Monde: In the age of AI, Chinese universities overhaul their curricula Le Monde describes how Chinese universities are overhauling their degree programmes to align with artificial intelligence, which has been made the top priority of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) — the government wants to embed the technology in as many sectors of the real economy as […]
links: 26.06.2026
The New York Times: Climate Change Fueling Europe’s Ferocious Heat Wave, Scientists Find A rapid scientific analysis concludes that this June’s scorching heat in Western Europe would not have been possible without human-caused climate change. Even in today’s climate, a heat wave this widespread and intense is still rare for June — with a less than 1% chance […]
links: 25.06.2026
Yle: What annoys Finns the most? Wars, selfishness, and telemarketers A survey commissioned by a Finnish communications agency has found what annoys Finns most: wars, selfishness and telemarketing cold calls. It also revealed generational differences — pensioners tend to be irritated by more things (three in four are angered by wars, and many are also bothered by boastfulness […]
links: 24.06.2026
Wired: The ‘Parasite of Parasites’ Has Been Discovered in the Tropical Forests of Borneo In the rainforests of Borneo, Malaysian scientists have identified a new fungal species, Pleurocordyceps cornusynnemata — a parasite that feeds on another parasite. Its victim is the so-called zombie fungus (Ophiocordyceps), which infects ants, hijacks their nervous system and drives them to spread its […]
links: 23.06.2026
The New York Times: X-Ray Specs for the World’s Oldest, Sealed Letters A team of historians, scientists and engineers has built a portable X-ray scanner that can read 4,000-year-old letters without breaking open the clay envelopes they were sealed in. More than half a million cuneiform artefacts have been found across the Middle East, but many went unstudied […]