Introduction: In today’s rapidly changing world, various developments and discoveries continue to capture attention across numerous domains. This article collates recent highlights from science, technology, global events, and societal issues, providing an overview of significant news stories that have made waves. Let’s delve into these intriguing updates.
Thoughtful Man Places Handmade Ramp in Dumpster to Help Stranded Animals Escape | Laughing Squid (resilc)
The “real” sin of Sodom | Stephen G. Adubato (Micael T)
Scientists Think Neptune and Uranus May Not Be the Ice Giants We Imagined | Gizmodo
A massive asteroid slammed into the North Sea and triggered a 330-foot tsunami | Science Daily (Kevin W)
The Wrong Man: The Bestselling Author, the Exoneration and the Rape Crisis the Police Ignored | ProPublica
IBM Says It Can Fit Nearly 100 Billion Transistors On a Chip | ZDNet
Film: How The Last Stage (1948) helps us understand the Nazi holocaust | The Communists (Robin K)
How p-hacking built the world’s most expensive safety regime | Works in Progress (Micael T)
McMaster researcher’s latest antibiotic discovery offers new way to kill drug-resistant bacteria | McMaster News (Robin K)
#COVID-19/Pandemics
Marburg outbreak is reported in Uganda, threatening to complicate Ebola response in region | STAT
Persistent Cerebral 18-FDG PET Changes in Patients With Long COVID Presenting With Fatigue and Post Exertional Malaise | Journal of Primary Care & Community Health
It drives me hopping mad that the NHS bought a load of Novavax, won’t give it to people who want it, and are now about to destroy it.
So wasteful, so callous and so stupid. https://t.co/KIzY1z7MVa
— tern (@1goodtern) June 30, 2026
Climate/Environment
Supercharged Heat Domes are appearing all around the Planet! Why? It’s a developing super El Niño combined with a much warmer Earth, spiking natural cycles with extra heat injected into the system and pattern changes augmenting the jet stream. The US will endure one of its most… pic.twitter.com/7r6SAbbtv2
— Jeff Berardelli (@WeatherProf) June 29, 2026
🔴⚠️🌡️🌊The unprecedented #heatwave over #Europe is bringing its effects also to the Mediterranean Sea. In the last few days the #Copernicus Sea Surface Temperature has rapidly increased and the latest anomaly data exceed 8°C
⬇️SST daily anomaly on 27 June 2026 #climateemergency pic.twitter.com/Y8PbmcDUxt— SatWorld (@or_bit_eye) June 28, 2026
China?
The First Island Chain Is Already Lost | Bryon Weichert
The Mirage of China’s Military Edge | Foreign Affairs
#China has lifted some restrictions on oil-product exports in the past week, rolling back measures introduced to safeguard domestic supplies shortly after the war began in the Middle East.
According to people familiar with the matter, Beijing has informed certain state refiners…
— Giovanni Staunovo🛢 (@staunovo) June 30, 2026
Chinese breakthrough could make desalinated seawater cheaper than bottled water | Independent (Robin K)
Japan
【世界初】羽根のない風力発電機が誕生した。円筒形の柱を立てると風が渦を生み共振で柱が前後に揺れその振動を底部の発電機で電力に変換する。可動部の接触ゼロで鳥の衝突も騒音もなく2026年に100MW級の大型実証機を目指す。 pic.twitter.com/5Klk3QSnrc
— NEW【テクノロジーニュース】 (@sutoroveli_news) June 29, 2026
Koreas
South Korea Plans To Train Entire Military As ‘Drone Warriors’ | Ars Technica
International efforts to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons program have failed. Here’s what comes next | The Conversation (Kevin W)
South Korea exports in June soar past $100bn for first time on chip demand | Nikkei
Southeast Asia
Thai farmers fear water woes from planned LNG plant | Mongabay
European Disunion
This is a really important signal by China to Europe.
The social media account Yuyuantantian, operated by China’s state broadcaster CCTV and created in 2019 during China’s first trade war with the US specifically to signal China’s position, just wrote a long article… https://t.co/eswgfkeqiX
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) June 29, 2026
From Politico’s EU morning newsletter, “And I want a pony” edition:
BREAKING FROM US BIG TECH
EUROGROUP BOSS ON AN AI MISSION: Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis wants the informal group of Eurozone finance ministers to sharpen its focus on technology and stop aping Silicon Valley….
So what? The Eurogroup has been dealing with sovereign debt crises, banking reforms, and digital currencies since it was established in 1998, but as Europe grapples to assert its autonomy from American Big Tech, Pierrakakis wants finance ministers to be part of the discussion on AI and new technologies…
Eurogroup look-ahead: During the next gathering of eurozone finance ministers next week, officials are set to discuss the consequences of new AI models for European banks, such as Anthropic’s Mythos, with Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch.
France blames US for deadly heatwave | Telegraph (Li). This is so Torygraph….
PATRICK LAWRENCE: Heat Waves, Brain Waves | Consortium News
Paris funeral homes overwhelmed after record heatwave | Agence France-Presse
Old Blighty
British anti-terrorism police detain prominent US human rights attorney Dan Kovalik
——
British anti-terrorism police at Liverpool John Lennon Airport have detained US human rights attorney and international lawyer @danielmkovalik, sparking fresh condemnation over the UK’s… pic.twitter.com/myIXqvqUM2— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) June 30, 2026
Ritter’s Rant 093: No More Special Relationship | Scott Ritter
Burnham left with £4.7bn bill for Starmer’s new defence investment plan | Guardian (Kevin W)
Fruit farmers call for action as extreme heat threatens production | Business Green
Israel and the Resistance
Congress blocks Massie-Khanna effort to kill US-Israel integration | Responsible Statescraft (guurst, Kevin W)
Hannah Arendt and the creation of Israel | Pearls & Irritations. Important.
UN Finds ‘Overwhelming’ Scale of Children Killed in Gaza | Juan Cole (resilc). The Israeli government was clear that that was its plan.
Photo | Israeli occupation forces set fire to vast areas of Palestinian agricultural land near the separation barrier in the Marj Ibn Amer Plain, west of Jenin. pic.twitter.com/3CBt7zaLTq
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) June 30, 2026
Lebanon’s Israel framework deal draws broad opposition but little appetite for confrontation | Middle East Eye
Situation Report: Pakistan’s Troops in Saudi Arabia | Robert Pape
US Treasury chief says only China buying Iranian oil as others wary of sanctions risk | Anadolu Agency
US envoys in Doha to meet mediators but not Iranians, Qatar says | BBC (Kevin W)
Washington Must Abandon the Iran Obsession | Daniel Larison
⚡️BREAKING: Iran has Activated the Basij and set up checkpoints in all major cities in preparation for Ayatollah Khamenei’s State Funeral
Iran expects up to 35 million visitors, as the coffin will be carried through Iran’s major cities
The coffin will also be taken to Iraq,… pic.twitter.com/puhK2DVgFP
— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) June 29, 2026
New Not-So-Cold War
Euroclear files lawsuit against Bank of Russia to block 18.2 trln ruble recovery — Echo | TASS
Ukraine’s Desperate Propaganda Campaign While Russia Advances along the Entire Front | Sonar 21 (Kevin W)
The current Ukrainian attempts to deprive the residents of Crimea of water, food, fuel, and so on are best understood as a desperate attempt to “bargain” come autumn and force Russia into a sort of Crimea-for-all-of-Ukraine arrangement where they stop trying to destroy life in… https://t.co/00EVxPZ2NW
— Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) June 30, 2026
Ukraine’s battered energy grid braces for ‘intense heat’ as extreme temperatures head east | Euronews
Col Douglas Macgregor: The Problem Facing Putin Right Now | Daniel Davis, YouTube
Manufacturing Dread: How Western Submarines and a Compliant Press Terrified Cold War Sweden | Pelle Taylor (Chuck L)
Is Russia The New “Christ Of Nations”? | Andrew Korybko
Imperial Collapse Watch
Don’t Expect Respect | Aurelien. Important. Here in my coastal town in Thailand, missionaries (oddly all the ones I have met are women, even if they are married) do very important charity for poor Thais. One provides regular meals to keep families from having to turn children over to orphanages, what amounts to daycare that includes teaching reading and raising funds for books and uniforms so they can go to school. Another goes to the border with Myanmar, where the communities have many refugees, and give them plus poor locals food, blankets (it gets cold there), and some medical services (they have a mini-van with supplies and a doctor and a nurse or two). The medical services are more important to the refugees than the Thais since Thailand has a very cheap state-run medical system (30 baht, or $1, for a doctor visit). These groups have succeeded in getting retirees (mainly men) to provide financial and sometimes operational support. Thailand also has a very good university (IIRC free tuition) for low-income students with a very competitive screening process. A friend taught there and said the kids were fantastic. But in the US, we have gutted institutions like the City College of New York, which had been a track for children from low-income families to achieve elite status (CCNY has produced 10 Nobel laureates).
Information Space Has Become the Decisive Battleground of 21st-Century Conflict | Global Geopolitics
Pope at Consistory Opening Mass: War is never blessed by God | Vatican News
Trump 2.0
Trump made more than $1bn from crypto in first year back in office | BBC
MAHA is breaking up with Trump. Now what? | Vox
Growing Old With Donald Trump | Tom Engelhardt
Fed
Is Kevin Warsh as Bad a Central Banker as He Seems? Perhaps…: TUESDAY MACRO | Brad DeLong
Supremes
Supreme Court Backs Birthright Citizenship in Blow to Trump | Bloomberg. Lead story in the Middle East edition.
Trump is crashing out over today’s 5-4 SCOTUS ruling that upheld automatic birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants. pic.twitter.com/jFgUSmbxSx
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) June 30, 2026
US Supreme Court Rules Geofence Warrants Require Constitutional Privacy Protections | Guardian
Supreme Court upholds state transgender sports bans | NBC
Supreme Court backs GOP challenge to campaign finance law | The Hill
Three Thoughts Heading into the Last Decision Day of the Term | Steve Vladeck
Economy
Grilling Burgers on the 4th? Get Ready to Pay Up | Wall Street Journal
AI
The AI Industry Is Losing | Ed Zitron
County With 37 Data Centers Asks Schools To ‘Conserve Electricity’ | 404 Media
Ex-Governors, Big Tech Launch Coalition To Help Workers ‘Navigate the AI Economy’ | New York Times, Kill me now.
Locking Down Autonomy | John Robb (Micael T)
Ford’s AI Hiccups Lead Carmaker to Rehire ‘Gray Beard’ Engineers | Bloomberg
Microsoft Slammed for Building Copyright-Infringing Supercomputer for OpenAI in New Court Filing | Ars Technica
The Uninvited Meeting Guest Is an AI Notetaker | Bloomberg (Micael T). I have told my few remaining US doctors absolutely no recording of my sessions with them. This article will strengthen that case.
Month after month, Rosenberg has reminded the group’s members that what happens on Zoom is supposed to stay on Zoom. AI notetakers — those now ubiquitous tools that automatically record every word of every meeting and turn those notes into easily shareable transcripts and summaries — are not invited. Yet month after month, there they are, occupying empty squares on the screen, occasionally joining the meetings even when the human beings they belong to don’t.
Rosenberg starts most sessions by feverishly kicking them out. But that only goes so far, given that many tools, like Granola, record silently from users’ desktops, never announcing their presence. “They have infiltrated the system,” says Rosenberg, founder of the Good Advice Co., a communications and marketing firm. “But I think the etiquette has not yet been dictated.”
The Bezzle
Four days to make victims fall in love: How global scammers use US tech to fleece people | Channel News Asia
How I Bought a Private Jet By Selling $10 Subscriptions to 404 Media | 404 Media
Guillotine Watch
Bernie Sanders Saw This Coming | Wired (resilc)
What do you get for the world’s richest man? A wildlife refuge. | Caleb Ecarma
Class Warfare
The Metaphysics of Woke | Yoshi Matsumoto (Micael T)
How Trump Plans to Crush Fast-Food Workers | New Republic (resilc)
Hershey’s Chocolate Substitute Exposes Capitalism’s Global Theft Of Cocoa And Labor | Egberto
“My student loan payments would increase from around $400 a month to $1,700 to return to a standard payment plan from the SAVE plan.” – Anonymous Borrower
This is the severe reality of the Student Debt Crisis.
— Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC) (@DebtCrisisOrg) June 30, 2026
Antidote du jour (retaj):
And a bonus (Chuck L):
Meeting the right person at the perfect time can be one of life’s most beautiful miracles pic.twitter.com/RNH1AyU9sC
— Enezator (@Enezator) June 28, 2026
A second bonus:
A security camera captured two Belgian Malinois puppies playing while their owner wasn’t home pic.twitter.com/gaIKCXsbz3
— Nature Unedited (@NatureUnedited) June 30, 2026
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here
