UK News
View All 9Guide to Trooping the Colour 2026: What time will the flypast begin?
Trooping the Colours is just 24 hours away, where over 1400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians unite to celebrate the King's Official Birthday. Below, GB News has all the vital information to ensure you don't miss any of the event.The spectacle, which has celebrated the monarch's official birthday for more than 260 years, will treat the King and Queen to a spectacular show of military precision, horsemanship and fanfare.The tradition is believed to have begun all the way back in 1748, during the reign of King George II, whose actual birthday was in October.He longed for summer celebrations due to the better weather, allowing for grander parades. Similarly, King Charles III's actual birthday falls on November 14. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say This year, the King's Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, will Troop their Colour before His Majesty on June 13.The official events commence at 10.20am and conclude by 12.25pm, followed by an RAF flypast over Buckingham Palace at 1pm - often seen as the highlight of the afternoon.The Massed Bands will feature over 300 musicians performing during the ceremony.An additional 250 service personnel will line The Mall along the processional route.Royal Family members will accompany the parade on horseback and in carriages as it travels from Buckingham Palace down The Mall to Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall.Crowds traditionally gather along the route, waving flags as the procession passes.Upon the King's arrival at Horse Guards Parade, he will receive a royal salute before inspecting the troops.The soldiers, all fully trained and operational, will wear their distinctive ceremonial dress of scarlet tunics and bearskin hats.The Royal Family will then take their places on the Palace balcony to watch the infamous flypast as the formation soars overhead.While the Ministry of Defence has not yet confirmed the full aircraft lineup, the display typically features around 29 aircraft.Previous years have seen Chinook helicopters leading the formation, accompanied by a Lancaster from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.The Red Arrows are expected to provide the grand finale with their signature red, white and blue smoke trails.After crossing central London, the aircraft will head west through Hounslow and Feltham before continuing north over Windsor towards Northampton.Those wishing to witness the spectacle in person can position themselves along The Mall or at the edge of St James's Park overlooking Horse Guards Parade from 9am, though views may be partially obscured by troops.The Mall offers one of the finest vantage points for the flypast, though spectators are advised to arrive early as crowds begin gathering at dawn.A 41-gun salute in Green Park will also honour the occasion.You can watch comprehensive coverage of Trooping the Colours event live on GB News from 10am.Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
Massive earthquake fault line found lurking below New Zealand's largest city
A huge earthquake fault line has been found underneath Auckland, New Zealand's largest city.The fault line, just south of the city, is active and could cause a city-destroying earthquake, new research shows.The discovery has also raised questions over a recent decision to exempt Auckland from earthquake building regulations.A study in the New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics shows that the Mangatangi Fault - located 50 kilometres southeast of central Auckland - is active. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Auckland has a population of more than 1.5 million and is thought to be home to as many as 60,000 Britons.But all those inhabitants could be in line for a 6.8 magnitude earthquake.The fault, located in New Zealand's Hunua Ranges, has ruptured in the past 10,000 years. Any fault which has moved in the last 125,000 years is considered active.Geologist Dr James Muirhead, senior lecturer at the University of Auckland, told The Guardian: "If the whole fault ruptured, there would likely be serious consequences for people living in South Auckland, and possibly further into central Auckland as well."This is the first time a fault line in Auckland or the Hunua Ranges - nearly 100 miles long - has been radiocarbon dated, revealing how long ago it has ruptured.The major city has a lower risk of shaking than other regions, according to the national seismic hazard model, which was last updated in 2022.Anna Kaiser, the chief scientist for earthquake hazards at Earth Sciences NZ, a public research organisation, said the study was important and would be used to refine the hazard model."It's best not to worry if we can but it is best... to really use the evidence, the information we have, to be better prepared for the case of future earthquakes," she said.New Zealand sits on the boundary of two tectonic plates, and experiences around 20,000 earthquakes a year.READ MORE FROM NEW ZEALAND:Hundreds evacuated in New Zealand as country braces for potentially deadly Cyclone VaianuMultiple children missing after massive landslide destroys New Zealand campsiteNew Zealand earthquake: Tsunami fears as huge 6.7 magnitude tremor rocks RivertonAround 250 are strong enough to be felt, but most of these occur on the South Island and lower parts of the North Island.In 2011, one of these earthquakes proved fatal, killing 185 people in Christchurch and crumbling 80 per cent of the city centre.Wayne Brown, Auckland's Mayor, lobbied the government to ease building regulations in 2023, saying there had been no earthquakes in the city for the past 100,000 years.And in 2025, the National Party-led Government announced it would exempt the city from rules around earthquake-prone buildings - meaning no strengthening work is required.But the risk of an earthquake may be "significantly higher" than intially believed, Dr Muirhead said, adding that further research into the fault lines was needed.He said: "We could see that the risk is actually lower than what we think right now, but we could also collect data and find actually it’s a little bit higher, and at that stage... We should really think about whether we have the right legislation for buildings in the city."In a statement, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk said the new research on Auckland's fault lines will be considered but "a single study does not in itself warrant an immediate change to the proposed classification or regulatory approach".The Auckland Mayor said in a statement the research was "nonsense".He said: "What you've got around the harbour is sedimentary sandstone right along the cliffs. That's the same stuff that's underneath my city."There may be a fault line a long way from here, but it's quite different geology from what's in my city." Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
Stan Moody has plan of attack and takes aim at snooker’s big guns
Arrow MORE: Steven Hallworth reveals brilliant highs and intense lows of Crucible commentary debut Arrow MORE: Rising snooker star Liam Pullen fuelled : Fergal Quinn looking to hit snooker jackpot after ditching professional gambling career
'Police only took rape threats seriously after my Tiktok post'
'Police only took me seriously after my TikTok post' 16 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on Google Mae Davage, Gloucestershireand Rhiannon Yhnell, West of England BBC Saskia Ponting says police initially took no action despite being threatened with rape by a large group in Cheltenham A woman who was threatened with rape by a group of teenage boys and young men has said she was "heavily disappointed" after police initially took no action. Saskia Ponting said she was verbally abused and followed 28 May. She made a report to Gloucestershire Police about the incident that evening but three days later was told the case would be closed. After posting a TikTok video about her experiences on 1 June, police contacted her to ask for permission to launch a public appeal. Gloucestershire Police said a "mistake" had been made and agreed the case should have been taken further when it was first reported. Ponting also criticised what she felt was a lack of clarity about how cases are handled. "The officer I spoke to told me I'd done everything I was supposed to do in that situation, but at the same time I was penalised for not being able to provide an exact suspect profile from memory," she said. Police are now investigating her case, but Saskia says they only 'reached out' after seeing her TikTok video Gloucestershire Police said a "mistake" had been made and agreed the case should have been taken further when it was first reported. CCTV footage along the route she took is being examined and more police patrols are being mounted in the area. The group are described as being white, aged between 16 and 18 or possibly older, with brown hair, and being about 5ft 8ins (1.72m) in height. They were all wearing tracksuits and some of them were riding bikes, police added. Officers have also appealed to businesses in the area to share any relevant CCTV, and said they want to hear from any other women who may have been targeted . Victims who have experienced any form of harassment, sexual violence or threats are also being encouraged to tell police. "It's really, really important to us, whatever the level of the intimidation or harassment, for people to come forward and report it," Paterson said. Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.
World News
View All 10'Acknowledging rights and needs of Israelis and Palestinians: Shared path towards a secure future'
François Picard is pleased to welcome Avi Meyerstein, co-founder and president of the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP). At a moment when international attention is increasingly consumed by conflict across the Middle East, Meyer argues that the crises currently unfolding are not isolated events but manifestations of unresolved political conflicts that have been left to fester for decades. "While those things remain unresolved," he observes, any semblance of stability "is just an illusion." What is this page? The website you are visiting is protected. For security reasons this page cannot be displayed.
Iran War Live Updates: Trump Again Claims Deal Is Close After Retracting Threat of Strikes
Claiming there was progress in peace negotiations, President Trump said he had canceled the next wave of planned attacks after two days of U.S. airstrikes.
Musk's SpaceX set to make biggest-ever initial public offering on Wall Street
Elon Musk's space transport company SpaceX is set to begin trading on the US market on Friday with an offering of more than 555 million shares priced at at $135 each. The move is expected to place SpaceX in the top 10 of Wall Street's biggest companies and make Musk the world's first trillionaire. What is this page? The website you are visiting is protected. For security reasons this page cannot be displayed.
Thai princess Bajrakitiyabha dies after years in coma
https://p. dw. com/p/5FFDU Princess Bajrakitiyabha had been suffering from multiple health issuesImage: Salvatore Di Nolfi/AP Photo/picture alliance Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha has passed away in a hospital after being in a coma for over three years, the royal palace announced on Friday. The princess was suffering from an abdominal infection and "her condition continued to worsen", the palace said. Bajrakitiyabha was the eldest daughter of Thailand's king, Maha Vajiralongkorn. In December 2022, while on a visit to the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, the princess suddenly lost consciousness due to a heart condition. She was flown by a helicopter to the capital Bangkok for treatment and had been hospitalized since then. The palace said she "passed away peacefully" on Thursday evening. Her body will lie in state at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, the royal palace said, adding that the funeral would be held "with the highest honors according to royal tradition." The Thai government is also expected to declare a period of national mourning. Who was Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha? Popularly known as Princess Bha, Bajrakitiyabha was the only child from King Vajiralongkorn's first marriage to Thai Princess Soamsawali. She was born on December 7, 1978, when Vajiralongkorn was still the crown prince. The princess played a very active role in Thailand's public life, and served as a prosecutor and a diplomat after securing a master's degree in law from Cornell University in the United States. She undertook several justice reform efforts, including on the issues of the living conditions and rehabilitation of incarcerated Thai women. In her diplomatic career, Bajrakitiyabha was appointed as an honorary United Nations goodwill ambassador for women and for the Office on Drugs and Crime. She served as Thailand's ambassador to Austria from 2012 to 2014. "I ask myself now, what am I exactly? The answer is everything all together. I say I am a hybrid," the princess said on a visit to her New York law school, according to the Cornell Chronicle. Edited by: Darko Janjevic Don't let the algorithm hide the news. If you rely on our team for trusted reporting, please take a moment to select us as your Preferred Source on Google "star" or "preferred" button, so you'll always see our verified news first.
Politics
View All 10Up to 90% of Ireland’s asylum seekers may have entered from Northern Ireland, data shows
The River Fane, which tracks part of the border between Ireland (left) and Northern Ireland (right). Nearly 300 roads cross the common travel area. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/ View image in fullscreen The River Fane, which tracks part of the border between Ireland (left) and Northern Ireland (right). Nearly 300 roads cross the common travel area. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/ Up to 90% of Ireland’s asylum seekers may have entered from Northern Ireland, data shows Figures suggest common travel area being exploited in both directions, but particularly UK to Ireland Up to 90% of asylum seekers in Ireland may have entered the country via the Northern Ireland land border in the last three years, figures suggest. Irish government data shows the common travel area (CTA) is being exploited in both directions but suggests it may be more popular for those seeking asylum in Ireland than in the UK. The UK Home Office revealed overnight that in the past year it had apprehended more than 900 “immigration offenders” abusing the open land border. Data from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in Dublin, however, showed 16,600 people had sought asylum at an airport or port. Significant numbers in that cohort were thought to have travelled from Great Britain to Ireland via a flight or ferry to Belfast. The CTA has come under renewed scrutiny this week after a knife attack in Belfast on Monday. The suspect, Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old Sudanese refugee, has been charged with attempted murder. The attack triggered two nights of violence after it emerged Alodid had travelled from Sudan to Paris and then Dublin before taking a bus to Belfast where he claimed asylum in 2023. Police reinforcements were sent from Great Britain to Northern Ireland on Thursday. Before 2019, the number of people seeking asylum in Ireland was relatively small, about 5,000, commensurate with the experience of a small country on the farthest outreaches of Europe. That number grew significantly between 2022 and 2024, when it peaked at 18,500. Just 10% of people applied for asylum at an airport or port, while 90% made a first-time application in person at the International Protection Office in Dublin. In 2025 and 2026 to date, the proportion of asylum seekers applying at the office in person were 88% and 90% respectively. Without physical checks on the Irish border, neither the UK nor Irish governments can verify the precise numbers of people crossing the border illegally, but in 2024 Ireland’s then justice minister, Helen McEntee, said publicly that 80% were coming over the land border.
Can politicians bring calm to Belfast? – podcast
:0000: After nights of violence across Belfast this week, politicians continue to call for calm, but what else can be done to stop the violence spreading? Plus, Jessica Elgot has been to Makerfield and spoken to undecided voters on the doorstep You can read Rory Carroll and Hannah Al-Othman’s coverage of the Belfast violence here You can read Pippa, Kiran and Jess’s story about Keir Starmer’s fightback here Please send your questions and messages for Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey to politicsweeklyuk@theguardian. com The full list of candidates for the Makerfield byelection: Jake Austin – Liberal Democrats Count Binface – Count Binface party Andy Burnham – Labour and Co-operative party Dan Clarke – Libertarian party John Dyer – Independent Ed Gemmell – Climate party Paul Gould – Independent Alan ‘Howling’ Laud Hope – the Official Monster Raving Loony party Robert Kenyon – Reform UK Robert Pownall – Independent Rebecca Shepherd – Restore Britain Sarah Wakefield – Green party Peter Ward – Rejoin EU Michael Winstanley – Conservative party Photograph: Peter Morrison/AP Explore more on these topicsPolitics Politics Weekly UK Belfast Northern Ireland Makerfield byelection Greater Manchester Byelections Most viewed Most viewed
Cornyn predicts post-midterms will be ‘most miserable two years’ of Trump’s life
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) predicted in a new interview that the two years after the November midterm elections will be the “most miserable two years” of President Trump’s life. Cornyn spoke with The New York Times in his first extensive interview following his defeat to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), who Trump endorsed shortly…
Kennedy Center board appeals order to remove Trump’s name from building
The Kennedy Center board of trustees on Thursday appealed a federal judge’s order to remove President Trump’s name from the exterior of the building just ahead of the judge’s deadline, according to court filings. The board had also voted earlier in the day to stay U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper’s order on Thursday, according to…
Business
View All 10The Bull and Bear Case for SpaceX
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FirstFT: SpaceX raises $75bn in world’s biggest IPO
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What to expect from the new Fed chair’s inaugural rate meeting
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Trading firm DRW suffered sharp loss on power market as prices gyrated
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Technology
View All 10Amazon Updates Echo Hub With More Screen Customization for Smart Homes
Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement Echo's central wall display is getting new ways to add controls and new graphics. Tyler Lacoma Editor / Home Security and Smart Home Tyler has worked on, lived with and tested all types of smart home and security technology for over a dozen years, explaining the latest features, privacy tricks, and top recommendations. With degrees in Business Management, Literature and Technical Writing, Tyler takes every opportunity to play with the latest AI technology, push smart devices to their limits and occasionally throw cameras off his roof, all to find the best devices to trust in your life. He always checks with the renters (and pets) in his life to smart products can work for everyone, in every living situation. Living in beautiful Bend, Oregon gives Tyler plenty of opportunities to test the latest tech in every kind of weather and temperature. But when not at work, he can be found hiking the trails, trying out a new food recipe for his loved ones, keeping up on his favorite reading, or gaming with good friends. Expertise Smart home | Smart security | Home tech | Energy savings | A/V See full bio Tyler Lacoma June 11, 2026 p. m. PT 2 min read The Echo Hub's new features make it more useful at a glance. Amazon Amazon has unveiled new changes coming to its all-purpose wall-mounted display, the 8-inch Echo Hub ($180). The Hub, focused on smart home control, now has new graphics and significantly deeper customization, Amazon announced Thursday. During normal operation, the Echo Hub usually shows controls for the devices you use the most, including those that use Matter, Zigbee, Thread and Bluetooth connections (as long as they work with Alexa). But you can also move these tiles around, enlarge or shrink them, and you can choose specific devices to add to the home screen for easier access. A representative from Amazon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. While devices are now grouped automatically , you can manually create your own groups to add a series of controls to. That includes routines that you may have previously set up. Another innovation adds more granular controls, which is more useful than it may sound. For example, you can now access supported smart light bulbs, allowing you to dim them from 1% to 100% and to choose specific colors.
If you are asking for human attention, demonstrate human effort
An ever-increasing volume of debug investigations, document writing, and code is written by robots. This has created a new etiquette question when working with a team - when is it OK to forward the output of an AI to another human to read? On one hand, an AI with robust integration to internal code bases and documentation often produces genuinely1 useful output. On the other, as an increasing amount of a software engineer's day is spent reading AI text, a fatigue sets in. If I can have a robot say something, so can you. It reads as inconsiderate to post un-digested AI output as though it's your own writing. I remember the first time I experienced this annoyance. I proposed a design, and a teammate prompted an AI to critique it. The teammate sent an AI document to me, with the disclaimer: "I didn't read this, so it might not be entirely accurate". My thought was, if reading this wasn't worth your time, why is it worth mine?" Therefore, I've adopted this principle in my work: If you are requesting human attention, demonstrate human effort. If useful, I send AI generated content to teammates. But when doing so, I take care to clearly label what is AI generated, and I add my own commentary alongside it. For human code review requests, I always review my AI-generated code first. Attention was already a scarce resource before AI, and it is even more so now. Keeping AI generated content clearly labeled and demonstrating human effort helps show consideration for teammates, and keeps a touch of humanity alive in our work. Footnotes I promise I wrote this (and all the words in this post) with my meat fingers! ↩ Get new posts by email
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for June 12, #627
Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for June 12, No. 627. Gael Cooper CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls. Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line. Expertise , entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, and generational studies Credentials Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year" award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism. See full bio Gael Cooper June 11, 2026 p. m. PT 2 min read Here are the answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition. James Martin/CNET Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles. Today's Connections: Sports Edition features a fun soccer topic that World Cup watchers might appreciate. If you're struggling with the puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers. Connections: Sports Edition is published , the subscription-based sports journalism site owned . It doesn't appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic's own app. Or you can play it for free online. : NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta Hints for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups Here are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group. Yellow group hint: You might build a house with them. Green group hint: Hoops stars. Blue group hint: Start your engines. Purple group hint: World Cup wonders. Answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups Yellow group: Boards. Green group: Hall of Fame Spurs. Blue group: Locations of famous auto races.
Science
View All 10This week's Short Wave news roundup
NPR's Short Wave team talks about how air pollution affects the brain, what ancient squirrel poop reveals about prehistoric fauna, and a whale graveyard on the ocean floor. NPR Science LISTEN & FOLLOW Science This week's Short Wave news roundup June 11, 20264:15 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered By Angela Zhang , Emily Kwong , Mary Louise Kelly This week's Short Wave news roundup Listen · Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www. npr. org/player/embed/nx-s1-5846600/nx-s1-9807082" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript NPR's Short Wave team talks about how air pollution affects the brain, what ancient squirrel poop reveals about prehistoric fauna, and a whale graveyard on the ocean floor. MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: It is time for our science news roundup from Short Wave. That is NPR's science podcast. I am joined , Angela Zhang and Emily Kwong. EMILY KWONG, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise. So y'all have, as you always do, kindly brought us three science stories that caught your attention this week. ZHANG: Well, the first is how air pollution might be making your memory worse. KWONG: The second is the discovery of an ancient whale graveyard. ZHANG: And finally, what prehistoric mysteries are revealed . We have a lot of ancient animals going here. Let's start with the serious one - air pollution and memory? ZHANG: So the study I have for you today is about these really, really tiny particles of air pollution, like 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair. And these particles are released , and they're bad for your heart and your lungs, and they can also get directly to the brain through the blood. What do we know about how they affect, say, a person's memory, though? KWONG: Yeah, so to study how air pollution affects the brain, researchers used a database containing information about Black Americans living in California. The researchers looked at how much air pollution someone may have experienced based on their home address and then looked at their cognitive test scores. And while we know pollution is bad for the brain in general, what the researchers found is that it also affected a specific type of memory. KATHRYN CONLON: The people who had been exposed to more pollution over the years had weaker semantic memory. So really, that long-term pollution looked like it was aging the brain's memory ahead of schedule.
Global map reveals the vast scale of underground fungal networks
Plants and fungi are interacting beneath our feet Andrea Obzerova/Alamy Just under Earth’s surface, 110 quadrillion kilometres of carbon-rich fungi intersect with plant roots. This vast network has been laid bare in the first global digital map of our planet’s mycelial networks. Not only do these fungi exchange nutrients with plants, they also help regulate our climate. First, the researchers analysed data from 16,000 soil samples from across Earth, derived from 322 previous studies. They also used robotic imaging to measure more than 300,000 fungal threads grown in the lab, allowing them to estimate the total biomass and carbon stored in the networks. Next, the team combined that data and used it to extend estimates across deserts, tundra, forests and other regions where direct measurements were sparse or unavailable. The results suggest that worldwide arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi networks harbour a mass of carbon equivalent to about five times that of all living humans combined. “They’re very important for a lot of the different functions of our planet,” says Stewart. “For example, they pull carbon underground – that’s important for climate change.” The researchers also estimate that around 40 per cent of the world’s arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi live in grassland ecosystems, especially those of South Sudan, the Florida Everglades and the Tibetan plateau. That’s concerning, they say, since grasslands are rapidly being transformed into farmlands. Croplands, meanwhile, show significantly reduced fungal presence, with large-scale crop-growing soils associated with about 50 per cent lower network densities than those in uncultivated ecosystems, despite their high presence of plants. That could be because fungicides can kill fungi directly, while tilling can break apart their networks and heavy fertiliser use may undermine the nutrient-for-carbon trade that normally sustains the symbiosis, says Stewart. Last year, Laura Carter at the University of Leeds, UK, and her colleagues revealed that azole antifungals – a widely employed class of chemicals used to control fungal diseases like mildew and rot in crops – cut the density of hyphae (the long, straw-like tube cells of fungi) by around 70 per cent and reduced the extent to which beneficial fungi colonise plant roots 80 per cent. Kiers says they plan to present the findings to policy-makers at the United Nations desertification summit in Mongolia this August. Science DOI: 10.1126/science. adu4373 Topics: fungi Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with New Scientist events and special offers.
Have we finally worked out how Venus flytraps snap shut?
Venus flytraps snap shut to make a meal of insects and spiders Jeanne Bourdier, Corentin Mollier The mystery of how a Venus flytrap closes fast enough to catch insect prey may have been partially solved. Venus flytraps (Dionaea muscipula) are triggered to snap shut once hairs in their traps are touched twice in short succession. They are known to be able to catch an array of insects, and even small frogs, and yet how they work has eluded scientists since Charles Darwin. Human-plant hybrid cells reveal truth about dark DNA in our genome It has been widely thought that the mechanism involves water being pumped from one side of the trap to the other through the tissue. This would cause one side to shrink and the other to swell, generating the curvature needed to close the trap. To test this hypothesis, Yoël Forterre at Aix-Marseille University in France and his colleagues measured how long it takes for water to move through the trap, both through the individual cells and the plant’s tissue. It took 30 to 60 seconds for water to move from one side to the other. At this rate, the team concluded that such a mechanism would be too slow, given an insect is typically trapped in less than a second. Next, they noticed that the trap surface became bumpier after being triggered – a change that they say could only happen with a decrease in cell-wall stiffness. So, they examined whether some kind of softening in the cell wall may be responsible for closing the trap, . “We found that, when the trap is triggered, the cell walls of the outer epidermal layer rapidly soften,” says Forterre. Once the hairs are triggered, an electric signal and a wave of calcium ions are sent across the leaf. “These signals act as the plant’s equivalent of a nervous signal,” he says. “They allow information about the touch to be transmitted from the trigger hair to distant cells across the trap within a fraction of a second.” When it receives the signal, the outer surface of the trap quickly becomes mechanically less rigid, releasing the internal stresses stored in the tissue and allowing the pressurised inner cells to expand more on that side. As a result, the outer edges lengthen while the interior surface remains stiff, causing the trap to bend and close. We may finally know why birds sing at dawn However, the team is still unsure what molecules trigger the cell walls to undergo such a rapid transformation. “In other words, we understand the beginning of the chain of events, touch sensing, and the end, trap motion, but the molecular link connecting the two remains largely unknown,” says Forterre.
Socioeconomic factors are becoming 'biologically embedded' in children's brains
A kid’s neighborhood leaves a telltale pattern in their brains A study of more than 2,300 9- to 10-year-olds found that socioeconomic factors explained most differences in the preteens' brain development. NPR Science LISTEN & FOLLOW Science Socioeconomic factors are becoming 'biologically embedded' in children's brains June 11, 20262:00 PM ET Jon Hamilton A new study finds that the socioeconomics of a preteen's neighborhood can leave a distinctive pattern in their brains. Andriy Onufriyenko/ hide caption toggle caption Andriy Onufriyenko/ The most powerful factors affecting a child's brain development involve socioeconomic opportunities, according to a study in the journal Science. The analysis of more than 2,300 9- and 10-year-olds found that environmental factors ranging from household income to education to neighborhood quality are associated with brain differences that can clearly be seen in MRI scans. For new discoveries, everyday mysteries, and the science behind the headlines, follow NPR’s Short Wave podcast. The researchers also found that preteens who'd grown up in neighborhoods with lower incomes and limited social support had brain differences associated with less sleep and more stress. Loading... "Something is going on in these neighborhoods," says Scott Marek, the study's first author and an assistant professor of radiology at WashU School of Medicine. "We need to find out how socioeconomics is becoming biologically embedded." Goats and Soda Can Poverty Lead To Mental Illness? The research "highlights the fact that the environment in which we grow up and live has powerful impacts on our brain," says Russell Poldrack, a psychology professor at Stanford University who was not involved in the study. It also challenges earlier research that focused on links between brain development and factors like IQ and mental health. TED Radio Hour , children's brains can look very different—and family income is a factor Those factors do appear to have a small influence on brain development, says Dr. Nico Dosenbach, an author of the new study and a professor at WashU Medicine in St. Louis. "But socioeconomics was, by a wide margin, absolutely the dominant variable," Dosenbach says. Shots - Health News How poverty and racism 'weather' the body, accelerating aging and disease As a result, some earlier studies linking cognitive performance to brain differences "may require re-evaluation," says Dr. Satterthwaite, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Those studies focused on factors like IQ or mental health without accounting for socioeconomics, says Satterthwaite, who co-authored a perspective piece that accompanied the new study.
Environment
View All 10Threads of Earth’s Underground Fungal Networks Are Long Enough to Reach Beyond the Solar System
Hidden underground around the world lie 110 quadrillion kilometers of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks—webs of ultra-thin threads that, if connected in a single line, would stretch almost a billion times thge distance between the Earth and the sun, according to new research published in Science on Thursday. These fungal communities form intimate relationships with the roots of plants, which they provide with nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen in exchange for carbon, 1 billion tons of which the networks sequester underground annually, previous research has found. If the fungal network wasn’t storing it, that carbon would be warming the atmosphere. But those networks have never been mapped globally until now. The new study led , or SPUN, an organization founded to map mycorrhizal fungi networks, used a combination of literature review, soil samples from around the globe, machine learning and laboratory testing to estimate the distribution and mass of these systems and map where they are densest. ICN Weekly Saturdays Our #1 delivers the week’s climate and energy news – our original stories and top headlines from around the web. Get ICN Weekly Inside Clean Energy Thursdays Dan Gearino’s habit-forming weekly take on how to understand the energy transformation reshaping our world. Get Inside Clean Energy Today’s Climate Tuesdays A once-a-week digest of the most pressing climate-, written . Get Today’s Climate Don’t miss a beat. Get a daily email of our original, groundbreaking stories written -winning reporters. Get ICN Sunday Morning Go behind the scenes with executive editor Vernon Loeb and ICN reporters as they discuss one of the week’s top stories. Get ICN Sunday Morning Justice & Health A digest of stories on the inequalities that worsen the impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities. For decades, researchers have known arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi form intimate symbiotic relationships with roughly 80 percent of the globe’s plant species and are found nearly everywhere plants are. Credit: Tomás Munita/SPUN Justin Stewart, an evolutionary ecologist at SPUN, samples soil in Tucson, Ariz. Credit: John Burcham/SPUN “They could say ‘well there are three tree species in it.’ That’s great. That tells me about the biodiversity,” he said. “But you don’t actually know how big the forest is, how far apart the trees are. You don’t have information on its structure.” Mycorrhizal fungal networks are made up of hyphae, each smaller than a strand of human hair. These living pipes transport the nutrients and carbon between the plants and fungi.
Fewer journalists register for Bonn talks, as cuts to climate reporting bite
Share: X (Twitter) Facebook LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Print The number of journalists registered to attend the annual climate negotiations in Bonn has declined this year, as climate reporters have been let go and media coverage of climate issues falls around the world. Data from UN Climate Change, which runs the two weeks of talks, shows that just 135 media representatives have signed up to attend. Climate Home News analysis of previous data shows this is the lowest figure since 2021, when COVID-19 restrictions limited travel and the Bonn talks were held in a hybrid format to enable online participation. The number of journalists that actually attend the talks will not be known until later this month but is typically significantly less than are registered. Press conferences, held back-to-back each day , have been sparsely attended in the first few days and often filled mainly with climate campaigners and researchers rather than journalists. Alexandra Endres, a reporter for German-language website Table Briefings, told Climate Home News in Bonn there are fewer German journalists covering the conference in-person. “I think it is important to have more journalists covering the negotiations because when the climate coverage increases, the interest of the public grows,” she said. Media outlets that have registered fewer journalists than previous years, or no journalists, include global heavyweights like Reuters, Bloomberg and the BBC, as well as German outlets like Deutsche Welle and ZDF television, and specialist publications like business information service Argus and climate broadcaster We Don’t Have Time. Log in here → Continue reading with free access Climate Home News is on the ground in Bonn — one of the few outlets covering the negotiations that will shape COP31 in November. Join free and keep reading → It takes less than a minute. ×Log in to your account Forgot your password? The number of journalists registered to attend the annual climate negotiations in Bonn has declined this year, as climate reporters have been let go and media coverage of climate issues falls around the world. Data from UN Climate Change, which runs the two weeks of talks, shows that just 135 media representatives have signed up to attend. Climate Home News analysis of previous data shows this is the lowest figure since 2021, when COVID-19 restrictions limited travel and the Bonn talks were held in a hybrid format to enable online participation. The number of journalists that actually attend the talks will not be known until later this month but is typically significantly less than are registered.
This unfathomably huge fungal network keeps Earth cool and green
Even if you don’t like eating mushrooms, you’re in debt to fungi. One group of them, known as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, form vast subterranean networks of tubes called hyphae, hooking up with the roots of plants to exchange nutrients. Earth is so verdant in large part thanks to these partnerships, as this expansive infrastructure is associated with nearly three-quarters of all plant species. But because the network sprawls underground, it’s been difficult for scientists to determine just how much arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi is out there. (Good luck digging everywhere on the planet and taking samples.) Scientists have developed a workaround, which has produced some astonishing numbers. In this map, brighter yellow spots indicate higher densities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Courtesy of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks There are two major classes of mycorrhizal species. The ectomycorrhizal fungi grow as sheaths around a plant’s roots, especially conifer trees, whereas the arbuscular ones in this new paper penetrate them. Either way, these fungi act as an extension of the roots, helping them absorb more water and nutrients. “Just as a circulatory system moves resources through a body, these sort of microscopic fungal pipes are connected to plants,” Kiers said. In exchange, mycorrhizal species get energy in the form of carbon that the plants have drawn from the atmosphere. They help the plants grow to sequester still more carbon, a mutually beneficial partnership that benefits humans, too, as it keeps the planet from warming even further. However, the density of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi isn’t uniform across the planet’s biomes. You might assume that it would be highest in tropical rainforests, but in fact grasslands account for 40 percent of the predicted global arbuscular biomass, the study found. That might be because herbaceous plants like grasses tend to allocate more carbon to their symbiotic fungi than trees do. You can’t see it, but grasslands have vast root systems, meaning there’s loads of hidden biomass. “Even if grasslands get burned above ground, that carbon tends to remain underground, and they can come back again, which is different than forests,” Kiers said. Yet, Kiers added, just 5 percent of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal biodiversity hot spots lie in environmentally protected areas. The idea with these new maps is for scientists and policymakers to identify where fungi might be thriving, and protect them. That will simultaneously support plant life and biodiversity overall — all kinds of birds, insects, and herbivores depend on this vegetation, too — and capture still more carbon in the soil. (Some savannas, like Brazil’s cerrado, also store enormous amounts of carbon underground in peat, or dead plant material that resists decay and accumulates over centuries.) Toby Kiers and Merlin Sheldrake take soil samples in the mountains of Bhutan.
Pennsylvania Activists Urge Lawmakers to Help Curb Soaring Electric Bills
Advocates for lower electricity prices in Pennsylvania said Wednesday their goals can be achieved -load users like data centers to supply their own power rather than taking it from the grid, -energy projects. The group, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, Pennsylvania Utility Law Project, the Evergreen Collaborative and state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, touted a report showing that consumers in the state could save an average of more than $840 a year on electricity costs by 2030 vs. the status quo if lawmakers enact policies that address the causes of soaring retail power prices. The report, from Synapse Energy Economics, an environmental consulting firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said the proposed policy reforms could reduce household electricity costs $197 in 2027 alone and deliver an estimated $2.4 billion in cost savings statewide by 2030. Some consumers are now having to choose between paying for their electricity and their medication, and that’s not a choice they should have to make, said Fiedler, a Democrat who chairs the House Energy Committee and represents part of South Philadelphia. Residential electricity rates in Pennsylvania rose almost 14 percent in the past year alone, according to federal data. Costs for consumers were up more than 50 percent compared to 2020. ICN Weekly Saturdays Our #1 delivers the week’s climate and energy news – our original stories and top headlines from around the web. Get ICN Weekly Inside Clean Energy Thursdays Dan Gearino’s habit-forming weekly take on how to understand the energy transformation reshaping our world. Get Inside Clean Energy Today’s Climate Tuesdays A once-a-week digest of the most pressing climate-, written . Get Today’s Climate Don’t miss a beat. Get a daily email of our original, groundbreaking stories written -winning reporters. Get ICN Sunday Morning Go behind the scenes with executive editor Vernon Loeb and ICN reporters as they discuss one of the week’s top stories. Get ICN Sunday Morning Justice & Health A digest of stories on the inequalities that worsen the impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities. Fiedler urged lawmakers to enact reforms that lower electricity prices to levels that everyone can afford. Fiedler urged support for HB2224, the Return on Equity bill she co-sponsored, that would ease consumer costs -regulated utilities. Patrick Cicero, an attorney with the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project, said investors would still be attracted to utilities even if the return was reduced. “A significant share of a utility bill isn’t paying for power or pipes, it’s paying for a utility’s shareholder profit,” said Cicero, whose group works to ensure that low-income residents receive safe and affordable utility service.
Weather
View All 6Today: Light Rain, Minimum Temperature: 11°C (52°F) Maximum Temperature: 19°C (67°F)
This video can not be played This morning will become largely cloudy with patches of light moving in from the south-west. Turning increasingly dry and sunny through the afternoon. A warmer and breezy day. Tonight will start dry with prolonged clear spells. However, areas of thick cloud will build in from the north-west in the early hours, possibly bringing one or two showers by dawn. Tomorrow will be generally cloudy and breezy with just some brief brightness in places. A few isolated showers are likely to develop from the north through the day. Outlook for Sunday to Tuesday Sunday is expected to be a dry day with variable cloud and sunny spells. Small risk of the odd shower developing overnight into Monday. Any showers will soon dissipate to leave a warmer, rather breezy and partly cloudy day. Clouding over on Tuesday with spells of rain moving in from the south-west through the late afternoon and evening. Average wind speed 5 Miles per hour, Westerly5Average wind speed 9 Kilometres per hour, Westerly9 Humidity: Humidity: 88%,88% Visibility: Visibility, not available,-- Pressure: Pressure: 1016 millibars, Steady,1016mb, Steady Observation station: Manchester Airport (53.350° North, 2.283° West)Observation station: Manchester Airport (53.350° N, 2.283° W) Our favourite Weather Watchers photos nearby Report for Standish, Wigan Northern Rambler Reported , Cheshire East MeanderingManshipsReported , Rochdale EarthstarReported , Stockport sunset_twilightReported by sunset_twilight
Saturday: Light Rain Showers, Minimum Temperature: 10°C (50°F) Maximum Temperature: 16°C (62°F)
This video can not be played This morning will become largely cloudy with patches of light moving in from the south-west. Turning increasingly dry and sunny through the afternoon. A warmer and breezy day. Tonight will start dry with prolonged clear spells. However, areas of thick cloud will build in from the north-west in the early hours, possibly bringing one or two showers by dawn. Tomorrow will be generally cloudy and breezy with just some brief brightness in places. A few isolated showers are likely to develop from the north through the day. Outlook for Sunday to Tuesday Sunday is expected to be a dry day with variable cloud and sunny spells. Small risk of the odd shower developing overnight into Monday. Any showers will soon dissipate to leave a warmer, rather breezy and partly cloudy day. Clouding over on Tuesday with spells of rain moving in from the south-west through the late afternoon and evening. Average wind speed 5 Miles per hour, Westerly5Average wind speed 9 Kilometres per hour, Westerly9 Humidity: Humidity: 88%,88% Visibility: Visibility, not available,-- Pressure: Pressure: 1016 millibars, Steady,1016mb, Steady Observation station: Manchester Airport (53.350° North, 2.283° West)Observation station: Manchester Airport (53.350° N, 2.283° W) Our favourite Weather Watchers photos nearby Report for Standish, Wigan Northern Rambler Reported , Cheshire East MeanderingManshipsReported , Rochdale EarthstarReported , Stockport sunset_twilightReported by sunset_twilight
Pumice from Titan Ridge eruption blocks sea access in Manus Province, Papua New Guinea
Large raft of pumice field from the Titan Ridge submarine volcano drifting ashore of Loniu, Manus - June 2026. Credit: Stanis Pwam (stillshot) Residents reported disruption to fishing, markets, healthcare access, and potential food and fresh-water shortages after pumice reached Manus coastal villages over the past weekend. ABC reported that floating volcanic rock covered much of the surrounding sea near affected communities, while Reuters reported blocked boats, damaged fishing grounds, disrupted sea transport to Lorengau, and concerns about food shortages on Manus Island. PNG’s Department of Mineral Policy and Geohazards Management, Geohazards Management Division (DMPGM), reported that eruptive activity at Titan Ridge decreased between June 4 and June 9, while a thin, dense steam plume extended about 50 km (31 miles) NW and remotely sensed thermal anomalies increased. Hydroacoustic data from station H11 South recorded 141 signals on June 6 and 212 signals on June 8. The Rabaul Volcano Observatory (RVO) reported that the eruption continued during May 28–June 4 after a short decrease in activity, with hydroacoustic signals rising during May 28–29 and semi-continuous activity resuming. By June 1, a steam plume rose from part of the NE vent area, discolored water drifted as far as 8 km (5 miles) SE, hot pumice floated within a few hundred meters of the vent, and eruption plumes reached as high as 5 km (3.1 miles) above sea level during June 2–4. Reuters reported on June 10 that thick pumice rafts had blocked boats, damaged fishing grounds, disrupted sea transport to Lorengau, and raised concerns about food shortages among remote coastal communities on Manus Island. Residents described pumice lining parts of the coast 2–3 m (7–10 feet) deep, while Timoenai head teacher Michael Kuam said outboard motors could not be used where pumice had stacked up in some areas. ABC reported that Baon residents were unable to travel to market, fish, or use normal boat routes to reach health clinics after pumice covered much of the surrounding sea. Councilor Raymond Simeku told ABC that one boat nearly sank while trying to pass through the pumice, and residents were using drinking water for bathing because they could no longer wash in the sea. Locals in Papua New Guinea struggled to row their boats on volcanic pumice-laden waters in Manus province after an undersea eruption, fueling fears of food shortages https://t. co/Q2ou045jFm pic. twitter. com/zr2FuznMsp — Reuters (@Reuters) June 10, 2026 Titan Ridge submarine volcano eruption site on June 11, 2026. Credit: CopernicusEU/Sentinel-2, The Watchers Prime Minister James Marape directed government agencies to assess undersea volcanic activity in waters around Manus after pumice rafts from the ongoing submarine eruption reached Manus shores and disrupted sea travel, The National reported.
Severe thunderstorm outbreak forecast across Midwest and Great Lakes
Day 1 Convective Outlook valid from UTC on June 11 to UTC on June 12, 2026. Credit: NWS/SPC The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issued a Moderate Risk for severe thunderstorms across northern Illinois, far eastern Iowa, and far southern Wisconsin on June 11, as an outbreak-level severe weather setup develops across parts of the Midwest and Great Lakes. Widespread damaging winds, large hail, and several tornadoes, some strong to intense, are forecast this afternoon and evening. SPC’s updated Public Severe Weather Outlook, issued at UTC, places far eastern Iowa, northern and central Illinois, southern Wisconsin, northern Indiana, northern Missouri, and Lower Michigan as the main exposed areas. The agency warned of widespread damaging winds, some hurricane force, several tornadoes with a couple intense, and isolated large hail up to baseball size. Widespread severe thunderstorms are expected from far eastern Iowa, northern Missouri, northern and central Illinois, and southern Wisconsin into Lower Michigan and northern Indiana, with damaging winds over 120 km/h (75+ mph), large hail, and several tornadoes, some strong to intense. According to SPC, an ongoing bowing cluster across southeastern Iowa, northwestern Illinois, southwestern Wisconsin, and nearby areas may continue to pose at least some severe wind threat and a threat for embedded tornadoes while moving east-northeast this afternoon. Ahead of the cluster, air mass recovery is underway across central and northern Illinois, northern Indiana, and parts of southern Lower Michigan, where surface heating is occurring. Day 1 Convective Outlook valid from UTC on June 11 to UTC on June 12, 2026. Credit: NWS/SPC Day 1 Tornado Outlook valid from UTC on June 11 to UTC on June 12, 2026. Credit: NWS/SPC Day 1 Wind Outlook valid from UTC on June 11 to UTC on June 12, 2026. Credit: NWS/SPC Day 1 Hail Outlook valid from UTC on June 11 to UTC on June 12, 2026. Credit: NWS/SPC The later severe weather risk depends on redevelopment along the southern and western flank of the ongoing convection from northern Illinois into northeast Missouri. If semi-discrete supercells are maintained, several tornadoes and multiple strong to intense tornadoes rated EF2/EF3+ are possible, with isolated large to very large hail from sustained supercells. Additionally, numerous to potentially widespread severe and damaging winds can be expected from northern and central Illinois into southern Lower Michigan and northern Indiana, with some gusts again forecast to exceed 120 km/h (75 mph). Thunderstorms are also forecast along the trailing cold front from eastern Kansas and southern Missouri into parts of the Southern Plains this afternoon and evening.
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