Germany: Chancellor Merkel On Visit To Afghanistan

The destruction in the early hours of June 6 of Ukraine’s massive Nova Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River is a dangerous escalation of the war between Ukraine and Russia. It risks massive human and ecological consequences to communities downstream being hit by vast floodwaters, and also threatens a potentially catastrophic nuclear accident.

A day after a dam in southern Ukraine was badly damaged, some towns are submerged, structures swept away and mass evacuations are ongoing. Satellite images detail the destruction.       

Shi Yan Ming didn’t intend to make me feel bad. But when a 40-something journalist asks a 59-year-old interviewee to confirm his age, it’s not really appropriate to lift a straight-kneed leg over your head in response. Frankly, it’s a little upsetting. Not that Shi’s age-defying dexterity should be surprising. He is a living legend in the world of martial arts, a 34th generation warrior monk from China’s legendary Shaolin temple who can break bricks with his bare hands, execute upside down flying kicks, and bend razor-sharp spears with his neck.

ByteDance, the Beijing-based parent company of short-form video platform TikTok, allegedly gave Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials a “superuser” credential that allowed them unfettered access to user data, which they are said to have used to monitor activists and protesters in Hong Kong, according to a court filing submitted Monday by a former executive at the company.

Diageo Plc, the world’s biggest spirits company, is worried that climate change is going to make scarce the one ingredient that’s essential for making all of its alcoholic drinks: water. Water security poses the most significant climate change-related risk for the maker of Tanqueray gin, Guinness beer, and Baileys Irish Cream, according to Michael Alexander, global head of water, environment, and agriculture sustainability at Diageo, which had 43 sites globally in water-stressed areas last year. “You could be with the most efficient brewery or distillery in the world,” Alexander said in an interview.

For months, observers have wondered when and where Ukraine might finally launch its long-anticipated spring counteroffensive to wrest back control of territory captured by Russia. “We are ready,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Wall Street Journal in a Jun. 3 interview, without specifying a start date. But he indicated that the campaign would be imminent.