“Banning or charging for plastic bags is helping stop them ending up on US shorelines, a study of the country’s litter suggests. Data from thousands of cleanups showed that areas which tried to reduce bag use saw them fall by at least 25% as a percentage of total litter collected, compared to areas that didn’t try. Bans or charging for bags worked better at state rather than town level, and had a bigger impact in places that had a bigger litter problem to begin with. Despite the good news, the researchers cautioned that, overall, more plastic bags are being found across the US – they’re just increasing less in those places trying to tackle the issue. Plastic bag laws in the US vary considerably by state, county and town, which made it a useful place for researchers to test the effectiveness of bag policies.” (06/19/25)
“European Parliament voted on Thursday to establish a working group to probe EU funding of nongovernmental organizations, with the support of right-wing political groups. The proposal was led by the center-right European People’s Party, the largest group in Parliament. The center-left Socialists & Democrats, the liberals of Renew Europe, and the Greens all voted against the working group, but the proposal passed in a vote of group heads with the support of far right groups. It’s the latest of many moves by right-wing forces in different EU countries to heighten oversight of NGOs.” (06/19/25)
“A SpaceX heavy-lift Starship launch vehicle exploded late Wednesday during a pre-flight test at Starbase in Texas. The two-stage rocket exploded at about 11 p.m. CT Wednesday as it was preparing for its 10th flight, SpaceX said in a statement on X. Both X and SpaceX are owned by Elon Musk. The Texas-based company said the Starship had ‘experienced a major anomaly.’ … The cause of the explosion has not been made public.” (06/19/25)
“The U.S. government plans to open what amounts to a fly factory by the end of the year, announcing its intent Wednesday to breed millions of the insects in Texas near the border with Mexico as part of an effort to keep a flesh-eating parasite from infesting American cattle. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said sterile male New World screwworm flies bred at the $8.5 million facility would be released into the wild to mate with females and prevent them from laying the eggs in wounds that become flesh-eating larva. It would be only the second facility for breeding such flies in the Western Hemisphere, joining one in Panama that had largely kept the flies from migrating further north until last year.” (06/19/25)
“Russia is on the verge of a recession, its economy minister said on Thursday, the first public admission that the country’s war economy is starting to cool three years after President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Maxim Reshetnikov said at the president’s flagship economic conference in St Petersburg that ‘the numbers show [the economy] is cooling off.’ … Putin has presided over a record surge in defence spending, which grew 25 per cent year on year to Rbs13.1tn ($167bn) last year and drove two consecutive years of GDP growth above 4 per cent following a contraction in 2022, the first year of the war. The Kremlin’s embrace of ‘military Keynesianism’ has driven strong wage increases and a tight labour market, but has begun to cool off this year as demand reaches capacity.” (06/19/25)
“An intruder is dead after being shot by a homeowner in Simi Valley Wednesday morning. … Police said a woman called saying her ex-boyfriend broke into her home and her husband confronted the man, firing a handgun. … The man was struck and was taken to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.” (06/18/25)
“An Iranian missile hit the main hospital in southern Israel early Thursday, wounding people and causing ‘extensive damage’ but no serious injuries, the medical facility said. Israeli media aired footage of blown-out windows and heavy black smoke. Other missiles hit a high-rise apartment building in Tel Aviv and other sites in central Israel. At least 40 people were wounded, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service. Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, its latest attack on Iran’s sprawling nuclear program. Iranian state television said there was ‘no radiation danger whatsoever’ and that the facility had been evacuated before the attack.” (06/19/25)
“The Federal Reserve on Wednesday said that it will leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged following its June monetary policy meeting as policymakers continue to monitor inflation and labor market data amid elevated economic uncertainty. The central bank’s decision leaves the benchmark federal funds rate at a range of 4.25% to 4.5%. It comes after the Fed left rates at that level at its three prior meetings in January, March and May. The central bank cut rates at its final three meetings last year, which involved a 50-basis-point cut in September and a pair of 25-basis-point reductions in November and December. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which guides the central bank’s monetary policy moves, noted in its announcement that, ‘Although swings in net exports have affected the data, recent indicators suggest that economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace.'” (06/18/25)
“Hurricane Erick was expected to make landfall in Mexico as a Category 4 storm early Thursday after prompting flash floods, school closings and evacuations in the southern states of Oaxaca and Guerrero. The storm was expected to make landfall west of the port town of Puerto Escondido in Oaxaca. Officials said its destructive winds and heavy rain threatened to unleash a dangerous storm surge. … Erick is the fifth named storm to form in the Eastern Pacific Ocean this year. The Pacific hurricane season, like the Atlantic one, runs through Nov. 30.” (06/19/25)
“Thailand’s Bhumjaithai Party on Wednesday withdrew from Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government in a major blow to the embattled premier, leaving her ruling coalition with only a slim majority. The party, the second largest in the alliance and holder of 69 house seats, said its departure was due to the impact on the nation of a leak on Wednesday of a phone call between Paetongtarn and Hun Sen, the influential former premier of Cambodia, with which Thailand is involved in an escalating border dispute. … The exit of Bhumjaithai leaves Paetongtarn’s government hanging by a thread and facing declining popularity as it battles to revive a lacklustre economy facing steep U.S. tariffs if it cannot negotiate a reduction.” (06/18/25)
