Russia

With misinformation and murky details on bird flu and measles outbreaks, experts worry about the next pandemic

Amid controversial dismissals for independent advisers and staff at health agencies, alongside lackluster responses to the bird flu and measles outbreaks, experts fear the US is now in worse shape to respond to a pandemic than before 2020.

H5N1, which has received less attention under the Trump administration than from Biden’s team, is not the only influenza virus or even the only variant of bird flu with the potential to spark a pandemic. But a subpar response to the ongoing US outbreak signals a larger issue: America is not ready for whatever pathogen will sweep through next.

Operators of trial insist age assurance ‘can be done’ but preliminary report finds age verification tools ‘not guaranteed to be effective’

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Technology to check a person’s age and ban under 16s from using social media is not “guaranteed to be effective” and face-scanning tools have given incorrect results, concede the operators of a Australian government trial of the scheme.

The tools being trialled – some involving artificial intelligence analysing voices and faces – would be improved through verification of identity documents or connection to digital wallets, those running the scheme have suggested.

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Palestine Action members break into Brize Norton airbase in Oxfordshire and spray military planes with red paint

A pro-Palestine protest group has said two of its members broke into the RAF’s Brize Norton airbase and defaced two military aircraft with spray paint before escaping the site without being detained.

Palestine Action released a short video on Friday morning showing two people driving electric scooters unimpeded inside the airbase at night, in an embarrassing breach of Ministry of Defence (MoD) security at a site where transport planes used by the king and prime minister can be parked.

In phone call, Paetongtarn Shinawatra discusses border dispute with former Cambodian leader and calls him ‘uncle’

Thailand’s prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, apologised after a leaked phone conversation with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen prompted public anger and threatened the collapse of her government.

In the leaked call, Paetongtarn – daughter of the populist former leader Thaksin Shinawatra – discusses an ongoing border dispute with Hun Sen, who is known to be a friend of her family.

‘Transformative’ project wins the 2025 architecture medallion as town centres, industrial restorations and residential homes collect other awards of note

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Sydney’s recently opened network of city metro stations have taken out one of the top prizes at the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2025 NSW Architecture awards, announced on Friday night.

Dozens of Australian architecture firms, engineering companies, landscape designers and public art experts shared in the 2025 NSW architecture medallion for their work on the Central, Barangaroo, Gadigal, Victoria Cross, Martin Place, Waterloo, Sydenham and Crows Nest stations in what the judges hailed as a “legacy-making” and “city-shaping” cross-sector collaboration.

Exclusive: Investigation finds 76% rise in water taken from rivers and lakes for industrial or public consumption in two decades

The amount of water being sucked from England’s rivers has surged to record levels, with potentially disastrous consequences for people and wildlife, it can be revealed.

An investigation into licensing data by Watershed Investigations and the Guardian found that the volume of water taken from rivers and lakes for industrial or public consumption has jumped 76% in two decades: 11.6m cubic metres (410 cu ft) were abstracted in the five years to 2023, up from 6.6m in the early 2000s.