Author: Verified News Online

The Israeli military is touted as the most powerful in the Middle East, striking targets deep into enemy territory. But for more than a week, Israeli troops have somehow failed to evict a small group of settlers sitting on rocks in the occupied West Bank.
Experts says the military has long shown inertia when its task is stopping surging violence against Palestinians, due to government backing for the settlement movement and the increasing influence of settler ideology within the army’s…

Representative Image of a child examining ancient fossil footprints preserved in rock in Mentougou, Beijing (AI-generated image) In early 2025, 12-year-old Ni Jingchen was out exploring with his parents in Beijing's Mentougou district when he noticed two tiny marks on a slab of exposed rock. Ni already loved fossils and knew enough to realise that the strange impressions were worth a closer look, so he photographed them and shared the find online. He had no idea that his casual discovery would eventually bring professional palaeontologists to the site and reveal something scientists had never documented in Asia before. Associate professor Xing Lida of the China University of Geosciences in Beijing saw the photographs and organised a team to investigate. Their analysis showed that the slab preserved a forefoot and hind-foot track made by a small amphibian roughly 160 million years ago, during the Middle Jurassic. The animal most likely belonged to Salamandroidea, the group that inc..

A feral cat with a tipped ear, indicating it was neutered in a trap-neuter-return program. Images Credit: Brocken Inaglory/Wikipedia Ascension Island offers a striking example of how quickly an introduced predator can reshape an island’s wildlife. Cats brought to the South Atlantic island in 1815 preyed heavily on seabirds, driving almost all species away from the main island and leaving surviving colonies in places cats could not reach. More than a century later, conservationists began a major effort to remove the feral cats while protecting the island’s domestic animals and people.The campaign succeeded, and the last feral cat was killed in January 2004. In the years that followed, seabirds began returning to parts of the mainland where they had previously been unable to breed safely. The study published in ‘Oryx’ (The International Journal of Conservation, Cambridge University Press) documents both the difficult eradication campaign and the early signs of recovery, showing how remov..

UK-based beauty chain Opatra London has distanced itself from a Hong Kong distributor accused of using “deceptive sales practices”, even after the local branch said it offered to refund about a quarter of a HK$60,000 (US$7,650) shopping bill on skincare products.
The company said on Monday night that it deeply regretted if any customers had a “distressing experience associated with our brand”, and revealed it had initiated an independent review of the local distributor.
The move came after local…

AdvertisementSpainWorldEuropePregnant woman among 3 killed in suspected gang shooting in SpainThe three victims were a pregnant woman in her eighth month of pregnancy, a 62-year-old woman and a 16-year-old boy
1-MIN READ1-MIN ListendpaPublished: 10:52pm, 17 Aug 2026Updated: 10:52pm, 17 Aug 2026Three people have been shot dead in a suspected revenge attack linked to the drug trade in southwestern Spain, the authorities in the Andalusia region said on Monday.
The three victims were a pregnant woman in her eighth month of pregnancy, a 62-year-old woman and a 16-year-old boy. The unborn child also did not survive, the authorities said, adding that two other people were injured in the attack.
According to official statements, the attack took place in Isla Cristina, a town of 21,000 inhabitants in the Andalusian province of Huelva. Two masked perpetrators approached the victims on a motorcycle late on Sunday evening and fired numerous shots. The victims were left lying in the street and coul..