Category: East Asia

Two baby giraffes who went missing from a Virginia zoo last year have been found safe.
The giraffe calves vanished from the Natural Bridge Zoo in 2025 as state officials investigated allegations of animal abuse.
The Office of the Attorney General of Virginia located the giraffes, but did not share specifics about how or where they were found. The giraffes are now at a professional facility specializing in giraffe care, officials said.
Before the giraffes disappeared, state officials were looking to relocate four giraffes at the zoo after they seized about 100 animals during their investigation into the alleged abuse. At the time, two of the giraffes were pregnant and gave birth before investigators visited, but their calves were missing, WDBJ reported.
State officials said the zoo never reported the animals’ births, despite a court order requiring them to do so.
open image in galleryTwo giraffe calves that vanished from a Virginia zoo last year have been found safe, officials said ..

Russian forces hit energy facilities in Ukraine's Sumy regionThe Kremlin has said that Russia is open to dialogue with Europe but “won’t accept ultimatums” in a statement on Friday.
Russian strikes killed at least two people and wounded ⁠two others in the northeastern Ukrainian ⁠region ​of Sumy after Moscow threatened escalation for Ukraine’s biggest assault so far.
Another nine people, ‌including four children, suffered injuries in Kharkiv, which was attacked with Russian guided aerial bombs.
Ukraine on Friday morning claimed that a crew member of a Panama-flagged ship was killed in a Russian drone attack in the Black Sea waters. Oleksiy Kuleba said that another vessel under the Saint Kitts and Nevis flag was ‌also hit.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov previously warned of “massive coordinated strikes on a regular basis” in response to Ukraine's attack on a Moscow oil refinery for the second time this week.
Ukraine earlier launched a heavy drone strike on Russia in re..

The Federal Aviation Administration is spending nearly $4 million on an artificial intelligence initiative to reduce close calls on airport runways as recent incidents have sparked fears among fliers.
The FAA’s deal with software giant Palantir Technologies involves using an AI tool called Foundry to analyze hundreds of thousands of records from government agencies and other sources, according to Politico.
“This data has always been there,” a high-ranking FAA official told Politico on condition of anonymity. “The problem is this data was always siloed.”
Neither the FAA nor Palantir immediately returned Saturday inquiries from The Independent, and Politico said Palantir didn’t comment when contacted.
But FAA Deputy Administrator Chris Rocheleau told Politico earlier this month that “Palantir has been a great partner for us” and that “we continue to get more refined on how we use that tool.”
open image in galleryThe Federal Aviation Administration is spending nearly $4 million on an art..

Brazilian soccer fans, in Philadelphia for their national team's World Cup 2026 match against Haiti, ascended the Museum of Art steps to pose with the 9-foot-11, 1,300-pound Rocky statue.
Every fan who stopped for a snapshot or a selfie left the bronze fighter exactly as they found him – in only his trunks and boots.
Their caution stemmed from a reported fear of the Rocky curse.
The Rocky statue, a long-standing symbol of resilience, heart, and the unbreakable bond between Rocky and the people of Philadelphia, has reportedly taken a few more hits of late, even in retirement.
According to the Philadelphia Visitor Center, about 4 million people visit the steps each year (Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)Visiting American sports fans have long learned the hard way that dressing the statue with colorful jerseys, scarfs, hats, anything found in your local Rally House, has only meant that team would suffer a knockout blow at the home of the local Philly team.
Scoff all..

President Donald Trump is doubling down on his feud with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Trump said the Italian leader “begged” him to take a picture together during this week’s Group of Seven summit in France, which prompted Meloni to post a social media video blasting his claim as “completely made up.” Now, Trump has hit out at Meloni again, this time in an interview with NBC News’ Gabe Gutierrez.
“She was a big fan. But I don't want her as a fan because she was not there — along with the NATO group — having to do with the Strait,” Trump said later on Friday, referencing the Strait of Hormuz.
The feud began after Trump claimed Meloni wanted to take a picture with him “so badly,” adding, “I wouldn't have taken it, but I felt sorry for her,” according to La7 TV, an Italian news channel. The remarks enraged Meloni, who lashed out at the president in a brief social media video on Friday morning.
She captioned the video: “Neither I nor Italy ever beg.”
President Donald T..

Trump signs Iran deal during visit to VersaillesIran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has accused Donald Trump of making a deal with Tehran out of “desperation”, as he confirmed his approval of the long-awaited plan.
The supreme leader said he authorised the agreement despite holding a different view, after receiving assurances from president Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior officials that Iran's rights and the interests of the “Resistance Front” would be safeguarded.
Khamenei, who has not been seen since he was injured in the US-Israeli attacks on 28 February, added that future face-to-face negotiations with the United States would not mean accepting “the enemy's position”.
The US military earlier confirmed it had lifted its blockade on Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz, as officials claim millions of barrels are once again flowing through the vital waterway.
The navy will “remain in the general area” to ensure the agreement with Iran is “adhered to, obeyed a..

Members of a Colorado homeowners’ association were left fuming after receiving violations for brown grass — as city officials urged people to conserve water amidst a historic drought.
Colorado declared a state-wide drought emergency on June 4 due to record-low snowpack and persistent, extremely warm temperatures across the state.
Despite the declaration, members of the Rock Creek Homeowners Association, which covers a neighborhood in Superior, about 20 miles northwest of Denver, say they’ve received notice from the HOA after parts of their lawn turned brown amidst the drought.
“This is not a neglect issue,” HOA member James Shima, who received a courtesy notice about his lawn, told 9 News. “This is basically attempting to preserve water.”
The notice Shima received, dated June 11, notes the violation category as “landscape maintenance.” Under the violation observed section, it lists: “Please address the brown turf/dirt areas of the yard.”
A Colorado homeowners’ association has give..

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 500 points Wednesday — erasing early gains after new Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh held his first policy meeting and played his cards close to the vest afterward.
The broader S&P 500 also dipped 1.2 percent in the worst showing for a new chair on “Fed day,” with the losses mounting as Warsh spoke to reporters following the latest two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee,CNBC reported.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell even more and was down 1.4 percent.
The declines, which pushed the Dow 1 percent lower, came after the Fed kept its key interest rate unchanged and nearly half of its policymakers said they could support a rate hike later this year, according to The Associated Press.
“He is absolutely telling you that he plans on delivering on price stability,” DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach said of Warsh on CNBC. “That means…we’re not going to have such easy money policy as everybody thought maybe Chairman Warsh would..

A lightning strike sparked a fire at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science Laboratory last month, destroying decades of research and tens of millions of dollars in equipment, university officials said.
The fire, which spread rapidly across the building’s wooden roof, has forced more than 150 researchers, staff members and students to relocate their programs and seek temporary laboratory spaces to continue their work, FOX 13 Tampa Bay reported.
The recovery effort faces significant challenges due to the methods used to extinguish the fire. Firefighters used salt water to battle the flames, which ruined nearly all the advanced equipment inside the facility, including specialized sonar data vehicles used for ocean mapping.
Although some staff managed to rescue their data, many face the loss of irreplaceable specimens.
Steven Murawski, a professor at the college, told FOX 13 Tampa Bay that he salvaged most of his personal research, which is now being kept in cold stor..

Several groups have sued President Donald Trump’s administration over its plans to install a sculpture garden in a Washington, D.C., national park.
The complaint, filed Monday by the National Parks Conservation Association and other groups, centers on the National Garden of American Heroes. The sculpture garden is expected to feature 250 life-sized statues of famous Americans, including former presidents, sports stars and renowned inventors.
The Trump administration plans to install the statues near the National Mall in West Potomac Park, which is home to several Washington landmarks, including the Jefferson Memorial and the Korean War Veterans Memorial. But the new lawsuit alleges the plan is “unlawful,” and asks a judge to block construction until the agencies “comply with their legal obligations.”
“Congress has made clear that the National Mall is a ‘substantially completed work of civic art’—not a personal sandbox for each President to renovate however he likes. To that end, Congr..