Global Pulse

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  • Heatwave breaks more records in northern and central Europe

    Heatwave breaks more records in northern and central Europe

    A historic early summer heatwave is sweeping across Europe, bringing with it a cascade of broken all-time temperature records that have left communities and authorities grappling with a growing public health emergency. Over the weekend of June 27-28 2026, the unprecedented heat pushed thermometers past century-old benchmarks in multiple nations, marking one of the most intense early-season heat events ever recorded on the continent.

    Germany became a focal point of the extreme conditions, notching a new national all-time high temperature for the second consecutive day. According to provisional data from the country’s national meteorological service, the town of Möckern-Drewitz in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt hit 41.5°C on Saturday. This reading surpassed the 41.3°C record set just 24 hours earlier in Saarbrücken, a city near the French-German border. German authorities have moved quickly to address public discomfort and risk: in Berlin, police deployed two water cannons to spray cooling mist over crowds of heat-weary residents, a measure that provided much-needed relief to thousands struggling with the sweltering conditions.

    The heatwave, which first emerged on the Iberian Peninsula before expanding north and east, claimed new national records in other parts of the continent as well. The Czech Republic’s national meteorological service CHMI confirmed a new all-time high of 40.8°C measured at a station in Doksany, north of the capital Prague. In Denmark, forecasters recorded a provisional national record of 37°C in Odum near the city of Aarhus, breaking the previous benchmark of 36.4°C that had stood since 1976. Switzerland extended its streak of broken June heat records to three straight days on Saturday, when Basel in the country’s north reached 39°C, the hottest June temperature ever recorded in the alpine nation.

    Currently, an estimated 150 million people across Europe are enduring temperatures above 35°C, according to preliminary impact assessments. The World Meteorological Organization has issued a stark warning that the prolonged extreme heat will deliver major damage to both public health and regional ecosystems. Since the heatwave began a week ago, hundreds of fatalities across the continent have already been linked to the high temperatures. Spain’s MoMo mortality monitoring system recorded 327 heat-associated deaths between the previous Sunday and Thursday, while in France, at least 55 people have died from drowning amid a surge in people seeking cooling in open water—two-thirds of these fatalities occurred in unmonitored swimming areas with no lifeguards on duty.

    Meteorologists have explained the extreme conditions as the result of a slow-moving, persistent high-pressure system commonly called a “heat dome.” “Underneath the high pressure system, sinking air compresses and warms, lifting temperatures day by day,” explained Ben Rich, lead weather presenter for the BBC. “The skies have remained largely cloud-free, allowing strong sunshine to heat things up even more.”

    Climate scientists have long warned that Europe is warming faster than any other continent on Earth, a trend driven by factors including rapid Arctic heating and shifting jet stream patterns. A rapid attribution analysis by the World Weather Attribution network found that a heatwave of this intensity so early in the summer would have been virtually impossible without human-caused climate change. The group concluded that climate change is unequivocally to blame for the event.

    Looking ahead, the extreme heat is expected to persist through the weekend and into Monday, with temperatures as high as 40°C still possible in many affected regions. However, forecasters say a cooler air mass developing in western Europe will gradually move eastward across the continent, bringing much-needed temperature relief by the end of the coming week.

    German politician Katrin Goering-Eckardt, former leader of the Green Party, framed the event as a clear call to action on climate, writing on social media platform X: “This heat isn’t pleasant summer weather. It’s a health crisis.”

  • Tens of thousands march in the first Budapest Pride since Viktor Orbán was voted out

    Tens of thousands march in the first Budapest Pride since Viktor Orbán was voted out

    BUDAPEST, Hungary — Tens of thousands of Hungarians and their allies defied a record-breaking European heat wave to gather in the nation’s capital Saturday, marking the 31st annual Budapest Pride parade — the first fully authorized demonstration of its kind since populist former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who spent 16 years pushing anti-LGBTQ+ policies and attempted to ban the event entirely, was removed from power in April’s general election.

    As temperatures climbed to a sweltering 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) amid the ongoing heat dome sweeping across most of the continent, event organizers made sure attendees stayed safe by distributing free bottled water, while Budapest’s public water utility activated additional public fountains along the entire parade route to offer constant access to cool water.

    The procession kicked off at Budapest’s world-famous Hungarian State Opera House, winding through the bustling central streets of the capital before crossing the iconic Erzsébet Bridge spanning the Danube River that cuts through the heart of the city. LGBTQ+ Hungarians and their supporters danced to upbeat music, cheered, and waved vibrant rainbow flags as they marched, creating a mood of celebration and cautious optimism not seen at recent Pride events in the country.

    Luca Új, a participant attending her third Budapest Pride march, noted a palpable shift in atmosphere compared to events held under Orbán’s administration. “There used to be a lot of tension when we marched. But now I see people as being somehow happier, and there are more older people joining too, which is a really nice change,” she shared.

    Saturday’s event comes just over a year after Orbán’s nationalist-populist government pushed through both formal legislation and a constitutional amendment to outlaw Pride parades entirely, a move that sparked widespread condemnation from global human rights organizations and political leaders across the European Union. Even with the ban in place, 2024’s Pride event went forward as scheduled in open defiance of the government, drawing a record 350,000 attendees to become the largest demonstration in the event’s history. That massive turnout, which came despite months of government insistence the march would never be permitted, was widely seen as a major rebuke that weakened Orbán’s political standing ahead of the April election.

    Orbán and his Fidesz party were handily defeated in the April vote by center-right challenger Prime Minister Péter Magyar and his opposition Tisza party. While Hungary’s new governing coalition has not yet formally repealed the Orbán-era ban on Pride events, national police granted full official authorization for this year’s march and deployed uniformed officers to provide security along the entire route.

    Kristóf Györgyi, a first-time Pride attendee who traveled to the capital from the southern Hungarian city of Szeged, said he holds significant hope that the new government will move to expand equal rights for LGBTQ+ Hungarians, bringing the country into line with protections common across most of the European Union.

    He pointed to ongoing parliamentary debate over adoption rights for same-sex couples — a debate that would have been unthinkable under the previous administration, which implemented a full ban on same-sex adoption and same-sex marriage. “The fact that there’s already a debate in Parliament about whether an orphaned child is better off with a loving same-sex couple or in an orphanage is a positive sign,” he explained. “Obviously, the laws haven’t changed yet, but there are already many signs of hope for our community.”

    For more than a decade, Orbán’s government framed Pride celebrations — which are held globally to honor LGBTQ+ visibility and advance demands for equal legal and social rights — as a threat to children’s moral and spiritual development, a claim that has been repeatedly rejected by independent human rights groups and child development experts across the continent.

    Just months before the election, in April 2025, the European Court of Justice — the EU’s highest judicial body — ruled that a 2021 Orbán-era law banning access to LGBTQ+ inclusive content for minors violates core European Union law, and breaches the bloc’s foundational treaty guarantees for human rights and legal equality.

  • German highways are buckling under extreme heat as Central Europe sizzles

    German highways are buckling under extreme heat as Central Europe sizzles

    A crippling heat wave that earlier scorched Western Europe has shifted east and central across the continent this weekend, bringing widespread disruption to critical infrastructure, overwhelming healthcare systems, and causing multiple fatalities across the region. Climate scientists have confirmed that this extreme heat event is directly tied to human-caused climate change, reinforcing global calls for urgent climate action.

    In Germany, where peak temperatures are forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), the country’s iconic Autobahn highway network has already suffered heat-related damage. According to German daily newspaper Bild, concrete pavement on the A2 highway buckled in two sections outside Berlin, forcing complete closures of those stretches, with other damage reported across the country’s road network. National rail operator Deutsche Bahn and other regional rail companies have urged the public to cancel all nonessential long-distance and regional travel this weekend, noting that the country’s entire transportation network is buckling under the record heat.

    In the western German city of Dormagen, dangerous indoor temperatures forced the evacuation of dozens of nursing home residents for emergency medical care. Local fire departments reported indoor temperatures at the facility hit 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) — a particularly dangerous level for vulnerable elderly residents. Unlike many warmer regions, air conditioning is not standard in most German and European buildings, as the continent has historically rarely experienced such sustained extreme heat. A city spokesperson confirmed to German news agency dpa that one resident died overnight, though officials have not yet confirmed whether the heat contributed to the death.

    Across the border in France, temperatures began to slowly decline Saturday after two days of extreme heat that put three-quarters of the country under red heat alerts, with temperatures topping 40 Celsius in multiple locations including Paris. While the peak of the crisis appears to be passing for now, hospitals remain under extreme pressure from a surge of heat-related medical emergencies, including heatstroke, dehydration, and heat-triggered heart attacks. Paris’ public hospital network AP-HP activated its full emergency response protocol across all 38 city hospitals to handle the unrelenting increase in patient volume. Over the 24 hours ending Friday, AP-HP emergency departments treated nearly 3,000 patients — a 35% increase from normal volumes, with more than a third of those patients hospitalized patients over the age of 75. Calls to medical dispatch centers rose nearly 80% compared to the same period last year.

    The strain on healthcare systems forced the cancellation of two major public events: the annual Saturday Paris Pride march for LGBTQ+ rights and a three-day music festival, both postponed to avoid putting additional stress on emergency services. This heat wave has already recorded higher peak temperatures than the historic 2003 European heat wave, which killed an estimated 15,000 people in France, most of them elderly. AP-HP director Nicolas Revel noted that improved heat-related treatment protocols mean officials do not expect the same catastrophic death toll seen in 2003, after more than 5,700 heat-attributed deaths recorded in France during the 2024 extreme heat event. Revel noted that, while death totals are unlikely to reach 2003 levels, the country should still prepare for hundreds of additional heat-related fatalities.

    In the United Kingdom, the heat wave broke all-time June temperature records three days in a row, with a provisional 37.3 Celsius (99 Fahrenheit) recorded in eastern England on Friday — more than 1 degree higher than the previous 1976 June record. While temperatures are forecast to gradually cool this weekend, an amber heat warning remains in effect through Saturday night. Police confirmed Saturday that the body of a 22-year-old man was recovered from a river after he got into trouble while cooling off during the heat. This death joins roughly 40 heat and swimming-related fatalities recorded in France over the past week, prompting repeated official warnings to avoid unregulated swimming in rivers and lakes.

    In Italy’s capital Rome, which remains under a top-level red heat alert, tourists have sought any available relief from sweltering temperatures, crowding into shade near historic buildings and cooling off in public fountains. Street vendors have reported booming sales of bottled water, sun protection, and cooling accessories, with many tourists turning to local favorites like gelato and cold fruit for relief. Italy’s Ministry of Health extended red alerts to 18 major cities Saturday, including top tourism hubs Venice, Florence, Bologna and Milan.

    As the heat wave cripples much of Western and Central Europe, a new rapid analysis from climate research collaboration World Weather Attribution confirms that this extreme heat and humidity event would not have been possible without human-induced climate change. The study found that such a heat wave was virtually impossible 50 years ago, and is 200 times more likely to occur today than it was just two decades ago. André Corrêa do Lago, president of the UN COP30 climate talks, said the widespread disruption and danger of this heat wave has underscored the urgent need for global climate action. “The fact that we are living with this amazing heat in London is a strong argument… we need to take action as soon as possible,” do Lago told the Associated Press.

  • Ukraine strikes industrial facility in Russia’s Volgograd as Russian drone attack kills 1

    Ukraine strikes industrial facility in Russia’s Volgograd as Russian drone attack kills 1

    In a significant escalation of Kyiv’s cross-border military campaign, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Saturday that Ukrainian forces have struck a critical military-industrial complex in the southwestern Russian city of Volgograd. The assault comes as part of Kyiv’s expanded strategy to disrupt Russia’s war production machine, just one day after one of the largest single drone offensives against Russian territory since the full-scale invasion began more than four years ago.

    According to Zelenskyy’s statement posted on social platform X, the attack was carried out using FP-5 Flamingo missiles, targeting the Titan-Barrikady facility—a major industrial site that produces core military hardware for the Russian military. Ukraine’s General Staff elaborated on the strike, noting that the complex manufactures key components for Russian missile systems, including self-propelled launchers and transport-loading vehicles for the Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile system—the same platform Russia has repeatedly deployed to strike civilian and military targets across Ukrainian cities.

    Local Russian governor Andrei Bocharov confirmed the attack on an industrial site in Volgograd’s Krasnooktyabrsky district, reporting that 10 people were wounded in the strike and transported to local medical facilities. Bocharov acknowledged that production infrastructure at the site sustained damage, but declined to publicly confirm the identity of the targeted facility, matching the pattern of limited official disclosure following recent Ukrainian strikes on Russian military sites.

    The Volgograd strike was not the only cross-border attack carried out by Ukrainian forces Saturday. Ukraine’s state security service announced that Ukrainian troops also hit an oil pumping station in Russia’s Vladimir Region, a facility that supplies fuel to the Moscow area. This marks the second time this month the same type of infrastructure in the region has been targeted, a sign of Kyiv’s consistent focus on disrupting Russian energy supply chains that support the Kremlin’s military operations.

    Saturday’s strikes follow a massive one-day drone assault that targeted more than a dozen Russian regions, Russian-occupied Crimea, and adjacent maritime areas on Friday. Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed that its air defense systems intercepted 660 incoming Ukrainian drones during the attack, marking one of the largest single interception operations Moscow has reported since the start of the full-scale invasion.

    The stepped-up campaign of long-range strikes is part of a deliberate 40-day escalation ordered by Zelenskyy last Thursday. The Ukrainian leader stated that the operation is intended to increase pressure on the Kremlin to force it into meaningful peace negotiations, after 12 months of U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to end the conflict failed to produce any tangible breakthrough. Western defense officials and independent analysts say the campaign has already produced measurable impacts: it has constrained Russian fuel distribution networks, slowed military equipment deliveries to frontline units, hampered Moscow’s offensive operations on Ukrainian battlefields, and piled unprecedented domestic political pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kyiv’s broader strategic goal with these strikes is to erode Russia’s war revenue streams and bring the tangible costs of the invasion home to Russian populations, who have largely been shielded from direct impacts of the conflict for most of its course.

    While Ukraine pressed its cross-border offensive, Russia continued its own air attacks on Ukrainian territory overnight. In Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy Region, a 66-year-old civilian man was killed when a Russian drone struck a private residential property, regional governor Oleh Hryborov confirmed Saturday. The death marks the latest civilian casualty in the relentless cross-border exchange of strikes that has characterized the fifth year of the ongoing conflict.

    This development comes alongside parallel European Union moves related to the war, with Brussels advancing plans to extend temporary protection status for displaced Ukrainians, while excluding new arrivals eligible for military service from the coverage. The EU also recently disbursed a 3 billion euro loan package earmarked for Ukraine’s post-invasion reconstruction, part of a broader two-year commitment to support Kyiv’s economic and infrastructure recovery efforts.

  • Thousands of Vespas swarm Rome’s historic center to mark iconic scooter’s 80th anniversary

    Thousands of Vespas swarm Rome’s historic center to mark iconic scooter’s 80th anniversary

    On a sun-drenched Saturday in June 2026, the historic streets of Rome echoed with the distinctive soft putter of more than 10,000 Vespas, as enthusiasts from every corner of the globe gathered to celebrate eight decades of Italy’s most beloved two-wheeled icon. The parade wound past the ancient arches of the Colosseum and the weathered ruins of the Roman Forum, turning the Eternal City’s cobblestone lanes into a rolling tribute to a design that has transcended transportation to become a global cultural symbol.

    Devotee traveled thousands of miles to join the celebration: the Associated Press spoke to attendees from across continental Europe, northern England, San Francisco, Australia’s Gold Coast, the Philippines and beyond. For one weekend, high-performance Italian automotive marques like Ferrari and Ducati took a backseat, as the compact, charming Vespa claimed the spotlight as the star of the city. For Natalie Dunand, a French retiree marking her own 61st birthday at the event, the draw of Vespa runs deeper than mechanics. “The passion for Vespa is for the Italian style, freedom, the ’60s,” she said. “I love it.”

    The story of Vespa begins in post-World War II Italy, born from unexpected necessity. Piaggio, once a leading aircraft manufacturer, saw its Pontedera factory reduced to rubble by Allied bombing. Forced to pivot away from aviation, the company shifted gears to develop an affordable, accessible mode of transport for a war-torn nation, rolling the first scooter off production lines in 1946. From its earliest days, the scooter was designed with intentional inclusivity: Piaggio marketing executive vice president Davide Zanolini explained that women were among the brand’s core initial target audiences. The scooter’s low frame and step-through design allowed riders to wear long skirts without exposing their legs, a detail that shaped Vespa’s signature elegant curved silhouette. “The shape, the elegance. This very charming attitude of Vespa is much more of a lady than a man,” Zanolini told the AP.

    It didn’t take long for the scooter to conquer Italy, and then the world. By 1950, an Associated Press report noted Vespas were so ubiquitous in central Rome that their collective “staccato exhaust racket” made the downtown sound like the Indy 500. “Scooters darting loudly around Rome are said to impress motor-minded Americans as strongly as St. Peter’s or the Colosseum,” the 1950 article read. Global stardom arrived in 1953, when Gregory Peck gave Audrey Hepburn a iconic ride through Rome’s city center in *Roman Holiday*, cementing the Vespa’s reputation as a symbol of Mediterranean romance and adventure. The scooter has since appeared in dozens of films, from *The Talented Mr. Ripley* to Pixar’s 2021 animated hit *Luca*. Often compared to the Volkswagen Beetle for its timeless, approachable design, the Vespa has a universal ability to draw smiles from onlookers even 80 years after its launch.

    In the days leading up to Saturday’s parade, the city was flooded with Vespa aficionados, who gathered in groups in matching branded t-shirts and filled public squares across Rome. Outside Rome’s Stadium of the Marbles, rows of Vespas spanning eight decades of production were lined up for display, ranging from pristine original 1940s models to modern limited-edition releases. Some were decorated with flowers and stuffed toys; others carried personal mementos from their owners’ cross-continental journeys. Dunand brought her West Highland terrier, who rode along on the back, clipped short to cope with Rome’s summer heat. A Japanese enthusiast from Tokyo swapped his local club banner with an Italian Vespa group, while a German attendee showed off a tattoo of the Vespa logo paired with the iconic phrase “La Dolce Vita” on his calf.

    For many enthusiasts, the appeal of Vespa lies in its simplicity compared to larger, higher-powered motorcycles. Many riders trade in bulkier bikes for the nimble, lightweight automatic Vespa, which operates with a simple hand-twist accelerator. “You get on, twist, go. Doddle. Easy,” explained Andrew Walton, a 59-year-old truck driver from Newcastle who bought his first Vespa nearly 20 years ago. Walton rode for eight days from his home in northern England, taking a ferry to Rotterdam, following the Rhine through Germany and along Austria’s Romantic Road, before cruising down the Italian coast to reach Rome.

    After Rome’s mayor cut the opening ribbon for the celebration’s Vespa Village at the Stadium of the Marbles, crowds streamed in singing, chanting and waving national and club flags. Thousands headed straight for the official merchandise tent, where limited-edition helmets emblazoned with “80 Years of an Icon” were the most sought-after item, alongside a full range of branded goods from jackets and hats to blankets, water bottles and umbrellas. A photo retrospective traced Vespa’s cultural history, from classic mid-century shots of couples picnicking in Mediterranean meadows and seaside getaways to unexpected feats, like explorer Soren Nielsen’s 1963 trip to the Arctic Circle on his Vespa. Piaggio also displayed its private collection of pristine rare Vespas, drawn from 80 years of production.

    Today, Zanolini confirmed, Vespa has sold nearly 20 million units worldwide since 1946, and is available in 110 countries. While the brand remains niche in the United States, it has a strong following in Florida and California, and is growing in popularity in markets like Austin, Texas. Burke Sandman, whose family owns a century-old car dealership in Indiana, caught the Vespa bug nearly 20 years ago, after buying his first model for its sidecar. He became an official dealer after discovering there were no local resellers in his region, and has since moved more than 1,000 Vespas across the U.S., keeping 15 for his personal collection. “No one ever says anything bad about a Vespa. You know, it’s crazy,” Sandman said from the celebration in Rome. “Everyone that trades other brands for a Vespa, they never go back. It’s just something about it. And everyone likes Italian stuff. I get a lot of people that come back from Europe, and they’ve got the bug.”

  • Bielsa takes responsibility for Uruguay’s debacle, says he left nothing good for Uruguayan soccer

    Bielsa takes responsibility for Uruguay’s debacle, says he left nothing good for Uruguayan soccer

    GUADALAJARA, Mexico – The weight of disappointment hung heavy on Marcelo Bielsa Friday evening, as the veteran head coach faced the media following Uruguay’s premature exit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, taking sole, full responsibility for his side’s winless tournament run that ended their campaign long before the knockout stage.

    Uruguay closed out its Group H campaign with a narrow 1-0 defeat to Spain, marking its third consecutive match without a win. The South American side had already played out two scoreless draws against Saudi Arabia and underdog newcomer Cape Verde, leaving it with just two points from three matches – far too few to advance. It was Cape Verde that secured the group’s second knockout spot behind Spain, becoming the smallest nation ever to progress to the World Cup’s round of 16 in a historic underdog run that came at Uruguay’s expense.

    Bielsa, an Argentine coaching veteran whose contract with the Uruguayan Football Association was only set to run through the conclusion of this World Cup, had already confirmed before the tournament that his tenure with the national side would end following the 2026 competition. In a post-match press conference marked by a somber, farewell tone, Bielsa questioned what lasting legacy he would leave for Uruguayan soccer, arguing that nothing he built during his three years in charge would hold value without positive tournament results.

    “What do I leave for Uruguayan soccer? Nothing,” Bielsa told reporters. “Any contribution that a coach might make to soccer in a country after three years of work never truly takes hold if results aren’t achieved. Fourth place in the qualifiers didn’t count for much, and a third-place finish in the Copa América didn’t, either. And there is obviously no need to spell it out after what happened now. A tenure that left nothing behind.”

    The 67-year-old coach doubled down on his acceptance of blame, noting that given the quality of the players at his disposal, he should have been able to extract stronger performances and results from the squad. Even so, he argued that his team outperformed their final points tally, suggesting bad luck played a small role in their early exit.

    “I think we deserved to win seven points from the three matches, but we leave with only two points,” he said.

    Currently ranked 19th in the official FIFA Men’s World Rankings, Uruguay stands as the highest-ranked team eliminated from the tournament in the group stage to date.

    This early group stage exit marks the second time Bielsa has led a national side to a first-round World Cup elimination. His first came during the 2002 tournament co-hosted by South Korea and Japan, when his Argentine squad failed to advance out of their group. Bielsa’s best World Cup performance to date remains his 2010 stint with Chile, where he guided the side to the tournament’s round of 16 in South Africa.

  • People aren’t the only ones hit by heat. What to do if you see wildlife affected by hot temperatures

    People aren’t the only ones hit by heat. What to do if you see wildlife affected by hot temperatures

    As record-breaking extreme heat and suffocating humidity blanket much of Europe this summer, the harm of soaring temperatures extends far beyond human communities. Native birds and wild animals across the continent are facing unrelenting heat stress, with little opportunity to cool down and recover. Among at-risk wildlife, birds hold an outsize role in global ecosystem health: they facilitate plant pollination, naturally control invasive pest populations, spread native plant seeds across landscapes, and even act as early bioindicators of broader ecological disruption. Wildlife experts have outlined clear guidance for how members of the public can identify birds in heat distress, offer safe assistance, and interact responsibly with other heat-impacted wildlife during the ongoing heat event.

    To understand the risk birds face, it is first important to contextualize their natural heat adaptations. David Bird, emeritus professor of wildlife biology at McGill University, explains that birds are an extraordinarily diverse group, and many species have evolved specialized traits to cope with extended periods of warm weather. Unlike mammals, birds naturally maintain higher core body temperatures, typically resting around 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) or slightly higher. To regulate their internal heat, birds can adjust the positioning of their feathers to reflect sunlight and increase airflow through their complex network of respiratory air sacs, alongside making targeted behavioral changes to avoid overheating.

    Even with these adaptations, every bird species has an upper limit to the heat it can withstand, warns Aimee Van Tatenhove, a postdoctoral fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “This level differs by species, and as you can imagine, species that live closer to the poles are often much more susceptible to heat than species that live closer to the equator,” Van Tatenhove noted. “Prolonged intense heat like Europe is experiencing right now is likely pushing many species toward their maximum heat tolerances, putting them at risk of heat illness or death.”

    Unlike humans and many other mammal species, birds do not have sweat glands to cool their bodies through evaporative cooling. Instead, they rely on a set of alternative natural cooling mechanisms. Common backyard bird species often use gape: opening their beaks and panting to expel excess heat, a behavior nearly identical to how domestic dogs cool down on hot days. Other species use a strategy called gular fluttering, rapidly vibrating the thin pouch skin on their necks to increase heat exchange. Birds will also actively seek out shaded areas to avoid direct midday sun, and dip into shallow water sources like birdbaths, fountains and small ponds to bring down their core temperature.

    When it comes to helping birds survive extreme heat, experts say there are several simple, low-effort measures members of the public can take to support local populations, though full protection during a record heat wave remains difficult. In the short term, households can place shallow containers of clean water in shaded, predator-safe areas around yards and public green spaces. Experts emphasize the importance of regularly cleaning these water sources to prevent the spread of avian disease. Maintaining stocked bird feeders is another simple step: this provides easy access to food for birds that avoid expending energy foraging in sweltering heat, and helps offset losses of natural insect populations— a core food source for many bird species that have declined sharply due to long-term climate change and pollution. For longer-term support, households that have outdoor space can plant layered native vegetation, including low-growing shrubs and taller canopy trees, to create permanent shaded habitats for local bird communities.

    For heat-stressed birds that do not appear to be accessing the cooling and food resources people provide, experts advise against unnecessary intervention. “These birds know better than what we do about what is comfortable for them,” explained Jack Kottwitz, assistant professor at Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Most birds will actively seek out cooler temperatures on their own, moving to lower shaded perches or even areas near moving air from fans or natural breezes.

    Guidance for other wild animals follows a similar core rule: avoid unnecessary intervention. Experts warn that offering unfamiliar food or water to non-avian wildlife, or attempting to bring wild animals into indoor spaces, can do more harm than good. Signs of extreme heat stress often overlap with symptoms of contagious diseases that wild animals can carry, so the only safe course of action when encountering a sick or injured heat-stressed animal is to contact a local licensed wildlife rehabilitator, who has the training and resources to provide appropriate care. “The best thing for wildlife is to let them be wild,” said Lisa Duke, sanctuary grounds manager at the W.K. Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, which is affiliated with Michigan State University. “They know what to do with their bodies.”

    This reporting was produced by Alexa St. John, an Associated Press climate reporter. AP’s climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations, with the AP retaining full editorial control over all content.

  • Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera pulled at halftime after his mistake leads to Spain goal

    Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera pulled at halftime after his mistake leads to Spain goal

    GUADALAJARA, Mexico – In a dramatic halftime intervention that underscored the high stakes of World Cup group stage play, Uruguay manager Marcelo Bielsa made a bold substitution Friday, pulling veteran starting goalkeeper Fernando Muslera after a costly error handed Spain a 1-0 lead heading into the second half.

    Replacing the 40-year-old shot-stopper with Sergio Rochet to open the final 45 minutes, the change came as Uruguay faced immediate elimination from the tournament with a one-goal deficit. The mistake that sealed Muslera’s exit came in the 42nd minute, when he failed to properly clear Álex Baena’s close-range effort. Misjudging the ball’s bounce off the turf, Muslera could not secure a firm grip on the shot, allowing it to slip past him into the back of the net.

    This error marks Muslera’s third consecutive costly blunder across Uruguay’s three group stage matches, a streak of misfortune that has amplified criticism of Bielsa’s decision to recall the keeper to the national side. Muslera had previously retired from international soccer several years ago, before Bielsa invited him back to the squad earlier in 2024 — a call that drew sharp pushback from many Uruguay supporters even before the World Cup kicked off.

    The veteran’s shaky form was already on display in Uruguay’s earlier matches. In a 2-2 draw against Cape Verde last Sunday, a misplaced pass from defender Mathias Olivera left Muslera caught far out of his goal, gifting Cape Verde an easy tying goal into an empty net. In the team’s opening 1-1 draw against Saudi Arabia, Muslera failed to hold onto a cross headed toward goal, letting the opposition convert the loose rebound to earn a share of the points.

    With Uruguay’s World Cup journey hanging in the balance, Bielsa’s last-minute change brings a new goalkeeper into the fray for a do-or-die second half, as the South American side fights to keep their tournament hopes alive.

  • They quit the West for Russia’s traditional values, but it wasn’t what they expected

    They quit the West for Russia’s traditional values, but it wasn’t what they expected

    Against a backdrop of sweeping international isolation following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia has launched an unconventional immigration initiative designed to position itself as a global bulwark of traditional cultural values, drawing a small but notable stream of disillusioned Westerners to its borders. Introduced by President Vladimir Putin in 2024, one month after Texas native Leo Hare received Russian asylum, the Shared Values visa—colloquially known as the “anti-woke” visa—offers up to three years of temporary residency to citizens of the 47 nations Russia classifies as “unfriendly”, with a uniquely low barrier to entry.

    Unlike standard Russian immigration pathways, the scheme waives mandatory exams in Russian language, Russian history and national law. Instead, applicants need only sign a declaration affirming they align with Russia’s traditional spiritual and moral principles, and reject what the Kremlin labels the “destructive neoliberal ideology” of their home countries. After the three-year temporary residency period, visa holders must either pass the required language and history exams to secure permanent residency or exit the country. The program offers no government-funded housing or financial support; applicants only pay a 1,600 rouble (roughly £17 or $22) administrative fee and clear standard medical and criminal background checks.

    As of spring 2026, Russian authorities report nearly 3,400 people have submitted applications under the scheme—though independent verification of this figure, and of how many applications have ultimately been approved, remains impossible to obtain. The visa program is the practical realization of a policy vision Putin first outlined in a 2022 decree, where he warned that Western ideological influence posed a direct threat to core Russian values such as traditional marriage and family structure, and called for a global rebranding of Russia as a counterweight to perceived Western moral decay. Today, a sprawling online network of relocation services and social media influencers amplifies this narrative, marketing Russia to Western audiences as a haven where family-centric culture remains intact and daily life feels more secure than in their home countries.

    Ilja Belobragin, who runs a firm assisting foreign nationals relocate to Russia, says the most common refrain he hears from clients is that they no longer recognize the communities they grew up in. Many prospective migrants cite grievances ranging from rapid cultural shifts, high levels of immigration, and declining living standards in their home countries. For most of those making the move, Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine has not proven to be a deciding factor. Some openly back Russia’s military campaign, while others frame their decision as rooted entirely in cultural values rather than geopolitics.

    Philip Hutchinson, a former UK Conservative Party candidate who now resides in Moscow and helps other Westerners relocate, says he deliberately avoids discussing the conflict. “What are my thoughts on it? Look, I don’t really get involved in that. I’m not here as a politician. I’m here to live a nice quiet life with my family,” he explained. When asked if facilitating relocations under the Shared Values visa constitutes a political act, Hutchinson rejects the framing, arguing the program is simply the most accessible pathway to residency currently available for Westerners.

    Leo Hare, the Texas father of three who received asylum months before the program launched, became one of the most high-profile early examples of Western migration to Russia. A devout Christian, Hare had grown increasingly disillusioned with deep political polarization in the U.S., genetically modified food, and what he viewed as the expanding influence of the LGBTQ movement, and saw Russia as a promising alternative built on Christian faith and traditional family values—a narrative actively promoted by the Russian state. After arriving, he threw himself into local life: sampling traditional pelmeni dumplings, milking goats on a rural farm, and creating social media content documenting his experience for followers back in the West. Russian state media even filmed his asylum granting ceremony, where Hare publicly thanked Putin for welcoming his family, and he initially saw himself as a pioneer for what he called an “unprecedented” new immigration policy.

    But the reality of life in Russia quickly grew far more complicated than Hare anticipated. Within weeks of arriving, he and his family were defrauded of 5 million roubles (approximately £52,000 or $66,000) by a trusted contact, leaving them homeless. When interviewed earlier this year, Hare was living separately from his wife in the city of Ivanovo, and his two older children had returned to the United States. He now describes the past two years as both the best and worst period of his life.

    Hare still speaks warmly of ordinary Russian people, recalling how members of his local Orthodox church community stepped in to support his family after they lost their savings, including a local woman who took in his youngest son and taught him Russian free of charge. “My heart is just full of love for these people,” he said. He has since found work as an English tutor, and has experienced life across a range of settings, from an Orthodox monastery to Soviet-era small apartments and modern high-rise developments. But over time, he has grown increasingly concerned about restrictions on access to information and ongoing struggles with Russia’s economy. He has also stepped back from his earlier role promoting migration to Russia, admitting he once bought into the state’s promotional narrative. “I believed in the propaganda,” he said. Though he says he feels bound to stay in Russia by a sense of destiny, he now openly misses the civil liberties that shaped his life in America, noting “[In] Russia you don’t have these human rights values.”

    Other Western migrants have pushed back against the idealized narrative of Russia as a conservative utopia promoted by some influencers and the Russian state. Ben, a UK national from Derby who moved to Russia in 2023 on a private family visa to live with a Russian woman he met on a language exchange website, says he feels safer in his daily life in Russia and praises the warmth of local residents, but rejects the framing of Russia as a perfect conservative alternative to the West. Ben, who now lives in Kursk near the Ukrainian border, says his family initially thought he was insane for moving to a region near active conflict. He points to high rates of single-parent households, widespread acceptance of abortion, and extremely high divorce rates as evidence that Russia does not live up to the conservative ideal promoted online. “Russia isn’t some utopia,” he emphasized, arguing that many influencers promoting the country have hidden political agendas.

    Nearly two years after the Shared Values visa launched, Russia’s experiment in attracting ideological migration remains small in scale. While it has failed to draw the large wave of “anti-woke” migration its creators may have hoped for, it has cleared a path for a small group of Westerners to build new lives in Russia—for reasons ranging from love and faith to a simple desire for a fresh start.

  • Meloni and Trump: A very public fall-out that is proving very hard to fix

    Meloni and Trump: A very public fall-out that is proving very hard to fix

    Viral AI-generated memes circulating across Italian social media have perfectly captured a dramatic shift in transatlantic politics: the once-close alliance between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and U.S. President Donald Trump has devolved into a very public, very messy political breakup. The memes, which show Meloni engaging in classic post-breakup activities from getting a new haircut to signing up for a dating app, lean into a joke that has resonated deeply with the Italian public because it reflects a very real rupture that has unfolded over the past six months.

    It was not long ago that Meloni was widely known as Washington’s favorite European right-wing leader, nicknamed the “Trump whisperer.” She held the distinction of being the only European head of government to claim a front-row seat at Trump’s January 2025 inauguration, and just months later, she was tapped as the European Union’s top envoy to the White House for high-stakes talks aimed at defusing rising tensions over U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs on European goods. For Meloni, who spent years rebranding from a fringe post-fascist politician to a mainstream, credible leader of the European right, this close relationship with Trump was far more than a convenient diplomatic tie. It was global validation that she had arrived as a major player on the world stage.

    But Trump’s well-documented unpredictability has created a minefield that Meloni has been unable to navigate, eroding her credibility at home and abroad. The first major crack in the relationship emerged in late March, when Italy’s defense ministry announced it would require parliamentary approval before allowing U.S. military aircraft bound for the Middle East to use the NATO Sigonella airbase in Sicily. The decision aligned with Italy’s constitutional requirements and reflected overwhelming public opposition to expanded conflict in the region, but it set the stage for escalating friction.

    The dispute boiled over in April, when Trump launched a public attack on Pope Leo XIV on Truth Social after the pontiff criticized the U.S.-led campaign against Iran, calling the Pope “weak on crime.” As the leader of a deeply Catholic nation, Meloni had no choice but to push back, labeling Trump’s attack “unacceptable.” The U.S. president reacted sharply, telling Italian daily *Corriere della Sera* that he had been wrong about Meloni’s political courage. “I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” he said. “She is unacceptable… she is not the same person, Italy is not the same country.”

    By the June G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, it looked like the pair had smoothed over their differences. Photographs showed the two leaders holding an extended, closed-door conversation on a summit sofa, and Meloni told reporters the discussion had been “very positive,” with “no friction.” But the truce collapsed within days. In a leaked, Italian-dubbed phone interview with Italian broadcaster La7 that was never aired in English, Trump claimed Meloni had “begged” him for the summit photograph. “She wanted a picture with me so badly,” the voiceover quoted Trump as saying. “I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her.”

    Meloni responded immediately with a scathing video address posted to her social channels, calling Trump’s claims “completely fabricated.” “I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way toward his own allies,” she said. “I can only say it’s a pity he doesn’t show the same resolve toward the enemies of the West… But there’s one thing he must remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg.” The political fallout across Italy was swift and unified: President Sergio Mattarella called Meloni to express full solidarity, government lawmakers called the comments an insult to Italian dignity that demanded an apology, and opposition parties joined in condemning the remarks as an unacceptable affront to the entire nation. Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani went a step further, canceling a planned official trip to Washington.

    Trump doubled down on his claims from Camp David, posting to Truth Social that Meloni had asked for the photograph “over and over” and accusing her of only seeking to repair ties now that the U.S. had “defeated Iran militarily.” Before the original dispute could cool, a second controversy erupted over comments from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Appearing on Fox News last Wednesday, Rutte claimed around 500 U.S. aircraft had taken off from bases in Italy to support “Operation Epic Fury,” the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran, framing the movement as part of broad European support for the operation. Rome rejected the account forcefully, with the defense ministry calling Rutte’s claims “fallacious” and “totally misleading,” emphasizing that Italy had only authorized technical and logistical flights, not combat operations, and had rejected all requests that crossed that line. A NATO spokesperson later walked back the comments, clarifying that Rutte had only meant to note that all allies, including Italy, had upheld existing bilateral basing agreements. Still, the incident reignited domestic pressure on Meloni, who has repeatedly insisted her government never authorized the use of Italian territory for direct military action against Iran.

    For Meloni, who is already navigating political headwinds after a recent defeat in a national constitutional referendum and faces a general election next year, the feud has opened up pressing questions about her future political positioning. Analysts point out that her long-held strategy of balancing between competing European and U.S. interests has collapsed. “This might be a tough situation to turn around,” said Gianni Riotta, author and vice chairman of the Council for the United States and Italy, speaking to the BBC. “Meloni’s ability to build a bridge now looks like a mere illusion, she couldn’t stand between Europe and the US. She tried to please both sides, on Ukraine, on tariffs. Then the Pope broke it: she had to back him, and Trump doesn’t accept that. Trump has had a friend-or-foe outlook since his property days in New York, you’re either with me or against me, and once that understanding broke down, he pushed harder, and Meloni played up her tough-woman image.”

    While neither Rome nor Washington is pushing for a full diplomatic rupture, public tensions remain high. Earlier this week, reports circulated that multiple Italian government ministers planned to boycott the U.S. Embassy’s annual Independence Day reception at Rome’s Villa Taverna, brought forward this year to July 2, in solidarity with Meloni, who was already not expected to attend. That talk of a boycott has since softened, with Tajani announcing he will attend “with my head held high” and Meloni’s allies saying ministers are now free to make their own choice about attendance. The real test of the relationship will come next month, when both leaders are scheduled to attend the NATO summit in Ankara, marking their first public appearance in the same room since the explosive G7 dispute.