-Plan involves moving 600,000 people to Rafah near Egypt -Netanyahu asks for new blueprints -Far-right minister dismisses debate as 'spin' -Finance Minister says defence officials trying to sabotage plan

JERUSALEM, July 15 (Reuters) - An Israeli scheme to move hundreds of thousands of already uprooted Palestinians to a so-called "humanitarian city" in Gaza has led politicians to spar with the defence establishment, but officials say a practical plan has yet to be crafted.

From BirdGuides

Türkiye's population of Brown Fish Owl has been estimated at only 50-80 breeding pairs, according to a decade-long study by Doğa Derneği Association.

The findings, based on data gathered over 10 years in the wooded valleys of the Taurus Mountains in southern Türkiye, mark the first comprehensive estimate of the species' presence in the country, as reported by Ornithomedia.

Once thought to be nearly extinct in Türkiye, there was only one confirmed 20th-century sighting of the species, which involved a bird accidentally caught by a fisherman in 1990. However, increasing fieldwork and knowledge of the species' habitat have led to several new discoveries in recent years. Sightings were initially kept secret with valid concerns over the sensitivity of the rare owl, but this changed in July 2011 when a pair was found at an accessible site and was viewable from tourist boat trips.

Sedentary subspecies

The Turkish population belongs to the subspecies semenowi, a sedentary group that has vanished from neighbouring Israel, Syria and Jordan. Its current known range in Türkiye is now restricted to forested valleys, steep cliffs, and fish-rich rivers and reservoirs, particularly in Mersin Province.

Confirmed breeding sites include the Manavgat (Oymapinar) Dam, Köprüçay and Dimçay Valleys, the Tahtalı and Bolkar Mountains, and Termessos National Park. Pairs have also been observed near fish farms, which offer a reliable food source.

Despite these positive observations, the species is believed to be in decline. Ongoing threats include deforestation, mining activity and the expansion of hydroelectric power infrastructure, all of which disturb the owl's nesting sites.

Raising awareness

Conservation groups are working to locate and protect key habitats, with efforts supported by local municipalities and international organisations such as BirdLife International.

Doğa Derneği Association is leading outreach and awareness campaigns about Brown Fish Owl. A poster promoting owl conservation has been distributed to local communities, and a photo exhibition titled 'Discover the Fishing Owl Before Its Extinction' was held in early 2025 at Mersin's Marina shopping centre.

While that's not very many, it is still more than zero. I hope people decide to protect these precious few so as not to lose them forever.

This is the closest I’ve ever been to a bun encounter!

NEW YORK (AP) — As his supporters erupt over the Justice Department’s failure to release much-hyped records in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation, President Donald Trump’s strategy has been to downplay the issue.

His problem? That nothing-to-see-here approach doesn’t work for those who have learned from him that they must not give up until the government’s deepest, darkest secrets are exposed.

Last week, the Justice Department and the FBI abruptly walked back the notion that there’s an Epstein client list of elites who participated in the wealthy New York financier’s trafficking of underage girls. Trump quickly defended Attorney General Pam Bondi and chided a reporter for daring to ask about the documents.

The online reaction was swift, with followers calling the Republican president “out of touch” and demanding transparency.

On Saturday, Trump used his Truth Social platform to again attempt to call supporters off the Epstein trail amid reports of infighting between Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino over the issue. He suggested the turmoil was undermining his administration — “all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein.”

That did little to mollify Trump’s supporters, who urged him to release the files or risk losing his base. At least one follower responded to Trump’s post by saying it seemed as though the president was just trying to make the issue go away — but assured him it wouldn’t.

The political crisis is especially challenging for Trump because it’s one of his own making. The president has spent years stoking dark theories and embracing QAnon-tinged propaganda that casts him as the only savior who can demolish the “deep state.”

Now that he’s running the federal government, the community he helped build is coming back to haunt him. It’s demanding answers he either isn’t able to or does not want to provide.

“The faulty assumption Trump and others make is they can peddle conspiracy theories without any blowback,” said Matt Dallek, a political scientist at George Washington University. “The Epstein case is a neat encapsulation that it is hard to put the genie back in the bottle.”

Civil rights organizations and anti-corruption groups voiced alarm Monday after the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate confirmed the first federal judge of President Donald Trump's second term, granting 38-year-old Whitney Hermandorfer a lifetime position on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.

"Her limited legal career shows a demonstrated hostility towards the protection of civil and human rights—including a disturbing and unacceptable record on reproductive rights, LGBTQ equality, birthright citizenship, labor and employment, environmental protections, and the expansion of executive power—which should be disqualifying for any judicial nominee," Lena Zwarensteyn, senior director of the fair courts program the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said following Hermandorfer's confirmation via a party-line vote.

This week alone we added three more constitutional violations to the growing ledger.

The human cost is rising daily, including a migrant who died fleeing an ICE raid.

We are gathering and documenting every abuse for accountability. But with Congress refusing to impeach, the next step has to be state-level resistance. It needs to happen quickly before these breaches become the new normal.

Originally Posted By u/thelibertyledger At 2025-07-15 10:30:24 AM | Source

The law that President Trump signed on July 4 ending tax incentives for wind and solar projects is expected to drive up electricity bills across the U.S., with some of the sharpest increases in Republican-led states, according to Energy Innovation, a nonpartisan think tank.

Without tax credits, the cost of wind and solar plants will go up. Companies are likely to respond by building fewer of those projects, and those facilities that do come online will have bigger price tags, according to multiple estimates. As that happens, the country is expected to generate more electricity from natural gas plants, which are often more expensive to run than wind and solar projects.

That shift will hit hardest in states that don't have their own policies to drive renewable energy development, says Dan O'Brien, a senior analyst at Energy Innovation. In Oklahoma, for example, homeowners, renters and businesses are likely to see electricity rates shoot up by between 60% and 350% over the next decade, according to Energy Innovation. The firm expects rates to rise by at least 48% in Kentucky, 39% in Missouri and 30% in Kansas. The congressional delegations of those states are overwhelmingly Republican.

https://mastodon.social/@randahl/114856717740815264

The runner Fauja Singh, believed to be the oldest person to complete a marathon, has died in a road accident in India aged 114.

The athlete, who lived in Ilford in east London, was hit by a car and suffered fatal injuries while trying to cross a road in his birth village of Beas Pind, near Jalandhar in Punjab, on Monday, according to reports in India.

Come on, Guardian. "Accident?!" Notice the use of language in these cases. When the person killed is driving, that's a "crash." For example, "crash" was used to describe Kelvin Kiptum's (marathon record holder) death.

Off the top of my head, a couple more ultra-endurance athletes killed when hit by automobiles:

• Jure Robič - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jure_Robi%C4%8D, killed while training
• Bob Breedlove - https://web.archive.org/web/20221206061718/https://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/destinations/wrecked/, killed by a truck during the 2005 RAAM