海角大神

Supreme Court allows DOGE team to access Social Security data.聽It is clearing the way for the Department of Government Efficiency to access Social Security systems containing personal data on millions of Americans. The court's majority sided Friday with the Trump administration in its first Supreme Court appeal involving DOGE, once led by Elon Musk. The three liberal justices dissented. The decision halted an order from a judge in Maryland restricting the team鈥檚 access to the Social Security Administration under federal privacy laws. The agency holds sensitive data on nearly everyone in the country, including school records, salary details, and medical information.

The U.S. charged Kilmar Abrego Garcia with transporting people who were in the country illegally. The federal charges against聽Mr.聽Abrego Garcia unsealed Friday stem from a traffic stop in 2022. They allege that he conspired to bring undocumented immigrants to the U.S. from Guatemala, El Salvador, and other countries. The indictment also states that Mr. Abrego Garcia 鈥� who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March and聽was being returned to the U.S. to face charges 鈥� was an MS-13 gang member. Mr. Abrego Garcia has denied membership in the gang. His lawyer previously stated that he saw no wrongdoing in footage released from the 2022 traffic stop.聽

Innovative rainwater tanks help some in Zimbabwe get through drought. In 2024, Zimbabwe was hit by southern Africa鈥檚 worst drought in 40 years. Harvests failed and water reserves dried up in a country where 70% of people rely on subsistence agriculture. In response, people living near Hwange National Park have started building rainwater tanks, helped by the Soft Foot Alliance, a community-based trust registered in Zimbabwe. Rainwater is collected in giant jars made out of chicken wire, canvas, and cement. Aid has been heavily cut worldwide after President Donald Trump gutted the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on taking office this year.

From El Salvador to Honduras, why authoritarians gain from USAID cuts

In February, when the Trump administration moved to close down USAID, we looked at where American aid goes, how much it costs, and who benefits from it.

Europe can sustain Ukraine鈥檚 war effort without the U.S. Germany鈥檚 Major General 海角大神 Freuding said that NATO鈥檚 European members plus Canada had already exceeded the estimated $20 billion worth of U.S. military aid provided last year to Kyiv. Mr. Freuding is in charge of coordinating Germany鈥檚 arms supplies. Ukraine continues to receive weapons deliveries approved by former U.S. President Joe Biden. It is unclear, however, whether his successor, Donald Trump, will approve new supplies. 鈥漈he war against Ukraine is raging on our continent; it is also being waged against the European security order,鈥� Mr. Freuding said.

The UK and EU have cut a deal. Is it the start of post-Brexit European unity?

Called to lead Europe, Germany weighs its national guilt. Is it time to move on?

The EPA takes aim at a rule requiring big polluters to report emissions. The rule is one of many that President Donald Trump鈥檚 Environmental Protection Agency argues is costly and burdensome for industry. Since the reporting rule was put in place more than a decade ago, emissions have fallen sharply nationwide. Emissions can be dangerous to human health and contribute to Earth鈥檚 warming. Experts say dropping the requirement risks a big increase in emissions if companies are no longer publicly accountable for what they put in the air. Losing the data would make it tougher to fight climate change, they say.

The drive for electric vehicles, in California and beyond, is challenging carmakers to adapt faster than many deem possible or profitable. The Trump administration is pushing back by testing the limits of state governance.

Cockatoos have learned to drink from water fountains.聽聽In the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, researchers caught the sulfur-crested cockatoos taking turns to twist and hold the handle at public fountains, just as humans do. While less than half the attempts ended with a successful sip of water, the birds seem to be learning street skills not just for survival, but also for fun. More studies, including on baboons that walk in lines formed by friendship, are showing聽that animals are聽more playful聽than we might think. 鈥� Staff

Scientists reported record levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.聽Researchers at Hawaii鈥檚 Mauna Loa Observatory of more than 430 parts per million for May. Before the world began burning fossil fuels for energy, scientists say the average atmospheric concentration was a fraction of that, at 280 parts per million. Carbon dioxide traps heat in the Earth鈥檚 atmosphere. Despite widespread awareness about global warming, global emissions continue to rise. The U.S. has slowly reduced its emissions for the past 20 years. Still, Americans are responsible for the most carbon emissions per person. 鈥� Staff

Mexico鈥檚 landmark gun case reached the U.S. Supreme Court.聽Some 70% of weapons used in crimes inside Mexico are traced to the United States. Mexico argued that U.S. firearms manufacturers know their products are trafficked聽across the border聽, and profit from it. The high court ruled that an industry shield law protects gunmakers from the suit, but rejected arguments that the industry could never be blamed for damage caused by its guns in Mexico, opening the possibility that it could be held accountable in future cases. 鈥� Staff

The Supreme court made it easier to bring lawsuits over so-called reverse discrimination. A unanimous Supreme Court on June 5 sided with an Ohio woman who claims she didn鈥檛 get a job and was demoted because she鈥檚 straight. The justices鈥� decision affects lawsuits in 20 states and the District of Columbia where, until now, courts had set a higher bar when members of a majority group sue for discrimination under federal law. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote for the court that federal civil rights law draws no distinction between members of majority and minority groups.

New Zealand legislators suspended lawmakers who performed a M膩ori haka. The lawmakers from Te P膩ti M膩ori, the M膩ori Party, performed the haka, a chanting dance of challenge, in November to oppose a widely unpopular bill, now defeated, that they said would reverse Indigenous rights. One lawmaker received a seven-day ban and the leaders of the M膩ori Party were barred for 21 days. Three days had been the longest ban for a lawmaker from New Zealand鈥檚 Parliament before. The protest provoked months of fraught debate among lawmakers about the place of M膩ori culture in Parliament.

A group backed by the U.S. and Israel resumes aid distribution in Gaza. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said on June 5 it was reopening two sites a day after shutting them following a series of deadly shootings near its operations. The GHF halted distributions on June 4 and said it was pressing Israeli forces to improve civilian safety beyond the perimeter of its operations after dozens of Palestinians were shot dead near the Rafah site this week. The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations including the United Nations for alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week.

As food trickles into Gaza, UN calls US-Israeli plan 鈥渧astly insufficient.鈥�

As Israel blocks aid, Gaza鈥檚 mothers watch their children starve

The U.S. was absent from a meeting of Ukraine鈥檚 Western backers. Ukraine鈥檚 president on June 4 urged the group of around 50 countries to speed up deliveries of air defense systems to counter Russian missile strikes and to help boost weapons production. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not attend, the first time a Pentagon chief was not in attendance since the forum was set up three years ago. His absence is the latest step that the Trump administration has taken to distance itself from Ukraine鈥檚 efforts to repel Russia. The U.K. and Germany chaired the meeting.

With hope for peace dimming, Russia brings its demands to Ukraine talks

With both the United Kingdom and the European Union seeking security amid global economic and geopolitical shifts, a thawing of relations seems natural. But how far can they roll back their testy Brexit divorce 鈥� and do they want to?

Vietnam abolishes its long-standing two-child limit. The country aims to reverse declining birth rates and ease the pressures of an aging population with legislation passed on June 3. The birth rate in 2021 was 2.11 children per woman, just over the replacement rate required for a population to avoid shrinking over the long term. Since then, the birth rate has steadily declined: to 2.01 in 2022, 1.96 in 2023, and 1.91 in 2024. Unlike other Asian countries with low fertility rates, such as Japan, South Korea, or Singapore, Vietnam is a developing economy. Vietnam set rules governing family size in 1988 to reduce pressure on limited resources after years of war.

US parents are having fewer children, later. In March 2024, we looked at what that means for society. This story was the first in a series about falling birthrates. The second showed how immigrants are powering a population boom in rural Iowa. The third looked at the tumbling global birthrate and hard societal choices ahead.

Bulgaria is set to adopt the euro. The European Commission on June 4 gave Bulgaria the green light to join the euro zone next year. The approval could mean more foreign tourists and investment for the European Union鈥檚 poorest country. Still, many in the Balkan country are skeptical. Widespread corruption, stark income inequality, and a four-year political crisis marked by a series of snap elections and weak coalitions have eroded trust in authorities. Many fear a rise in prices during the switch, as had occurred in other countries that joined over the past decade.

An aid group backed by the U.S. and Israel has paused Gaza food distribution. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation made the decision after health officials said dozens of Palestinians were killed in a series of shootings near its three sites this week. The group said it was in discussions with the Israeli military on increasing safety. At least 80 people have been killed since the sites opened last week, according to hospital officials. Witnesses blamed Israeli forces for 27 people killed on June 3, the most recent incident. The United Nations has refused to participate in the new system, saying it violates humanitarian principles.

As food trickles into Gaza, UN calls US-Israeli plan "vastly insufficient."

Israel is keeping food aid out of Gaza, saying it鈥檚 to pressure Hamas. In early May, we reported how the lives of tens of thousands of children are on the line.

A far-right European leader quit his coalition over immigration.聽The Dutch government collapsed Tuesday when Geert Wilders withdrew his far-right Party for Freedom. The country is headed for new elections less than a year after the coalition took power. The Party for Freedom鈥檚 victory in the last election was a historic high-water mark for the Dutch far right, but Mr. Wilder has criticized the coalition for failing to deliver 鈥渢he strictest asylum policy ever.鈥� Other leaders in the coalition accuse Mr. Wilders of making unrealistic demands and abandoning the effort to find practical answers. 鈥� Staff

Airlines renewed their pledge on emissions.聽CO2 output occurs across interlinked industries. So setting聽聽can seem overly optimistic, even suspect. At a session that ended Tuesday in New Delhi, the International Air Transport Association, representing about 350 airlines, confirmed its commitment to going net-zero by 2050. While intentions matter, especially with environmentalism under pressure, it won鈥檛 be easy. The association points to a shortage of efficient jets and a shortfall of plant-based sustainable aviation fuels 鈥� which can鈥檛 be imported over distances without negating the emissions gains. 鈥� Staff

Spain cancelled an arms deal with an Israeli firm.聽The Ministry of Defense withdrew from a $325 million contract for anti-tank missile systems that were to be fabricated in Madrid by a subsidiary of Israeli defense technology company Rafael. The move comes as European patience with Israel鈥檚 conduct in Gaza is wearing thin, with public support for Israel hitting the lowest levels recorded by pollster YouGov in May. Food distribution centers in Gaza paused on Wednesday to improve operations after 80 Palestinians were reportedly killed in recent days trying to reach the aid. 鈥� Staff