Global Macro/Climate Change
- Scientists report restoring forests could cut atmospheric carbon by 25 percent, in a new study that assessed tree cover using Google Earth, finding that there’s 0.9 billion hectares of land available for planting forests, which could store 205 gigatonnes of carbon. – Discover Magazine
- Bitcoin uses as much energy as the whole of Switzerland, a new online tool from the University of Cambridge shows – using around seven gigawatts of electricity, equal to 0.21% of the world’s supply; as much power as would be generated by seven Dungeness nuclear power plants at once. – BBC
Americas
- On the same day Phantom Fireworks donated $750,000 worth of sparklers and bottle rockets to the US government, Trump scrapped plans to impose tariffs of 25% on virtually all Chinese goods including fireworks: report – Business Insider
- Warren Buffett to donate $3.6 billion of Berkshire shares to 5 charities – Yahoo
- It could take millennials up to 29 years to save enough money to afford a home in some of Canada’s biggest cities – Financial Post
- Strongest earthquake in years rattles Southern California; damage reported – LA Times
- Donald Trump hoped for a parade to rival Bastille Day, instead he got small crowds and soggy tanks– ABC
- Trump Says Troops ‘Took Over Airports’ During Revolutionary War, in Rainy Fourth of July Speech – Rollingstone
Europe/Middle East
- ‘This is not democracy’: European Parliament unites to condemn selection of new EU Commission president behind closed doors– Independent
- Russian authorities are hiding true death stats to conceal ‘catastrophic’ population loss: Official – A top Russian official claimed local authorities had been fudging mortality statistics in an effort to chase “good indicators.” – Newsweek (convince me that things have changed since the “end” of the Soviet Union….)
- UK police’s facial recognition system has an 81 percent error rate – Engadget
- Jared Kushner calls Palestinian leadership “stupid,” suggests refugees should stay where they are – Newsweek (why the hell is this guy anywhere near the Middle East?)
- Tehran fumes as Britain seizes Iranian oil tanker over Syria sanctions – Reuters
- France issues first 10-year bond at negative interest rate – France24
Asia/China
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- China separating Muslim children from families – BBC
- Japan startup to launch rocket into space next week – Japantimes
- More than two dozen countries formally called on Thursday for a United Nations investigation into thousands of killings in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs – Reuters
- Japan auctions whale meat at ‘celebration prices’ after resuming commercial whaling – ABC
- China says existing U.S. tariffs must be removed for a trade deal – Reuters
Australia/Pacific
- Southern Great Barrier Reef island shows signs of coral recovery after Cyclone Hamish – ABC
- Sweden’s unique relationship with North Korea helped Alek Sigley’s release– ABC
- UN inspectors primed for ‘unfettered access’ to Australian detention centres – The Guardian
- Broadband modems struggle to cope with the NBN’s reliance on copper: ACMA – The Age
- Albanese says confusion about where Labor stands on tax is the media’s fault – SBS
Miscellaneous
- Saturn’s Icy Moon Enceladus Is Likely the ‘Perfect Age’ to Harbor Life – Livescience
- In survey of people who maintained 30 lbs of weight loss in a year, 68% worked out at the same time each day, 47.8% of whom worked out in the early morning – Inverse
- Nestle creates wrapper that degrades in the sea within six months – Skynews
- ISIS-destroyed statue has been successfully recreated thanks to crowdsourced pictures and 3D printing – BBC
- Researchers say they’re closer to finding cure for HIV after using CRISPR technology to eliminate disease in live mice for the first time – CNBC
- NASA initiates plan to rescue its robot that’s stuck on Mars – BGR