The World Health Organization has declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern Ituri province a public health emergency of international concern. Around 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths have been reported. The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo virus strain, for which no approved drugs or vaccines exist. Eight cases are laboratory-confirmed, with spread to Kinshasa and neighboring Uganda. The WHO cited the ongoing security crisis, high population mobility, and urban location of hotspots as major risk factors for regional expansion. This marks DR Congo's 17th Ebola outbreak and comes as the country faces severe humanitarian instability.
Ebola was first identified in 1976 in what is now DR Congo. The virus spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids and causes severe bleeding and organ failure with roughly 50% fatality. The country's deadliest outbreak occurred from 2018-2020, killing nearly 2,300 people.
Russia reported that a Ukrainian drone attack killed three people in the Moscow region overnight, marking one of the largest strikes on the capital area since the war began. A woman died in Khimki, north of Moscow, while a man and woman were killed in Pogorelki. Twelve people were injured at a city oil refinery. Russia's military claimed to have intercepted 556 drones. The attack followed a massive Russian strike on Kyiv earlier this week that killed 24 people. Ukrainian President Zelensky had pledged retaliation and said his forces had already destroyed Russian aircraft, a helicopter, and a cargo ship this week.
Ukraine has intensified long-range drone strikes on Russian energy and military infrastructure in recent months, treating them as legitimate targets that sustain Russia's war effort. Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 and currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.
Congresswoman Julia Letlow, backed by Donald Trump, advanced to a runoff election after defeating two-term Republican Senator Bill Cassidy in Louisiana's primary. Cassidy was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump at his 2021 impeachment trial. Trump had branded him a "disloyal disaster" and endorsed Letlow hours before polls opened. State treasurer John Fleming, another Trump-aligned candidate, also advanced. The two will face off in late June. Of the seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump, only three remain in the Senate; the others have retired or lost re-election bids.
Louisiana uses a jungle primary system where all candidates compete regardless of party. Letlow won a 2021 special election to fill the seat her husband held before his death from COVID-19 complications. She is the first Republican woman elected to represent Louisiana in Congress.
When Fisker Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2024, roughly 11,000 Ocean SUV owners faced vehicles losing critical functionality as cloud servers went dark. The cars were architected to depend on manufacturer connectivity for brakes, airbags, battery management, and door locks. Rather than accept obsolescence, owners formed the Fisker Owners Association, a nonprofit that grew to 4,000 members. They reverse-engineered proprietary software, hacked CAN bus networks, built open-source tools on GitHub, and organized bulk parts purchases. The group established mobile repair networks in Europe and pushed for recall inclusion in bankruptcy proceedings. They have effectively created a volunteer-run automaker sustaining vehicles the original manufacturer abandoned.
Fisker produced just 11,000 vehicles before collapsing under more than $1 billion in debts. The Ocean's software-dependent architecture made it vulnerable to manufacturer failure. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and digital rights activist Cory Doctorow had publicly warned about such risks in the auto industry.
A study of over 130,000 islands challenges assumptions about how coastlines scale geometrically. Mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot's 1967 observation that Britain's coastline lengthens with finer measurement helped define fractals. But new research by University of Chicago's Matthew Oline and colleagues finds coastlines are actually the least fractal feature of islands, ranking below surface elevation and size distribution in complexity. The team analyzed geographic data to measure how different island features scale when zoomed in. Coastlines appear smoother than expected, likely due to sedimentation and erosion wearing down their complexity over time. The findings suggest existing fractal models of Earth's surface are oversimplified "toy models" rather than accurate representations.
A shape's fractal dimension indicates how much detail persists when zoomed in. Higher dimensions mean more complexity at smaller scales. The coastline paradox occurs because finer measurement captures more irregularity, theoretically producing infinite perimeter.
Coal burning significantly reduces solar power output through sulfur dioxide aerosols that scatter sunlight before it reaches panels, according to UK researchers. In 2023, over 25% of potential global solar production was lost, with 6% attributable to aerosols and 20% to clouds. That 6% aerosol loss alone equals 500 terawatt-hours, or the annual output of 84 one-gigawatt coal plants. Nearly half of analyzed aerosols came from sulfur dioxide, primarily from coal burning. China suffered the most, losing 7.7% of solar production to aerosols, with coal responsible for 30% of that loss. The US lost 3% due to geographic separation between solar farms and eastern coal plants. China's newer, cleaner coal plants have reduced aerosol impacts in recent years.
The researchers built a global inventory of solar facilities using AI-analyzed satellite imagery and location-tagged weather data. Aerosols also contribute to cloud formation, causing additional losses difficult to quantify separately from direct scattering effects.
Cement production accounts for roughly 8% of global CO2 emissions, with direct process emissions from limestone conversion slightly exceeding fuel emissions. A new study in Communications Sustainability proposes replacing limestone with silicate rocks like basalt, which contain no carbon. The process uses acid leaching and chemical precipitation to extract calcium, then kiln-heats it with additives to produce Portland cement. Current techniques require roughly double the energy of limestone production, though thermodynamic limits suggest room for improvement. Even with doubled energy use, switching to basalt with fossil-fuel electricity cuts emissions 30%; clean electricity eliminates most remaining emissions. The process also yields recoverable iron, magnesium, and aluminum, potentially improving economics.
Portland cement, developed in the 1800s, requires heating calcium carbonate to produce calcium oxide, releasing CO2. Basalt contains calcium, aluminum, iron, magnesium, sodium, silicon, and oxygen, enabling calcium oxide production without carbon liberation.
The Trump administration's Department of Justice has begun issuing subpoenas targeting journalists who reported on military operations against Iran. The move represents a significant escalation in the administration's confrontational posture toward news organizations. Subpoenas compel reporters to reveal sources and unpublished material, chilling coverage of national security matters. The National Review argues this crosses a line from criticism of media bias into active suppression of independent reporting on government military action. The piece frames the subpoenas as part of a broader pattern of the administration treating press scrutiny as disloyalty rather than a constitutional function.
The subpoenas relate to reporting on the Iran military campaign. National Review, a conservative publication, has generally supported Trump administration policies while maintaining institutionalist positions on rule-of-law and press freedom issues.
Snap, YouTube, and TikTok have settled the first lawsuit alleging social media addiction caused massive costs to public schools, filed by Kentucky's Breathitt County School District. The suit claimed social media disrupted learning and created a mental health crisis, straining budgets. Settlement terms remain undisclosed. Meta continues to trial in the same case, viewed as a bellwether for over 1,200 similar lawsuits nationwide. The settlement follows an earlier case where Snap and TikTok settled personal injury claims, with a jury later awarding $6 million against remaining defendants. New Mexico recently won a $375 million judgment against Meta. School district lawyers stated their focus remains on pursuing justice for the remaining 1,200 districts with pending cases.
The lawsuits represent a novel legal theory holding platforms liable for systemic harms to minors rather than individual user cases. Multiple states and school districts are pursuing similar claims, with 2026 shaping up as a pivotal year for social media litigation.
Marine biologists have formally described Solenostomus snuffleupagus, a tiny ghost pipefish named for its striking resemblance to the Sesame Street character. First spotted off Papua New Guinea in 2003 by researcher David Harasti, the species eluded rediscovery for six visits until Great Barrier Reef divers and Australian Museum specimens confirmed its existence. The fish measures one to 1.5 inches long and uses dramatic reddish filaments to camouflage as floating red algae. CT scans revealed more vertebrae than relatives and confirmed predation on smaller fish. Mitochondrial DNA analysis suggests divergence from its closest relative 18 million years ago. The researchers contacted Sesame Street Australia, which responded within a day to the naming proposal.
Ghost pipefish are relatives of seahorses known for remarkable camouflage. Females are larger; males brood eggs. Seven species are now recognized. Most knowledge comes from diver observations rather than controlled study, leaving much about their biology unknown.
