Berry nice to meet you: bumper fruit crop could lead to huge mating season for NZ’s endangered kākāpō

Berry nice to meet you: bumper fruit crop could lead to huge mating season for NZ’s endangered kākāpō

After a four-year wait, the abundant fruiting of the rimu tree could inspire the world’s heaviest parrots to boost their population It has been four long years, but the world’s heaviest parrots, the kākāpō , are finally about to get it on again. The mass fruiting of a native New Zealand tree has triggered breeding season – a rare event conservationists hope will lead to a record number of chicks for the critically endangered bird. Kākāpō, the world’s only nocturnal and flightless parrot, were once abundant across New Zealand. But their population plummeted after the introduction of predators such as cats and stoats, and by the 1900s they were nearly extinct. Continue reading...

Pentagon goes shopping? - War Secretary tours SpaceX's Starbase amid Trump's $500B defence push

Pentagon goes shopping? - War Secretary tours SpaceX's Starbase amid Trump's $500B defence push

"US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth met with Elon Musk at SpaceX's Starbase facility in Brownsville, Texas, on Monday as part of his nationwide 'Arsenal of Freedom' tour. Footage shared on social media shows Musk welcoming Hegseth before giving him a personal tour of the facility, a hub for SpaceX's rocket development and testing operations. SpaceX already holds 739 million USD (633.8 million EUR) in Pentagon contracts to launch missile-warning satellites beginning in late 2026, positioning Musk's company as a key defence contractor in the National Security Space Launch programme. Hegseth is on a month-long nationwide 'Arsenal of Freedom' tour, an initiative aimed at revitalising the US defence industrial base while accelerating military manufacturing to strengthen national security. It follows President Trump's 500 billion USD (428.7 billion EUR) spending push, warning companies that they may face cuts if they fail to accelerate production, while demanding executive pay caps and a halt to dividends and buybacks."

'Cooper represses any demo in UK... but praises Iran protesters!' - Hundreds rally outside MoJ in London as two PA activists surpass 70 days without food

'Cooper represses any demo in UK... but praises Iran protesters!' - Hundreds rally outside MoJ in London as two PA activists surpass 70 days without food

"Hundreds of activists of the 'Besiege the Ministry' campaign gathered outside the Ministry of Justice in London to support Palestine Action hunger strikers, who have reached a critical stage in their protest against indefinite detention. Footage filmed on Monday shows activists gathering outside the Ministry of Justice, chanting slogans and blocking the main entrance to the building, preventing the workers from exiting. Police officers were seen monitoring the rally and making several detentions. The protest comes as two hunger strikers, Heba Muraisi and Kamran Ahmed, surpassed 70 days without food and are suffering from various symptoms, including heart muscle atrophy, a dramatic drop in heart rate and collapse of the immune system. The protesters demanded an immediate bail for eight activists from the 'Fliton 24' and 'Brize Norton 5' who have exceeded the 6-month remand limit, as well as immediate doctors' access to the prisoners on hunger strike and removing the 'terrorist' label from the Palestine Action organisation. "We've got young people on hunger strike, and the government are failing to fulfil their duty towards those hunger strikers and their families. And this amounts to gross neglect. These young people should be out on bail. It's ridiculous, they're untried, they're unconvicted, they're innocent until proven guilty under British law," said one of the protesters. He emphasised that the British government has double standards on its approach to protests happening abroad and within the country. "Here, you get Yvette Cooper praising protesters in Iran who are burning down buildings and causing absolute chaos. They're protesters. But at the same time, she represses any kind of protest in Britain," he explained. Another protester said he doesn't want "to see any of the hunger strikers die," adding that they have already 'made their point.' "I think that [they should] come off the hunger strike, because those of us who are supported, we will continue to support their demands. And I think they have made, even at this stage, they made a superhuman sacrifice, and I don't think that they should have to endanger themselves any further," the protester said. On Monday, a group of high-profile authors issued a 'global scholars' statement of solidarity, condemning the stand of the British government. They demanded that the authorities meet with the prisoners' legal representatives and also called the 18-month remand period an 'authoritarian overreach.' The Ministry of Justice stated on the same day, saying that ministers can't intervene in bail decisions, which are within the remit of the independent judges, adding that the demands of hunger strikers would create an incentive for other prisoners to use the so-called 'self-harm' as 'a negotiating tool.'"