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Within minutes of walking on a San Diego beach, marine ornithologist Tammy Russell found the feathered carcasses – one after another.

Some were mixed in with washed up kelp. Others were under rocks.

Each month, scientists and volunteers conduct surveys of dead seabirds and find what Russell describes as a grim assessment of the impact of a massive marine heat wave that has lingered for months off parts of the California coast.

The surveys that have been carried out by various organizations for decades help build a baseline of information on beached sea life to detect threats and their impact.

Many seabirds, including California brown pelicans, loons and grebes, starved to death in recent months as record-setting ocean temperatures decreased the band of cold, nutrient-rich surface water where krill, anchovies and sardines thrive near the shore, said Russell, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

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It's been a week since Venezuela's worst earthquake disaster in over a century. Thousands of people are feared dead, with the official death toll continuing to rise as hope fades of finding survivors in the rubble.

The South American country now faces a humanitarian catastrophe — on top of the deep crises it was already dealing with before the quakes.

Here's a look at some of the major developments since the evening when tragedy struck.

Venezuela's rare double earthquakes happened within seconds of each other on June 24 at 6:04 p.m., measuring a magnitude 7.2 and 7.5. Their epicenters were in Yaracuy state west of the capital of Caracas, and they were felt across Venezuela and even parts of neighboring countries. Venezuelan authorities say the hardest-hit area was La Guaira state.

As of Wednesday, the number of people killed by the earthquakes had risen to 2,295, and more than 11,200 injured, said Jorge Rodríguez, Venezuela's National Assembly president. But tens of thousands of people are still unaccounted for.

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Two people were arrested following an apparent marriage proposal atop the Empire State Building’s spire on Wednesday, after they climbed to the very pinnacle of the New York City landmark – well above the level open to the public.

The two people were identified as Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, two Russian “rooftoppers” who have conducted similar stunts in other cities including Tianjin, China, and Los Angeles. They were both wearing black clothing and appeared to be masked as they unfurled a large, black banner at the top of the skyscraper with the words: “When the power of love beats the love of power the ‌world knows peace.”

It remained unclear how the pair made their way up the final stages of the building, which towers above midtown Manhattan at a height of 1,454ft (443 metres). Local media outlets reported a New York police department (NYPD) drone in the air, in addition to an NYPD helicopter near the scene monitoring the breathtaking stunt.

Shortly after 12.30pm, the two climbed down to a slightly lower platform on the structure that holds the antenna atop the building. One person then got down on one knee, and after what appeared to be a proposal from a man to a woman, the two people hugged and kissed.

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The Trump administration announced Wednesday it will not renew the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) in its current form. 

Wednesday marked the deadline to renew the trade agreement, which President Trump struck with Canada and Mexico during his first administration.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer noted in a statement that even though the administration will not renew the USMCA, it will remain “in force pending resolution of these issues or until the Agreement’s termination.”

Greer noted that the U.S. will meet with Mexico during the week of July 20 for a third round of negotiations. 

“The United States will continue to engage with Mexico and Canada to address the Agreement’s shortcomings and our trade deficits with these countries,” he said.

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Two federal judges on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from implementing new restrictions on a student loan forgiveness program that would have barred public service workers from receiving debt relief if their employers are deemed to have a “substantial illegal purpose.”

The rulings, issued by Biden-appointed judges in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., came just one day before the new eligibility rules were set to take effect.

The Trump administration had sought to add new rules to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program as part of its targeted overhaul of government programs that do not align with the administration’s priorities.

More than 20 states, along with a coalition of nonprofit groups, challenged the rule in a pair of lawsuits, arguing it would allow the Department of Education to target organizations that support causes considered disfavorable to the administration, including transgender healthcare and immigration advocacy.

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It took Omar Qalib more than a decade to finish his family’s three-story house in Jouret al-Dahab, a neighborhood in the heart of the Jenin refugee camp. A construction worker, he built it himself, brick by brick. But it was worth it, he thought. The property fell within Area A, a zone within the occupied West Bank where the Palestinian Authority nominally controls both civil and security affairs.

But in January 2025, Qalib was forced from his home, along with tens of thousands of other Palestinians, as Israel launched a large-scale military operation dubbed “Iron Wall” targeting refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams. More than 30,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes over the ensuing months, in the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank in a single operation since the 1967 war.

After invading and occupying the camps in February 2025, the Israeli military campaign flattened entire neighborhoods, turning them into wastelands. Where narrow alleys once ran between tall buildings so close they blocked the light, wide dirt roads now cut through the heart of the camps, carved out by Israeli military bulldozers.

As part of the campaign, the camps have been cordoned off. Just to see what’s left of his home, Qalib needs a permit from the Israeli military. Few Palestinians are able to obtain them. And the permits only grant one-time, temporary access. Two weeks ago, Qalib was one of the lucky few who obtained a permit to visit his destroyed home.

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The destruction of villages in southern Lebanon was inevitable from the beginning of Israel’s invasion, an Israeli minister openly admitted on Monday.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said during a briefing with military correspondents that “it was clear during Operation Silver Plow that the Shia villages along the contact line had to disappear”.

He hinted that the Israeli military sought the total destruction of border towns along the "Yellow Line", the buffer zone south of the Litani River.

Deepening this zone ultimately aims at the demilitarisation of Hezbollah and the Israeli army, Katz said, adding that the army “will not retreat an inch” before this happens.

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A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has introduced legislation to transform Ukraine’s battlefield drone expertise into a long-term defense technology partnership with the United States.

The Strategic Unmanned Systems Partnership Act would establish a US-Ukraine Strategic Defense Innovation Working Group focused on unmanned aerial systems, unmanned surface vehicles and counter-drone technologies. The goal is to help the US co-develop, co-produce and rapidly acquire cost-effective Ukrainian-designed systems tested in active combat.

The House bill was introduced by Reps. Michael McCaul and Marcy Kaptur, alongside co-leads Brian Fitzpatrick, Mike Quigley, Jim Costa and Don Bacon. A Senate companion bill was introduced earlier this month by Sens. Jacky Rosen and Mike Rounds.

According to McCaul’s office, the working group would bring together the Pentagon, Ukraine’s Armed Forces and other relevant stakeholders to deepen cooperation on unmanned systems and counter-unmanned systems. Kaptur’s office also listed Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, the Brave1 defense tech cluster and the NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training and Education Center among the entities involved.

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