A total of 43 wild elephants have recently approached residential areas in the Chinese town of Mohan, located in the southern province of Yunnan, without any incidents reported, according to the local newspaper Global Times.

Some inhabitants of Mohan have reported the first sightings on July 12, when they found them crushing and eating part of their crops.

As of that date, the local Fire Department has begun to monitor their movements and has detected two more approaches to residential areas by the pachyderms, after which they have issued a cautionary notice to the residents.

These animals can be dangerous: in the town of Xishuangbanna, located in the same province, four attacks by wild elephants in May caused three deaths and one wounded, the newspaper reported.

Wild animal expert Xie Zhongyi, quoted by the Global Times, explained that wild Asian elephants often feel “insecure and threatened” if humans get too close or share the same natural resources with them, and may show aggressive behavior.

“Constant monitoring is a good way to keep the balance between the neighbors and the elephants, as we cannot prohibit them from entering our residential areas or harm them in defense,” Xie said, adding that the province has improved its methods to deal with the “dilemma” of human-animal coexistence.

Yunnan is known for its rich biodiversity

In 2021, news of a herd of elephants moving north from their habitat brought public attention to these animals.

The pachyderms undertook a long journey with an unknown destination, but much further north than usual, something that experts considered “unusual”.

This forced the authorities of the province to evacuate a minimum of 150,000 inhabitants to avoid conflicts with the animals, in addition to supplying them with more than 180 tons of food.

The population of wild Asian elephants – under A-level state protection, the highest in China – living in Yunnan is about 300 individuals.

Three young people were arrested for the shooting that took place on Wednesday at a Walmart store in Florida City where one person died and two others were injured, local media reported Thursday.

Police have arrested the suspected shooter, Steve Lestin, 24, who is charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder, and two others involved in the shooting, and are still searching for four other suspects.

The events occurred inside the store, which experienced moments of chaos and panic among the public when two groups, still for unknown reasons, got into a fight and one of the young men pulled out a gun and started shooting.

The victims of the shooting

One of the victims, 23-year-old Nathaniel Báez, was airlifted to a hospital due to the severity of his injuries and died there shortly after.

The other victim was a passerby who was hit by a stray bullet in the leg, although his condition is not serious.. And a woman who suffered a head injury after falling while fleeing was treated at a nearby hospital and is in stable condition, channel 6 South Florida reported.

Five other people who suffered minor cuts and scratches while fleeing the gunfire were treated outside the store and released.

In the aerial images released this Wednesday in different local media, police officers were seen escorting customers out of the store, completely surrounded by patrol cars and a dozen Miami-Dade County (MDFR) fire trucks in the immediate vicinity.

A 10-month-old baby has died of hyperthermia (as a result of a heat wave) after having been forgotten by her nanny for at least five hours inside a car parked in a garage in the city of Macclenny (in northeast Florida), local media reported Thursday.

The nanny, Rhonda Jewell, 46, was arrested and appeared Thursday before a judge who charged her with “aggravated homicide of a minor.”. For this reason, a bail of $ 25,000 has been imposed and ordered that she remain under surveillance by a GPS system.

Jewell drove to the baby's home Wednesday morning to pick her up and then drove to another house in the same town, where she also had the task of caring for other minors. He parked in the garage and started talking to the other kids to the point that he “completely forgot he left the baby in the car,” according to News 4 Jax.

When the girl's mother arrived at 1:00 p.m. local time (5:00 p.m. GMT) to pick her up, the baby was still strapped to her car seat in the back seat of the car. Urgently transferred by paramedics to Fraser Memorial Hospital, the doctors could not do anything to save her life.

heat wave in florida

Florida is on alert for an extreme heat wave with temperatures above 43.3ºC in parts of the south of the state. This July, an 18-month-old baby also died of hyperthermia after spending some eight hours forgotten inside a car parked outdoors in the city of Lakeland.

His parents were arrested and charged with “aggravated manslaughter of a minor.” The internal body temperature of the baby reached 40ºC and the autopsy carried out determined that the girl died of hyperthermia.

Leaving a child in a vehicle is a very high-risk situation that in the United States alone has left 954 dead from heat stroke (hyperthermia) from 1998 to the present, according to data from the No Heat Stroke organization. So far this year there have been 14 deaths of children for this reason in the United States (including the Macclenny girl), while in 2022 a total of 33 deaths were reported.

Florida authorities have reminded the population of the importance of “taking safety measures” against this wave of heat and high humidity, hydrating properly and keeping in mind that “it is never safe to leave children or pets alone in a parked car.”

The Russian Prosecutor's Office has requested this Thursday a sentence of 20 years in prison for the prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalni – imprisoned since the beginning of 2021 – for various crimes, including creating an “extremist community”.

Likewise, the Public Ministry has requested another ten years in prison for the technical director of Navalni's YouTube project, Daniel Jolodny, as reported by the opponent's lawyer, Vadim Kobzev, to the Russian news agency Interfax.

The case concerns the Anti-Corruption Foundation, an organization founded by Navalni which, at the request of the Prosecutor's Office, was declared extremist in 2021 and its activity was banned throughout the territory of the Russian Federation.. The opponent pleads not guilty.

Navalni is accused of violating several articles of the Russian Penal Code for creating the alleged extremist community, financing and promoting extremist activities including on the Internet, rehabilitating Nazism and inciting the participation of minors in dangerous acts.

The opponent was imprisoned in January 2021 in the IK-6 penal colony in the Vladimir region when he returned to Moscow from Berlin, where he had been recovering from Novichok nerve agent poisoning.

Both Navalni and Western governments blamed the poisoning on Russian President Vladimir Putin's security service.. The Kremlin, for its part, has at all times denied any type of responsibility for the event.

The Russian Justice opened a new case against him in June for extremism and “rehabilitation of Nazism”. Navalni and his team have denounced that the government seeks to achieve his disappearance while attracting “less and less attention” from the population and the media.

The EU demands his release

For its part, the European Union has demanded this Thursday after learning of the request of the Russian Prosecutor's Office that the opponent be released “immediately and unconditionally”. “Closed-door hearing in another politically motivated trial against Navalni, who now faces a further 20 years in prison for legitimate political and anti-corruption activities,” wrote Peter Stano, spokesman for the head of community diplomacy, Josep Borrell.

“Authorities must allow long overdue visits from his family. The EU calls on Russia for his immediate and unconditional release,” Stano added.

The prosecutor's request includes that the sentence be served in a strict regime prison. The court will issue the sentence on August 4 at 1:00 p.m. GMT. If sentenced to 20 years in prison, the opposition leader, who is already serving an 8-year prison sentence for fraud, will initially have to spend three decades in jail.

The trial began on June 19 in the Vladimir prison, some 200 kilometers from Moscow, and was held behind closed doors, except on one brief occasion.

Ukrainian ports have been the main target of the Russian Army's offensive for three days. Every morning the explosions wake up, in the best of cases, the citizens of the cities that house these vast infrastructures; essential for the export of cereals from a country that is considered the granary of the world. This Thursday has not been the exception and 19 cruise missiles have hit the southern regions of Odesa and Mikolaiv, leaving more than twenty injured and at least three dead.

The attack this Thursday has damaged and destroyed several buildings. In addition to the missiles, Russia also launched 19 Shahed kamikaze drones. A statement from the Ukrainian Army assured that they managed to intercept 5 missiles and 13 drones. In his address to the nation, President Volodímir Zelenski took the opportunity to ask for more anti-aircraft systems and to be able to protect his cities and ports, something that he has asked his allies on several occasions in recent months.

According to the Ukrainian export company Kernel, if the attacks against the ports continue, grain prices could increase between 30 and 40% and sunflower oil could become more expensive by up to 25%.. This same company already lost in the bombardment on Wednesday around 60,000 tons of grain that was to be exported to China.

So far the largest number of people affected has been in Mikolaiv, where 19 people were injured, including five minors, and at least two deaths were confirmed, although search operations continue. In Odessa, of the eight people injured, three were emergency services workers.. In addition, a security guard in his 20s died in this city after being hit by a missile. According to the Military Administration of the Odesa region, the Russian attack on Thursday caused a fire in an area of 300 meters.

Meanwhile, in Kherson and Dnipro, local authorities have denounced that Russian troops continue to attack civilian infrastructure.. On this occasion a school, a cultural center and a residence have been damaged. Although no victims of any kind have been registered. On the other hand, a 62-year-old man has died in Kharkiv when he was surprised by artillery fire.

Ukraine assures that the attacks directed at “ports, docks, homes and companies” are related to Moscow's withdrawal from the grain agreement on July 17. According to kyiv, the objective is to press for the Kremlin's requests to be heard and to prevent Ukrainian grain from being exported without them.

Russia's demands to recover the agreement that have emerged are the connection of its agricultural bank, Rosseljozbank, to the SWIFT international banking system; the lifting of sanctions on spare parts for agricultural machinery; the unblocking of logistics and transport insurance; the unfreezing of assets; and the resumption of supply through the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline, which exploded on June 5. The Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, assured this Thursday from Brussels that the European Union will do “everything possible” to resume the treaty agreed with the UN to export the cereal. Recovering this agreement is essential for world food security and for not adding tension to a food market that “has been very stressed since the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine,” said the head of Spanish diplomacy.

In his statement, the Spanish minister remarked that the “responsibility for blocking the agreement lies solely with Russia” and, therefore, “for its economic and social consequences”.. So not only have they withdrawn from the grain agreement but they are also burning it,” Borrell said.

Russia has claimed this Thursday to have shot down another Ukrainian drone in the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, hours after denouncing a bombardment with an unmanned aerial vehicle that caused one death.

“In the central part of Crimea, air defense forces shot down an enemy drone. There were no casualties or damage,” said the governor imposed by Russia on the peninsula, Sergei Axiónov.

This morning he denounced another attack in the northwestern part of Crimea, also with a drone, which caused the death of a teenager and damage to four administrative buildings.

This was the third attack allegedly carried out by Ukraine this week against Crimea after the attack with surface naval drones on Monday against the Kerch bridge and another the day before against a military training camp.

In addition, the local authorities assured on Tuesday that they had frustrated an attempted attack with 28 drones against the peninsula, which Ukraine wants to recover as part of its efforts to vacate the territories occupied by Russia.

The United States ambassador to Spain, Julissa Reynoso, has expressly asked singer Bruce Springsteen to accept the call from Peralejos de las Truchas (Guadalajara) and go to the town to give a concert.

In a message through the official Twitter account of the United States Embassy, Reynoso went to Springsteen to ask him what his plans are for October. I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse.. The beautiful town of Perajelos de las Truchas, in Spain, awaits you. Did you know that you are his adoptive son?” says the ambassador.

He emphasizes that in Peralejos they have even held a festival in his honor. “From an American from New York to another American from New Jersey, from a small boss to a big boss, please come to Peralejos in Spain.”

He ends the message by thanking the population “for showing so much love for American culture and Bruce's music”. “Let's see if we can convince him to come to Spain,” ends his message.

What was a protest against climate change and transport emissions in Bottrop, Germany, turned this past Sunday into an extremely violent attack by citizens against activists.

In a video published by skynews.com.au and that has gone viral on social networks, you can see how several men drag some activists from the LetzteGeneration organization, who do not let a truck circulate, to separate them from the road. Seconds later, a woman goes to another of the protesters and without hesitation grabs her by the hair to drag her down the street.. Some images full of violence that do not end there.

As the minutes go by, the citizens who charge against the activists do so with more and more aggressiveness, meanwhile, they do not move and are limited to being dragged to return to stand in front of the truck.

The LetzteGeneration organization usually organizes this type of sit-in on the road and it does not enjoy much sympathy in the country. Many Twitter users have come out in favor of the attack after seeing the video and have branded the activists a “climate sect.”

It is not difficult to hear in Brussels that European policy is not foreign policy. And that is the reality: what happens in the EU directly affects Spain, and vice versa. It is true that the European Commission does not assess appointments or electoral results, but the elections of July 23 have a reading in a community key that is important. The Union risks things depending on the result because the role of Spain and its discourse, with one government or another, could change even radically. Thus, the question is: what is at stake for the European Union this 23-J?

Elections in full presidency of the Council

“Priorities do not change, but the focus that is given to them does”. Spain is going to elections in the middle of the presidency of the Council of the EU, and this semester the agenda is full regardless of who will be in Moncloa from Sunday. But that phrase from Adrián Vázquez, MEP and Secretary General of Ciudadanos, 20 minutes away gives a good account of the extent to which the European 'look' can change from one government to another. While the PSOE has focused on issues such as energy, the environment or equality, the vision of the PP could be much more economical and with the center also on issues such as livestock or agriculture.

In Brussels there is a moderate concern. “Other presidencies have had elections and they have gone well”, they comment in the corridors of Parliament and the Commission. The change or not will depend, however, on who sits in the Moncloa. The continuity of Sánchez with Sumar will not be the same as a lone PP government, than a coalition of the popular with Vox. The agenda of the presidency cannot be altered, but the way in which it is dealt with can be. The polls will say.

The PP… and Vox?

All the polls (except the CIS) show the PP of Alberto Núñez Feijóo as the winner of the elections, which if confirmed would also give a boost to the PPE, which right now leads the important governments of Austria or Greece and has just added to its credit those of Sweden or Finland. And it is that surely the EU is before a new 'momentum' of the conservatives; The sources consulted, in fact, are clear: “The trend is changing”, and also the objective of the popular is to govern alone.

When the conservative ranks are asked in Brussels, they handle this approach before others, and defend the “convinced Europeanism” of the formation, as the PP spokesperson in the European Parliament, Dolors Montserrat, comments. The popular, yes, could turn their message both to that part and to the economic, with a preparation of the presidency with a diplomatic point, judging by the team that Feijóo has organized.

Another of the legs of Feijóo's message is precisely that: the Spanish economy is not doing well, as Sánchez says. In fact, the popular leader has already announced that he will change things in the recovery plan approved by the coalition executive. The Galician relies on the “mismanagement” that in his opinion is being made of the funds, “that do not reach the families”. The PP is clear about criticism in this regard: “It is a motorcycle that does not work.”

And what about Vox? Those of Abascal, who recognize themselves as Eurosceptics, aspire to be the third force and enter a future Government with the PP, although that is not the initial idea in Genoa. In a European key, for example, Vox proposes the primacy of national law over community law; and this is something contrary to the Treaties and that has already generated a freezing of funds in countries like Poland and Hungary, although in those cases the radical right leads the Executives. However, they are the European references for Abascal, just like Giorgia Meloni's Italy.

Sánchez and the desire for leadership

In the race to Moncloa, its tenant is second right now: Pedro Sánchez. Its image in the sphere of the European Union has been reinforced over time, especially due to the weight it has had in the most important debates such as the recovery fund, energy or the reform of fiscal rules.. The socialist candidate and current Prime Minister is eager to continue on the front line. Get out in the most important photo. But not only that: the feeling with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is also very clear. Sánchez assumes that he has many homework to do in the European context, and assumes that he needs another legislature to complete many of them, such as an ambitious reform of the electricity market.

“It is indisputable how Spain has once again returned to Europe, assuming a leading role in decision-making, especially in a legislature that has not been very normal to say,” says Iratxe García, president of the group of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) in the European Parliament.. Although at the same time he recognizes that there are still many things to do because, in addition, some of the approaches that Sánchez has proposed in this legislature are for the long term. On the other hand, for Montserrat directly “the Government has not been up to the task”, and gives as an example what for her is “a clear division” between PSOE and Podemos on the war in Ukraine or the “abandonment” to the primary sector.

Sumar, Díaz and a 'new' left

With Yolanda Díaz, on the other hand, the left to the left of the PSOE has given an important change if the reading that is made is community: Podemos has formed part of the group of the Left in the European Parliament until now, but the vice president of the Government now wants hers in the Greens. This step has been exemplified, for example, by placing Ernest Urtasun, a highly relevant asset of the ecologist family and one of the most valued MEPs in Brussels, as spokesman for the formation.. Díaz, in fact, speaks of “new labor” and of giving the EU a boost in social matters.

Regulations such as a rider law at the European level or a directive on minimum wages could bear the signature of the also Minister of Labor, especially at a time when Spain holds the presidency of the Council. But for this he knows that he needs to reissue the current government. The Galician leader claims that she wants to “do things even better” and will seek to force the PSOE, she assures, to implement “more social advances”. The EU has entered another era of another new left, now without Syriza and with Podemos precisely integrated into Sumar; Yolanda Díaz wants to be the leading voice in those times.

A first step before the 2024 Europeans

Spain goes to the polls this Sunday and the elections can even be taken as one of the trials for what may happen in the European elections in June 2024. There is already some clue: for example, the biodiversity law, which separated the Social Democrats and conservatives almost irreconcilably, put on the table a block with socialists, greens and liberals and another with the popular and the radical right. Will this last over time? It depends on how the story is written, and 23-J will be one of the chapters.