alternative video upload: https://streamable.com/e/4y0zka

Der frühere Vizekanzler wird eine dänische Investmentfirma bei der Stadtentwicklung beraten. Das Unternehmen investiert auch in Immobilien in mehreren deutschen Städten.

The UK's electric vehicle market has reached a historic milestone, with EVs capturing 30% of new car sales and driving virtually all growth in the automotive market. As demand for electric cars continues to rise, traditional gasoline and diesel vehicles are losing ground, signaling a major shift toward an all-electric future.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/49096629

Relevant: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49277378/usmnt-folarin-balogun-red-card-suspended-belgium

Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has cancelled a planned trip to New York next week following calls for his prosecution and plans for protests against his visit, various reports said on Sunday.

Ben-Gvir was expected to lead a ministry delegation to a UN police summit in the city on 7-8 July. Sources in the ministry said it had decided not to attend the event.

This is the second time this month Ben-Gvir has been forced to cancel a trip to the US. The extremist minister had planned to travel to the US for a holiday in June but had difficulties obtaining a visa.

Two workers have died within the space of just a few months at the construction site of BYD’s new factory in Szeged, raising serious concerns over safety standards. While construction is widely regarded as one of the most hazardous industries, professional bodies say two fatalities in such a short period is exceptional, even on a project of this scale.

...

The National Federation of Hungarian Building Contractors (ÉVOSZ) described the occurrence of two fatal incidents in such quick succession as clearly extraordinary. Its president, László Koji, stressed that neither the size nor the complexity of an investment can ever justify serious workplace accidents. While there is no benchmark for what constitutes an “average” number of accidents on a project of this magnitude, he added, the fundamental principle of occupational safety is that no workplace accident should be considered acceptable.

Series of further accidents

The situation is compounded by a number of additional serious incidents in recent months. In May, a reversing lorry struck a worker, breaking his leg. In late April, three workers were taken to hospital after a vehicle collided with an obstacle, leaving them with head and neck injuries.

...

By comparison, the construction of BMW’s plant in Debrecen has seen three workplace accidents, none of them fatal. Only one was classified as serious, involving a worker falling from scaffolding ... Suzuki stated that over the past 35 years, including the construction and expansion of its Esztergom plant, there have been no fatal or serious workplace accidents.

Archived

Can't use the word "buy" if you can't actually buy the thing.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/12092438

Banner image: Lilac-breasted roller in Etosha National Park, Namibia. Image courtesy of Giles Laurent via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

How Namibia's bird conservation projects build community resilience (commentary)

• Droughts and land degradation often erode communities’ social bonds, but in the Karas region of Namibia, bird conservation initiatives have become a rallying point.
• Women and youth are at the forefront of these initiatives, which has inspired confidence among peers and shown that conservation is not the domain of scientists alone, but also a practice of everyday community resilience.
• “It is time for policymakers, NGOs, and donors to support these initiatives not just as biodiversity projects, but as investments in community well-being,” a new op-ed argues.
• This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

In Namibia’s Karas Region, birds are more than symbols of freedom or beauty — they are teachers of resilience. Their survival in arid landscapes mirrors the endurance of the communities who live alongside them. Grassroots bird conservation projects here have revealed something profound: protecting birds can also strengthen families, nurture hope, and build social cohesion.

Across villages in Karas, parents and children tend habitats together, restoring nesting sites and planting native vegetation. These acts of care are not only ecological interventions; they are lessons in patience and problem solving. When a child sees a weaverbird return to a reed bed that the community has protected, it is a moment of triumph that teaches perseverance in the face of environmental challenges.

Women and youth are at the forefront of these initiatives. In one community, a group of young women organized bird walks for schoolchildren, teaching them to identify species like the sociable weaver and the pale chanting goshawk. Their leadership has inspired confidence among peers and shown that conservation is not the domain of scientists alone — it is a practice of everyday resilience.

Sociable weavers nesting in acacia trees, Karas Region, Namibia. Image courtesy of Martha Karas.

These projects also counter the isolation that environmental stress can bring. Droughts and land degradation often erode social bonds, but bird conservation has become a rallying point. Families gather to monitor nesting sites, share stories, and celebrate small victories. In doing so, they weave resilience into the social fabric. Conservation here is not only about biodiversity; it is about belonging.

The ecological benefits are clear. Protecting bird habitats safeguards pollination, seed dispersal, and pest control — services that sustain agriculture and livelihoods. But equally important is the emotional strength these projects cultivate. In Karas, conservation has become a human resilience strategy: a way to confront uncertainty with collective action and hope.

This perspective challenges the conventional view of conservation as a technical exercise. Too often, policies focus narrowly on species counts or protected areas. While these metrics matter, they overlook the lived experience of communities who find strength in caring for nature. By recognizing conservation as both ecological and social, we broaden its value and deepen its impact.

Lappet-faced vultures like this are native to the arid plains of the Karas Region, and organizations like Vultures Namibia ensure there’s awareness of them. Image courtesy of Martha Karas.

The lesson from Karas is urgent. As climate change intensifies, resilience will be as critical as resources. Grassroots bird projects show that resilience can be cultivated through simple, shared acts of care. They remind us that conservation is not only about saving species, but about sustaining the human spirit.

It is time for policymakers, NGOs, and donors to support these initiatives not just as biodiversity projects, but as investments in community well-being. Funding should prioritize programs that empower women and youth, foster intergenerational learning, and strengthen social bonds through conservation.

Birds in Namibia’s Karas Region are survivors of harsh landscapes. But they are also mentors of resilience, teaching us how to endure, adapt, and thrive together. By listening to the voices of those who lead grassroots efforts, we can reimagine conservation as a strategy for human strength as much as ecological survival.

Supporting these projects is not charity — it is foresight. In every nest protected, in every child inspired, we see the seeds of resilience that will carry communities through the challenges ahead.

Conservation, at its best, is a story of hope. And in Karas, that story is being written by birds and the people who care for them.

Martha Karas is a Namibian writer based in the Karas region.

In France, the government is preparing to pass a new law that would presume any shooting by a police officer or gendarme to be lawful. The bill on “presumption of self-defense for law enforcement” will be debated in the National Assembly on July 7. If passed, it would mark a historic shift that would effectively grant law enforcement a “license to kill.”

This new bill is based on an older piece of legislation passed in 2017, known as Article L.435-1 of the Internal Security Code. Behind this abstract name lies a major change: the law broadens the circumstances under which law enforcement officers may use their weapons. Specifically, a police officer or gendarme may open fire on a person whom they believe is “likely” to pose a danger. However, since its adoption, the number of fatal shootings by police targeting vehicles has been five times higher than before 2017.

It is against this already alarming backdrop that the new bill is being proposed. Rather than addressing the flaws in the 2017 law, the new bill supported by the government exacerbates them. Until now, whenever a police officer fired a weapon, an investigation was required to verify whether the conditions set forth in Article L.435-1 had been met. Under the new law, this verification would no longer even be necessary: whenever a police officer uses their weapon, the use of force would automatically be considered lawful.