Thirteen fake news websites launched in 2025 promoted China in a one-sided manner. An investigation by the French government agency Viginum has established that they were directly connected to CGTN, China's state-run television channel.

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On Thursday, June 4, Viginum – the French government watchdog against foreign digital interference – revealed the existence of a network of fake news sites in multiple languages, all linked to a state media outlet under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, China Global Television Network (CGTN). This discovery has unveiled a textbook case of a superpower attempting to manipulate public opinion in Western countries.

Nicknamed "Fawn Mianju" by French authorities, the operation was first exposed in the summer of 2025 by the American cybersecurity company Graphika. At that time, Graphika identified 11 websites and 16 English-language social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads and X, all uncritically relaying CGTN articles and specifically targeting young people. Other sites shared this content in French ("Actu Méridien"), Spanish ("Amigo News") and Vietnamese.

Mainly published between March 2015 and February 2026, the fake articles posted on "Actu Méridien" promoted Chinese aerospace and artificial intelligence, China as the leader of the "Global South," and environmental initiatives, as well as the supposed benefits for France in aligning with Chinese interests. Another article, published in several languages, criticized a France 2 television report on the treatment of Uyghurs in China.

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After several months of online investigation, Viginum experts managed to establish that these sites, which were now numbering 13, were directly linked to the state-run CGTN channel, which is overseen by the Chinese Communist Party.

In addition to the fact that the domain name was registered in Beijing and purchased from Alibaba Cloud, a Chinese digital giant, the site used a distributed architecture – meaning it was simultaneously duplicated across several servers. This more expensive setup, along with the use of paid plug-ins to boost internet search rankings, "suggests an actor with significant resources," explained a Viginum analyst, who requested anonymity.

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These sites display two essential characteristics of a digital interference operation: secrecy and coordination. Despite several campaigns to purchase visibility on Facebook and Threads, targeting a total of 89 countries – mainly in French-speaking Africa – they never managed to break through beyond 15,000 views. The most "liked" posts received 39% of their likes from users located in Burundi, whose sole activity was to interact favorably with Chinese pages.

Given the limited visibility of these sites and their associated accounts, this operation can be considered an operational failure; in fact, "Actu Méridien" has been inactive for several months. Nevertheless, Viginum warns that these sites demonstrate China's determination to promote its narrative to populations in Western countries – including through clandestine means; its growing prowess in using LLMs to automate this kind of production; and, finally, its objective to target both young people and French-speaking Africa.

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At least 30 agents operating on Beijing’s behalf have been uncovered in the European area over the past two years.

Archived

Chinese espionage in the European Union and neighboring countries reveals its full scope when certain pieces are connected. The May 20 arrest in Germany of a German couple of Chinese origin who were taking military-technology information from universities is a particularly notable case. But it is only one of many. The episode exposes a strategy of large-scale, coordinated infiltration when placed alongside other arrests in EU member states and neighboring countries. In total, around 30 agents and collaborators have been uncovered in Europe and its vicinity in just the past two years; some were arrested, several expelled, and others are awaiting trial.

[...]

The Italian government expelled eight Chinese nationals in March on charges of surveilling and intimidating members of the diaspora. This pattern of harassment, known as China’s “clandestine police stations,” came to light in 2022 when the Dutch government acted against two covert offices in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The NGO that exposed the case, Safeguards Defenders, reported that Beijing had set up 102 unauthorized security offices in 53 countries, including Spain.

[...]

The MEP Engin Eroglu [chair of the Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China in the European Parliament] provides several figures to illustrate Europe’s “structural vulnerability” to Beijing’s influence and espionage operations: “China’s security and intelligence workforce is estimated at between 100,000 and 800,000 personnel, according to various estimates. By comparison, the United States has about 30,000 intelligence officers, and EU member states collectively have approximately 35,000 to 40,000.”

The MEP believes Beijing is interested in future-facing sectors such as semiconductor technology and artificial intelligence. “And Germany, with its strong industrial and research base, remains a key target.”

It was precisely in the EU’s largest economy that, in April 2024, Jiang G., an assistant to far-right MEP Maximilian Krah of Alternative for Germany (AfD), was arrested for spying for China. Around that time, three German citizens identified as Thomas R., Ina R. (a married couple) and Herwig were accused of illegally transferring military and scientific technological know-how to Beijing. They used publicly funded research projects to gather information useful to China’s maritime combat capabilities.

[...]

Cutting-edge technology is fertile ground for bribery. About 100 Belgian police officers raided the Brussels offices of Chinese tech giant Huawei in March 2025 and more than 20 lobbyists’ homes. At least eight people were charged in Belgium, including a senior European Huawei executive. All are alleged to have been involved in a scheme designed to prevent a ban on Chinese 5G technology in Europe. In addition, the Belgian public prosecutor asked the European Parliament to lift the immunity of five MEPs.

[...]

Belgium already knew how far Beijing could influence local and European politics. In December 2023, an investigation by Le Monde, the Financial Times and Der Spiegel revealed that Frank Creyelman, a veteran politician from the far-right Flemish party Vlaams Belang (VB), had received payments for at least three years (between 2019 and 2022) from China to influence both Belgium and the EU on issues such as the situation of the Uyghur minority and pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Creyelman was expelled from the party.

[...]

Traditional espionage that targets scientists and military personnel continues to yield results in the age of artificial intelligence. In Greece, on February 5, Air Force Colonel Christos Flessas, 54, was arrested on accusations of passing information of high strategic interest to China. The officer held a top-level NATO security clearance that allowed him access to highly valuable information.

[...]

On the same day Colonel Flessas was arrested in Greece, France uncovered another case. Two technicians, aged 27 and 29, who entered France to perform legal work as engineers, were detained. Two other men of Chinese origin with residency in France provided the logistics: a house rented via Airbnb in the Gironde department (southwest France, near Bordeaux). The Paris prosecutor’s office said the aim was to intercept Starlink satellite communications and military data to transmit to China. The agents made the mistake of installing a two-meter satellite dish in the rented property’s garden, which caused interference and knocked out internet service in the area. Neighbors alerted the authorities and the two engineers face up to 15 years in prison.

[...]

After Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Poland stepped up its counterespionage efforts. And they are paying off. In February, police arrested a 32-year-old Montenegrin citizen at Warsaw’s Chopin Airport who was the subject of a European arrest warrant. The suspect was accused of passing intelligence to China from neighboring Lithuania. That same February, Poland approved restrictions to prevent vehicles made in China from entering protected military facilities.

Henrietta Levin, senior fellow at Spain’s Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, says by videoconference that the EU’s priority should be to secure NATO-critical infrastructure such as ports, water systems, power grids, and communications. Beijing acquired 67% of the Piraeus port’s shares in 2016 — the main Greek port and one of eastern Europe’s largest distribution hubs.

[...]

Meanwhile, Beijing has not neglected countries close to the European Union. In Norway, a Chinese woman was arrested on May 8 on the island of Andøya, where a space-launch base is located, on suspicion of complicity in a serious espionage attempt related to state secrets, Efe reported. And on May 17, a Chinese national was detained in the same country on the same charge.

[...]

One of the most decisive and explicit counterespionage battles Beijing is fighting is in the United Kingdom, known for its powerful intelligence services. One of the most recent cases resurfaced this month with a jury verdict finding a former immigration officer and his contact guilty of working for Chinese intelligence. They were accused of using access to immigration databases to track dissidents and pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong who had sought refuge in the U.K. And in March, David Taylor, the husband of Labour MP Joani Reid, was arrested, also accused of spying for China.

[...]

In that complex balance between security and economic benefit, the EU’s major challenge is no longer merely detecting spies but forging a common shield without weakening its considerable commercial muscle.

Cover image:

Two individuals of Thecacera sesama sp. nov. feeding on a bryozoan. Image credit: Ho-Yeung Chan et al.

Tiny sesame sea slug species discovered in the waters of northern Taiwan | Blog

This tiny nudibranch, which measures less than three millimetres in length, was first spotted by lead author Ho-Yeung Chan during a recreational dive in 2019.

Translucent, speckled, and barely the size of a grain of rice, a new species of sea slug has been identified in the coastal waters of Keelung, Taiwan. Because of its minute size and distinctive black and yellow markings, researchers from National Taiwan Ocean University, National Museum of Natural Science and National Taipei University of Education have named the creature Thecacera sesama.

“Taiwanese divers call it ‘sesame’ in Chinese and it is also small like a sesame seed, hence the name,” the research team explained regarding their decision to honour the local nickname in the scientific nomenclature. This tiny nudibranch, which measures less than three millimetres in length, was first spotted by lead author Ho-Yeung Chan during a recreational dive in 2019.

Thecacera sesama sp. nov. Details of appearance and morphological features, hand-drawn on a tablet PC by Chen-Lu Lee.

The discovery was a stroke of luck that began during Chan’s undergraduate studies:

“During a recreational dive in the summer during the undergraduate study of HY Chan in 2019, he accidentally discovered Thecacera sesama sp. nov. in northern Taiwan waters.”

The Research Team

Despite its unique appearance, the importance of the find was not immediately obvious. In a modern twist on traditional taxonomy, Chan “never realised Thecacera sesama was a new species until he consulted the sea slug expert ‘Hsini Lin teacher’ on Facebook.”

Living specimens of Thecacera sesama sp. nov. Image credit: Ho-Yeung Chan et al.

Documenting the species proved to be a significant logistical feat due to the volatile environment of the Keelung coast. The research team noted that the most challenging part of the study was the unique weather conditions of the region.

Taiwan experiences frequent typhoons in the summer and large waves during the winter monsoon season, with sea temperatures often dropping below 16 degrees Celsius. These factors mean that diving for nudibranch research is only possible for about four months of the year, making sightings of such tiny creatures entirely a matter of chance.

Living specimens of bryozoan with Thecacera species. Image credit: Ho-Yeung Chan et al.

The life of T. sesama is remarkably focused, as the researchers observed that the species exhibits only four primary behaviours: feeding, searching, mating, and laying eggs on bryozoans, which are tiny aquatic invertebrates often called “moss animals”. Interestingly, the specific bryozoan that T. sesama calls home may itself be a species new to science.

From a broader ecological perspective, these vibrant molluscs play a vital role in the marine environment:

“Nudibranchs are one of the key players in the marine food web. They are extremely colourful and can be spotted on coral reef ecosystems. However, many nudibranchs are very small in size and are extremely difficult to spot underwater with the naked eye.”

The Research Team

The researchers believe that the discovery of T. sesama is just the tip of the iceberg for Taiwanese marine biology. Because many species are so small, many more are likely awaiting discovery and formal study. The full research on Thecacera sesama was published in the open-access journal ZooKeys on 11 May 2026.

Original source:

Chan H-Y, Lee C-L, Chen W-C, Chang C-H, Shao Y-T, Pang K-L (2026) Thecacera sesama sp. nov. (Nudibranchia, Polyceridae) from Taiwan, evident from morphology and phylogenetic analyses of the 16S rDNA and cytochrome c oxidase I gene. ZooKeys 1279: 269-284. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1279.184298

'Lethally salty' waters hinder rare toad's recovery

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The study found toad survival and size was affected by the salt levels in the water

Salty water could be preventing the recovery of one of the UK's rarest amphibians by making former breeding sites unsuitable for their survival, a study has concluded.

The natterjack toad is found in just a handful of locations.

In Scotland, its only remaining homes are along the Solway Coast, including the RSPB's Mersehead Reserve near Southerness.

Scientists have found that the salt level in water from former breeding sites in south-west Scotland was linked to failed hatching, smaller growth and altered development.

The research is published in the academic journal Ichthyology and Herpetology.

Getty Images

The study took samples at various sites to check their salt levels

The project was led by Dr Frances Orton, an environmental biologist at Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt University.

"Natterjack toads have declined across the UK, not just in Scotland," she said.

"We wanted to find out why these tiny toads were surviving in the nature reserve in Dumfries and Galloway, but had disappeared from sites along that coast.

"We used anecdotal reports from farmers and local wildlife groups to identify former breeding ponds in Caerlaverock, Southerness and several farms."

The team analysed water samples from Mersehead, where the natterjack toad survives, and other sites.

They measured temperature, pH and salinity and exposed natterjack spawn to water from each of the sites.

Getty Images

Scotland's only remaining natterjack toad colonies are along the Solway Coast

Orton said: "Some of the former breeding sites had such a high level of salinity that no embryos survived to hatching.

"Some weren't as lethally salty, but what we saw there was that the toads were much smaller.

"That doesn't sound like a big deal, but when you're a frog, size really does matter. 95% of tadpoles are eaten by predators.

"For the 5% that make it to the next stage of development, they need to be as big as possible for a chance at survival."

She said the findings could help improve work to revive numbers.

"Until now, a lot of natterjack toad restoration efforts have focused on improving terrestrial habitat, like clearing scrub or controlling vegetation," she said.

"That's still important, but now we know that unless the salinity of the water is tackled, the tiny toads will have no chance of survival."

The biologist added that action needed to be taken soon.

"Amphibians are the fastest-declining vertebrate group globally," she said.

"They've been around for 350 million years, but now species like the natterjack toad are disappearing, quickly.

"They play a huge ecological role as both predators and prey - they feed lots of animal species and, as gardeners will tell you, they eat lots of slugs and midges.

"Natterjack toads are on the verge of extinction and it's vital we understand ways to protect and boost the populations that remain."

Orton and her team conducted the research - supported by the Carnegie Trust and NatureScot - across seven sites in Dumfries and Galloway.

Hidden in plain sight: the race to discover new species before they’re gone

When most people imagine scientists discovering new species, they probably still picture an expedition into the unknown.

A naturalist travels somewhere remote, perhaps on a wooden ship, and traipses through the jungle to encounter an animal or plant never before described by science. The intrepid explorer brings back specimens or observations to a museum, where they can be compared, named and described.

There is some truth to this stereotype. Between 1854 and 1862, scientist Alfred Russel Wallace travelled through the Malay Archipelago, discovering animals and insects unknown to Western science. This led him to the theory of evolution by natural selection, contemporaneously with Charles Darwin.

Antarctica had its own era of discovery. In 1840, scientists on a French expedition encountered what we now know as Adélie penguins. Imagine seeing penguins for the first time: strange black-and-white birds waddling over the ice, sliding on their bellies, leaping from freezing seas.

Of course, “discovery” is a loaded word. Many animals and plants described by Western science were already known to Indigenous peoples and local communities. What changed was their entry into the formal scientific naming system – the global process by which species are compared, classified and recognised.

Today, scientists are still finding new life in remote places and hidden inside the DNA of animals we thought we already knew.

We still explore unknown worlds

Scientists still discover species this way: by probing Earth’s nooks and crannies and travelling to remote places to study what lives there.

Last year, I was onboard the scientific vessel R/V Falkor (too) in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea, where one scientific team was searching for seafloor methane seeps.

These are not just geological curiosities. Methane seeps create unusual habitats that harbour strange communities of life fuelled not by sunlight, but by chemicals rising from below. Scientists have already found new microbial diversity at Antarctica’s first known active methane seep.

Not all hard-to-reach worlds are underwater. In Papua New Guinea’s Southern Fold Mountains, camera traps captured a shy, ground-dwelling bird slipping through rugged limestone forest. Scientists described it as a new species in 2025, the hooded jewel-babbler.

But there is another kind of discovery happening too.

White microbial mats underwater are telltale signs of seeping methane. Andrew Thurber, CC BY-ND

Hidden species in familiar animals

Some species are not hidden because they live at the bottom of the sea or deep in a mountain forest. They are hiding in plain sight.

Gentoo penguins are a good example. With their bright orange bills and comic waddle, they are familiar to anyone who has visited Antarctica. To most observers, they are simply “gentoos”.

But our new research shows gentoo penguins are not one widespread species, but four. Our 2020 study first showed major genetic and physical differences between gentoo penguins from different islands.

Now, using whole genomes – the complete set of genetic instructions inside an animal – and ecological modelling, we found these penguins are not just separated by distance, but have adapted to different Southern Ocean worlds.

Gentoo penguins on Cuverville Island, Antarctica. David Stanley/flickr, CC BY-ND

Learning to see in higher resolution

Discoveries like this are often called “hidden” species. They look very similar to their relatives, but if we study their DNA, body measurements, behaviour and ecology, it’s clear they are separate species.

Species discovery has always depended on the tools available. Early naturalists relied on what they could collect: feathers, skins, eggs and bones. These museum collections are like time machines and remain incredibly important.

Today, whole genomes tell us if animals have different coding. Ecological models show whether animals live in different environmental conditions. Mathematical approaches test whether groups are evolving independently.

In other words, we are learning to see biodiversity in higher resolution.

This sharper view is changing how we understand familiar animals. For a long time, giraffes were considered one species, but genetics suggests they are four. My own work on forest birds in Madagascar found a new species of Newtonia bird.

The Tapanuli orangutan is a powerful example. This Indonesian great ape from Sumatra was described as a new species in 2017, based on genomic, anatomical and behavioural evidence. It was extraordinary to recognise a new great ape in the 21st century, and sobering to realise fewer than 800 may remain.

Again and again, the message is the same. The natural world is more complex than we know. And sometimes, by the time we recognise that complexity, a species may already be in deep trouble.

The Tapanuli orangutan is a species of orangutan restricted to South Tapanuli in the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. It is one of three known living species of orangutan. Prayugo Utomo/Creative Commons, CC BY

Why names matter

Taxonomy – the science of naming and classifying life – can sound like an old-fashioned labelling exercise. But it’s how we map life on Earth.

Conservation laws, threatened species lists and monitoring programs usually work at the species level. If several species are mistakenly treated as one, a declining species can be hidden inside a larger group that looks secure.

As we stand at the precipice of Earth’s sixth mass extinction, this has never been more important.

Recognising hidden biodiversity does not solve conservation problems by itself. But it helps us ask better questions. Which species are increasing? Which are declining? Which have not been counted for decades?

These questions are urgent, because we are racing to understand biodiversity while climate change and habitat loss reshape life on Earth.

Even now, in an age of satellites and genome sequencing, Earth still has secrets. Not only in the most remote places, but in the first animals we learn to recognise as children: penguins, giraffes, orangutans.

The closer we look, the more life reveals itself. Our task now is to keep looking and protect the richness that was there all along.

Turkey sold almost all of its US Treasury holdings in March, in a sign of the deep economic pressure the country’s economy has come under as a result of the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Turkey liquidated around $14bn in US Treasuries, bringing its total holdings of US debt to just $1.6bn dollars, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing its own estimates based on US government data.

Turkey’s vulnerable economy has been hit on multiple fronts by the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The country imports nearly all of its oil and gas from abroad. Rising energy prices have made those imports more expensive. Turkey also imported about 14 percent of its natural gas from Iran before the war, but those flows reportedly stopped after an attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field.

Russian Tundra-series satellites belonging to the EKS system are causing brief GPS signal disruptions across Europe, according to the findings of a recent study by scientists at the University of Texas and Spanish technology company GMV.

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Researchers have recorded at least 75 incidents since 2019 across a territory ranging from Iceland to Italy. In three cases, the scientists reliably identified Russian military satellites designed to give early warning of missile launches as the source of the interference. In the remaining cases, the collected data was insufficient for a definitive attribution, but the signal type was identical across all incidents. Each disruption lasted less than ten seconds and did not lead to serious consequences, as most devices normally switch to a backup signal or the last known location. Nevertheless, the interference has affected the GPS systems of the United States, China, and the European Union, while Russia’s GLONASS is unaffected.

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Satellite jamming is not the only threat vector. As study co-author Todd Humphreys, director of the Radionavigation Laboratory at the University of Texas, told The Insider, the scale of GPS interference depends significantly on its carrier. For a source installed on an aircraft, the effective range can reach 450 kilometers, while ground-based sources can affect a radius of no more than 50 kilometers. According to Humphreys, Russia can change its strategy from month to month, targeting individual aircraft with precision before switching over to block entire sectors of airspace or create broadband interference. Attributing the source is technically possible to within approximately 100 meters and is generally carried out from space.

Lithuania's telecommunications regulator previously recorded an increase from three spoofing antennas along the border of Kaliningrad Oblast to 36. It warns that Russia is now capable of falsifying GPS signals up to 450 kilometers deep into European territory.

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Crossposted from https://feddit.uk/post/50320799

THE 2026 EUROVISION Song Contest was watched by 131 million viewers, organisers said Friday, down 35 million on the year before after Ireland and four other countries boycotted over Israel’s participation.

Bulgaria won the contest for the first time with Dara’s catchy floor-filler “Bangaranga” sweeping the 70th edition of the world’s biggest live televised music event, with Israel finishing in second place. The UK finished last.

RTÉ joined broadcasters in Spain, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands in deciding not to send an act or air the contest in protest at Israel’s participation amid its war on Gaza.

The 2025 contest was watched by an average audience of 5.8 million people in Spain, and 3.5 million people in the Netherlands. In Ireland, RTÉ’s broadcast of last year’s contest garnered an average of 268,000 viewers.

This year’s Eurovision was held in Vienna, with the grand final taking place on 16 May.

Protests were held in Vienna over Israel’s participation, and chants of ‘stop of the genocide’ could be heard during Israel’s performance in the semi-final.

The contest is run by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the world’s biggest public-service media alliance.

“While some of our figures are naturally lower without those of our five members who chose not to participate this year, we remain committed to doing everything possible to find pathways back for them in 2027,” said Eurovision director Martin Green.

Big Nordic audiences

The biggest share of viewers watching Eurovision was recorded in Finland (93%), Sweden (86%), Norway (83%) and Denmark (79%).

Across the board in 35 measured TV markets, the grand final attracted an average viewing share of 42.6%.

The share for viewers aged 15 to 24 was higher, at 54.8%.

The EBU noted that viewing figures were down 3.8 million in Poland, 3.7 million in Britain and 3.3 million in France, compared to those for Eurovision 2025, held in the Swiss city of Basel.

Eurovision garnered more than a billion views for content on Instagram this year.

“It’s fantastic to see the impact the Eurovision Song Contest is having on young audiences globally,” said Green.

“The hundreds of millions reached via our digital platforms also underlines the Eurovision Song Contest’s 70-year evolution from a TV show to a true global, cultural, multi-platform phenomenon.”

People in 148 different countries and territories cast votes for their favourites.

Outside the 35 participating countries, the biggest votes were received from the United States, the Netherlands, Canada, Spain, Ireland, Slovakia and Turkey. Continue Reading - https://www.thejournal.ie/eurovision-viewers-down-israel-7062161-Jun2026/

tvrinfo.ro/ministerul-de-exter…

Banner image of a koala by Bernard Spragg. NZ via Flickr (CC0).

Australia has the money to protect nature. It just isn't spending it, expert says

“I think the international community really does need to put more pressure on Australia to do better,” says Euan Ritchie, a professor of wildlife ecology and conservation at Deakin University in Australia, in a recent episode of Mongabay’s Newscast.

From animals like kangaroos, koalas and platypuses, to plants like waratah, kangaroo paw and climbing heath, Australia has exceptionally high biodiversity, with a unique assemblage of wildlife found nowhere else on the planet.

The Australian government claims the country is on track to meet many of its targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the landmark agreement that aims to halt and reverse the decline of biodiversity, and ensure the sustainable use of biodiversity equitable sharing of benefits, among other goals, by 2050.

However, Ritchie, who’s also the president of the Australian Mammal Society and a councilor for the country’s Biodiversity Council, argues that “Australia is failing miserably” on all those measures. This is despite Australia being one of the wealthiest nations on Earth in terms of GDP per capita, with a “huge number of really knowledgeable scientists,” he tells Newscast host Mike DiGirolamo.

“If we look at the number of threatened species in Australia, it’s more than 2,200 now, and that list continues to increase,” Ritchie says. “We have ecosystems that are collapsing, 17 in total within Australia and two more further south into sub-Antarctic and Antarctic regions that are collapsing.”

The iconic koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is also now endangered in the states of Queensland and New South Wales, and in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), he adds.

Ritchie and other researchers argue that just 1% of Australia’s annual federal budget, or about A$7 billion ($5 billion), would help save the country’s threatened species and protect ecosystems. However, Australia’s latest annual budget allocates only 0.06% to nature conservation — and this is expected to decline in the future.

At the same time, the government is estimated to spend more than A$26 billion ($19 billion) annually to support or subsidize harmful industries like fossil fuels, DiGirolamo says.

One of the government’s strategies to finance nature protection is to create a “nature repair market,” a voluntary biodiversity market, where industry and private players can earn biodiversity certificates.

A biodiversity market would be very complex to navigate and get right, Ritchie says. Instead, he says Australia should just pony up the money for conservation, which he says it can “afford to [at] a much larger degree today.”

Surveys by the Biodiversity Council also show that 95% of Australians polled support the increased government spending on the environment.

“Australia is a sovereign nation. It’s really rich. If we want to fund something that we think is really important, the government could literally do that today,” Ritchie says. “It’s just a case of whether they have the political appetite to do that.”

Listen to the full conversation with Euan Ritchie here.

Organizers of the Porto summit, meanwhile, have openly linked their politics to Nazi ideology.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/53107907

The European Union will provide more than €50mn in immediate financial assistance to Armenia and help find alternative markets for Armenian exports after Russia imposed new trade restrictions on the South Caucasus nation, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on June 4.

Following a phone call with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, von der Leyen accused Moscow of using economic pressure against Yerevan as Armenia continues to deepen ties with the European Union.

"Russia's recent restrictions targeting Armenia are nothing short of economic coercion, and it is unacceptable," von der Leyen said.

...

"By extending export restrictions on Armenian products, Moscow is weaponising economic relations for political pressure. We know this playbook all too well. This is why Europe stands firmly with Armenia."

The support package will include immediate financial assistance worth more than €50mn, measures aimed at easing trade in certain Armenian products, particularly agri-food goods, and practical assistance for sectors affected by the Russian restrictions, the Commission said.

Among the measures announced is support for Armenia's flower industry after Russia recently restricted imports of Armenian flowers, citing what Armenian officials have described as questionable phytosanitary concerns. Von der Leyen said a shipment of 10,000 Armenian flowers was due to arrive in Latvia on June 5 and that further deliveries would follow.

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The EU has become one of Armenia's most important political and economic partners. Brussels launched a Resilience and Growth Plan for Armenia in 2024, and von der Leyen said EU support under the programme had already helped 7,000 businesses and contributed to the creation of more than 20,000 jobs.

...

Looking ahead, the Commission president said the EU remained committed to implementing an ambitious Connectivity Partnership agreed with Armenia. She welcomed the recent reopening of regional trade routes involving Turkey, including railway links through Georgia and Turkey, describing them as "an excellent step forward".

"Armenia has the potential to become a strategic hub connecting Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia," she said.

...

[Armenians are set to vote on the country's future geopolitical direction on June 7. The election will be a test of public opinion in the long-standing Russia ally, where the population is increasingly eyeing the EU.]

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