Headlines

More than 99% of California’s sunflower sea stars vanished, now scientists have found a mysterious colony that could help revive dying kelp forests

A decade ago, more than 99% of sunflower sea stars vanished from the depths of the ocean. Now, the discovery of a long-lost colony of these organisms is offering new hope for the region’s kelp forests.Sunflower sea stars, known as Pycnopodia helianthoides, may look like an aesthetic and purely decorative feature on the ocean floor,…

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A Minnesota church closed after its congregation fell to 26 members, then gave about $600,000 to nonprofits and sold its property for affordable housing

Image Credit: stmarksuccallentown.org After its congregation dwindled to just 26 members, St. Mark’s United Church of Christ in Bloomington, Minnesota, made the difficult decision to close, turning its final chapter into an extraordinary act of generosity. According to Minnesota nonprofit Loaves & Fishes, which provides meals to people facing hunger, St. Mark’s distributed about $600,000…

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ICE agents to get electric shock gloves worth $20 million to remove ‘illegal aliens’ from US; sparks outrage

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notice was published Monday US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to spend up to $20 million on electric shock gloves for officers and agents, prompting criticism from Democratic lawmakers and civil rights advocates who warn the devices could be misused during immigration enforcement.A US Department of Homeland…

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Australian family bought a remote island to run a sheep farm, now they are turning it into a $4.8 million conservation sanctuary for endangered wildlife

An Australian family who once built their life around sheep farming on a remote island are now helping give the same place a completely different future. Peter and Pamela Woolford took over Flinders Island off South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula and raised their family there while running a Merino sheep station. Nearly five decades later, the…

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Why Putin’s first Kuril Islands visit matters as Russia-Japan ties hit new low

File photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin watches a military exercise from the board of the Varyag missile cruiser of the Pacific Fleet near Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on Sakhalin Island, Russia Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited the disputed Kuril Islands for the first time, travelling to Iturup as Moscow’s relations with Japan remain deeply strained over Russia’s…

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How 280,000 volunteer-planted trees transformed New Zealand’s Tiritiri Matangi from a degraded island into a conservation sanctuary

Rangitoto framed – Tiritiri Matangi Island Off the coast of Auckland, in New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf, lies an island that looks like a slice of untouched wilderness. Dense native forest blankets its hills, rare birds call from the canopy and visitors walk along quiet tracks surrounded by ferns and flowering shrubs. Yet just a few…

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