TOP NEWS

 F-16 fighter jet crashes in Poland – pilot dies

An F-16 fighter jet has crashed at the airport in Radom, Poland, Polish media reports. The pilot died.

The crash occurred during exercises ahead of the Radom International Air Show. Clips on social media show the plane doing a backward loop and not having time to straighten up before crashing into a huge cloud of fire.

The exact cause of the crash is unknown.

New American weapon can knock out drone swarms

A new weapon can knock out entire drone swarms using microwaves. This is reported by Axios.

The weapon, called Leonidas, is developed by the American Epirus. In a test at Camp Atterbury in Indiana on Tuesday, it knocked out 49 drones at once – the largest swarm to date.

– This is a turning point, says CEO Andy Lowery.

He is open to using the technology in civilian places such as sports stadiums, ports and airports, but also for military applications. The US military has invested millions in the company.

The allegations against Karim Khan
Another woman accuses ICC prosecutor of abuse

Another woman accuses Karim Khan, chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, of sexual assault. The Guardian reports.

The woman's allegations have reportedly emerged during the ongoing investigation and concern Khan's early legal career. According to the allegations, he has acted inappropriately, abused his position and repeatedly made uninvited sexual advances.

Khan denies "any" allegations of abuse. He has taken time out from his role as chief prosecutor pending the outcome of the investigation, which was launched after allegations of harassment from a female employee at the ICC.

Election in Norway
Analysis: Dual right-wing leaders are a blessing for Støre

Norway's conservatives continue to campaign with two prime ministerial candidates ahead of the September election. The only winner is the Social Democratic Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, writes NRK's ​​political commentator Lars Nehru Sand in an analysis.

Both Høyre party leader Erna Solberg and the immigration-critical Progress Party party leader Sylvi Listhaug have arguments for their cause. On the one hand, the bourgeois side as a whole would probably have benefited if Solberg had taken the lead. On the other hand, Solberg is "no longer the star", but it is Listhaug who has the tailwind and is drawing voters away from the Social Democrats.

In Bergens Tidene, Hans K Mjelva writes that the rich are trying to buy up politics. The wealth tax is a key issue in the election and Norway's richest are pumping record amounts into the bourgeois party to put a stop to it. At the same time, the trade union movement gives large sums to the red-green parties.

It is so even that the contributions can decide the election, writes Mjelva.

“This development should not continue. Although it is a long way from that, the US is a discouraging example of how corrupt politics becomes if money rules.”

Climate Threat  Extreme Weather in Europe
Climate Crisis Fueled Mediterranean Wildfires

Climate change has made the hot, dry and windy weather conditions that fueled this summer's deadly Mediterranean wildfires ten times more likely, a new report shows, according to Politico.

"Without climate change, similar events would only occur once every hundred years," write researchers from World Weather Attribution. At the current rate of warming, they are expected to occur every ten years instead.

The fires have also become 22 percent more intense due to human climate change, according to the study, which compared this summer's fires with conditions during pre-industrial times.

Around one billion hectares have been ravaged by fires in Europe so far this year, which is a record.

Plastic pollution
Study: We inhale 68,000 plastic particles a day

People inhale as many as 68,000 microplastic particles a day, a new study shows according to The Guardian.

Previous studies have identified larger airborne plastic particles, but they do not pose as great a threat because they do not linger in the air for as long and do not travel as deeply into the respiratory tract.

The smaller pieces measure between one and ten micrometers, about one-seventh the thickness of a human hair. They pose a greater danger because they can more easily enter tissue and spread throughout the body.

“We were surprised by the levels of microplastics we found, they are much higher than previously thought,” says study co-author Nadija Jakovenko of the University of Toulouse.