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Last Kidnapped Schoolchildren Freed in NigeriaNigerian authorities this week secured the release of the last remaining C...
12/23/2025

Last Kidnapped Schoolchildren Freed in Nigeria

Nigerian authorities this week secured the release of the last remaining Catholic schoolchildren kidnapped in central Niger State last month, ending a month-long ordeal that drew international concern amid a diplomatic dispute with the Trump administration over the killing of Christians in the West African country, The Guardian reported.

On Monday, officials said the final group of 130 schoolchildren will be reunited with their families, a day after confirming the abductees had been freed near Nigeria’s border with Benin.

Last month, unknown gunmen raided St Mary’s Catholic school in the Papiri community, kidnapping 303 children and 12 teachers. About 50 children escaped shortly after the attack, while another 100 were released earlier this month.

As with the earlier releases, authorities did not disclose how the children were freed or which group carried out the kidnapping.

The Papiri kidnapping was the latest incident in a wave of mass kidnappings across Nigeria, where schools and places of worship have been increasingly targeted.

According to the Lagos-based geopolitical advisory SBM Intelligence, more than 4,700 people were kidnapped nationwide between July 2024 and June 2025. At least 762 people were killed, and about $1.66 million was paid in ransoms during that period.

Read the full text of the article from today's GlobalPost, linked in the comments below.

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✨Wishing you and your families the best of the holiday season!
12/20/2025

✨Wishing you and your families the best of the holiday season!

Check out our Discoveries story from today's GlobalPostBlinding LoveThe expression, “love makes you blind,” takes on a w...
12/15/2025

Check out our Discoveries story from today's GlobalPost

Blinding Love

The expression, “love makes you blind,” takes on a whole new meaning when it comes to some male pheasants.

Golden and Lady Amherst’s pheasants (Chrysolophus pictus and C. amherstiae) are known for their extravagant courtship displays, sporting flamboyant head and neck feathers that fan out into what some researchers have described as “seriously wacky plumage ornaments.”

These flamboyant feathers help attract mates, but a new study shows they come with a surprising cost: The males can’t see properly while wearing them.

Lead author Steve Portugal and his team discovered the problem when they gave seven male pheasants a thorough eye exam.

“For the birds, it is a little bit like a trip to the opticians,” Portugal said in a statement.

The researchers used an ophthalmoscope to shine light into the birds’ eyes to the flashback – that reflective “eyeshine” similar to when headlights hit an animal at night. By moving the light around the birds’ heads, they mapped out what portions of the world the pheasants could actually see.

Their findings showed a dramatic narrowing of binocular vision: The males lost roughly 30 to 40 degrees of vertical view, amounting to a 41 percent reduction compared with females.

In human terms, it would be like trying to look up while wearing a baseball cap yanked far too down on one’s forehead.

To see whether this visual quirk was widespread, researchers also examined two close relatives – silver and green pheasants – but found no such impairment. They suggested that the feather obstruction is unique to the two Chrysolophus species.

It’s unclear why evolution gave these avians such impractical accessories because this “handicap” likely makes males more vulnerable to predators, particularly when foraging with their heads down.

“One idea is that it’s perhaps to do with the habitat they live in,” Portugal suggested. “Both golden and Lady Amherst’s pheasants live in dense forest. Perhaps they can’t see very far anyway due to a cluttered environment of trees, shrubs, and plants – making the consequences of their feathers not as significant as they otherwise might be.”

Behavioral ecologist Anne Peters, who wasn’t involved in the study, told Science Magazine that the result was “a noteworthy find,” marking the first documented case of plumage ornamentation impairing a bird’s eyesight.

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EU Probes Google Over AI UseThe European Commission on Tuesday initiated an antitrust investigation into Google, intendi...
12/10/2025

EU Probes Google Over AI Use

The European Commission on Tuesday initiated an antitrust investigation into Google, intending to examine whether the US tech giant’s use of online content to train its artificial intelligence models has violated European Union competition rules, CNBC News reported.

The probe will assess whether Google is distorting competition by imposing unfair terms on publishers and content creators, or by giving itself preferential access to their content, disadvantaging third-party AI models, POLITICO noted.

The EU has already expressed concern that Google has used the content of web publishers to power generative AI services in its search results without providing appropriate compensation, and without giving publishers the option to refuse such use of their content.

The bloc has also said that the tech giant may have similarly used content uploaded on YouTube to train Google’s generative AI models without providing appropriate compensation or allowing creators to opt out.

The investigation follows Google’s introduction of AI-driven search results, which led to a drop in traffic to online news sites.

Read the full story, linked in the comments below.

Deadly Web DesignsNot all spider webs are the same. While many form classical spirals, some spiders create silk pattern...
12/05/2025

Deadly Web Designs

Not all spider webs are the same.

While many form classical spirals, some spiders create silk patterns shaped like zigzags.

These decorations, called stabilimenta, have puzzled scientists for years. Now, new research offers a fresh explanation.

“This study reveals that the decorative stabilimentum in Argiope bruennichi webs is more than just (ornamentation),” the study authors said in a statement. They added that the filaments likely carry the vibrations of a stuck animal throughout the web, allowing spiders to pinpoint exactly where the prey is on the structure, Smithsonian Magazine reported.

For the research, the team photographed the stabilimenta of three populations of A. bruennichi, or wasp spiders, in Italy. Based on these structures, the team ran numerical simulations of webs with and without stabilimenta to see if, and how, these patterns affect the vibrations caused by prey.

The experiments showed that stabilimenta only slightly delayed the spread of waves caused by a prey hitting the web perpendicularly. However, when the vibrations traveled in the same direction as the spiral threads, they spread across more of the web in those with stabilimenta than in those without, which researchers think might help the spiders better locate their prey.

Still, the team acknowledges that the actual impact of the stabilimenta may be minimal.

Researchers not involved in the study questioned how realistic the simulations actually are, pointing out that real webs are not as circular as those used in the experiment, instead being more asymmetric and elongated at the bottom.

While it might be too soon to declare the stabilimenta mystery solved, this research could carry implications for materials research and sensor technology. For example, it could guide the creation of materials inspired by spider webs with precise wave-propagation capabilities.

“The take-home message is that the stabilimentum does influence vibration propagation in orb webs, but its effect is far less straightforward than one might expect and deserves more detailed investigation,” study author Gabriele Greco told IFLScience.

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12/01/2025

From today's GlobalPost:

Archeologists in southern Germany have discovered a circular stone grave from the Roman era that turned out to be empty.

It turns out that such graves lacking bones or goods are not uncommon.

“The tumulus was located directly on an important Roman transport axis, allowing the family to commemorate a deceased person in a way that was visible from afar,” Mathias Pfeil, curator general of the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation, said in a statement.

Its proximity to a Roman road and a former Roman country estate suggests it might have been a cenotaph, meaning a symbolic tomb that commemorated someone buried elsewhere.

“The tomb was both a place of remembrance and an expression of social status,” Pfeil added.

Archeologists found the tomb during construction work in the fall of 2024 in the village of Wolkertshofen, located in the southern German state of Bavaria, according to LiveScience.

Working alongside the builders during the excavation, the team noticed fragments of ceramics before discovering a huge stone foundation with a diameter of 39 feet.

Next to the circular structure, they found a stone square that likely once supported a statue or grave marker.

The shape and distribution of the carved stones indicate that the burial mound dates back to Roman times, when this region was part of the province of Raetia, under Roman rule.

While similar burials have been found in Central Europe and Italy, the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation described this specific discovery as “highly unusual” and “extremely rare” for Germany. Most burial mounds found in the area are typically much older, dating back to the Bronze and Iron Ages, Popular Science noted.

“We did not expect to discover a burial monument of this age and size here,” said Pfeil.

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Belgium Braces for Three-Day Strike Against Austerity Measures Belgium Monday began preparing for three days of nationwi...
11/25/2025

Belgium Braces for Three-Day Strike Against Austerity Measures

Belgium Monday began preparing for three days of nationwide strikes organized by unions to protest the government’s proposed budget cuts and reforms to the pension system, FRANCE 24 English reported.

The strikes are taking place in three waves: Train and public transport staff went on Monday, to be followed Tuesday with workers from the school system and hospitals. On Wednesday, workers from most public sectors will go on strike.

On Monday, meanwhile, Belgium’s coalition government agreed on a budget deal to lower the government deficit by $10.6 billion by 2029, an agreement that kept Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s government from collapsing, POLITICO reported.

The budget agreement includes higher taxes on share purchases, airline tickets, and natural gas, as well as a new tax on banks. Some leisure activities and services, such as hotel stays and takeout food, will also become more expensive.

The government also pledged to put 100,000 people currently on sick leave back at work and introduced a $2.30 tax on packages from companies outside of Europe, such as those from Chinese e-commerce platforms Shein and Temu.

Belgium’s deficit reached 5.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year, while public debt was at 104.7 percent of GDP, which is above the maximum agreed under EU budget rules and one of the highest in Europe, along with Greece, Italy, and France.

Since gaining power in February, Flemish separatist De Wever has been trying to implement major austerity measures through a series of structural reforms surrounding labor market liberalization, unemployment benefits, and pensions.

Due to the divisions within his five-party coalition, only a few of De Wever’s measures have passed.

From today's GlobalPost's "Discoveries" section:In Another Life Long before it became a blue planet of oceans and forest...
11/19/2025

From today's GlobalPost's "Discoveries" section:

In Another Life

Long before it became a blue planet of oceans and forests, Earth was an infernal, rocky world swirling in a haze of gas and dust.

Then about 4.5 billion years ago, a Mars-sized meteorite slammed into the young planet, churning its insides and reshaping its chemistry into what would become the modern Earth – and its moon.

For decades, scientists believed that cataclysm erased every trace of our world’s earlier self. Now, a new study has found evidence that a tiny piece of that “proto-Earth” may have survived.

An international team, including researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, discovered an unusual chemical fingerprint in some of Earth’s oldest rocks – one that seems to predate the collision entirely.

“This is maybe the first direct evidence that we’ve preserved the proto-Earth materials,” said Nicole Nie, co-lead author of the study, in a statement. “We see a piece of the very ancient Earth, even before the giant impact. This is amazing because we would expect this very early signature to be slowly erased through Earth’s evolution.”

The team focused on potassium, a common element but a clever cosmic time capsule.

Most of Earth’s potassium exists as two isotopes, potassium-39 and potassium-41, in a nearly constant ratio. Potassium-40 is also present but in trace amounts – previous findings showed that abnormal quantities of this isotope are found in meteorites, according to Live Science.

In the new study, the research team examined ancient rock powder from Greenland and Canada, as well as lava samples from Hawaii, and discovered they contained a subtle deficit of potassium-40.

Nie said these materials “were built different,” adding that finding this tiny imbalance is similar to “spotting a single grain of brown sand in a bucket rather than a scoop full of yellow sand.”

Such a signature couldn’t have been produced by any known geological process or later meteorite impact, suggesting that part of Earth’s earliest building blocks survived the planet’s fiery rebirth.

To test the idea, the researchers ran simulations using data from every known meteorite and modeled billions of years of mantle mixing and impacts.

None could recreate the same potassium pattern.

Still, the researchers aren’t claiming victory just yet. It’s possible a meteorite with the same chemical quirk could someday be found, offering another explanation for the anomaly.

“Scientists have been trying to understand Earth’s original chemical composition by combining the compositions of different groups of meteorites,” Nie noted. “But our study shows that the current meteorite inventory is not complete, and there is much more to learn about where our planet came from.”

🌍 Happy International Education Week! 🌍At GlobalPost, we believe that every student deserves access to quality internati...
11/17/2025

🌍 Happy International Education Week! 🌍

At GlobalPost, we believe that every student deserves access to quality international journalism. That's the heart of our Global Education Initiative.

We're proud to offer FREE subscriptions to high school and college students across the country because global awareness and intercultural understanding are necessities for the next generation.

When students engage with stories from around the world, they:

🔹 Develop cultural competency
🔹 Build critical thinking skills
🔹 Understand global interconnections
🔹 Become informed, engaged citizens

This International Education Week, we're celebrating the power of education to bridge divides and build understanding.

Are you an educator or student interested in our Global Education Initiative? Drop a comment or head to this link to learn more! https://globalpost.com/signup/

France and Palestinian Authority To Cooperate in Drafting a Palestinian ConstitutionFrance and the Palestinian Authority...
11/13/2025

France and Palestinian Authority To Cooperate in Drafting a Palestinian Constitution

France and the Palestinian Authority will establish a joint committee to draft a new Palestinian constitution, French President Emmanuel Macron said this week, a move that comes amid efforts to reform the Palestinian governing body and strengthen its role under the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, EEuronews Englishreported.

On Tuesday, Macron made the announcement following a meeting in Paris with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, saying the two leaders “decided together to establish a joint committee for the consolidation of the state of Palestine.”

France’s presidential office noted that political reform was key to building a “democratic and sovereign Palestinian state” that could coexist peacefully with Israel. Abbas, who has led the Palestinian Authority (PA) for two decades, agreed to move quickly on setting up the committee.

France has positioned itself as a leading European supporter of Palestinian statehood, having formally recognized it in September.

Macron also warned against Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank, calling such moves a “red line” for Paris and saying France would coordinate with European partners in response.

He said recent settlement expansion and settler violence were threatening regional stability and violating international law, according to FFRANCE 24 English

Read the full article from today's GlobalPost, linked in the comments.

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From today's Discoveries section of GlobalPost, where students and teachers can read for free by signing up at ➡️ https:...
11/11/2025

From today's Discoveries section of GlobalPost, where students and teachers can read for free by signing up at ➡️ https://globalpost.com/signup/

There are around 4,000 species of snakes around the world, and roughly 600 of them are venomous.

Scientists know that each species has a different type of venom, but now they have discovered they also have various striking tactics to administer it.

In a new study, an international research team used high-speed cameras and fake prey to better understand how the slithering reptiles sink their deadly teeth into their next meal.

Researcher Alistair Evans and his colleagues traveled to Venomworld in the French capital, a facility where scientists extract venom from snakes and scorpions for medical and pharmaceutical purposes, wrote LiveScience.

They developed fake prey from a muscle-like medical gel and dangled it in front of 36 species of venomous snakes. Two cameras recording at 1,000 frames per second helped scientists carefully study the lightning-fast strikes.

It was a nerve-racking experience for co-author Silke Clauren.

“I flinched a couple of times,” she said in a statement, adding that it was worthwhile to get the amazing footage.

After reviewing at least 100 videos, the team found three patterns of strikes across species.

Vipers were the fastest and could strike their prey within 0.1 seconds of lunging – meaning that a startled mammal would not be able to react on time. Because they struck so fast, the species didn’t always manage to get a good angle, so they would quickly pull their fangs out and reinsert them in a better position.

“Only when the fangs were comfortably in place did the snakes shut their jaws and inject venom,” Evans explained in the Conversation.

Another species, elapids – which include the rough-scaled death adder and the Cape coral snake – were just as fast as vipers, but sneakier: They would creep closer to their prey and bite it repeatedly until their jaw muscles tensed to squeeze the venom into their snack.

Researchers also observed two snakes of the colubrid family, the mangrove snake and Fischer’s tree snake. These two are “rear-fanged” and inject their venom via teeth at the back of their upper jaw.

They lunged from a longer distance before clamping their jaws on their victims and making a sweeping motion from side to side. This method helped create a crescent-shaped gash and deliver the maximum amount of venom.

Evans said that the findings help scientists better understand how these snakes were able to thrive in the 60 million years since they first emerged.

“We can now show how they use these deadly weapons in the blink of an eye – and why they have been able to survive for so long on Earth,” he wrote in The Conversation US.

We love working with teachers and students to help bring global stories into the classroom. 📚Each week, we also post a "...
11/07/2025

We love working with teachers and students to help bring global stories into the classroom. 📚

Each week, we also post a "Quiz" in our newsletter.

Here is today's:

Which African country has become a leading hub for digital innovation, earning the nickname “Silicon Savannah”?

-- Nigeria

-- Kenya

-- South Africa

-- Ghana

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