In the Alps, in 38 years, the amount of vegetation has increased by almost 80%. This is due to global warming, according to Swiss scientists. They analyzed satellite footage taken from 1984 to 2021 and concluded that the climate in the Alps has changed significantly: plants began to grow more actively, and snow cover decreased by 10%.
The researchers studied all alpine regions above 1700 meters above sea level, excluding agricultural areas, glaciers and forests. They published their results in the journal Science.
The spread of vegetation and snow melt is a vicious circle, says study author Sabine Rumpf, as green mountains reflect less of the sun’s rays, which leads to even more warming and, as a result, more shrinkage of the snow cover.
The tourism industry may also suffer, said Professor Antoine Guissan in an interview with RTS. Tourists who come to the Alps for snow and glaciers may see only the forest in the future.
<<< News Feed June 06, 2022 >>>
Scottish engineers have created ultra-sensitive electronic skin for prosthetics. She reacts to heat, cold, pain and learns from her sensations. Engineers took as a basis the mechanisms of the human peripheral nervous system — it processes sensory information and transmits it to the brain. The e-skin-covered roboarm quickly recoils upon contact with unpleasant stimuli.
The speed is driven by a network of synaptic transistors — learning devices that simultaneously process and store information, just like the human brain. The network of synaptic transistors in the material is the main difference between this electronic skin and analogues. Other types of artificial leather use computer-connected temperature and pressure sensors. The transfer of information between them slows down the reaction to stimuli
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French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that Paris is negotiating with the United Arab Emirates to replace Russian oil after the embargo comes into force.
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In order to maintain the sharpness of the mind at any age, one should not play special games for the development of memory and not solve puzzles (although this does not hurt), but move more, eat right, be able to relax, and establish social connections. This was established in the course of his research by Sanjay Gupta, MD and neurosurgeon, a diplomat of the American Board of Neurosurgery, and CNN’s chief medical correspondent.
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The American brand Buick, which is part of General Motors, introduced the concept of an electric vehicle Wildcat EV. Specifications have not yet been disclosed. Buick’s first production electric car won’t arrive until 2024, but the company aims to be fully electrified by 2030, five years ahead of GM’s deadline for phasing out internal combustion engines.
Buick says the Wildcat EV concept will provide a platform for testing technologies that could be used in the brand’s future models. For example, artificial intelligence, aromatherapy and biometrics. These systems are able to detect the passenger’s heart rate spike and activate Zen mode, dimming the cabin lights, releasing aromatic scents and activating the massage seats to normalize physiological parameters.
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The largest law firms in Britain refuse to work with clients from Russia, fearing sanctions and reputational losses. This has already affected several high-profile cases, including proceedings involving VTB and former Yukos shareholders.
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The authorities of Kazakhstan recognized the referendum as valid. The turnout in the referendum on amendments to the Constitution of Kazakhstan reached 60.8%, breaking the threshold of 50% around 16:00 (13:00 Moscow time).
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Abbott is resuming US infant formula production. A shortage of formula milk for infants has emerged in the United States after regulators shut down an Abbott production line, suspecting it was contaminated with disease-causing bacteria.
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Germany has launched a humanitarian visa program for Russians. The director of the Russian program of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Alex Yusupov, said on the air of the OstWest TV channel that all migration departments have received the necessary instructions and those who wish can already request a special application form.
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The Russian government has updated the methodology for calculating the performance indicators of the heads of regions. The changes will affect six methods for calculating efficiency. Of these, only three are listed in the government’s announcement:
- «Quality of the urban environment»;
- «Quality of the environment» (increased requirements for waste management);
- «Digital maturity» (now the level will be set for each subject separately, before it was general).
The government expects that the indicators «will reflect the success of regional authorities in achieving national development goals.»
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For the first time since 2020, the United States has allowed the supply of Venezuelan oil to Europe to replace imports from Russia, Reuters learned. The State Department sent a corresponding letter to the Italian energy company Eni and the Spanish Repsol
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The European Union has developed a plan to replace gas from the Russian Federation, said European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton. This can be done with LNG from the US and Qatar, accelerated launch of wind turbines and solar panels, and coal-fired power plants.
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Kaluga plant Samsung partially resumed work. Now he will produce products two or three days a week and immediately send them to foreign countries. However, it can get to Russia through a “gray” scheme: Samsung products are approved by the Russian authorities for parallel import. The number of plant employees is slightly less than 1 thousand people.
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According to the exit poll, the amendments to the Constitution of Kazakhstan were supported by 74.8% of Kazakhstanis. The turnout was 70.1%. President Tokayev called constitutional amendments an opportunity to prevent a recurrence of protests
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Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bulgaria have banned the flight in the airspace of these countries for the aircraft in which Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov intended to fly to Belgrade on Monday.
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The Russian Foreign Ministry confirms that Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro did not give permission for the overflight of the aircraft of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was supposed to visit Belgrade on June 6-7
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The Belgian authorities released the results of the state’s fight against North Sea pollution, noting that pollution caused by ships has never been as weak as it is now, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the North Sea Affairs Vincent Van Keekenborn.
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The former Russian automobile plant of the French concern Renault, transferred to Moscow in May of this year, was renamed from CJSC Renault Russia to JSC Moscow Automobile Plant Moskvich, follows from the data of the Unified State Register of Legal Entities
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The United States will not ease the sanctions pressure on Russia in order to resume the supply of Ukrainian grain to the world market, Politico writes, citing an unnamed American official.
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South Korea and the United States launched eight ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Monday in response to North Korean missile launches the day before, Yonhap reported, citing the South Korean military.
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South Korean President Yoon Sok-yeol has vowed to respond firmly and harshly to any North Korean provocation, Yonhap reports.
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State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said that this week laws on non-execution of decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will be adopted.
The law has already been submitted to the State Duma. Decisions of the ECtHR adopted after March 15, 2022 (the date when Russia filed its application to withdraw from the Council of Europe) will not be enforced. Also, payments will be made only in rubles and only to accounts in Russian banks. In addition, the decisions of the courts of the Russian Federation will take precedence over the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights of the ECtHR.
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Sollers Group LLC (formerly Erfix LLC) and RusHydro PJSC launched a joint electric car sharing network in Vladivostok with a fleet of Chinese JAC crossovers, an Interfax correspondent said from the presentation of the project.
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Delimobil decided to close the premium car rental service. Some of the cars will be transferred to traditional carsharing, and some will be sold, sources told Kommersant. Anytime service was launched in 2012 and was the first car sharing service in Russia
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In Ukraine, they announced the possibility of completely abandoning gas imports. According to the head of the GTS operator, the goal for the next 10 years is to increase production volumes, as well as the production of biogas, which is obtained from the decomposition of biological waste. As a rule, it consists of methane and carbon dioxide.
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The Summit of the Americas, which this year will be held June 6-10 in Los Angeles, will be held without representatives of the authorities of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, Reuters and Bloomberg report, citing sources.
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Nazarbayev is deprived of the status of «elbasy», Kazakhstan is no longer a super-presidential republic and is being transformed into a presidential republic with a strong parliament — 77.18 percent of voters voted for these changes in a constitutional referendum, the Central Election Commission of Kazakhstan reported.
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In April 2022, chilled chicken sales in Russia fell by 2.6% year-on-year, according to NielsenIQ.
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There are examples of how Telegram transferred data about its users to the German Federal Criminal Police Office. They concerned only cases of child abuse and terrorism, and in all other cases it is allegedly very difficult to get any information from Telegram.
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In 2021, China became Germany’s most important trading partner for the sixth time in a row.
“There is partly a very high and strategically very important dependence of Germany on China in the field of minerals,” says Wolfgang Niedermark from the German BDI Association.
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The volume of consumer loans issued in Russia in the first four months of the year decreased by 46.1% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 0.74 trillion rubles, the National Bureau of Credit Histories reported.
The largest decline in consumer lending was shown by Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (-53.7%), Perm Territory (-51.3%), Yakutia (-51.1%), Irkutsk Region (-50.8%) and Krasnoyarsk Territory ( -50.5%). In Moscow and St. Petersburg, the indicator fell by 35% and 43.3%, respectively.
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The Ministry of Digital Development, on the recommendation of the FSB, is preparing to develop a unified database of IMEI codes assigned to mobile phones. The special services, according to Kommersant’s sources, are in favor of creating such a register to «improve the effectiveness of operational-search activities.»
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The Central Bank of Russia is working with banks on the possibility of introducing a customer identification system based on video from cameras installed in ATMs. Artem Zhilonov, CEO and co-owner of BFS, a supplier and manufacturer of ATMs, told RBC about this. According to him, the issue is at the final stage of discussion.
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The National Electronic Media Council (NEPLP) banned the broadcast of 80 Russian TV channels that were available in the country, LETA reports. The decision will come into force on June 9
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The Russians filed lawsuits against Mercedes, Volkswagen and Toyota Motor, demanding to stop implementing sanctions and resume deliveries to Russia. The «Public Consumer Initiative», which acted as a plaintiff, was supported by Rospotrebnadzor, stating that the actions of the companies «violate the rights and legitimate interests of an indefinite number of consumers.»
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AvtoVAZ reduced sales of Lada cars in Russia by 84% to 6,000 cars in May, the Association of European Businesses reported. And since the beginning of the year, the company’s sales have fallen by 58% to 67.2 thousand cars.
In total, sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles in Russia in May decreased by 83.5% compared to the same month last year, the Association added.
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The US arm of European automaker Stellantis NV has agreed to pay $300 million in a conspiracy to mislead federal regulators and customers about emissions, US officials said.
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World central banks, according to preliminary data, bought 19.4 tons of gold in gold reserves in April after selling 9.4 tons in March, the World Gold Council (WGC) calculated.
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In Egypt, the Rixos and Albatros hotel chains have reduced accommodation prices for Russian tourists by 15-35% for the summer compared to January-May 2022.
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Dow Jones stopped supplying its data to Russian banks
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All Russian educational organizations are excluded from the Bologna Process
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All Belarusian universities are excluded from the Bologna Process
The Bologna system, or the Bologna process, is a series of agreements on the comparability of standards and quality of higher education qualifications in Europe. The Declaration of Standardization was signed by 29 European countries in 1999. Russia joined the process in 2003, Ukraine in 2005, Kazakhstan in 2010, and Belarus in 2015. The agreements imply the introduction of two-cycle education, preliminary and graduation. The latter involves obtaining a master’s or doctoral degree.
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Large-scale NATO exercises have begun in the Baltic Sea. Finland and Sweden take part in them. The annual military exercises BALTOPS will involve 45 ships, 75 aircraft and more than 7,000 military personnel.
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The Russian Academy of Sciences will discuss with Roskosmos the fate of the German eROSITA telescope, which is part of the Russian Spektr-RG observatory, scientists are worried that the plans of the state corporation to independently use the telescope will harm it.
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Belarus will use for agriculture the lands contaminated as a result of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. More than 60,000 hectares of unused land have been brought into agricultural use in the Gomel region over 5 years. The Telegram channel «Economy of Belarus» wrote about this.
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The Dozhd TV channel, which was recognized by the media as a foreign agent and suspended its work in Russia a week after the start of the “special operation”, received a broadcasting license in Latvia. In the future, the channel will continue to be broadcast from Riga, local authorities said
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