35 h. ago Texas Senator seen holidaying in Europe as flood death toll reaches 100

Senator Ted Cruz was allegedly spotted touring Europe as the death toll from catastrophic flash floods in Texas continued to climb after a river swelled and ripped through summer camps

Events

48 h. ago Low water levels push up shipping costs on Europe’s rivers amid heatwave

Vessels on Rhine in Germany and Danube in Hungary forced to sail partially loadedBusiness live – latest updatesLow water levels after heatwaves and drought are limiting shipping on some of Europe’s biggest rivers including the Rhine and the Danube and pushing up transport costs.As much of Europe swelters in hot temperatures, water levels in its main rivers have fallen. This is affecting shipping along the Rhine – one of Europe’s key waterways – south of Duisburg and Cologne in Germany, including the choke point of Kaub, forcing vessels to sail about half full. Continue reading...

Politics

50 h. ago The river of death: Chilling video shows how Texas river swelled in just minutes sweeping 80 people to their death including 28 children

So far 40 adults and 28 children have died since the early hours of the Fourth of July - when rapid rainfall caused the Guadalupe River to surge more than 30 feet above its normal level.

Events

6 d. ago From Pong to Wii Sports: the surprising legacy of tennis in gaming history

From the lab-born Tennis for Two to the console classics of Nintendo and Sega, the sport has been a constant, foundational force in gaming’s riseWith Wimbledon under way, I am going to grasp the opportunity to make a perhaps contentious claim: tennis is the most important sport in the history of video games.Sure, nowadays the big sellers are EA Sports FC, Madden and NBA 2K, but tennis has been foundational to the industry. It was a simple bat-and-ball game, created in 1958 by scientist William Higinbotham at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, that is widely the considered the first ever video game created purely for entertainment. Tennis for Two ran on an oscilloscope and was designed as a minor diversion for visitors attending the lab’s annual open day, but when people started playing, a queue developed that eventually extended out of the front door and around the side of the building. It was the first indication that computer games might turn out to be popular....

Politics

7 d. ago Keir Starmer refuses to rule out tax rises after Labour MPs force U

The Prime Minister refused to be drawn on whether he would increase tax later this year.

Politics

8 d. ago A third of renters could be ‘forced out’ by average rent rise, research finds

Labour says its landmark bill will protect against unfair rent rises – but campaigners say they must go further

Politics

3 w. ago Berlin banned river swimming a century ago. Locals now want to jump back into the water

There’s a push by Berlin swimmers to get back into the water a century after the city banned swimming in the Spree River because it was so polluted that locals were at risk of falling ill

Events

3 w. ago ‘When the river swells, it forces them to run backwards’: rising waters push Colombia’s farmers into hunger and despair

Communities in the Salaquí basin face deepening food insecurity, armed conflict and the collapse of a way of life – while government schemes ignore the real problemPhotographs by Antonio CascioRiosucio was established between rivers and swamps. For most of the year, the people of this Colombian municipality live above water and have developed ways to manage the fluctuating river levels. A network of makeshift wooden boards connects the houses in the town, allowing people to move between them.Despite the resilience of these communities, their increasingly harsh environment is beginning to overcome all the methods and systems designed to tame it, causing crop destruction, hunger and deepening poverty. Continue reading...

Society

3 w. ago UN refugee agency says more than 122 million people forcibly displaced worldwide

The U.N. refugee agency says the number of people forcible displaced by violence and persecution around the world has risen to more than 122 million, up by about 2 million from last year and a near-doubling over the last decade

Events