Millions of the tiny bugs have invaded Orbetello, a speck of land that juts out into the Orbetello lagoon, a natural reserve off Tuscany’s coast between the Tyrrhenian Sea and Monte Argentario.
Elsewhere, China moved to reverse some of its “non-tariff” measures against the U.S. as agreed with Washington in their temporary trade war truce, while demanding that the U.S. side “immediately correct its wrong practices.”A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson accused the Trump administration of violating world trade rules by announcing that use of Ascend computer chips made by China’s Huawei Technologies violates U.S. export controls.
Stock indexes fell 0.8% in Hong Kong and 0.7% in Shanghai, while indexes were mixed elsewhere in Asia and Europe.In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.44% from 4.53% late Wednesday. Falling bond yields can encourage investors to pay higher prices for stocks and other investments.The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, dropped to 3.96% from 4.05% as traders built bets that the Fed will resume cutting its main interest rate as soon as September.
The Fed has been keeping its main interest rate on hold this year as it waits to see how Trump’s trade policies play out for the economy. Cutting rates would juice the economy by making it easier for U.S. households and companies to borrow and spend. But it would also push upward on inflation when worries are high that Trump’s tariffs will do the same thing.Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned in a speech on Thursday that the world “may be entering a period of more frequent, and potentially more persistent, supply shocks” that could goose inflation higher and present a “difficult challenge for the economy and for central banks.”
Trader Edward Curran works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Edward Curran works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)Zimbabwe’s collaring project may offer a way forward. Sixteen elephants, mostly matriarchs, have been fitted with GPS collars, allowing rangers to track entire herds by following their leaders. But Hwange holds about 45,000 elephants, and parks officials say it has capacity for 15,000. Project officials acknowledge a huge gap remains.
In a recent collaring mission, a team of ecologists, vets, trackers and rangers identified a herd. A marksman darted the matriarch from a distance. After some tracking using a drone and a truck, team members fitted the collar, whose battery lasts between two and four years. Some collected blood samples. Rangers with rifles kept watch.Once the collar was secured, an antidote was administered, and the matriarch staggered off into the wild, flapping its ears.
“Every second counts,” said Kudzai Mapurisa, a parks agency veterinarian.An elephant walks in the Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, Monday, April 28 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)