Mars may be around 140 million miles away from Earth, but the red planet is influencing our deep oceans by helping drive “giant whirlpools,” according to new research.

Scientists analyzed sediments, drilled from hundreds of deep-sea sites over the past half century, to look back tens of millions of years into Earth’s past, in a quest to better understand the strength of deep ocean currents.

What they found surprised them.

The sediments revealed that deep-sea currents weakened and strengthened over 2.4 million-year climate cycles, according to the study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

Adriana Dutkiewicz, the study’s co-author and sedimentologist at the University of Sydney, said the scientists didn’t expect to discover these cycles, and that there is only one way to explain them: “They are linked to cycles in the interactions of Mars and Earth orbiting the Sun,” she said in a statement. The authors say this is first study to make these connections.

The two planets affect each other through a phenomenon called “resonance,” which is when two orbiting bodies apply a gravitational push and pull on each other — sometimes described as a kind of harmonization between distant planets. This interaction changes the shape of their orbits, affecting how close to circular they are and their distance from the sun.

For the Earth, this interaction with Mars translates to periods of increased solar energy — meaning a warmer climate — and these warmer cycles correlate with more vigorous ocean currents, the report found.

While these 2.4 million-year cycles affect warming and ocean currents on Earth, they are natural climate cycles and not linked to the rapid heating the world is experiencing today as humans continue to burn planet-heating fossil fuels, said Dietmar Müller, professor of geophysics at the University of Sydney and a study co-author.

The authors describe these currents, or eddies, as “giant whirlpools” that can reach the bottom of the deep ocean, eroding the seafloor and causing large accumulations of sediments, like snowdrifts.

The scientists were able to map these strong eddies through “breaks” in the sediment cores they analyzed. Deep-sea sediments build in continuous layers during calm conditions but strong ocean currents disrupt this, leaving a visible stamp of their existence.

If today’s human-caused warming continues on its current trajectory, Müller said, “this effect will dwarf all other processes for a long time to come. But the geological record still provides us with valuable insights about how the oceans operate in a warmer world.”

The authors suggest it is possible that these eddies could even help mitigate some of the impacts of a potential collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a crucial ocean circulation which works like a huge conveyor belt transporting warm water from the tropics to the far North Atlantic.

Scientists have been increasingly sounding the alarm about the health of this critical system of currents. There are fears it may even be showing early signs it is on course to collapse, as global warming heats up oceans and melts ice, disrupting the delicate balance of heat and salt that determines the AMOC’s strength.

A collapse would have catastrophic climate consequences, including temperatures plunging rapidly in some places and rising in others.

“Our work does not say anything about what may or may not happen to AMOC,” Müller said. “Our point is, rather, that even if AMOC were to shut down, there are still other processes to mix the ocean, even though their effects would be quite different.”

There are fears that an AMOC shutdown would mean oxygen-rich surface waters would no longer mix with deeper waters, leading to a stagnant ocean largely devoid of life. “Our results suggest that more intense deep-ocean eddies in a warmer world may prevent such ocean stagnation,” he said

Joel Hirschi, associate head of marine systems modeling at the National Oceanography Centre in the UK, who was not involved in the research, said the study’s finding of the existence of a 2.4 million-year cycle in sea sediments was noteworthy. The methodology is sound and a link with Mars is possible, he added.

Satellite observations have shown that these eddies have become more active in the last decades but the currents don’t always reach the bottom of the ocean, he said, meaning they would not be able to prevent sediment build-up.

It remains unclear exactly how different processes affecting deep-ocean currents and marine life will play out in the future, the study’s authors said in a statement, but they hope this new study will help build better model future climate outcomes.

An American man has been sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of a tourist and the attempted murder of her friend – both US citizens from Illinois – in a gruesome attack near one of Germany’s most popular tourist sights.

A German court convicted the 31-year-old tourist from Michigan, identified as Troy B., for the attack on the two women near Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.

In Monday’s sentencing at the court in the southern town of Kempten, Judge Christoph Schwiebacher said the offense was one of “particular gravity” and ruled that the man will not receive automatic parole after 15 years, as is custom in Germany.

The attack took place on June 14 2023, when Troy B. befriended the two women near the historic Marienbrücke bridge, a popular viewpoint for Neuschwanstein Castle, before luring them away from the public path with the promise of an even better vantage point.

The victims, Eva Liu, 21, and Kelsey Chang, 22, were American tourists who had recently graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The man was previously unknown to them.

The perpetrator first assaulted Liu. When Chang attempted to intervene, he pushed her down a slope. Prosecutors said the man then throttled Liu and raped her, before also throwing her down a slope after he was discovered by other tourists who arrived at the scene.

The two victims were rescued from the ravine by the Füssen mountain rescue service in a helicopter. Liu later died of her injuries in hospital. Police officers arrested Troy B. near the scene of the attack.

Alexander Stevens, a lawyer representing Troy B., told journalists at the court on Monday: “As things stand now, our client will have to serve his sentence in the prison in (the German city of) Straubing if the judgment becomes final, as it has been established that there is a severe gravity of guilt.

“If it stays that way, our client will definitely have to spend 15 years in Germany before he is extradited. This would and could only be different if the USA itself were to submit a corresponding extradition request or if our client were to do so. We have of course advised our client not to do this.”

The lawyer said his client is yet to decide whether he will appeal the court’s decision.

Neuschwanstein Castle, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) southwest of Munich, is one of the most popular destinations in Europe, attracting some 1.4 million visitors a year and around 6,000 visitors a day in the summer.

There is an inevitability about the outcome of Russia’s looming presidential election.

Like it or not, Vladimir Putin, the man driving a catastrophic war in Ukraine, a brutal crackdown on dissent, and a lurch toward isolation in Russia, now the most sanctioned nation on earth, is poised to win a fifth term in the Kremlin and appears as much in control of Russia as at any time over the past 24 years.

You could be forgiven for thinking otherwise, given the unprecedented scenes of defiance across Russia in the weeks before the vote, as thousands turned out at makeshift memorials to Alexey Navalny, the prominent Russian opposition leader who died suddenly in an Arctic penal colony last month.

Hundreds were detained, according to one human rights group, for simply laying flowers in his memory.

The crackdown didn’t stop thousands of determined people attending his funeral in Moscow either and even now, as Russia goes to the polls – with nationwide voting taking place Friday to Sunday – a steady stream of mourners meanders past his grave site in a small but continuing act of defiance to the Kremlin.

“I will go to vote, but now maybe just write his name,” he added, suggesting he will spoil his ballot.

One young woman named Yulia, who had just laid flowers on Navalny’s grave, said she remained optimistic there would be change in Russia, though not soon.

“Even though Alexey Navalny is dead, there is always hope,” she said, “I think there are always people who do not support Vladimir Putin,” she added.

But there are also plenty of Russians who do, at least for now.

‘He made Russia a much better country’

Putin’s pariah status in the West, where the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes, the so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine that is estimated to have inflicted hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides, and even the hardships and brutal suppressions at home seem hardly to have dented his approval ratings.

The latest polling, from the respected Levada Center in Moscow, puts public trust in Putin at an astonishing 86%.

Of course, in a country where critics are routinely jailed, exiled or killed, public opinion polls are flawed. Another factor is the constant pro-Kremlin propaganda pumped out on state-controlled media, where most Russians get their news.

But as this election approaches, you can’t discount what so many ordinary Russians tell you, face to face.

In the suburbs of northern Moscow, a vast Soviet-era exhibition park is staging “Russia” – a showcase of the country’s achievements in industry and agriculture, the arts and warfare.

And while Navalny’s funeral was attended by notable numbers, this one exhibition center attracts tens of thousands of people every week, many of them domestic tourists with their families visiting the capital, like pilgrims, from Russia’s distant corners.

“We will definitely vote for Putin, he made Russia a much better country,” said Dmitry, a 41-year-old real estate worker from the Komi Republic, in Russia’s far north, who was visiting Moscow with his wife.

Asked about the war in Ukraine and if he held Putin responsible for Russia’s involvement, he replied: “No, we support him in it. Victory will be ours and if it is needed, I will go and fight too.”

Sergey, a 25-year-old office worker, said he felt his job was secure and stable, with good health benefits. He rejected any suggestion that international sanctions on Russia had made the country poorer.

“I just don’t feel any impact of sanctions as an ordinary Russian citizen,” he insisted.

Artyom, a 30-year-old design engineer and an enthusiastic Putin supporter, said the war in Ukraine and the tensions with the West had put Russia on the right path.

“Russia needs to be acknowledged in the world arena; we are not a second-class country,” he said.

Unexpected challenges

It is an insecurity that Putin has long been able to successfully tap, and his efforts to bolster Russian pride, as well as to boost living standards in the country, have delivered genuine popular support over many years.

What is unclear now, though, is how much longer that support will last, especially if Russian war casualties mount, crackdowns on dissent gather pace and economic hardships dig in.

Already there have been serious and unexpected challenges.

Even before the public mourning of Navalny, thousands of Russians came out to support the nomination of an anti-war presidential hopeful, Boris Nadezhdin, whose candidature was ultimately rejected by the Russian election authorities.

But his collection of tens of thousands of signatures of support was a sharp reminder that while the result of the upcoming presidential election in Russia may be inevitable, Putin’s popularity among ordinary Russians could eventually face a serious challenge.

A center-right coalition won a narrow victory in Portugal’s snap elections on Sunday but fell short of an outright majority, as fledgling radical right party Chega took nearly a fifth of the vote.

The Democratic Alliance coalition won 29.5% of the 98.98% of votes counted early Monday, with the incumbent Socialist Party on 28.7%. The results are not final – but Socialist Party leader Pedro Nuno Santos has already conceded.

Chega won 18%, a breakthrough for the radical right party and its leader, André Ventura, a former trainee priest and football pundit.

Democratic Alliance leader Luis Montenegro reiterated he would not work with Chega as he claimed victory in the early hours of Monday, though others in his party have been more ambiguous.

The results set the stage for difficult negotiations in the days and weeks ahead, and, potentially, new elections in the not-too-distant future.

For decades the Socialist Party and center-right Social Democratic Party – the main party in the Democratic Alliance – have taken turns in power.

But both parties failed to secure a working parliamentary majority from the vote Sunday, called after Prime Minister Antonio Costa resigned in November in the wake of a corruption probe into the government’s handling of major investment projects. He has not been accused of any crime.

Chega – which was created just five years ago and translates as “Enough” – has been the third-largest parliamentary force in Portugal since the 2022 election, when it obtained 7% of the vote.

A hung parliament turns Chega into a potential kingmaker, where the party could become part of a coalition government to break the political deadlock.

Corruption scandals cast a shadow over Sunday’s election and fueled public disenchantment with the political class. A recent EU study found 93% of people in Portugal believe corruption to be widespread, the third highest in Europe behind only Greece and Croatia.

Economic concerns have also played a part. Portugal – one of the poorest countries in Western Europe – is suffering a housing crisis, with soaring rents and shortages of affordable homes, as well as a struggling health care system.

The center-left Socialist Party has been in power since late 2015. Nuno Santos, 46, took over from Costa as the party’s leader following his resignation. Dubbed the “caviar leftist,” Santos has sought to prove his dedication to the working classes despite coming from a wealthy background.

The Socialist Party’s traditional rival is the center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD), which in December formed an alliance with two other conservative parties without parliamentary representation to fight in the March elections and combat the rise of Chega.

At the helm of the Democratic Alliance is the 51-year-old PSD leader, Montenegro, who campaigned on a platform for change and sought to present his alliance as a safer option than Chega.

Chega meanwhile has been advocating for tougher sentences for criminals as well as a tightening of Portugal’s immigration policy.

Much like other radical parties across Europe, Ventura’s Chega has also preyed on issues of gender equality, security, and crime. The party has flirted with extremism – at a recent convention one of its members claimed he was a “fascist,” before later saying he was being ironic.

The party has flirted with extremism and has been accused racism. Ventura himself has been convicted for making racist remarks. The party has denied accusations of racism, but some members, and many of its supporters, openly flaunt hateful narratives on social media.

The rise of the far-right in Portugal echoes a trend seen throughout Europe, as voters disenfranchised with mainstream politics look for an alternative. Extremist parties that were once excluded from governing coalitions are increasingly propping them up, and the membrane separating the far and center right is proving more and more permeable.

British actor Idris Elba, best known for roles including Stringer Bell from “The Wire” and John Luther from the eponymous TV show, has ambitions beyond the screen. For his latest role, he wants to build a “smart eco-city” that runs off wind power on an island off the West African country of Sierra Leone.

Sherbro Island is known for its pristine beaches that are a nesting ground for green sea turtles. Sherbro Alliance Partners, co-founded by Elba in 2019, is collaborating with the government to develop a special economic zone on the island to attract people from around the world to live, work, invest and play.

The actor was brought up in London, but his mom is from Ghana and his dad from Sierra Leone. He has acted as a brand ambassador for the latter country and is a strong advocate for building up the African creative arts economy.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Elba: First of all, it’s a beautiful little island off the coast of Sierra Leone. It’s about the same size as Chicago, there’s about 40,000 inhabitants on it in different regions across the island. And Sherbro Island used to historically be the point of no return in the slave trade. It was where England had their capital city of Sierra Leone [when it was a colony], in a city called Bonthe, which is still there. And the relics of the city are still there: the grid system, road system, the old houses, the churches. It’s an incredibly historically rich part of Sierra Leone. There’s 19 miles of beachfront there.

At some junction, my business partner Siaka Stevens, who is the grandson of the former president [of the same name who served from 1971 to 1985], said: “Look, someone needs to cultivate Sherbro Island for tourism.” That was seven years ago. Where we are now is that we partnered with the government to figure out a plan of how we can bring in tourism. Well, it started as tourism – now we’re building a smart, eco dynamic city.

Obviously, this is Sierra Leone: it’s one of the poorest countries in the world, so investment isn’t rushing through the door. So what we needed to do is understand how to package an investment opportunity around this beautiful island without destroying it, being climate conscious, and being conscious that there is a youth culture across Africa of the average age of about 20, that wants something.

I’ve suddenly found myself in the middle of trying to figure out how to pull this together, and what I did was get the best-in-class thinkers on how to build a robust investment framework for the international players to look at Africa in a different way. And that’s what Sherbro Island is. That’s a very long-winded way of saying it’s my retirement plan.

Elba: Huge amounts of curiosity, huge amounts of goodwill. There’s no doubt, everyone understands that the opportunity of Africa is incredible. There’s a leapfrog opportunity with Africa when it considers the emerging economies, the emergence of tech, the emergence of the populace: 1.4 billion people across a land span that big, has room and space to grow.

Elba: The opportunity for Africa is to reframe how not only Africans see themselves via telling stories, but the opportunity is to have the world see Africa in a different way. And that’s where the creative industries can play a pivotal role.

The fulcrum of the creative arts is that every single type of industry falls within it. You and I are speaking from microphones that are manufactured somewhere and based on their use in this industry, the cameras we are being shot on, the makeup that we’re both wearing. This is such a massive intersection of industries that create jobs and create opportunities. If we look at the creative industries as just singing, dancing and telling stories, we’re limiting what it actually is. It is an incredible opportunity for engineering, creativity, storytelling and heritage and propaganda.

We need support from governments saying the creative arts industry does need support and an incentive for it to grow. I’ve made nine films in Africa, nine or eight films. Each time I’m there, I see the opportunity’s growing, I see the quality of the work growing, and I just want to contribute more.

Elba: I was on “Absolutely Fabulous” when I was a wee lad and that was definitely a standout moment because it was my first bit of comedy, but it was with the legends.

Elba: I auditioned extensively over four weeks. I auditioned in New York. It was a tough gig to do. Alexa Fogel is an amazing casting director. She always has an eye for an amazing talent and she gave me an opportunity to audition for it, but she told me: “Whatever you do, don’t walk in there with your English accent. This is about Baltimore, they’re not interested in East London.” And that was it, I auditioned amongst some amazing young actors, and on my last audition, I got the job.

Elba: No, I haven’t watched most of “The Wire.” It’s just because it’s an incredible time of my life. I can’t watch it through that lens.

I’ve racked up some box sets. I’ve got “The Wire” to get through. I’ve got “Luther” season one to five to get to.

Elba: My experience has been positive. I mean, moving to the States as a young actor was like, “You’re doing what? You’re going to Hollywood?” It’s more commonplace now. For the most part, when I got there, it was really tough. That was a struggle. But it was positive. I grew in confidence. I went through a very tough time; at one point I was homeless. In my early years, “The Wire” changed my life completely, and my daughter was born at the same time. So that really changed my life. I’m always in and out of America. I live in England now, closer to my mum. My dad’s passed and so I’m home in England now, but I’m always there.

Divisions between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu burst out into the open again over the weekend as the two traded barbs in interviews over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

In a Saturday interview with MSNBC, Biden said Netanyahu was “hurting Israel more than helping Israel” in his war on Gaza, adding that he wants “to see a ceasefire” in the context of a deal that also brings back Israeli hostages held there by Hamas.

Biden has for months warned that Israel risks losing international support over mounting civilian casualties in Gaza, where the death toll has passed 31,000.

Netanyahu in response said the American president was wrong in his assessment and fiercely defended his policies in Gaza, especially a looming ground operation into the southernmost city of Rafah that Biden and other world leaders have warned against.

“I don’t know exactly what the president meant, but if he meant by that, that I’m pursuing private policies against the wish of the majority of Israelis, and that this is hurting the interests of Israel then he’s wrong on both counts,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Politico and German media outlet Bild, referring to Biden’s remarks about the prime minister hurting Israel.

An estimated 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah, which has been under Israeli bombardment for weeks. Crammed into a sprawling tent city packed against the Egyptian border, families there are living with severe shortages of food, water, medicine and shelter, and the daily risk of being killed.

In his Saturday interview, Biden said that an Israeli invasion of Rafah would be a red line, before adding in the same breath that crossing it would not result in punitive measures against Israel.

“It is a red line, but I am never going to leave Israel,” Biden said. “The defense of Israel is still critical, so there’s no red line I’m going to cut off all weapons.”

Netanyahu on Sunday said he intends to move forward with the invasion, despite Biden’s warning and regardless of a ceasefire-hostage deal. The operation would not last more than two months, he said, but did not provide specifics on the timeline.

“We’ll go there. We’re not going to leave (Gaza),” Netanyahu said Sunday in an interview with German outlet Axel Springer. “You know, I have a red line. You know what the red line is, that October 7 doesn’t happen again.”

As of this weekend, the Biden administration has yet to see any kind of humanitarian or evacuation plan from the Israeli government that seeks to ensure the safety of civilians in Rafah before launching a military operation there, the two US officials said Sunday.

The US has strongly supported Israel through its war in Gaza, which has so far killed more than 31,000 people and injured more than 72,000, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

The rising death toll, widespread destruction and unfolding humanitarian crisis have cast a shadow on Biden’s 2024 reelection bid, as anger over his administration’s handling of Israel’s war sparked a campaign to convince Michigan Democratic voters to cast protest ballots.

Biden and Netanyahu have known each other for decades and have had disagreements even before October 7, including the president’s unease with the Israeli leader’s far-right government. As the conflict in Gaza has dragged on and pressure has grown from within his party to rein in Israel, Biden’s criticism has become more vocal.

Last month, Biden described the war as “over the top,” one of his sharpest rebukes since the conflict began. Late last year, Biden and Netanyahu publicly sparred with over plans for post-war Gaza.

The rhetoric from the administration has only grown stronger of late. Vice President Kamala Harris last week called for “an immediate ceasefire” and for more humanitarian aid into Gaza, “given the immense scale of suffering” in the enclave.

“It (Israel) cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead,” Biden told MSNBC Saturday. And in a statement marking the start of the Islamic month of Ramadan the same day, the president said that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is “front of mind” for many, including him. “More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of them civilians, including thousands of children,” he said.

In a candid moment caught on a hot mic, Biden revealed his frustration with Netanyahu after his State of the Union speech last week.

“I told him, Bibi – and don’t repeat this – but you and I are going to have a come to Jesus meeting,” Biden was heard telling Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Senator Michael Bennett.

Asked about the moment, Biden told MSNBC the comment meant he intends to have a serious meeting soon with Netanyahu. “I’ve known Bibi for 50 years, and he knew what I meant by it.”

“What’s happening is that he has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas,” Biden said.

“But he must, he must, he must, he must, pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken.”

On Monday, Biden told reporters there are currently no plans for a “come to Jesus” meeting with Netanyahu and no plans for him to address the Israeli parliament “at this moment.”

Marine researchers on a mission to record life hidden in the world’s oceans have reported they found about 100 potential new species — including one mystery starlike creature.

The expedition team focused its investigation on the 500-mile (800-kilometer) long Bounty Trough, a little-explored part of the ocean off the coast of New Zealand, east of South Island. The scientists’ three-week voyage aboard the research vessel Tangaroa, which belongs to the country’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, occurred in February.

The team collected almost 1,800 samples from depths as far down as 3 miles (4,800 meters), finding species of fish, squid, mollusk and coral that they believe are new to science.

“You’ve got this big area off the east coast of New Zealand where there’s just an absolutely paucity of data points. We don’t know anything about it,” said Dr. Daniel Moore, expedition science manager of Ocean Census, a new alliance launched in April 2023 that aims to identify 100,000 unknown species in the next 10 years. “It was true exploration, very exciting.”

For the next three weeks, a team of scientists will sort and describe the deep-sea finds to confirm whether they are newfound species.

The team’s scientists have been puzzled by one find, which they initially thought was a type of sea star or sea anemone.

“It is still a mystery. We can’t even describe it to family. We don’t know where it is in the tree (of life) as of yet, so that’ll be interesting,” Moore said.

Dr. Michela Mitchell, a taxonomist at the Queensland Museum Network, said in a statement released by Ocean Census it could be a type of deep-sea coral called octocoral.

“Even more excitingly, it could be a whole new group outside of the octocoral. If it is, that is a significant find for the deep sea and gives us a much clearer picture of the planet’s unique biodiversity,” she said in the statement.

Moore said he was surprised that the team found a new species of fish known as an eelpout that was “instantly recognized as being different to the others.”

“Finding new vertebrates is rare. There’s hundreds of thousands of invertebrates in the sea that we still don’t know. Vertebrates, we like to think that we know what’s out there, but the reality is, we just don’t,” he said.

To collect the samples, the vessel towed three different types of sleds depending on the terrain. These included a traditional beam trawl that towed a net to collect samples, a heavy-duty seamount sled for rocky surfaces and another device that sampled the water just above the seafloor, as well as a towed underwater camera.

Huge gaps remain in scientific knowledge of the ocean depths. Of the 2.2 million species believed to exist in Earth’s oceans, only 240,000 have been described by scientists, according to Ocean Census.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog attended the opening of the National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam on Sunday amid pro-Palestinian protests demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

Protesters were chanting “Never again is now” and “Ceasefire now” at a square close to the museum, while holding Palestinian flags and signs that said “Jews against genocide” and “The grandchild of a holocaust survivor says: Stop Gaza Holocaust.”

Health officials in Gaza say over 31,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its offensive there in response to an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas fighters on southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 253 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Human rights group Amnesty International put up detour signs around the museum to direct Herzog to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.

A spokesperson for the president declined comment.

Dutch Jewish anti-zionist organization Erev Rave, which organized the protest with the Dutch Palestinian Community and Socialists International, said that while it honors the memory of Holocaust victims, it could not stand by while the war in Gaza continued.

Faced with international criticism of its campaign, Israel has been stressing that it did not start the war and was making all efforts to minimize civilian casualties, blaming Hamas for fighting in densely populated areas.

Some of Herzog’s remarks have been cited by South Africa in its International Court of Justice lawsuit against Israel. He has said that not only militants but “an entire nation” was responsible for the Oct. 7 attack and that Israel will fight “until we break their backbone.”

Herzog has said his comments were misrepresented, and only part of what he said was cited in order to build a case against Israel in the ICJ, which after discussing told Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip but stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Herzog, before becoming president, which is a largely ceremonial role, used to head Israel’s Labor party, which historically has been an advocate for making peace with Palestinians.

The museum told media that it had invited Herzog before the Hamas attack and Israel’s subsequent offensive in Gaza.

It said in a statement it recognized that Herzog’s attendance raised questions but added that he represented the homeland of Dutch Holocaust survivors who emigrated to Israel.

Nazi Germany killed six million Jews during World War Two.

Modern Israel was founded in 1948 as a safe haven for Jews.

Pope Francis has sparked anger after saying Ukraine should have the “courage of the white flag” and negotiate to end the war with Russia.

In an interview with Swiss broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) published on Saturday, Francis was asked whether he thinks negotiations would “legitimize the stronger party.”

“That is one interpretation,” he replied. “But I believe that the stronger one is the one who sees the situation, who thinks of the people, who has the courage of the white flag, to negotiate.” The pope added, “and today, negotiations are possible with the help of international powers.”

The comments brought a swift response from Kyiv, which has seen tens of thousands killed and is seeking to recapture all its territory seized by Russia.

“Our flag is a yellow and blue one. This is the flag by which we live, die, and prevail. We shall never raise any other flags,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a post on social media Sunday.

“The strongest is the one who, in the battle between good and evil, stands on the side of good rather than attempting to put them on the same footing and call it ‘negotiations’,” he said.

Speaking to Ukrainians in New York on Saturday, the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, said “Ukraine is wounded, but unconquered” and that no one is thinking about making concessions.

“I want to tell you one thing from the people of Ukraine,” Father Sviatoslav said, according to a statement from the Greek Catholic Church. “Ukraine is exhausted, but it is standing and will stand! Believe me, no one even thinks of surrender, even in the places where fighting is ongoing today,” he said.

Later on Saturday, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, clarified to journalists the pope’s comments, saying “the Pope picked up the image of the white flag, proposed by the interviewer, to indicate a cessation of hostilities, a truce reached with the courage of negotiation,” and not surrender as some may have interpreted his remarks, Vatican News reported.

Other European leaders also condemned Francis’s comments.

“How about, for balance, encouraging Putin to have the courage to withdraw his army from Ukraine,” Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said Sunday in a post on X. “Peace would immediately ensue without the need for negotiations.”

“My Sunday morning take: One must not capitulate in [the] face of evil, one must fight it and defeat it, so that the evil raises the white flag and capitulates,” Latvia’s President Edgars Rinkēvičs said in a post on X.

Alexandra Valkenburg, the head of the EU delegation to the Holy See, said on X on Sunday that “Russia started an illegal and unjustified war against Ukraine two years ago” and Russia “can end this war immediately” by respecting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Summers are becoming increasingly dangerous, especially in cities where the warming effects of tall buildings, concrete and asphalt send temperatures soaring. But there might be a simple, potentially inexpensive way to put a chill on urban heat: retroreflectors.

A study published Monday in the journal Nature Cities found when retroreflective material was installed on buildings, it decreased the surface temperature of those buildings by up to 36 degrees Fahrenheit, and air temperatures by nearly 5 degrees.

Reducing building temperature is “very, very important” for pedestrians at street level, said Elie Bou-Zeid, co-author of the study and professor of civil and environmental engineering at Princeton University, “because those walls radiate a lot of heat on you.”

Cooling those surfaces by 36 degrees “will make you feel significantly more comfortable,” he said. “It’s almost like being in the shade.”

Cities are significantly warmer than their surrounding suburbs and rural areas because of the way they are built. Tall buildings, dark roofs, asphalt and concrete absorb the sun’s rays and reflect its energy back into the environment as heat – the so-called urban heat island effect.

Urban designers have started to implement simple solutions to counteract the urban heat phenomenon, including painting roads white, planting more trees and building green roofs. But researchers say using retroreflective materials would have a more powerful cooling effect.

Retroreflectors take advantage of a simple concept: a number of mirrors in the shape of a cube corner reflects light back in the direction it came from. The same can be achieved with a mirror in the shape of a bowl.

They’re used in road signs and bicycle reflectors, for instance, to ensure headlights reflect to drivers’ eyes. They’re also used in running clothes with reflective strips on them. Cats’ eyes have similar, naturally occurring retroreflectors, which is why they appear to glow when you shine a light on them.

Bou-Zeid said retroreflective material could be developed as sheets or coatings to install on city surfaces. Given the material itself is relatively inexpensive, it could be a low-cost solution to an increasingly dangerous phenomenon, as temperatures continue to climb due to planet-warming pollution.

Small-scale versions of the idea have already been tested in the Netherlands and Italy. But there is no large-scale example yet because of how difficult it is to retrofit existing buildings.

Some US cities have taken steps to tackle extreme heat. Los Angeles streets were painted with a grayish-white coating to reflect sunlight and keep air temperatures cooler – just like a light shirt will keep you cooler than a dark one in the hot summer sun. But researchers say this solution is less effective than retroreflective material, which reflects sunlight back toward the sun “and not to other objects on the ground,” Bou-Zeid said.

There is one downside to it, though: It would make winters feel even colder – reflecting sunlight at a time when it’s beneficial – which could create new public health concerns. Bou-Zeid said it might be possible to design reflective materials that “turn off” when needed.

“When it’s very hot during the summer, they become white and reflect a lot back to the sky,” Bou-Zeid said. “When it’s very cold during the winter, they become black and don’t reflect a lot and mostly absorb (the sun’s) energy.”

To help reduce the urban impact of the climate crisis, cities need to implement as many measures as they can to adapt to and mitigate these changes, said Xinjie Huang, the lead author of the study and doctoral researcher at Princeton.