Clouds

• The Middle East conflict is creating significant economic uncertainty for Pakistan, threatening to disrupt the country's fragile macroeconomic stability. • Key risks include fueling sticky inflation, widening external financial pressures, and increasing volatility in global energy prices. • These geopolitical shocks complicate the State Bank of Pakistan's (SBP) monetary policy calculus, potentially delaying necessary interest rate cuts.

Mackerel skies and mare’s tails signal arrival of warm fronts that push moisture to high altitudes and creates distinctive clouds“Mare’s tails and mackerel scales make lofty ships to carry low sails,” runs an old English saying about summer skies.Mackerel skies are cirrocumulus or altocumulus clouds in regular but patchy rows, resembling the light and dark-scale pattern on a mackerel. The cirrocumulus version is white and wispy, altocumulus is grey and thicker. One easy rule is that cirrocumulus is narrower than a finger at arm’s length, altocumulus more like three fingers. Continue reading...

• NASA astronaut Jessica Meir captured high-resolution images of towering thunderclouds while stationed aboard the International Space Station. • The photographs highlight the immense scale and dynamism of Earth's atmospheric weather systems from an orbital perspective. • These space-based observations are critical for improving global weather forecasting and deepening the scientific understanding of climate patterns.

• The James Webb Space Telescope has captured a detailed image of the Orion A region, showcasing its star-forming clouds in vibrant colors. • The image provides a unique view of the region, highlighting its intricate details and beauty. • This capture is significant as it helps astronomers study the formation of stars and planets in the Orion A region.

• Europe is pursuing "digital sovereignty" to achieve technological autonomy and reduce strategic dependence on foreign entities. • Despite efforts to build its own cloud infrastructure, the region remains heavily reliant on the U.S. public and private sectors for critical threat intelligence and cyber attribution. • This gap highlights a contradiction where Europe may establish regulatory control but lacks the operational capabilities to manage major cyber incidents independently.

Member of army squad sent with medics to assist suspected hantavirus patient recounts descent to remote islandThe hardest part of the parachute jump, according to Capt George Lacey, is falling backwards through the air. It is Saturday and Lacey, and his squad of six plus two medics, have just leapt out of an RAF transport, 2,500 metres over the south Atlantic.“The parachute can only go forward so quickly,” he says, meaning that it has to be pulled at precisely the right moment. “So you have to turn into the wind and basically fly backwards, which is a very weird sensation, as you can imagine.” Continue reading...

Russian pavilion to stay closed as outcry over Israel’s inclusion also grows – but nesting seagull provides some light reliefThe 61st Venice Biennale vernissage began on Tuesday under grey clouds and rain showers, as political tension, parties and protest dominated proceedings at one of the art world’s biggest events.Lubaina Himid, the British entrant, who has spent a career creating work that picks at her country’s colonial past, took over the UK’s pavilion with her large-scale paintings and sound collage that recalls a “perfect British summer’s day”. Continue reading...

Human brains are designed to detect faces as quickly as possible, which can lead to the perception of ‘false faces’Faces: we see them in clouds, electrical outlets and even a $28,000 toasted sandwich said to look like the Virgin Mary.Known as face pareidolia, seeing faces in inanimate objects or patterns of light and shadow is a common phenomenon. Continue reading...