Monarch

The king faces possibly his most important ever speech and a thin-skinned president, in the shadow of the Sussexes and the Epstein scandal. What could go wrong?On his high-stakes four-day state visit to the US, King Charles will have to walk a diplomatic tightrope as the guest of an erratic Donald Trump against the backdrop of Iran and security concerns after Saturday night’s shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner.Many challenges lie ahead as he takes up his UK government-decreed task to “reaffirm and renew” bilateral ties amid a worsening “special relationship” on the 250th anniversary of American independence. Continue reading...

The insects covered its largest area since 2018, despite threats from habitat loss, climate crisis and pesticidesThe population of monarch butterflies in Mexico increased 64% this winter, compared with the same period in 2025, offering a glimmer of hope for an insect considered at risk of extinction.The figures, released this week by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Mexico, showed that the area occupied by monarchs expanded to 2.93 hectares (7.24 acres) of forest from 1.79 hectares (4.42 acres) the previous winter, the largest coverage since 2018. Continue reading...