In short:

A live-stream broadcast of China's military parade has captured Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin discussing biotechnology's potential to extend life.

An interpreter translating Mr Putin can be heard saying in Mandarin that human organ transplants could let "us live younger and younger, and perhaps even achieve immortality".

Mr Xi responded that it may be possible for people to live to 150 years this century.

Xi Jinping said the world was facing a choice between peace or war as he held China’s largest-ever military parade, joined by Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un in a show of defiance to the west.

Putin and Kim, the authoritarian leaders of Russia and North Korea, were among dozens of world leaders who attended the parade, a massive display of military hardware and personnel, orchestrated to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war, which China calls the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

“Today, humanity is again faced with the choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, win-win or zero-sum,” Xi told the crowd of more than 50,000 spectators, adding that the Chinese people “firmly stand on the right side of history”.

Thailand's acting government is seeking to dissolve the parliament after a rival candidate gained the support of a power-brokering bloc. The dissolution of the parliament would need the Thai king's approval.

The peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL described the Tuesday morning incident as “one of the most serious attacks on UNIFIL personnel and assets” since the cessation of hostilities in November that ended the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.

UNIFIL said Israeli drones dropped four grenades close to the peacekeepers, who were working to clear roadblocks that hindered access to a U.N. position along the border line. One grenade hit within 20 meters (yards) and three others within approximately 100 meters of U.N. personnel and vehicles, it said, adding the drones were observed returning toward Israel. No one was hurt in the attack.

UNIFIL said the Israeli military had been informed in advance of the peacekeeping force’s road clearance work in the area, southeast of the village of Marwahin less than a kilometer (mile) from the border line.

Belgium will join France in recognizing a Palestinian state at the upcoming UN General Assembly session in New York this month, the country’s foreign minister announced on 2 September.

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (AP) — The Vatican is inaugurating an ambitious educational center inspired by Pope Francis’ ecological legacy, a 55-acre utopian experiment in sustainable farming, vocational training and environmental schooling for kids and CEOs alike on the grounds of the papal estate on Lake Albano.

Pope Leo XIV, who has strongly reaffirmed Francis’ focus on the need to care for God’s creation, will formally open the center Friday, returning to the grounds where he spent his first papal summer. He’ll tour the lush gardens, vineyards and farm of Castel Gandolfo and celebrate a liturgy for the staff who have been working since 2022 to turn Francis’ ecological preaching into practice.

Officials on Tuesday gave a sneak peek tour of the project’s heart: A huge greenhouse in the same curved, embracing shape as the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square that faces a 10-room educational facility and dining hall. Once it’s up and running, visiting groups can come for an afternoon school trip to learn about organic farming, or a weekslong course on regenerative agriculture.

The project was inspired by Francis’ 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si” (Praised Be), which cast care for the planet as an urgent and existential moral concern that was inherently tied to questions of human dignity and justice, especially for the poor.

In the 10 years since, a grassroots movement has taken root in the church to implement its holistic message via workshops, conferences and now most tangibly, the educational center named for the encyclical, Borgo Laudato Si.

The center aims to accomplish many of the goals of the environmental cause. Solar panels will provide all the power the facility needs, plastics will be banned and recycling and composting systems will be used to reach zero-waste. Officials say water will be conserved and maximized via “smart irrigation” systems that use Artificial Intelligence to determine plants needs, along with rainwater harvesting and the installation of wastewater treatment and reuse systems.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/35603443

Kyiv sees a well-equipped army as a stronger deterrent to Moscow than any Western pledges to defend it. It is working to attract billions to buy more arms.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping, speaking before a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, said Wednesday that humanity today must choose between peace and war and between dialogue and confrontation.

Jair Bolsonaro is accused of a plot to retain power after he lost the presidency in 2022. Supreme Court Judge De Moraes accused him of seeking a "dictatorship," while Trump has called the case a "witch hunt."

Prominent women including cultural figures, politicians and campaigners have signed a letter criticising rightwing attempts to link sexual violence in Britain to asylum seekers.

Signatories include the musicians Paloma Faith, Charlotte Church and Anoushka Shankar as well as Labour, Green and independent MPs including Kim Johnson, Ellie Chowns, Diane Abbott and Zarah Sultana.

"We reject the far right’s racist lies about ‘protecting’ women and girls. They are not defenders of women – they exploit violence against women to fuel hate and division,” the letter says.

The open letter, titled Women Against the Far Right, follows a surge in protests outside accommodation housing asylum seekers and far-right attempts to exploit a number of cases of alleged sexual crimes involving asylum seekers.

https://archive.is/K96ON

Sovereign borrowers are turning to lower interest rates in currencies such as the Chinese renminbi and Swiss franc

A switch to renminbi borrowing — which comes as the Chinese currency hits its highest level against the dollar this year

Kenya and Sri Lanka are seeking to convert high-profile dollar loans into the currency.

Nearly 40 years after breaking off Antarctica, a colossal iceberg ranked among the oldest and largest ever recorded is finally crumbling apart in warmer waters, and could disappear within weeks.

Earlier this year, the “megaberg” known as A23a weighed a little under a trillion tonnes and was more than twice the size of Greater London, a behemoth unrivalled at the time.

The gigantic slab of frozen freshwater was so large it even briefly threatened penguin feeding grounds on a remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean, but ended up moving on.

It is now less than half its original size, but still a hefty 1,770 sq km (683 sq miles) and 60km (37 miles) at its widest point, according to AFP analysis of satellite images by the EU Earth observation monitor Copernicus.

Israel has begun mobilizing some 60,000 reservists to take part in its planned occupation of Gaza City, the army confirmed Tuesday, signaling a major escalation in the genocidal war now in its 23rd month, Anadolu reports.

The military said the reservists will be issued weapons, personal gear and full tactical equipment, with units undergoing drills in urban and open terrain combat “to boost readiness for upcoming missions.”

Israeli daily Maariv said the mobilization would see reservists undergo three to four days of training before some are reassigned to replace regular troops stationed on the northern front.

The step follows Friday’s declaration of Gaza City as a “dangerous combat zone,” accompanied by heavy bombardment and demolitions that have already caused mass civilian casualties and widespread destruction. Gaza’s Government Media Office has accused the army of deploying explosive-laden robots and adopting a “scorched earth” strategy.