Hello. Democrats in the US Senate have written to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth demanding answers about a deadly strike on a primary school in Iran. My colleagues have the details. In Namibia, correspondent Johannes Dell reports on a green energy project that has raised concerns for the area’s biodiversity. And finally, read about a fox’s trans-Atlantic adventure.
TOP OF THE AGENDA
Scrutiny over possible US role in Iran strike
The Senators’ questions included whether old or faulty target analysis could have led to the school building being hit. Credit: Reuters
Nearly every Senate Democrat has signed a letter to Hegseth, asking a series of detailed questions about the strike in Minab, which Iranian officials say killed 168 people, including about 110 children. If a US role is confirmed, the strike would amount to one of its worst single cases of civilian casualties in decades of US conflicts in the Middle East, write James FitzGerald and state department correspondent Tom Bateman. US media have reported that US military investigators believe American forces were likely responsible for hitting the school unintentionally at the start of the joint US-Israeli operation, but that they have not reached a final conclusion. Last week, Hegseth said the US did not target civilians and was investigating the issue.
The shifting sands of Tsau ǁKhaeb National Park have become a biodiversity hotspot. Credit: Getty Images
A near pristine desert and coastal wilderness in Namibia could soon host a huge green hydrogen production facility. The project is expected to bring jobs, but conservationists fear for the unique plant and animal life of the region, such as rare succulents and endangered African penguins.
Johannes Dell, BBC News
The plan to build solar and wind farms in Namibia’s Tsau ǁKhaeb National Park, which means “Soft Sands” in the Nama language, is not supported by conservationists. The 26,000 sq km (10,000 sq mile) park was established in 2004 out of what was known as the “Sperrgebiet” – German for “Restricted Area” – a vast swathe of land sealed off by the German colonial authorities to protect their mining interests when diamonds were discovered there at the beginning of the 20th Century.
The diamond rush came and went – allowing a unique richness of flora and fauna to flourish undisturbed, which the Namibian Chamber of the Environment says is now in danger. Its head Chris Brown said industrialised countries like Germany, which is actively supporting the green hydrogen project, are applying double standards. “The Germans would never allow their top parks to be turned into industrial sites,” Brown says.
US officials at the Port of New York and New Jersey have discovered an unlikely stowaway, a fox, on a cargo ship that set sail from Southampton, in the south of England. The two-year-old animal, which you can see here, was brought to the Bronx Zoo and is said to be in good health.
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