Why Israel wants US bunker busters to hit Iran’s Fordow nuclear site
Standing on the South Lawn of the White House on Wednesday, Trump said, “The next week is going to be big,” adding that Iranian officials are eager to negotiate. However, he warned them that “it’s very late to be talking,” after they reached out to him.
Officials and experts have suggested that the US’s 30,000-pound (13,000kg) bunker buster bomb is the only weapon capable of destroying the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, a facility believed to be central to Tehran’s nuclear programme and carved deep into a mountain.
The United States is the only country to possess these bombs, which it delivers using B-2 bombers. If deployed against Iran, it would represent a major shift from primarily intercepting missiles on Israel’s behalf to conducting active offensive strikes against Iran.
Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame, jck, JeremyBloom, and doomandgloom. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Interceptor 7, Man Oh Man (RIP), wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), rfall, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos since 2007, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time. Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
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Harriet Tubman #quilt by my Mom, Vera P. Hall, who makes quilts celebrating Black people who fought for their own freedom. This seems to be the crowd favorite of the “We Didn’t Wait for Freedom” series. Happy #Juneteenth #quilting
— ProfKFH (@profkfh.bsky.social) 2025-06-19T12:19:22.602Z
The unlikely comeback of America’s most endangered songbird
On the dry prairies of the Sunshine State, there’s a tiny, camouflaged bird known as the Florida grasshopper sparrow. Each one weighs about as much as three U.S. quarters yet has to survive against a backdrop of torrential floods, herds of stomping cattle, and waves of ravenous fire ants.
Not to mention the humans. “We’ve lost over 90 percent of their habitat,” says Fabiola “Fabby” Baeza-Tarin, a senior conservation ecologist with a Tampa-based consulting firm known as Common Ground Ecology.
Florida grasshopper sparrows and many other organisms rely on the dry prairie for their entire life cycles, not even leaving to migrate, but humans have increasingly rendered the space inhabitable by clearing and draining it to make way for development, ranching, and intensified agriculture, such as orange groves.
Satellite image captures decades-old US-made F-5 jets at an Iranian airbase, offering a snapshot of Tehran's vintage air force
A new satellite image taken of an Iranian airbase showed a handful of decades-old, American-made F-5 fighter jets, offering a look at Tehran's antiquated air force.
The photo, captured Tuesday by US commercial satellite imaging company Maxar Technologies and obtained by Business Insider amid Israeli strikes on Iranian military assets, showed six F-5s on alert and dispersed around the Dezful airbase in western Iran.
The section of the base did not appear to have been targeted by Israel, which has spent the past six days launching airstrikes against Iranian nuclear and military facilities. The intensive bombing campaign has caused widespread damage across the country and killed a number of senior commanders.
This video will get a lot of views & cheers
A flight to nowhere U-turned over the Atlantic when the airline realized it needed maintenance
A KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Toronto took a flight to nowhere on Monday after it became apparent the aircraft was scheduled for maintenance.
Passengers on Flight KL691 were scheduled to depart 11.20 a.m. local time from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on Monday, but faced a first hurdle when the Airbus A330 intended for the flight had to be withdrawn from service.
A replacement plane was found, eventually taking off around two hours after its scheduled departure. The flight reached roughly halfway across the Atlantic Ocean before turning back and returning to Amsterdam, data from Flightradar24 shows.
KLM confirmed to Business Insider that the U-turn was caused by the aircraft reaching a "maintenance deadline."
Boeing In Talks To Restart C-17 Production
A decade after the last example rolled off the production line, Boeing says it’s in negotiations with at least one customer to build more C-17 Globemaster III airlifters. The development comes as countries around the world look to boost their armed forces’ capabilities, and with no immediate successor to the C-17 waiting in the wings.
Turbo Sjogren, VP and general manager of Boeing Global Services-Government Services, confirmed to Shephard Defense at the Paris Air Show today that “early infancy” talks were underway with one country, with a view to a potential C-17 production restart.
“It is a very extraordinary effort to do,” Sjogren told the same publication, noting that it was “reflective of the utility of the aircraft.”
Warning signs on climate flashing bright red: top scientists
From carbon pollution to sea-level rise to global heating, the pace and level of key climate change indicators are all in uncharted territory, more than 60 top scientists warned Thursday.
Greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels and deforestation hit a new high in 2024 and averaged, over the last decade, a record 53.6 billion tonnes per year -- that is 100,000 tonnes per minute -- of CO2 or its equivalent in other gases, they reported in a peer-reviewed update.
Earth's surface temperature last year breached 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels for the first time, and the additional CO2 humanity can emit with a two-thirds chance of staying under that threshold long-term -- our 1.5C "carbon budget" -- will be exhausted in two years, they calculated.
World powers scramble for control as melting ice uncovers valuable resources: 'They really want to just take more and more'
As the ice in the Arctic melts, countries are vying to access the resources that lie beneath it.
According to the BBC, "The melting ice in the Arctic makes it easier to access the region's incredible natural resources — critical minerals, oil, and gas — around 30% of untapped natural gas is said to be found in the Arctic."
The BBC also said, "Climate scientists say the Arctic is warming four times faster than anywhere else."
Countries are also keen to open up more shipping routes as the ice is melting, because it's shortening the time ships can get between Asia and Europe.
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LA DODGERS just now:
“This morning, ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots. They were denied entry to the grounds by the organization. Tonight’s game will be played as scheduled.”
Right on, Dodgers!
More of this, please.
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) 2025-06-19T19:35:07.534Z
A Michigan bear roamed the woods for two years with an awful lid on his neck. Not anymore.
Michigan wildlife experts finally were able to trap a black bear and remove a large lid that was stuck around his neck — for two years.
“It’s pretty incredible that the bear survived and was able to feed itself,” state bear specialist Cody Norton said Wednesday. “The neck was scarred and missing hair, but the bear was in much better condition than we expected it to be.”
The bear first turned up on a trail camera as a cub in 2023 in the northern Lower Peninsula. After that, the Department of Natural Resources was on the lookout for the elusive animal with a hard plastic lid around the neck, Norton said.
The bear appeared again on a camera in late May, still wearing the barrel lid, and the DNR responded by setting a cylindrical trap and safely luring him inside. The bear was immobilized with an injection and the lid was cut off in minutes on June 3. The bear eventually woke up and rambled away.
Watch: Alaska cruise ship blown away from dock during rare severe thunderstorm
A rare severe thunderstorm brought ferocious winds to southeastern Alaska Monday afternoon, blowing a massive cruise ship away from the pier.
The Celebrity Edge ship was moored in Juneau when thunderstorms suddenly kicked up strong winds.
A gust at the Federal Building in downtown Juneau reached 60 mph while the nearby Coast Guard station clocked a gust at 47 mph, according to National Weather Service data.
Video from witnesses on shore shows mooring lines snap along the pier, and the ship drifting out into Gastineau Channel.
Experts celebrate surprising return of beloved creature to Yosemite National Park: 'It's part of our natural heritage'
While invasive species can cause an incredible amount of environmental damage, there is still hope for many of the native plants and animals that have been pushed out of their natural habitats, as the recent progress of the northwestern pond turtle demonstrates.
UC Davis reported on the encouraging rebound of native turtle populations in Yosemite National Park in an article shared on Phys.org.
The northwestern pond turtle, together with the related southwestern pond turtle, is a unique part of California's ecosystem.
"All across the state we have one native freshwater turtle, and it's the western pond turtle," said senior study author Brian Todd, per UC Davis. "If it disappears, we have no other freshwater turtles that are supposed to be here. It's part of our natural heritage."
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Juneteenth is a reminder of how far we’ve come, and how far we still have to go. Today, we’re once more committing ourselves to the work of ending systemic oppression of Black people in America. We’re not free until everyone is free.
— Indivisible ❌👑 (@indivisible.org) 2025-06-19T13:10:10.270Z
