Global leaders representing UN member states, private sector companies and civil society have affirmed the urgent need to invest in ocean protection and restoration, the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) said on Friday.

In a statement after the conclusion of the five-day UN Ocean Conference in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, the WWF called on leaders to "seize the momentum" and resolve long-standing issues surrounding protection of the high seas, plastic pollution and harmful fisheries subsidies by ratifying global treaties.

"The conference underscored the severity of the multiple threats facing the world’s ocean, including overfishing, plastic pollution and climate change," it said.

Citing latest figures by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), it said 35.4% of fish populations are overfished, up from 10% in the 1970s.

"Restoring ocean health requires urgent action at all levels, from all sectors – local to global ... the ocean, climate and coastal communities worldwide need real progress, not promises, when it comes to ocean health," said WWF head Marco Lambertini.

Pepe Clarke, oceans practice lead at WWF International, called for new treaties for the high seas and plastics and continued action to curb harmful fisheries subsidies.

“Local solutions must also receive investment in order to scale up and have lasting benefits for communities," he said. "This means expanding the rights of small-scale fishers to manage the resources on which they depend, and other sustainable development pathways."/aa

FIFA announced Friday that semi-automated offside technology will be used at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. 

World football’s governing body said in a statement that each stadium will receive 12 cameras beneath the roof synchronized to track 29 data points on every football star's body 50 times per second.

"Al Rihla, adidas’ official match ball for Qatar 2022, will provide a further vital element for the detection of tight offside incidents as an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor will be placed inside the ball.

"This sensor, positioned in the centre of the ball, sends ball data to the video operation room 500 times per second, allowing a very precise detection of the kick point," it explained.

FIFA also said a 3D animation of the offside situation would be shown on the big screen and on the television coverage for spectators following at home.

"This 3D animation, which will always show the best possible perspectives for an offside situation, will then be shown on the giant screens in the stadium and will also be made available to FIFA’s broadcast partners to inform all spectators in the clearest possible way," it added. 

This technology was successfully trialed at last year's FIFA Arab Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, according to FIFA.

The 22nd edition of the international football showpiece event, which is the first-ever winter World Cup, is scheduled from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18 with 32 teams in eight groups./aa

The European Region remains the center of the expanding monkeypox outbreak, and the World Health Organization said on Friday that efforts are needed to prevent the disease from establishing itself across a growing geographical area.

New cases have tripled since June 15 to over 4,500 laboratory-confirmed cases across the WHO Europe Region, which extends from Greenland in the northwest to the Russian Far East.

"Urgent and coordinated action is imperative if we are to turn a corner in the race to reverse the ongoing spread of this disease," said Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe.

“Although last week the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee advised that the outbreak at this stage should be determined to not constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the rapid evolution and emergency nature of the event means that the Committee will revisit its position shortly,” WHO said.

From Jan. 1 to June 22, 3,413 laboratory-confirmed cases and one death have been reported to WHO from 50 countries and territories in five WHO Regions.

In the meantime, WHO continues to assess the risk of monkeypox in the European Region as "high," given the continued threat to public health and the rapid expansion of the disease.

WHO said continued challenges hamper the response, with additional cases reported among women and children.

The WHO European Region represents almost 90% of all laboratory-confirmed and globally reported cases since mid-May.

6 new countries

Kluge said that since his last statement on June 15, six new countries and areas have reported monkeypox cases, taking the total to 31.

"Most cases reported so far have been among people between 21 and 40 years of age, and 99% have been male, with the majority of those for whom we have information being men who have sex with men," said Kluge.

"However, small numbers of cases have also now been reported among household members, heterosexual contacts, and non-sexual contacts as well as among children," he added.

The WHO regional chief said close to 10% of patients were reported hospitalized for treatment or isolation purposes, and one patient has been admitted to an ICU.

"The vast majority of cases have presented with a rash, and about three-quarters have reported systemic symptoms such as fever, fatigue, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, chills, sore throat, or headache," said Kluge.

WHO said 26 countries and areas have submitted detailed information.

"We need to continue to examine this information carefully over the next few weeks and months to understand better exposure risks, clinical presentations in different population groups, and - most importantly – to rapidly identify any changes in the trajectory of the outbreak that would affect our public health risk assessment," said Kluge./aa

WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange has appealed the UK Home Office’s decision to extradite him back to the US on espionage charges. 

Assange’s move will trigger a new battle between his legal team and the Home Office, which may take for months before a final decision is reached. 

Gareth Pierce, from Assange’s legal team, said they filed on Thursday two appeals to the UK’s High Court to fight his extradition. 

The deadline for the appeal was expiring on Friday after Home Secretary Priti Patel’s decision that Assange can be extradited a fortnight ago. 

The cross-appeal hearing dates will be announced by the court later. 

Meanwhile, Assange's supporters on Friday demonstrated with a hired iconic red bus in front of the Home Office. The slogans on the bus included “Journalism is not a crime” and “Free Assange Now.”

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has launched a campaign to call for Assange's release. 

“Punishing Assange for exposing war crimes poses a threat to all journalists worldwide,” it said. 

“The IFJ is calling on the United States government to drop all charges against Julian Assange and allow him to return home to be with his wife and children. 

“The IFJ is also calling on all media unions, press freedom organisations and journalists to urge governments to actively work to secure Assange’s release.” 

Patel signed an order to extradite Assange to the US on June 17. 

Assange's extradition order was passed to the secretary by the UK courts in May, confirming that the US assurances on how Assange would be treated were sufficient for extradition. 

The order said the UK courts found that the extradition would not be "incompatible with his human rights," adding that "he will be treated appropriately" in the US. 

Assange will face 18 counts of hacking the US government computers and violating the espionage law if he is extradited to the US and a potential prison sentence for years. 

He was dragged out of Ecuador's embassy building in London last year, where he took refuge for more than seven years.

The British police said he was arrested for skipping his bail in 2012, and on behalf of the US due to an extradition warrant. 

Later, he was found guilty of breaking his bail terms in 2012 after failing to surrender to security services by the Westminster Magistrates' Court and given a 50-week prison term./aa

The European Court of Human Rights on Friday ordered Russia to protect the rights of Ukrainian prisoners of war allegedly kept in its custody and to provide them with appropriate medical help.

The court issued an interim measure in the case of Yaroslav Anatoliyovych Oliynichenko, a Ukrainian soldier allegedly held captive by Russian forces, ordering Moscow to “ensure respect for Mr Oliynichenko’s Convention rights and provide him with medical assistance should he need it.”

The court has asked the Russian government to confirm within a week whether Oliynichenko is being held captive and under what conditions.

The court’s order came after his wife, Karyna Pavlivna Oliynichenko, filed an application alleging that Oliynichenko, a deputy commander of his unit, was captured in Mariupol and tortured by Russian forces in a prisoner of war camp.

The interim measure seeking immediate action has been extended to similar cases of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russian custody in which “sufficient evidence has been provided to show that they face a serious and imminent risk of irreparable harm to their physical integrity and/or right to life,” the ruling said./aa

At least 21 people, including one child, have died in overnight Russian missile strikes on Ukraine's southern Odesa region, Ukrainian officials say.

The state emergency service, DSNS, says 16 people were killed in a nine-storey building hit by one missile in the village of Serhiyivka.

Another five people, including the child, were killed in a separate strike on a holiday resort in the village.

Russia has fired dozens of missiles on Ukrainian cities in the past few days.

On Friday Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov again denied that Russia was hitting civilian targets.

"We heard three explosions and now there is nothing left of the recreation centre," local resident Yulia Bondar, 60, told the BBC.

"The village is very quiet, we never thought this could happen."

Ukrainian rescuers were searching for more survivors at the bombed site

The DSNS said the missiles hit Serhiyivka at about 01:00 on Friday (22:00 GMT Thursday).

It released footage showing firefighters searching for survivors in the wreckage of the nine-storey building.

They were also seen carrying what looked like the body of one of the victims in a bag.

The DSNS says 38 people, including six children, were injured in the Russian strikes.

Maryna Martynenko, a DSNS spokeswoman in the Odesa region, told Ukrainian TV that the building's external wall was damaged, and a nearby shop was set ablaze after the strike. Firefighters later put out the fire.

She said 60 rescuers were currently working at the site.

As many as 150 people are believed to have lived in the building.

The child killed at the holiday resort was a 12-year-old boy, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's office.

Ukrainian officials said three missiles were launched from Russian warplanes over the Black Sea.

Odesa regional administration spokesman Serhiy Bratchuk said Soviet-era X-22 missiles were believed to have been used.

The city's mayor, Gennadiy Trukhanov, told the BBC World Service's Newshour there were no military installations or radar stations near Serhiyivka, despite the Russian defence ministry insisting there were.

The people of Odesa were "living their lives in fear" of further Russian attacks, he added.

Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff, accused Russia of being a "terrorist country".

"In response to defeats on the battlefields, they [Russians] are waging a war on civilians," he said./agencies

On June 24, 1947, a sunny morning with clear blue skies, amateur pilot Kenneth Arnold was flying his plane over Mount Rainier in Lewis County in the US state of Washington.

To his surprise, he saw nine bright blue-white objects flying in a “V” formation. He compared their motion to “a saucer if you skip it across the water” and estimated their speed at 1,700 miles (2,735 kilometers) per hour.

Within days of the publication of Arnold's report, at least 20 people from more than a dozen widely separated locations said they had seen similar objects.

A wave of similar sightings coincided with the emergence of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union. Dubbed unidentified flying objects (UFOs), they were attributed to extraterrestrial objects, spirits, angels, phantoms, ghosts, or other supernatural phenomena.

Seventy-five years later, the phenomenon, which has remained largely unexplained with a degree of skepticism and denial from the mainstream scientific community, has found takers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The US federal government agency recently announced the commissioning of a panel to investigate unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) that include UFOs.

“The study will focus on identifying available data, how to best collect future data, and how NASA can use these data to move the scientific understanding of UAPs forward," Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., told reporters on June 9.

Defending such a study, which will begin later this year at a cost of $100,000, the NASA official said the agency’s research priorities cover the hunt for alien life, investigating mysterious cosmic objects and phenomena, and helping to keep American aircraft safe and secure.

In 2021, the Pentagon announced the formation of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group, a new intelligence group to investigate unidentified objects that may compromise US airspace.

Unusual movement patterns

This was formed soon after a report by the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), a program within the United States Office of Naval Intelligence, which said it was unable to identify 143 objects spotted between 2004 and 2021 in US airspace. The report said that 18 of these featured unusual movement patterns or flight characteristics.

The report, delivered to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees with a classified annexure, said some of the objects had released radio frequency energy that was picked up and processed by US military aircraft. It recommended that the phenomena needed more analysis to determine whether those sightings represented "breakthrough technology."

"We have no clear indications that there is any extraterrestrial explanation for them -- but we will go wherever the data takes us,” said the report.

Earlier, the US Department of Defense had set up multiple UAP-studying projects to understand the phenomena for national security purposes. The earliest ones -- Project Sign and Project Grudge -- were commissioned in the 1940s and 50s to collect and evaluate UFO data and alleviate public anxiety.

But after years of research, they had recommended to the National Security Council to debunk UFO reports and institute a policy of public education to reassure people of the lack of evidence behind such sightings.

Since then, the space agencies as well as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the US spy agency, which was separately investigating the phenomenon, had put the entire issue on the back burner.

But the newfound interest of NASA and the Pentagon in investigating UFOs has renewed interest in these unexplained sightings.

Michael Wall, a senior space writer with Space.com, believes that NASA’s interest in UFOs in 2022 means there has been an attempt to make this data-poor field worthy of scientific investigation and analysis to demystify UAPs.

According to Meghan Bartels, another senior writer at Space.com, scientists may have detected radio emissions from a planet orbiting a star beyond our sun for the first time. She said the astronomers behind the new research had used a radio telescope in the Netherlands to study three different stars known to host exoplanets – planets that orbit around other stars.

Confronting mankind

Author Ted Bloecher, who in the mid-60s compiled a detailed chronology of more than 850 sightings in 90 cities in the US and Canada, said he was convinced that far from being a nonsense problem, the UFO problem is perhaps the outstanding scientific problem confronting mankind.

“I believe we must radically reorient scientific attitudes towards this steadily-growing body of UFO reports and that we must enlist the aid of really top-notch scientific talent in the difficult task of bringing ultimate order out of the chaos into which 20 years of ridicule have brought the subject,” he noted in his book Report on the UFO Wave of 1947.

He mentioned the case of Dr. M.K. Leisy, a junior intern at the Pennsylvania Hospital for Mental Diseases in Philadelphia, who saw a dark, spherical object with a luminous halo around it flying below the clouds at a moderate speed. A check with various agencies disclosed that no balloons had been released over that area at the time, nor was it possible to confuse the object with any other known flying object.

Cultural phenomenon

According to Bloecher, based on various eyewitness accounts, the UFOs were mostly round and probably disc-like and appeared to flutter and reflect the sunlight, flying at an altitude of 20,000 to 30,000 feet. Sometimes they flew in formations. Otherwise, they maneuvered alone. At times, they appeared to emit brief pulses of something resembling vapor trails as they moved erratically.

Whatever the scientific conclusions, UFOs and aliens visiting Earth have constituted a widespread international cultural phenomenon and have been the subject of many science fiction novels and movies since the 1950s.

A 1996 Gallup Poll found that 70% of the US public believed that the government was not sharing everything it knew about UFOs or extraterrestrial life. The fresh interest from the scientific community in demystifying UFOs after expressing skepticism and disbelief over the past several decades gives hope that the mystery will be unraveled and that people will learn more about the secrets of the universe.