Israel airstrikes in Gaza, militants fire rockets at Jerusalem

Violent clashes over Jerusalem escalated dramatically during the night with Gaza health officials saying at least 20 people, including nine children, were killed by Israeli air strikes launched after Palestinian militant groups fired rockets close to Jerusalem. Haeretz quotes the Israel military saying it carried out strikes against, and hit, armed groups, rocket launchers and military posts in Gaza after militants crossed what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a “red line” by firing on the Jerusalem area for the first time since the 2014 war. The European Union, the US, the UK and religious groups have urged Israel and the Palestinians to lower tensions as soon as possible.

Pfizer vaccine for children approved

Washington Times reports the US Food and Drug Administration has expanded the Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to include adolescents aged 12 through 15 years of age. The FDA amended the EUA originally issued last December for administration on 16 years and older. ITV says the latest data suggests a single dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine reduces the risk of death from COVID-19 by 80 per cent, while two doses of Pfizer cut it by 97 per cent. Meanwhile, WHO said it was reclassifying the highly contagious triple-mutant variant spreading in India as a “variant of concern” at global level.

Women gets six doses of vaccine

La Nazione says a 23-year-old Italian woman who was mistakenly given six doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine all at once was released from hospital on Monday without having suffered any apparent adverse reactions. The incident occurred on Sunday morning at the Noa Hospital in Massa, Tuscany.

NBC boycotts Golden Globes

NBC has announced it will not be airing the 2022 Golden Globes in protest after criticisms levelled at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on its lack of diversity and their ethical stunts. The Association has been under fire since the Los Angeles Times revealed allegations of corruption and impropriety as well as a lack of black members.

Pet cats fall for optical illusions

If you’ve spent any time around cats, you probably noticed that they love to curl up in small, cozy boxes. What you may not know is that they’ll also go sit inside the two-dimensional outline of a square box on the floor. What’s more, a new study, to appear in the July issue of Animal Behaviour Science, has found that pet cats will also spontaneously sit inside an optical illusion that merely looks like a square. Gabriella Smith, an animal behavior researcher, said “Cats are funny, cats are weird and quirky, and we love them for it!”