Continuing on, Yemen
AP
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On the windswept plateau above the Arabian Sea, Sena Kiebani embraces the seedlings that barely reach their ankles. Young plants protected by fences that are interposed between trees and wires are a type of dragon blood tree. This is a species found only on Socotra Island in Yemen and is currently struggling to survive the intense threat from climate change.

“When you see a tree die, it’s like losing one of your babies,” said Kiebani, who runs a nursery whose family is dedicated to preserving seeds.

It was known for its mushroom-shaped canopy and bloody red sap coursed around the trees, but there were once many trees. But increasingly severe cyclones, invasive goat grazing, and enduring disruption in Yemen (one of the poorest countries in the world and suffered by a decade-long civil war) have pushed the species and the unique ecosystems they support towards collapse.

In many cases, compared to the Galapagos Islands, Socotra is spectacularly isolated from around 240 kilometers (150 miles) from the Horn of Africa. Its biological wealth, including 825 plant species. Among them are swollen trunk trees from sculptural rocks, and frankincense that twists their limbs into the sky.

However, it is the dragon’s blood tree that has captured the imagination for a long time, and its otherworldly form appears to belong more to Dr. Seuss’s page than any earthly forest. The island hosts around 5,000 tourists each year, many of which are depicted in surreal views of the Dragon’s Bloody Forest.

Visitors should hire a local guide to stay at a campsite run by Sokotlan families so that tourists can be distributed locally. If the trees disappear, the industries that support many islanders could disappear along with them.

“The income we receive from tourism makes us live better than the people on the mainland,” said Mubarak Coi, Sokotra’s tourism director.

But trees are more than plant curiosity. It is the pillar of the Socotra ecosystem. An umbrella-like canopy captures mist and rain, leading it to the soil below, allowing nearby plants to thrive in arid climates.

“When you lose a tree, you lose everything: the soil, the water, the whole ecosystem,” says Kay van Damme, a Belgian conservation biologist who has been working on SoCotra since 1999.

Without intervention, scientists like Van Dam warn that these trees could disappear within centuries.

“As humans, we have managed to destroy a huge amount of nature on most of the islands of the world,” he said. “Socotra is where we can actually do something, but otherwise this is on top of us.”

Beyond the rugged expanse of Firmihin Plateau in Socotra, the largest remaining dragon blood forest unfolds against the backdrop of jug-equipped mountains. Thousands of wide canopies balance it over a thin trunk. Sokotrasterlings darts in a dense crown, while Egyptian vultures bank against ruthless gusts of wind. Below, the goat weaves rocky undergrowth.

A 2017 survey by Nature Climate Change found that the frequency of severe cyclones has increased dramatically in the Arabian Sea in recent decades, with Socotra’s Dragon Blood Tree paying the price.

In 2015, a devastating 1-2 cyclone punch (with its strength unprecedented) tore the island apart. Samples from centuries ago, over 500 years ago, have survived countless storms, but have been rooted by thousands. The destruction continued in 2018 with yet another cyclone.

As greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, so will the strength of the storms increase, warning Murakami, a climate scientist in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and lead author of the study. “Climate models around the world robustly project the more favorable conditions of tropical cyclones.”

However, the storm is not the only threat. Unlike pine trees and oak trees that grow 60-90 cm (25-35 inches) a year, dragon bloody trees creep up just 2-3 cm (about 1 inch) a year. By the time they reach maturity, many have already succumbed to insidious danger: goats.

The invasive species of Socotra, the free-roaming goat, eats up saplings before they grow. Outside the difficult-to-reach cliff, the only place where young dragon bloody trees can survive is in a protected nursery.

“The majority of the forests we’ve studied are what we call over-the-top. There are no young trees, there are no seedlings,” said Alan Forest, a biodiversity scientist at the Royal Botanical Gardens’ Middle Eastern Plant Centre for Edinburgh. “So you’re not having a lot of regeneration happening because old trees are almost dying.”

The Kiebani family nursery is one of several important enclosures that eliminate goats and allow seedlings to grow uninterrupted.

“In these nursery and enclosures, the vegetation breeding and age structure are much better,” Forest said. “Therefore, it’s resilient to climate change.”

However, such conservation efforts are complicated by Yemen’s deadlock civil war. The conflict has spilled across the country’s borders, with the rebels of Hoothi ​​(Shia groups supported by Iran), a Saudi Arabia-backed internationally recognized government battle. Houthi’s attacks on Israel and commercial transport in the Red Sea have led to retaliation from Israeli and Western troops, further destabilizing the region.

“The Yemeni government currently has 99 issues,” said Abdul Rahman al-Eliani, an advisor to Gulf State Analysis, a Washington-based risk consulting firm. “Policymakers are focused on stabilizing the country and ensuring critical services like electricity and water. Addressing climate issues is a luxury.”

With little national support, conservation efforts are primarily left to Sokotran. However, local resources are rare, according to Sami Mubarak, the island’s ecotourism guide.

Mubarak gestures towards the diagonal fence post of the Kiebani Family Nursery, strung along with flimsy wires. The enclosures only last a few years before wind and rain broke them. Funding for a sturdy nursery with cement fence posts will go a long way, he said.

“We only have a few small environmental projects right now. That’s not enough,” he said. “We need local and central governments in Yemen to make protection a priority.”

CNN
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Without a doubt, the real battle in the Ukrainian War is not in the skies of Kiev and Dnipro, where the recent Russian drone strikes have been dramatically intensifying.

Nor have there been a slow, shattered progress made in how the current third year conflict is determined by Russian forces at the brutal frontline of eastern Ukraine.

No, the important battles drawn between fighting political parties and their allies are for the ears of President Donald Trump, who is increasingly unhappy with efforts to mediate peace.

And it may be such a crucial thing that his call was expected to be made with Russian President Vladimir Putin later today.

Moscow and Kiev are fighting for at least a while to show that they are others who are real obstacles to peace, hoping to shake up Trump’s changing opinions in their way.

European officials say they will talk to Trump ahead of his call with Putin. This is amid concerns that Trump’s view on the conflict may be shaped by his last speech.

After speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymie Zelensky at Pope Francis’ funeral last month, Trump made some of his most important remarks against Putin, denounced the Russian leader who launched a missile attack on Kiev, and could not say for certain whether the Russian leader was serious about ending the war.

As long as Monday’s call continues, Putin refused to accept the 30-day ceasefire that President Trump demanded and agreed to Ukraine – will have his own ears. He can work best for anything business induction, flattering, or poison Putin calculations.

Trump and Putin already seem to share an unwavering conviction that they are the only ones who have the personal authority and skills to resolve the Ukrainian war, but the Europeans and Ukrainians themselves ultimately do what they were told to do.

Last week, overwhelming talks in Turkey’s city of Istanbul, appear to underscore the central sense of the deal – President Trump himself – directly between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators for many years. By calling President Putin directly, he encouraged himself to reinsert himself into the peace efforts he had recently threatened to leave.

The big fear in Ukraine is that the two leaders cook their own peace plans over the phone with President Trump, who he says will then call Ukrainian counterpart Zelensky – could attempt to impose Putin’s conditions under the new threat of withdrawing important US economic aid.

President Trump also has leverage if he chooses to use it. With casualties and a tense economy, the Kremlin undoubtedly wants to restore US support for Ukrainian war efforts and not push Trump forward, who was angrily rejected to double down.

As always, the problem remains that both Russia and Ukraine are willing to accept each other’s minimum conditions in order to compromise to the extent that it will satisfy the other side.

That doesn’t mean that in person, face to face or telephone conversations are pointless. If there’s nothing else, they can emphasize how far they are actually between them.

But what this means is that even under US pressure, both Moscow and Kiev may still choose to fight, even after a direct call with President Trump.

CNN
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The killing of the 22-year-old model and influencer from Colombia draws similarities to the killing of Mexican influencers last week, highlighting the high rates of murder in Latin America.

Maria Jose Estinan, a university student in Cukuta, Colombia’s northeastern city of Colombia, near the Venezuela border, was murdered on May 15, according to Magda Victoria Acosta, chairman of the National Gender Committee of Judicial Justice.

Speaking at the press conference, Acosta said the suspect disguised as a childbirth man and shot Estipinan at home as he opened the door.

“She was a young, enterprising woman who had a lifetime before her, but those dreams are cut short like the dreams of many women in this country,” Acosta said.

Estinan was a victim of a domestic violence incident and was trying to get compensation for it, Acosta added. She said the committee will “very strongly” condemn crime and work to bring justice.

Authorities are investigating the killing. CNN has contacted the Columbia National Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office for more information.

Estupinan’s Facebook page featured photos of travel and daily life, including trips to New York and California, as well as posing at the pool and gym.

The case has been widely covered by local media and is spreading on social media, comparing it to a May 13 filming of 23-year-old beauty influencer Valeria Marquez from Mexico. A few days before Estinan’s death, Marquez was killed in a live stream of the salon by a male intruder.

Officials in Jalisco, Mexico, said they are investigating Marquez’s death, the murder of a woman or girl on gender-based reasons, as a suspicious murder.

Not all murders involving women are feminized, but many do. According to Amnesty International, a quarter of the murders of women in Mexico were investigated as feministes in 2020, and reported in each of the 32 states of the country.

Acosta did not say whether Espinen’s death was a suspected murder, but her murder highlighted the magnitude of violence against women in Colombia.

According to the nonprofit Human Rights Watch, gender-based violence across the country is widespread, including armed groups. Survivors face many obstacles when seeking care and justice, and perpetrators rarely take accountable, the group said in its World Report 2024.

Colombia’s National Gender Committee has documented thousands of cases of gender and domestic violence, including a high percentage of sexual violence, neglect, abandonment and psychological violence, Acosta said.

According to Acosta, a woman who went missing in Colombia between January and August last year was reported missing in Colombia. Most of the women were minors.

Northeast Colombia has been particularly unstable in recent months, with fighting between extremist factions rising sharply. The escalation of violence in the Katatambo region drove tens of thousands of people in January. Many flocked to Kukuta, where Colombian troops deployed thousands of soldiers and special forces.

CNN
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Romania’s pro-European Union presidential candidate Nicușor Dan takes the lead in the country’s election on Sunday after more than 80% of the votes were counted.

Right-right candidate George Simion, who has provided military aid to Ukraine and is critical of the EU, was on track to win the election after sweeping the first round on May 4th.

The election took place five months after the outcome of the first vote that saw former far-right outsider Karin Georjuk saw a surge in popularity and was voided to allegations of Russian interference.

Georgek was banned later this month after being charged with various crimes, including the establishment of a fascist group.

Sunday’s election was widely seen as a litmus test choice for the East and West choices and for the rise of Trump-style nationalism in Europe.

Dan, now head of Bucharest, is a strong supporter of Romania’s NATO membership and is committed to continuing to provide assistance to Ukraine. He also promised to crack down on corruption.

Simion appears to be supported by the Romanian diaspora, one of the largest countries in the world. Approximately 60% of the diaspora voted for Simion in the first round. Since then, he has spent much time outside of Romania, travelling to Austria, Italy, Poland, Belgium, France and the UK, striving to win voters abroad.