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The Sky Today on Tuesday, July 1: See Iapetus near Saturn

Saturn’s two-toned moon Iapetus reaches superior conjunction this morning, just south of the ringed world.

Iapetus lies due south of Saturn this morning, while Titan lies to the east. Credit: Stellarium/Oleg Pluton (CC BY 4.0)

Visible in the early-morning sky today, Saturn’s two-toned moon Iapetus reaches superior conjunction just 1.4′ due south of Saturn. The proximity makes the now-11th-magnitude moon easier to find, as it spends much of its time far east or west of Saturn, several arcminutes from the planet.

Try your luck about two hours before sunrise, while the sky is still dark and the dim moon will be easiest to see against the background. At that time, 1st-magnitude Saturn stands some 30° high in the southeast, easy to find in southern Pisces below the Circlet asterism. Center your scope on the ringed planet to find Iapetus less than 2’ south of the disk; brighter Titan, shining around 8th magnitude, is roughly the same distance east of the planet. Observers with larger scopes may also catch Enceladus, around 12th magnitude, just northeast of the planet’s equator, north of the rings. This moon can be difficult to see because of its proximity to the bright rings, but since they’re tipped such that they appear relatively thin, you may have better luck. Enceladus is heading behind the planet, however, and disappears shortly before 5 A.M. EDT. Meanwhile, 10th-magnitude Tethys reappears from occultation behind Saturn’s southeastern limb around 4:35 A.M. EDT — see if you’re able to catch the moment it winks back into view.

Sunrise: 5:35 A.M.
Sunset: 8:33 P.M.
Moonrise: 12:11 P.M.
Moonset: 12:02 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (39%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. local time from the same location.

For a look ahead at more upcoming sky events, check out our full Sky This Week column.

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July 1, 2025
Asia’s mobile app economy grows by 150%: Report

AppsFlyer today unveiled its comprehensive State of App Marketing in Asia 2025 report, revealing the region’s remarkable mobile growth trajectory and the strategic evolution reshaping the app economy.

Asia has achieved unprecedented scale, tripling its app installs in just six years and growing by 150%. The region now accounts for more than half of global mobile activity, driven by expanding smartphone penetration, maturing digital economies, and sophisticated full-funnel performance marketing strategies.

“Asia’s app economy has entered a transformative phase characterized by exceptional complexity alongside sustained growth, and the region now hosts the world’s most dynamic mobile markets and sophisticated marketing ecosystems,” said Ronen Mense, President and Managing Director of APAC, AppsFlyer. “Beyond sheer scale lies a fundamental evolution: the decisive shift from volume-driven acquisition to strategy-led performance optimization. India, Indonesia, and the Philippines have emerged as critical growth engines, each requiring precisely calibrated creative, pricing, and product strategies to unlock value at scale. Our new report, launching after our latest successful MAMA Asia event, examines that strategic evolution and provides a comprehensive framework for marketers seeking to navigate Asia’s next chapter with strategic clarity and purposeful execution.”

The report analyses billions of app interactions across 14 Asian markets, revealing how marketers are navigating divergent growth strategies. While emerging markets prioritize speed and scale, mature markets emphasize user quality, privacy compliance, and profitability optimization.

Key Findings from the 2025 Report:

• $14.77 billion in user acquisition spend. Finance, Food & Drink, and Shopping verticals dominate investment, with marketers doubling down on performance-driven strategies across emerging and mature markets.

• Gaming hybrid monetization grew 3.4x since 2023. Non-gaming verticals increasingly rely on in-app purchases for revenue stability, while gaming successfully balances ads and purchases for optimal monetization.

• $4.47 billion invested in remarketing campaigns. Lifecycle marketing has become critical, especially in high-growth markets like India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, signaling a strategic shift toward full-funnel engagement.

• Bots comprised over 80% of fraudulent installs in 2024. Fake publisher fraud increasingly targets re-engagement campaigns, particularly on iOS, while install hijacking shows declining trends across the region.

Strategic Market Segmentation

The report identifies two distinct growth paradigms across Asia’s diverse markets, emerging versus mature markets, and platform versus vertical strategy. Emerging markets, led by countries like India, prioritize high-velocity, cost-efficient user acquisition strategies to capitalize on rapid market expansion. These markets emphasize scale and speed, focusing on broad reach to capture the expanding user base as smartphone penetration accelerates.

Vertical performance patterns show Food & Drink and Shopping categories demonstrating strong recovery momentum following earlier market disruptions, while Gaming maintains consistent growth through increasingly sophisticated hybrid monetization models that balance advertising revenue with in-app purchases.

The data reveals Asia’s app marketing landscape rapidly diversifying, with marketers implementing increasingly nuanced strategies tailored to specific platforms, verticals, and user segments.

Methodology

The 2025 Asia App Marketing Report is based on anonymized and aggregated data sourced from AppsFlyer’s platform, covering over 30,000 apps, 15 billion installs, and $14 billion in user acquisition and remarketing spend across Android and iOS. The data spans January 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025, and includes 14 key markets in Asia, such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and Australia. Insights were drawn from app categories with statistically significant activity, including Gaming, Finance, Shopping, Food & Drink, and Entertainment. Fraud trends were identified using AppsFlyer’s proprietary machine learning-based detection tools, analyzing patterns such as bot-driven installs, install hijacking, and fake publisher fraud. All monetary values are in USD, and data has been normalized to account for market size, attribution differences, and regional skews to ensure an accurate and representative view of Asia’s mobile marketing landscape.

(Image by Iqbal Nuril Anwar from Pixabay)

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July 1, 2025
Fewer Teens Drinking, Unless They’ve Considered Suicide
TOPLINE:

The prevalence of alcohol use and binge drinking declined among adolescents, but those with a recent history of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) showed more modest declines.

METHODOLOGY:

Researchers analyzed national survey data from 1991 to 2023 involving adolescents in grades 9 through 12 (n = 254,675) to examine temporal trends in use of alcohol and cannabis among those with and without a recent history of STB.

Teens were asked if they had suicidal thoughts over the past year or if they had made any attempts at suicide, on the basis of which researchers defined two groups.

Current alcohol use was defined as consumption of at least one drink on one or more days in the past 30 days; binge drinking was defined as the consumption of five or more drinks within a couple of hours on one or more days in the past 30 days.

Current cannabis use was defined as use over the past 30 days.

The trends in the prevalence rates of substance use were studied, as well as biennial percent change (BPC).

TAKEAWAY:

The prevalence of current alcohol use declined significantly from 2009 to 2023 among those with no STB (BPC, -5.41; P < .001) and 2007 onward among those with a history of suicidal ideation only (BPC, -3.51; P < .001) and suicide attempts (BPC, -2.82; P < .001).

Teens without a recent history of STBs showed steeper declines in the prevalence of binge drinking than those with recent suicidal ideation or suicide attempts.

Since 1995, the prevalence of cannabis use decreased significantly among adolescents without a recent history of STBs, but no significant change was observed for the other groups of teens.

Among girls with a recent history of suicidal thoughts or attempts, the decline in alcohol use occurred at a more modest rate compared with the faster decline observed in girls without a recent history of STBs; and the rates of cannabis use plateaued since the 1990s for both.

IN PRACTICE:

“[These] findings suggest the need for continued screening and assessment of substance misuse among adolescents presenting with STBs, as well as the importance of developing targeted treatments to address these co-occurring concerns,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Shayna M. Cheek, PhD, of the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. It was published online on June 21 in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

LIMITATIONS:

The true prevalence rates of substance use may have been underestimated because the survey was conducted in schools, and STBs and substance use are linked to absenteeism. The timing of survey administration in 2021 was inconsistent because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Demographic factors such as gender identity or poverty were not assessed.

DISCLOSURES:

This study did not receive any specific funding. The authors reported having no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
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July 1, 2025
Ayaz Sadiq meets Speaker Balochistan Assembly

ISLAMABAD – Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Monday met with Speaker Balochistan Assembly Captain (Retd) Abdul Khaliq Khan Achakzai at Parliament House. The two dignitaries discussed the overall political and economic situation of the country, along with matters of mutual interest. During the meeting, Ayaz Sadiq stressed the importance of strong coordination between the federal government and all provincial administrations in addressing the country’s ongoing challenges. “Close cooperation between the federation and the provinces is essential for overcoming national issues,” he said. Highlighting the strategic significance of Balochistan, the Speaker NA said, “Balochistan is a vital province, and the country’s development is closely linked with the development of the province.”

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July 1, 2025
Google Confirms Emergency Update For All Chrome Users—Attacks Underway

Update now warning for billions of Chrome users.

Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto

Google has issued an emergency update for Chrome users, after its own Threat Analysis Group discovered and reported an actively exploited vulnerability last week. When a single security fix is rolled out this quickly, it’s critical to update immediately.

Google warns it is “aware that an exploit for CVE-2025-6554 exists in the wild,” and that “access to bug details and links may be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix. We will also retain restrictions if the bug exists in a third party library that other projects similarly depend on, but haven’t yet fixed.”

ForbesGoogle Update Warning—30% Of All Android Users Now At RiskBy Zak Doffman

The high-severity vulnerability is a “Type Confusion in V8,” Google’s Javascript engine, which could allow hackers to remotely execute code on devices. This issue was mitigated “by a configuration change pushed out to Stable channel across all platforms.”

That config change took place a week ago and has been followed by this urgent software update. As usual, it will download to your device. You then need to restart your browser to ensure it installs. All your regular browsing tabs should be restored, but your Incognito private browsing tabs will not, so save any work before you exit Chrome.

Attacks exploiting CVE-2025-6554 will come by way of specially crafted HTML pages, and as usual while the assumption is this is very specifically targeted for now, once a vulnerability is in the public domain that can change quickly.

ForbesChange Your Browser Settings Now—‘Massive Security Risk’By Zak Doffman

Chrome is essentially the default browser on Windows, despite Microsoft’s efforts to push Edge more widely. As such, this is primarily a Windows threat. That said, whatever device you’re using to run Chrome should be updated today.

We saw something similar last month — with another emergency update — which should frame the urgency. The latest update for Windows/ Mac is 138.0.7204.96/.97. We can expect this to prompt a U.S. government update mandate and deadline.

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July 1, 2025
British and Irish Lions 2025: Maro Itoje on faith, charity, politics and art

Maro Itoje’s head has been in Moussa’s hands for more than a decade.

From behind the barber’s chair, Moussa has seen Itoje mature from a much-hyped teenager to a three-time 30-year-old British and Irish Lion.

Now captain for the first time, one of Itoje’s final appointments before departing for Australia is to have his mane trimmed.

“It has been a while,” says Itoje of his and Moussa’s relationship.

“It is going to be a challenge on tour.

“You always have to have some trust – a bit of a leap of faith – when you walk into a new barber’s chair. Especially in Australia, where I don’t think they are too used to Afro-Caribbean hair!”

Faith, and contingency plans, will be a theme for Itoje over the next five weeks.

When asked about how religion fitted into his tactics, former Labour spin guru Alastair Campbell famously said “we don’t do God”.

Itoje, who was introduced to Campbell by England team manager Richard Hill as a youngster and remains in touch, definitely does.

At his unveiling as Lions captain in May, he revealed he had missed Bible study to be there.

When he was promoted to England captain in January, his pastor was one of six people he told before the public announcement., external

Asked about the long journey to both posts, Itoje has a simple explanation: “God’s timing is always the best time.”

“In the last two or three years I have made a conscious decision to double down in that regard,” he tells BBC Sport.

“I was probably a lukewarm Christian for a large part of my life. I was probably someone who went to church, but was not really living the principles or values of it that deeply, but I have always been a believer.

“The humility that I have tried to embody throughout my life definitely comes from knowing that everything I have has been a gift, not by my own doing, but by the guy upstairs.”

By Itoje’s high standards and own admission, that humility wasn’t always present on previous Lions tours.

He has described his 22-year-old self, who won over the Lions fans’ sea of red in New Zealand in 2017, as “a little bit brash and a bit naive”.

This time around, at the very centre of the hype and hoopla, he is determined to keep his calm and routine.

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July 1, 2025
PM to attend ECO summit in Azerbaijan on July 3

ISLAMABAD – The 17th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Summit is all set to begin on July 3–4 in Khankendi, Azerbaijan, reaffirming its leadership in promoting regional cooperation and sustainable development. Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif would lead Pakistan delegation in the summit, which includes DPM/foreign minister and other cabinet members and senior officials.

The PM would also deliver a key note address at the summit. On the sideline of the summit, Shehbaz would meet leaders participating in the summit. The Summit will convene ECO Heads of States/Government, Ministers, ECO Observers, Special Guests from non-ECO countries and heads of international organizations to achieve development and prosperity through fragile economic integration. The Summit will feature a dynamic and inclusive ECO Week, held from July 1–4, 2025, across multiple cities in Azerbaijan.

The ECO Week will include a series of thematic forums aimed at advancing youth engagement, gender inclusion and economic connectivity within the region.

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July 1, 2025
MHI Thermal Systems Begins Field Test of Jointly Developed “Surplus Renewable Energy Absorption and Release System”– Utilizing the Seasonal Thermal Storage Function of ATES System —

Image courtesy of Osaka Metropolitan University

Tokyo, July 1, 2025 – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Thermal Systems, Ltd. (MHI Thermal Systems), a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group, has begun field test of a jointly developed “Surplus Renewable Energy Absorption and Release System” utilizing the Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) system. The test is being carried out jointly with partners including Osaka Metropolitan University, which serves as project representative(Note1).

The project, titled “Development of Technology for Absorbing Surplus Renewable Energy in ATES systems,” was selected by the Japan’s Ministry of the Environment in 2023 as a “Regional Co-creation and Cross-sectoral Carbon Neutral Technology Research Development Program(Note2). In April 2025, cold-storage operation utilizing surplus energy began at the Osaka City Maishima Sports Center for Persons with Disabilities (AMITY MAISHIMA). From July 1, the project will transition to a new field test phase in which the stored cold water will be used directly for air-conditioning.

Today, renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power are being adopted toward realizing a decarbonized society. However, the amount of power generated is unstable due to their dependence on weather conditions. As a result, surplus energy often arises during transitional cooler seasons such as spring and autumn in Japan, when demand for air cooling/heating is low. To effectively utilize such surplus energy, infrastructural improvements are required-such as large-scale battery systems or extensive land use-both of which can result in significant additional costs. Against this backdrop, the joint project currently underway has focused on development of a surplus renewable energy absorption and release system that leverages the seasonal thermal storage function of the ATES system.

In this joint development, a surplus renewable energy absorption and release system is to be adopted in an ATES system for the first time worldwide. The system offers short-cycle thermal storage and discharge functionality, enabling flexible switching between cold and heat storage. It also incorporates a multi-layered seasonal storage function that allows lower-temperature chilled water to be stored within existing underground cold-water masses.

In conjunction with this project, MHI Thermal Systems is responsible for operating the ATES system and heat-pump type centrifugal chillers, as well as for designing and constructing a control system that efficiently utilizes surplus energy. The newly developed control system features a mode that automatically switches to the optimal operation depending on the surplus energy availability and underground water temperature. Furthermore, owing to the incorporation of a function that optimizes cold storage operation in real time based on fluctuations in electricity market prices and the volume of surplus power. This enables energy-saving operation that reduces electricity consumption during cooling while ensuring effective use of renewable energy.

An ATES system uses gravel and groundwater stored in aquifers deep underground as an enormous heat storage tank, allowing for the effective use of energy by enabling the circulation of heat across seasons, such as using the cold waste heat from winter heating for summer cooling, and the warm waste heat from summer cooling for winter heating. MHI Thermal Systems’ ATES system received the “Energy Conservation Center, Japan Chairman’s Award” in the “Best Practice Category” at the 2021 Energy Conservation Grand Prize,(Note3) and the “HPTCJ Promotion Award” at the 2022 “Demand Side Management Awards”(Note4).

MHI Group has made a declaration to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, and is working to reduce CO₂ emissions from its own plants and other production-related facilities, as well as reduce the CO₂ emissions at customer facilities that use MHI Group products. As a part of MHI Group, MHI Thermal Systems supplies a large number of centrifugal chillers for general air conditioning, factory air conditioning, and district heating and cooling, boasting the top market share in Japan in this field. Going forward, MHI Thermal Systems will continue to respond to customer needs, and by delivering centrifugal chillers and thermal solution products with a low environmental load, contribute to the realization of a carbon neutral world.

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July 1, 2025
Al Hilal 4-3 Man City (1 Jul, 2025) Game Analysis

Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal stunned Manchester City 4-3 in extra time in Orlando, Florida, on Monday night to pull off one of the shocks of the Club World Cup and set up a quarterfinal against Brazil’s Fluminense.

Marcos Leonardo scored his second goal of the night in the 112th minute as Simone Inzaghi’s side eliminated the Premier League club, which had taken a ninth-minute lead through Bernardo Silva.

Quick-fire goals from Leonardo and Malcom in six minutes immediately after the restart put Al Hilal in front before Erling Haaland equalized for City in the 55th minute.

Four minutes into extra time, Kalidou Koulibaly headed in Rúben Neves’ corner to put the Riyadh-based club back in front, and while Phil Foden tied the score again for City, Leonardo netted with seven minutes left to take Al Hilal through.

“We knew it was a difficult game against one of the best teams in the world,” Koulibaly said. “We wanted to show our ideas, our talent, our power and I think that we made a very good game.

“Defensively we were very strong and offensively all of the opportunities we could put inside we put in, so we can be happy.”

Portuguese playmaker Silva had put City ahead when he pushed the ball over the line after Renan Lodi’s attempted clearance ended up at his feet inside the six-yard box.

Replays showed the ball had brushed the wrist of City’s Rayan Aït-Nouri earlier in the move, but the referee waved away the Al Hilal protests.

Al Hilal goalkeeper Yassine Bounou then made a string of saves to deny City a second before halftime and within seconds of the restart the Saudi club had tied it.

Malcom drove down the right and found João Cancelo, whose ball into the six-yard box was initially blocked by a sprawling Éderson, but Leonardo headed the looping rebound into the unguarded net.

Six minutes later, Malcom was released behind the defense by Cancelo’s pass from deep inside his own half and the Brazilian showed composure to stroke his shot past Ederson.

But the lead lasted only three minutes as Haaland pounced on Silva’s corner and the Norwegian was denied a late winner by a desperate clearance on the line from Ali Lajami.

The Saudis went ahead four minutes into extra time when Koulibaly rose to glance home a header from a corner, but City tied it again, substitutes Rayan Cherki and Foden combining for the England international to steer a sublime first-time volley across Bounou and into the bottom corner.

Al Hilal would not be denied and Leonardo claimed his second of the night after seeing Ederson save Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s header, the weary Brazilian stumbling as he steered the winner home.

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July 1, 2025
Death toll rises to 36 following an explosion, fire at India pharmaceutical factory

HYDERABAD, India — The death toll from Monday’s massive explosion and fire at a pharmaceutical factory in India’s southern state of Telangana has risen to at least 36 while about three dozen were left injured, authorities said Tuesday.

The fire department recovered the charred bodies of 34 workers from the accident site in an industrial area about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the state capital Hyderabad, the state’s fire services director G.V. Narayana Rao told The Associated Press.

Two other workers succumbed to burns and were pronounced dead in hospital, Rao said, adding that debris of the gutted pharmaceutical unit of Sigachi Industries was still being removed to find out if any more workers were trapped.

Nearly three dozen injured workers were admitted to hospitals, he said.

“The whole structure of the factory has collapsed. Fire has been doused, and we hope to finish removing the debris in the next few hours,” Rao said.

The explosion and subsequent fire was reported on Monday in the factory’s spray dryer unit, which is used to process raw material into fine powder for making drugs, Rao said.

The state’s Health Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha said there were 108 workers inside the factory at the time of the explosion.

“As bodies were badly burnt and mutilated, a special medical team has been deployed to conduct DNA tests”, said Narasimha, adding the state government has set up a panel to investigate the cause of the incident.

Witnesses said they heard the explosion from a couple of kilometers away from the site.

India is home to some of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies, playing a pivotal role in the global supply of generic medicines and vaccines. The country’s robust manufacturing and cost-effective production have made it a hub for pharma giants.

Industrial accidents, particularly involving chemical reactors, aren’t uncommon in such factories, underlining the need for authorities to implement stringent safety protocols and regulatory oversight in a sector critical to public health.

Sigachi Industries Limited is an Indian company dealing with active pharmaceutical ingredients, intermediates and vitamin-mineral blends, according to the company’s website. It has five manufacturing facilities across India and subsidiaries in the U.S and the United Arab Emirates.

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July 1, 2025