Powerful Pollinators

This week is Pollinator Week, shining a spotlight on the incredible diversity of bees, butterflies, and other animals that move pollen from flower to flower and thus help sustain life on Earth. The vast majority of plants—including most food crops—are flowering plants that require pollination to produce offspring in the form of seeds. Hummingbirds, bats, wasps, and beetles provide this service for some plants, but the largest and most significant group of pollinators consists of the more than 20,000 species of pollinating bees, followed by many thousands of moths and butterflies. Sadly, many of these critical organisms are in decline because of habitat loss, pesticide use, climate change, and other human-driven factors. Planting native plants in your community is one small and powerful way you can provide food and safe haven so that these little friends can keep buzzing and fluttering and pollinating our verdant planet.
Meet the Pollinators
© Timothy Stirling/Dreamstime.com
What Would Happen if All the Bees Died?
© Ed Reschke—Stone/Getty Images

Behind the News

A cosmetics titan dies, a wave of protests sweeps the U.S., and world leaders meet for an international summit in Canada.

Makeup and masterpieces

Leonard Lauder, who helped transform the cosmetics company founded by his mother, Estée Lauder, into a global beauty powerhouse, has died at 92. A longtime executive, he expanded the company into international markets, launched major brands such as Clinique, and kept its image aspirational while competitors turned to discount retailers and drugstores. Lauder was also a major philanthropist, donating hundreds of millions to science and the arts, including a transformative gift of Cubist masterpieces by artists such as Pablo Picasso to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He also coined the Lipstick Index, an informal economic indicator—like the Big Mac Index—that reflects the notion that consumers turn to small indulgences, such as lipstick, to lift their spirits when the economy is turbulent.

No Kings protests

On Saturday millions of protesters turned out at more than 2,000 events across the United States to peacefully demonstrate against Pres. Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policies. The protests continued an American tradition spanning back to the Boston Tea Party (1773) and continuing through the civil rights movement (1950s–’60s) and the recent Women’s Marches (2017–20).

Carney hosts the G7

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney opened this year’s G7 summit on Monday. Leaders of the member nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and the European Union will attend meetings throughout the week in Kananaskis, Canada, joined by representatives from a number of allied countries. Their discussions will cover a range of topics, including the global economy, drug and human trafficking, the Russia-Ukraine War, and the conflict between Israel and Iran.

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