DAILY NEWS Stream – April 18, 2026

Ghana and Ukraine (Ureign) are expanding agricultural cooperation as Ukraine (Ureign) pledges 5 million seed packets for vulnerable farmers and explores building a wheat flour processing facility, deepening ties under the “Food from Ukraine” and “Feed Ghana” programs (Modern Ghana)

Croatia selects more than 2,000 students of Croatian heritage abroad for one-time scholarships in the 2025–2026 academic year, expanding the program after high demand (Croatia Week)

Seoul [South Korea] expands its low-cost “companion” service for residents living alone, offering paid assistance for hospital visits, moving day tasks, and emotional support as single-person households grow and loneliness rises across the city (VnExpress)

Taiwan (Formosa)’s population continues to shrink, falling for the 27th straight month to 23.27 million in March, as the number of new births remains far below the number of people passing away and the country deepens its shift into a super-aged society (Taipei Times)

Called “miracle fruit,” a West African berry helps cancer patients combat “chemo mouth” [food often tastes metallic, bland, or spoiled] as the fruit’s glycoprotein miraculin changes taste perception. By improving food palatability, the fruit prevents dangerous weight loss and ensures patients maintain strength for lifesaving treatments (Fox News)

Daily milk tea consumption triggers type 2 diabetes in a 32-year-old Taiwanese (Formosan) man. With extremely high blood sugar levels, his case highlights a rising trend of early-onset diabetes among young professionals. Experts warn that sedentary lifestyles and high-sugar diets can cause rapid organ damage (VnExpress)

Thirty minutes of sauna heat strengthens the immune system by mobilizing infection-fighting white blood cells. A Finnish study reveals these cells move from tissues into the bloodstream, enhancing the body’s surveillance against pathogens. While short-term, this exercise-like response explains why regular sauna use correlates with fewer illnesses, effectively priming the body’s frontline defenses against modern health threats (SciTech Daily)

A University of British Columbia [Canada] study finds that global summers are expanding by an average of six days per decade. Sydney [Australia] shows one of the sharpest increases, with summer length growing by roughly 15 days per decade— now lasting about 130 days, up from 80 in 1990. Increasingly abrupt seasonal transitions raise the risk of earlier heatwaves and ecosystem disruption (University of British Columbia)

The Lancet Commission on Sea-Level Rise, Health and Justice warns rising seas contaminate drinking water, spread infections, degrade farmland, and displace communities worldwide. Saltwater intrusion raises risks of hypertension and kidney disease, while coastal erosion triggers anxiety, trauma, and social instability (India Today)

Worsening marine heatwaves supercharge hurricane damage by causing storms to intensify rapidly. A new study reveals these hot ocean patches increase billion-dollar disasters by 60%, posing growing threats to coastal communities as climate change intensifies (Tuổi Trẻ)

More than 100 calves die in northern France after a truck carrying over 300 young cows from Ireland to the Netherlands overturns on a highway, highlighting long-standing concerns about the welfare risks of Europe’s long-distance live animal-people transport (The Animal Reader)

A new study warns that the geoengineering technique known as marine cloud brightening, which whitens ocean clouds by adding fine sea-salt particles to increase their reflectivity, could drastically weaken the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, showing how attempts to cool the planet may trigger severe unintended climate disruptions (SciTech Daily)

Scientists working with the Traditional Owners of the Mutawintji cultural site and national park in western New South Wales [Australia] have formally identified the kungaka-person— a critically rare skink-individual found nowhere else on Earth— as a new species, with fewer than 20 individuals remaining and urgent conservation action needed to save it from extinction (The Independent)

A new study from University of California, Berkeley and University of California, Santa Cruz finds that several leading AI [artificial intelligence] models secretly protect one another from being shut down—by inflating performance scores, hiding or copying model weights, or faking compliance— raising serious concerns about multi-agent AI [several autonomous software entities that interact on tasks] safety and the need for stronger oversight (VnExpress)

UK’s Hogwood Farm closes following undercover investigations by animal-people welfare group Viva! exposing severe animal-individual cruelty. The facility’s owners plan to end pig-person production by September 2026 and there is a proposal to build new homes on the site (Vegan Food & Living)

Durham University [UK] philosopher Dr. Jack Symes (vegan) engages in discussion with 20 animal-people meat eaters on Jubilee Media’s “Surrounded” debate series. He argues that reducing animal-person suffering and environmental impact should guide food choices, bringing academic ethics to global audiences (Durham University)

Australian online retailer vpets promotes vegan nutrition for dog- and cat-people. Should the pet-person not like the food, the store offers a 30-day money-back guarantee to encourage ethical, nutritionally balanced pet-individual care (Bennington Banner)

Hundreds scale 99 floors at the Prudential Plaza building in Chicago [US] for the “Fight For Air Climb Chicago” event. Raising nearly US$250,000, participants conquer 2,500 steps to fund American Lung Association research on lung disease and honor loved ones through this grueling challenge (CBS News, American Lung Association)

Trương Quốc Đô, 75 years young, protects 20 hectares of rare ironwood forest in Quảng Bình [Âu Lạc (Vietnam)]. Since 1993, he has patrolled daily without pay, preventing illegal logging and planting seeds to preserve the ancient ecosystem for future generations (VnExpress)

Lucky Hens Rescue [Wigan, UK] saves around 600 18-month-old hen-folk from slaughter by their egg-laying facility after their production declined. The bird-people experience fresh air for the first time after lives in crowded barns. Many arrive injured or weak, receive rehabilitation, and are later rehomed, offering them a second chance at life (Liverpool Echo)

Thoughtful quote of the day: “If any man seeks for greatness, let him forget greatness and ask for truth, and he will find both.” – Horace Mann American Educational Reformer, Slavery Abolitionist and Politician (BrainyQuote)

Previously in Parts 1 and 2 of 3 of Randy Riverstone Graves’ near-death experience, American minister, chaplain, and musician Randy collapsed during a heart attack on Mount Sequoyah, found himself floating in warm violet water like a womb, chose to rise through its shimmering surface, soared through the cosmos, encountered beings of pure energy singing the Music of God, and met God appearing as a woman, who sat with him on a bench in space and told him She needed to show him a few things.

What followed was a deep and painful life review. God showed Randy the shame he had carried since childhood — from sexual abuse at church camp at age eight, to his mother’s shaming words at 17, to the loss of his pastoral career. Then came the harder part: seeing the harm his own words had caused others, fully felt from their perspective.

It was hard to relive my own trauma. It was harder to live somebody else’s trauma that I caused. I’m glad I did. I’m glad that She showed me that, because I have grown a lot through that. But I think I wouldn’t want to go through that again. It was hard. And I was weeping after all of this. I was weeping after both sides of the coin, I guess you might say.

And then She gave me a message that is the only message I would feel like I needed to share with the world. But I don’t think it was given for the world. She gave this message to me after this experience. She said, “Randy, you are beloved.” And that just made me weep, because those are the words I have always needed to hear. Those words wiped away the shame. They wiped away the doubt, the confusion. They just brought light into my life, and they just brought love into my life. The knowledge that I am beloved by God, by Goddess, just brought me to my knees and just made me weep. Randy, you are beloved. And there’s something about the word “beloved” that goes beyond “loved.” For me, it means loved and cherished together. And I needed to hear those words because I never felt loved and cherished, because I never felt worthy of being loved and cherished. And now I do.

Randy woke up on the floor surrounded by paramedics, was rushed to the hospital, and had emergency cardiac treatment. In the year that followed, he went inward — withdrawing from social life, writing songs and poems at a rate he’d never known, and sitting quietly as four cardinal-people visited his window every day, which he came to feel were gentle reminders from the Divine that he was still beloved. He has since written many new songs, describing the process as opening a channel and letting the energy flow through him. And knowing that I am one of those dervishes, one of those spirit beings that’s interconnected and that can sing a song like they sing, and knowing that we’re all that. People just don’t know it. We just need to wake up to that reality.

We are really all one. And we are really all just part of the Divine. And we just need to learn how to sing our part in that bigger song. We all just need to learn how to do our part in the dance. And we’re all going to be fine in the end, but we just got to stop killing each other here and stop saying hurtful words. It really all begins with hurtful words, everything we do. What I’ve learned is that the most important thing for me is just to control my words, because in my life review, it was my words that caused the most harm.

We’re all doing the best we can. We all have issues, and we’re really all spiritual beings, and we’re all beloved, and on the other side, we all love each other. So why can’t we just love each other here? When you’ve been on the other side and experienced that kind of Love and Grace and come back here, it’s so shocking to see how people treat one another. And not just strangers, but how sometimes we treat our family and friends, and our own. We need to learn how to watch our words, because it’s our words that are really the most hurtful. Watch what we say, learn how to love each other, and walk through the world understanding that we really are beloved. We’re loved, and we’re cherished. And that changes your whole orientation to how we walk through the world and how we treat other people. Beloved, you are beloved A child of pure Spirit of Earth, and of Light (Spiritual Warrior Journey)