EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy kallas said Israel's illegal settlements in the West Bank are making a two-state solution increasingly difficult to achieve.

China A-share power sector slid further in afternoon trade; Shennan Electric A hit the daily limit down, with Xichang Electric Power, Guangdong Electric Power A, Henan Yuneng Holdings, Huadian Liaoning, Guiguan Power and Jinkong Power also falling.

A research team at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences has cloned a core gene, CHPO, at locus qCR2 that links post-freeze tiller regrowth with efficient nitrogen uptake in rice. Using recombinant inbred lines from japonica KY131 and indica ZF802, the team treated regrowth after freezing as a novel metric of frost-recovery and identified CHPO as a regulatory switch that triggers tiller re-growth and enhanced nitrogen absorption after cold damage. The finding provides a molecular module and breeding strategy to develop cold-tolerant, yield-stable, nitrogen-efficient rice varieties. Results were published in Nature on June 17.