Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev as he bids the last farewell to his wife Raisa Gorbacheva during the funeral ceremony in Moscow, Russia, 23 September 1999 (reissued 30 August 2022). According to a Moscow Central Clinical Hospital statement, former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev has died at the age of 91. As a supporter of the de-Stalinization programs of his predecessor Nikita Khrushchev, Gorbachev initiated numerous reforms during his tenure. He signed a nuclear arms treaty with the United States and withdrew the Soviet Union from the Soviet-Afghan war. His policies created freedom of speech and press, and decentralized fiscal policy planning and execution to increase efficiency. Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union, overseeing Russia’s transition from one party rule to fragile democracy. (Photo by Sergey Chirikov/EPA/EFE)

Smoke and ash are visible during the the Shiveluch volcano's eruption on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, Tuesday, April 11, 2023. Shiveluch, one of Russia's most active volcanoes, erupted Tuesday, spewing clouds of ash 20 kilometers into the sky and covering broad areas with ash. (Photo by Alexander Ledyayev via AP Photo)

A caiman swims amidst trash in Canal das Taxas at the Recreio dos Bandeirantes neighborhood in west Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 22, 2023. The urban expansion of the area and the resulting pollution have put the yacare caiman (Caiman latirostris) “in danger of extinction”. (Photo by Tercio Teixeira/AFP Photo)

A climate change activist plays a violin in Times Square as Manhattan is shrouded in haze and smoke which drifted south from wildfires in Canada, in New York City, New York, U.S., June 7, 2023. (Photo by Maye-E Wong/Reuters)

Worker Malian Vue beats the heat inside the refrigerator at the Agricenter Farmers Market in Memphis, Tennessee on July 5, 2025. (Photo by Karen Focht/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

American singer-songwriter and actress Teyana Taylor attends the London premiere for the movie “One Battle After Another” in London on September 16, 2025. (Photo by Katie Collins/Reuters)

Among the fish populations that could be harmed by the Xayaburi dam in Laos is the critically endangered Mekong giant catfish, considered by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the world’s largest freshwater fish. The fish, which grows to 650 pounds and about 10 feet long, is only found in the Mekong River. It is migratory, moving between downstream habitats in Cambodia upstream to northern Thailand and Laos each year to spawn. Some experts fear the Xayaburi dam could block the migration and drive the giant catfish to extinction. (Photo by Courtesy of Zeb Hogan/University of Nevada, Reno)

A Virgin Atlantic passenger plane flies in the sky with the moon seen in the background, in London, Britain January 19, 2016. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)