Life

Fears flood water runoff could ‘smother’ Barrier Reef

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Runoff from recent floods in northern Australia is flowing onto parts of the Barrier Reef, scientists said Friday, starving coral of light and providing fodder for the predatory crown-of-thorns starfish. Parts of northern Queensland are still reeling after nearly two weeks of unprecedented rainfall that turned roads into rivers and inundated hundreds of homes with floodwater. Scientists at James Cook University say the floods swelled a number of rivers along hundreds […]

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Facebook taps user data to defend workers from threat

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) – Facebook gathers intelligence from its platform to identify people who threaten the firm or its workers, the social network said Thursday in response to media reports of the security tactic. CNBC reported that it interviewed more than a dozen former Facebook security employees, some of whom questioned the ethics of what was portrayed as an unclearly defined practice at the leading social network. Facebook spokesman Anthony Harrison told AFP […]

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Mt. Daraitan patok na #Pasyalan; Tinipak cave at Tinipak river, tara na’t silipin

(Eagle News) — Isa sa mga kilalang bundok na dinarayo ng mga hiking enthusiast ang Mt. Daraitan na matatagpuan sa border ng Quezon at Tanay, Rizal. Ang Daraitan ay galing sa salitang “dara” na ang ibig sabihin ay limestone at ang “aeta” naman ay ang tawag sa mga lokal na nakatira dito. Upang masiguro ang kaligtasan ng mga hiker, may orientation na isasagawa bago umakyat ng bundok at mayroon ding nakatalagang mga tourist guide sa […]

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NASA heading back to Moon soon, and this time to stay

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — NASA is accelerating plans to return Americans to the Moon, and this time, the US space agency says it will be there to stay. Jim Bridenstine, NASA’s administrator, told reporters Thursday that the agency plans to speed up plans backed by President Donald Trump to return to the moon, using private companies. “It’s important that we get back to the moon as fast as possible,” said Bridenstine in a meeting […]

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WHO warns of ‘backsliding’ in measles fight as cases soar

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization warned Thursday that efforts to halt the spread of measles were “backsliding”, with case numbers worldwide surging around 50 percent last year. The UN health agency pointed to preliminary data showing that the disturbing trend of resurgent measles cases was happening at a global level, including in wealthy nations where vaccination coverage has historically been high. “Our data are showing that there is a substantial increase in […]

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Activists file suit to stop dolphin hunting in Japan

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Environmental campaigners have filed an unprecedented lawsuit in a bid to halt the so-called “drive hunting” of dolphins in Japan, arguing the practice is cruel and illegal. In drive hunting, fishermen force dolphins into a cove by beating on boats to disorient them. The panicked animals often get tangled in nets, suffocate and drown. Activists say some dolphins smash into rocks and die of injuries, while others are killed by fishermen […]

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Airbus pulls plug on costly A380 superjumbo as sales plummet

by Joseph Schmid Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — European aerospace giant Airbus said Thursday that it would stop building its A380 superjumbo, the double-decker jet which earned plaudits from passengers but failed to win over enough airlines to justify its massive costs. The final two double-deckers will be delivered in 2021, just 14 years after the first A380 went into service, after the Dubai-based Emirates decided to reduce its total orders by 39 […]

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Airbus pulls plug on costly A380 superjumbo as sales plummet

by Joseph Schmid Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — European aerospace giant Airbus said Thursday that it would stop building its A380 superjumbo, the double-decker jet which earned plaudits from passengers but failed to win over enough airlines to justify its massive costs. The final two double-deckers will be delivered in 2021, just 14 years after the first A380 went into service, after the Dubai-based Emirates decided to reduce its total orders by 39 […]

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Hundred children die in DR Congo measles outbreak

KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — More than a hundred children in the Democratic Republic of Congo have died of measles since the start of the year, an outbreak that has added to deadly epidemics of cholera and Ebola, the UN said on Wednesday. Health officials in the southeast provinces of Lualaba and Lomami recorded 7,175 cases of measles in January, “at least 137 of which were fatal,” the UN’s MONUSCO peacekeeping mission said. More than […]

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Mission complete: NASA announces demise of Opportunity rover

by Ivan Couronne Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — During 14 years of intrepid exploration across Mars it advanced human knowledge by confirming that water once flowed on the red planet — but NASA’s Opportunity rover has analyzed its last soil sample. The robot has been missing since the US space agency lost contact during a dust storm in June last year and was declared officially dead Wednesday, ending one of the most […]

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Robot probes radioactive fuel at Japan’s Fukushima plant

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A robot will attempt to examine radioactive fuel at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant on Wednesday in a complex operation seen as key to clean-up efforts after the 2011 meltdown. The operation is intended to better assess the status of the melted fuel, including whether it is stable enough to be picked up for removal, or may crumble upon contact. “The operation began at 7:00am local time and will last around five […]

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