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SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) – Chile said Saturday it is creating a vast national park to protect hundreds of glaciers that are melting due to climate change. The new National Glacier Park will cover 75,000 hectares of Andes mountain land about 60 kilometers (40 miles) from the capital Santiago, President Sebastian Pinera said at a ceremony announcing its creation. “We are managing to protect 368 glaciers,” the president said. These masses of permanent ice hold 32 […]
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AFP) – Two subsidiaries of Swiss mining company Solway Investment Group hid reports of pollution in an indigenous area of northeastern Guatemala, an international consortium of media companies said Sunday. The “Mining Secrets” investigation — in which 65 journalists from 15 countries participated — also accused Solway subsidiaries Guatemalan Nickel Company (CGN) and PRONICO of intimidation and influence peddling. The investigation run by the Forbidden Stories NGO “reveals the strategies that Solway […]
by Chris Stein Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – Bill Suan bought his family’s cattle farm in the mountains of West Virginia a decade-and-a-half ago with little thought for the two gas wells drilled on the property — but then they started leaking oil onto his fields and sickening his cows. After taking the operator to court, Suan was successful in plugging one well, but the company has since disappeared, leaving him to […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said Thursday it will be changing its programme to prioritise making satellites for military purposes as Moscow becomes increasingly isolated following its invasion of Ukraine. “Our space programme, of course, will be adjusted. Firstly, priorities will be set,” Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said in an interview with Russian state TV. “The priority here is the creation of spacecraft in the interests of both Roscosmos and Russia’s defence […]
by Adrien MAROTTE Agence France-Presse MAROUA, Cameroon (AFP) – Their homes are a scattering of huts made of branches and dry leaves that seem to almost dissolve into the arid landscape. A group of men sit on a rug, conversing in the shade of a tree, while women perching on stones under the scorching Sahel sun prepare a meal with the few ingredients they have to hand, as children play nearby. These are some of […]
by Maddison Connaughton Agence France-Presse NEWCASTLE, Australia (AFP) – Australia’s emergency services ordered 200,000 people to flee from the path of a wild storm that lurched towards Sydney Thursday after killing 13 people in more than a week of record-setting floods along the east coast. Authorities issued severe rain and wind warnings for a 400-kilometre (250-mile) stretch of coast as water levels rose rapidly — including in suburbs around Sydney, Australia’s largest city and home […]
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday proposed lifting a ban on mining in indigenous territories in the Amazon to offset potential fertilizer shortages due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The far-right leader said that mineral extraction in indigenous territories — something vehemently opposed by those local communities and environmentalists — was necessary to avoid dependence on imported products. “With the Russia/Ukraine war we now face the risk of a lack of […]
by John BIERS Agence France-Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – Ford announced Wednesday it is creating separate businesses for its conventional and electric-auto operations, as it accelerates its build-out of emission-free vehicles. Under the plan, which sent Ford shares sharply higher, the conventional internal combustion operations will be known as “Ford Blue,” while the electric vehicle (EV) products will be run through “Ford Model e.” The reorganization, while significant, keeps both operations under the […]
by Nina LARSON Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – The Covid pandemic has taken a dire toll on mental health, the WHO said Wednesday, indicating that cases of anxiety and depression had swelled by over 25 percent globally. In a fresh scientific brief, the World Health Organization also found that the Covid-19 crisis had in many cases significantly impeded access to mental health services and raised concerns about increases in suicidal behaviour. The brief, which […]
PARIS, France (AFP) – A Russian-European mission to land a rover on Mars is “very unlikely” to launch this year due to sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Space Agency said. The launch of the Rosalind Franklin rover, whose mission is to drill into Martian soil to seek out signs of life, was originally planned for 2020 but postponed due to Covid-19 and technical delays. In January the ESA declared the ExoMars mission […]
by Nick Perry Agence France-Presse NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) – The United Nations is to launch formal negotiations on Wednesday for a global treaty to address a plastic trash “epidemic” that supporters say is a historic moment for the planet. The UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), convening in Nairobi, is poised to adopt a resolution creating an intergovernmental committee to negotiate and finalise a legally binding agreement by 2024. The amount of plastic trash entering the oceans […]
by Annie THOMAS and Lucien KAHOZI Agence France-Presse MANONO, DR Congo (AFP) – Near the rusting carcass of a smelter, barefoot men and women scratch at the ground in the quest for cassiterite — the tin oxide ore that generations ago gave the town of Manono a brief taste of the good life. The diggers carry the sandy earth to the Lukushi River where women wash the grit in metal bowls, hoping to find some […]
