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by Gokan Gunes with Raziye Akkoc in Ankara Agence France-Presse ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey’s big push into the Mediterranean featuring controversial gas drilling, tough rhetoric and warships is rooted in a grand vision of a “Blue Homeland” that takes over waters claimed by EU neighbours. Fearful of being denied a fair share of the region’s bountiful natural gas wealth, Turkey sent a research vessel and a small navy armada into seas Greece views as […]
by Jocelyne ZABLIT Agence France-Presse LOS ANGELES, California (AFP) — Firefighters on Sunday battled some of California’s largest-ever fires that have forced tens of thousands from their homes and burned one million acres, with further lightning strikes and gusty winds forecast in the days ahead. Thousands of lightning strikes have hit the state in the past week, igniting fires that left smoke blanketing the region, bringing the total area burned to “close to one million […]
GOMA, DR Congo (AFP) — A world-famous gorilla reserve in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo denounced on Wednesday the “illegal sale” of land within its territory. Land in at least four areas of the Virunga National Park have been sold off, according to the reserve’s director. “The perpetrators falsely claim that the Congolese justice system has given them the land even though the current law prohibits all such practices,” said Emmanuel de Merode in a statement […]
PORT LOUIS, Mauritius (AFP) — Salvage crews on Thursday began the process of sinking the broken stem of a Japanese-owned ship which ran aground off Mauritius, leading to a major oil spill and ecological disaster for the Indian Ocean island. The MV Wakashio broke into two on Sunday, after a race against the clock to pump all the remaining oil off the bulk carrier which ran aground last month and began leaking black fuel into idyllic […]
by Joe STENSON Agence France-Presse CARNDONAGH, Ireland (AFP) — Steven McGonigal crosses a pockmarked field in the north of Ireland with a box of unruly ferrets while his dog, Fudge, sniffs out rabbit warrens. As the lurcher does his work, McGonigal covers the openings with nets before releasing a single ferret down the hole to flush out the occupants inside. For five minutes, the ferret races around the underground tunnels, poking its head out of […]
WASHINGTON D.C., United States (AFP) — The US state of Michigan has agreed to pay some $600 million to victims of the Flint water crisis, a health scandal that became a symbol of social injustice in America, officials said Thursday. The settlement could see payments to tens of thousands of people, children and adults alike, who may have ingested lead-tainted drinking water after the city of Flint changed the source for its water system in […]
NOVO PROGRESSO, Brazil (AFP) — Armed with spears and bows, dozens of indigenous protesters in Brazil vowed Thursday to maintain a roadblock on a key highway until the authorities listen to their demands for help fighting COVID-19 and deforestation. Members of the Kayapo Mekranoti ethnic group have been blocking highway BR-163 through the Amazon since Monday outside the northern town of Novo Progresso. But they vowed that they would no longer lift their blockade periodically to […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Chinese hackers infiltrated at least 10 Taiwan government agencies and gained access to around 6,000 email accounts in an attempt to steal data, officials said Wednesday. The damage done was “not small”, according to a top Taiwan cyber official, who said the full impact was still being assessed. Taipei has accused Beijing of stepping up a cyber campaign since 2016 when Taiwan elected President Tsai Ing-wen, who refuses to acknowledge […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia said on Thursday it would start clinical trials of its controversial coronavirus vaccine next week, involving tens of thousands of people. President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that Russia had become the first country to register a coronavirus vaccine, though the announcement was met with caution from scientists and the World Health Organization who said it still needed a rigorous safety review. Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, which finances the […]
by Sara HUSSEIN TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A new method to create insulin-producing pancreatic cells from stem cells and protect them from the body’s immune system could pave the way for improving experimental diabetes treatment. In type-1 diabetes, the body turns on itself and attacks the so-called beta cells inside clusters in the pancreas called “islets”. These beta cells are responsible for gauging sugar levels in the blood and releasing insulin to keep them stable. […]
by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS PARIS, France (AFP) — For half a century scientists feared that the Somali elephant shrew had vanished from the face of the Earth. No one had seen so much as a whisker. But the tiny mammal with its probing trunk-like nose was quietly thriving in the arid, rocky landscape of the Horn of Africa, researchers said Tuesday. The elusive, insect-eating creature is neither an elephant nor a shrew. It is a sengi […]
NARITA, Japan (AFP) — A new team of experts left Japan for Mauritius on Wednesday with special oil-absorbent materials to help the clean-up of tonnes of oil that leaked from a Japanese-owned ship. “The oil leak from the stranded ship has caused severe damage to the people of Mauritius, the economy of which largely relies on tourism and the beautiful ocean,” environment ministry official Yukihiro Haisa told reporters before the departure. “I am terribly distressed.” […]
