Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Twin red-ruffed lemurs have been born at Singapore zoo, officials said Thursday, a rare double delivery that is a boost for the endangered saucer-eyed primates. It was the first birth at the zoo of the endangered creatures, which are native to Madagascar, in over a decade, Wildlife Reserves Singapore said. The arrival of the yet-to-be-named twins was “particularly special” because the creatures breed only once a year, it said. The fluffy […]
by Patrick GALEY PARIS, France (AFP) — Scientists said Thursday they had obtained the closest ever images taken of the Sun as part of a pan-European mission to study solar winds and flares that could have far-reaching impacts back on Earth. The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter blasted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral in February and completed its first fly by of our star last month, sending back unprecedented images of phenomena close to its […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — NASA on Thursday postponed the launch of its $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope from March next year to October 31, 2021, blaming the pandemic and other technical challenges. The telescope, first conceived in the 1990s, was initially to be launched in the 2000s, but its main maker Northrop Grumman has faced numerous development problems that have doubled its cost. “Webb is the world’s most complex space observatory, and our […]
by Qasim Nauman, with AFP Bureaus Agence France Presse Millions of people faced new coronavirus restrictions on Wednesday as infections surge, but in one sign of hope, an American firm said it would soon start final-stage human trials for a possible vaccine. Countries around the world re-imposed lockdowns and curbs to contain new outbreaks, as global cases surged past 13.2 million with more than 576,000 deaths. Parts of the Asia-Pacific region, which had been […]
MARNE-LA-VALLEE, France (AFP) — Disneyland Paris, Europe’s biggest private tourist attraction, reopened its gates Wednesday after four months of coronavirus lockdown, albeit with limited access and a ban on hugging the famous characters. As festive music played, Mickey, Pluto and other Disney characters greeted the first visitors — all sporting face masks and some the trademark Mickey Mouse ears — while keeping a safe distance from the guests. Despite the merry mood, things at Disneyland […]
COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AFP) — About 160 sea turtles, many of them injured after getting entangled in plastic waste, have been rescued after washing up on one of the world’s longest beaches in Bangladesh, an official and conservationists said Wednesday. The Olive Ridley turtles began floating to shore at Cox’s Bazar with a huge mass of plastic bottles, fishing nets, buoys and other debris at the weekend. Survivors were released back into the Bay of […]
by Marlowe HOOD PARIS, France (AFP) — Doctors in France have described what they said was the first confirmed case of a newborn infected in the womb with COVID-19 by the mother. The baby boy, born in March, suffered brain swelling and neurological symptoms linked to COVID-19 in adults, but has since recovered, they reported Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. Earlier research had pointed to the likely transmission of the virus from mother to […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Conservationists have warned a sudden change in Myanmar’s law allowing the commercial farming of tigers, pangolins and other endangered species risks further fuelling demand in China for rare wildlife products. The Southeast Asian nation is already a hub for the illegal trafficking of wildlife, a trade driven by demand from neighbouring China and worth an estimated $20 billion worldwide. In June, Myanmar’s Forest Department quietly gave the green light to private […]
by Patrick GALEY Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — There is “strong evidence” that COVID-19- positive mothers can pass the virus on to their unborn infants, scientists said Thursday, in findings that could affect how pregnant women are shielded during the pandemic. While there have been isolated cases of babies infected with the virus, the findings show the strongest link yet between mother and infant transmission. Researchers in Italy studied 31 pregnant women […]
BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) — Colombia lost 159,000 hectares of forest — an area the size of Brazilian megacity Sao Paulo — to deforestation in 2019, according to an official report presented on Thursday. Although considerable, it represents a 19 percent reduction in deforestation compared to the 197,000 hectares destroyed in 2018. In 2017, that figure was 219,000. “We’ve managed to control a growing trend of deforestation,” said Maria Claudia Garcia, the deputy minister for the […]
by Alexandra Vardi TEL AVIV, Israel (AFP) — Israeli scientists have come up with a “simple” and low-cost method to turn waste into ethanol for use as sanitisers in the battle against the novel coronavirus. Professor Hadas Mamane of Tel Aviv University (TAU) and her team have been working for the past five years on recycling waste and transforming it into alcohol. Now, in response to the global demand for hand sanitisers, they have focused […]
By Alfred Acenas EBC Hawaii Bureau HONOLULU (Eagle News) – The Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) announced on Tuesday, July 7, that there were 41 new cases of COVID-19, the highest case count since the pandemic began in early March. Thirty-eight (38) were in Honolulu/Oahu, one (1) in Big Island, and two (2) in Kauai. Governor David Ige has assured that the new COVID-19 cases are still manageable. “It is the highest we’ve had, […]
