Life

Nine deer dead in Japan after eating plastic: wildlife group

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Nine deer have died after swallowing plastic bags in Japan’s Nara Park, a wildlife group said on Wednesday, warning that a surge in tourism may be to blame. The Nara Deer Preservation Foundation said that masses of plastic bags and snack packets were found in the stomachs of the deer which died between March and June this year. “The biggest litter found in one of the nine amounted to 4.3 […]

Hard soil, big jumps and epiphanies: what it’s like on the Moon

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Twelve American men walked on the Moon between 1969 and 1972, with most describing in great detail their experiences on the dusty, low-gravity world lit by the blinding light of the Sun. Here are their impressions, collected from a series of oral history interviews by NASA during the 1990s and 2000s, unless otherwise stated. Right after landing  “That’s where you experience the most quiet moment a human being can experience […]

Virgin Galactic seeks space tourism boost with market launch

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic will merge with a New York-listed company to become the world’s first publicly-traded space tourism venture, the British billionaire’s group announced Tuesday. “By embarking on this new chapter, at this advanced point in Virgin Galactic’s development, we can open space to more investors and in doing so, open space to thousands of new astronauts,” Branson said in a statement. Virgin Galactic and public-investment vehicle Social Capital […]

Vintage fashion: senior models bridge S. Korea’s age divide

by Claire LEE SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Aged 70 she was working 20 hours a day in a hospital just to make ends meet. Now at 75, Choi Soon-hwa is an unlikely fashion star and model in South Korea, one of a handful of seniors who have become social media and fashion celebrities in a country where intergenerational conflict is mounting as the population ages. “I think of having this job at this age […]

Great leaps in science thanks to Apollo

by Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Apollo 11 mission to the Moon and back 50 years ago went down in history as mankind’s giant leap, changing the way we saw our place in the universe. But the program was also the catalyst for profound scientific and engineering breakthroughs that reverberate to this day. It required overcoming myriad technical challenges, a task made possible only by Congress’ decision to hand a blank check […]

Deforestation + climate change = dead end for wildlife

by Marlowe HOOD PARIS, France (AFP) — Climate change combined with galloping tropical deforestation is cutting off wildlife from life-saving cooler climes, heightening the risk of extinction, researchers said Monday. Less than two-fifths of forests across Latin America, Asia and Africa currently allow for animals and plants to avoid potentially intolerable increases in temperature, they reported in the journal Nature Climate Change. “The loss of tropical forests between 2000 and 2012 led to an area […]

Instagram moves on online bullying with pop-up warning

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Instagram on Monday announced new features aimed at curbing online bullying on its platform, including a warning to people as they are preparing to post abusive remarks. “It’s our responsibility to create a safe environment on Instagram,” said a statement from Adam Mosseri, head of the visually focused social platform owned by Facebook. “This has been an important priority for us for some time, and we are continuing to invest […]

Electric scooters: not so eco-friendly after all?

by Catherine HOURS PARIS, France (AFP) — E-scooters touted as zero-carbon urban transport are flooding city streets worldwide, but just how green they remain an open question. The companies — from multinationals to local start-ups — distributing them insist the omnipresent two-wheel vehicles are a boon for the environment and a curb on global warming. “Bird was founded to help create a cleaner and the more hospitable world that prioritizes people over cars,” the American […]

Tutankhamun relic sells for $6 mn in London despite Egyptian outcry

by Dmitry ZAKS Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — A 3,000-year-old quartzite head of Egyptian “Boy King” Tutankhamun was auctioned off for $6 million Thursday in London despite a fierce outcry from Cairo. Christie’s auction house sold the 28.5-centimetre (11-inch) relic for £4,746,250 ($5,970,000, 5,290,000 euros) at one of its most controversial auctions in years. No information about the buyer was disclosed. The famous pharaoh’s finely-chiselled face — its calm eyes and puffed […]

NEU Hunters beat OLFU Phoenix to enter Breakdown Basketball Invitational finals

  QUEZON CITY, Philippines (Eagle News) — Down 14 in the third quarter against their toughest opponent to date, the New Era University (NEU) Hunters prevailed in the end and won over Our Lady of Fatima (OLFU) in their semi-final matchup in the Breakdown Basketball League Invitational (BBI), 65-62. The win meant the NEU Hunters would be facing Ateneo De Manila in the finals. The Hunters, led by the twin attack of Jefferson Comia and […]

UNESCO lists Iraq’s Babylon as World Heritage Site

  BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee voted on Friday to list the sprawling Mesopotamian metropolis of Babylon as a World Heritage Site after three decades of lobbying efforts by Iraq. Iraq had been trying since 1983 to have the site — a massive 10-square-kilometre complex of which just 18 percent has been excavated thus far — recognised by UNESCO. Straddling Iraq’s Euphrates River about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Baghdad, the […]

China says pork production recovering as swine fever cases decline

BEIJING, China (AFP) — New cases of African swine fever have declined and pork production is returning to normal, Chinese officials said Thursday, after millions of pigs were culled because of the deadly disease. The virus — fatal to wild boar and pigs but harmless to humans — has cut a swathe through Mongolia, Vietnam, North Korea and China. The world’s top pork producer and consumer has seen prices and imports continue to rise since […]