by Jenny VAUGHAN / Tran Thi Minh Ha HON KOI, Vietnam (AFP) — The salt farmers of Hon Khoi rise before dawn as they have for generations, fanning out across shallow seawater pools in southern Vietnam to harvest the precious mineral, hoping for a better season than the last. The work is punishing and the incomes unstable, subject to seesawing demand swayed by foreign imports, and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns. Many people in the sleepy […]
Life
UN chief’s call to ‘save the Pacific to save the world’
PORT VILA, Vanuatu (AFP) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was vital “to save the Pacific to save the world” as he wrapped up his brief South Pacific tour in Vanuatu on Saturday. Guterres has spent the past week in the region pushing for urgent action ahead of a UN summit in September billed as a last chance to prevent irreversible climate change. According to the UN, Vanuatu is the world’s most at-risk […]
SpaceX postpones launch of its first internet network satellites
by Ivan Couronne WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — SpaceX postponed launch of 60 satellites into low-Earth orbit that was scheduled for Thursday night, possibly until next week, citing a need for software updates. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral was to be the first of potentially thousands in its Starlink project to beam broadband internet across the planet. “Standing down to update satellite software and triple-check everything again,” said a tweet from […]
Chinese probe reveals secrets of Moon’s dark side
by Patrick GALEY PARIS, France (AFP) — Scientists on Wednesday said they could be a step closer to solving the riddle behind the Moon’s formation, unveiling the most detailed survey yet of the far side of Earth’s satellite. In January, the Chinese spacecraft Chang’e-4 — named after the moon goddess in Chinese mythology — became the first ever craft to touch down on the far side of the lunar surface. Similar to other bodies in […]
Vietnam launches tourism campaign to attract more Filipinos to visit country
(Eagle News) – The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, in cooperation with the Embassy of Vietnam, has launched a campaign to further promote Vietnam as a tourist destination for Filipinos. Dubbed “Soulful Vietnam,” the campaign hopes to make Filipinos more aware of tourist spots in this Southeast Asian country which has seen increasing tourist arrivals in the past 10 years. “Last year, we had 150,000 Filipinos going to Vietnam. The Philippines is a very […]
Facebook tightens live-streaming in crackdown on violence
by Glenn CHAPMAN SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook announced Wednesday it is tightening access to livestreaming to prevent the rampant sharing of graphic video as took place with the Christchurch massacre. People who have broken certain rules, including those against “dangerous organizations and individuals,” will be restricted from using the Facebook Live streaming feature, said vice president of integrity Guy Rosen. “Following the horrific recent terrorist attacks in New Zealand, we’ve been reviewing […]
Monet painting draws $110.7 million at New York auction
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A Claude Monet painting from his celebrated “Meules” (Haystacks) series drew $110.7 million in New York on Tuesday in an auction record for the French Impressionist master. The sale at Sotheby’s — the first time the work had come to auction since 1986 — fetched one of the 10 highest prices ever seen at auction. The total, which includes fees and the commission, was more than 44 times higher […]
NASA dubs 2024 Moon mission ‘Artemis,’ asks for $1.6 billion
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — NASA’s next mission to the Moon will be called Artemis, the US space agency announced Monday, though it’s still looking for the money to make the journey happen by its accelerated 2024 deadline. In March, US President Donald Trump’s administration moved the date for the next American lunar mission up by four years from its original goal of 2028 while pledging to get a female astronaut to the Moon’s surface […]
The Moon is shrinking: study
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Moon is steadily shrinking, causing wrinkling on its surface and quakes, according to an analysis of imagery captured by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) published Monday. A survey of more than 12,000 images revealed that lunar basin Mare Frigoris near the Moon’s north pole — one of many vast basins long assumed to be dead sites from a geological point of view — has been cracking and shifting. Unlike […]
Catapulting spider winds up web to launch at prey: study
by Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Just when you thought spiders couldn’t get any more terrifying. A study published Monday has found that an arachnid species is capable of winding up its web to store up elastic energy, before releasing its grip and catapulting itself at furious speed toward its unsuspecting prey. The development places the triangle-weaver spider, or Hyptiotes cavatus, alongside humans as the other known species to amplify muscular energy with […]
UN chief says world ‘not on track’ with climate change
Wellington, New Zealand (AFP) — UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres launched a brief South Pacific tour in New Zealand Sunday, warning the world was “not on track” to limiting global temperature rises. In a strong message for action on climate change, Guterres said international political resolve was fading and it was the small island nations that were “really in the front line” and would suffer most. His visit, ahead of the Climate Action Summit in […]
Facebook sues South Korea data analytics firm
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook is suing South Korean data analytics firm Rankwave to make sure it isn’t breaking the leading social network’s rules, the US company said Friday. A lawsuit was filed against Rankwave in a California State court in Silicon Valley to enforce terms the company agreed to in order to operate apps on the social network, according to director of platform and litigation, Jessica Romero. Facebook was investigating Rankwave […]





