SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Singapore has reported its first ever case of monkeypox, brought in by a Nigerian man thought to have contracted the rare virus by eating bushmeat at a wedding. Symptoms in humans of monkeypox — which is endemic in parts of Central and Western Africa — include lesions, fever, muscle ache and chills. Transmission is usually via close contact with infected animals such as rodents and monkeys and is limited between people. […]
Life
Mexico City bans disposable plastics
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Mexico City’s legislature voted Thursday to ban businesses from buying, selling or giving their customers disposable plastics, a major shift for a sprawling capital that is awash in them. The ban, set to come into force in December 2020 or January 2021, includes such articles as non-biodegradable plastic bags, straws, cutlery, cups and coffee capsules, the legislature said in a statement, calling them a “serious environmental problem.” It puts the […]
Cyprus’s emblematic wild sheep lock horns with mountain farmers
by Claire Gounon GERAKIES, Cyprus (AFP) — Surveying his orchard in the Troodos Mountains, Cypriot farmer John Papadouris is convinced the island’s treasured wild sheep would have destroyed his crop without action. With the males’ distinct arched horns, the mouflon is a national symbol of Cyprus, where it has roamed for thousands of years and is protected by law. But after making their home in the western forests of Paphos, they have been creeping east […]
Amazon’s Bezos unveils lunar lander project ‘Blue Moon’
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Jeff Bezos, who heads both Amazon and space company Blue Origin, unveiled a lunar lander Thursday that he said would be used to transport equipment, and possibly human beings, to the south pole of the Moon by 2024. “This is Blue Moon,” he said at a presentation in Washington, as curtains lifted to show a mock-up of a huge vessel weighing many tons and able to carry four self-driving rovers. […]
Camiguin could hit 1M tourists, bolstered by Skyjet’s game-changing direct flights to the “island born of fire”
By Caesar Vallejos OPEN FOR BUSINESS, Eagle News Service Foreign and local tourists can now easily “come again” to Camiguin with Skyjet Airlines’s first-ever direct flight to the island in the coast of Southern Philippines whose volcanic origins and eruptions got its brand as the “island born of fire.” From its inaugural flight last May 6, Skyjet flies to Camiguin daily (except Tuesdays and Wednesdays). “Right now, we wanted to do a daily flight but […]
New space race to bring satellite internet to the world
by Ivan Couronne WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Anxiety has set in across the space industry ever since the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, revealed Project Kuiper: a plan to put 3,236 satellites in orbit to provide high-speed internet across the globe. Offering broadband internet coverage to digital deserts is also the goal of the company OneWeb, which is set to start building two satellites a day this summer in Florida, for a constellation of […]
DR Congo: Ebola claims over 1,000 lives, Guterres commits ‘whole’ UN system, to help ‘end the outbreak’
Now in its tenth month, the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has claimed more than a thousand lives, prompting Secretary-General António Guterres to throw the support of “the whole United Nations system” into stemming the spread of the deadly virus. Mr. Guterres expressed concern over the number of new Ebola cases in the east of the DRC on Wednesday, reiterating UN support “for efforts to end the outbreak”. “With important […]
Scientists develop device to detect bacteria in minutes, not days
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – The era of doctors prescribing patients powerful antibiotics while they wait for lab reports could soon be numbered, with a new device returning results within minutes instead of days. It was invented by a team at Penn State University and described in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday. Co-developed by Pak Kin Wong, a professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering, the […]
Alaska’s thaw threatens prehistoric sites once frozen in time
by Jocelyne Zablit Agence France Presse QUINHAGAK, United States (AFP) — The first artifact — a wooden mask — was discovered in 2007 by a child who stumbled upon it while playing on the beach near his home in Quinhagak, a village in western Alaska that sits by the Bering Sea. Over the following months, hundreds of similar objects — baskets, finely carved harpoon shafts, lip plugs, wooden dolls, ivory tattoo needles — emerged […]
Scars of torture at US reform school for boys won’t go away
by Leila Macor Agence France Presse FORT MYERS, United States (AFP) — Jerry Cooper says he endured torture and cruelty that were everyday things for decades at a reform school in Florida, turning him into something horrible. As authorities prepare to investigate a possible new set of unmarked graves on the school grounds after dozens were found a few years ago, apologies are finally coming in. But 60 years after he was abused, Cooper […]
Two die from measles in Switzerland as cases rise
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Switzerland has registered two deaths from measles this year, health authorities said Thursday, stressing the importance of vaccinating against the highly contagious disease. The health ministry warned that the number of measles cases was on the rise this year, with 155 people infected, including two who had died. A man in his thirties, who had never been vaccinated against the disease, died after being infected by a family member, it said. […]
Rangers find three-eyed snake in Australia’s Humpty Doo
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A three-eyed snake found slithering down a road in the northern Australian town of Humpty Doo has sparked amusement in a country already accustomed to unusual wildlife. Rangers dubbed the unusual serpent “Monty Python” after finding it on a highway in late March. X-rays showed all three of its eyes were functioning and the extra socket likely developed naturally while the snake was an embryo, the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife […]
