Finland ranked as the world’s happiest country for the second year running while war-torn South Sudan sank to the least contented in a United Nations report released on Wednesday. The Nordic nation of 5.5 million people, known for their love of forests, lakes and saunas, topped the study which used survey data asking citizens in 156 countries how happy they perceive themselves to be, as well as measures such as life expectancy, income and social […]
Life
Bayer shares plunge on new US cancer ruling
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany (AFP) — Shares in German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer plunged as markets opened Wednesday, after a second US jury ruled that blockbuster pesticide Roundup — made by recently-acquired Monsanto — causes cancer. The Leverkusen-based group’s stock toppled 11.6 percent to 61.60 euros ($69.88) at around 09:40 am in Frankfurt (0840 GMT), making it the worst performer on the DAX index of blue-chip German shares. On Tuesday a California jury […]
NASA says taking sample from asteroid harder than expected
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — After two years crossing the solar system, the NASA space probe Osiris-Rex arrived last December near the asteroid Bennu to complete its mission of collecting a sample — but touching the rock will prove much harder than scientists had expected. The Osiris-Rex team said Tuesday that the surface of the asteroid, which measures 490 meters (1,600 feet) in diameter, was covered in stones and boulders. They had expected it to […]
Short walk once-a-week can lower risk of death: study
PARIS, France (AFP) — A brisk stroll once or twice a week is enough to reduce the risk of dying from heart attack, stroke or cancer, according to a statistical study of nearly 90,000 people released Tuesday. People who walked or gardened 10 minutes to an hour each week had an 18-percent lower risk of death from any cause compared to full-on couch potatoes, researchers reported in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Two-and-a-half to […]
Dead whale in Philippines had 40 kg of plastic in stomach
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — A starving whale with 40 kilos (88 pounds) of plastic trash in its stomach has died after being washed ashore in the Philippines, activists said Monday, calling it one of the worst cases of poisoning they have seen. Environmental groups have tagged the Philippines as one of the world’s biggest ocean polluters due to its reliance on single-use plastic. That sort of pollution, which is also widespread in other southeast Asian […]
Remote Cape with ‘world’s cleanest air’ offers smog respite
by Andrew BEATTY CAPE GRIM, Australia (AFP) — As much of Asia wheezes, coughs and sniffles its way through another smog season, one isolated and windswept corner of Australia is serving as the global standard for clean air. With panoramic views of swaying tussock grass and the vast crystalline expanse of the Southern Ocean, Tasmania’s beautiful Cape Grim peninsula is an unlikely reference point for the scientific world. But since 1976, this wild and blustery […]
New data in eternal debate over eggs, heart health
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The debate over whether eggs are good for you is age-old: while a good source of protein, they also contain potentially harmful cholesterol. Now, a new study — published Friday by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) — has weighed in. After analyzing 30,000 Americans from six separate studies, researchers concluded that eating an extra half-egg a day increased the risk of cardiovascular disease (six percent) and premature […]
Forget flying carpets, flying taxis are coming your way
by Laurent BANGUET AUSTIN, United States (AFP) — We’ve all dreamed while stuck in traffic jams of being able to just lift off and fly over the gridlock. According to experts gathered this week at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, that is likely to happen sooner than later, with flying taxis expected to take to the skies by 2025. “People have been dreaming about it for decades on paper, and now the […]
Elon Musk’s Tesla adds ‘Model Y’ SUV to line-up
by Javier TOVAR / Glenn CHAPMAN HAWTHORNE, United States (AFP) — Tesla introduced a new electric sports utility vehicle slightly bigger and more expensive than its Model 3, pitched as an electric car for the masses. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk showed off the “Model Y” late Thursday at the company’s design studio in the southern California city of Hawthorne, and the company began taking orders online. The all-electric Model Y has a starting price […]
Toxic air tears apart families in Mongolia
by Khaliun Bayartsogt BOMUUR, Mongolia (AFP) — In the world’s coldest capital, many burn coal and plastic just to survive temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees — but warmth comes at a price: deadly pollution makes Ulaanbataar’s air too toxic for children to breathe, leaving parents little choice but to evacuate them to the countryside. This exodus is a stark warning of the future for urban areas in much of Asia, where scenes of […]
WHO urges enforcement of tobacco ad bans at sporting events
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization called Thursday for better enforcement of bans on tobacco advertising at sporting events, after tobacco companies discretely reentered sponsorship deals with Formula 1 teams. “WHO is urging governments to enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship at sporting events, including when hosting or receiving broadcasts of Formula 1 and MotoGP events,” the UN health agency said in a statement. It also called on “all sporting bodies, […]
Astronauts on aborted Soyuz launch blast off successfully for ISS
by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AFP) — NASA astronaut Nick Hague and his Russian colleague Alexey Ovchinin, who survived a dramatically aborted Soyuz launch last year, blasted off successfully for the International Space Station on Thursday. The two men, joined by US astronaut Christina Koch, lifted off from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at the expected time 1914 GMT. “The Soyuz is now in orbit and the crew are on their way to the International […]
