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NOVO PROGRESSO, Brazil (AFP) — Armed with spears and bows, dozens of indigenous protesters in Brazil vowed Thursday to maintain a roadblock on a key highway until the authorities listen to their demands for help fighting COVID-19 and deforestation. Members of the Kayapo Mekranoti ethnic group have been blocking highway BR-163 through the Amazon since Monday outside the northern town of Novo Progresso. But they vowed that they would no longer lift their blockade periodically to […]
by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS PARIS, France (AFP) — For half a century scientists feared that the Somali elephant shrew had vanished from the face of the Earth. No one had seen so much as a whisker. But the tiny mammal with its probing trunk-like nose was quietly thriving in the arid, rocky landscape of the Horn of Africa, researchers said Tuesday. The elusive, insect-eating creature is neither an elephant nor a shrew. It is a sengi […]
NARITA, Japan (AFP) — A new team of experts left Japan for Mauritius on Wednesday with special oil-absorbent materials to help the clean-up of tonnes of oil that leaked from a Japanese-owned ship. “The oil leak from the stranded ship has caused severe damage to the people of Mauritius, the economy of which largely relies on tourism and the beautiful ocean,” environment ministry official Yukihiro Haisa told reporters before the departure. “I am terribly distressed.” […]
NOVO PROGRESSO, Brazil (AFP) — Indigenous protesters in Brazil defied a court order Tuesday and resumed a roadblock of a key highway through the Amazon rainforest, demanding help against the new coronavirus and an end to illegal mining and deforestation. Brandishing bows and wearing traditional feather headdresses and body paint, dozens of protesters from the Kayapo Mekranoti ethnic group have been blocking highway BR-163 through the Amazon rainforest since Monday morning. They briefly lifted their […]
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — The Arctic sea ice is melting faster than climate models had predicted, researchers at the University of Copenhagen warned on Tuesday. Until now, climate models have predicted a slow and steady increase of Arctic temperatures, but a new study shows that warming is occurring at a more rapid pace. “We have been clearly underestimating the rate of temperature increases in the atmosphere nearest to the sea level, which has ultimately caused […]
by Patrick GALEY PARIS, France (AFP) — There may be more plastic floating just beneath the surface of the Atlantic ocean today than the estimated total weight of plastic waste dumped in it since 1950, new research showed Tuesday. The findings, based on analysis of samples of the three most common plastic materials and computer modelling, highlight the unseen scale of the pollution clogging the world’s second-largest ocean. Earth’s oceans contain an estimated 150 million […]
by Géza Molnar / Balazs Wizner Agence France-Presse ZÁHONY, Hungary (AFP) — The 150-odd competitors meeting on the banks of Hungary’s second largest river carried somewhat unusual equipment for a boat race — protective gloves, rubber boots and large bags. Their challenge was to collect as much rubbish as possible from the Tisza, in the northeast of the country on the Ukrainian border, navigating it on rafts, built themselves from trash, for nine days. “Every […]
BELGRADE, Serbia (AFP) — Muja has lived through multiple bombing campaigns and several countries — all while never leaving a tiny pool in Belgrade’s zoo for 83 years, making him the world’s oldest captive alligator. While zookeepers don’t know his exact hatch day, the reptile arrived in Belgrade this week in August of 1937 from a German zoo. “He’s an older gentleman and we respect his age,” Jozef Edvedj, the zoo’s veterinarian, told AFP with […]
by Sara HUSSEIN TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The coronavirus isn’t the only plague making headlines this year — locusts are devastating crops in several parts of the world, and now scientists are discovering why the pest forms destructive swarms. On its own, a locust is fairly harmless. But so-called solitary locusts can undergo a metamorphosis, changing colour and joining together with millions of others in catastrophic clouds that strip fields. So what prompts locusts to […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has said it is a “lie” that fires are ravaging the Amazon rainforest, despite data from his own government showing the number of blazes is rising. The far-right leader has faced international condemnation for presiding over huge fires and rising deforestation in the Amazon — criticism he took issue with in a speech to a video conference of countries that share the world’s biggest rainforest. […]
by Céline CORNU Agence France-Presse VENICE, Italy (AFP) — Venice may be famed for Saint Mark’s Square or the Bridge of Sighs, but the Italian city has another jewel that is often overlooked: its lagoon. Once home to a rich variety of fish and birds, mankind’s meddling has raised the water’s salt content dramatically. However, an environmental project aims to restore it to its former glory, by introducing more fresh water. “The idea is to […]
by Shingo ITO Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The Japanese firm that operates a ship leaking fuel off the coast of Mauritius has been involved in accidents before, including a 2006 oil spill in the Indian Ocean. Mitsui OSK Lines operates the MV Wakashio, which ran aground on July 25 just off the coast of Mauritius, carrying 4,000 tonnes of fuel that has been seeping into the pristine coral-filled waters of the island nation. […]
