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(Reuters) – Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of starting a fire on the grounds of Europe’s largest and now Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine on Sunday, with both sides reporting no sign of elevated radiation. The U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog, which has a presence at the vast six-reactor facility, said its experts had seen strong, dark smoke coming from the northern area of the plant in southern Ukraine […]
WASHINGTON, Aug 18, 2023 (AFP) – After a catastrophic wildfire that killed more than 100 people in Hawaii, eyes have turned toward an unexpected culprit: invasive grass species that have spread massively over the archipelago for decades, serving as the perfect fuel. Drought-resistant, capable of invading difficult terrain, and gradually muscling out local species, they are also a growing threat in the western United States, where devastating fires are increasing. “Invasive grasses are very ignitable. […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Researchers estimate there are significantly more species of trees on Earth than currently known, with more than 9,000 species yet to be discovered, according to a study published Monday. “Estimating the number of tree species is essential to inform, optimize, and prioritize forest conservation efforts across the globe,” said the study, which was published in the US National Academy of Sciences journal PNAS and involved dozens of scientists. About 64,100 […]
MUMBAI, India (AFP) — Five people died as a fire tore through a building in the world’s biggest vaccine production hub in western India Thursday, officials said. “Five people have died,” Pune city mayor Murlidhar Mohol told reporters following the fire at the Serum Institute of India. Rescue workers discovered five bodies in the under-construction building after the blaze was brought under control, media reports said, but the company insisted its production of drugs to […]
by Kelly MACNAMARA Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — An unusual vine discovered by a 91-year-old volunteer nature guide in Japan has a “unique” way of using its leaves to curl around its fruits to envelop them in a protective microclimate, scientists said on Wednesday. The cucurbitaceous vine, a type found in East Asia, is an oddity because while leaves come in all shapes and sizes and perform a crucial role in photosynthesis, they are […]
BRISBANE, Australia (AFP) — Australia is notorious for its venomous spiders, snakes and sea creatures, but researchers have now identified “scorpion-like” toxins secreted by a tree that can cause excruciating pain for weeks. Split-second contact with the dendrocnide tree, a rainforest nettle known by its indigenous name gympie-gympie, delivers a sting far more potent than similar plants found in the US or Europe. The tree, which has broad oval- or heart-shaped leaves, is primarily found […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan will for the first time next month lift an evacuation order in one of two towns where the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is located, officials said Tuesday. The government plans to lift the order for part of Okuma town on April 10, cabinet office official Yohei Ogino told AFP. It will be the first time the government has lifted an evacuation order in the towns — Okuma and Futaba — […]
by Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Some of Africa’s oldest and biggest baobab trees — a few dating all the way back to the ancient Greeks — have abruptly died, wholly or in part, in the past decade, researchers said Monday. The trees, aged between 1,100 and 2,500 years and some as wide as a bus is long, may have fallen victim to climate change, the team speculated. “We report that […]
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP) — At least six people died and several others were seriously injured in an explosion Thursday at a Czech chemical plant in the northern town of Kralupy-nad-Vltavou, fire fighters said. “We have received information about six dead and several others seriously injured,” regional fire fighter spokeswoman Vladimira Kerekova said, quoted by the CTK news agency. © Agence France-Presse
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Workers at Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have installed a device to remove nuclear fuel from a meltdown-hit reactor nearly seven years after the crisis was sparked by a tsunami, a spokesman said Monday. The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), said it started putting a crane on the roof of unit No. 3 on Sunday to extract a total of 566 rods from its fuel pool. It […]
SHANXI PROVINCE, China (Reuters) — In a country where anything from chopsticks to slippers can be designed to look like pandas, one Chinese energy company is going a step further by building 100 solar farms shaped like the bears along the route of the ambitious Belt and Road initiative. Panda Green Energy Group has already connected one such 50-megawatt (MW) plant to the grid in the northern province of Shanxi, the first step in a […]
by Nina LARSON GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Swiss voted Sunday in favor of a massive overhaul of the country’s energy system by gradually replacing the power from its ageing nuclear reactors with renewable sources. A full 58.2 percent of Swiss voters supported the shift, according to a final tally after Sunday’s referendum, with only four of the country’s 26 cantons voting “no”. The move has been in the making since shortly after Japan’s Fukushima […]
