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Rich and poor united in desperate quest for water in Venezuela![]() Caracas (AFP) April 3, 2019 Crippling power blackouts are subjecting Venezuelans to a second phase of deprivation - massive water shortages that make no distinction in income or social class, forcing rich and poor alike to wait in long lines for drinking water, while some hoist it from sewers to be able to flush their toilets. On the hill in the Caracas neighborhood of Petare - the country's largest slum home to more than half a million people - hundreds of people line up day and night behind two wells. They carry anyth ... read more |
'Cow toilets' in Netherlands aim to cut e-moo-ssionsThe Hague (AFP) March 29, 2019 Teaching cows to use the toilet is not the easiest task, but a Dutch inventor is banking on a new bovine urinal to help cut emissions that cause environmental damage. ... more
Plant seed research provides basis for sustainable alternatives to chemical fertilizersSt. Paul MN (SPX) Mar 27, 2019 Recent advances in next-generation sequencing technologies have allowed scientists to access and assess previously undetectable plant microorganisms. Scientists have long known that various plant-as ... more
Libya chaos leaves city residents struggling for waterZintan, Libya (AFP) April 2, 2019 Hundreds of blue pipes lay abandoned in Libya's Zintan, leaving residents struggling to get enough water after the 2011 revolution halted their spot on the world's largest irrigation project. ... more
Monsanto ordered to pay $81 mn in Roundup cancer trialSan Francisco (AFP) March 28, 2019 Monsanto was ordered on Wednesday to pay some $81 million to an American retiree who blames his cancer on the agribusiness giant's weedkiller Roundup. ... more |
IMF approves $206 mn aid to Sri Lanka after Cyclone Ditwah
Flights cancelled, roads flooded as rare storm soaks UAE Sri Lanka plans $1.6 bn in cyclone recovery spending in 2026 Brazil megacity Sao Paulo struck by fresh water crisis Indonesians reeling from flood devastation plea for global help Levee break near Seattle prompts evacuation order Flash flood kills dozens in Morocco town At least 20 dead in eastern Bolivia floods Press Release from Business Wire: Textron Inc. Flash floods kill 37 in Moroccan coastal town |
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| Previous Issues | Apr 02 | Apr 01 | Mar 31 | Mar 30 | Mar 29 |
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China expands ban on Canadian canola imports to second firmBeijing (AFP) March 27, 2019 China has banned imports from a second Canadian canola firm, its customs administration said Tuesday, the latest escalation of a burgeoning row between the two countries. ... more
China expands ban on Canadian canola imports to second firmBeijing (AFP) March 26, 2019 China has banned imports from a second Canadian canola firm, its customs administration said Tuesday, the latest escalation in a burgeoning row between the two countries. ... more
Stalagmite to help predict droughts, floods in IndiaWashington (UPI) Mar 25, 2019 Analysis of a stalagmite in one of the rainiest places on the planet has revealed an unexpected link between winter precipitation totals in northeast India and climatic conditions in the Pacific. ... more
Toxicologist denies manipulating studies in Monsanto damages proceedingsSan Francisco (AFP) March 23, 2019 A toxicologist from Roundup weedkiller manufacturer Monsanto denied Friday that she had influenced scientific studies to hide the dangers of the product, in the damages phase of a trial in California. ... more
Solar Steel will supply solar-powered irrigation based on TracSmarT+ single-axis trackerMadrid, Spain (SPX) Mar 25, 2019 Solar Steel, division of Gonvarri Steel Services will supply three new installations of solar-powered irrigation systems to different farming exploitations in Spain. These PV irrigation-pumping syst ... more |
![]() Measuring impact of drought on groundwater resources from space
Post-IS, north Iraq's minority mosaic blown apart by traumaSinjar, Iraq (AFP) March 21, 2019 For decades, his land was his life. Now, like other Sunni Arab farmers in Iraq's diverse north, Mahdi Abu Enad is cut off from his fields, fearing reprisal attacks. ... more |
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Glyphosate under fire from San Francisco to Sri LankaParis (AFP) March 20, 2019 Glyphosate, the world's most widely used herbicide and the active ingredient in Monsanto's weedkiller Roundup, is the subject of fierce controversy across the globe and is classified by the World Health Organization as "probably" being carcinogenic. ... more
From tree killing beetles to crop disease: Central America's struggles with droughtValle De Angeles, Honduras (AFP) March 21, 2019 Honduran conservationists are worried. A deadly insect that wiped out more than a quarter of the Central American country's conifers between 2013 and 2017 is back. ... more
Drought wipes popular Chilean lake from the mapPaine, Chile (AFP) March 20, 2019 The cows and horses would have come for the last blades of grass. Now their bones are scattered on the cracked earth, victims of drought that wiped Santiago's weekend playground Lake Aculeo from the map. ... more
Five things to know about Bayer and MonsantoFrankfurt Am Main (AFP) March 20, 2019 The second cancer victim in a year to win a surprise victory against US pesticide maker Monsanto raises the prospect of a flood of similar lawsuits, potentially leaving the firm's new German owner Bayer with a major case of buyer's remorse. ... more
Iraqi Kurds commemorate Halabja massacreHalabja, Iraq (AFP) March 16, 2019 Hundreds of Kurds gathered in the Iraqi town of Halabja on Saturday in a tearful ceremony commemorating Saddam Hussein's poison gas attack there which killed some 5,000 people, mostly women and children. ... more |
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Natural climate processes overshadow recent human-induced Walker circulation trends Seoul, South Korea (SPX) Apr 03, 2019
A new study, published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change, shows that the recent intensification of the equatorial Pacific wind system, known as Walker Circulation, is unrelated to human influences and can be explained by natural processes. This result ends a long-standing debate on the drivers of an unprecedented atmospheric trend, which contributed to a three-fold acceleration of s ... more |
China, Arab states eye closer cooperation on satellite navigation to build "Space Silk Road" Tunis, Tunisia Beijing (XNA) Apr 03, 2019
Chinese and Arab officials and experts on Monday envisioned building a "Space Silk Road" through closer cooperation on wider application of China's indigenously made BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) in the Middle East.
Speaking at the second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum held in the Tunisian capital Tunis, the officials and experts agreed that increased application of the ... more |
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Help NASA Measure Trees with Your Smartphone Greenbelt MD (SPX) Mar 27, 2019
Healthy forests play an crucial role in Earth's ecosystem as growing trees take up carbon from the atmosphere. NASA satellites and airborne missions study forests to see how carbon moves through ecosystems - and now citizen scientists can help investigate this key question as well by using their smartphone to measure tree height.
The GLOBE Observer app provides a step-by-step guide for peo ... more |
OU engineers discover novel role of water in production of renewable fuels Norman OK (SPX) Apr 02, 2019
University of Oklahoma engineers in collaboration with the University of Tulsa have discovered a novel approach for the water-assisted upgrading of the renewable chemical, furfural, doubling or tripling the rate of conversion.
"Energy and water are interconnected in the production of renewable fuels. On the one hand, energy is needed to extract, purify and distribute water. On the other ha ... more |
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New structural phase transition may broaden the applicability of photo-responsive solids Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Mar 28, 2019
A team of scientists from Waseda University in Tokyo and Rigaku Corporation discovered a new type of structural phase transition of an organic crystal, called the photo-triggered phase transition.
Hideko Koshima, a visiting professor at Waseda's Research Organization for Nano and Life Innovation and leading author of this study, says, "Phase transition mechanisms are widely used in memory, ... more |
The complicated future of offshore wind power in the US New Haven CT (SPX) Apr 03, 2019
Over the past decade, wind power production in the U.S. has tripled, becoming the largest source of renewable energy in the country, the American Wind Energy Association has reported. There are more than 56,800 wind turbines in 41 states and territories, generating more than 6 percent of the nation's electricity, supporting more than 105,000 jobs and garnering billions of dollars in private and ... more |
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Smog chokes coal-dependent Poland with no end in sight Rybnik, Poland (AFP) March 31, 2019
Puffs of yellowish grey-and-black smoke billowing out of household chimneys create a blanket of smog choking the southern Polish mining town of Rybnik, one of the most polluted places in the European Union.
Although it's early spring, the weather is wintry and Ewa Kempny is still shovelling coal into an antiquated stove to heat her home.
"What do you want us to use for heat here? Coal is ... more |
Hong Kong's China extradition plan sparks alarm Hong Kong (AFP) March 30, 2019 Hong Kong's plans to approve extraditions to the mainland have sparked alarm within the city's business and legal communities who fear it will hammer the financial hub's international appeal and tangle people up in China's opaque courts.
The proposal, which will be debated in Hong Kong's legislature on Wednesday, would allow the transfer of fugitives with Taiwan, Macau and mainland China on ... more |
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A rubber computer eliminates the last hard components from soft robots Boston MA (SPX) Mar 27, 2019
A soft robot, attached to a balloon and submerged in a transparent column of water, dives and surfaces, then dives and surfaces again, like a fish chasing flies. Soft robots have performed this kind of trick before. But unlike most soft robots, this one is made and operated with no hard or electronic parts. Inside, a soft, rubber computer tells the balloon when to ascend or descend. For the firs ... more |
New York state prepares to ban plastic bags New York (AFP) March 29, 2019 After several failed attempts, New York state is poised to ban single-use plastic bags provided by stores, making it only the second US state, after California, to pass such a rule.
With Democrats controlling both chambers of the state legislature, lawmakers have reached agreement to include the plastic ban in a broader framework of budgetary measures to be voted on by Monday.
If the bi ... more |
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30 firefighters die battling China forest fire Beijing (AFP) April 1, 2019
Thirty firefighters died after they were sent to tackle a forest blaze in remote mountains in southwest China's Sichuan province at the weekend, authorities said Monday.
Nearly 700 firefighters were deployed to battle the fire, which broke out on Saturday on steep terrain at an altitude of around 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) in Muli County, the ministry of emergency management said.
Rescue ... more |
Back to the water Paris (ESA) Mar 27, 2019
In the absolute darkness of caves, rare creatures have returned to living in water to survive. Astronauts looking for life in the underworld during the CAVES training courses discovered a new species of crustaceans that have completed an evolutionary full circle - from water to land, and back to water again.
Just under one centimetre long, these animals belong to the suborder of terrestria ... more |
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27 killed, hundreds injured, in Nepal storm Kathmandu (AFP) April 1, 2019
A freak storm tore down houses and overturned cars and trucks as it swept across southern Nepal killing at least 27 people and leaving more than 600 injured, officials said Monday as a major rescue operation gathered pace.
The rare spring storm battered the rural district of Bara and adjoining areas late Sunday with high winds. Five children were among the dead, the home ministry said, as re ... more |
Brussels increasingly wary of long Brexit delay Brussels (AFP) April 2, 2019
EU leaders still want to avoid the chaos of a "no deal" Brexit, but concern is rising that giving Britain a long delay poses risks of its own and would solve little.
With less than two weeks until Britain ends its four-decade-old EU membership, UK lawmakers are still deadlocked over what kind of divorce they want.
European negotiators insist the deal they signed with Prime Minister There ... more |
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Climate changes make some aspects of weather forecasting increasingly difficult Stockholm, Sweden (SPX) Mar 24, 2019
The ongoing climate changes make it increasingly difficult to predict certain aspects of weather, according to a new study from Stockholm University. The study, focusing on weather forecasts in the northern hemisphere spanning 3- 10 days ahead, concludes that the greatest uncertainty increase will be regarding summer downfalls, of critical importance when it comes to our ability to predict and p ... more |
Tasmanian devils prove quick adaptors in bid for survival Cradle Mountain, Australia (AFP) March 29, 2019 A contagious cancer is threatening Tasmanian devils with extinction, but these unique carnivores - and their human helpers - are adapting at breakneck speed, giving new hope for their survival.
Evolutionary change is usually measured over millennia, but in the craggy mountains of northern Tasmania, it can be seen in real time.
Three decades after the first cases of a fatal transmissi ... more |
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