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Lesotho farmers protest against Chinese wool deal![]() Maseru, Lesotho (AFP) June 28, 2019 Several thousand farmers in the mountain kingdom of Lesotho marched to parliament on Friday to protest against regulations forcing them to sell their wool and mohair to a Chinese broker. Wool and mohair are key exports for farmers in Lesotho, but the government of the small southern Africa nation signed a monopoly deal last year with a Chinese broker who is accused of failing to pay for goods. The protest won the support of some members of Prime Minister Thomas Thabane's All Basotho Convention p ... read more |
Bordeaux winemakers cheer heatwave: 'It's magic!'Bordeaux (AFP) June 26, 2019 The heatwave that is roasting parts of Europe is more than welcome in the French region of Bordeaux, where wine producers say a sudden intense burst of sun after a wet spring could produce a superior vintage. ... more
Canada, China diplomatic row provokes farm troublesSaint-Thomas, Canada (AFP) June 27, 2019 Quebec hog farmer Serge Menard is worried about the future of his herd and his farm in the wake of China's ban on Canadian meat exports - the latest screw to turn in an escalating diplomatic row. ... more
Fearful of elephant attacks, some in Botswana cheer hunting's returnKasane, Botswana (AFP) June 20, 2019 An elephant carcass lies at the edge of a field in Legotlhwana village, northeast Botswana - evidence of the desperation and anger felt by a farmer whose crops have been repeatedly destroyed. ... more
The Water Future of Earth's 'Third Pole'Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jun 27, 2019 Himalaya. Karakoram. Hindu Kush. The names of Asia's high mountain ranges conjure up adventure to those living far away, but for more than a billion people, these are the names of their most reliabl ... 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 | Jun 28 | Jun 27 | Jun 26 | Jun 25 | Jun 24 |
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Rare wolf killed in Bangladesh after first appearance in decadesDhaka (AFP) June 16, 2019 The first Indian grey wolf to be seen in Bangladesh in eight decades has been beaten to death by farmers after preying on their livestock, wildlife experts said Sunday. ... more
Earth's freshwater future: extremes of flood and droughtGreenbelt MD (SPX) Jun 17, 2019 NASA satellites are a prominent tool for accounting for water, as it constantly cycles from water vapor to rain and snow falling onto soils, and across and beneath the landscape. As Earth's atmosphe ... more
9,000 years ago, a community with modern urban problemsColumbus OH (SPX) Jun 18, 2019 Some 9,000 years ago, residents of one of the world's first large farming communities were also among the first humans to experience some of the perils of modern urban living. Scientists study ... more
US prosecutor drops charges, starts over in criminal probe of tainted waterChicago (AFP) June 14, 2019 US prosecutors have dropped all charges connected to lead contamination of drinking water in Flint, Michigan and pledged to start the criminal probe over from scratch after expressing concerns over how it has been handled by predecessors. ... more
Drought forces Namibia to auction 1,000 wild animalsWindhoek (AFP) June 15, 2019 Drought-hit Namibia has authorised the sale of at least 1,000 wild animals - including elephants and giraffes - to limit loss of life and generate $1.1 million for conservation, the authorities confirmed Saturday. ... more |
![]() In Germany, activists battle food waste with dumpster diving
Heavy toll for French farms and vineyards after brutal hailstormRomans-Sur-Isere, France (AFP) June 16, 2019 Farmers in southeast France counted the costs from lost harvests on Sunday after a fierce storm battered the region with hail the size of ping-pong balls, decimating orchards and vineyards just as the summer season was kicking into high gear. ... more |
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Demand for agricultural products pushing primates to brink of extinctionWashington (UPI) Jun 17, 2019 Growing global demands for food and agricultural commodities are driving deforestation across the neotropics - in Africa, as well as south and southeast Asia. ... more
Tough sell: Baijiu, China's potent tipple, looks abroadLuzhou/London, China (AFP) June 17, 2019 It may be China's national spirit, but for London bartender Ellie Veale it's clear from the first swig why baijiu has not caught on overseas. ... more
Under fire over Monsanto's glyphosate, Bayer vows 'transparency'Berlin (AFP) June 14, 2019 Pharmaceutical giant Bayer announced Friday plans to invest five billion euros ($5.6 billion) over the next decade in a new generation of herbicides and promised more transparency after the Monsanto "watch list" scandal. ... more
NASA explores our changing freshwater worldGreenbelt MD (SPX) Jun 13, 2019 Water is so commonplace that we often take it for granted. But too much - or too little of it - makes NASA explores our changing freshwater worlds. Catastrophic flooding in the U.S. Midwest th ... more
W.African farm 'bootcamp' gets green entrepreneurs into shapeTori-Bossito , Benin (AFP) June 9, 2019 Machetes in hand and wearing a straw hat against the sun, the participants of an "agro-bootcamp" in the farmlands of the West African nation of Benin harvest maize, cowpeas and rice. ... more |
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SSTL expertise enables new space mission for the FORMOSAT-7 weather constellation Guildford UK (SPX) Jul 01, 2019
The successful launch on 24 June 2019 (EST) of 6 satellites for the FORMOSAT-7 joint US-Taiwanese weather forecasting constellation marks the start of another SSTL-enabled space mission, a cause for celebration at SSTL's UK HQ.
The launch on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Centre was attended by SSTL staff including Managing Director, Sarah Parker who said "We are ver ... more |
NASA Eyes GPS at the Moon for Artemis Missions Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 01, 2019
GPS, a satellite-based navigation system used by an estimated four billion people worldwide to figure out where they are on Earth at any moment, could be used to pilot in and around lunar orbit during future Artemis missions.
A team at NASA is developing a special receiver that would be able to pick up location signals provided by the 24 to 32 operational Global Positioning System satellit ... more |
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Some trees make droughts worse, study says Washington (UPI) Jun 25, 2019
New analysis suggests some trees make drought conditions worse.
The loss of trees and vegetation can have a variety of negative effects on ecological health. Often, trees and vegetation help mitigate the damage caused by extreme weather. But new research suggests the effects of vegetation on weather conditions depends on the physiology of the involved vegetation.
According to a n ... more |
Applying pressure is way toward generating more electricity from waste heat Osaka, Japan (SPX) Jul 01, 2019
Researchers at Osaka University have been able to enhance the power factor of a promising thermoelectric material by more than 100% by varying the pressure, paving the way for new materials with improved thermoelectric properties. Thermoelectric materials have the unique ability to generate electricity from temperature differences and therefore could potentially be used to convert otherwise wast ... more |
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Special nanotubes could improve solar power and imaging technology Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jun 24, 2019
Physicists discovered a novel kind of nanotube that generates current in the presence of light. Devices such as optical sensors and infrared imaging chips are likely applications, which could be useful in fields such as automated transport and astronomy. In future, if the effect can be magnified and the technology scaled up, it could lead to high-efficiency solar power devices.
Working wit ... more |
Windmill protesters placed on Dutch terror list The Hague (AFP) June 24, 2019
Dutch counter-terror officials on Monday highlighted "extremist" wind turbine protesters alongside Islamists and the far right in the country's latest terrorism threat report.
At least two companies building new wind turbines in the Netherlands have cancelled construction projects "out of fear of attacks and have lost millions" of euros in damage, the NCTV counter-terrorism agency said.
... more |
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Coal dust and smog plague lives on S.Africa's Highveld Emalahleni, South Africa (AFP) June 27, 2019
Tumelo has again lost several days at school because of sickness.
"My eyes are burning. Sometimes I can't breathe," she coughs.
"The doc said there is nothing we can do," says her mother Nono Ledwaba. "We need to take her out of eMalahleni. When she goes to her grandma in Mafikeng, the symptoms disappear."
The 14-year-old lives in house number 3094 of eMpumelelweni township in eMalah ... more |
New film shows painful legacy of China's one-child policy Paris (AFP) June 28, 2019
To see what China's one-child policy has done to the most populous country on Earth, you just have to look around you, said acclaimed filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai.
"There is often one child now to six grown-ups. You have the four grandparents and two parents for one child. It's a bit unbalanced," the director added with not a little understatement.
"So Long, My Son", which won its stars Yong ... more |
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Safe, low-cost, modular, self-programming robots Munich, Germany (SPX) Jul 01, 2019
Many work processes would be almost unthinkable today without robots. But robots operating in manufacturing facilities have often posed risks to workers because they are not responsive enough to their surroundings. To make it easier for people and robots to work in close proximity in the future, Prof. Matthias Althoff of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has developed a new system: IMPROV ... more |
Thousands march in Madrid to save anti-pollution plan Madrid (AFP) June 29, 2019
Thousands marched through Madrid on Saturday to ask the Spanish capital's new mayor not to ditch ambitious traffic restrictions in the centre only recently set up to improve air quality.
"Madrid Central," as it is called, was one of the measures that persuaded the European Commission not to take Spain to court last year over its bad air pollution in the capital and Barcelona, like it did wit ... more |
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Spain wildfire triggers more evacuations Madrid (AFP) June 30, 2019
Spanish authorities ordered the evacuation Sunday of around 40 homes as a raging wildfire advanced in the centre of the country and temperatures soared.
Police ordered residents to flee their homes outside the town of Cadalso de los Vidrios some 80 kilometres (50 miles) southwest of Madrid at dawn as the flames approached, emergency services said.
"We are helping people to evacuate their ... more |
New research shows how melting ice is affecting supplies of nutrients to the sea Bristol UK (SPX) Jul 01, 2019
The findings of a research expedition to coastal Greenland which examined, for the first time, how melting ice is affecting supplies of nutrients to the oceans has been published in the journal Progress in Oceanography.
The European Research Council-funded expedition on board the RSS Discovery took place during the summer of 2017. It was led by Dr Kate Hendry a geochemist from the Universi ... more |
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Europe set to sizzle again as heatwave continues Carpentras, France (AFP) June 29, 2019 Europe was bracing itself for a sweltering Saturday as the heatwave continued across the continent.
The Meteo-France weather service lifted its red warning but forecast a "very hot day" across a large central band of the country with the mercury expected to rise to 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) in some parts.
With France, Spain, Italy and parts of central Europe hard hit b ... more |
Berlin allotment holders dig in against property developers Berlin (AFP) June 28, 2019
Birds tweet and shears snip as one of Berlin's many urban gardeners tends her city centre allotment, but behind the tranquil scene a battle is raging over the real estate.
"Schrebergaerten", or allotments, offer city dwellers a chance to grow plants and vegetables in small, private gardens and provide a green-leafed retreat from the hustle and bustle of inner-city life.
Berlin has 71,000 ... more |
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Total eclipse will shield sun over South America next week Washington (UPI) Jun 27, 2019
The first total solar eclipse since 2017 will occur next week, and will be visible in parts of South America.
The eclipse will be seen along a 6,000-mile swath on Tuesday. When it aligns with the sun, the moon will cast a dark shadow over parts of Chile and Argentina, experts said. During the event, those locations will be shaded from the sun for several minutes.
Observers will b ... more |
'10 steps ahead': Kenya's tech war on wildlife poachers Ol Pejeta, Kenya (AFP) June 30, 2019
Every morning, at the far perimeter of the wildlife reserve capped by Mount Kenya, a khaki-clad ranger meticulously sweeps the earth of animal footprints, covering their tracks from any poachers.
It's an antiquated approach to outsmarting would-be hunters, but this ranger is not alone. High on a mast nearby, a new camera scans around the clock for intrusions, relaying real-time images to arm ... more |
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