NOWRA (Australia): Rain fell across parts of bushfire-ravaged eastern Australia yesterday and more wet weather was forecast, giving some relief following months of catastrophic blazes fuelled by climate change. The fires, unprecedented for Australia in terms of duration and intensity, have claimed 28 lives and killed an estimated billion animals.
TOKYO: Japan has confirmed a case of a mystery virus that first emerged in China and is from the same family as the deadly SARS pathogen, authorities said yesterday. It appears to be only the second time the novel coronavirus has been detected outside China, after the World Health Organisation
LONDON: Jamaica’s Toni-Ann Singh was crowned as Miss World 2019 on Saturday and said she wanted to use her title to work for “sustainable change” for women and their children. Asked about the value of beauty contests in today’s world of MeToo# and the drive for equality and respect for
JAKARTA: Anwar bin Sholeh had something to cheer when he showed up at a Jakarta training centre to practice pencak silat — the Indonesian martial art was added to Unesco’s prestigious heritage list. “It’s an honour that pencak silat has been recognised internationally,” the 38-year-old, who has been practising the
RIO DE JANEIRO: Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon in November surged by 104 percent compared to the same month in 2018, according to official data released Saturday. The 563 square kilometres deforested that month is also the highest number for any November since 2015, according to Brazil’s National Institute for Space
NISKA BANJA (Serbia): December snow flurries in Serbia haven’t stopped Aleksandar Tanic from cultivating his scorching-hot crop: the crinkly chili peppers that are considered the spiciest on the planet. At the base of a mountain in southern Serbia, Tanic plucks a handful of red, yellow and orange peppers from rows
MANILA: A strong earthquake hit the southern Philippine island of Mindanao yesterday, geologists said, causing damage and injuries in an area still recovering from a string of deadly quakes in October. Police said a rescue operation had been launched at a heavily damaged market building near the 6.8 magnitude quake’s
PARIS: A rise in temperature of just two degrees Celsius could lead to an additional 2,100 deaths from injuries every year in the United States, researchers said Monday, highlighting another danger posed by global warming. Most of the extra fatalities would be men aged 15-34 years due to a heightened
PARIS: Thirty percent of Earth’s surface across land and sea should become protected areas by 2030 to ensure the viability of ecosystems essential to human well-being, according to a UN plan released Monday. The draft proposal to halt the degradation of Nature and the gathering pace of species loss will
SYDNEY: Forecasts of heavy rain offered hope yesterday in the months-long battle to contain Australia’s unprecedented bushfires, but smoke lifted pollution levels in the nation’s second biggest city to among the worst in the world. Cool weather over recent days has already given some respite for exhausted firefighters spread out