RIO DE JANEIRO, June 18, 2023 (AFP) – At least 11 people were killed and 20 were missing after a cyclone tore through southern Brazil, local authorities said Saturday. “According to the state branch of Protection and Civil Defense, 11 people died from the effects of the cyclone,” the government of Rio Grande do Sul state, which borders Argentina and Uruguay, said in a statement. “Eighteen people are still missing in Caraa and two in […]
Life
Forest fire risks mount in drought-hit Nordic nations
LYNGE, Denmark, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – “I need water”, pleads farmer Lars Jonsson, casting a desperate eye over a parched field in eastern Denmark where the only shade is that cast by wind turbines. Across the northern hemisphere, the start of summer has been marked by extreme weather conditions, from megafires in Canada to drought in Spain. Even Northern Europe, typically known for its mild climate, has experienced an unseasonally dry spring and early […]
Record UK drinking water demand sparks water use restrictions
LONDON, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – Millions of people across parts of southern Britain will be banned from using garden hoses as a hot spell sparks record demand for drinking water, authorities said on Friday. A temporary ban for people living in the southern Kent and Sussex areas will come into force on June 26 as forecasters predict the summer will see little rainfall. South East Water said demand in June had broken records despite […]
US charges nine in art, sports memorabilia theft conspiracy
NEW YORK, June 15, 2023 (AFP) – An Andy Warhol silkscreen, Jackson Pollock painting and World Series rings awarded to baseball legend Yogi Berra — those were just a few of the high-value items US prosecutors charged nine people Thursday with stealing. In a plot worthy of a Hollywood film, the suspects allegedly broke into multiple museums and institutions in several US states over 20 years to pilfer objects totalling millions of dollars. The accused […]
Beijing roasts in record mid-June temperatures
BEIJING, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – Temperatures in Beijing hit a record for mid-June of 39.4 degrees Celsius (103 Fahrenheit) on Friday, China’s meteorological authority said, warning the public to stay indoors. “At around 2:30 pm on June 16, the temperature at Beijing’s Nanjiao observatory hit 39.4 degrees Celsius, breaking the record high for mid-June,” the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) wrote in a social media post. The CMA said the coming days would see temperatures […]
Night owls die earlier due to drinking and smoking: study
PARIS, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – People who tend to stay up late are not more likely to die younger than early risers — as long as they don’t use those longer nights for drinking and smoking, a 37-year-long study suggested on Friday. Previous research has shown that night owls, who stay up later and struggle to drag themselves out of bed in the morning, are more likely to suffer from a range of health […]
Rescue dog that helped find lost kids in Amazon is now missing
By Lina VANEGAS Bogotá, June 13, 2023 (AFP) – Six-year-old tracker dog Wilson, who went missing during the ultimately successful, weeks-long search for four missing Indigenous children in the Colombian Amazon, is now the target of a rescue mission himself. Dozens of soldiers are scouring the jungle for the canine hero that disappeared on duty two weeks ago, with the military having vowed not to “abandon a fallen comrade” who may have found the children […]
Ecuadoran woman wakes up inside coffin at her own wake
An elderly Ecuadoran woman who woke up inside a coffin at her own wake is being treated at the same state hospital that declared her dead two days earlier, her son said on Sunday. A video posted on Twitter shows Bella Montoya, 76, in her open coffin breathing heavily while two men assist her. Her son, Gilbert Balberán, said “she was hitting the box” with her left hand after the five-hour wake. Balberán had to […]
Not phasing out fossil fuels is ‘death sentence’: Greta Thunberg
BONN, June 13, 2023 (AFP) – Failure to end use of fossil fuels will be a “death sentence” to millions worldwide, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg warned on Tuesday, urging politicians to take more ambitious action. “It will be impossible for us to stick to the 1.5-degree limit without a rapid, equitable, fossil fuel phase-out,” Thunberg told a press conference. She was referring to the 2015 Paris Agreement, at which world leaders pledged to cut greenhouse […]
Extreme weather killed 195,000 in Europe since 1980
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — Extreme weather conditions in Europe have killed almost 195,000 people and caused economic losses of more than 560 billion euros since 1980, the European Environment Agency said Wednesday. “Nearly 195,000 fatalities have been caused by floods, storms, heat- and coldwaves, forest fires and landslides” between 1980 and 2021, the EAA said in its report. Of the 560 billion euros ($605 billion) in losses, only 170 billion, or 30 percent, were insured, […]
Influencers overtaking journalists as news source: report
By Paul RICARD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France — TikTok influencers and celebrities are increasingly taking over from journalists as the main source of news for young people, according to a report published Wednesday by the Britain-based Reuters Institute. The report found that 55 percent of TikTok and Snapchat users and 52 percent of Instagram users get their news from “personalities” — compared to 33-42 percent who get it from mainstream media and journalists on those […]
Nigeria chef cooks up Guinness record in four days
LAGOS, Nigeria — A Nigerian chef has clinched the Guinness World Record for the longest solo cooking session after a marathon 93 hours and 11 minutes cooking nonstop on her feet, the organization confirmed on Tuesday. Hilda Baci, 26, who trained at the gym to stay on her feet for the four days needed to break the record last month, had said her May 11-15 bid was meant to help “put Nigerian cuisine on the […]
