Climate change: With floods, forest fires tormenting world, experts warn of hell as economies nosedive
The costs keep piling up: California’s 2018 fire season caused close to $150 billion in damages, and this year’s record-setting wildfires could prove just as dear. Rebuilding after Germany’s summer floods will probably cost more than $7.12 billion, the country’s finance minister says. And estimates place the damage from Hurricane...
We’ve been away too long: World class ABBA pop music band reunites in London after 40-year ‘sabbatical’
Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Björn Ulvaeus sent music lovers into a frenzy as they reunited for the first time in the UK for 40 years. The foursome walked the red carpet at the world premiere of their new Voyage show, featuring the foursome as digitally created younger...
‘Belarusian security forces arrest refugees, set dogs on them, torture them with electric shocks, butts them with guns’
Human rights groups in Belarus have also documented abuses – including beatings and torture – carried out by local security forces. Khaled Mohebi, a 27-year-old from Afghanistan, reported that when the Polish border guards pushed him back to Belarus when he first attempted to cross last October, Belarusian security forces...
Refugees fleeing war in Ukraine say Polish border guards broke their cell phones, shouted all night to deny them sleep
More than 3.5 million of the 6.5 million people who have fled Russia’s invasion have entered the European Union (UE) at the Poland-Ukraine border, mainly to open arms and a hot meal. This situation stands in stark contrast to the reception for refugees from the Middle East, Africa and South...
Russian invasion of Ukraine is feeding renewed enthusiasm for sovereignty driven by nuclear energy in Europe
In early March, the world looked on in horror as a fire broke out at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in southeast Ukraine. The blaze at the Zaporizhzhia facility following shelling by invading Russian forces was eventually brought under control. No leaked radiation was reported, although the potential for catastrophe...
Zimbabwe seeks international support to sell seized ivory stockpile to raise $854 million for elephant conservation
Zimbabwe is seeking international support to be allowed to sell its stockpile of seized ivory, saying the $854 million it expects to earn is urgently needed for the conservation of its rapidly growing elephant population, which it describes as “dangerous”. Officials from the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority...
Conservation: Bees build up their honey pharmacy only if the right flowers are available in numbers and diversity
Research has unearthed the effects of additional phytochemicals in honey. Abscisic acid boosts bees’ immune response, improves wound-healing time and tolerance to cold temperatures, studies show. Other phytochemicals blunt the impact of parasites, one of the major causes of honeybee decline: For example, giving fungus-infected honeybees a syrup containing thymol,...
Why honey is a superfood: It has nutrients that boost tolerance of harsh conditions and fight off infections, heal wounds
It should come as no surprise that bees know a lot about honey. They aren’t only honey producers, they are also consumers, and pretty sophisticated ones at that. Offer a sick bee different variety of honey, for example, and it will choose the one that best fights off its infection....
Africa’s burden: Report says monkeypox is related to smallpox, a dreaded disease that was eradicated in 1980
The rapid accumulation of monkeypox virus cases is ringing alarm bells. On Tuesday this week, the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signalled it was worried about the state of the outbreak in the UK and the potential that cases would be found in other countries. “We do...
Stereotyping? Strain of monkeypox virus detected in Canada, US and Europe in gays, lesbians…then linked to Africa!
The United States confirmed a case of monkeypox infection on Wednesday in a man who recently travelled to Canada. It is not yet clear if the man, who lives in Massachusetts and who traveled to Canada by car, is connected to the growing outbreak of monkeypox cases in Europe. The...
