Johari Abdul Ghani said the "orangutan diplomacy" strategy would gift the endangered great apes to palm oil trading nations, especially major importing territories like the EU and India. Orangutans are critically endangered, according to the WWF, with habitat loss "due to logging, agricultural expansion, particularly palm oil plantations, and infrastructure development" posing the greatest threat. "By introducing 'orangutan diplomacy', it will show to the world, that Malaysia is always committed... Читать дальше...
The long-legged birds have traditionally migrated from Europe in the autumn, heading south to spend winter in sub-Saharan Africa before returning in springtime to breed. But abundant food from landfill sites, coupled with warmer weather due to climate change, has led the vast majority of breeding-age storks in Portugal to skip this arduous journey and stay put all year. In spring and summer they often nest on chimneys or electricity pylons, which humans have helped make safer for them. White storks... Читать дальше...
"They were not on our side at all," Alexa Fischer, 25, told AFP. "We couldn't even put their names on our socials because they were embarrassed to host the Swift party," recalled her friend, Femke van Splunter. As it turned out, their first party was an instant success -- with all 200 tickets snapped up in a day. Eighteen months later, once-reticent clubs now seek out the duo to organise Swiftie nights -- having taken the full measure of the phenomenon in Europe, where the singer-songwriter kicks... Читать дальше...
After weeks of vowing to launch a ground incursion into the border city of Rafah despite international objections, Israeli tanks moved in Tuesday, capturing the crossing that has served as the main conduit for aid into the besieged Palestinian territory. The White House condemned the interruption to humanitarian deliveries, with a senior US official later revealing Washington had paused a shipment of bombs last week after Israel failed to address US concerns over its Rafah plans. The push into the southern city... Читать дальше...
"Now there are eight herders' families on this mountain," said Daribazar Nergui, who has lost 10 of his livestock to the elusive apex predators, known as "ghosts of the mountain". But a push for more grazable land by herders seeking to expand their flocks and their earnings has brought them onto lands once reserved for wild animals, leaving them vulnerable to disease and starvation. Another species that's been threatened is the Mongolian gazelle. Long a symbol of the country's natural beauty... Читать дальше...
Iraqi officials say recent rainfall has refilled some of the water-scarce country's main reservoirs, taking levels to a record since 2019. "The dam's storage capacity is three million cubic metres (106 million cubic feet). Today, with the available reserves, the dam is only missing 25 centimetres (10 inches) of water to be considered full," Saman Ismail, director of the Darbandikhan facility, told AFP on Sunday. Built on the River Sirwan, the dam is located south of the city of Sulaimaniyah in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region. Читать дальше...
You've just been stung by a tiny Irukandji jellyfish. While you are unlikely to die, toxicologist Jamie Seymour of James Cook University in Australia says you'll wish you had. He should know -- he's been stung 11 times. But Seymour's job is riskier than most: milking sea creatures of their venom to create life-saving antivenoms. Dozens of Irukandji jellyfish, some no bigger than a sesame seed, float in tanks inside a metal shed kept by the university in the state of Queensland. In another tank... Читать дальше...
While Europe enjoyed a firm session, Wall Street was a little more tepid after surging in reaction to Friday's below-forecast US jobs data, which ramped up bets on a Federal Reserve interest rate cut. With the next major economic release on inflation not until next week, and many big-ticket earnings releases out of the way, investors are keeping tabs on comments from central bankers, hoping for an idea about their plans. "There was limited data on corporate earnings to worry the markets, with no... Читать дальше...
The United States halted a shipment of bombs to Israel last week after it failed to address Washington's concerns over plans to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a senior US official said Tuesday. Read our liveblog for all the latest developments on Israel's war on Gaza.
Protests by students demanding universities sever ties with Israel over the Gaza war spread across western Europe on Tuesday, sparking clashes and dozens of fresh arrests.
The 2018 World Cup winner will leave PSG after seven years when his contract expires at the end of this season, with Real Madrid his likely next destination. He had hoped to sign off by leading the Qatar-owned club to Champions League glory for the first time in their history, and they were the favourites to see off Dortmund at the Parc des Princes in the semi-final second leg. But they failed to overturn a one-goal first-leg deficit, with Mats Hummels scoring the only goal on the night to give Dortmund a 2-0 aggregate victory. Читать дальше...
April marked another "remarkable" month of record-breaking global air and sea surface temperature averages, according to a new report by the EU's climate monitor published on Wednesday.
The No.1 seeds, chasing a record-breaking 18th NBA championship, were always in control against their fourth-seeded Eastern Conference rivals, holding a double-digit lead through the second half to close out an emphatic win at the TD Garden. Brown led the scoring for Boston with 32 points, six rebounds and two assists while the in-form White caught the eye with a 25-point haul that included seven three-pointers. Jayson Tatum added 18 points but had an off-night shooting-wise, making just 7-of-19 from the field. Читать дальше...
For US restorationist Lauren McClain, the process is like putting together a giant 3D puzzle. McClain's job begins at her home workshop near Houston, Texas, where she carefully clears away dirt stuck to the more than 60-million-year-old remains using a tiny drill with an air compressor, similar to a dentist's tool. Then, she must assemble this ancient puzzle -- even though pieces are almost always missing. She molds fillings for the lost parts, plugging the holes and repairing the nicks that... Читать дальше...
But with the South American country hit by the warming effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon since late last year, large cracks have suddenly appeared in the glacier covering the peak, exposing the rock underneath. Experts say the glacier is melting at dizzying speeds, with climate change intensifying the effects of El Nino -- which makes an appearance every two to seven years, and lasts about nine to 12 months. The UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has said that record temperatures... Читать дальше...
Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold talks with his Serbian counterpart in Belgrade on Wednesday, as Beijing seeks to deepen its political and economic ties with friendlier countries in Europe.
Teams in flood-ravaged southern Brazil scrambled Tuesday to deliver humanitarian aid to Porto Alegre and other inundated municipalities, where queues formed for drinking water as forecasters warned of more downpours.
Two women were charged in France on Tuesday over the spraying of the words "MeToo" on five artworks including a famous 19th-century painting of a woman's vulva, a prosecutor said.
Donald Trump's trial in Florida on charges of illegally keeping classified documents after leaving office has been indefinitely postponed, a judge decided on Tuesday, greatly reducing the odds he will face a jury in either of the two federal criminal cases against him before the November 5 US election.
