Tokyo (AFP) Aug 15, 2024 Japan lifted on Thursday a week-old warning that a “megaquake” potentially causing colossal damage and loss of life could strike, with the government telling people their lives could now “go back to normal”. The alert that such a catastrophe might hit the archipelago of 125 million people prompted thousands of Japanese to cancel holidays and stock up on essentials, emptying … Continue reading Japan lifts ‘megaquake’ warning

Beijing (AFP) Aug 15, 2024 A Beijing-based North Korea tour operator expressed hopes of fresh business on Thursday following an unexpected announcement that the country would reopen to foreign tourists this winter. A day earlier, Koryo Tours said they had received notice from isolated North Korea that tourism to the northeastern city of Samjiyon will resume in December after nearly five years of Covid-triggered closurhttp://dlvr.it/TBxjvJ Continue reading North Korea tour operators hopeful ahead of country’s reopening

Tarawa, Kiribati (AFP) Aug 14, 2024 Polls opened in the Pacific nation of Kiribati on Wednesday after a campaign dominated by the increasing cost of living, rising sea levels, and questions about the benefit of deeper ties with China. Across more than a dozen islands and atolls hugging the international dateline, voters will select a batch of lawmakers to represent their 130,000-strong nation. It is … Continue reading Kiribati votes in test for pro-China government

United Nations, United States (AFP) Aug 14, 2024 Nearly half a billion children are facing twice as many days of extreme heat each year – or more – than their grandparents did, the UN said Tuesday, warning of deadly consequences. As climate change continues to push up temperatures globally, one in five children – some 466 million kids – live in areas that are registering … Continue reading Extreme heat exposure on the rise for millions of kids: UN

Paris (AFP) Aug 13, 2024 Wildfires made more frequent and intense by climate change released significant quantities of CO2 into the air in 2023-2024, said a first-of-its-kind annual study published Wednesday. Fires in natural areas caused 8.6 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions worldwide between March 2023 and February 2024 – 16 percent above average. Only a relatively calm fires season in the African savannah prehttp://dlvr.it/TBtpcs Continue reading Wildfires caused major CO2 emissions last year: annual study

Penteli, Greece (AFP) Aug 13, 2024 Greek emergency services fought back Tuesday against a massive wildfire that scorched the Athens suburbs, killing a woman, causing widespread damage and sending thousands of people fleeing from their homes. A fire department spokesperson told AFP that “pockets of flame” were being dealt with but there were no longer “areas of particular concern”. Hundreds of firefighters, backed by arounhttp://dlvr.it/TBtpcq Continue reading Greek firefighters calm deadly Athens inferno

Paris (AFP) Aug 13, 2024 Antarctica, the world’s coldest continent, is experiencing an exceptionally long heatwave during its winter, according to Britain’s national polar research institute. Temperature anomalies are not unusual on the continent known as “The Ice” but “the longevity of the warm period is unusual”, Thomas Caton Harrison, Polar Climate Scientist at British Antarctic Survey, said to AFP this week.http://dlvr.it/TBtpZq Continue reading Antarctica winter experiences prolonged heatwave

Kampala (AFP) Aug 12, 2024 Esther Nalukwago, a 42-year-old mother of twins, fled half-dressed in panic when a torrent of rotting garbage engulfed her home in the Ugandan capital Kampala, in a disaster that has claimed the lives of at least 23 people including children. “I saw one side of my room collapsing. I dashed out half-naked,” she recounted to AFP on Monday, surrounded by … Continue reading ‘Fear and panic’: Ugandans recount deadly garbage landslide

Athens (AFP) Aug 12, 2024 Thousands of residents near Athens fled their homes on Monday, including in the historic town of Marathon, as wildfires crept closer to the capital despite “superhuman” efforts to contain the blazes, officials said. Authorities ordered at least five more communities and two hospitals northeast of Athens to leave after eight nearby villages, including Marathon, were told to evacuate on Sundayhttp://dlvr.it/TBprF6 Continue reading Thousands flee as wildfires bear down on Greek capital

Kampala (AFP) Aug 12, 2024 The death toll from a garbage landslide in the Ugandan capital Kampala has risen to 23, a city official said Monday. People and livestock were buried in mountains of waste at the landfill in the northern Kampala district of Kiteezi on Saturday after a collapse caused by heavy downpours. “The latest confirmed dead are 23,” Kampala city authority spokesman Daniel … Continue reading Uganda garbage landslide death toll rises to 23