Montreal (AFP) June 21, 2022 A major biodiversity summit delayed due to the pandemic will be held in Montreal, Canada instead of China as planned, the UN said Tuesday, as Beijing continues with its strict zero-Covid policy. A group of around 195 nations are aiming to adopt a new global deal to arrest declining biodiversity and safeguard nature at the COP15 summit, which has been … Continue reading Biodiversity conference moved from China to Canada: UN

Atalaia Do Norte, Brazil (AFP) June 20, 2022 Brazilian police said Monday they had found the boat in which British journalist Dom Phillips and his Brazilian expert guide Bruno Pereira were travelling before they were killed in the Amazon. The boat was found Sunday night some 20 meters (65 feet) under water and 30 meters from the right bank of the Itaquai River, packed with … Continue reading Brazilian police find boat of murdered British journalist, guide

Ottawa (AFP) June 14, 2022 Canada and Denmark have finally settled a largely good-natured “war” fought for decades with weapons such as flags, whiskey and schnapps over a tiny, barren, and uninhabited outcrop in the Arctic. The two sides were to formally announce Tuesday a deal to split Hans Island and effectively create the first land border between Canada and Europe at a signing ceremony … Continue reading Canada, Denmark settle friendly ‘war’ over Arctic island

Atalaia Do Norte, Brazil (AFP) June 17, 2022 The United Nations as well as environmental and rights groups expressed outrage Thursday at the murder of British journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, which they linked to President Jair Bolsonaro’s willingness to allow commercial exploitation of the Brazilian Amazon. Veteran correspondent Phillips, 57, and Pereira, 41, went missing on June 5 in a remote … Continue reading Bolsonaro blamed as UN, activists denounce Amazon murders

Sulaimaniyah, Iraq (AFP) June 19, 2022 A cholera outbreak in Iraq has infected at least 13 people and scores more suspected cases have been sent for analysis, most from the northern Kurdistan region, health officials said Sunday. “Ten cases of cholera have been recorded in the province” of Sulaimaniyah, said Sabah Hawrami, district health chief in the autonomous Kurdistan region. Another 56 suspected cases from … Continue reading Iraq confirms 13 cholera cases, scores suspected

Abidjan (AFP) June 16, 2022 Six people died overnight after torrential rain triggered a landslip in Ivory Coast’s economic capital Abidjan, the emergency services said Thursday. Four adults and two children were killed, and two people were hospitalised with injuries, the fire brigade said in a statement posted on social media. Prime Minister Patrick Achi visited the site of the accident, which occurred in Mossikro,http://dlvr.it/SSW5Rb Continue reading Landslip kills six in Ivory Coast

Los Angeles (AFP) June 16, 2022 The punishing drought gripping the western United States has claimed another victim: Independence Day fireworks, with Los Angeles city bosses warning private displays could spark dangerous blazes. Americans celebrate the 1776 declaration of independence from British rule on July 4 every year with proudly patriotic parties that often include drinking and pyrotechnics. But managers in Loshttp://dlvr.it/SSW5Np Continue reading Los Angeles warned over July 4 firework blazes during drought

Paris (AFP) June 17, 2022 A WTO deal aimed at curbing overfishing was hailed by conservation groups as a major turning point, even if it was the result of compromises to seal the long-sought agreement. Negotiations towards banning subsidies that encourage overfishing and threaten the sustainability of the planet’s fish stocks had been going on at the World Trade Organization since 2001. The text was … Continue reading WTO fishing deal hailed as historic though ‘not perfect’

Samawah, Iraq (AFP) June 18, 2022 Gazelles at an Iraqi wildlife reserve are dropping dead from hunger, making them the latest victims in a country where climate change is compounding hardships after years of war. In little over one month, the slender-horned gazelle population at the Sawa reserve in southern Iraq has plunged from 148 to 87. Lack of funding along with a shortage of … Continue reading In a parched land, Iraqi gazelles dying of hunger

Rio De Janeiro (AFP) June 18, 2022 British journalist Dom Phillips and his Brazilian guide, whose disappearance in the Amazon some two weeks ago sparked an international outcry, were killed by gunfire, Brazilian police said Saturday. A day after investigators identified remains found buried in a remote part of the Amazon as those of Phillips, officials said a second set of remains belonged to his … Continue reading Police confirm ID of Brazilian guide in Amazon double killing