Johannesburg (AFP) June 18, 2021 South Africa is deploying army medical personnel to its commercial hub and most populous province to help health workers battle a surge in coronavirus, the government said Friday. South Africa, the worst-hit country in the continent, has entered a third Covid wave, with new daily cases doubling over the past two weeks. Gauteng province – home to the administrative capital … Continue reading South Africa sends army medics to Covid-hit province

Thimpu, Bhutan (AFP) June 17, 2021 At least a dozen people have been killed in Bhutan and Nepal and several others are missing as torrential monsoon rains hit the region, triggering landslides and inundating homes, officials said Thursday. The annual monsoon season is crucial to replenish water supplies across South Asia, but it also causes death and destruction. Ten collectors of cordyceps – a fungus … Continue reading Death toll rises as monsoon floods hit Bhutan and Nepal

Dakar (AFP) June 17, 2021 Guinea will announce an end to its Ebola epidemic this weekend, the health minister said Thursday, hailing the rapid response to the second outbreak of the disease in the country. Speaking during a webinar hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO), Health Minister Remy Lamah said the viral epidemic will be declared over on Saturday – barring the discovery of … Continue reading Guinea to declare end to Ebola epidemic

Podcasts provide advertisers with microtargeted pitches that engage listeners more effectively than other outlets, according to Maury Rogow, CEO and creative director of Hollywood’s Rip Media Group. The most effective podcast advertising is delivered by the host. While this makes many marketers uneasy, the risk can pay off because the targets will listen and remember the message.http://dlvr.it/S1zRcX Continue reading Consumers, Marketers, All Ears on Podcast Advertising

Frankfurt (AFP) June 16, 2021 The environmental activist who made an emergency landing into the stadium hosting the Germany-France Euro 2020 match in Munich only narrowly avoided being shot down by snipers because police spotted the Greenpeace logo, Bavaria’s interior minister said on Wednesday. “The snipers already had him in their sights,” the regional minister Joachim Herrmann said in a statement. “If the police hhttp://dlvr.it/S1vgs0 Continue reading Snipers ‘were ready to shoot’ Greenpeace Euro 2020 parachutist

Colombo (AFP) June 15, 2021 A sinking fire-damaged container ship could take months to salvage because of rough monsoon seas, Sri Lanka said Tuesday, as authorities investigated whether the deaths of dozens of turtles and dolphins were caused by the disaster. Part of the Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl submerged in early June after catching fire and burning for almost two weeks off the island nation’s … Continue reading Monsoon delays salvage of fire-ravaged ship off Sri Lanka

Bangkok (AFP) June 17, 2021 Burner phones, safehouses, sheltering with rebels and months away from loved ones – Myanmar anti-coup activists have been driven underground by a brutal crackdown but have no regrets about choosing life on the run. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the armed forces ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February, plunging the country back under military rule after … Continue reading ‘No regrets’: Myanmar dissidents evade junta with life on the run

Washington DC (UPI) Jun 15, 2021 When exposed to antidepressants, crayfish are less inhibited, emerging more readily from hiding to hunt for food. This bold behavior, observed in lab tests at the University of Florida, could put the freshwater crustaceans at greater risk of predation. Though the latest experiments – the results of which were published Tuesday in the journal Ecosphere – were performed in … Continue reading Antidepressants make crayfish bolder, increasing risk of predation

Hanoi (AFP) June 15, 2021 A Vietnamese conservationist working to save pangolins from the devastating multi-billion-dollar wildlife trade won a prestigious award Tuesday for his role in rescuing over a thousand of one of the world’s most endangered creatures. Highly prized in China and southeast Asia for their flesh, pangolins are seen as a delicacy for the mistaken belief that they can cure anything from … Continue reading Vietnam’s pangolin defender wins top environmental prize

Tokyo (AFP) June 16, 2021 Kimiko Hirata has spent nearly half her life fighting to wean Japan off its dependence on coal, and now isn’t the time to slow down, the award-winning activist warns. “I’m hopeful, but we have no time to waste,” said Hirata, the international director of Japan’s Kiko Network NGO. “Our future will be gone if we don’t act now,” she told … Continue reading ‘No time to waste’ warns Japan climate activist