Bamako (AFP) Jan 28, 2021 The United Nations said on Thursday that its investigators have visited the scene of a French air strike in central Mali, which locals said killed dozens of civilians. Several residents, and an association promoting the Fulani ethnic group, have said that on January 3 a helicopter attacked the village of Bounti during a wedding party, killing about 20 people. Separately, … Continue reading UN investigators visit scene of French airstrike in Mali

Lagos (AFP) Jan 28, 2021 Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s sudden replacement of his top military commanders may be a welcome change in a country frustrated over a decade-long insurgency, but on the ground, soldiers face a complex mix of conflicts. Often described as overstretched and underfunded, Nigeria’s military is fighting jihadists in the northeast and armed gangs in the northwest as well as dealing with … Continue reading Huge challenges await Nigeria’s new military chiefs

Finding the right productivity system means understanding one’s situation, goals, and needs — and then using that system consistently until it starts to have beneficial results.The E-Commerce Times spoke with productivity experts to get their perspective on apps, platforms, and techniques that help organizations and individuals become more efficient.http://dlvr.it/RrVCZc Continue reading Practicing Productivity to Empower the Workforce

The Hague (AFP) Jan 25, 2021 New US climate envoy John Kerry said he regretted his country’s absence from the fight against climate change under Donald Trump, at a online summit of world leaders on Monday. President Joe Biden’s pointman on the issue committed the United States to efforts to make communities more resilient to the effects of climate change, the focus of the meeting … Continue reading Kerry ‘regrets’ US absence from climate fight

London (AFP) Jan 26, 2021 Britain’s major supermarket chains remain big users of plastic packaging that blights the environment, despite efforts to cut down, according to a study published on Tuesday. The nation’s top ten supermarkets produced almost 900,000 tonnes of plastic packaging in 2019, according to research from pressure groups Greenpeace UK and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). That was 1.6http://dlvr.it/RrQnqY Continue reading UK supermarkets caught in plastic packaging: study

Search-as-a-service company Algolia on Monday announced its acquisition of Google DNI-funded machine learning startup MorphL to fuel Algolia’s new artificial intelligence offering. The company hopes the new service will eliminate barriers to AI implementation and help businesses drive website conversion and personalization.http://dlvr.it/RrQDg6 Continue reading Algolia Acquires MorphL to Advance Marketing Prowess

Groningen, Netherlands (SPX) Jan 26, 2021 Nature is full of colour. For flowers, displaying colour is primarily a means to attract pollinators. Insects use their colour vision not only to locate the right flowers to feed on but also to find mates. The evolutionary interaction between insects and plants has created complex dependencies that can have surprising outcomes. Casper van der Kooi, a biologist at … Continue reading The surprises of color evolution

Leeds UK (SPX) Jan 26, 2021 Scientists have identified a key nutrient source used by algae living on melting ice surfaces linked to rising sea levels. The Greenland ice sheet – the second largest ice body in the world after the Antarctic ice sheet – covers almost 80% of the surface of Greenland. Over the last 25 years, surface melting and water runoff from the … Continue reading Microbes fuelled by wind-blown mineral dust melt the Greenland ice sheet

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 26, 2021 Scientists with NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland mission are probing deep below the island’s warming coastal waters to help us better predict the rising seas of the future. Greenland’s melting glaciers, which plunge into Arctic waters via steep-sided inlets, or fjords, are among the main contributors to global sea level rise in response to climate change. Gaining a better understanding … Continue reading Warming seas are accelerating Greenland’s glacier retreat

Washington DC (UPI) Jan 21, 2021 Bees and flies suffer from insomnia, too, and without a good night’s sleep, insects struggle to perform their daily duties, whether caring for the hive brood or collecting nectar. According to a pair of new studies, bees and flies exposed to neonicotinoid insecticides are more likely to experience restless nights. “The neonicotinoids we tested had a big effect on … Continue reading Common pesticides disrupt the sleep of bees, flies