Berlin (AFP) June 17, 2023 Germany’s ecologist Greens called on Saturday for the European Union to reconsider its asylum reform plan, despite the fact that it has been approved by the political coalition of which they are a member. At a mini-congress in the spa town of Bad-Vilbel, Green party leaders put forward a motion calling for “improvements” to be made to the draft agreement, … Continue reading Struggling German Greens urge EU to reconsider asylum reforms

Khartoum (AFP) June 17, 2023 Air strikes killed or wounded more than two dozen civilians in Khartoum Saturday, a citizens’ group said, as medics reported hundreds of wounded fleeing Sudan’s western Darfur region in worsening violence of a two-month war. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claimed to have shot down a Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) fighter plane. A military source, not authorised to speak … Continue reading Sudan war intensifies with Khartoum air strikes, heavy Darfur casualties

Narta , Albania (AFP) June 15, 2023 Flamingos and Dalmatian pelicans laze in the azure waters of a shallow lagoon near Albania’s Adriatic coast. But this avian paradise’s days may be numbered, ecologists warn, with a new airport being built close by to cash in on the Balkan nation’s tourism boom. Its construction near Vlora has triggered protests from environmentalists, who say it is being … Continue reading Airport threatens Albania’s fragile wild paradise

Mexico City (AFP) June 16, 2023 Massive die-offs of birds on the coast of Mexico, following similar phenomena in Peru and Chile, are “most probably” due to a warming of the waters of the Pacific Ocean, authorities said Friday. Mexico’s agriculture and environment ministries “excluded the presence” of the AH5N1 virus responsible for bird flu and determined that the birds had starved to death. “The … Continue reading Mexico says mass bird die-off ‘most probably’ due to Pacific warming

Taez, Yemen (AFP) June 17, 2023 Every day at dawn, 14-year-old Salim Mohammad leaves home to fetch water, trekking through his city in southwestern Yemen to join the queues at the nearest public dispenser. He and his three siblings walk at least a mile (1.6 kilometres) and wait, sometimes for hours, hoping to fill their jerry cans and make it back in time for school. … Continue reading Children in war-scarred Yemen line up for water, not school

Rennes, France (AFP) June 16, 2023 The small French island of Brehat, a popular north coast tourist destination, is restricting the number of visitors this summer after seeing as much as 15 times its population arrive at its rocky shores in a single day. Off the coast of Brittany, Brehat is joining numerous other sites around France pushing back against “overtourism” amid concerns over waste … Continue reading Trendy French island limits visitors to fight ‘overtourism’

Bordeaux (AFP) June 16, 2023 A rare 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit large parts of western France on Friday evening, with the seismology bureau BCSF calling it “very strong” amid reports of damage to buildings. Ecology transition minister Christophe Bechu said it was “one of the strongest quakes registered on the mainland”. AFP records show the last earthquakes of similar strength in France struck in the … Continue reading ‘Very strong’ quake shakes western France

Bogota (AFP) June 16, 2023 General Pedro Sanchez came close to tears as he recounted the emotional and physical tribulations faced by the team of nearly 200 rescuers he led on an ultimately successful weeks-long search for four Indigenous children lost in the Colombian Amazon. More than once, he felt “powerless,” Sanchez told AFP, as the search team found clues to indicate the children were … Continue reading Leader of Indigenous children’s rescue team felt ‘powerless’

Paris (AFP) June 15, 2023 Average global temperatures at the start of June were the warmest the European Union’s climate monitoring unit has ever recorded for the period, trouncing previous records by a “substantial margin”, it said on Thursday. The news comes as the El Nino climate phenomenon has officially arrived, raising fears of extreme weather and more temperature records. “The world has just experienced … Continue reading World breaks average temperature record for early June: EU

Washington (AFP) June 16, 2023 A “horrific” tornado ripped through a northern Texas town Thursday causing widespread destruction, with reports that at least three people were killed and up to 100 others injured. Several million Americans across multiple southern and midwestern states were under severe weather alerts as dangerous storms fueled by high temperatures battered the region, bringing tornadoes, thunderstorms andhttp://dlvr.it/SqmJmy Continue reading Tornado ravages Texas town, three reported dead, 100 hurt