Sunday, 22 September 2019

Five-year period ending 2019 set to be hottest on record

A damning new UN report published Sunday said the world is falling badly behind in the race to avert climate disaster as a result of runaway warming, with the five-year period ending 2019 set to be the hottest ever.

Swiss hold high-altitude wake for lost glacier

Dozens of people dressed in black went on a "funeral march" up a steep Swiss mountainside on Sunday to mark the disappearance of an Alpine glacier amid growing global alarm over climate change.

Face transplant recipient's donor face now failing

A woman who was severely burned in a domestic violence attack in Vermont is hoping for a second face transplant after doctors recently discovered tissue damage that likely will lead to the loss of her donor face.

Suspected drones disrupt Dubai flights

Flights at Dubai's international airport, one of the world's busiest, were briefly disrupted Sunday due to "suspected drone activity," officials said.

Could Venus have been habitable?

Venus may have been a temperate planet hosting liquid water for 2-3 billion years, until a dramatic transformation starting over 700 million years ago resurfaced around 80% of the planet. A study presented today at the EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019 by Michael Way of The Goddard Institute for Space Science gives a new view of Venus's climatic history and may have implications for the habitability of exoplanets in similar orbits.

GM electric car push could mean fewer and lower paying jobs

If U.S. consumers ever ditch fuel burners for electric vehicles, then the United Auto Workers union is in trouble.

Communities search for ways to live with growing fire threat

Unless it's Sunday, Kelly Loew is steering her rusty red Jeep down the same mail route in Shingletown, as she has six days a week for the last seven years. But she delivers less mail these days as California's persistent wildfires drive residents away.

Tanzania not sharing information on suspected Ebola: WHO

The World Health Organization has accused Tanzania of failing to provide information on suspected cases of Ebola in the country, potentially hindering efforts to curb the spread of the deadly virus.

Albania inspects quake damages, sees over 100 aftershocks

Many Albanians in the capital of Tirana and the port city of Durres have not gone back home after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake injured 105 people and damaged hundreds of homes.

As global leaders meet, the Amazon rainforest burns

The fires that burned through the Amazon rainforest last month sparked international outcry and offers of help, but as world leaders meet in New York, the planet's largest rainforest remains engulfed in flames.

Lorena downgraded to tropical storm off northwest Mexico coast

Hurricane Lorena was downgraded to a tropical storm as it swirled in the Gulf of California off northwest Mexico Saturday, after making landfall near the Los Cabos beach resort, the Mexican hurricane monitor said.

Runaway bear cub returns to the wild in French Pyrenees

A runaway bear cub that tunneled its way out of an enclosure in southern France but was eventually recaptured after a chase through the countryside has been returned to the wild, local authorities said at the weekend.

Flights cancelled as Typhoon Tapah approaches Japan

Typhoon Tapah approached southwestern Japan Sunday, with heavy rain and strong winds grounding hundreds of regional flights.

UK travel giant Thomas Cook faces collapse

Thomas Cook's 178-year existence was hanging by a thread on Sunday after the iconic British travel firm struggled to find further private investment and is now relying on an unlikely government bailout.

Thousands of Swiss protest 5G wireless over health fears

Thousands of people protested in the Swiss capital Bern Saturday over the roll-out of a 5G wireless technology across the country, which they fear could damage people's health.

Digital threats multiply ahead of 2020 US elections

It could be a manipulated video embarrassing a candidate. Or a computer voting system locked by ransomware. Or doubts about electronic voting machines with no paper backups.

Tackling cardiovascular deaths requires urgent action in children

Encouraging activity and improving diet in children is crucial to cut deaths from cardiovascular disease—and is the focus of an innovative school project in São Paulo, Brazil. The first results are presented today at the Brazilian Congress of Cardiology (SBC 2019).

Swiss to hold high-altitude wake for lost glacier

Dozens of people will undertake a "funeral march" up a steep Swiss mountainside on Sunday to mark the disappearance of an Alpine glacier amid growing global alarm over climate change.

Environmental activists get down and dirty on mass cleanup day

Thousands of volunteers wielding nets and bin bags scoured coasts, parks and riverbanks across the globe Saturday, in a litter-picking drive highlighting the vast quantity of trash dumped worldwide, a day after mass international climate protests.

Refugees from rising seas: no place to call home

Most refugees fleeing persecution, famine or civil strife dream of one thing: going home some day.