pollution

Plastic pollution treaty not dead in the water: UN environment chief

BY ROBIN MILLARD

  • More than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally each year, half of which is for single-use items.
  • The UN's environment chief insists that a landmark global treaty tackling plastic pollution remains achievable, despite talks twice imploding without agreement, and the chair suddenly resigning this week.
  • More than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally each year, half of which is for single-use items.
The UN's environment chief insists that a landmark global treaty tackling plastic pollution remains achievable, despite talks twice imploding without agreement, and the chair suddenly resigning this week.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) executive director Inger Andersen told AFP in an exclusive interview that countries were not walking away, regardless of their sharp differences on combating the ever-growing problem, including in the oceans.
A large bloc wants bold action such as curbing plastic production, while a smaller clutch of oil-producing states wants to focus more narrowly on waste management.
Supposedly final talks in South Korea in 2024 ended without a deal -- and a resumed effort in Geneva in August likewise collapsed.
Countries voiced anger and despair as the talks unravelled, but said they nonetheless wanted future negotiations.
"We left with greater clarity. And no-one has left the table," said Andersen. 
"No-one has walked away and said, 'this is just too hopeless, we're giving up'. No-one. And all of that, I take courage from."

'Totally doable'

The plastic pollution problem is so ubiquitous that microplastics have been found on the highest mountain peaks, in the deepest ocean trench and scattered throughout almost every part of the human body.
More than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally each year, half of which is for single-use items.
While 15 percent of plastic waste is collected for recycling, only nine percent is actually recycled.
Nearly half, or 46 percent, ends up in landfills, while 17 percent is incinerated and 22 percent is mismanaged and becomes litter.
Annual production of fossil fuel-based plastics is set to triple by 2060.
As things stand, there is no timetable for when further talks might be held, and no countries have made formal offers to host them.
But Andersen "absolutely" thinks a deal is within reach.
"This is totally doable. We just need to keep at it," she said.

Red line clarity

UNEP has been shepherding the talks process, which began in 2022.
Summarising where countries are at, Andersen said: "The mood music is: 'we're still in the negotiations. We are not walking away. We have our red lines, but we have a better understanding of the others' red lines. And we still want this'."
Andersen said Norway and Kenya convened a well-attended meeting at the UN General Assembly in New York last month.
The COP30 climate summit in Brazil in November will provide another opportunity to put the feelers out, ahead of the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi in December.
Luis Vayas Valdivieso, Ecuador's ambassador to Britain who chaired the last three of six negotiation rounds, has announced he is stepping down, leaving the process rudderless.

'Serious allegation'

Vayas's Geneva draft treaty text was instantly ripped apart by countries in brutal fashion, and while a revised effort gained some traction, the clock ran out.
British newspaper The Guardian reported that staff from Andersen's UNEP team held a covert meeting on the last night in Geneva, aimed at coaxing members of civil society groups into pressuring Vayas to quit.
"This is a very, very serious allegation," Andersen said.
"I did not know and obviously had not asked anyone to do something of this sort."
She said the allegation had been referred to the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services.
"I've been in this business for 40 years, and I have never, ever done such a thing, and I would never have asked a staff of mine, or anyone else for that matter, to go and have covert meetings and quote my name and ask to undo a seated chair who is elected by member states. It's outrageous."
As for whether a new chair could provide fresh momentum, she said: "As always, when there's change, there is a degree of a different mood."
rjm/apo/gv/mjw

economy

At German auto crisis meet, Merz vows to fight EU gas guzzler ban

BY CLEMENT KASSER WITH SAM REEVES IN FRANKFURT

  • After holding talks with auto industry leaders, Merz vowed to fight against an abrupt total ban from 2035 of sales of new fossil fuel-burning cars. 
  • Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed Thursday to do everything in his power to fight EU plans to ban combustion-engine car sales from 2035 after crisis talks with the struggling German car industry. 
  • After holding talks with auto industry leaders, Merz vowed to fight against an abrupt total ban from 2035 of sales of new fossil fuel-burning cars. 
Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed Thursday to do everything in his power to fight EU plans to ban combustion-engine car sales from 2035 after crisis talks with the struggling German car industry. 
The flagship auto sector in Europe's biggest economy is mired in crisis as it faces weak demand, a choppy transition to electric vehicles (EVs), and fierce Chinese competition.
Manufacturers fear the looming EU ban will deal them another blow, complaining they have not had enough time to build up competitive EV offerings while demand for battery-powered cars is moving far more slowly than expected in Europe.
After holding talks with auto industry leaders, Merz vowed to fight against an abrupt total ban from 2035 of sales of new fossil fuel-burning cars. 
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that this does not happen," he told a press conference.
He stressed that "the path to electromobility had been opened", and Germany was committed to pursuing it and meeting climate goals, but that "flexibility" was needed. 
At an EU summit later this month, Merz said he would advocate "technological advancement towards climate neutrality, but not with a date on the calendar that we cannot meet, that is unrealistic."
Under pressure from Europe's carmakers, the EU had already agreed last month to fast-track a review of the ban.
Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume, who was at the talks, echoed Merz's views. 
Europe's biggest carmaker was committed to the shift to EVs, he said, but added: "We will need more time for this."
"All political forecasts about the ramp-up were too optimistic."

Coalition tensions

Merz's vocal calls to scrap the 2035 ban have fuelled tensions between his centre-right CDU party and his junior coalition partners, with some senior figures in the centre-left SPD having insisted Berlin should continue backing the policy.
But signs are growing the two sides are reaching a common stance. 
Speaking alongside Merz, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil of the SPD also called for "flexibility" in the shift to more climate-friendly vehicles.
During talks late Wednesday, senior members of the ruling coalition had discussed technologies such as plug-in hybrids and allowing cars to run on alternative fuels, he said. 
His comments suggested Berlin may propose watering down the ban by allowing the continued use of such alternatives after 2035.
Hildegard Mueller, president of Germany's VDA auto industry association, said it was a "positive sign" the coalition supported such technologies. 
"We need timely decisions and a united German voice in Brussels," she said. 
As well as slow take-up from consumers for EVs, the auto industry complains that charging infrastructure is sparse and charging prices too expensive.
Attempts to water down the ban have alarmed environmental campaigners.
Christoph Bautz of activist group Campact said efforts to ease the ban were "disastrous and will harm the climate, industry, and jobs". 
"Instead of setting clear guidelines for the industry towards electrification, the chancellor wants to return to the zigzag course of the past, which manoeuvered German car manufacturers into the current crisis."
If Berlin seeks to soften the ban, it will still need to win backing from other EU members.
There are signs Germany has some support, with reports this week saying Rome and Berlin sent a joint letter to the European Commission urging a change of course on the ban.
The German government is also taking other steps to help the beleaguered auto sector. 
Earlier Thursday, Merz said the government would provide three billion euros ($3.5 billion) in incentives for EV purchases, which would be aimed at low- and middle-income households.
The auto sector's crisis reflects broader problems for the Germany economy, which has faced two years of recession due to a manufacturing slump and weak demand for its exports. 
In the latest sign of weakness, data released Thursday showed that German exports unexpectedly dropped in August, pulled down by another fall in shipments to the United States as the tariff blitz takes its toll.
bur-sr/fz/gv

conservation

Top conservation group meets in UAE on growing threats to nature

BY MUMEN KHATIB

  • In an update to its "red list" last year, the IUCN said that out of the 169,420 species studied, a total of 47,187 were classified as threatened -- more than a quarter.
  • The world's top conservation body kicked off its world congress Thursday in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi, where it will unveil its updated "red list" of threatened species a day later.
  • In an update to its "red list" last year, the IUCN said that out of the 169,420 species studied, a total of 47,187 were classified as threatened -- more than a quarter.
The world's top conservation body kicked off its world congress Thursday in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi, where it will unveil its updated "red list" of threatened species a day later.
Hundreds of participants were meeting at the venue where the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), whose decisions help set the global agenda on environmental protection, will on Friday publish its list ranking plant and animal species from "least concern" to "extinct".
The congress, held every four years, sheds light on the dire state of the world's biodiversity. An increasing number of animals suffer from the destruction of their natural habitat, climate change, and water, air and soil pollution.
According to the United Nations's expert scientific panel on biodiversity (IPBES), biodiversity has declined every decade in the past 30 to 50 years.
In an update to its "red list" last year, the IUCN said that out of the 169,420 species studied, a total of 47,187 were classified as threatened -- more than a quarter.
The most impacted species were corals and amphibians, with more than 40 percent of each group under threat.

UAE climate diplomacy

The United Arab Emirates, a major oil exporter that also hosted the UN's annual climate talks in 2023 (known as COP28), is seeking a bigger role in setting the environmental agenda by hosting these events.
"The UAE has become a global convening power to bring countries together, bring all stakeholders on discussions that are very vital for our environment," UAE climate change and environment minister Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak told AFP at the meeting.
"This is a platform where conversations can converge," Al Dahak said of the congress.
She called for translating "those conversations into pledges, into actions and into implementation plans", urging "more implementation plans and actions on the ground".
The IUCN congress last convened in the French city of Marseille in 2021.
The meeting revolves around votes on adopting resolutions.
Though not legally binding, the resolutions can "shape the international agenda" and "accelerate" work on treaties under discussion, an IUCN source told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss the event freely.
"The Congress programme reflects the urgency and ambition of our time," said Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, Secretary General of the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi and IUCN councillor from the West Asia region.
IUCN Director General Grethel Aguilar of Costa Rica said the upcoming announcements "reflect the scale of ambition and the real possibility of delivering the solutions we need to build a planet where people and nature thrive together".

Synthetic biology debate

The most closely watched vote revolves around two competing motions on synthetic biology -- a controversial technique widely used in the pharmaceutical industry and agribusiness.
It enables scientists to redesign organisms by engineering them to have new abilities.
One motion calls for a moratorium on the technology because "genetic engineering of wild species in natural ecosystems, including in protected areas, is not compatible with the practices, values and principles of nature conservation".
A competing motion argues that synthetic biology could complement conservation efforts, and says IUCN policy "should not be interpreted as supporting or opposing synthetic biology, per se".
Organisers expect 10,000 delegates and 5,000 civil society attendees.
The IUCN congress describes itself as the "world's largest and most inclusive nature conservation forum".
Its voting members include government agencies, national and international NGOs, and Indigenous groups.
mk-dep-hh/aya/jhb

climate

Danish wind giant Orsted to cut workforce by a quarter

  • The company said it needed to focus more on its European business and offshore wind, as well as improve its competitiveness.
  • Danish offshore wind energy giant Orsted announced Thursday plans to cut 2,000 jobs, or a quarter of its workforce, by 2027 as its business struggles in the United States.
  • The company said it needed to focus more on its European business and offshore wind, as well as improve its competitiveness.
Danish offshore wind energy giant Orsted announced Thursday plans to cut 2,000 jobs, or a quarter of its workforce, by 2027 as its business struggles in the United States.
The company said it needed to focus more on its European business and offshore wind, as well as improve its competitiveness.
"We're committed to maintaining our position as a market leader in offshore wind, and we need to ensure that offshore wind becomes a key element of Europe's future energy mix and green transition," chief executive Rasmus Errboe said in a statement.
"Therefore, we also need to reduce our costs for developing, constructing, and operating offshore wind farms to strengthen our competitiveness," he added.
The company said its global workforce would fall from 8,000 today to 6,000 by the end of 2027 "through natural attrition, a reduction of positions, divestment, outsourcing, and redundancies."
Orsted said Monday it had raised $9.4 billion in a rights issue aimed at bolstering the struggling company amid US President Donald Trump's opposition to the wind power sector.
cbw/lth/rh

minorities

'Let them live in peace': survivor's fight for uncontacted Amazon people

BY ERIN FLANAGAN

  • Until one day a jaguar attacked his father.
  • Atxu Marima survived the flu that killed his family after a jaguar attack drove them from their Indigenous group in the Amazon -- but he cannot return for fear of endangering his people.
  • Until one day a jaguar attacked his father.
Atxu Marima survived the flu that killed his family after a jaguar attack drove them from their Indigenous group in the Amazon -- but he cannot return for fear of endangering his people.
Instead he has dedicated himself to campaigning for Brazil's isolated communities to be left alone.
"I am here to tell the story of my people," Marima told AFP during a trip to Paris to raise awareness.
Marima is only around 40 but has already had many lives. Born Atxu among the Hi-Merima people, a nomadic group in the south of Amazonas state, he became Romerito (Little Romero) as a child labourer after fleeing the forest. But now to his wife and three children, he is Artur.
Until about the age of seven or eight, he lived between the Purus and Jurua rivers with his father, mother, and siblings as part of one of Brazil's officially recognised "uncontacted" Indigenous communities. 
The country is home to more such groups than any other, with 114 officially recognised as living with little or no contact with the outside world.
For decades Brazil encouraged contact with these communities, before reversing course in 1987 after recognising the devastation it brought.
Marima and his family experienced this firsthand when tragedy forced them to seek out what he called a "civilised community" -- a decision that cost him his family, home, language and culture.

'Everyone got sick'

Marima's childhood in the Amazon had been idyllic —- singing to trees to encourage them to bear fruit, families gathering to dance and racing across the forest floor with his siblings. 
Until one day a jaguar attacked his father. He survived the mauling but suffered a severe head wound and began hallucinating that his children were prey -- tapirs and pigs to hunt with his arrows.
His mother fled with them, leaving his father dying in his hammock above a grave they had prepared for him.
Marima never saw him again.
"My family, especially my mother, then decided to make contact with the 'civilised' world," he told AFP.
It soon exposed them to diseases for which they had no defences.
"Everyone got sick and died," he said, recalling how his mother, aunt and several brothers succumbed to what he called the flu.
Marima and four siblings were the only survivors, scattered among local families.
Renamed Romerito, his adoptive family forced him to work in "slave-like conditions" until he left around the age of 15.  
He believes he is the last of the siblings still alive.  
-'Afraid of being shot'- 
In 1987 Brazil adopted a no-contact policy, allowing interaction only if initiated by the Indigenous people themselves. Otherwise, they must be left alone.
Prior to that, "it was normal for half of the population of uncontacted people to die within the first year of contact," mostly from disease, said Priscilla Schwarzenholz, a researcher at Survival International.
Today Marima said isolated groups also fear contact because they are "afraid of being shot, because the 'civilisers' have guns."
"It's not worth getting in touch with my people... I'll pass on an illness to them," he said.
"I am no longer that person from the forest."

'Live in peace'

Marima now works with Brazil's National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai), monitoring the Hi-Merima territory, which the government legally recognised in 2005. 
He spoke with pride about his work preventing illegal fishing, saying those responsible try to "invade" and show "no respect for the area".
Forest fires and deforestation pose another risk to their survival, he warned, noting that last year's intense heat and drought endangered their homes and hunting.
"People lack the common sense to protect the Amazon rainforest," he said.
Despite those threats, the Hi-Merima appear to have grown over the last 20 years, since incursions into their territory became illegal.
"You can see that there are kids, there are babies... they are growing and they are healthy," Schwarzenholz said, putting their number at about 150, based on traces they leave in the forest.
"I know they (the Hi–Merima) don't know I exist," Marima said.
But he said sharing his story was his way of staying connected while advocating for isolated groups to decide if -- and when -- they make contact.
Until then, "let them live in peace," he said.
ekf/ah/fg

California

Suspect in US court months after deadly Los Angeles fire

BY HUW GRIFFITH

  • The two major fires that gripped the Los Angeles area in January were among the deadliest blazes in California history.
  • A man suspected of deliberately causing one of the deadliest fires in US history appeared in court Wednesday charged with sparking a blaze that tore through Los Angeles in January.
  • The two major fires that gripped the Los Angeles area in January were among the deadliest blazes in California history.
A man suspected of deliberately causing one of the deadliest fires in US history appeared in court Wednesday charged with sparking a blaze that tore through Los Angeles in January.
The development comes as the nation's second-largest city was still grappling with the aftermath of two huge fires that together killed 31 people and left thousands of acres (hectares) in ruins, as they displaced thousands of people.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 29-year-old who was arrested on Tuesday, made an initial appearance in a federal court in Florida, where he now lives, charged with destruction of property by means of fire.
"The complaint alleges that a single person's recklessness caused one of the worst fires Los Angeles has ever seen, resulting in death and widespread destruction in Pacific Palisades," Acting United States Attorney Bill Essayli said.
Rinderknecht did not enter a plea and is expected to appear in court again Thursday, the US Attorney's Office said.
Rinderknecht is alleged to have ignited the Palisades Fire in the early minutes of New Year's Day on a popular hiking trail above the well-heeled suburb, which is home to celebrities and is one of the most sought-after pieces of real estate in the United States.
The blaze was initially contained by firefighters, but smoldered underground in the roots of plants.
Investigators believe powerful winds that swept through the area a week later reignited it.
Those flames grew to engulf Pacific Palisades and parts of Malibu, destroying thousands of homes and killing a dozen people.
A separate fire that erupted in the more modest suburb of Altadena at the same time also caused devastation over a wide area, killing 19 people.

AI images

Essayli said Rinderknecht, who lived in Pacific Palisades at the time, was working as an Uber driver in the area and had dropped passengers off moments before he set the fire.
At a press conference, investigators showed AI-generated images that they allege the suspect had created in the weeks before the blaze, showing a cityscape in flames.
Rinderknecht was also alleged to have repeatedly watched the video for a French rap track that included images of fire.
Kenny Cooper of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), one of the agencies that investigated the fire, said he could not speak to motive at this stage.
"I wish we could get into somebody's head, but we can't," he said. "Evil people do evil things."
The two major fires that gripped the Los Angeles area in January were among the deadliest blazes in California history.
They were also one of the costliest natural disasters ever, with estimates of damage running into hundreds of billions of dollars.
Firefighters struggled for days to contain the blazes, hampered by winds up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) an hour that prevented their using helicopters and planes.
The sheer scale of the inferno in a city created difficulties, as did an urban water supply that was never designed to cope with such enormous conflagrations.
The arrest came after an intense investigation, with speculation that errant fireworks may have sparked the Palisades Fire.
In July, the Southern California Edison power company said it would begin paying compensation to those affected by the Eaton Fire that devastated Altadena.
While no official cause of the fire has been revealed yet, the finger of blame has been pointing for months at a power line in the hills behind Altadena.
Several videos and witness accounts suggest the equipment produced sparks that could have caused the fast-moving flames.
hg/mlm

Environment

Jane Goodall's final wish: blast Trump, Musk and Putin to space

BY ISSAM AHMED

  • The conversation then turned to aggression in chimpanzees and whether the men she'd named were "alphas."
  • It's like the opposite of naming your dream dinner party guests.
  • The conversation then turned to aggression in chimpanzees and whether the men she'd named were "alphas."
It's like the opposite of naming your dream dinner party guests.
In a Netflix interview aired posthumously, Jane Goodall, who died last week at 91, said she'd gladly send Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Benjamin Netanyahu off the planet in a SpaceX rocket.
Clips from the show "Famous Last Words" have since gone viral with tens of millions of views, drawing praise but also some scorn for the legendary primatologist, and even sparking debate over whether the footage was real or AI-generated.
Netflix said she filmed the interview in March with the understanding that it would not be released until after her death.
"Do you have people that you don't like?" host Brad Falchuk asked Goodall, who began the interview by sipping a glass of whiskey -- her pre-talk ritual to keep her voice supple.
"Absolutely, there are people I don't like, and I would like to put them on one of Musk's spaceships and send them all off to the planet he's sure he's going to discover," she replied.
Musk, the world's richest person, has made it his life's mission to colonize Mars and make humanity a "multiplanetary species."
Goodall added that Musk would "be the host, and you can imagine who I'd put on that spaceship."
"Along with Musk would be Trump, and some of Trump's real supporters, and then I would put Putin in there, and I would put President Xi -- I'd certainly put Netanyahu in there, and his far-right government. Put them all on that spaceship and send them off."
The conversation then turned to aggression in chimpanzees and whether the men she'd named were "alphas."
Goodall said among chimps there are two kinds of alpha: those who rely on brute force and burn out quickly, and those who build alliances and endure. 
Her research, she said, convinced her that aggression is innate to both chimps and humans, who share nearly 99 percent of their DNA.
"But I truly believe that most people are decent," she said.
Goodall closed the interview with a message of hope -- and a warning to those who would harm "Mother Nature."
"If you want to save what is still beautiful in this world, if you want to save the planet for the future generations, your grandchildren, their grandchildren, then think about the actions you take each day," she said.
She added that she believed in life beyond death and that "consciousness survives."
"I can't tell you what you will find when you leave planet Earth, but I want you to know that your life on planet Earth will make some difference in the kind of life that you find after you die."
ia/des/sms

WTA

Tennis stars suffer, wilt and quit in 'brutal' China heat

BY PETER STEBBINGS WITH REBECCA BAILEY IN SHANGHAI

  • Zverev, ranked three in the world, was beaten on Monday having had to pause during his defeat to change his shoes because sweat was pouring out of them.
  • Novak Djokovic threw up, Alexander Zverev poured sweat out of his shoe and Emma Raducanu quit her match with dizziness -- and the bad news for the world's top tennis players is that more baking weather is to come in China this week.
  • Zverev, ranked three in the world, was beaten on Monday having had to pause during his defeat to change his shoes because sweat was pouring out of them.
Novak Djokovic threw up, Alexander Zverev poured sweat out of his shoe and Emma Raducanu quit her match with dizziness -- and the bad news for the world's top tennis players is that more baking weather is to come in China this week.
Denmark's Holger Rune called the temperatures of more than 30C and humidity soaring past 80 percent at the Shanghai Masters "brutal".
"Do you want a player to die on court?" Rune was heard to ask this week in the fierce conditions.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic labelled it "very challenging physically" on Tuesday as he battled the heat and an ankle injury scare to reach the quarter-finals.
The ailing 38-year-old crouched over frequently in between rallies against Spain's Jaume Munar and vomited on court.
After one unforced error, Djokovic dropped to the court and remained splayed out as a medic rushed over, before regathering himself to win in three battling sets.
The draw has opened up for the Serb after world number one Carlos Alcaraz withdrew before the tournament to rest and defending champion Jannik Sinner retired from his match on Sunday with cramp.
Zverev, ranked three in the world, was beaten on Monday having had to pause during his defeat to change his shoes because sweat was pouring out of them.
Spectators at the centre court wafted fans and wore cool packs on their foreheads to counter the suffocating humidity.
The main court in Shanghai has a roof but it remains open and would only be closed if it rains -- there is no prospect of that for the remainder of the tournament.
Rune called Tuesday for the men's governing body the ATP to introduce a heat rule at events such as the Shanghai Masters.
The ATP said in a statement that player safety was its top priority and it is considering such a policy. 
Currently, decisions affecting play to do with weather conditions, including heat, "lie with the on-site ATP Supervisor, in coordination with on-site medical teams and local authorities", it said.
Conditions felt marginally less oppressive on Wednesday in Shanghai but forecasts were still for highs of 29C.
Temperatures are set to rise again in the coming days and peak on Sunday, the day of the final, at an estimated 32-33C.
France's Arthur Rinderknech, who reached the quarter-finals on Wednesday, said it was not only the players that were suffering.
"It was as hard for the ball boys, for the umpire, for the fans, everybody was always like this -- blowing air to the face because it was really hot," he said. 

'Rather than just die'

The conditions are equally punishing in Wuhan, central China, where all the top women's players are competing.
Temperatures are above average for this time of year in both cities.
Scientists have consistently warned that human-driven climate change is resulting in more frequent and intense weather events worldwide.
The difference between Wuhan and Shanghai is that the WTA has a heat policy.
At the WTA Wuhan Open on Tuesday, former Grand Slam champions Emma Raducanu and Jelena Ostapenko both retired from their matches.
Raducanu had her blood pressure and other vitals checked before retiring with dizziness from her first-round match.
World number two Iga Swiatek called on organisers to take player safety into account when scheduling matches on the outside courts, where there is no roof.
"On centre court I think it's a little bit cooler with the air conditioning and everything," she said.
"But I hope the other matches will be scheduled at a time where girls can compete, rather than just die on the court."
Temperatures above 30C forced organisers to put the WTA's heat rule into effect on Monday, where play was suspended on the outside courts.
The heat rule was also in effect for part of Tuesday.
The policy allows players to take a 10-minute break between the second and third sets, and means the tournament can partially or fully close the centre-court roof to protect players.  
The rule looks set to come into play repeatedly this week in Wuhan, where highs above 30C are forecast all week including for Sunday's final. 
pst/dh

science

'Solids full of holes': Nobel-winning materials explained

BY DANIEL LAWLER, FRéDéRIC BOURIGAULT AND BéNéDICTE REY

  • Now imagine this mirror was made of a material that was extremely porous -- full of tiny holes -- and these holes were "the size of a water molecule," Fairen-Jimenez said.
  • The chemistry Nobel was awarded on Wednesday to three scientists who discovered a revolutionary way of making materials full of tiny holes that can do everything from sucking water out of the desert air to capturing climate-warming carbon dioxide.
  • Now imagine this mirror was made of a material that was extremely porous -- full of tiny holes -- and these holes were "the size of a water molecule," Fairen-Jimenez said.
The chemistry Nobel was awarded on Wednesday to three scientists who discovered a revolutionary way of making materials full of tiny holes that can do everything from sucking water out of the desert air to capturing climate-warming carbon dioxide.
The particularly roomy molecular architecture, called metal-organic frameworks, has also allowed scientists to filter "forever chemicals" from water, smuggle drugs into bodies -- and even slow the ripening of fruit.
After Japan's Susumu Kitagawa, UK-born Richard Robson and American-Jordanian Omar Yaghi won their long-anticipated Nobel Prize, here is what you need to know about their discoveries.

What are metal-organic frameworks?

Imagine you turn on the hot water for your morning shower, David Fairen-Jimenez, a professor who studies metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) at the University of Cambridge, told AFP.
The mirror in your bathroom fogs up as water molecules collect on its flat surface -- but it can only absorb so much.
Now imagine this mirror was made of a material that was extremely porous -- full of tiny holes -- and these holes were "the size of a water molecule," Fairen-Jimenez said.
This material would be able to hold far more water -- or other gases -- than seems possible. 
At the Nobel ceremony, this secret storage ability was compared to Hermione's magical handbag in Harry Potter.
The inside space of a couple of grams of a particular MOF "holds an area as big as a football pitch," the Nobels said in a statement.
Ross Forgan, a professor of materials chemistry at the University of Glasgow, told AFP to think of MOFs as "solids that are full of holes".
They could look essentially like table salt, but "they have a ridiculously high storage capacity inside them because they are hollow -- they can soak up other molecules like a sponge."

What did the Nobel-winners do?

In the 1980s, Robson taught his students at Australia's University of Melbourne about molecular structures using wooden balls that played the role of atoms, connected by rods representing chemical bonds. 
One day this inspired him to try to link different kinds of molecules together. By 1989, he had drawn out a crystal structure similar to a diamond's -- except that it was full of massive holes.
French researcher David Farrusseng compared the structure of MOFs to the Eiffel Tower. "By interlocking all the iron beams -- horizontal, vertical, and diagonal -- we see cavities appear," he told AFP.
However Robson's holey structures were unstable, and it took years before anyone could figure out what to do with them.
In 1997, Kitagawa finally managed to show that a MOF could absorb and release methane and other gases.
It was Yaghi who coined the term metal-organic frameworks and demonstrated to the world just how much room there was in materials made from them.

What can they do?

Because these frameworks can be assembled in different ways -- somewhat like playing with Lego -- companies and labs around the world have been testing out their capabilities.
"This is a field that's generating incredible enthusiasm and is moving extremely fast," Thierry Loiseau of French research centre CNRS told AFP.
More than 100,000 different kinds have already been reported in scientific literature, according to a Cambridge University database.
"Every single month, there are 500 new MOFs," Fairen-Jimenez said.
He and Forgan agreed that likely the greatest impact MOFs will have on the world are in the areas of capturing carbon and delivering drugs.
Though much hyped, efforts to capture carbon dioxide -- the driver of human-caused global warming -- have so far failed to live up to their promise. 
Forgan said he was once "a bit sceptical about carbon capture, but now we're finally refining (the MOFs) to the point where they are meeting all the industrial requirements".
Canadian chemical producer BASF says it is the first company to produce hundreds of tons of MOFs a year, for carbon capture efforts.
The extra storage space also allows MOFs to smuggle molecules containing drugs into the body, with several currently undergoing clinical trials.
And Yaghi himself has demonstrated that a MOF material was able to harvest water vapour from the night air in the desert US state of Arizona. 
Once the rising Sun heated up the material, his team collected the drinkable water.
dl-frb-ber/st

environment

Canal Istanbul stirs fear and uncertainty in nearby villages

BY FULYA OZERKAN

  • For her, Canal Istanbul was less about infrastructure and more of a real estate project.
  • In Sazlibosna village, along the planned route of the vast Canal Istanbul project, 68-year-old Yasar Demirkaya fidgets with worn prayer beads as he sips tea at a cafe, uncertain about the future. 
  • For her, Canal Istanbul was less about infrastructure and more of a real estate project.
In Sazlibosna village, along the planned route of the vast Canal Istanbul project, 68-year-old Yasar Demirkaya fidgets with worn prayer beads as he sips tea at a cafe, uncertain about the future. 
Demirkaya, who sells fruit and vegetables at a local market, fears the controversial government-backed project will threaten his small plot of land, erasing the only life he's ever known. 
"I inherited a 5,000-square-metre plot from my grandparents," he told AFP. "It could be taken from us.
"I'm worried, everyone is. Nobody knows what to do," he added.
Although Sazlibosna is currently off-limits for development, that could change.
The project was first announced in 2011 by then-premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is now president.
Its aim is to ease congestion on the Bosphorus Strait by carving a new waterway between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara.
But the canal's 45-kilometre (28-mile) route also includes plans for sprawling commercial and residential zones: the entire project will cover 13,365 hectares (133,640,000 square metres).
Opponents warn it could destroy nature reserves and farmland, deplete water resources and destabilise the region's fragile ecosystem.

'Can't sleep for the bulldozers'

Although a ground-breaking ceremony was held in 2021, work has not started on the canal itself.
Property construction along the route has surged however, especially in the last six months. 
Near Salizdere reservoir, AFP journalists saw tower blocks under construction by the state-run housing agency TOKI. 
Istanbul's jailed mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a vocal critic of the canal, has accused the government of accelerating construction after his March arrest following a corruption probe widely seen as politically motivated.
"Taking advantage of my absence, they began building 24,000 houses around Sazlidere dam, one of the city's most important water resources on the European side, for the 'Canal Istanbul' project, which is all about profit and plunder," said Imamoglu, a leading figure in the main opposition CHP.
Some villagers told AFP they had seen increased building activity since his arrest. 
"We can't even sleep because of the noise of bulldozers," a woman called Muzaffer, 67, told AFP in a nearby village, without giving her surname.
"Our animals are in stables because there are no pastures left, they've all been turned into TOKI housing," she said while selling buffalo milk to a customer. 
"There are buildings everywhere. Where are we supposed to let our animals roam?"
After Imamoglu's arrest, many of the project's other opponents were detained, including Istanbul's urban planning department chief Bugra Gokce, a vocal critic of the waterway.
Prosecutors ordered the arrest of another 53 officials in April -- a move the CHP linked to the municipality's opposition to the canal. 
Many living along the canal route declined to speak on camera, fearing repercussions. 
- 'Land grab in full swing' - 
Pelin Pinar Giritlioglu, a professor at Istanbul University, said while the waterway itself had seen almost no progress, the surrounding real estate developments were advancing rapidly.
"There's only one bridge foundation in place across the waterway... and funding has yet to be secured," she told AFP.
"European banks won't finance projects with major ecological impacts, and no alternatives have been found," she added.
For her, Canal Istanbul was less about infrastructure and more of a real estate project.
"The canal development has stalled, but the land grab is in full swing," she said.
In April, Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu insisted the project had not been shelved and would proceed "at the right time with the right financing". 
In Sazlibosna, where property agencies are multiplying as the development accelerates, real estate agent Ibrahim Emirdogan said the project had energised the market. 
"We can't say if the project will go ahead -- it's a government plan. But the market? Yes, there's movement," he said.
Despite their fears, some villagers are hoping the project will never materialise. 
"I don't really believe Canal Istanbul will happen. (If it does) our village will lose its peace and quiet," said the vegetable seller Demirkaya. 
fo/hmw/jj

health

Veggie 'burgers' face the chop as EU lawmakers back labeling ban

BY RAZIYE AKKOC WITH BOUCHRA BERKANE IN BRUSSELS

  • It is not the first time veggie burgers have found themselves in the crosshairs of European lawmakers, with a similar proposal for a ban rejected in 2020.
  • Plant-based "steaks" and "veggie burgers" may be on the way out in the European Union after the bloc's parliament voted Wednesday to restrict such labels to meat only, in a win for disgruntled farmers.
  • It is not the first time veggie burgers have found themselves in the crosshairs of European lawmakers, with a similar proposal for a ban rejected in 2020.
Plant-based "steaks" and "veggie burgers" may be on the way out in the European Union after the bloc's parliament voted Wednesday to restrict such labels to meat only, in a win for disgruntled farmers.
Many of Europe's livestock farmers see plant-based foods that mimic meat products as potentially misleading for consumers, and a threat to their already troubled sector.
Heeding their message, EU lawmakers meeting in Strasbourg backed a proposal to reserve a list of labels including "sausage" and "burger" to foods containing meat.
A labelling ban is still some way off: the text needs negotiating with the bloc's 27 member states before it can become law.
But Celine Imart, a cereal farmer and right-wing lawmaker from France who sponsored the plan, cheered Wednesday's vote as a "victory for farmers".
"A sausage means meat produced by our livestock farmers. Full stop," she posted on X. "This is a vote for recognising their work, and for transparency for consumers."
Enjoying strong support from France's livestock and meat industry body, the ban was approved by a comfortable majority of 355 votes in favour and 247 against.
Food retailers in Germany, Europe's largest market for plant-based alternative products, had spoken out against the text, along with environmentalists and consumer advocates.
Irina Popescu, food policy officer at the pan-European consumer body BEUC called the outcome "disappointing."
"Our data shows that almost 70 percent of European consumers understand these names as long as products are clearly labelled vegan or vegetarian," she said in a statement.
EU consumption of plant-based alternatives to meat products has grown five-fold since 2011, according to BEUC data, fuelled by concerns over animal welfare and greenhouse gas emissions from livestock farms as well as health arguments.

'Nonsensical'

Parliament's Greens strongly oppose a labelling ban, with Dutch lawmaker Anna Strolenberg charging ahead of the vote that "the meat lobby is trying to weaken its innovative food competitors."
"If you want to help farmers, give them stronger contracts. Give them a better income. Let's help them innovate," she said.
"Stop talking about burgers and start working on the issues that matter."
The proposal caused division within Imart's own EPP group, with one German lawmaker Peter Liese dismissing it as "nonsensical".
"We really have other concerns at the moment," Liese wrote on X -- while predicting the proposal would likely not win the necessary support from member states to become law.
It is not the first time veggie burgers have found themselves in the crosshairs of European lawmakers, with a similar proposal for a ban rejected in 2020.
But the balance of power has shifted since the 2024 European elections saw big gains by right-wing parties that cultivate close ties to the farm sector.
Imart argued the new proposal was "in line with European rules", which already restrict the use of traditional dairy terms from "milk" to "yoghurt" and "cheese".
"It's only fair to do the same for meat," she said.
The debate has stirred emotions in France, which passed a similar label ban in 2024 to appease angry farmers -- only for it to be overturned the following January in line with a ruling by the EU's top court.
ub-ec/del/phz

climate

Thousands stranded as record floods submerge Vietnam streets

BY TRAN THI MINH HA

  • "There has never been flooding here in my street but now my ground floor is all submerged."
  • Record floods submerged streets and inundated homes in Vietnam on Wednesday, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded, with at least eight killed this week.
  • "There has never been flooding here in my street but now my ground floor is all submerged."
Record floods submerged streets and inundated homes in Vietnam on Wednesday, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded, with at least eight killed this week.
Floodwaters reached the tops of cars and rooftops in areas of Thai Nguyen city, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of the capital Hanoi, with many left stuck at home and others forced to flee.
The environment ministry said eight people were killed in flash floods and landslides in Vietnam's mountainous north since Monday, and five others were missing.
"I have never witnessed such a terrible flood since I was born 60 years ago," Nguyen Van Nguyen told AFP from his three-storey house in Thai Nguyen province.
"There has never been flooding here in my street but now my ground floor is all submerged."
The military said it had mobilised 30,000 personnel and thousands of boats to join rescue and relief efforts.
It used three helicopters to drop more than four tonnes of water, instant noodles, dry cake, milk and lifejackets to people in flooded parts of Lang Son province.
From late Tuesday to Wednesday, the country recorded the highest flood levels on three rivers in the north in nearly 40 years, state media reported.
The high-water mark of Trung river in Lang Son, bordering China, was forecast to peak at nearly two metres (6.5 feet) above the record, Vietnam state television said.
The Bang and Thuong rivers also surpassed levels not seen since 1986.
By Wednesday morning, the weather bureau said the Cau river, running across Thai Nguyen city, was more than a metre higher than the previous record level -- when Typhoon Yagi devastated the country in September last year.

'Totally flooded'

Overnight Tuesday and Wednesday, social media users posted pleas for help as their relatives and friends were left stranded with no electricity and few provisions in the provinces of Thai Nguyen, Cao Bang and Lang Son.
"Our ground floor (in Thai Nguyen province) was totally flooded. My parents and five kids were stuck, with not enough food and water. No communication since late Tuesday. They need urgent help," Thoan Vu posted online alongside hundreds of similar pleas.
More than 200 families living in Lang Son province, downstream from a dam that burst Tuesday afternoon, were earlier evacuated to shelters, the environment ministry said.
The cracked dam, part of the reservoir for the Bac Khe 1 hydropower plant, caused about $1.9 million in estimated economic losses, the ministry said in a statement.
"The reservoir of the small hydropower plant has a capacity of four million cubic metres of water... so together with heavy rains, neighbouring communes may be inundated, but no flash floods were forecast," it said.
Scientists say human-driven climate change is making extreme weather events like typhoons more deadly and destructive.
The floods followed heavy rain from Typhoon Matmo, which weakened on Monday while approaching Vietnam but hit the north hard.
Matmo landed only a week after Typhoon Bualoi triggered widespread flooding, killing at least 56 people and causing economic losses estimated at more than $710 million.
tmh/sco/mtp

flood

Wildlife flee as floods swamp Indian parks

  • "The two wildlife sanctuaries... have been submerged under floodwater forcing the animals to stray out," West Bengal forest minister Birbaha Hansda told AFP. "A herd of 30 elephants strayed out and were seen running through water, trumpeting loudly...
  • A herd of elephants, along with tigers and leopards, have escaped after raging floods in India submerged two of West Bengal's famed wildlife sanctuaries, state officials said Wednesday.
  • "The two wildlife sanctuaries... have been submerged under floodwater forcing the animals to stray out," West Bengal forest minister Birbaha Hansda told AFP. "A herd of 30 elephants strayed out and were seen running through water, trumpeting loudly...
A herd of elephants, along with tigers and leopards, have escaped after raging floods in India submerged two of West Bengal's famed wildlife sanctuaries, state officials said Wednesday.
Since October 3, at least 36 people have been killed in floods and landslides across the state, as days of torrential rain destroyed hundreds of homes, washed away tea estates, and left roads impassable.
The deluge also swamped large parts of Gorumara and Jaldapara national parks, protected reserves in the Himalayan foothills that shelter elephants, bison, tigers, and the endangered one-horned rhinoceros.
"The two wildlife sanctuaries... have been submerged under floodwater forcing the animals to stray out," West Bengal forest minister Birbaha Hansda told AFP.
"A herd of 30 elephants strayed out and were seen running through water, trumpeting loudly... We don't know how many elephants will survive," she said.
A leopard was spotted "negotiating choppy water", she said, but has not been seen since.
Other animals could not escape.
"The carcasses of dead animals have started emerging on the riverbanks," she said, listing two leopards, a rhino and several bison and deer among the dead.
Some rescues were successful.
"Two captive elephants were brought to pull out an adult rhino and two elephant calves stuck on a river bank," she added.
India's one-horned Asian rhino population has almost tripled in the past four decades thanks to conservation and anti-poaching efforts, from 1,500 four decades ago to more than 4,000 today.
str/pjm/mtp

climate

Record flooding hits Vietnam city, eight killed in north

  • "There has never been flooding here in my street but now my ground floor is all submerged."
  • Record floods submerged streets in several communities in Vietnam on Wednesday, with at least eight people killed this week, the government said.
  • "There has never been flooding here in my street but now my ground floor is all submerged."
Record floods submerged streets in several communities in Vietnam on Wednesday, with at least eight people killed this week, the government said.
Tens of thousands were left stuck at home or fleeing floodwaters that reached the tops of cars and rooftops in areas of Thai Nguyen city, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of the capital Hanoi.
The environment ministry said eight people were killed in flash floods and landslides in Vietnam's mountainous north since Monday, and five others were missing.
By Wednesday morning, the weather bureau said the level of the Cau river, running across Thai Nguyen city, was more than a metre higher than the previous record level of 28.81 metres (94.5 feet) -- when Typhoon Yagi devastated the country in September last year.
Overnight Tuesday and Wednesday morning, social media users posted pleas for help as their relatives and friends were left stranded with no electricity and few provisions in the provinces of Thai Nguyen, Cao Bang and Lang Son.
"Our ground floor (in Thai Nguyen province) was totally flooded. My parents and five kids were stuck, with not enough foood and water. No communication since late Tuesday. They need urgent help," Thoan Vu posted online alongside hundreds of similar pleas.
The floods followed heavy rain from Typhoon Matmo, which weakened on Monday while approaching Vietnam but hit the north hard.
Matmo landed only a week after Typhoon Bualoi triggered widespread flooding, killing at least 56 people and causing economic losses estimated at more than $710 million.
"I have never witnessed such a terrible flood since I was born 60 years ago," Nguyen Van Nguyen told AFP from his three-storey house in Thai Nguyen province.
"There has never been flooding here in my street but now my ground floor is all submerged."
The military said it used two helicopters to drop four tonnes of water, instant noodles, dry cake, milk and lifejackets to people in flooded parts of Lang Son province bordering China.
Human-driven climate change is turbocharging extreme weather events like typhoons, making them ever more deadly and destructive.
tmh/sco/mtp

bear

Bear injures two in Japan supermarket, man killed in separate attack

  • A man was found dead on a mountain Wednesday in northern Iwate region after another suspected bear attack, according to public broadcaster NHK, citing police.
  • An agitated bear roamed the aisles of a supermarket in central Japan, injuring two men and frightening shoppers while separately a man was found dead in a suspected mauling, officials and reports said Wednesday.
  • A man was found dead on a mountain Wednesday in northern Iwate region after another suspected bear attack, according to public broadcaster NHK, citing police.
An agitated bear roamed the aisles of a supermarket in central Japan, injuring two men and frightening shoppers while separately a man was found dead in a suspected mauling, officials and reports said Wednesday.
More and more wild bears have been spotted in Japan in recent years, even in residential areas, due to factors including a declining human population and climate change.
A man was found dead on a mountain Wednesday in northern Iwate region after another suspected bear attack, according to public broadcaster NHK, citing police.
Separately, the 1.4-metre (4.5-foot) adult bear that entered the supermarket Tuesday evening -- in Numata, Gunma, north of Tokyo -- lightly injured a man in his 70s and another in his 60s, regional police and fire officials said.
The store is close to mountainous areas, but has never had bears come near before, Hiroshi Horikawa, a management planning official at the grocery store chain, told AFP.
"It entered from the main entrance and stayed inside for roughly four minutes," he said. 
"It almost climbed onto the fish case and damaged glass. In the fruits section, it knocked over a pile of avocados and stamped on them," he added.
The store's manager told local media that around 30 to 40 customers were inside at the time, and that the bear became agitated as it struggled to find the exit.
Between April and September 108 people nationwide suffered injuries caused by bears, including five deaths, according to the environment ministry.
Also on Tuesday, a farmer in Iwate region was scratched and bitten by a bear, accompanied by a cub, just outside his house.
A Spanish tourist on Sunday was attacked by a bear at a bus stop in scenic Shirakawa-go village in central Japan.
hih/aph/mtp

Global Edition

New Zealand's seas warming faster than global average: report

  • The waters lapping New Zealand are now warming 34 percent faster than global averages, according to the Our Marine Environment report.
  • The seas around New Zealand are warming much faster than global averages, scientists said Wednesday in a new study warning how climate change could batter the island nation.
  • The waters lapping New Zealand are now warming 34 percent faster than global averages, according to the Our Marine Environment report.
The seas around New Zealand are warming much faster than global averages, scientists said Wednesday in a new study warning how climate change could batter the island nation.
The government study found New Zealand's oceans are growing hotter, turning more acidic and already threatening thousands of coastal homes as sea levels rise.
The waters lapping New Zealand are now warming 34 percent faster than global averages, according to the Our Marine Environment report.
"Climate change is driving significant changes in our oceans," the report said.
"Ocean temperatures are increasing, and marine heatwaves are becoming more frequent, intense and longer-lasting.
"Sea-level rise is accelerating at many locations."
Researchers have linked global warming to disruptions in the vast oceanic currents that swirl between New Zealand and Antarctica.
New Zealand's proximity to these currents -- as well as other changes in atmospheric circulation -- helped to explain why these seas were warming so quickly.
Department of Conservation marine advisor Shane Geange said the report showed how "climate change is making existing problems in our oceans even worse".
"For example, global warming has made New Zealand's sea temperatures rise much faster than the worldwide average.
"This means we're seeing more frequent and severe marine heatwaves. Sea levels (are) rising more quickly, and our oceans are becoming more acidic and losing oxygen."
Sea-surface temperatures at four sites around New Zealand rose, on average, between 0.16C and 0.26C per decade between 1982 and 2023.
Many native species were struggling to adapt to life in warmer and more acidic oceans, the study found, and risked being overrun by invasive pests. 
Warmer-than-normal sea temperatures have previously been linked to deaths of New Zealand's native yellow-eyed penguins.
"Because of these findings, how we manage New Zealand's marine environment needs to change," said Geange.
"We now have enough evidence to take action, and delaying risks further harms to our marine ecosystems."
Steadily rising sea levels were already being felt in many of New Zealand's low-lying coastal hamlets, the report found.
More than 200,000 homes worth US$100 billion (NZ$180 billion) were found in areas at risk of coastal inundation and inland flooding.
sft/oho/mtp

health

Snakebite surge as Bangladesh hit by record rains

BY SHEIKH SABIHA ALAM

  • The hospital treated more than 1,000 cases in nine months, including 206 bites from venomous species such as cobras, kraits and the feared Russell's viper.
  • In the swamplands along Bangladesh's mighty Padma River, snakes slithering through villages have become an unrelenting menace, leaving residents terrified and hospitals overwhelmed with bite victims.
  • The hospital treated more than 1,000 cases in nine months, including 206 bites from venomous species such as cobras, kraits and the feared Russell's viper.
In the swamplands along Bangladesh's mighty Padma River, snakes slithering through villages have become an unrelenting menace, leaving residents terrified and hospitals overwhelmed with bite victims.
Doctors and experts warn snakebites are on the rise, driven by heavy rains, shrinking habitats and shifting farming practices.
Bangladesh -- among the nations most vulnerable to climate change -- has seen nearly 15,000 snakebite admissions this year, with 84 deaths reported so far.
Farmer Ananda Mondol broke down as he recalled how a snake bit his ankle while he was working in a rice field this year.
"I couldn't talk, I couldn't move," the 35-year-old from Nimtola, a village in the northern district of Rajshahi, told AFP.
"I vomited, lost control of my bowels, and saliva was coming out of my mouth."
He spent three days in intensive care, and is still plagued by sleepless nights and persistent muscle pain.
The father of four has not returned to the fields since.
His wife, Sunita Rani, a traditional healer, said the family cannot afford further treatment.
Across the villages of northern Bangladesh, similar stories abound.
"Sometimes, they even lie with us on the bed," said Rezina Begum, as she washed clothes by the river. 
Another villager, Mohammad Bablu, told AFPhe dreads walking through the fields.
"My heart races," he said. "Only yesterday they killed seven snakes."

'Strong swimmers'

The swamplands have always been a sanctuary for snakes, but floodwaters brought on by this year's extra heavy monsoon rains have pushed more of them from their natural shelters into human settlements.
And doctors say that has ramped up the deadly consequences.
At least 25 people have died from snakebites at the Rajshahi Medical College hospital since January, said professor of medicine Abu Shahin Mohammed Mahbubur Rahman.
The hospital treated more than 1,000 cases in nine months, including 206 bites from venomous species such as cobras, kraits and the feared Russell's viper.
"Many patients suffer acute kidney failure after snakebites," Rahman said.
Nationwide, authorities have recorded 84 snakebite deaths so far this year, alongside nearly 15,000 admissions.
That follows 118 deaths in 2024, one of the highest tolls in recent memory.
The once uncommon venomous Russell's viper has seen a resurgence in numbers since 2013, spreading panic.
Fatalities have risen steadily since.
A prolific breeder, Russell's vipers do not lay eggs -- they give birth to as many as 60 babies at a time, making them difficult to contain.
"They are strong swimmers and can float on water hyacinths," said Farid Ahsan, professor of zoology at Chittagong University.
This year's heavy rains have worsened the risk.
Rajshahi recorded 1,409 millimetres of rainfall between May and September, nearly a fifth higher above the seasonal norm of 1,175 mm.

Boots and nets

But experts say climate change is only part of the picture.
Gowhar Naim Wara, a disaster management specialist, blamed urbanisation and farming practices.
"Their habitat is gone, and they are now living in close contact with humans," Wara said.
Hospitals have scrambled to stock antivenom.
"We have sufficient antivenoms for the next three weeks," said Md Sayedur Rahman, special assistant at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, adding that more imports were on the way.
But experts caution imported antidotes are not always effective, as venoms vary by species and region.
Bangladesh is working on its own treatments, with progress on a Russell's viper antivenom — though rollout remains at least three years away.
In the meantime, villagers are adapting as best they can -- carrying sticks and torches at night, wearing jeans and boots in the fields, and sleeping under mosquito nets.
"It could be any of us next," said Bablu. "We live every day with that thought."
sa/abh/pjm/dhw

health

'Veggie burgers' face grilling in EU parliament

BY BOUCHRA BERKANE

  • - Hit to German economy - It is not the first time veggie burgers have found themselves in the crosshairs of European lawmakers.
  • Championed by green advocates as much as mindful eaters, the days of plant-based "steaks" and "veggie burgers" may be numbered under plans up for a vote in the European Parliament on Wednesday.
  • - Hit to German economy - It is not the first time veggie burgers have found themselves in the crosshairs of European lawmakers.
Championed by green advocates as much as mindful eaters, the days of plant-based "steaks" and "veggie burgers" may be numbered under plans up for a vote in the European Parliament on Wednesday.
Concerns over the greenhouse gas emissions from livestock farms have in recent years driven more Europeans towards vegetarian and vegan diets, seen by advocates as a healthier alternative to regular meat consumption.
But many European livestock farmers -- and the politicians who represent them -- see plant-based foods that mimic meat as a threat, and one more challenge facing a troubled sector.
"It's not sausage, and it's not steak, plain and simple. Let's call a spade a spade," said Celine Imart, a right-wing EU lawmaker pushing for such terms to be banned for non-animal-based products.
"It's everyone's right to eat alternative proteins -- made from plants, laboratories, tofu or insect flour," said Imart, who besides her work in parliament farms cereals on the side.
"But calling it 'meat' is misleading for the consumer," she told AFP.
If Imart's proposal becomes law, a long list of labels including "sausage" and "burger" would be reserved for foods containing meat.
That prospect is still some way off.
Even if parliament backs the proposal, it still needs to be negotiated with the EU's 27 member states.
And the outcome of Wednesday's vote is uncertain, with the boss of Imart's centre-right EPP party, Manfred Weber, saying the ban was "not at all a priority".
"People are not stupid, consumers are not stupid when they go to the supermarket and buy their products," he told reporters.

'Stop talking about burgers'

Green EU lawmaker Anna Strolenberg hit out at the proposal during a debate Tuesday in Strasbourg, charging that "the meat lobby is trying to weaken its innovative food competitors."
"If you want to help farmers, give them stronger contracts. Give them a better income. Let's help them innovate," she said.
"Stop talking about burgers and start working on the issues that matter."
The push has strong support however from France's livestock and meat industry body, Interbev.
"We refuse to let plant proteins appropriate meat names for marketing purposes," the group's head, Jean-Francois Guihard, told AFP, saying such terms "weaken recognition for raw, 100 percent natural products".
"Without clear safeguards, consumers risk being misled by products that are disguised as meat -- but are not meat."

Hit to German economy

It is not the first time veggie burgers have found themselves in the crosshairs of European lawmakers.
A similar call to ban such terms was rejected in 2020.
But the balance of power has shifted since the 2024 European elections saw big gains by right-wing parties that cultivate close ties to the farm sector.
Imart says the new proposal is "in line with European rules", which already restrict the use of traditional dairy terms from "milk" to "yogurt" and "cheese".
"It's only fair to do the same for meat," she said.
Nicolas Schweitzer, chief executive of the French brand La Vie, which supplies Burger King with plant-based "bacon", says the current labelling system "does not aim to harm farmers".
"It's just a simpler, more straightforward way for consumers to understand what is being offered, how they can cook it similarly, and for products to carry comparable nutritional information," he told AFP. 
"These are products that tick all the boxes to address issues related to animal welfare, intensive farming and climate change," he said. "That should be encouraged, not made harder."
In Germany, the EU proposal has alarmed major supermarkets including Lidl and Aldi, which say banning "familiar terms" would make it "more difficult for consumers to make informed decisions".
They warned in a statement that as Europe's largest market for plant-based alternative products by far, Germany would be "particularly affected economically".
The debate is also stirring emotions in France, which passed a similar label ban in 2024 to appease angry farmers -- only for it to be overturned the following January in line with a ruling by the EU's top court.
brk-adc/ec/ub/ach 

weather

Extreme rains hit India's premier Darjeeling tea estates

BY SAILENDRA SIL

  • Landslides destroyed more than 500 houses, forcing hundreds into temporary shelters, while tourists trapped by floodwaters were rescued by earthmovers, officials said.
  • Torrential rains that triggered deadly landslides and floods in India's Darjeeling region also destroyed swathes of premier tea estates, officials said Tuesday.
  • Landslides destroyed more than 500 houses, forcing hundreds into temporary shelters, while tourists trapped by floodwaters were rescued by earthmovers, officials said.
Torrential rains that triggered deadly landslides and floods in India's Darjeeling region also destroyed swathes of premier tea estates, officials said Tuesday.
The deluge wiped out around five percent of Darjeeling's renowned tea gardens, delivering a heavy blow in a district that has become synonymous with the leaf itself.
"The flood has dealt a massive blow to the tea gardens," Rajkumar Mondal, chairman of the Indian Tea Association's Dooars Chapter, told AFP.
More than 950 hectares of tea plantations in Darjeeling's hills, known for producing high-quality brews with a protected Geographical Indication, "suffered drastic losses due to flooding", he said.
Darjeeling produces around 10,000 tonnes of tea each year across 17,500 hectares, according to the Tea Board of India.
The damage is another indication of how the intensity and unpredictability of rainfall in recent years reflect the worsening impact of climate change on Himalayan tea-growing regions.
Mondal said Darjeeling received over 261 mm (10 inches) of rain on Saturday.
"It's unprecedented -- I have never experienced such a disaster in my life", he said, adding rains struck just ahead of a "new flush", the harvest of the finest young leaf tips.
"As the flood water receded, we have seen silt soil on the tea plants... it's a costly affair to remove."
Monsoon downpours, which began on October 3, have eased.

Trail of devastation

But they left a trail of devastation, washing away roads and triggering landslides across West Bengal state.
Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) scientist Sourish Bandopadhyay said the sudden rains were caused by "an unexpected change in the trajectory of a low-pressure system", bringing the intense rains.
"It's a sign of climate change in the region," he said.
Praween Prakash, superintendent of police for Darjeeling, said at least 36 people have died, up from an earlier toll of 28.
Landslides destroyed more than 500 houses, forcing hundreds into temporary shelters, while tourists trapped by floodwaters were rescued by earthmovers, officials said.
India's tea industry is feeling the growing impact of climate change, with rising temperatures and unpredictable weather hurting both yields and quality, according to the Tea Board.
Intense downpours cause waterlogging and soil erosion, while longer dry spells have forced tea estates to rely on irrigation to sustain crops, it says.
Growers are also reporting new pests and diseases, with estates forced to use more fertilisers and pesticides to protect plants and maintain soil fertility.
India's tea industry employs more than one million workers directly, with another million in supporting jobs.
The country is the world's second-largest producer, and third-largest black tea exporter.
It shipped nearly 255,000 metric tonnes abroad in 2024, earning about 71 billion rupees ($850 million), according to official data.
str-pjm/fox

rescue

One hiker dead, hundreds rescued after heavy snowfall in China

  • In the mountains of neighbouring Qinghai province, a hiker died from hypothermia and altitude sickness, CCTV reported Monday.
  • One hiker died and hundreds of others were rescued after sudden heavy snowfall on the Tibetan Plateau and near Mount Everest on the Chinese side, state media and hikers reported on Monday.
  • In the mountains of neighbouring Qinghai province, a hiker died from hypothermia and altitude sickness, CCTV reported Monday.
One hiker died and hundreds of others were rescued after sudden heavy snowfall on the Tibetan Plateau and near Mount Everest on the Chinese side, state media and hikers reported on Monday.
A young hiker nicknamed FeiFei, who was evacuated on Monday, told AFP she was on a multi-day trek with three friends and a local guide in the Karma Valley at the foot of Everest in Tibet at an altitude of nearly 5,000 metres (16,400 feet).
Heavy snowfall overnight Saturday to Sunday buried their camp.
"We had to constantly clear the snow from the tents, but I collapsed from exhaustion (...) and my tent got buried," said the young woman from eastern Jiangsu province.
She finally found refuge in another tent.
After two days of walking, during which "firefighters cleared the path using yaks and horses to clear the snow", the group returned to the rescue centre set up at the trailhead.
In the same valley, 350 other hikers had been rescued by Sunday evening, state broadcaster CCTV said.
But more than 200 others were still in high-altitude camps at that time.
FeiFei said she saw dozens of hikers along the way, some weakened by hunger or altitude, but none in critical condition.
Local authorities did not respond to AFP requests for information on the number of people still needing rescue.
In the mountains of neighbouring Qinghai province, a hiker died from hypothermia and altitude sickness, CCTV reported Monday.
More than 130 others were retrieved from the same region after hundreds of rescuers and two drones were deployed, it added.
Search efforts were ongoing to locate other hikers in the region, the report said, without specifying how many.
Outdoor enthusiasts have flocked to the country's famous beauty spots in recent days, taking advantage of an eight-day national holiday, but many have been caught out by unexpected extreme conditions.
Over the border in Nepal and India, landslides and floods triggered by heavy downpours have killed more than 70 people, officials said, as rescue workers struggled Monday to reach cut-off communities in remote mountainous terrain.
aas-reb/mtp/abs