Bombay Durpun - Nature

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Anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson arrives in France

Freed anti-whaling activist Paul Watson on Friday arrived in France after five months in detention in Greenland pending an extradition demand from Japan, an airport source told AFP.

Mayotte hospital on life support after cyclone

The haggard faces in the wreckage-and-water-strewn corridors betrayed the nerves and exhaustion of those soldiering on at the main hospital on the French archipelago of Mayotte, ravaged by a deadly cyclone last weekend.

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UN urges ambitious action to protect the oceans

World leaders must do more to protect the oceans, a major United Nations conference concluded on Friday, setting its sights on a new treaty to protect the high seas.

India bans many single-use plastics to tackle waste

India imposed a ban on many single-use plastics on Friday in a bid to tackle waste choking rivers and poisoning wildlife, but experts say it faces severe headwinds from unprepared manufacturers and consumers unwilling to pay more.

California lawmakers pass sweeping bill to reduce non-recyclable plastic

Garbage be gone: California's legislature has passed an ambitious bill mandating reduction of non-recyclable plastic by at least 30 percent in six years, while also placing responsibility on producers.

Climate change cases surge as courts become environment battleground

A quarter of all climate change-related legal cases since the 1980s were filed in the last two years, according to new research Thursday showing surging litigation targeting governments, fossil fuel firms and a growing array of other companies.

India's women water warriors transform parched lands

As the monsoon storms bear down on India, a dedicated group of women hope that after years of backbreaking labour, water shortages will no longer leave their village high and dry.

Kenyan pilot project to put price on nature's treasure

The bird count gets underway -- two members of the superb starling family, a Nubian woodpecker, and so on.

Mucky business: Thai prisoners clean Bangkok sewers after pandemic delay

Flecked with sewage, a Thai prisoner grapples with an overflowing bucket as he and his fellow inmates clean Bangkok's congested drains for the first time in two years.

Nearly 1 in 4 globally at risk from severe flooding: study

Almost a quarter of the world's population are exposed to significant flood risks, according to new research published Tuesday, which warned those in poorer countries were more vulnerable.

G7 disappoints with fossil fuel 'loophole'

Leaders of the Group of Seven rich nations on Tuesday watered down a key pledge on ending fossil fuel financing abroad, as the need to tackle global warming clashed with fears over energy shortages.

Taliban to hold grand council to chart Afghan progress

Hundreds of religious leaders and "people of influence" from around Afghanistan have been summoned to the capital to attend a three-day grand council in support of the country's Taliban rule.

Indonesian zoo breeds dozens of endangered baby Komodo dragons

An Indonesian zoo has welcomed dozens of new baby Komodo dragons hatched in captivity in recent months as part of a breeding programme, its director said Tuesday, offering hope for efforts to conserve the endangered species.

Life in the abyss, a spectacular and fragile struggle for survival

Cloaked in darkness and mystery, the creatures of the deep oceans exist in a world of unlikely profusion, surviving on scant food and under pressure that would crush human lungs.

'Unimaginable': Austria prepares to reopen coal power station

At the Mellach coal power plant in southern Austria, spider webs have taken over the conveyor belts, and plants and flowers have sprung up around the vast lot that once stored coal.

US to work with Taiwan, Vietnam against illegal fishing

The United States said Monday it would step up cooperation with Vietnam and Taiwan among others to combat illegal fishing, a problem that environmentalists and Western nations increasingly attribute to China.

Ailing oceans in state of 'emergency', says UN chief

A long-delayed conference on how to restore the faltering health of global oceans kicked off in Lisbon on Monday, with the head of the UN saying the world's seas are in crisis.

Funeral held in Brazil for slain British journalist

Grieving family and friends paid their last respects Sunday to British journalist Dom Phillips, who was murdered in the Amazon earlier this month along with an Indigenous expert.

France caps visitor numbers at Marseille Calanques coves

Two popular coves in the "Calanques" area near Marseille, among southern France's main attractions, saw visitor numbers capped on Sunday for the first time to protect their fragile ecosystem.

French energy giants urge consumers to cut back

Consumers should start cutting back on their energy use immediately, the bosses of France's three big energy companies urged Sunday, warning of social tensions next winter unless reserves are replenished.

Energy shock tests G7 leaders' climate resolve

Leaders of the Group of Seven rich nations will be under pressure to stick to climate pledges in Bavaria from Sunday, as Russia's energy cuts trigger a dash back to planet-heating fossil fuels.

Oceans saved us, now we can return the favour

Humanity must heal oceans made sick by climate change, pollution and overfishing in order to rescue marine life and save ourselves, experts warned ahead of a major UN conference opening Monday in Lisbon.

Drought hits Italy's hydroelectric plants

Hydroelectric power in Italy has plunged this year thanks to a drought that has also sparked water restrictions and fears for agriculture, industry sources said Friday.

Indonesian designer's wheels behind leaders' bamboo bike bromance

As Indonesian President Joko Widodo led Anthony Albanese around the lush gardens of a presidential palace south of Jakarta earlier this month, he presented the new Australian prime minister with an unusual gift: a bamboo bike.

Bodies of two men murdered in Brazilian Amazon returned to families

The bodies of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira were handed over to their families Thursday, nearly two and half weeks after they were killed in Brazil's Amazon.

Workers strike at world's largest copper producer, Chile's Codelco

Workers at Chile's state mining company Codelco, the largest producer of copper in the world, went on an "indefinite" strike on Wednesday, unions said, protesting the closure of a foundry in one of the country's most polluted regions.

Dutch farmers protest livestock cuts to curb nitrogen

Thousands of tractor-driving farmers demonstrated in central Netherlands on Wednesday, causing widespread traffic chaos as they protested against the government's far-reaching plans to cut nitrogen emissions.

Spain bets on green hydrogen in clean energy push

As Europe seeks to move way from fossil fuels, Spain is racing ahead in developing green hydrogen, aided by a growing wind and solar power complex in efforts to decarbonise its economy.

Brazil's Lula unveils social, green campaign priorities

Brazil's leftist former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who heads the presidential election race, announced Tuesday that his priorities in power would be social policies and protecting the Amazon.

Biodiversity conference moved from China to Canada: UN

A major biodiversity summit delayed due to the pandemic will be held in Montreal, Canada instead of China as planned, the UN said Tuesday, as Beijing continues with its strict zero-Covid policy.

Dead rivers: The cost of Bangladesh's garment-driven economic boom

Bangladeshi ferryman Kalu Molla began working on the Buriganga river before the patchwork of slums on its banks gave way to garment factories -- and before its waters turned pitch black.

'World's biggest' freshwater fish netted in Cambodia

A fisherman on the Mekong river in Cambodia has hooked the biggest freshwater fish ever recorded, scientists said -- a 300-kilogram stingray.

Honduran hydroelectric executive jailed for environmentalist murder

A senior executive of a hydroelectric dam in Honduras was handed a prison sentence of more than 22 years on Monday for his role in the 2016 murder of renowned environmentalist Berta Caceres.

No relief as heat wave in US moves east

A heat wave that baked much of the central United States last week will start to move eastward with dangerously high temperatures, forecasters said Monday.

Remains of British journalist Dom Phillips identified: Brazil police

Brazil's Federal Police said Friday it had officially identified the remains of British journalist Dom Phillips, who was found buried in the Amazon after going missing on a book research trip.

Amazon killers acted alone: Brazil police

Brazilian police said Friday the killers of British journalist Dom Phillips and his expert guide Bruno Pereira had acted on their own initiative and not as part of a criminal group -- an assertion rejected by Indigenous leaders.

Biden calls clean energy matter of national security

US President Joe Biden told a climate conference for major economies Friday that Russia's war in Ukraine shows the shift to renewable energy is a matter of national security as well as key to preventing global warming.

Australia's new climate promise meets mining reality

Flood, fire and drought-battered Australia is trying to clean up its act on climate change, but dependence on fossil fuel riches could stymie the national makeover.

Suspect confesses to burying bodies of two men missing in Amazon

One of two men arrested over the disappearance of a British journalist and an Indigenous expert in the Brazilian Amazon confessed to having buried the pair in the jungle, federal police said Wednesday after human remains were found.

Human remains found buried at Amazon missing search site: minister

Human remains were found buried at a site in the Brazilian Amazon during a search for a missing British journalist and an Indigenous expert, a minister said Wednesday.

Yellowstone Park closed as swollen river destroys roads

Yellowstone, one of the best-known national parks in the United States, has been shut because flooding and rockslides have cut roads, leaving some communities stranded.

Bombay Durpun - Nature (English)