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| January 15, 2014 |
 Indonesian volcano spews fresh lava Karo, Indonesia (AFP) Jan 14, 2014 - Indonesia's Mount Sinabung erupted more than 30 times Tuesday spewing lava and ash clouds over a wide area, officials said, with more than 26,000 people now forced to flee their homes. Sinabung, which lies in the northwest of Indonesia's Sumatra island, sent hot rocks and ash 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) into in the air, spreading hot clouds over a 4.5 kilometres radius, the Center for Volcanolo ... more |  |
Death toll from Philippine landslides, floods up to 22 Manila (AFP) Jan 14, 2014 - Twenty-two people have been killed and nearly 200,000 others evacuated as floods and landslides hit a southern Philippine region still recovering from a deadly 2012 typhoon, the government said Tuesday. Torrential rain struck the eastern section of Mindanao island at the weekend, unleashing a fresh round of misery for survivors of Typhoon Bopha, civil defence officials said. "Major river ... more |  |
 Italy's govt agrees to send in army against mafia dumps Rome (AFP) Jan 14, 2014 - The Italian government agreed Tuesday to send in the army to fight the mafia which it blames for illegally dumping tonnes of toxic garbage around Naples, in an area dubbed the "Triangle of Death". The army can be deployed "to deal with in the most efficient manner the phenomenon of the environment mafia in the area between Naples and Caserta," said Defence Undersecretary Gioacchino Alfano. ... more |  |
 Australia braces for fire danger as heatwave hits Sydney (AFP) Jan 14, 2014 - Australian authorities warned Tuesday of some of the worst fire danger since a 2009 inferno which killed 173 people, with most of the continent's southeast sweltering through a major heatwave. Victoria state, where the so-called Black Saturday firestorm flattened entire villages in 2009 and destroyed more than 2,000 homes, was again bracing for extreme fire weather. "These next four days ... more |  |
 New H7N9 bird flu deaths reported in China: state media Beijing (AFP) Jan 14, 2014 - China has reported two new deaths from the H7N9 bird flu virus, state media said, as the disease returns following an outbreak last year. A 75-year-old patient, identified only by her surname Li, died this month of the virus in a hospital in Hangzhou in the eastern province of Zhejiang, the government-run news portal zjol.com.cn reported Tuesday. Another patient, 38, in Zunyi in the sout ... more |  |
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 Mexican vigilantes accuse army of killing four Cuatro Caminos, Mexico (AFP) Jan 14, 2014 - A spokesman for vigilante forces in western Mexico accused soldiers on Tuesday of killing four people after deploying to the region to disarm civilians who have fought a drug cartel. Authorities have yet to confirm any deaths. The alleged confrontation came hours after the federal government told the "self-defense" militias to lay down their arms and go home after a year-long struggle ag ... more |  |
 Firefighters battle blazes in scorching Australia Sydney (AFP) Jan 15, 2014 - Lightning strikes ignited more than 250 fires across southeast Australia overnight, officials said Wednesday, as firefighters battled to put out the flames and the country sweltered under a heatwave. In Victoria state, where catastrophic firestorms claimed 173 lives and razed more than 2,000 homes in 2009, efforts focused on containing about 20 blazes. A further 18 fires had already been ... more |  |
 China jails doctor found guilty of stealing babies Beijing (AFP) Jan 14, 2014 - A Chinese doctor who abducted and sold newborn babies was given a suspended death sentence Tuesday in a case that drew widespread outrage with child trafficking a chronic problem in the country. Zhang Shuxia, an obstetrician, was found guilty of stealing seven children, the court said, adding that she tricked parents into giving up their babies by telling them the newborns were sick or had d ... more |  |
Toxic chemicals found in children's clothes, shoes: Greenpeace Beijing (AFP) Jan 14, 2014 - Children's clothing and shoes made by a dozen globally-recognised brands have been found to contain potentially harmful chemicals, Greenpeace said Tuesday. A new investigation by the environmental campaign group showed that at least one article from every brand was found to have chemicals that "can have adverse impacts either on human reproductive, hormonal or immune systems". But some o ... more |  |
 Mass whale stranding on New Zealand coast Nelson, New Zealand (AFP) Jan 14, 2014 - At least 13 pilot whales were beached Tuesday on a remote New Zealand coastline and conservation officials were desperately battling to prevent another 50 from reaching the shore. It is the second mass stranding in a week at the remote Farewell Spit, at the top of the South Island, which has become notorious as a whale graveyard. Department of Conservation officials said they were ale ... more |  |
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 Locust genome exposes "hundreds" of pesticide targets Paris (AFP) Jan 14, 2014 - Chinese scientists said Tuesday they had unravelled the genetic code of the locust, laying bare "hundreds" of genes that can be targeted by insecticides. The genetic code of Locusta migratoria is remarkably big - at 6.5 gigabytes, it is the largest animal genome sequenced so far, they reported in the journal Nature Communications. Large clusters of the insect's genes are associated with ... more |  |
 Study: Species face extinction unless bold conservation moves made Canterbury, England (UPI) Jan 13, 2013 - Despite record levels of funding of anti-poaching measures, many species face extinction and will need extensive protections, British researchers say. Scientists at the University of Kent's Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, in a paper published in Conservation Letters, are calling for resources to be directed to a broader range of long-term conservation strategies, which go ... more |  |
 Tokyo governor race wide open as ex-PM Koizumi steps in Tokyo (AFP) Jan 14, 2014 - Popular former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday he was backing a fellow ex-premier in the race to become Tokyo governor, setting the stage for an electoral clash over nuclear power. Morihiro Hosokawa, who served in the nation's top job in 1993-4 as head of a now-defunct coalition, announced his independent candidacy and scored a ringing endorsement from the influential ... more |  |
 Canada eyes Chilean arm of troubled Spanish fishery firm Santiago, Chile (UPI) Jan 13, 2013 - Canadian fisheries group Cooke Aquaculture is looking to acquire Pesca Chile, the Latin American country's subsidiary of the troubled Spanish fisheries multinational Pescanova S.A. Pescanova and its operations in 21 countries across the world are facing a meltdown as company data show the business is all but bankrupt. Pescanova was founded in 1960 in Vigo, the Galician port city ... more |  |
Reefs near Sydney, made 'bald' by pollution, get seaweed transplant Sydney (UPI) Jan 14, 2013 - Australian scientists say they've successfully restored a once thriving seaweed species that vanished during decades of high levels of sewage discharge. The researchers transplanted fertile specimens of the missing crayweed, Phyllospora comosa, onto two barren reef sites along the coastline near Sydney where it had grown abundantly until the 1970s, the University of New South Wales repo ... more |  |
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China's Xi vows to root out 'dirty' corruption: Xinhua Beijing (AFP) Jan 14, 2014 - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday promised a no-holds barred anti-corruption crusade, warning ruling Communist Party officials that "all dirty hands will be caught", state media reported. Xi has taken a much-publicised hard line against graft since coming to power a little over one year ago, stressing that corruption could destroy the party. Echoing similar sentiments on Tuesday, X ... more |  |
China Nobel winner's wife in rare video appearance Beijing (AFP) Jan 15, 2014 - Rare video footage of Liu Xia, the wife of imprisoned Chinese Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, reading two self-written poems under house arrest was posted online Wednesday. Chinese authorities have not charged Liu Xia with any crime but have restricted her to her home in Beijing since 2010 when her husband - an outspoken advocate of democratic reform - was awarded the Nobel peace prize, followi ... more |  |
Bangladesh's re-elected prime minister starts new term Dhaka, Bangladesh (UPI) Jan 14, 2013 - Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina started her third term by placing a wreath at a shrine in Dhaka honoring her father, the country's founder. Hasina, 66, was accompanied at Sheik Mujibur Rahman's shrine by her ministers and advisers who make up the government's 49-member Cabinet, the Bangladesh Daily Star reported. Hasina, who was re-elected this month, condemned the oppos ... more |  |
 Mapping Amino Acids to Understand Life's Origins Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jan 14, 2014 - Only 20 standard amino acids are used to build proteins, but why exactly nature "chose" these particular amino acids is still a mystery. One step towards solving this is to explore the "amino acid space", the set of possible or hypothetical amino acids that might have been used instead. New research has used computer models to construct a large database of plausible amino acids, revealing thousa ... more |  |
 Fungi may determine the future of soil carbon Panama City, Panama (SPX) Jan 13, 2014 - When scientists discuss global change, they often focus on the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and vegetation. But soil contains more carbon than air and plants combined. This means that even a minor change in soil carbon could have major implications for the Earth's atmosphere and climate. New research by Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute scientist Benjamin Turner and colleagues points ... more |  |
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