Climate change set to empty a fifth of ocean life
By the end of this century, one-fifth of ocean life as we know it will vanish from the face of the earth all because of global warming.
Category: Features
Extinct turtle ‘resurrected’ at Indian temple pond
The black softshell turtle is officially extinct in the wild, but a centuries-old Indian temple and its nature-loving caretaker are helping the creature make a tentative comeback.
Laos pathway for Made-in-Myanmar meth
Landlocked, secretive and with ungovernable borders, Laos has become a sluice for transporting Made-In-Myanmar meth to the drug hungry markets of Southeast Asia and Australia, where billion-dollar seizures are now being made.
40-year-old mystery over devouring black holes solved
Scientists on Thursday unveiled the most detailed simulation of a black hole yet, solving a mystery dating back more than four decades over how the star-devouring monsters consume matter.
HK scientist bids to restore ‘Pearl of the Orient’s’ heydays
Former investment banker turned scientist Yan Wa-tat is on a mission to bring back Hong Kong’s heydays as the Pearl of the Orient.
Humans’ closest relatives driven into forest ghettos
Chimpanzees, mankind’s closest primate relative, are being driven into extinction by urban expansion and hunting.
India school demands plastic waste as fees
One school in northeast India has taken a novel approach to addressing the scourge of plastic waste by making its collection a condition of free attendance.
Looming crisis for Thai Muslim silk weavers
Thailand’s Muslim silk weavers fear they are a dying breed because the younger generation is not willing to learn or carry out the traditional craft.
Malaysia fights to save centuries-old creole
Malaysia’s Portuguese Eurasian community has a distinct and vibrant culture. But many older folk fear that their language Kristang, which UNESCO lists as “severely endangered”, is increasingly being discarded by the younger generation.
As taste for English wine grows, rush for vineyard land underway
Sparkling or sweet, demand for English wine is flourishing, say producers, with the search for suitable land to grow grapes and plant vineyards gathering momentum across England.
A prayer for trees: For Kenyan tribes, saving forests is a sacred duty
As Tume Racha made tea for her grandchildren in the family’s small wood-frame house woven from rags and camel hides, she talked about what her community holds most sacred: its trees.
Venezuelan defectors arm themselves to ‘liberate’ their homeland
Wearing camouflage shirts and combat boots, a Venezuelan militia group stands in formation in the Colombian city of Cucuta as their commander, a former Venezuelan army sergeant, outlines plans to seize towns across the border before heading to Caracas to help oust President Nicolas Maduro.
Behind the scenes at a euro note printing press
In secretive vaults in Rome, crisp 100 and 200 euro banknotes are rolling off the printing press.
Blood and thunder at sea: British veteran remembers D-Day
Seventy-five years ago, a young British sailor stood on the bridge of a warship, its gun barrels pointing out to the coast of France and watched the devastation being rained down on a country he wanted to liberate.
Philippines city ripe for terrorists’ pickings
Two years after the Philippine city of Marawi was overrun by jihadists it remains in ruins, with experts warning that stalled reconstruction efforts are bolstering the appeal of extremist groups in the volatile region.
Surprise gift puts billionaire in centre of 2020 US polls issue
The gesture touched on one of the 2020 US election’s key issues – the high cost of education.
Imports and climate rub salt in Vietnamese farmers’ wounds
Vietnam’s salt farmers toil in the sweltering sun to eke out a meagre living, increasingly battered by imports of the mineral and also climate woes.
Philippines coastal towns steadily sinking
Coastal towns and islets in the Philippines are steadily sinking because groundwater is increasingly being pumped out to cater to a booming population and growing economy,
Australian ‘Trump’ steps up to bat at polls stumps
A brash, self-promoting billionaire with political ambition and a string of controversies in his wake, Clive Palmer not only sounds like Australia’s answer to Donald Trump, that is exactly who he is modelling himself on.
Children puppet masters seek a living in Indonesia
As the Muslim fasting month progresses, some poor children in Indonesia are donning giant puppet costumes known as Ondel-Ondel and busking in the streets to try to make a living.
Major UN push to fight climate change
Climate change is moving to the center stage at the United Nations.
Young butchers dread rise of ‘fake’ meat
Slicing through juicy cuts of pork belly alongside rarer delicacies of ox brain and sheep intestine, young butchers at a Frankfurt trade hall cast a suspicious eye towards the so-called fake meat products on display.
Doing their best to retrieve remains of WWII fallen
Since 1980 groups of Russian volunteers have been fanning out across the country looking for the remains of Red Army soldiers who died fighting the Nazis in World War II.
Red-faced over state-of-art Aussie $50 banknote
Red-faced bank bosses in Australia have admitted to an embarrassing error, revealing their state-of-the-art $50 note had a typo.
Spying in on cloak and dagger stuff
A lipstick pistol, a button-hole camera, a lethal umbrella and an authentic waterboarding table: the espionage world’s heroic, ingenious and sordid sides are all on show in Washington’s all-new, much-expanded International Spy Museum.
Popcorn seller and his flying machine
As a boy Muhammad Fayyaz dreamed of joining the Pakistani air force but his father’s death forced him quit eighth grade and do odd jobs to support his mother and five siblings.
Sri Lanka experts still trying to identify blasts’ dead
The nauseating smell of death that infested the streets around Colombo’s morgue after Sri Lanka’s devastating Easter attacks has finally dispersed.
‘Click and match’ polls campaigning in Australia
Political parties are taking advantage of Australia’s open policy on online information gathering in their polls campaigns, Reuters notes.
Excited Thais await coronation
Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn will be crowned this weekend in a pageantry-laden ceremony flecked by Hindu and Buddhist ritual, as Rama X furthers his primacy over one of the world’s richest monarchies and a kingdom beset by ulcerous political divides.
Growing threat to Brazil’s ecological paradises
Brazil is home to more than half of the world’s plant and animal species, but its ecological paradises are facing growing threats from big business and criminal outfits who have found a champion in far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, experts say.
