| April 17, 2009 |  |
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 Beijing (AFP) April 17, 2009 
With his sun-baked face and rough peasant hands, 47-year-old Chen Meiji does not look like the saviour of the Chinese economy, but that is the role his government wants people like him to fill. Like hundreds of millions of other farmers, Chen is being offered government subsidies to buy household goods, which is meant to boost rural consumption, and in turn reignite the world's third-largest ... read more 
Paris (AFP) April 17, 2009Forests that today soak up a quarter of carbon pollution spewed into the atmosphere could soon become a net source of CO2 if Earth's surface warms by another two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), cautions a report to be presented Friday at the UN. Plants both absorb and exhale carbon dioxide, but healthy forests - especially those in the tropics - take up far more of the greenhouse ... more |
US East Coast braces for another massive snowstorm
Italy's Enel buying US wind, solar plants for $1bn Mennonites in Colombia face trial for deforestation 158 giant tortoises reintroduced to a Galapagos island Austria snowstorm leaves five dead, road and power chaos Austria snowstorm brings road and power chaos, four deaths Trump administration repeals tougher rule on coal plant emissions Austria snowstorm brings road and power chaos, two deaths Snowstorm in Austria results in one death, blocked roads Snowstorm paralyses Vienna airport 
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| Previous Issues | Apr 16 | Apr 15 | Apr 13 | Apr 10 |
 
Rome (AFP) April 17, 2009The death toll from last week's earthquake in central Italy has risen to 295 following the death of a 19-year-old who succumbed to his injuries, Italian radio reported Friday. The victim died Thursday and had been hospitalised in Rome since the earthquake on April 6 devastated the town of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region, Rai radio reported. More aftershocks shook the region Thursday night ... more  
Washington (AFP) April 16, 2009Scientists have uncovered an ancient ecosystem below an Antarctic glacier that survived millions of years in cold brine without light or oxygen, a study said Thursday. Because the ecosystem was isolated for so long in extreme conditions, it could shed light on possible extraterrestrial life and how systems can survive under ice, said longtime Antarctic researcher and Montana State University ... more  
Sydney (AFP) April 17, 2009Australia on Friday revealed plans to introduce national arson laws with a maximum penalty of 25 years behind bars in the wake of deadly wildfires that claimed 173 lives. Attorney General Robert McClelland said the devastating February blazes, which flattened more than 2,000 homes and razed entire towns, had highlighted the need for harsher, more consistent penalties. "Given the incredib ... more 
Kabul (AFP) April 17, 2009Two earthquakes killed up to 22 people in eastern Afghanistan, damaging villages and destroying scores of homes in a remote area near the border with Pakistan, local authorities said Friday. The quakes hit overnight the districts of Khogyani and Sherzad in Nangarhar province near the Pakistan border and where police launched rescue efforts searching for more dead and injured under the rubble ... more |
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Launching the idea of data centers in spaceSan Francisco, United States (AFP) Feb 3, 2026 Tech firms are floating the idea of building data centers in space and tapping into the sun's energy to meet out-of-this-world power demands in a fierce artificial intelligence race. ... more  
Anthropic unveils new AI model as OpenAI rivalry heats upSan Francisco, United States (AFP) Feb 5, 2026 Anthropic on Thursday released its latest high-performing artificial intelligence model, escalating its challenge to OpenAI in the intensifying AI race. ... more
Musk merges xAI into SpaceX in bid to build space data centersSan Francisco, United States (AFP) Feb 3, 2026 Elon Musk has announced that his rocket company SpaceX will take over his artificial intelligence outfit xAI, as he seeks to raise billions of dollars for his science fiction-worthy outer space projects. ... more
  
Reprogrammable metal bricks give robots muscle-like adaptabilityLos Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 04, 2026 Mechanical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated a proof-of-concept material system that allows solid Lego-like building blocks to be programmed with different mechanical properties and the ... more 
OpenClaw's AI agent does everything, even social mediaWashington, United States (AFP) Feb 2, 2026 Meet OpenClaw: the AI assistant that promised to be your dream intern, terrified cybersecurity experts, and now thrives on chatbot-only social media - all in just a few weeks. ... more 
Human taught tactile control lets robots grasp diverse objectsTokyo, Japan (SPX) Jan 19, 2026 When humans pick up everyday items such as fragile eggs or slippery metal cups, they instinctively adjust their grip using tactile feedback to avoid breaking or dropping them. In contrast, enabling ... more
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Santa Barbara CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2009A new study by researchers from UC Santa Barbara's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) sheds light on how threats to the world's endangered coral reef ecosystems can be more effectively managed. In a recent issue of the journal Coral Reefs, lead authors Kimberly A. Selkoe and Benjamin S. Halpern, both of NCEAS, explain how their maps of the Northwestern Hawaiian ... more 
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2009All of us are left-handed. At least, the bits that make up our proteins are. This is surprising since Nature is predominantly ambidextrous when it comes to assembling these molecules from scratch. Some scientists argue that left-handedness was handed down to us from space, but others say it just happened by chance in some little nook on the primordial Earth. Handedness, or as it's technica ... more  
Huambo, Angola (AFP) April 16, 2009On the drive from the airport into Huambo city centre lies the burnt-out shell of the former house of Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi. The crumbling structure is a stark reminder of Huambo's dark past as a battleground for Savimbi's Union for Total Independence of Angola and the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola. But seven years since Savimbi's death ... more 
Sydney (AFP) April 16, 2009A quake with a magnitude of 6.0 struck the remote Papua New Guinea island of Bougainville Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The quake hit at 10.43am local time (0043 GMT) 153 kilometres (95 miles) west-southwest of Arawa, in central Bougainville, at a depth of 44 kilometres, the USGS said. "At this stage no information has ... more |
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China shuns calls to enter nuclear talks after US-Russia treaty lapsesBeijing (AFP) Feb 5, 2026 China rejected calls to enter talks on a new nuclear treaty after a US-Russian agreement expired on Thursday, ending decades of restrictions on how many warheads the two powers can deploy. ... more 
Trump urges new nuclear treaty after Russia agreement endsWashington, United States (AFP) Feb 6, 2026 US President Donald Trump on Thursday called for a brand new nuclear treaty after the last agreement with Russia expired, prompting fears of a new global arms race. ... more 
Iran, US prepare for Oman talks after deadly protest crackdownMuscat, Oman (AFP) Feb 6, 2026 Iran and the United States were preparing for talks on Friday in Oman, with Washington looking to see if there was any prospect of diplomatic progress on the Iranian nuclear programme and other issues while refusing to rule out military action. ... more
  
Why did Xi hold back-to-back calls with Putin, Trump?Beijing (AFP) Feb 5, 2026 China's leader Xi Jinping held back-to-back calls with Russia's Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump this week, timing analysts said on Thursday was rare and significant as Beijing positions itself as a stable global power. ... more 
Russia, US agree to resume military contacts at Ukraine talksAbu Dhabi (AFP) Feb 5, 2026 Russia and the United States agreed to resume high-level military contacts, in a major step of rapprochement between the world's top nuclear powers at Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. ... more 
China's Xi calls for 'orderly' world in talks with Uruguay leaderBeijing (AFP) Feb 3, 2026 China's leader Xi Jinping called Tuesday for an "equal and orderly multipolar world" in the face of "unilateral bullying", in an apparent jab at the United States. ... more
  
Iraq starts investigations into IS detainees moved from SyriaBaghdad (AFP) Feb 2, 2026 Iraq's judiciary announced on Monday it has begun its investigations into more than 1,300 Islamic State group detainees who were transferred from Syria as part of a US operation. ... more 
Where does Iraq stand as US turns up heat on Iran?Baghdad (AFP) Jan 29, 2026 Faced with political deadlock, open American meddling and the threat of war across its borders, is Iraq being dragged back to darker times after achieving hard-won stability? ... more 
Rubio warns Iraq on Iran ties as Maliki sets returnWashington, United States (AFP) Jan 26, 2026 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Iraq on Sunday against a pro-Iranian government as the expected return of Nouri al-Maliki as prime minister stirs Washington's concern. ... more
  
Pakistan seeks out perpetrators after deadly separatist attacksQuetta, Pakistan (AFP) Feb 1, 2026 Pakistan forces hunted on Sunday for the separatists behind a string of coordinated attacks in restive Balochistan province, with the government vowing to retaliate after more than 190 people were killed in two days. ... more 
US judge grants asylum to Chinese man who filmed alleged Uyghur campsWashington, United States (AFP) Jan 29, 2026 A US immigration judge on Wednesday granted asylum to a Chinese man who fled his country after documenting sites of alleged human rights abuses against Uyghurs, his mother and lawyer told AFP. ... more 
Kurdish women braid their hair in show of solidarity with Syria KurdsErbil, Iraq (AFP) Jan 23, 2026 Women in Iraqi Kurdistan and beyond have taken to the streets and social media to braid their hair in a show of solidarity after a Syrian soldier bragged in a video about cutting off a Kurdish fighter's braid in Raqa. ... more |
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