Air pollution and lack of physical activity pose competing threats to children in China

Air pollution and lack of physical activity pose competing threats to children in China Corvallis OR (SPX) Jan 11, 2017 - Children and adolescents in mainland China are facing two serious and conflicting public health threats: ongoing exposure to air pollution and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle with little regular physical activity outside school. Health workers and policymakers need to find ways to address both of these issues so that children can be more physically active without suffering the health r ... more

Bay Area methane emissions may be double what we thought Berkeley CA (SPX) Jan 18, 2017 - Emissions of methane - a potent climate-warming gas - may be roughly twice as high as officially estimated for the San Francisco Bay Area. Most of the emissions come from biological sources, such as landfills, but natural gas leakage is also an important source, according to a new study from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The report by rese ... more

How the darkness and the cold killed the dinosaurs Potsdam, Germany (SPX) Jan 17, 2017 - 66 million years ago, the sudden extinction of the dinosaurs started the ascent of the mammals, ultimately resulting in humankind's reign on Earth. Climate scientists now reconstructed how tiny droplets of sulfuric acid formed high up in the air after the well-known impact of a large asteroid and blocking the sunlight for several years, had a profound influence on life on Earth. Plants die ... more

Robert Chow: Hong Kong's pro-Beijing firebrand Hong Kong (AFP) Jan 17, 2017 - Hong Kong is home to a host of democracy activists angering China but one rabble-rouser - a silver-haired former radio host - has been embraced by Beijing for targeting supporters of a split from the mainland. Straight-talking and a seasoned media operator, Robert Chow is Hong Kong's most prominent pro-Beijing activist, best-known for orchestrating a public campaign against massive democra ... more

I.Coast soldier killed as mutiny protests return Bouake, Ivory Coast (AFP) Jan 17, 2017 - A mutinous soldier was killed in Ivory Coast's administrative capital Tuesday, as fresh trouble erupted in several cities after troops took to the streets, firing shots in the air and terrifying residents. The soldier's death in Yamoussoukro was the first since a mutiny over pay erupted in the second city Bouake on January 5, stoking security fears in the world's top cocoa producer. Init ... more

Fukushima 'voluntary' evacuees to lose housing support Tokyo (AFP) Jan 17, 2017 - Thousands of Japanese evacuees from Fukushima should keep getting free housing, supporters said Tuesday, as the local government readies to yank support offered after the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. Some 27,000 so-called voluntary evacuees - people who chose to leave their homes in the region after the 2011 accident due to safety concerns - are set to lose the six-year-old hou ... more

Drought may add famine to Somalia's humanitarian woes Mogadishu (AFP) Jan 17, 2017 - A serious drought has left parts of Somalia at risk of famine and 320,000 children are already severely malnourished and in need of care, the UN humanitarian agency said Tuesday. "The level of humanitarian suffering in this country triggered by projected conflict, seasonal shocks and disease outbreaks are typically hard to bear, but the impact of this drought represents a threat of a differe ... more

Slovenian dogs sent 'crazy' by road salting mix-up Ljubljana (AFP) Jan 17, 2017 - Dogs in a small Slovenian town went "crazy", according to a local newspaper, after salt from a dry-cured ham factory was mistakenly used to de-ice snowy roads. Italian dry-cured ham, known as prosciutto, is considered a delicacy but no-one in Sezana, near the Italian border, ever expected to see it appearing on their pavements. "The winter service operator in Sezana (last week) spread sa ... more

US contributes $500-million to UN Green Climate Fund Washington (AFP) Jan 17, 2017 - The outgoing Barack Obama administration announced Tuesday a contribution of half a billion dollars to the UN Green Climate Fund, just three days before Donald Trump takes over the White House. The $500 million payment, announced by State Department spokesman John Kirby in a statement, is the second from the United States to support the United Nations Green Climate Fund, which aims to mitiga ... more

Brazil calls up army to quell prison violence Natal, Brazil (AFP) Jan 17, 2017 - Brazil's government Tuesday ordered the armed forces to help secure the country's overcrowded jails as police fought to separate rival gangs of inmates in one prison following a massacre. Inmates climbed on the roof and set up barriers of furniture in a northeastern jail inhabited by warring rival drug gangs vowing to behead each other. Police fired rubber bullets to try to keep apart tw ... more