Prosecutors to be punished if China graft suspects kill selves
Beijing (AFP) Aug 7, 2015 -
Chinese prosecutors will be punished if officials they are investigating for abuse of office commit suicide, authorities said, after several suspects caught up in an anti-corruption drive killed themselves.
Under President Xi Jinping, a much-publicised anti-graft campaign has ensnared a long list of senior and junior officials. Some have committed suicide, escaping possible criminal proceedi ...
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Hundreds of firefighters battle wildfires in Portugal
Lisbon (AFP) Aug 9, 2015 -
Nearly 1,000 firefighters as well as six helicopters and three planes were deployed in Portugal Sunday to battle forest fires raging in the north and centre of the country, authorities said.
The worst fire scorched Vila Nova de Cerveira in the northern Minho region and was continuing to spread due to "difficult to access terrain, wind, high temperatures and the ongoing drought," a fire serv ...
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Typhoon churns towards China after killing five in Taiwan
Shanghai (AFP) Aug 8, 2015 -
Typhoon Soudelor moved towards China on Saturday, weaker but still packing a punch, after killing at least five people and leaving a trail of destruction in Taiwan.
The typhoon ripped up trees and triggered landslides in Taiwan, and knocked out power to 1.5 million homes. Rivers broke their banks under torrential rain and towering waves pounded the island's coastline.
In mainland China, ...
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Hong Kong swelters on hottest day in history
Hong Kong (AFP) Aug 8, 2015 -
Hong Kong on Saturday recorded its hottest day since authorities began taking temperature readings 130 years ago, due to the influence of a nearby typhoon.
The daily maximum temperature hit 36.3 degrees Celsius, the Hong Kong Observatory said, with higher temperatures recorded in some parts of the city earlier in the day.
A layer of haze hung over the metropolis of seven million, as peop ...
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U.S. sets aside funding for marine power
Washington (UPI) Aug 7, 2015 -
Projects focused at the university level will share $7.4 million in research funds to develop components for marine energy, the U.S. Energy Department said.
The Energy Department said funding was made available to support the next generation of water power components necessary to support marine and hydrokinetic systems.
"Waves, tides, and ocean currents represent a largely untapp ...
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Fish off Australia's coast dive deep to avoid heat
Cairns, Australia (UPI) Aug 7, 2015 -
Humans retreat inside and blast the air conditioning when it's hot, but fish don't have such a luxury. New research shows a common predator species off the Australian coast dives deeper to avoid rising water temperatures.
Scientists at James Cook University tagged and tracked 60 redthroat emperor fish, plotting their movements and swimming depths for nearly a year.
The data point ...
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Africa's fires mean less rain during the dry season
Pasadena, Calif. (UPI) Aug 6, 2015 -
In any given year, half of all fires on Earth burned in Africa. Most are set by farmers to promote agricultural productivity and to clear land for planting.
But as a new study by NASA researchers shows, the fires are having distinct effects on the continent's weather. Smoke from Africa's agricultural fires suppress rain cloud formation and leads to less precipitation during the dry seas ...
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