2,000 Nepalese tree-huggers claim world record
Kathmandu June 05, 2014 -
More than two thousand people including lawmakers and students hugged trees in a park outside Nepal's capital Kathmandu on Thursday to claim a new record on World Environment Day.
After organisers sounded a horn, eager students, many wearing their school uniforms, clasped tree trunks and held tight for two minutes as Nepalese musicians beat traditional drums.
"We had a very high turnout. ...
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Hunch-bat, Zorro snake among new Mekong species
Hanoi (AFP) June 05, 2014 -
From a hunch-backed bat to a giant flying squirrel, scientists have identified 367 new species in the Greater Mekong area since 2012, according to a new WWF report.
But due to unsustainable development and rapacious demand for wildlife meat and luxury timber, almost all of the newly described species are soon likely to be threatened, the group warned.
Southeast Asia has a higher proport ...
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Tibet leaders slam China 'repression' in new autonomy push
Dharamsala, India (AFP) June 05, 2014 -
The leader of Tibet's exiled government accused China Thursday of blanket repression in his homeland and warned that resentment over its rule was growing as he launched a new campaign for autonomy.
Speaking as he and other senior exiles, including the Dalai Lama, renewed their push for a "Middle Way" of peaceful autonomy within China, Lobsang Sangay called for more international help for the ...
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NATO anti-piracy ops until 2016
Brussels (UPI) Jun 5, 2013 -
Shipping lanes off the Horn of Africa will continue to be patrolled by maritime forces of NATO-members until 2016 to protect against piracy, the alliance has announced.
Operation Ocean Shield is an international effort to curb pirate attacks against commercial vessels sailing in the Indian Ocean and has been in operation since 2009.
In 2011, 24 ships were captured by pirates and ...
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Pollution-ridden Bangladesh unveils green tax in budget
Dhaka (AFP) June 05, 2014 -
Bangladesh imposed a radical new "green tax" on Thursday to force polluting factories to pay extra levies as it looks to clean up the country's increasingly dirty rivers and air.
The environmental tax was announced as part of a $32 billion budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year, which also focused on giant new infrastructure projects such as a metro in the cramped capital Dhaka and a nuclear pow ...
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China censors sweep web of Tiananmen references
Beijing (AFP) June 05, 2014 -
China's state censors on Thursday scrubbed the Internet of references to commemorations of the Tiananmen crackdown including a huge vigil in Hong Kong, extending a campaign of repression that has seen dozens of critics detained.
Organisers said a record 180,000 people filled Hong Kong's Victoria Park for Wednesday night's gathering, the only major commemoration on Chinese territory of the 25 ...
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Deep sea fish remove million tonnes of CO2 a year from UK waters
Southampton, UK (SPX) Jun 04, 2014 -
Deep sea fishes remove and store more than one million tonnes of CO2 from UK and Irish surface waters every year, according to a new study led by the University of Southampton. This natural carbon capture and storage scheme could store carbon equivalent to 10 million pounds per year in carbon credits.
Fish living in deep waters on the continental slope around the UK play an important role ...
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