Desperate for a drink: Indonesian villagers dig up dry river bed in drought
Karanganyar, Indonesia Reuters It’s been four, long, hot months since Sunardi’s village has seen any rainfall as an El Nino-induced drought parches Indonesia, so the tobacco farmer does the only thing he can do to get water: dig up a dry river bed. In an hour or two, water – salty and muddy – will fill the […]
Snapshot: Sahara Desert shade
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Montenegro President nominates pro-Western party leader as PM-designate
Sarajevo, Bosnia & HerzegovinaReuters Montenegro’s President Jakov Milatovic on Thursday nominated Milojko Spajic, a leader of a pro-Western party that won a parliamentary vote in June, as Prime Minister-designate tasked to form a government. Spajic and Milatovic lead the Europe Now Movement (PES) which won most votes in the June snap elections after Milo Djukanovic, […]
“They disappeared”: China flood victims criticise government response
Beijing, ChinaReuters Last week, the city of Zhuozhou was devastated by the worst floods to hit northern China in living memory. Today, residents are asking why the local government didn’t do more to help them. Thousands of homes and livelihoods were damaged when Zhuozhou, less than 80 kilometres south of Beijing, bore the brunt of […]
Cuba records hottest month since 1951, straining electric grid
Havana, CubaReuters Cuba in July recorded its hottest month since 1951, officials said, with the soaring temperatures on land and sea straining the country’s decrepit electric grid and pressuring fragile ocean resources. The average temperature in July hit 29.1 degrees Celsius, Cuba’s Meteorological Institute said. The previous record on the Caribbean island, known for its […]
Nicaragua freezes bank accounts of top university led by Jesuits – source
Reuters Nicaraguan authorities froze the bank accounts of the country’s top private university, a source from the institution told Reuters, marking the latest move against a Catholic-led institution in an ongoing crackdown by the government. The Jesuit-run Central American University (UCA) is the alma mater of many youth leaders who protested the government of President […]
Muslims flee Indian business hub after religious clashes, attacks
Gurugram, India Reuters Over 3,000 poor Muslims have fled a business hub outside New Delhi this month, fearing for their lives after Hindu-Muslim clashes and sporadic attacks targeting them, residents, police and a community group said. Shops and shacks owned or run by Muslims and their houses in two large slum areas were padlocked when […]
Russia launches lunar lander in race to find water on Moon
Moscow, RussiaReuters Russia launched its first Moon-landing spacecraft in 47 years on Friday in a bid to be the first nation to make a soft landing on the lunar south pole, a region believed to hold coveted pockets of water ice. The Russian lunar mission, the first since 1976, is racing against India, which launched […]
“People of the forest”: Indigenous Indonesians stake claim to land
Recognition of customary forests in Indonesia has been hailed for tackling land-grabbing and deforestation, but Indigenous leaders are demanding greater rights. PETER YEUNG, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports…
Schools shut, exams cancelled: War shatters Sudan’s education sector
Cairo, EgyptReuters When war in Sudan’s capital forced Sarah al-Sharif and her family to flee, the 19-year-old information technology student left her books and computer behind. Now in Sennar, 30 kilometres south-east of Khartoum, she lacks a stable internet connection or passport to travel abroad and like many others sees no way of continuing her […]