CAPE TOWN — It was no ordinary library. The University of Cape Town’s Jagger Reading Room, destroyed by a runaway fire this week, was a beacon of African history and intellect. The African studies section of the 1930s library was engulfed by flames on Sunday when a fire sparked on the foothills of the city’s…
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Cancer research another long-term casualty of the coronavirus pandemic, scientists say
As the death toll from the coronavirus climbs, Karen Hilton, of Dalkeith, Scotland, sees herself and others fighting cancer as “collateral damage.” Hilton, 48, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer four years ago. After a double mastectomy, surgeries to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes that were also at risk of cancer…
‘No new worlds’: New artwork highlights darker side of Mayflower’s impact
“No new worlds.” These words stand emblazoned 20 feet tall at the Plymouth harbor, on England’s southwestern coast, from where the Mayflower set sail to establish a new life for its passengers in America. The art installation is one of several commemorations erected to mark the 400th anniversary of the transatlantic voyage Wednesday. The anniversary comes as…
Atomic bomb dropped on Japan’s Hiroshima 75 years ago still reverberates
Regular nosebleeds, three bouts with cancer and blinding cataracts. It’s been 75 years since the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima — marking the end of World War II and the dawn of the nuclear age — but survivors like Masaaki Takano still live with the consequences. “I’m mentally trying hard to…
Australian wildfires declared among the ‘worst wildlife disasters in modern history’
Nearly 3 billion animals were affected by Australia’s worst wildfire season that burned from last July through March, scientists announced Tuesday — a figure almost three times higher than original estimates. The report released Tuesday and commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature Australia said more than 46 million acres were scorched. An estimate in January said…
Preventing the next pandemic will cost $22.2 billion a year, scientists say
As the world grapples with the toll of the coronavirus pandemic, scientists are warning the funding needed to prevent the next zoonotic disease outbreak is severely lacking — leaving everyone vulnerable. The price tag for protecting and monitoring pristine forests and wildlife trade where diseases emerge is an estimated $22.2 billion to $30.7 billion, according to the report in…
It’s not poachers killing elephants in Botswana. That worries conservationists.
Botswana’s elephants are literally dropping dead. Hundreds of elephant carcasses have been found scattered across a remote, narrow region of the north — and poaching isn’t to blame. The mystery has dragged on for months, and experts say the slow response to the deaths has shed light on deeper issues in the country’s relationship with the prized creatures….
After the coronavirus, China moves to kick its exotic meat habit
Ou Yang is having a hard time finding snake to eat. “A very famous restaurant specialized in cooking snakes in my city already stopped providing such dishes,” Ou told NBC News from Foshan, in southern China, where snake has long been regarded as a delicacy. “They are all banned now.” As the world struggles to…
‘They’re so vulnerable’: Coronavirus hits tribes of isolated Andaman Islands
An indigenous tribe on India’s Andaman Islands, whose population hovers just over 50 people, is now threatened by the coronavirus and experts fear uncontacted people on nearby islands could be next. At least 10 people from the Great Andamanese tribe have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Friday and were being monitored in a hospital,…
A plague amid a pandemic: East Africa, West Asia combat locust outbreak
When the skies darkened suddenly over Michael Gatiba’s 10-acre farm in Nakuru County, Kenya, what came pouring down stunned him: millions of desert locusts. “It was like a storm,” Gatiba, 45, said by telephone. “It was like hail. They covered everywhere. Even there was no sun.” That was three months ago. Although Gatiba said he was lucky…
Critics question reparation offers from British corporations with slave trade ties
Too little, too late? As a number of British institutions and corporations respond to Black Lives Matter protests with pledges of reparations for their historic links to slavery and exploitative colonialism, some are asking whether their moves are no more than “empty gestures.” Calling it “an unacceptable part of English history,” the Bank of England…
Thousands take to London streets to protest racism, George Floyd death
LONDON — After almost a week of violence in cities across the United States following the death in police custody of George Floyd in Minneapolis, thousands took to the streets of central London on Wednesday to protest racism and show solidarity with their American counterparts. On a gray and dreary day in Britain’s capital, the crowd met…
Health workers fighting coronavirus around the world threatened by violence
As Dr. Trupti Katdare and her colleague, Dr, Zakia Sayyed, traced the contacts of a patient who had tested positive for the coronavirus, a mob set upon them, yelling and throwing stones. “It was very scary,” Katdare said of the incident, which took place April 1 in the Indian city of Indore. “We didn’t understand…
U.N. warns of ‘hunger pandemic’ amid threats of coronavirus, economic downturn
While the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, the head of the United Nations food agency warned on Tuesday that a looming “hunger pandemic” will bring “the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II.” Famine in as many as three dozen countries is “a very real and dangerous possibility” due to ongoing wars and conflicts, economic…
African countries that faced Ebola outbreaks use lessons to fight COVID-19, experts say
African countries previously hit by deadly Ebola outbreaks are using the lessons they learned to fight the coronavirus pandemic, experts say, because they know how to rapidly track down, screen and quarantine potential patients. “When a certain outbreak is over, you have a capacity left behind that you can build on or adapt. It could be…
Lockdowns are fine for the rich, but millions are too poor to shelter from coronavirus
Lockdowns are being championed as a way to help contain the coronavirus, but experts warn that will not be easily achieved in developing countries where crowded cities and slums could see the virus spread “like fire.” Questions over how the world’s poorest will survive the coronavirus pandemic surged Wednesday, a day after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced…
Who was Iran’s Qassem Soleimani and why does his death matter?
The death of Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a United States airstrike in Baghdad on Thursday will likely unite Iran and its allies in mourning the man some considered to be Tehran’s second most powerful leader. But little is known outside the Middle East about the man who played such a key role in shaping conflicts across the…
Young female climate activists face hateful abuse online. This is how they cope.
The consequences of rising temperatures for the planet and ecosystems are becoming increasingly apparent, yet less noticed is the vile backlash and abuse being thrown at the young green activists who have successfully pushed the climate agenda into the mainstream. NBC News has spoken to three young climate activists, all female, and their families who now find…
Climate activist group Extinction Rebellion overturns London protest ban
LONDON — The eco-protest group Extinction Rebellion won a bid against London’s Metropolitan Police on Wednesday over the imposition of a city-wide ban against the group’s series of demonstrations last month. The high court ruled that the blanket ban police issued on Oct. 14 to 18 was unlawful, a decision protesters are celebrating. “It is a victory,” Tobias Garnett,…
Extinction Rebellion’s activists leverage disruption, arrests for climate action
LONDON — Wielding a megaphone to rally protesters blocking a major road outside Parliament last month, Dr. Bing Jones was arrested for the fourth time since joining the eco-protest group Extinction Rebellion. The arrests haven’t deterred him, however — in fact, Jones is now keen to adopt an even more disruptive approach. “I will get…