Mississippi officials declared a health emergency Tuesday after historic flooding damaged treatment systems and left 180,000 people in the state capital Jackson without safe drinking water.. The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) said water treatment pumps had failed and there were low levels of water in storage tanks serving Jackson.
London's mayor warned Tuesday of possible fare rises and service cuts after the capital's transport operator struck a 20-month funding deal with the UK government that still leaves a budget "gap".. But Labour mayor Sadiq Khan said the settlement with the ruling Conservative government meant a £740 million funding shortfall remained, and that fare hikes and service reductions were under consideration.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday condemned anti-immigrant protests that had prevented foreigners from accessing a hospital in the capital, fuelling concerns about rising xenophobia.. Ramaphosa maintained that South Africans were not "xenophobic" but "quite welcoming."
Are barbecues "a symbol of virility"?. In seeking to draw attention to the impact of meat-eating on climate change, she told an event at the weekend that the country needed "to change mentality so that eating steak cooked on a barbecue is not a symbol of virility."
The UK's leading animal charity on Tuesday blamed spiralling costs and the huge upsurge in pet ownership during the pandemic for a 24-percent rise in pet abandonments this year.. The charity, which is running an anti-animal cruelty campaign, attributed the surge to the pandemic and cost of living crisis for stretching pet owners' finances.
The cost-of-living crisis pushing millions of people towards poverty in Europe is driven by fossil fuels, according to a leading Earth systems scientist, who has warned that global heating risks causing runaway climate change. . "I find it very disturbing that our political leaders in Europe are unable to communicate that high living costs right now are caused by higher prices on fossil fuels," he told AFP at the book's launch on Tuesday.
A nursing home in southern Japan is "hiring" babies for a very important job -- to keep its elderly residents company and make them smile.. "The mere sight of babies makes our residents smile," she told AFP, adding with a chuckle that "there is no shift roster or anything".
Textiles designer Brigitte Singh lovingly lays out a piece of cloth embossed with a red poppy plant she says was probably designed for emperor Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj Mahal, four centuries ago.. It was her father-in-law, a major collector of Rajasthan miniatures, who gave her the Mughal-era poppy cloth connected to Shah Jahan.
Millions of people in areas surrounding China's capital were ordered into lockdown Tuesday, with authorities doubling down on efforts to contain Covid-19 ahead of a key ruling Communist Party meeting this year.. Nearly four million people in Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing, were ordered to stay home until the end of the week as officials rush to curb a small virus flare-up.
British pubs could be forced to close because of massive increases in energy prices, leading industry figures said on Tuesday, urging the government to step in.. "Without immediate government intervention to support the sector, we could face the prospect of pubs being unable to pay their bills, jobs being lost and beloved locals across the country forced to close their doors, meaning all the good work done to keep pubs open during the pandemic could be wasted."
