World News

Football pitch of tropical forest lost every 5 seconds

Earth lost an area of carbon-absorbing rainforest larger than Switzerland or the Netherlands in 2022, most of it destroyed to make way for cattle and commodity crops, an analysis of satellite data released Tuesday revealed.. The rest of the world combined accounted for just under 15 percent of forest lost in 2022.  mh/fb

Olivia Chow wins election as Toronto's first Chinese-Canadian mayor

Olivia Chow won election Monday to become the first Chinese-Canadian mayor of Toronto, vowing to pursue a more progressive approach in Canada's largest city after ending more than a decade of conservative rule.. Monday evening, however, Ford congratulated Chow on her election as Toronto's mayor. 

Greek far-right makes vote comeback

The far right has made a dramatic return to Greek politics, swept back on a wave of anger over the name deal on North Macedonia and the enduring power of a locked up neo-Nazi leader.. But everyone in Greece knows the man who backs them -- Ilias Kasidiaris, the former spokesman of neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, which was banned from contesting elections after being labelled a criminal organisation by the courts.

Will AI really destroy humanity?

The warnings are coming from all angles: artificial intelligence poses an existential risk to humanity and must be shackled before it is too late.. However, the group has warned that giving machines the power to make decisions on life and death is an existential risk.

Guatmala's shock candidate Arevalo posed to tackle corruption

Guatemalan presidential candidate Bernardo Arevalo, who pulled off an upset in Sunday elections by advancing to a run-off, declared Monday that if he wins, his priority will be fighting corruption.. The election saw low turnout and a high rate of invalid ballots cast, with few Guatemalans holding out hope that their next president will solve the problems of crushing poverty, violence and corruption.

China calls West's economic de-risking a 'false proposition'

Chinese Premier Li Qiang slammed efforts in the West to "de-risk" their economies as a "false proposition" on Tuesday, hitting back against US and EU policy aimed at reducing their reliance on China. . "In the West, some people are hyping up what is called 'cutting reliance and de-risking'," Li told delegates at the opening of a World Economic Forum meeting in northern China.

Jumbo problem: Sri Lanka's battle with plastic pollution

Heart-wrenching images of revered elephants and cattle eating plastic in Sri Lanka have prompted politicians to toughen pollution laws, but sceptical conservationists warn past bans were repeatedly ignored.. After an estimated 20 elephant deaths and countless other wild animals perishing due to single-use plastics in the past decade, officials say a law banning many such items is expected to come into force within weeks.

Hong Kong high-rise aims to become 'village' of the dead

With its white marble foyer and lavish chandeliers, the 12-storey tower could be mistaken for one of Hong Kong’s newest hotels, but it offers a longer stay: a final resting place for thousands in one of the world's most crowded cities.. Places like Shan Sum were created in response to Hong Kong's shortage of urn spaces a decade ago.

Indigenous defenders of oil in the Amazon

A group of Indigenous Waorani women give a war cry warning that environmentalists are not welcome in their part of the Ecuadoran Amazon, where an oil field operates partly on a protected reserve.. "We will not allow 'kowori' (strangers)... to enter," said Waorani leader Felipe Ima, translating the belligerent words of the group of seven women from the Kawymeno community that supports oil extraction at the nearby Ishpingo field.