Health & Science

• Wednesday, October 14th 2020 - 09:26 UTC

  Ozone hole over Antarctica peaks at 24 million square kms, the highest for the last decade

  

  The annually occurring ozone hole over the Antarctic is one of the largest and deepest in recent years. Analyses show that the hole has reached its maximum size. The 2020 ozone hole grew rapidly from mid-August and peaked at around 24 million square kilometers in early October. It now covers 23 million km2, above average for the last decade, and spreading over most of the Antarctic continent.

• Wednesday, October 14th 2020 - 09:07 UTC

  China claims it found residues of Covid-19 in Brazilian beef packaging

  

  Two months after China said it found residues of Covid-19 in a batch of chicken wings imported from Brazil, Beijing authorities repeated the announcement, but this time in relation to Brazilian beef. Apparently, traces of Covid-19 were detected in beef packaging during an inspection carried out at the Port of Dalian, one of the largest in the country.

• Wednesday, October 14th 2020 - 08:57 UTC

  Climate change emergencies and consequences forecasted to double by 2030, UN report

  

  In the wake of heat waves, global warming, forest fires, storms, droughts, and a rising number of hurricanes, the UN weather agency is warning that the number of people who need international humanitarian help could rise 50% by 2030 compared to the 108 million who needed it worldwide in 2018.

• Wednesday, October 14th 2020 - 08:43 UTC

  Despite the Catholic Church but fearful of Covid-19, Mexicans venerate death saint, “Santa Muerte”

  

  Their arms raised towards the sky, worshippers of Mexico's “saint” of death pray before a giant cloaked skeleton asking for protection from the coronavirus and its devastating economic fallout. The Grim Reaper-like figure, whose devotees include drug cartel members as well as ordinary Mexicans, has been rejected by the Roman Catholic Church as blasphemous.

• Wednesday, October 14th 2020 - 08:31 UTC

  Pioneer ozone Mexican scientist and Nobel Prize dies

  

  Mario Molina, the winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1995 and the only Mexican scientist to be honored with a Nobel, died last week in his native Mexico City. He was 77 years old.

• Tuesday, October 13th 2020 - 09:01 UTC

  Bolsonaro more popular than ever despite Brazil's questionable Covid-19 record

  

  President Jair Bolsonaro has never been more popular in Brazil, despite his country's woeful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bolsonaro, who tested positive for the virus on July 7, has dismissed it as a “little flu”. Brazil passed five million Covid-19 cases on Tuesday and recorded its 150.000th death on Saturday.

• Tuesday, October 13th 2020 - 08:54 UTC

  Coronavirus cases and deaths keep growing despite some 200 days of quarantine in Argentina

  

  Argentina surpassed 900,000 cases of coronavirus on Monday, with strong growth of infections in large populated centers in the interior of the country after months of the virus' being concentrated in Buenos Aires City and its suburbs in the neighboring province of Buenos Aires.

• Tuesday, October 13th 2020 - 06:50 UTC

  World envy: Crowd of 47,000 will pack Auckland's Eden Park for the All Blacks vs Wallabies test match

  

  New Zealand Rugby is expecting a “near-capacity” crowd of some 47,000 to pack into Auckland's Eden Park for the second Bledisloe Cup international against Australia on Sunday.

• Monday, October 12th 2020 - 09:15 UTC

  Argentina approves growing GM drought resistant wheat; needs OK from its principal market, Brazil

  

  Argentina has become the first country to approve the growth and consumption of genetically modified wheat, the country's agriculture ministry announced. The ministry's scientific commission said in a statement released in Buenos Aires that it had approved a drought-resistant variety of wheat in the world's fourth-largest exporter of the crop.

• Monday, October 12th 2020 - 09:08 UTC

  Fauci complains Trump campaign makes him appear as endorsing the president

  

  Top government scientist Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that an ad aired by Donald Trump's reelection campaign was edited to make him seem to endorse the president's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.