
-
Hamilton rubbishes claims he's lost faith in Ferrari
-
Nintendo Switch 2 sparks excitement despite high price
-
Sri Lanka's crackdown on dogs for India PM's visit sparks protest
-
S Korea police raise security levels ahead of impeachment verdict
-
China vows 'countermeasures' to sweeping new US tariffs
-
Trump jolts allies, foes and markets with tariff blitz
-
France says EU to target US online services after Trump tariffs
-
Tsunoda vows to bring 'something different' after Red Bull promotion
-
Verstappen not happy with Tsunoda-Lawson Red Bull swap
-
Experts accuse 54 top Nicaragua officials of grave abuses
-
Remains of 30th victim of Los Angeles fires found
-
EU to target US online services after Trump tariffs: France
-
How Trump's 'liberation day' tariffs will impact China
-
Malaysia suspends search for long-missing flight MH370
-
Search for long-missing flight MH370 suspended: Malaysia minister
-
Europe hits out at Trump tariffs, keeps door open for talks
-
Myanmar's junta chief to head to Bangkok summit as quake toll surpasses 3,000
-
Lawson vows to prove he belongs in F1 after shock of Red Bull axing
-
Australia sweats through hottest 12 months on record: official data
-
Livestock theft is central to jihadist economy in west Africa
-
South African artist champions hyenas in 'eco-queer' quest
-
Danish PM in 'unity' Greenland visit amid US takeover threats
-
Taiwan says US tariffs 'highly unreasonable'
-
Lawson says ruthless Red Bull axing was 'tough to hear'
-
Heat humble Celtics for sixth straight win, Thunder roll on
-
Trump escalates trade war with sweeping global tariffs
-
Japan says US tariffs 'extremely regrettable', may break WTO rules
-
South Koreans anxious, angry as court to rule on impeached president
-
Juve at in-form Roma with Champions League in the balance
-
Injuries put undermanned Bayern's title bid to the test
-
Ovechkin scores 892nd goal -- three away from Gretzky's NHL record
-
Australian former rugby star Petaia signs for NFL's Chargers
-
China says opposes new US tariffs, vows 'countermeasures'
-
Athletics world watching as 'Grand Slam Track' prepares for launch
-
Heat humble Celtics for sixth straight win, Cavs top Knicks
-
Quake-hit Myanmar's junta chief to head to Bangkok summit
-
New Spielberg, Nolan films teased at CinemaCon
-
Shaken NATO allies to meet Trump's top diplomat
-
Israel's Netanyahu arrives in Hungary, defying ICC warrant
-
Shiny and deadly, unexploded munitions a threat to Gaza children
-
Stocks tank, havens rally as Trump tariffs fan trade war
-
Altomare hangs on to tie defending champ Korda at LPGA Match Play
-
Paraguay gold rush leaves tea producers bitter
-
Health concerns swirl as Bolivian city drowns in rubbish
-
Syria says deadly Israeli strikes a 'blatant violation'
-
Financial markets tumble after Trump tariff announcement
-
Starbucks faces new hot spill lawsuits weeks after $50mn ruling
-
Europe riled, but plans cool-headed response to Trump's tariffs
-
'Shenmue' voted most influential video game ever in UK poll
-
New coal capacity hit 20-year low in 2024: report

Invasive species a growing and costly threat, key report to find
Invasive species that destroy forests, ravage crops and cause extinctions are a major and growing threat worldwide, a landmark UN-backed assessment is poised to report.
From water hyacinth choking Lake Victoria in East Africa, to rats and brown snakes wiping out bird species in the Pacific, to mosquitoes exposing new regions to Zika, yellow fever, dengue and other diseases, tens of thousand of aliens species have taken root -- often literally -- far from their place of origin.
The science advisory panel for the UN Convention on Biodiversity, known by its acronym IPBES, will release on Monday the most comprehensive assessment of so-called "alien species" ever assembled.
Humans are to blame when non-native species wind up on the other side of the world, whether by accident or on purpose.
Scientists point to the pervasive spread of these species as hard evidence that rapid expansion of human activity has so radically altered natural systems as to tip Earth into a new geological epoch called the Anthropocene, or the "era of humans".
Some invasive species are accidental arrivals, hitching rides in the ballast water of cargo ships, the containers in their holds, or in a tourist's suitcase.
Others were introduced deliberately.
The hyacinth which at one point covered 90 percent of Lake Victoria -- crippling transport and fishing, smothering aquatic life, blocking hydroelectric dam intake, and breeding mosquitoes -- is thought to have been introduced by Belgian colonial officials in Rwanda as an ornamental garden flower before making its way down the Kagera River in the 1980s.
The Everglades wetlands preserve in Florida is teeming with the destructive offspring of erstwhile pets and house plants, from five-metre (16-foot) Burmese pythons and walking catfish to Old World climbing fern and Brazilian pepper.
Invasive species are a significant cause of extinctions, along with habitat loss, global warming, pollution and direct exploitation for food or body parts.
Small islands with endemic species not found anywhere else on Earth are especially vulnerable.
Rats, snakes and mosquitoes transported by Western explorers or, later, tourists have wiped out dozens of bird species in the last two centuries.
The deadly fire that reduced the Hawaiian town of Lahaina to ashes last month was fuelled in part by bone-dry guinea, molasses and buffel grasses -- imported as livestock feed -- that have spread across abandoned sugar plantations.
A global treaty to protect biodiversity hammered out in the Canadian city of Montreal last December sets a target of reducing the rate at which invasive alien species spread by 50 percent compared to current levels.
J.Oliveira--AMWN