
-
Asian markets edge up but uncertainty rules ahead of Trump tariffs
-
Nintendo's megahit Switch console: what to know
-
Nintendo to unveil upgrade to best-selling Switch console
-
China practises hitting key ports, energy sites in Taiwan drills
-
Oil, sand and speed: Saudi gearheads take on towering dunes
-
All eyes on Tsunoda at Japan GP after ruthless Red Bull move
-
'Image whisperers' bring vision to the blind at Red Cross museum
-
Hay shines as New Zealand make 292-8 in Pakistan ODI
-
Other governments 'weaponising' Trump language to attack NGOs: rights groups
-
UK imposes online entry permit on European visitors
-
How a Brazilian chief is staving off Amazon destruction
-
Meme politics: White House embraces aggressive alt-right online culture
-
China launches military drills in Taiwan Strait
-
US senator smashes record with 25-hour anti-Trump speech
-
Brazil binman finds newborn baby on garbage route
-
US senator smashes record with marathon anti-Trump speech
-
Trump advisor Waltz faces new pressure over Gmail usage
-
Niger junta frees ministers of overthrown government
-
Trump set to unleash 'Liberation Day' tariffs
-
Boeing chief to acknowledge 'serious missteps' at US Senate hearing
-
Real Madrid hold Real Sociedad in eight-goal thriller to reach Copa del Rey final
-
Nuno salutes 'special' Elanga after stunning strike fires Forest
-
PSG survive scare against Dunkerque to reach French Cup final
-
Sundowns edge Esperance as crowd violence mars quarter-final
-
Nottingham Forest beat Man Utd, Saka scores on Arsenal return
-
Elanga wonder-goal sinks Man Utd as Forest eye Champions League berth
-
Stock markets mostly advance ahead of Trump tariffs deadline
-
US movie theaters urge 45-day 'baseline' before films hit streaming
-
Saka scores on return as Arsenal beat Fulham
-
Third-division Bielefeld shock holders Leverkusen in German Cup
-
Ball-blasting 'Torpedo bats' making waves across MLB opening weekend
-
Newsmax shares surge more than 2,000% in days after IPO
-
Thousands of Hungarians protest against Pride ban law
-
GM leads first quarter US auto sales as tariffs loom
-
Tesla sales tumble in Europe in the first quarter
-
No 'eye for an eye' approach to US tariffs: Mexico
-
NFL club owners back dynamic kickoffs, delay tush push vote
-
Trump 'perfecting' new tariffs as nervous world braces
-
Trump nominee says to press UK on Israel arms
-
French court says Le Pen appeal ruling could come before presidential vote
-
The battle to control assets behind Bosnia crisis
-
Prabhsimran powers Punjab to IPL win over Lucknow
-
Mass layoffs targeting 10,000 jobs hit US health agencies
-
Tiger's April Foolishness: plan to play Masters just a joke
-
Myanmar quake toll passes 2,700, nation halts to honour victims
-
Turkish fans, artists urge Muse to cancel Istanbul gig
-
US seeks death penalty for accused killer of insurance CEO
-
UK govt moves to block sentencing guidelines for minority defendants
-
Trump puts world on edge as 'Liberation Day' tariffs loom
-
Swedish journalist jailed in Turkey kept 'isolated': employer

Smog and extreme heat, an unsafe combo for Texans
Extreme temperatures have combined with habitual smog in Houston for more than two weeks, and Erandi Trevino feels the hazardous combination in her body.
"It burns my face. I feel it in my nostrils," Trevino says.
The heat wave sprawling across the southern United States has lasted since June 14, and the sultry air and humidity make for temperatures that feel like they are higher than 40 degrees C (104 degrees F).
Houston, the fourth most populous US city with 2.3 million people, is home to four oil refineries (one of them among the nation's largest), heavy industry, a tangle of highways and plenty of trucks.
"In past years, we may have a heat emergency that lasts typically two, three, maybe four days at the most (but) I've never seen in the last 20 years... where it extends past a week and a half," Porfirio Villarreal, spokesman for the Houston Health Department, told AFP.
Between four and 10 people die each year in the city of Houston from heat-related illness, Villarreal said.
Trevino, 31, an organizer with Public Citizen, lives next to a truck parking lot where exhaust spews constantly.
Fewer than seven miles away (10 kilometers) is the Houston Ship Channel, site of major industrial and petrochemical activity.
The heat and pollution have delivered a one-two blow.
- High ozone days -
"It's absolutely affecting my health, no doubt about it," she said, trucks rumbling behind her home in the southwest of the city.
"In Houston, we're affected by a lot of ground-level ozone... (which) is what happens when pollution and heat combine."
"When we have heat waves here that are 100 degrees (F) for several weeks on end, plus the high levels and spikes and pollution that we have from the industry, then that results in a lot of days with high ozone levels."
Ozone can be good or bad depending on where it exists. Good ozone occurs naturally in the upper atmosphere, shielding humans from harmful ultraviolet rays.
But ozone at ground level is a harmful contaminant, and is caused when pollutants emitted by vehicles, power plants, refineries and other sources chemically react with sunlight, especially in hot weather, the Environmental Protection Agency says.
Trevino, who also is director of the Health Port Communities Coalition, demands that ozone meters be installed near industrial areas of the city. None exist currently.
- Millions affected -
According to the American Lung Association, nearly 120 million US citizens (more than a third of the nation) live in areas with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution, with some of them vulnerable to illness and even death.
"I feel like that it is extremely dangerous for our health in the long run, especially for the little ones and the elderly," said Esmeralda Carr, a 32-year-old mother of four and a neighbor of Trevino's.
"When you have a lot of pollution, you end up having more people go to the hospitals. They may have asthma, which is exacerbated by that ozone or that pollution," Villarreal said.
Those most harmed by the pollution are African American and Latino communities, the American Lung Association says.
F.Dubois--AMWN