Fires Threaten Africa’s Rainforest. Elephants Might Help To Save It

In the far reaches of the African rainforest lives a timid creature known as the forest elephant. Camera traps sometimes catch blurs of gray passing by during the night, leaving behind broken branches and trampled grass as they tread familiar paths through the trees, a behavior passed down by those lucky enough to have survived the civil wars that consumed Central Africa and decimated its wildlife at the turn of the century. Park rangers catch sightings of them only fleetingly. Unlike their sava

Gas flares could help resolve Europe’s energy crisis – instead it’s fuelling a health emergency

On the sprawling edge of Port Harcourt, a city in Nigeria’s oil-rich south, metal towers shoot jets of red and golden flame into the sky. Even at a distance from the flares the air is thick and hot to breathe saturated with toxic pollutants. Yet life persists here. Every morning, around 5am, dozens of women can be seen drying sheets of cassava under the searing heat. It is dangerous work: two locals recently died when the gas flare shot out, while others have had their skin burned off in flaring

Welcome to Total’s ‘Petro City’: Arlington, Texas

In this heavily drilled North Texas city, a UK-based investigative reporter finds echoes of TotalEnergie’s oil exploitation of Nigeria, Iraq, and Kurdistan. ARLINGTON, Texas—The 10-mile stretch of drill sites and compressor stations between the far side of Lake Arlington and Fire Station 15 is known as a “sacrifice zone” by many of those who live along this stretch of North Texas suburban sprawl. Around 400 gas wells already exist inside the City of Arlington, and another 17 are being drilled b

Choking Kurdistan: How oil and gas burning is suffocating minorities in northern Iraq

Eight hundred metres away from one of the largest oil wells in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Ali Hassan can’t sleep - the oil flares lighting up the sky outside his window keep him bed bound. A nasty smell is spreading through Khabat, on the road to Mosul, as the flaring intensifies, and some residents are struggling to breathe. “It gets inside the houses, even when you block the windows and doors,” Hassan said.* His parents are coughing from the fumes. They were sleeping on the roof — as is com

Refugees claim gas flaring cancer link in northern Iraq

Erbil, Iraq – Shireen*, a 53-year-old Syrian refugee living at the Kawergosk Camp in Erbil, Iraq, started to have cancer symptoms in March 2020. “In the beginning, I had a lot of pain in my breast, back and arm. I ignored the pain because I thought it could be muscle spasms or an infection,” she said. The only option for her to seek treatment was the camp’s health centre, where services were limited. She could not leave the camp due to a COVID-19 lockdown, and private clinics were too expensiv

Choking Kurdistan: How oil and gas burning is suffocating minorities in northern Iraq

Eight hundred metres away from one of the largest oil wells in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Ali Hassan can’t sleep - the oil flares lighting up the sky outside his window keep him bed bound. A nasty smell is spreading through Khabat, on the road to Mosul, as the flaring intensifies, and some residents are struggling to breathe. “It gets inside the houses, even when you block the windows and doors,” Hassan said.* His parents are coughing from the fumes. They were sleeping on the roof — as is com

Leaked docs show young people leading fight against Iran government

The Iranian regime has 'lost control of the universities' and says 'the young are speaking a language we don't understand', according to leaked documents seen by MailOnline. The recent leak shows paramilitary guards sharing fears the Islamic Theocracy can no longer quash dissent among its educated young people — with police demanding a pay rise after three months of protests. Renewed student protests came across Iran as the authoritarian government announced its first public executions, lashin

Images reveal extent of Beijing's military build-up in South China Sea

Extraordinary photos of Beijing's military bases in the South China Sea have given the most-detailed view yet of what Xi Jinping has been building — and show them bristling with defences. The Chinese Communist Party has spent the better part of a decade turning a remote series of atolls and reefs in the region into highly developed military bases that are now equipped with naval guns, anti-aircraft systems, radar arrays, attack ships and hangars capable of housing dozens of fighters. At least

Hermit who spent 29 years alone returns to island for final 'farewell'

Japanese castaway Masafumi Nagasaki, 87, who spent 29 years on a deserted island before being forced to leave by Japan's government, returned to his paradise home on June 16 for a final goodbye. Japan's 'naked island hermit' was the only inhabitant of the Sotobanari island for almost three decades, which is only a kilometre wide and located in the Okinawa archipelago, near Taiwan. The 87-year-old is said to have been a photographer before fleeing civilization to live on the island, saying he w

Sources: Iran released protesters after running out of prison space

The Iranian regime is running out of prison space to house protesters after almost six weeks of riots, sources speaking with MailOnline have said. Iranian police have been forced to release protesters back on to the street after running out of places to house them, with country-wide demonstrations leaving the Islamic republic thin on resources, according to Iranian residents. Several demonstrators recently detained by Iranian police were immediately released, MailOnline understands. According

Libyan rebels shoot down US drone in Benghazi

Libyan rebels supported by Russia's Wagner Group in the armed conflict shot down an unmanned US drone over Benghazi, the Air Force confirmed Wednesday. Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, one of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's ex-generals who has been fighting Libya’s internationally recognized central government since 2011, leads the Libyan National Army (LNA) in the country's conflict. The LNA said on Monday it had shot down the drone, believed to be a MQ-9 Reaper, near Benghazi's Benina airport after f

Iran is already a nuclear weapons state: ex US diplomat warns

Iran is already a nuclear weapons state with enough uranium to build 'one, if not two' bombs, an ex-US diplomat and nuclear weapons expert has warned. Former Washington official Robert Joseph told MailOnline: ‘The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has documented that Iran has 60% of enriched uranium, enough for at least one if not two bombs. 'We have been saying for years "they're approaching this breakout point and we've really got to negotiate with them." They're there.' The ex-Unit

Woman robs own money from Beirut bank to pay for sister's cancer costs

A Lebanese woman held up a Beirut bank on Wednesday with a toy gun and walked out with thousands of dollars of her own money to pay for her sister's cancer treatment. Sali Hafiz, a 28-year-old activist and interior designer, said she managed to free around $13,000 from the $20,000 she said her family had deposited. Cancer treatment for her sister costs $50,000, she said. Video shows her talking to bank employees at a reception desk before taking out the toy gun prompting screams from those in

Poland to build wire fence to stop migrant influx from Kaliningrad

The Polish government today announced the construction of a 130-mile razor-wire fence along the border with Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad to prevent illegal crossings. Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced the decision amid concerns in Warsaw that Russia plans to orchestrate an influx of migrants. 'The airport in Kaliningrad is now accepting flights from the Middle East and North Africa. I decided to take action to enhance the security of the Polish border,' Blaszczak told reporters.

Calls reveal cops waited FOUR HOURS to respond to Itaewon stampede

A log of emergency calls has revealed that South Korean authorities took almost four hours to respond to the Halloween stampede that killed 156 people in Seoul's Itaewon district. South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo vowed on Wednesday to hold police accountable for the deadly crowd surge, after transcripts showed they were slow to react to incoming calls. The first emergency call was made at 6:34pm, a nervous caller warning that police needed to control the crowd before the crush of peopl

How Takeoff grew up with uncle Quavo and cousin Offset before Migos

News of rapper Takeoff's death has shocked the world of hip hop, with his closest family holding him above a pool of blood after he was shot in the ‘head or neck’ in a dispute over ‘a game of dice’ this morning. His last desperate last moments came after an incredible family story where the three Migos, who grew up together in the mid 2000s, would go from dropping out of Berkmar High School to building a $26million fortune. Takeoff, born Kirshnik Khari Ball on the 18th of June 1994, never knew

South Africa REFUSES to seize Putin ally's superyacht

The South African government has refused to seize a superyacht belonging to a sanctioned Russian oligarch attempting to dock in Cape Town, with a government spokesperson adding the country has 'no reason' to comply with Western sanctions. The $500million superyacht belongs to Alexey Mordashov, a 57-year-old billionaire named in the Pandora Papers, who owns the Russian mining companies Nordgold and Severstal. With a net worth of $13.2billion, Forbes ranked Mordashov as the 51st richest person i

Two month-old baby has arm amputated in Nigeria after father broke it

Doctor were forced to amputate the arm of a two-month old baby after its cruel father broke the limb as punishment for disturbing his sleep. The 31-year-old man assaulted his baby with a plastic cloth hanger for waking him, according to his wife. She told the BBC that her husband took her phone and locked the baby in a room before attacking the infant. He tried to keep her silent by threatening her, she said, fearing she would tell their neighbours. But the mother reported the case to the po

Qatar police abused LGBTQ people, report reveals ahead of World Cup

Police in Qatar have arbitrarily detained and abused members of the LGBTQ community ahead of the World Cup next month, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Monday. Homosexuality is illegal in the Gulf state which has come under intense scrutiny over its rights record before the tournament that is expected to attract at least one million foreign fans. HRW said it had 'documented six cases of severe and repeated beatings and five cases of sexual harassment in police custody between 20
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