GENEVA — GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland, known for natural beauty like pristine lakes and majestic Alpine peaks, ranks among the world’s richest countries whose plant and animal life is under the greatest threat. Environmentalists are seeking better protections for the country’s biodiversity in a nationwide vote that culminates Sunday. The latest polls suggest that initial … Read more
BBC They are two competing views on where desk-based employees work best. Amazon is ordering its staff back to the office five days a week, just as the government is pushing for rights to flexible working – including working from home – to be strengthened. The tech giant says employees will be able to better … Read more
BERLIN — A state election is taking place in Brandenburg on Sunday, three weeks after a far-right party made gains in two other states in eastern Germany. Around 2.1 million people are registered to vote for a new state parliament in Brandenburg, the state that surrounds the German capital, Berlin. Sunday’s election is being watched … Read more
Anne Okumu/BBC A small-scale farmer in northern Malawi, Emily Nkhana used to discard over-ripe bananas or just let them rot, but she has now found a profitable use for them – banana wine. Extreme heat was causing bananas to ripen too quickly, resulting in heavy losses for Ms Nkhana and many other farmers who live … Read more
According to Gov. Gavin Newsom, California’s controversial minimum wage hike has added about 11,000 jobs to the state’s economy. However, celebrity chef Andrew Gruel cleared the air of what he called the governor’s latest “self-congratulatory propaganda.” “It’s a little early to put the book on the shelf and kind of take the victory lap here. … Read more
BBC Five-year-old Habibah wishes she had more space to play On the first floor of the Willow Lodge guest house, Habibah and her brother Hameef are jumping around in the cramped bedroom they share with their mother. They dodge the stacked suitcases, the two beds, the small table and the fridge as best they can, … Read more
AstraZeneca AI is increasingly being used to follow and prepare for new variants of coronavirus It’s been dubbed “Disease X” – the next global pandemic, which some experts predict is pretty much bound to happen. Over the next decade, according to certain forecasts, there’s a one in four chance of another outbreak on the scale … Read more
Getty Images Making books slimmer and lighter could mean significant CO2 savings A typical paperback book accounts for around 1kg of carbon dioxide, according to sustainability expert Mike Berners-Lee. Perhaps that does not sound like much. But in the US alone, where 767 million paperback books were sold in 2023, this is equivalent to the … Read more
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — When film star James Stewart went on location in 1948 at Stateville prison’s notorious roundhouse while portraying a Chicago newspaper reporter whose work freed a wrongly convicted killer in “Call Northside 777,” the lockup had already been standing nearly a quarter of a century. Now, 76 years and hundreds of millions of … Read more
SAN FRANCISCO — Sidewalks once teeming with tents, tarps and people passed out next to heaps of trash have largely disappeared from great swathes of San Francisco, a city widely known for its visible homeless population. The number of people sleeping outdoors dropped to under 3,000 in January, the lowest the city has recorded in … Read more