Environment

Floods inflicts $4.7 million damages to Irkutsk Region agriculture

BRATSK /Irkutsk Region/, June 30. /TASS/: The damages inflicted on the agriculture in the flood-affected areas of the Russian region of Irkutsk amount approximately to 300 million rubles ($4.740 million), Deputy Minister of Agriculture Maxim Uvaidov said.

"The overall damage is evaluated to be around 300 million rubles ($4.740 million - TASS)," he told the meeting convened by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the flood situation in the Irkutsk Region.

G20 summit: World leaders, except US, agree on climate deal

29 June 2019; DW: Leaders have agreed on a climate deal similar to the one struck in Argentina in 2018. The US has again refused to commit to tackling climate change.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday said world leaders at the G20 summit would sign a climate change deal similar to that signed in Argentina last year.

"We will have a similar text to Argentina. A 19+1 declaration," Merkel told reporters on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Osaka.

China calls for joint action in tackling climate change

OSAKA, Japan, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi called upon all parties to honor their commitments and take concrete actions in tackling climate change at a trilateral meeting of China, France and the United Nations (UN) here on Saturday.

The meeting, held on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of 20 major economies, was chaired by Wang and attended by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Europe heat wave sparks massive wildfire in Spain, record temperatures in France

28 June 2019; DW: Hundreds of firefighters are struggling to contain a wildfire that continues to spread over heavily forested hills in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia. Firefighters said Thursday that the blaze was not under control.

"We're at a moment when the blaze is getting bigger," Miquel Buch, the regional interior minister, told local media.

India: Mayor's ire over engineers for water-logging

Kanpur: The Mayor's wrath was worth realizing at the water-logging in the city. She did not budge in condemning the officers' laxity in nullah cleaning work. The height of their inactiveness was that they were not ready to accept faults. Instead they were finding faults with one another. 

The Mayor Pramila Pandey said three executive engineers of Nagar Nigam and JAL Nigam were found irresponsible and she would recommend the state government for the transfer.

India: 2 thrashed in Gurgaon by Gau-rakshaks

Gurgaon, Jun 25 (PTI) Two persons were allegedly assaulted by a mob in Haryana's Gurgaon district on Tuesday on the suspicion of smuggling cattle.

Two pickup vans were intercepted by a group of "cow protection unit" near Islampur village, 3 km from here, in the morning, said Savita Kataria -- the person who led the group.

Shathil Ahmad, a resident of Palwal district, and Tayaid were arrested and a search is on for two others who fled the spot, said Gurgaon police PRO Subhash Bokan.

Smoke from US wildfires boosting health risk for millions

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Climate change in the Western U.S. means more intense and frequent wildfires churning out waves of smoke that scientists say will sweep across the continent to affect tens of millions of people and cause a spike in premature deaths.

That emerging reality is prompting people in cities and rural areas alike to prepare for another summer of sooty skies along the West Coast and in the Rocky Mountains — the regions widely expected to suffer most from blazes tied to dryer, warmer conditions.

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