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Participants wave rainbow flags during the Korea Queer Culture Festival 2022 in central Seoul, South Korea, July 16, 2022.
Hard Numbers: Small step for gay rights in South Korea, floods in Brazil, Botswana’s endangered rhinos, India’s heat warning, Roald Dahl rewrites
1: For the first time, a South Korean court recognized the rights of a gay couple after the Health Insurance Service denied the two men spousal coverage. A lower court originally ruled against the couple, but an appellate judge determined that denying the couple coverage was discriminatory despite the fact that South Korea does not recognize same-sex marriage. The case could now be heard by the Supreme Court.
44: The death toll from devastating floods in southeastern Brazil rose to 44 on Wednesday after President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva visited the state of São Paulo. Shoddy infrastructure in Brazil makes homes particularly vulnerable to severe flooding and landslides. Search and rescue efforts continue as dozens remain missing.
33: Botswana says it has seen a surge in poaching in recent years, with one third – 33% – of the endangered species having been wiped out over the past five years alone. Authorities attribute this to a demand for rhino horns in East Africa and say there are fewer than 400 of the animals left in the country.
37: India’s meteorologists issued their first heat warning of the season in recent days as parts of western India are set to reach 37 degrees celsius (98.6 Fahrenheit). Many Indians are extremely anxious after last spring's wet bulb weather brought one of the country’s worst heat waves in over a century and led to scores of deaths.
59: Is children’s author Roald Dahl the latest victim of the culture wars? Puffin, the publishing house with rights to Dahl’s classics, is making a slew of alterations to his books, with journalists finding 59 changes to “The Witches” alone. Oompa-Loompas, the beloved characters from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," will now be dubbed "small people,” not "small men.” Dare we ask: What do you think of the move? Please drop us a note with your thoughts.Drying habitat makes Australia's platypus vulnerable, say scientists
SYDNEY (REUTERS) - Australian scientists pushed on Monday (Nov 23) to list the platypus as a vulnerable species after a report showed that the habitat of the semi-aquatic native mammal had shrunk more than a fifth in the last 30 years.
Newly identified primate species with mask-like face facing extinction
PARIS • Scientists have identified a new species of primate living in the forests of central Myanmar, a lithe tree-dweller with a mask-like face framed by a shock of unruly grey hair.
10 must-reads for today
Tasmanian devils - classified as endangered - have been released into the wild on Australia's mainland, more than 3,000 years after they died out there. Aussie Ark and a coalition of other conservation groups revealed yesterday that they had released 26 of the carnivorous mammals into a 400ha sanctuary at Barrington Tops National Park in New South Wales.
Orang utan found on Indonesian palm oil plantation returned to the wild
JAKARTA (REUTERS) - A Bornean orang utan found on an Indonesian palm plantation has been rescued and returned to the forest, a conservation group said on Wednesday (Aug 19), the latest example of how habitat loss is piling pressure on the critically endangered animal in the wild.
Vietnamese man caught trying to smuggle tiger parts
HANOI • A Vietnamese man has been arrested for attempting to smuggle an entire tiger skin and bones into China, police in the south-east Asian country - where the illegal wildlife trade flourishes - said yesterday.
Vietnam man arrested smuggling tiger skin, bones to China
HANOI (AFP) - A Vietnamese man has been arrested for attempting to smuggle an entire tiger skin and tiger bones into China, police said on Thursday (April 11) in the south-east Asian country where illegal wildlife trade flourishes.
Indonesia breaks up ring of traffickers in Komodo dragons
JAKARTA (REUTERS) - Indonesian police on Wednesday (March 27) arrested nine men suspected of trafficking Komodo dragons, the largest living species of lizard, as well as other endangered birds and wild cats destined for use in traditional medicines.