Climate Change & Environment
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British hiker found dead, another missing in Spain's Mallorca after storm

A British man has been found dead while emergency services search for a woman of the same nationality after both were apparently swept away in a flash flood while hiking on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, Spanish police said Wednesday.

Spain's Civil Guard said that both people were taking a trail that leads through a small canyon to the sea when the storm hit on Tuesday.

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Lightning damages Rome's ancient Constantine Arch during violent thunderstorm

Lightning struck Rome's Constantine Arch near the Colosseum during a violent thunderstorm, loosening fragments from the ancient structure.

The fragments from Tuesday's lightning strike were immediately gathered and secured by workers at the Colosseum Archeological Park, officials said. The extent of the damage was being evaluated.

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Drought forces Kenya's Maasai and other cattle herders to consider fish and camels

The blood, milk and meat of cattle have long been staple foods for Maasai pastoralists in Kenya, perhaps the country's most recognizable community. But climate change is forcing the Maasai to contemplate a very different dish: fish.

A recent yearslong drought in Kenya killed millions of livestock. While Maasai elders hope the troubles are temporary and they will be able to resume traditional lives as herders, some are adjusting to a kind of food they had never learned to enjoy.

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Salvagers abandon effort to tow burning oil tanker in Red Sea

Salvagers abandoned an initial effort to tow away a burning oil tanker in the Red Sea targeted by Yemen's Houthi rebels as it "was not safe to proceed," a European Union naval mission said, leaving the Sounion stranded and its 1 million barrels of oil at risk of spilling.

While a major spill has yet to occur, the incident threatens to become one of the worst yet in the Iranian-backed rebels' campaign that has disrupted the $1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. It also has halted some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen.

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EU officials pledge to develop more water-saving technologies as droughts worsen

Officials from nine southern European Union countries pledged Tuesday to work together to develop more water-saving technologies in agriculture as the prospect of worsening droughts puts additional strain on farmers and threatens food security.

The promises came during a gathering in Cyprus of the so called MED9 countries — France, Greece, Italy, Croatia, Portugal, Malta, Spain and Slovenia — to address growing water scarcity as a result of climate change, especially in the Mediterranean region, which they say is being affected to a greater degree than other parts of the 27-member bloc.

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African nations lose up to 5% of GDP per year with climate change

African nations are losing up to 5% of their GDP every year as they bear a heavier burden than the rest of the world from climate change, a new report said Monday after one of the continent's hottest years on record.

The World Meteorological Organization said many African nations are spending up to 9% of their budgets for climate adaptation policies.

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Fierce storm blows out of northern Philippines after leaving 14 dead

A fierce storm was blowing out of the northern Philippines Tuesday after leaving at least 14 people dead in landslides, floods and swollen rivers, disaster-response officials said.

Tropical Storm Yagi swept past Paoay town in Ilocos Norte province into the South China Sea with sustained winds of up to 75 kilometers (47 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 125 kph (78 mph), according to the weather bureau.

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Heavy monsoon rains and floods kill at least 33 in south India, 5 children in Pakistan

Heavy monsoon rains and floods have killed at least 33 people in southern India and five children in Pakistan over the past two days, authorities said Tuesday.

In India's Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states, houses collapsed and were swept away by torrential downpours while floods disrupted road and rail traffic, officials said. The weather service issued a red alert for 11 districts, predicting more rains in the region, Telangana's top bureaucrat, Shanta Kumari, said.

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A celebrity 'Russian spy' whale spotted with harness found dead in Norwegian waters

A white beluga whale named "Hvaldimir," first spotted in Norway not far from Russian waters with a harness that ignited rumors he may be a Moscow spy, has been found dead.

The Norwegian public broadcaster NRK reported that the whale carcass was found floating at the Risavika Bay in southern Norway Saturday by a father and son who were fishing.

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Companies are crafting new ways to grow cocoa and chocolate alternatives

Climate change is stressing rainforests where the highly sensitive cocoa bean grows, but chocolate lovers need not despair, say companies that are researching other ways to grow cocoa or develop cocoa substitutes.

Scientists and entrepreneurs are working on ways to make more cocoa that stretch well beyond the tropics, from Northern California to Israel.

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