23 June 2020 – Reports that temperatures in a Russian town in the Arctic Circle likely reached a record 38C (100.4F), last weekend, have been approved by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) pending final verification, it said on Tuesday.
Category: Environment
BD Red Crescent opens new isolation centres for Rohingyas
Cox’s Bazar, June 23 – Bangladesh Red Crescent Society has launched two new isolation and treatment centres (Field hospitals) to treat the growing number of Covid-19 patients in Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar adjacent to host communities.
Trump targets foreign workers with new visa freeze
US President Donald Trump has extended a pause on some green cards and suspended visas for other foreign workers until the end of 2020. High-skilled tech workers, non-agricultural seasonal helpers, au pairs and top executives will be affected.
Drinking water crisis grips Cyclone Amphan-hit Sharankhola
People in Amphan-hit Sharankhola upazila have been facing acute drinking water crisis as saline water gushed into villages during the cyclone destroying their sources of safe water including ponds and tube-wells.
Envisioning a Blue Recovery
By Erna Solberg and Tommy Remengesau, Jr. OSLO/NGERULMUD – From Jamaica to Palau and Norway to Indonesia, the impact of the COVID-19 crisis is global, and national recovery efforts must be globally focused to seize shared opportunities. Nowhere is this…
Sustaining Conservation in a Pandemic
By Matthew Brown BOULDER, COLORADO – Safari tourism has long been an economic boon to people living in Africa. But the suspension of flights and safari visits because of the COVID-19 pandemic has decimated this critical source of income –…
Sustainable Development Starts with Children
By Helen Clark NEW YORK – “Our house is on fire,” warned the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg at last year’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. Her pointed words – accusing adults of sitting idly by as the planet…
Teesta water flowing above danger level in Nilphamari
The water level of the Teesta River in Nilphamari is flowing above the danger level following heavy rainfall and onrush water from upstream.
Waterlogging cripples Narayanganj as monsoon sets in
As monsoon begins, many parts of Narayanganj City Corporation and Sadar upazila were inundated due to intermittent rain, causing huge sufferings to the locals.
Isolation Centre visits to better Rohingya attitude on virus
As the humanitarian community scales up COVID-19 health response in the Cox’s Bazar, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) started visiting Isolation and Treatment Centre (ITC) to improve the Rohingyas’ attitudes towards the disease.
Covid-19 And Migrant Workers: The great wage robbery
“Gulf countries are highly dependent on migrant workers in almost every major sector…and yet they have utterly failed to protect migrant workers, and treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve”—these words were spoken by a representative of Amnesty…
New contract must with nature to keep drought, deserts away
17 June 2020 – The UN Secretary-General has called for “a new contract for nature” to address ongoing global challenges connected to land degradation, such as forced migration, hunger and climate change.
Forced marriage, organ trafficking rife in Asia Pacific – II
By Neena Bhandari The Asia Pacific region predominates in the numbers of victims of modern slavery. The region had 55 percent of the victims of forced marriage worldwide. This is the second of a 2-part series on trafficking and modern…
Covid-19 has increased children’s exposure to traffickers
By Tasneem Tayeb Jun 16 2020 – With Covid-19 bringing economic activities across nations to a halt, more and more people are being pushed into poverty. Job losses, business losses and farming losses, leading to economic stress, are pushing many…
‘Aggressive action must to mitigate faster climate change’
A recent global survey conducted by the Tällberg Foundation showed widespread enthusiasm for aggressive action to mitigate accelerating climate change.
5 European companies helping to clean up the oceans
Addressing the environmental impact of CED This week saw the celebration of the 2020 World Ocean Day when world leaders were called upon to protect 30 per cent of our blue planet by 2020. To clean up plastics in oceans,…
Flights on international routes from Bangladesh resume
Flight operations on international routes from Bangladesh resumed on Tuesday after over two months of suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Willing Bangladeshis to be brought back from KSA in phases
Bangladesh and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) have agreed to bring back Bangladeshi workers home in phases ensuring their quarantine facilities upon return.
Rohingya Cyclists Share Key Covid-19 Info Camp Door to Door
Cox’s Bazar–Social distancing is a crucial aspect of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. But that poses challenges to the flow of key information during a time when being well-informed also is critical to public health.
Mad rush of city life makes people care little for virus
Over the past week, life in the capital assuredly returned to normal – not some new one, as some had predicted in the shadow of the Coronavirus pandemic. The same old one, maybe wearing a mask. Bangladesh’s confirmed coronavirus cases…
Dhaka North City finds Aedes larvae in 138 buildings
Dhaka, June 14 – The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) on Saturday found Aedes mosquito larvae in 138 houses and establishments on the eighth day of its combing operation launched to protect the city dwellers from dengue.
Dozen migrants feared drowned in boat capsize off Libya: UN
Cairo, AP/UNB, June 14 – At least a dozen people went missing and feared drowned off the coast of Libya after a boat carrying around three dozen migrants bound for Europe capsized in the Mediterranean Sea on Saturday, a UN…
Prioritise embankment for protection of coastal population
Speakers at a virtual seminar on Saturday urged the government to allocate the resources for constructing an embankment to protect the coastal population. The virtual seminar titled “National budget 2020-2021, embankment and protection of coastal population” was jointly organized by…
Light rain may continue for three more days: Met office
Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) on Saturday forecast that light to moderate rain and thundershowers will continue for the next three days all over the country commencing 9am.
Tobacco control essential to face corona epidemic risk
Chattagong Bureau: Member Parliament of Bangladesh from Chattagong Wasika Ayesha Khan expressed gratitude over the ongoing awareness against bad affects of tobacco use crated by the anti-tobacco NGOs. She urges the Prime Minister to take measures and make prices of…
New research shows why non-smokers get serious lungs condition
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a debilitating lung condition, often develops as a result of decades of heavy smoking — but that does not explain why almost a third of all cases occur among people who have never smoked.
Dhaka South City mayor orders setting up STS in every ward
Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh on Thursday directed the officials concerned to construct Secondary Transfer Station (STS) in every ward including the newly absorbed 18 wards.
Ocean geoengineering tests violate UN convention
Experimental geoengineering schemes to protect areas such as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef are “distracting technofixes” that violate an international moratorium on the largely untested tech projects, a coalition of nearly 200 environmental groups said Wednesday.
BD rejects reported Malaysian proposition over 269 Rohingyas
Bangladesh has ruled out any possibility to accept 269 Rohingyas detained by the Malaysian authorities saying it is no way Bangladesh’s responsibility.
2 more Rohingyas die from coronavirus in Cox’s Bazar
Two more Rohingya men died from coronavirus on Monday, taking total death in the Rohingya camp to three. One of them was 58 years old and a resident of camp-10 while another was 70 years and a resident of camp-7,…