Environment

Hyderabad, Sep 13 (PTI): Amid pomp and gaiety, 55,000 Ganesh idols were immersed during the past 24 hours under three police commissionerates - Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda.

Hyderabad Mayor B Rammohan, in an official press statement here, said the immersion began on Thursday morning and ended on Friday evening.

The immersion of nearly 55,000 idols concluded peacefully - 32,800 idols in Hyderabad, 12,000 in Rachakonda and over 10,000 in Cyberabad.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Hundreds of schools were closed in Malaysia’s Sarawak state, after air quality dropped, due to the ongoing haze, the state Education Department said today (Tuesday).

The closures include 347 primary and 62 secondary schools in nine districts, which serve over 150,000 students, the department said, in a statement.

HALIFAX (Nova Scotia,Canada), Sept 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canada’s government authorised hundreds of troops to help clear trees after Storm Dorian tore through the Atlantic coast overnight, leaving almost half a million people in three provinces without power.

Dorian, classified as a strong post-tropical storm, hit Nova Scotia hard, leaving more than 370,000 people – a third of the population – without power. About 100,000 others in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island also had no electricity.

BANDAR SRI BEGAWAN, Sept 8 (NNN-BORNEO BULLETIN) – Despite heavy rain in some parts of the Brunei-Muara District yesterday afternoon, the haze condition continues to persist in the country.

A joint press statement released by the Department of Environment, said that the hazy conditions are due to predominant hot spots occurring in the Borneo region and carried over to Brunei by the prevailing southwesterly winds.

PARIS, Sept 8 (NNN-Prensa Latina) — The French government announced on Saturday it has sent 38-strong firefighting brigade to Bolivia and will send three drones to help put out wildfires in the Amazon.

A joint communique from the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of the Interior adds that the firefighters and troops from Civil Security left from Vatry airport, in the northern department of Marne, with two tons of equipment that will be donated to fight the flames.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan braced for Typhoon Faxai on Sunday cancelling trains and flights in Tokyo with destructive winds of up to 216 kph (134 mph) and heavy rain expected to hit the region overnight, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Faxai, a woman’s name in Lao, could dump as much as 300 millimeters of rain in the next 24 hours, said the agency.

“Winds and rains could pick up suddenly, causing severe storms at sea, and there is a risk of record-breaking winds in the capital and other regions,” it said on its website.

SEOUL, Sept 6 (NNN-YONHAP) — A powerful typhoon is quickly moving upward to South Korea, with strong winds and heavy rain expected to pound the country soon, Yonhap news agency reported, quoting South Korea’s weather agency on Friday.

Typhoon Lingling, this year’s 13th typhoon, passed seas northwest of Okinawa, Japan, at a speed of 20-30 kph at 7 am, according to the Korea Meteorological Association.

The weather agency warned that the wind speed may peak at 55 meters per second, or 200 kph, in some island areas.

5 September 2019; AFP: Wildfires raging in Bolivia's forests and grasslands since May have destroyed 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres), officials said Wednesday, amid an $11 million effort by the government to contain them.

Environmentalists blame laws enacted under leftist President Evo Morales, who has encouraged the burning of forest and pasture land to expand agricultural production, while the government attributes the blazes to dry weather and winds.

LA PAZ, Sept 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Wildfires raging in Bolivia’s forests and grasslands since May have destroyed 1.7 million hectares, officials said Wednesday, amid an $11 million effort by the government to contain them.

Environmentalists blame laws enacted under President Evo Morales, who has encouraged the burning of forest and pasture land to expand agricultural production, while the government attributes the blazes to dry weather and winds.

FREEPORT, Bahamas (AP) — The ground crunched under Greg Alem’s feet on Wednesday as he walked over the ruins of his home, laid waste by Hurricane Dorian. He touched a splintered beam of wood and pointed to the fallen trees, overcome by memories.

“We planted those trees ourselves. Everything has a memory, you know,” he said. “It’s so, so sad. ... In the Bible there is a person called Job, and I feel like Job right now. He’s lost everything, but his faith kept him strong.”