Environment

NANCHANG, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Six people have been confirmed dead and one missing after strong winds, hail and rainstorm-triggered floods hit east China's Jiangxi Province, local authorities said Sunday.

As of 11 a.m. Sunday, the heavy downpours that started Thursday had damaged 77,400 hectares of crops, collapsed 118 houses and severely damaged 97 houses, according to the Jiangxi provincial emergency management department.

Direct economic losses were estimated at 1.59 billion yuan (about 229 million U.S. dollars).

7 June 2019; MEMO: Cyprus will earn $ 9.3 billion over 18 years thanks to the exploitation of the Aphrodite gas field under a renegotiated contract with Dutch-British Shell, US-based Noble, and Israeli company Delek, the Energy Minister for Cyprus, announced.

George Lakkotrypis told reporters that the reworking of the production contract guaranteed Cyprus an average annual income of $ 520 million over the life of the gas field.

7 June 2019; DW: Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg and her Fridays for Future protest movement on Friday won an Amnesty International human rights award for their "unique leadership and courage in standing up for human rights."

7 June 2019; DW: A Deutschlandtrend poll by Infratest dimap has put the environmentalist Greens up 6 percentage points at a record 26%, one point ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and sister party Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), reflecting a similar sampling last week.

Lucknow, Jun 7 (PTI) At least 19 persons were killed and 48 injured due to dust storm and lightning in various parts of Uttar Pradesh, the state Relief commissioner said on Friday.

"While six persons died in Mainpuri, three persons each died in Etah and Kasganj and one each in one each in Moradabad, Badaun, Pilibhit, Mathura, Kannauj, Sambhal and Ghaziabad in incidents related to dust storm and lightning," official data released by the UP Relief commissioner said.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 06 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, marking World Environment Day, has emphasized the link between worsening levels of air pollution and the climate crisis.

As well as claiming seven million lives every year, and damaging children’s development, the UN chief noted in a message on the occasion that many air pollutants cause global warming, which he has described as “an existential threat.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is plunging $500 million into an effort to close all of the nation’s remaining coal plants by 2030 and put the United States on track toward a 100% clean energy economy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior U.S. officials warned Wednesday that climate change is an increasing threat to national security, a message at odds with a broader Trump administration effort to downplay the threat from global warming.

Military and intelligence officials outlined a range of long-term threats arising from climate change, including food and water shortages that can produce political turmoil and land disputes, as well as melting ice in the Arctic that Russia and other adversaries could exploit for commercial gain.

MANILA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck Sultan Kudarat province in the southern Philippines on Thursday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

The institute said the quake, which struck at 4:41 a.m. local time (2041 GMT Wednesday), hit at a depth of 470 km, about 17 km northeast of Palimbang town.

The institute said the tremor, which was tectonic in origin, was also felt in Cagayan de Oro City.

There was no reported casualties or damage.

The institute said aftershocks are expected.

MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/. The statement by US National Security Advisor John Bolton on Washington’s intent to challenge Russia in the Arctic is fraught with consequences for the region, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated during Wednesday’s press briefing.

On May 22, Bolton stated that the US aims to expand the number of icebreakers in the Arctic in order to "challenge growing Russian military influence" in the region.