World News by Wild Rose

As wildfires rage across Sumatra and Kalimantan, frustrated Indonesians are turning to performance art to call for greater government action and draw global attention to the destruction of both the country’s rainforests and rich cultural heritage. In South Sumatra, local art collective Jaga Api recently launched a project titled Tarian Kehancuran Budaya (the Dance of Cultural Destruction), using traditional performance to convey the human and environmental toll of the fires, as reported by The...

Peru’s civil defence chief says wildfires have killed 12 people. The transport minister says the previous government knew El Niño was coming. The post Peru Wildfires Kill 12 as El Niño Looms appeared first on The Rio Times.

Com 922 focos ativos, o Pará é o estado com mais ocorrências de incêndios florestais no país, de acordo com a plataforma Queimadas, do Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (Inpe). No vizinho Amazonas, atualmente estão ativos 90 focos, após o estado ter registrado mais de mil pontos de fogo este mês. Enquanto a qualidade do ar em Manaus, na manhã desta segunda-feira (19), permanece classificada como insalubre, com índice de 153, segundo a plataforma IQAir; a cidade de Santarém, no oeste do Pará, registra o índice de 260, considerado muito insalubre. Notícias relacionadas:Governo monitora saúde de amazonenses em locais afetados por queimadas.Manaus é capital com maior poluição atmosférica do país nesta sexta.Focos de incêndio no Amazonas diminuem após ação de força-tarefa.A estação na cidade do Pará registrou concentração de 185 microgramas por metro cúbico de material particulado fino, um tipo de poluição inalável e muito prejudicial à saúde. O limite usado atualmente pela legislação brasileira é uma média de 32 microgramas por metro cúbico ao longo de um dia. No domingo (18), o ministro da Defesa, José Mucio Monteiro, informou que a força-tarefa que atua no enfrentamento aos incêndios florestais na região foi reforçada com a instalação de um Estado-Maior Conjunto das Forças Armadas, em Manaus, e a adaptação de mais 5 aviões para combate ao fogo, somando 16 aeronaves que atuam na região. Nesta terça-feira (20), também está prevista a implantação de uma base da Força Nacional do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) para reforçar a assistência à população atingida pela poluição. Também foram disponibilizados pelo Ministério da Integração e do Desenvolvimento Regional (MIDR) R$ 14 milhões ao Governo do Amazonas para ações relacionadas à situação de emergência.

Conservation groups have saved at least 51 orangutans in Indonesia from August 6 to October 19 as rampant wildfires and a months-long pollution spell have threatened their natural habitat. 

Parts of southern Southeast Asia have been put under the highest-level haze alert as wildfires that have swept Indonesia for months continue to belch toxic smoke across the region. The seasonal wildfires are worse this year due to the drought conditions caused by a severe "super-El Nino" effect.

The US Treasury Department said on Tuesday that it was imposing US$1.2 billion in fines on Bank of America for allegedly violating anti-money-laundering and sanctions laws. The fines on America’s second-biggest bank amount to the third-largest in the department’s history. “When a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money-laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences extend far beyond its own walls, exposing the entire US financial system to significant illicit finance risks,”...

Indonesian authorities and conservation workers have successfully moved eight ⁠orangutans to a safe ⁠location after the endangered ⁠primates’ homes were destroyed by wildfires in the forests of Borneo. The Southeast Asian nation is battling its most intense wildfires in 11 years, mainly on Sumatra and Borneo islands, and the ‌government has warned the blazes could continue until November, aggravated by the El Nino weather pattern. Three mother-child pairs and two adolescent male orangutans were...

Peru's agriculture minister was in Cusco on Sunday as wildfires burned, and the government sent troops, firefighters, a helicopter and a plane. The post Peru Sends Aircraft as Wildfires Burn in Cusco appeared first on The Rio Times.

Rescuers moved the apes after their habitats were threatened by intense wildfires over the summer.

A young orangutan has been rescued from wildfires in Borneo. Named Novita, the three- to four-year-old female was found clinging to a tree in Central Kalimantan on 26 September, with burns to her hands and feet after crossing the flames.