Features

Thirst looms in Lesotho farms

  AFP For farmer Mohlakoane Molise, the view of the enormous Katse dam from his smallholding high in the mountains of Lesotho taunts him daily. His country is suffering through its worst drought in 35 years, but the vast and vital water reserves remain out of reach, destined instead for export to neighbouring South Africa. “I am very angry about ...

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A tech boost for renewable energy

  DPA Renewable energy is seen as the solution to much of the world’s environmental problems with the German government, for example, looking to have virtually all its energy requirements sourced in this way by the year 2050. A major problem with renewable energy sources, however, is the reliability of supply as renewable energy often relies on the weather for ...

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Saving the buzzing bees

  Bloomberg Urban rooftops are buzzing across France, but the fad for beekeeping from Montpellier to Lille to Paris — including atop AFP’s headquarters — will do little do reverse declining bee populations, experts say. The northern city of Lille was a pioneer in efforts to defend the bee by providing pesticide-free environments, and it was among the first to ...

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Rediscovering dance with walking frames

  DPA Friederike Kolb is 100 years old and never thought she’s be able to dance again. “When I was a young girl I used to love dancing and I still really love it,” she says. Every Wednesday morning social worker Gerburg Cartus gives quite a special dance lesson at the Frankenhoehe senior citizens home in Mainz, western Germany. The ...

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The ‘virtual’ future of education

  Bloomberg Deep within a building shaped like the Starship Enterprise, a little-known Chinese company is working on the future of education. Vast banks of servers record children at work and play, tracking touchscreen swipes, shrugs and head swivels — amassing a database that will be used to build intimate profiles of millions of kids. This is the Fuzhou hive ...

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Vegan junk food is all the rage

  Los Angeles / AFP Vegan diets are considered by most as healthy and environmentally responsible, with celebrity poster children touting benefits like weight loss, clear skin and increased energy. But even vegans — who eschew all animal products like meat, eggs and dairy — crave junk food. As the movement becomes more and more popular, temptations including donuts, pizza ...

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Heading for the hills

  Bloomberg As Japanese prepare to climb the mountains on Thursday for their inaugural Mountain Day holiday, retailers and tourism operators are gearing up for an $8 billion windfall. They’re counting on customers like school teacher Ayako Kobayashi. The 33-year-old spent more than $700 on a sleeping bag, mattress, backpack and trekking food to climb Mount Kita near Nagano last ...

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Dedication digs ancient Roman town from German soil

  Mainz / DPA Archaeologist Daniel Markovic ascends from the dig in this ancient city on the river Rhine sweaty and covered in dirt. “I’m completely exhausted after a whole day of hacking, shovelling and carrying,” he says at the end of one of the hottest days in Germany this summer. Markovic has been exposing an ancient wall for scientific ...

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Tourism ‘pollutes’ Sri Lankan beaches

  Mount Lavinia / AFP Tourists have flocked back to Sri Lanka’s palm-fringed beaches since a bloody civil war ended in 2009, but environmentalists warn unchecked development means some areas are now so polluted, swimming there is a health hazard. Sewage from thriving hotels and guesthouses pours, often untreated, out into the water polluting the sea and shore. Even the ...

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Uruguay’s ‘enterprising’ prison

  Montevideo / AFP Alvaro Brusti had never worked in his life before he wound up behind bars for armed robbery. Now after five years inside, the 34-year-old is running his own company, in an unusual scheme at a Uruguayan jail. The Punta de Rieles prison east of the capital Montevideo looks like many other penitentiaries from the outside, with ...

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