JAKARTA / AP The waste from discarded electronic gadgets and electrical appliances has reached severe levels in East Asia, posing a growing threat to health and the environment unless safe disposal becomes the norm. China was the biggest culprit with its electronic waste more than doubling, according to a new study by the United Nations University. But nearly every …

  Wellington / DPA New Zealand’s alpine parrots live life at full throttle, perching on car roofs as they surf down mountain highways, hanging out at ski-field cafes and vandalizing cars just for fun. But the same keen intelligence that has enabled the kea to survive in the extreme environment of the Southern Alps is placing them in danger. Many …

  Jungingen / DPA Low-stress cattle consultant Phillip Wenz doesn’t care for the label “cow whisperer.” “That would imply that I whisper,” he says. In fact, Wenz, 47, communicates with cows by entirely silent means, walking beside them very calmly, his mouth shut, hands in his pockets. “Fidgeting around makes the animals nervous,” he says. Wenz is an expert in …