Setting smoky bonfires of tires and trash, people in the West African country of Mauritania battled the sub-Sahara's largest locust invasion in more than a decade as swarms swept south from the desert.
Locusts settled on the desert capital of Nouakchott on Thursday in vision-blurring clouds, prompting traffic collisions and crunching underfoot with each step in sand-covered streets.
"It's beautiful to see and funny, the locusts on parade in the sky," marveled Aicha Bint Sadibouh, a woman in Nouakchott. "But when they invade the streets and homes, it's disastrous," Sadibouh said.
Moving at up to 100km a day, the crop-eating insects were settling at an estimated rate of 50 million per km2, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned. Experts warned of threats to vital rainy season planting, calling for urgent international action for an arid region perpetually on the edge of food shortages.
"Some farmers now are afraid to plant any more seeds; they're afraid once seeds germinate and the little plants come up, they will be attacked by the locusts," said Keith Cressman, a locust forecast officer with the Rome-based FAO.
"The last risk is that when the crops are ready to be harvested, around September, that will coincide with the formation of new swarms" from eggs being laid now, Cressman said. "That harvest could be seriously disrupted," making for a "very difficult summer" for farmers.
At risk are sustenance crops of millet, sorghum and other grains that feed millions in vulnerable Saharan states. Vegetable crops for markets likewise were in danger.
Swarms descended on Nouakchott on Wednesday, making good on weeks of warnings from African leaders and international agencies that unseasonably heavy rains to the north had spawned the northwest Sahara's largest locust infestation since 1988.
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
HAZARDOUS CONDITION: The typhoon’s sheer size, with winds extending 443km from its center, slowed down the ability of responders to help communities, an official said The US Coast Guard was searching for six people after losing contact with their disabled boat off the coast of Guam following Typhoon Sinlaku. The crew of the 44m dry cargo vessel, the US-registered Mariana, on Wednesday notified the coast guard that the boat had lost its starboard engine and needed assistance, Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Tibbets said yesterday. The coast guard set up a one-hour communication schedule with the vessel, but lost contact on Thursday. A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft was launched to search for the six people on board, but it had to return to Guam because of
RSS