Turkey’s environment minister pledged on Sunday to defeat a plague of “sea snot” threatening the Sea of Marmara, using a disaster management plan he said would secure its future.A thick, slimy layer of the organic matter, known as marine mucilage, has spread through the sea south of Istanbul, posing a threat to marine life and the fishing industry.Harbors, shorelines and swathes of seawater have been blanketed by the viscous, greyish substance, some of which has sunk below the waves, suffocating life on the seabed.Environment Minister Murat Kurum said Turkey planned …

In advance of World Food Safety Day, U.N. agencies are calling for concerted action to ensure food is free of the toxins that every year cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.A U.N. report on global food security finds nearly 690 million people suffered from chronic hunger in 2019, before COVID-19.  The full impact of the pandemic on food insecurity is not yet known.  However, the report estimates as many as 132 million more people will have been short of food in 2020 because of COVID-19 lockdowns.Dominique Burgeon …

In advance of World Food Safety Day, U.N. agencies are calling for concerted action to ensure food is free of the toxins that every year cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.A U.N. report on global food security finds nearly 690 million people suffered from chronic hunger in 2019, before COVID-19.  The full impact of the pandemic on food insecurity is not yet known.  However, the report estimates as many as 132 million more people will have been short of food in 2020 because of COVID-19 lockdowns.Dominique Burgeon …

A bipartisan delegation of three United States senators landed in Taiwan on Sunday and announced that Washington would donate 750,000 coronavirus vaccine doses to its ally.The high-profile delegation and gift comes as Taiwan accuses China of hampering its efforts to secure enough doses as part of Beijing’s ongoing campaign to keep the island isolated.Senators Tammy Duckworth, Christopher Coons and Dan Sullivan — two Democrats and a Republican — landed on Sunday morning at Taipei’s Songshan Airport in a U.S. military plane.”We are here as friends, because we know that Taiwan …

When the leaders of the world’s industrialized nations meet next week in Cornwall, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will ask them to commit to “vaccinate the entire world against coronavirus by the end of 2022,” according to a statement Saturday.”Vaccinating the world by the end of next year would be the single greatest feat in medical history,” Johnson said in a statement. “I’m calling on my fellow G-7 leaders to join us to end this terrible pandemic and pledge we will never allow the devastation wreaked by coronavirus to happen …

Analysts say there is increasing interest in determining whether the coronavirus leaked from a research lab in Wuhan, China, where the deadly virus was first detected in humans, as the U.S. intelligence community acts on President Joe Biden’s directive to “redouble” efforts to investigate the origins of COVID-19.Michael Pillsbury, director for Chinese strategy at the conservative FILE – The P4 laboratory of Wuhan Institute of Virology is seen behind a fence during the visit by the World Health Organization (WHO) team tasked with investigating the origins of the coronavirus disease …