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US to Use Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Fight Dengue Fever

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are seen at the Laboratory of Entomology and Ecology of the Dengue Branch of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in San Juan, March 6, 2016. (REUTERS/Alvin Baez)
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are seen at the Laboratory of Entomology and Ecology of the Dengue Branch of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in San Juan, March 6, 2016. (REUTERS/Alvin Baez)
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US to Use Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Fight Dengue Fever

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are seen at the Laboratory of Entomology and Ecology of the Dengue Branch of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in San Juan, March 6, 2016. (REUTERS/Alvin Baez)
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are seen at the Laboratory of Entomology and Ecology of the Dengue Branch of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in San Juan, March 6, 2016. (REUTERS/Alvin Baez)

After a decade of discussions, officials in Florida have voted to allow the first test in the United States of free-flying, genetically modified mosquitoes that kill any female offspring, as a way to fight the pests and the diseases they spread.

The decision came after about two hours of contentious testimony in a virtual public hearing on August 18. Many speakers railed against uncertainties in releasing genetically engineered organisms. In the end, though, worries about mosquito-borne diseases proved more compelling.

On the day of the vote, dengue fever cases in the Florida Keys islands totaled 47 so far in 2020, the first surge in almost a decade.

The same mosquitoes known for yellow fever (Aedes aegypti) also spread dengue as well as Zika and Chikungunya. The species is especially hard to control among about 45 kinds of mosquitoes that whine around the Keys.

According to a report by the Science News website, the genetically modified mosquitoes plan will kick off in January, 2021. Florida workers will set out boxes of eggs of specially bred male yellow fever mosquitoes. The eggs will grow into normal-looking males, and like other male mosquitoes, they drink flower nectar, not blood.

Then planners hope that during tests, these Oxitec foreigners will charm female mosquitoes into mating. A bit of saboteur genetics from the males will kill any female offspring resulting from the mating, and over time that should shrink the swarms. Sons that inherit their dad's no-daughter genes will go on to shrink the next generation even further.

By now, Oxitec has supplied some billion saboteur male mosquitoes for release elsewhere around the world, especially in Brazil, where Zika can flare up and dengue is common.

The company believes that its successful trials in other regions around the world are a sufficient response to the objections surrounding its project. No potential harms on humans or environment have been observed in the locations where genetically modified mosquitoes were launched.

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Ankara City Hall Says Water Cuts Due to 'Record Drought'

Dam reservoir levels have dropped to 1.12 per cent and taps are being shut off for several hours a day in certain districts on a rotating schedule in Ankara. PHOTO: AFP
Dam reservoir levels have dropped to 1.12 per cent and taps are being shut off for several hours a day in certain districts on a rotating schedule in Ankara. PHOTO: AFP
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Ankara City Hall Says Water Cuts Due to 'Record Drought'

Dam reservoir levels have dropped to 1.12 per cent and taps are being shut off for several hours a day in certain districts on a rotating schedule in Ankara. PHOTO: AFP
Dam reservoir levels have dropped to 1.12 per cent and taps are being shut off for several hours a day in certain districts on a rotating schedule in Ankara. PHOTO: AFP

Water cuts for the past several weeks in Türkiye capital were due to the worst drought in 50 years and an exploding population, a municipal official told AFP, rejecting accusations of mismanagement.

Dam reservoir levels have dropped to 1.12 percent and taps are being shut off for several hours a day in certain districts on a rotating schedule in Ankara, forcing many residents to line up at public fountains to fill pitchers, reported AFP.

"2025 was a record year in terms of drought. The amount of water feeding the dams fell to historically low levels, to 182 million cubic meters in 2025, compared with 400 to 600 million cubic meters in previous years. This is the driest period in the last 50 years,” said Memduh Akcay, director general of the Ankara municipal water authority.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the Ankara municipal authorities, led by the main opposition party, "incompetent."

Rejecting this criticism, the city hall says Ankara is suffering from the effects of climate change and a growing population, which has doubled since the 1990s to nearly six million inhabitants.

"In addition to reduced precipitation, the irregularity of rainfall patterns, the decline in snowfall, and the rapid conversion of precipitation into runoff (due to urbanization) prevent the dams from refilling effectively," Akcay said.

A new pumping system drawing water from below the required level in dams will ensure no water cuts this weekend, Ankara’s city hall said, but added that the problem would persist in the absence of sufficient rainfall.

Much of Türkiye experienced a historic drought in 2025. The municipality of Izmir, the country’s third-largest city on the Aegean coast, has imposed daily water cuts since last summer.

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Rare Copy of the Comic Book That Introduced the World to Superman Sells for $15 Million

This photo shows Action Comics #1, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in New York, a copy of a rare comic book that introduced the world to Superman which has been sold for a record $15 million. (Andrew Wilson/Metropolis Collectibles Inc. via AP)
This photo shows Action Comics #1, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in New York, a copy of a rare comic book that introduced the world to Superman which has been sold for a record $15 million. (Andrew Wilson/Metropolis Collectibles Inc. via AP)
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Rare Copy of the Comic Book That Introduced the World to Superman Sells for $15 Million

This photo shows Action Comics #1, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in New York, a copy of a rare comic book that introduced the world to Superman which has been sold for a record $15 million. (Andrew Wilson/Metropolis Collectibles Inc. via AP)
This photo shows Action Comics #1, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in New York, a copy of a rare comic book that introduced the world to Superman which has been sold for a record $15 million. (Andrew Wilson/Metropolis Collectibles Inc. via AP)

A rare copy of the comic book that introduced the world to Superman and also was once stolen from the home of actor Nicolas Cage has been sold for a record $15 million.

The private deal for "Action Comics No. 1" was announced Friday. It eclipses the previous record price for a comic book, set last November when a copy of "Superman No. 1" was at sold at auction for $9.12 million.

The Action Comics sale was negotiated by Manhattan-based Metropolis Collectibles/Comic Connect, which said the comic book's owner and the buyer wished to remain anonymous.

The comic - which sold for 10 cents when it came out in 1938 - was an anthology of tales about mostly now little-known characters. But over a few panels, it told the origin story of Superman's birth on a dying planet, his journey to Earth and his decision as an adult to "turn his titanic strength into channels that would benefit mankind."

Its publication marked the beginning of the superhero genre. About 100 copies of Action Comics No. 1 are known to exist, according to Metropolis Collectibles/Comic Connect President Vincent Zurzolo.

"This is among the Holy Grail of comic books. Without Superman and his popularity, there would be no Batman or other superhero comic book legends," Zurzolo said. "It's importance in the comic book community shows with his deal, as it obliterates the previous record," Zurzolo said.

The comic book was stolen from Cage's Los Angeles home in 2000 but was recovered in 2011 when it was found by a man who had purchased the contents of an old storage locker in southern California. It eventually was returned to Cage, who had bought it in 1996 for $150,000. Six months after it was returned to him, he sold it at auction for $2.2 million.

Stephen Fishler, CEO of Metropolis Collectibles/Comic Connect, said the theft eventually played a big role in boosting the comic's value.

"During that 11-year period (it was missing), it skyrocketed in value.," Fishler said "The thief made Nicolas Cage a lot of money by stealing it."

Fishler compared it to the theft of Mona Lisa, which was stolen from the Louvre museum in Paris in 1911.

"It was kept under the thief's bed for two years," Fishler noted. "The recovery of the painting made the Mona Lisa go from being just a great Da Vinci painting to a world icon - and that's what Action No. 1 is - an icon of American pop culture."

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Australian Bushfires Raze Homes, Cut Power to Tens of Thousands

Smoke billows from the Longwood bushfire along the Goulburn Highway in Victoria, Australia, 09 January 2026. (EPA)
Smoke billows from the Longwood bushfire along the Goulburn Highway in Victoria, Australia, 09 January 2026. (EPA)
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Australian Bushfires Raze Homes, Cut Power to Tens of Thousands

Smoke billows from the Longwood bushfire along the Goulburn Highway in Victoria, Australia, 09 January 2026. (EPA)
Smoke billows from the Longwood bushfire along the Goulburn Highway in Victoria, Australia, 09 January 2026. (EPA)

Thousands of firefighters battled bushfires in Australia's southeast on Saturday that have razed homes, cut power to thousands of homes and burned swathes of bushland.

The blazes have torn through more than 300,000 hectares (741,316 acres) of bushland amid a heatwave in Victoria state since the middle of the week, authorities said on Saturday, and 10 major fires were still burning statewide.

In neighboring New South ‌Wales state, several ‌fires close to the Victorian border were ‌burning ⁠at emergency level, ‌the highest danger rating, the Rural Fire Service said, as temperatures hit the mid-40s Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit).

More than 130 structures, including homes, have been destroyed and around 38,000 homes and businesses were without power due to the fires in Victoria, authorities said.

The fires were the worst to hit the state since the Black Summer blazes of 2019-2020 that destroyed an area ⁠the size of Türkiye and killed 33 people.

"Where we can fires will be being brought ‌under control," Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan told ‍reporters, adding thousands of firefighters were ‍in the field.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the nation faced a ‍day of "extreme and dangerous" fire weather, especially in Victoria, where much of the state has been declared a disaster zone.

"My thoughts are with Australians in these regional communities at this very difficult time," Albanese said in televised remarks from Canberra.

One of the largest fires, near the town of Longwood, about 112 km (70 miles) north of Melbourne, has burned ⁠130,000 hectares (320,000 acres) of bushland, destroying 30 structures, vineyards and agricultural land, authorities said.

Dozens of communities near the fires have been evacuated and many of the state's parks and campgrounds were closed.

A heatwave warning on Saturday was in place for large parts of Victoria, while a fire weather warning was active for large areas of the country including New South Wales, the nation's weather forecaster said.

In New South Wales capital Sydney, the temperature climbed to 42.2 C, more than 17 degrees above the average maximum for January, according to data from the nation's weather forecaster.

It predicted ‌conditions to ease over the weekend as a southerly change brought milder temperatures to the state.