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Record Cold Grips Argentina, Chile and Uruguay

The three South American countries have all recorded sharply below-zero temperatures as the polar air originated from Antarctica and swept across the region. SEBASTIAN LOSADA / AFP
The three South American countries have all recorded sharply below-zero temperatures as the polar air originated from Antarctica and swept across the region. SEBASTIAN LOSADA / AFP
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Record Cold Grips Argentina, Chile and Uruguay

The three South American countries have all recorded sharply below-zero temperatures as the polar air originated from Antarctica and swept across the region. SEBASTIAN LOSADA / AFP
The three South American countries have all recorded sharply below-zero temperatures as the polar air originated from Antarctica and swept across the region. SEBASTIAN LOSADA / AFP

A polar air mass has brought record low temperatures to Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, causing at least 15 deaths and forcing governments to restrict gas supplies and activate emergency shelters.

The three South American countries have all recorded sharply below-zero temperatures as the polar air originated from Antarctica and swept across the region, said AFP.

In Argentina, at least nine homeless people have died from the cold this winter, according to NGO Proyecto 7.

The capital Buenos Aires recorded its lowest temperature since 1991 at -1.9 degrees Celcius (28.6 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, while the coastal city of Miramar saw snow for the first time in 34 years. Further south, the town of Maquinchao recorded -18C on Tuesday.

Electricity demand caused cuts across Buenos Aires, leaving thousands without power for over 24 hours in some areas.

The government suspended gas supplies to industries and petrol stations Wednesday to ensure household supplies, and removed price controls on gas cylinders Thursday.

Desert snow

Uruguay declared a nationwide "red alert" after six people died, allowing President Yamandu Orsi's government to forcibly move homeless people to shelters.

Montevideo recorded its lowest maximum temperature since 1967 at 5.8C on June 30, according to meteorologist Mario Bidegain.

Chile also activated homeless shelter plans during the coldest days. The city of Chillan, 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of Santiago, hit -9.3C, according to the Chilean Meteorological Directorate.

"What happened this week in Chile and the Southern Cone in general is a cold wave caused by an escape of a polar air mass from Antarctica," climatologist Raul Cordero from the University of Santiago told AFP.

Snow even fell in parts of the Atacama Desert, the world's driest, for the first time in a decade.

"It is not so common for these cold air masses to extend so far north, so we cannot rule out that this is also caused by climate change," meteorologist Arnaldo Zuniga told AFP.

The region expects relief in the coming days, with Buenos Aires reaching 12C on Thursday, Montevideo 14C and Santiago 24.7C.

"I was quite surprised by the change from cold to hot -- the change was very drastic," student Dafne Naranjo, 18, said in Santiago.

Climatologist Cordero said heatwaves have become more frequent than cold spells in recent years.

"The frequency of heatwaves has tripled, whether in summer or winter, not only in the Southern Cone but throughout the world," he said.

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Varieties

Japan Crisp Packs to Go Colorless Due to Iran War Crunch

Bags of Calbee potato crisps are seen at a convenience store in Tokyo on May 12, 2026. (AFP)
Bags of Calbee potato crisps are seen at a convenience store in Tokyo on May 12, 2026. (AFP)
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Japan Crisp Packs to Go Colorless Due to Iran War Crunch

Bags of Calbee potato crisps are seen at a convenience store in Tokyo on May 12, 2026. (AFP)
Bags of Calbee potato crisps are seen at a convenience store in Tokyo on May 12, 2026. (AFP)

Japan's leading potato chip maker is feeling the crunch from shortages linked to the Iran war, swapping its signature orange-and-yellow packets for black and white.

A household name in Japan, Calbee is known for its savory potato chips with an array of flavors from seaweed salt to soy sauce and butter.

The company said Tuesday it will "revise the packaging specifications" and use just "two colors" in packaging for 14 product lines beginning later this month or in June.

It did not say which two colors, but the statement showed photos of grey packaging.

Calbee blamed "supply instability for certain raw materials resulting from the escalating tensions in the Middle East".

Local media said the snack-maker has seen its procurement of printing ink compromised by shortages of naphtha, an oil byproduct used in a wide range of industries.

The goods affected included several potato chip products, as well as a breakfast cereal and Kappa Ebisen, a moreish shrimp snack known for the slogan "can't stop, can't stop".

"We will continue to respond swiftly and flexibly to changes in the business environment, including geopolitical risks, while striving to deliver safe, reliable, and satisfying products," the company said.

Another Japanese food company, Itoham Yonekyu Holdings, also told AFP that going black-and-white or using different kinds of inks for some of its products were among possible options in the future, similarly blaming supply problems due to the Middle East conflict.

Roughly a fifth of the world's oil normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz, and its de facto closure since the war began in late February has sent prices soaring.

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi previously said Tokyo was expected to have enough naphtha-derived chemical products to last beyond the end of the year after boosting imports from outside the Middle East.

Last week Takaichi said that the global oil supply squeeze was inflicting an "enormous impact" on the Asia-Pacific region.

Varieties

What if We Killed all Mosquitoes?

Our greatest nemesis. By transmitting diseases, mosquitoes kill three quarters of a million people a year. Olympia DE MAISMONT / AFP/File
Our greatest nemesis. By transmitting diseases, mosquitoes kill three quarters of a million people a year. Olympia DE MAISMONT / AFP/File
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What if We Killed all Mosquitoes?

Our greatest nemesis. By transmitting diseases, mosquitoes kill three quarters of a million people a year. Olympia DE MAISMONT / AFP/File
Our greatest nemesis. By transmitting diseases, mosquitoes kill three quarters of a million people a year. Olympia DE MAISMONT / AFP/File

The deadliest animals are not lions, spiders or snakes, but the tiny mosquitoes that suck our blood, make us itchy and infect us with disease.

Mosquitoes kill around 760,000 people every year, according to research site Our World in Data, with humans ourselves coming a distant second.

This is because mosquitoes account for 17 percent of all infectious diseases, including malaria, dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya and Zika.

And as the world warms due to human-driven climate change, mosquitoes are roaming to new areas during longer summers, raising fears they could propel future health crises.

So how can humanity fight back against our greatest foe? Is there a safe way we could eradicate these killer mosquitoes -- and how bad would that be for the environment?

#Notallmosquitoes

First, we would not need to vanquish all mosquitoes. Out of roughly 3,500 mosquito species, only around 100 bite humans.

And just five species are responsible for roughly 95 percent of human infections, Hilary Ranson, a vector biologist at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, told AFP.

On balance, Ranson felt that losing five mosquito species "could be tolerated given the huge devastation" they inflict on the world, from mass death to crippling economic fallout.

Dan Peach, a mosquito entomologist at the University of Georgia, broadly agreed, but emphasized that more information was needed to compare eradication with the alternatives.

What about the environment?

The five disease-spreading mosquitoes "have evolved to be very closely associated to humans," including feeding on and breeding near us, Ranson explained.

This means eradicating them would not have a major impact on the broader ecosystem -- and other, genetically similar but less deadly mosquitoes would likely quickly "fill that ecological niche", she added.

Peach was not convinced we know enough "about the ecology of most mosquito species to be confident one way or the other, but I also think that it is OK to acknowledge this and still proceed."

Mosquitoes do "transfer nutrients from their aquatic larval habitats" to other areas, and serve as food for insects, fish and other animals, he said.

They also pollinate plants, but this "isn't well understood and may vary by species", Peach added.

Ranson acknowledged there is a valid debate over the ethics of humans committing "specicide", while pointing out that we are currently unintentionally wiping out a huge number of species.

How can it be done?

One of the most prominent new technological options is called gene-drive, which involves genetically modifying animals so that they pass down a particular trait to their offspring.

When scientists tweaked females of malaria-carrying Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes to make them infertile, it wiped out a population in the lab over just a few generations.

Target Malaria, funded by the Gates Foundation, has tested this technology in several African countries.

However the effort was dealt a major blow last year when Burkina Faso's military-led government ended testing in the country, where it had been criticized by civil society groups and targeted by disinformation campaigns.

Another strategy involves infecting Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with the bacteria Wolbachia. This can crash their population -- or simply reduce their ability to transmit dengue.

This raises another question: do we actually need to kill them?

What if we made them harmless instead?

When Wolbachia-infected sterile mosquitoes were released in the Brazilian city of Niteroi, there was an 89 percent drop in dengue cases, research showed last year.

More than 16 million people across 15 countries have now been protected by these mosquitoes, with "no negative consequences", Scott O'Neill, founder of the World Mosquito Program, told AFP.

Meanwhile, a project called Transmission Zero is trying to use gene-drive technology to make it so that Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes no longer spread malaria.

Lab research published in Nature late last year suggested the scientists are getting closer to this goal, with the team planning to launch an in-country trial in 2030.

The Burkina Faso setback showed that these projects must have some "political support or buy-in" from the countries where they are tested, study author Dickson Wilson Lwetoijera of Tanzania's Ifakara Health Institute told AFP.

No 'magic bullet'

Rather than just relying on a technological "magic bullet", usually funded by the Gates Foundation, Ranson called for a more "holistic solution" for these diseases.

This would require giving people in disease-hit countries more access to treatment, diagnosis, better housing and better vaccines, she said.

However sweeping foreign aid cuts by Western countries have threatened progress against most mosquito-borne diseases over the last year, humanitarian organisations have warned.

Varieties

Global Fire Outbreaks Hit Record High as ‘Unprecedented’ Heat Extremes Loom, Scientists Say

A helicopter conducts firefighting operations as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, April 26, 2026. (Reuters)
A helicopter conducts firefighting operations as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, April 26, 2026. (Reuters)
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Global Fire Outbreaks Hit Record High as ‘Unprecedented’ Heat Extremes Loom, Scientists Say

A helicopter conducts firefighting operations as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, April 26, 2026. (Reuters)
A helicopter conducts firefighting operations as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, April 26, 2026. (Reuters)

Climate change has driven record-breaking outbreaks of fire in Africa, Asia and elsewhere this year, with conditions expected to get worse as the northern hemisphere's summer approaches and El Nino weather patterns kick in, scientists warned on Tuesday.

Fires from January to April have already caused unprecedented levels of damage, burning more than 150 million hectares (370.66 million acres) of land, 20% more than the previous record, according to data compiled by World Weather Attribution, a research group that studies the role played by global warming in extreme weather events.

The researchers said temperature records ‌could be broken this ‌year, causing widespread drought as well as fires, with ‌the impact ⁠of human-induced climate ⁠change compounded by an especially strong "El Nino" effect.

"Whilst in many parts of the world the global fire season has yet to heat up, this rapid start, in combination with the forecast El Nino, means that we're looking at a particularly severe year materializing," said Theodore Keeping, a wildfire expert at Imperial College London and part of the WWA group.

As much as 85 million hectares of land have burned in Africa so far ⁠this year, 23% more than the previous record of ‌69 million hectares, he said.

The unusually high fire ‌activity in Africa is being driven by rapid shifts from extremely wet to extremely dry conditions, he ‌said.

High rainfall produced more grass during the previous growing season, creating an abundance ‌of fuel to feed the drought- and heat-induced savannah fires of the last few months.

EL NINO CONDITIONS DUE THIS MONTH

Asian fires have burned as much as 44 million hectares of land so far this year, nearly 40% more than the previous record year of 2014, ‌with India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and China among the worst hit, Keeping said.

He warned that wildfire risks could worsen later ⁠this year, with El ⁠Nino increasing the likelihood of severe heat and drought in Australia, Canada, the United States and the Amazon rainforest.

"The likelihood of harmful extreme fires potentially could be the highest we've seen in recent history if a strong El Nino does develop," he said. El Nino weather conditions, caused by the warming of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, are expected to start in May, the World Meteorological Organization said last month.

It could cause droughts in Australia, Indonesia and parts of southern Asia as well as flooding in other regions, and may drive up temperatures, the UN agency warned.

"If there is a strong El Nino later this year, there is a serious risk that the effect of climate change and El Nino ... will result in unprecedented weather extremes," said Friederike Otto, climate scientist at Imperial College London and co-founder of World Weather Attribution.