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South America’s Rivers Hit Record Lows as Brazil Drought Impact Spreads 

The Paraguay River is pictured, amid smoke coming from wildfires in neighboring countries, as the river has hit a record low water level due to a major drought, in Villeta, Paraguay September 7, 2024. (Reuters)
The Paraguay River is pictured, amid smoke coming from wildfires in neighboring countries, as the river has hit a record low water level due to a major drought, in Villeta, Paraguay September 7, 2024. (Reuters)
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South America’s Rivers Hit Record Lows as Brazil Drought Impact Spreads 

The Paraguay River is pictured, amid smoke coming from wildfires in neighboring countries, as the river has hit a record low water level due to a major drought, in Villeta, Paraguay September 7, 2024. (Reuters)
The Paraguay River is pictured, amid smoke coming from wildfires in neighboring countries, as the river has hit a record low water level due to a major drought, in Villeta, Paraguay September 7, 2024. (Reuters)

South America's Paraguay River, a key thoroughfare for grains, has hit a record low in Paraguay's capital Asuncion, with water levels depleted by a severe drought upriver in Brazil that has hindered navigation along waterways in the Amazon.

The depth of the Paraguay River, measured versus a "zero" index rather than the riverbed, has dropped below minus 0.82 meter, breaking the previous record low in October 2021, data from the national Meteorology and Hydrology Directorate shows. The body expects the river will keep falling with no rain forecast.

The Parana River in Argentina is also near year lows around grains hub Rosario. Both the Paraguay and Parana rivers start in Brazil, eventually joining and flowing into the sea near Buenos Aires. They are important routes for soy, corn and other trade.

"In the northern section (of the Paraguay waterway), navigation is practically halted due to the extreme drop in water levels," the Paraguayan oilseed and grain crushing chamber CAPPRO told Reuters in written comments.

The chamber, whose grain-trader members handle some 60% of Paraguay's soybean exports, said the low river was hitting shipments, though the impact was capped as it was not peak trading season.

"Vessels have had to transport volumes below the average of their normal cargo capacity," said CAPPRO. "This has generated delays and made travel times longer." The chamber's members include ADM, Bunge and Cargill.

EXPECTED RAINS NOT ENOUGH

The Paraguay-Parana system is a waterway of more than 3,400 kilometers (2,113 miles) that runs through Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, as well as landlocked Paraguay and Bolivia.

Paraguay is the world's No. 3 soybean exporter and roughly 80% of grains travel along waterways to seaports downriver. Argentina is the top exporter of processed soy, most of which goes down the Parana from around river port city Rosario.

Paraguay's deputy director for the Meteorology and Hydrology Directorate, Jorge Sanchez, said the outlook for river levels in the coming months was not encouraging, even with the traditional October-November rainy season ahead.

"This would alleviate the level of the river, but it's not expected to be enough," Sanchez said.

Less rain than normal is expected in the second half of the year due to the La Nina weather phenomenon, which brings drier, cooler conditions in Paraguay and Argentina, though it usually heralds wetter weather farther north in Brazil.

Sanchez said this year, however, La Nina was delayed and its effects would be seen only between October and November. "There is a lot of variability due to climate change," he added.

In Brazil, where record wildfires have also occurred, the low water levels are leaving some communities in the Amazon isolated, as well as hitting soy and corn shipments in center-west states such as Mato Grosso, Brazil's number one grains growing area.

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Times Square to Feature Patriotic Crystal Ball for New Year's Eve, Kicking Off US's 250th Birthday

FILE - The 7-foot tall "2026" numerals are displayed at an illumination ceremony in Times Square, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray, File)
FILE - The 7-foot tall "2026" numerals are displayed at an illumination ceremony in Times Square, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray, File)
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Times Square to Feature Patriotic Crystal Ball for New Year's Eve, Kicking Off US's 250th Birthday

FILE - The 7-foot tall "2026" numerals are displayed at an illumination ceremony in Times Square, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray, File)
FILE - The 7-foot tall "2026" numerals are displayed at an illumination ceremony in Times Square, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray, File)

After the crystal ball drops on New Year’s Eve in New York City, it will rise again, sparkling in red, white and blue to usher in 2026 and kick off months of celebrations for the nation’s upcoming 250th birthday.

The patriotic touches at this year's Times Square gathering, including a second confetti drop, will offer an early glimpse of what’s ahead: hundreds of events and programs, big and small, planned nationwide to mark the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

“I’m telling you right now, whatever you’re imagining, it’s going to be much more than that,” said America250 Chair Rosie Rios, who oversees the bipartisan commission created by Congress in 2016 to organize the semiquincentennial anniversary. “It’s going to be one for the ages, the most inspirational celebration this country and maybe the world has ever seen.”

According to The Associated Press, Rios and her group worked with the Times Square Alliance business district and One Times Square, the building from where the ball is dropped, to make the changes to this year's ceremonies.

They're also planning a second ball drop event on July 3, the eve of the nation's birthday, “in the same beautiful style that Times Square knows how to do it," Rios said.

It will mark the first time in 120 years there will be ball drop in Times Square that doesn't occur on New Year's Eve, she said.

A New Year’s Eve ball was first dropped in Times Square in 1907. Built by a young immigrant metalworker named Jacob Starr, the 700-pound (318-kilogram), 5-foot- (1.5-meter-) diameter ball was made of iron and wood and featured 100 25-watt light bulbs. Last year, the Constellation Ball, the ninth and largest version, was unveiled. It measured about 12 feet (3.7 meters) in diameter and weighs nearly 12,000 pounds (5,400 kilograms).

The only years when no ball drop occurred were 1942 and 1943, when the city instituted a nightly “dimout” during World War II to protect itself from attacks. Crowds instead celebrated the new year with a moment of silence followed by chimes rung from the base of One Times Square.

This year, the stroke of midnight will also mark the official launch of America Gives, a national service initiative created by America250. Organizers hope to make 2026 the largest year of volunteer hours ever aggregated in the country.

On the following day, America250 will participate in the New Years Day Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, with a float themed “Soaring Onward Together for 250 Years." It will feature three larger-than-life bald eagles representing the country’s past, present and future.

“We want to ring in this new year from sea to shining sea. What better way to think about it than going from New York to California,” Rios said. “This has to be community-driven, this has be grassroots. We’re going from Guam to Alaska, from Fairbanks to Philadelphia, and everything in between.”

President Donald Trump has also announced the “Freedom 250” initiative to coordinate additional events for the 250th anniversary.

Rios said she sees the wide range of celebrations and programs planned for the coming months, from large fireworks displays and statewide potluck suppers to student contests and citizen oral histories, as an opportunity to unite a politically divided nation.

“If we can find something for everyone ... having those menus of options that people can pick and choose how they want to participate," she said. “That’s how we’re going to get to engaging 350 million Americans.”

Varieties

Elusive Wild Cat Feared Extinct Rediscovered in Thailand

This handout picture taken with a camera trap and released on December 26, 2025, by Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) and Panthera Thailand shows a recently rediscovered flat-headed cat in southern Thailand's Princess Sirindhorn Wildlife Sanctuary. (AFP / Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) / Panthera Thailand)
This handout picture taken with a camera trap and released on December 26, 2025, by Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) and Panthera Thailand shows a recently rediscovered flat-headed cat in southern Thailand's Princess Sirindhorn Wildlife Sanctuary. (AFP / Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) / Panthera Thailand)
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Elusive Wild Cat Feared Extinct Rediscovered in Thailand

This handout picture taken with a camera trap and released on December 26, 2025, by Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) and Panthera Thailand shows a recently rediscovered flat-headed cat in southern Thailand's Princess Sirindhorn Wildlife Sanctuary. (AFP / Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) / Panthera Thailand)
This handout picture taken with a camera trap and released on December 26, 2025, by Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) and Panthera Thailand shows a recently rediscovered flat-headed cat in southern Thailand's Princess Sirindhorn Wildlife Sanctuary. (AFP / Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) / Panthera Thailand)

An elusive wild cat long feared extinct in Thailand has been rediscovered three decades after the last recorded sighting, conservation authorities and an NGO said Friday.

Flat-headed cats are among the world's rarest and most threatened wild felines. Their range is limited to Southeast Asia and they are endangered because of dwindling habitat.

The domestic cat-sized feline with its distinctive round and close-set eyes was last spotted in a documented sighting in Thailand in 1995.

But an ecological survey that began last year, using camera traps in southern Thailand's Princess Sirindhorn Wildlife Sanctuary, recorded 29 detections, according to the country's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and wild cat conservation organization Panthera.

"The rediscovery is exciting, yet concerning at the same time," veterinarian and researcher Kaset Sutasha of Kasetsart University told AFP, noting that habitat fragmentation has left the species increasingly "isolated".

It was not immediately clear how many individuals the detections represent, as the species lacks distinctive markings so counting is tricky.

But the findings suggest a relatively high concentration of the species, Panthera conservation program manager Rattapan Pattanarangsan told AFP.

The footage included a female flat-headed cat with her cub -- a rare and encouraging sign for a species that typically produces only one offspring at a time.

Nocturnal and elusive, the flat-headed cat typically lives in dense wetland ecosystems such as peat swamps and freshwater mangroves, environments that are extremely difficult for researchers to access, Rattapan said.

Globally, the International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that around 2,500 adult flat-headed cats remain in the wild, classifying the species as endangered.

In Thailand, it has long been listed as "possibly extinct".

Thailand's peat swamp forests have been heavily fragmented, largely due to land conversion and agricultural expansion, said Kaset, who was not involved in the ecological survey but has researched wild cats for years.

The animals also face mounting threats from disease spread by domestic animals, and they struggle to reproduce across isolated areas.

While the rediscovery offers hope, it is only a "starting point" for future conservation efforts, he said.

"What comes after this is more important -- how to enable them to live alongside us sustainably, without being threatened."

Varieties

Hooked on the Claw: How Crane Games Conquered Japan’s Arcades

This picture taken on June 6, 2024 shows a claw crane game shop in Akihabara district of Tokyo. (AFP)
This picture taken on June 6, 2024 shows a claw crane game shop in Akihabara district of Tokyo. (AFP)
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Hooked on the Claw: How Crane Games Conquered Japan’s Arcades

This picture taken on June 6, 2024 shows a claw crane game shop in Akihabara district of Tokyo. (AFP)
This picture taken on June 6, 2024 shows a claw crane game shop in Akihabara district of Tokyo. (AFP)

As school and work wrap up, crowds fill Tokyo's many bustling arcade halls -- not to battle it out in fighting games, but to snag plush toys from claw machines.

In one of these gaming hubs in the Japanese capital's Ikebukuro district, aisles of crane games stretch as far as the eye can see.

The crown jewels of the arcade industry, they occupy the building's first two floors, relegating video games to the basement and upper levels.

"Crane games are keeping the sector afloat," said Morihiro Shigihara, an industry expert and former arcade manager.

"Arcade operators, machine manufacturers, and even prize suppliers depend on this business," he told AFP.

Some 80 percent of the 22,000 arcades Japan had in 1989 have shut down, but revenues have held up thanks to claw machines, according to the Japan Amusement Industry Association.

Their share of revenue has climbed since 1993 from 20 percent to more than 60 percent, the association said.

Suzuna Nogi, a 20-year-old student, visits these arcades at least twice a week in search of "big plushies" on which she can spend up to 3,000 yen ($19) at 100 yen per try.

"What I like best is the sense of accomplishment," she said, even though there is no guarantee of success.

Nogi added that she enjoys "the thrill of not knowing whether you'll manage to grab something or not".

The sensitivity of the claw arms is adjusted by operators "based on the cost of the prizes and revenue targets", Shigihara said.

"You can also make the game easier to compete with a nearby arcade."

- From cigarettes to candy -

This year, the industry is officially celebrating the 60th anniversary of these construction crane-inspired machines in Japan.

But they have actually been around since before World War II, said Benoit Bottos, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on the subject at Japan's Chuo University.

Older models, installed in cafes or bowling alleys, sometimes offered lighters and cigarettes, but those prizes quickly gave way to children's candy.

In the late 1980s, the machines began to gain traction, notably with game company Sega's 1985 invention of the "UFO Catcher", which switched up the older version that forced players to lean in and look down.

"The old ones were a bit dark. So we opted for a brighter, showcase-like style where you can see the prizes right in front of you," said Takashi Sasaya, a Sega executive.

But the real stroke of genius "was putting plush toys in the claw games", said Bottos.

Manufacturing giants like Sega or Bandai, involved in both video games and toys, then began negotiating licenses for anime and manga characters, with Sega notably securing Disney rights.

"That largely explains the success of these machines," said Bottos, who describes them as "somewhere between a vending machine, a game of chance and a game of skill".

- 'Transformation' -

The success of claw games also feeds on Japan's booming fan culture of "oshikatsu", with many people devoting more and more time and money to supporting their favorite idol.

Part of asserting their fan identity involves collecting character merchandise.

"I love Pokemon, so I often come looking for plush toys and merch from the franchise," said professional Pokemon card player Akira Kurasaki, showing off nails decorated with his most beloved characters.

Arcade operators have taken this enthusiasm to heart, tailoring their prize selections to the demographics of their neighborhood and organizing events around certain characters.

"New prizes are introduced almost every day," said Sasaya, the Sega executive.

The hegemony of claw machines has also gone hand in hand with a gradual transformation of urban hangouts.

Arcades -- seen in the 1970s and 1980s as dark, male-dominated places linked to crime -- "tried to attract a new audience" of women and families, Bottos said.

"The crane game is emblematic of that transformation."