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8 Arrested in Brazil for 'Brutal' Attack on Capybara

Wounds are seen on the muzzle of a capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) under care at the Center for Wildlife Animal Recovery of Estacio de Sa University in the Vargem Pequena neighborhood, in the southwest zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 23, 2026. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP)
Wounds are seen on the muzzle of a capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) under care at the Center for Wildlife Animal Recovery of Estacio de Sa University in the Vargem Pequena neighborhood, in the southwest zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 23, 2026. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP)
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8 Arrested in Brazil for 'Brutal' Attack on Capybara

Wounds are seen on the muzzle of a capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) under care at the Center for Wildlife Animal Recovery of Estacio de Sa University in the Vargem Pequena neighborhood, in the southwest zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 23, 2026. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP)
Wounds are seen on the muzzle of a capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) under care at the Center for Wildlife Animal Recovery of Estacio de Sa University in the Vargem Pequena neighborhood, in the southwest zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 23, 2026. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP)

Rio de Janeiro police said Monday they had arrested eight people for brutally beating a capybara -- the world's largest rodent whose chill demeanor has inspired countless memes online in recent years.

Resembling a giant, gentle guinea pig, the shaggy, light brown capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is often seen roaming in the Brazilian city, particularly near streams and lagoons.

In an incident filmed by security cameras before dawn on Saturday, a group of attackers beat the capybara with sticks and iron bars in the working-class neighborhood of Ilha do Governador.

"This is a brutal crime that shocks society," said Felipe Santoro, the police commissioner in charge of the investigation, was quoted as saying by the O Globo daily newspaper.

"It is an act of extreme cruelty toward a creature that posed absolutely no threat...yet was deliberately attacked nonetheless," he added.

The attackers -- including two minors -- were identified through CCTV footage and arrested on Saturday, AFP quoted police as saying in a statement.

The capybara, a 65-kilogram (143-pound) male, was taken to the Wildlife Care Center (CRAS) at the private Estacio University in southwestern Rio.

"We have been treating Rio's wildlife here for 22 years, and I have never before received a capybara subjected to such extreme aggression," veterinarian and head of CRAS Jeferson Pires told AFP on Monday.

He said the creature was doing better, but was "suffering from head trauma, swelling with internal bleeding around his left eye, and multiple injuries to his back."

In recent years the semi-aquatic capybara -- native to South America -- has gained a devoted following online, and its image is increasingly used on toys, clothing and home decor items.

It is often used in posts about being zen and going with the flow.

One popular meme is "Comrade Capybara" -- depicting the animal as a communist revolutionary -- inspired by the 2021 "invasion" by capybaras of a luxury gated estate in Argentina that was built on a wetland that had been their natural habitat.

In early January, the death of a stray dog after it was beaten to death by teenagers sparked a massive wave of outrage in Brazil, even prompting a reaction from First Lady Rosangela "Janja" da Silva.

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NASA to Build $20 Bn Moon Base, Pause Orbital Lunar Station Plans

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman speaks during the rollout of NASA's next-generation moon rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, January 17, 2026. (Reuters)
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman speaks during the rollout of NASA's next-generation moon rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, January 17, 2026. (Reuters)
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NASA to Build $20 Bn Moon Base, Pause Orbital Lunar Station Plans

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman speaks during the rollout of NASA's next-generation moon rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, January 17, 2026. (Reuters)
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman speaks during the rollout of NASA's next-generation moon rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, January 17, 2026. (Reuters)

NASA's chief on Tuesday said the US space agency will invest $20 billion to develop a base on the Moon, while suspending its plans to create the lunar orbital space station known as Gateway.

"The agency intends to pause Gateway in its current form and shift focus to infrastructure that enables sustained surface operations," Jared Isaacman said in a statement given during a day-long event at NASA headquarters in Washington.

"Despite challenges with some existing hardware, the agency will repurpose applicable equipment and leverage international partner commitments to support these objectives," he said.

The European Space Agency among other international organizations were partners on the planned Gateway project.

It's the latest shake-up at NASA in the wake of changes to the Artemis program, which aims to send Americans back to the Moon and establish a long-term presence there, paving the way for eventual missions to Mars.

The Gateway orbital lunar station was meant to serve both as a point of transfer for astronauts headed to the Moon as well as a platform for research.

The suspension of the initiative isn't entirely surprising: some had criticized it as wasteful or a distraction from other lunar ambitions.

Isaacman said NASA now plans to spend $20 billion over the next seven years to construct the lunar base over dozens of missions, "working together with commercial and international partners towards a deliberate and achievable plan."

"There will be an evolutionary path to building humanity's first permanent surface outpost beyond Earth, and we will take the world along with us."

- Artemis 2 on deck -

Isaacman, who took the helm of NASA late last year, abruptly announced less than a month ago that it was reshuffling its Artemis program that has suffered multiple delays in recent years, as it aims to ensure Americans can return to the Moon's surface by 2028.

That goal remains unchanged, but the US space agency is shifting its flight lineup to include a test mission before an eventual lunar landing to improve launch "muscle memory," Isaacman said.

That strategic revision came amid repeated delays to the Artemis 2 mission, which was originally due to take off as early as February, but is now targeting early April. It is meant to see the first flyby of the Moon in more than half a century.

During his first term, President Donald Trump announced he wanted Americans to once again set foot on the lunar surface.

China is forging ahead with plans for its first crewed mission to the Moon by 2030 at the latest.

The US effort depends in part on the progress of NASA's private partners.

SpaceX and Blue Origin, the respective space companies of dueling billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, are contracted to develop lunar landers used in the Artemis program.

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Rescuers Try to Refloat Stranded Humpback Whale in Germany’s Baltic Sea

23 March 2026, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Timmendorf: Experts from the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW) and firefighters free a whale stranded on the Baltic Sea coast off Niendorf. Photo: Ulrich Perrey/dpa
23 March 2026, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Timmendorf: Experts from the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW) and firefighters free a whale stranded on the Baltic Sea coast off Niendorf. Photo: Ulrich Perrey/dpa
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Rescuers Try to Refloat Stranded Humpback Whale in Germany’s Baltic Sea

23 March 2026, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Timmendorf: Experts from the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW) and firefighters free a whale stranded on the Baltic Sea coast off Niendorf. Photo: Ulrich Perrey/dpa
23 March 2026, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Timmendorf: Experts from the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW) and firefighters free a whale stranded on the Baltic Sea coast off Niendorf. Photo: Ulrich Perrey/dpa

Rescue teams in northern Germany are working to refloat a humpback whale stranded in shallow water in the Baltic Sea.

Experts gathered Tuesday morning on the Timmendorfer Strand beach to find a way to pull the 10-meter-long (30-feet-long) mammal off the ground after the high tide around midnight was not sufficient for the animal to swim free under its own power, German news agency dpa reported.

Earlier rescue efforts on Monday afternoon with police boats, inflatable boats and the help of firefighter drones guiding the rescue efforts were also unsuccessful.

The animal is still alive, it breathes, makes sounds and occasionally lifts its head, Carsten Mannheimer of the marine conservation organization Sea Shepherd told dpa.

Experts assume that the whale is a young male, as males, unlike females, tend to migrate. It also seems to be the same whale that has been spotted several times in the port of Wismar in eastern Germany in recent weeks.

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Pakistan Ranked Most Polluted Country in 2025, Data Shows

Commuters make their way amid smog in Lahore on November 2, 2024. (AFP)
Commuters make their way amid smog in Lahore on November 2, 2024. (AFP)
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Pakistan Ranked Most Polluted Country in 2025, Data Shows

Commuters make their way amid smog in Lahore on November 2, 2024. (AFP)
Commuters make their way amid smog in Lahore on November 2, 2024. (AFP)

Pakistan was ranked the world's smoggiest ‌country in 2025, with concentrations of hazardous small particles known as PM2.5 up to 13 times higher than the recommended World Health Organization level, research showed on Tuesday.

Swiss air quality monitoring firm IQAir said in its annual report that 13 countries and territories kept average PM2.5 levels at the WHO standard of less than 5 micrograms per cubic meter last year, up from seven in 2024.

In total, 130 out of 143 monitored countries and territories failed to meet the WHO guideline.

Bangladesh ‌and Tajikistan were ‌second and third on the most polluted list.

Chad, ⁠statistically the smoggiest ⁠country of 2024, ranked fourth in 2025, but the decline in PM2.5 concentrations last year is likely to be the result of data gaps.

Last March, the United States shut down a global monitoring program that compiled pollution data collected from its embassy and consulate buildings, citing budget constraints.

"The loss of the data in March made it ⁠appear there was a significant drop in PM2.5 levels (in ‌Chad), but the fact of ‌the matter is that we don't know," said Christi Chester Schroeder, lead author of ‌the IQAir report.

The US decision eliminated a primary data ‌source for many smog-prone countries, and Burundi, Turkmenistan and Togo were excluded from the 2025 report because of information gaps.

India's Loni was the world's most polluted city in 2025, with average PM2.5 levels of 112.5 micrograms, ‌followed by Hotan in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang at 109.6 micrograms.

The world's top 25 most ⁠polluted cities ⁠were all in India, Pakistan and China.

Only 14% of the world's cities met the WHO standard in 2025, down from 17% a year earlier, with Canadian wildfires driving up PM2.5 across the United States and as far as Europe.

Among the countries that met the standard in 2025 were Australia, Iceland, Estonia and Panama.

Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia all reported significant PM2.5 reductions compared to the previous year, thanks mainly to wetter and windier La Nina weather. Mongolia saw average concentrations fall 31% to 17.8 micrograms per cubic meter.

In all, 75 countries reported lower PM2.5 levels in 2025 compared to a year earlier, with 54 recording higher average concentrations, IQAir said.