Indonesia Haze Spikes Singapore Pollution, Shuts East Timor Schoolshttps://english.aawsat.com/varieties/5329467-indonesia-haze-spikes-singapore-pollution-shuts-east-timor-schools
Indonesia Haze Spikes Singapore Pollution, Shuts East Timor Schools
Singapore cable cars travelling towards Mount Faber station are shrouded in haze as smoke from regional forest fires reduces visibility across the city-state, in Singapore, October 14, 2026. REUTERS/Suhaimi Abdullah
Indonesia Haze Spikes Singapore Pollution, Shuts East Timor Schools
Singapore cable cars travelling towards Mount Faber station are shrouded in haze as smoke from regional forest fires reduces visibility across the city-state, in Singapore, October 14, 2026. REUTERS/Suhaimi Abdullah
Air pollution in part of Singapore hit the country's "very high" band on Wednesday, while East Timor shut schools, as haze from forest fires raging in Indonesia causes a regional crisis.
The blazes in Indonesia have burned through hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest and plantations, sickened local residents and sent thick haze across the region.
Air pollution in western Singapore on Wednesday hit "very high" -- the country's top level -- the National Environment Agency said.
It recorded levels of tiny particulates capable of penetrating the blood and lungs -- known as PM2.5 -- at 288 micrograms per cubic meter, vastly exceeding the World Health Organization's recommended average annual exposure of five micrograms.
Indonesia regularly battles wildfires during the dry season, but has seen stronger-than-usual blazes this year as a powerful El Nino cycle brings drought.
Experts also point to slash-and-burn land-clearing practices that have changed the naturally fire-resistant landscape of Sumatra and Borneo islands.
The haze has drifted into neighboring Singapore and Malaysia, and as far afield as the Philippines and East Timor, which said it would shut schools nationwide for three days from Thursday.
The closures were necessary "as a preventive measure to protect the health of students, teachers, and other members of the educational community, given current air quality conditions", the government said.
Isle of Wight Fossil Sheds Light on Enigmatic Meat-eating Dinosaurshttps://english.aawsat.com/varieties/5329399-isle-wight-fossil-sheds-light-enigmatic-meat-eating-dinosaurs
The meat-eating dinosaur Invictibellatrix amberina feeds on a mammal while grasping another in its ecosystem alongside other dinosaurs and other kinds of animals on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom, in the Cretaceous Period around 120 million years ago, in this illustration released on October 13, 2026. Sergey Krasovskiy and Pedro Salas/Handout via REUTERS
Isle of Wight Fossil Sheds Light on Enigmatic Meat-eating Dinosaurs
The meat-eating dinosaur Invictibellatrix amberina feeds on a mammal while grasping another in its ecosystem alongside other dinosaurs and other kinds of animals on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom, in the Cretaceous Period around 120 million years ago, in this illustration released on October 13, 2026. Sergey Krasovskiy and Pedro Salas/Handout via REUTERS
The partial skull of a tiger-sized predator that prowled what is now the Isle of Wight off England's southern coast about 120 million years ago is giving scientists a better understanding of an enigmatic group of meat-eating dinosaurs known for running down prey and ripping them apart with massive hand claws.
Researchers said the fossil belongs to a species they have named Invictibellatrix amberina, an early member of the lineage of Cretaceous Period carnivorous dinosaurs called megaraptorans. Invictibellatrix adds to the knowledge of skull anatomy among early megaraptorans and, being the first one known from Europe, helps show how the group spread globally.
Invictibellatrix is one of the smallest megaraptorans. Based on fossils of closely related megaraptorans, the researchers estimated that Invictibellatrix was about 16 feet (5 meters) long, with the weight of a large tiger. Its body may have been covered in filament-like feathers, they said.
Megaraptorans were part of the group called theropods that spans all the meat-eating dinosaurs, Reuters reported.
"Megaraptorans are very unique among theropods because they have relatively small and slender heads but had long and strong arms with massive hand claws as well as very lightly built skeletons," said Cassius Morrison, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Leeds in England and lead author of the study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
"These characteristics imply that megaraptorans were agile hunters capable of chasing down prey and using their large arms and claws to catch them and disembowel them using their hand claws," Morrison said.
The largest-known megaraptoran, named Maip, was about 33 feet (10 meters) long, inhabiting Patagonia during the twilight of the dinosaur age, about 50 million years after Invictibellatrix lived.
Littler megaraptorans like Invictibellatrix may have hunted smaller prey like mammals, smaller reptiles and baby dinosaurs. Larger megaraptorans may have targeted bigger plant-eating dinosaurs like duckbilled hadrosaurs and long-necked sauropods, though probably not the biggest ones.
Megaraptorans hunted in the opposite way from massive predators like Tyrannosaurus rex. Tyrannosaurus employed its large and stoutly built head, enormous teeth and incredible bite strength to kill prey, but had puny arms of little use in hunting.
Invictibellatrix was not the Isle of Wight's top predator, with larger theropods around, alongside various herbivorous dinosaurs, and may have filled a role similar to a hyena today.
There is a debate among dinosaur paleontologists as to where megaraptorans fit on the theropod family tree. Despite differences in how they were built and hunted, one hypothesis is that megaraptorans were closely related to tyrannosaurs, the group that included Tyrannosaurus and others that dominated the landscapes in North America and Asia later in the Cretaceous.
Invictibellatrix means "unconquered female warrior." Morrison noted that after humble beginnings megaraptorans developed into apex predators in South America, Australia and Antarctica, becoming "the ruling queens," while the tyrannosaurs became the "tyrant kings" in North America and Asia.
Scientists are trying to unravel the evolutionary history of megaraptorans. A leading hypothesis has megaraptorans originating in Asia before migrating through Europe into Africa and then on into South America, thriving until the dinosaurs were doomed by an asteroid strike 66 million years ago. This hypothesis was lacking fossil evidence because no megaraptorans had been known from Europe until now.
"These findings help to uncover the evolution of one of the most mysterious theropod groups," University College London doctoral student and study co-author Charlie Scherer said.
The Invictibellatrix fossil, a fragmented braincase, was discovered about a century ago and acquired by the Natural History Museum in London in 1924.
"It was left in one of the collection's drawers ever since, and no one noticed it until a couple of years ago," Scherer said.
While Tyrannosaurus may be more imposing than Invictibellatrix, the researchers noted that if a person were somehow transported back in time — like in the recent film "The End of Oak Street" — Invictibellatrix might present more of a danger.
"A smaller theropod like Invictibellatrix would likely have been a much bigger threat to a human than something like T. rex because we would likely be too small for T. rex to see as a worthwhile meal because of how massive it was and the amount of energy it would be required to catch us," Morrison said.
"But we would be the perfect size for something smaller like Invictibellatrix, as we are about a third to a quarter of its weight, making us a good hearty meal and more than just a snack.
Additionally, Invictibellatrix would have the agility and maneuverability to pursue and catch a human."
Study: Global Deforestation Slowed in 2025 but Surged in Congo Basinhttps://english.aawsat.com/varieties/5329389-study-global-deforestation-slowed-2025-surged-congo-basin
Deforestation from illegal mining borders the Malinowski River in the Tambopata National Reserve in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Study: Global Deforestation Slowed in 2025 but Surged in Congo Basin
Deforestation from illegal mining borders the Malinowski River in the Tambopata National Reserve in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
Deforestation slowed worldwide last year, but the improvement is unlikely to last as the situation deteriorates in Central Africa and an exceptionally strong El Nino weather pattern intensifies, a new study said on Wednesday.
Seven million hectares of forest -- roughly the size of the Republic of Ireland -- were permanently destroyed in 2025, a 15-percent drop from the previous year, according to the annual Forest Declaration Assessment.
The slowdown, however, is not enough to keep the world from missing a pledge to end deforestation by 2030, according to the report, which was drafted by a coalition of research groups and non-governmental organizations.
The 2025 figure is "encouraging but so far it's the exception, not a new trajectory", Erin Matson, the study's co-author and lead consultant at advisory group Climate Focus, said in a media briefing.
To meet the target, agreed at the United Nations' COP26 climate talks in 2021, deforestation would have to fall by around one million hectares per year.
Clearing forests for agriculture or mining operations remains the leading drivers of deforestation.
Last year's improvement was due in part to progress in Latin America, with a 33-percent drop in what has historically been the world's deforestation "hot spot", according to the study.
The authors pointed particularly to Brazil's deforestation action plan and increased enforcement in the country's Amazon, AFP reported.
Progress in the region, however, "rests heavily on the choices of a small number of governments and remains highly vulnerable" to recent and upcoming elections across the Amazon basin.
Brazil's left-wing leader, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva -- who has vowed to end illegal deforestation by 2030 -- faces populist right Senator Flavio Bolsonaro in a runoff presidential election on October 25.
Deforestation had surged under the administration of Bolsonaro's father, far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Trunks of a tree in Capira, Panama, 06 October 2026. EPA/Bienvenido Velasco
Progress could also be threatened in Colombia and Peru, where hard-right presidents were recently elected, according to the experts.
Across the Atlantic in Africa, the situation deteriorated in the Congo basin, where rainforest loss reached 2.4 million hectares -- near the same level of deforestation as the Amazon for the first time.
"Losing such a size of forest every year is a disaster," said Sam Nguiffo, a lawyer and founder of the Centre for Environment and Development in Cameroon.
"As humanity, we clearly cannot afford that because it will be totally irreversible," he said.
Logging for timber or felling trees for agriculture or mining appear to prevail in forest management in Central Africa, Nguiffo said.
Deforestation has a "massive impact on the cultural identity and on the livelihood of local and indigenous communities", he said.
"The erosion of the forest, both in size and in number of species, reduces the space available for communities and fuels conflicts," the lawyer added.
El Nino, the warming phase of a natural climate cycle, also threatens progress because its effects include droughts, creating conditions for wildfires.
The current El Nino event, which emerged in June, is expected to peak later this year but is already shaping up to be the strongest ever observed.
El Nino has been associated with strong drought in Indonesia, where tracts of forest and plantations have been burning in biodiverse Borneo and South Sumatra for months.
"If projections of the historically strong 2026-27 El Nino materialize, drought and fire risks will intensify further across tropical forest regions," the deforestation report said.
Matson, of Climate Focus, noted that there was a "huge spike" in tree cover loss during the last "super" El Nino event in 2015-2016.
"We can't fully predict the future but it's unlikely, I would say, that in 2026 we'll see the same kind of reductions (in deforestation) that we saw last year," she said.
Cyber Attack Hits Fridges in French Supermarkets, Spoiling Food Worth Millions of Euroshttps://english.aawsat.com/varieties/5329387-cyber-attack-hits-fridges-french-supermarkets-spoiling-food-worth-millions-euros
View of the closed frozen food aisle at a supermarket near Nantes after a cyberattack targeted refrigeration systems at French supermarket chains, causing food losses and fires at several stores, France, October 12, 2026. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
Cyber Attack Hits Fridges in French Supermarkets, Spoiling Food Worth Millions of Euros
View of the closed frozen food aisle at a supermarket near Nantes after a cyberattack targeted refrigeration systems at French supermarket chains, causing food losses and fires at several stores, France, October 12, 2026. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
Hundreds of French supermarkets have been hit by a cyber attack that caused their fridges and freezers to heat up, spoiling fresh and frozen food estimated to be worth millions of euros.
Hackers gained control of the software that regulates the temperatures of the refrigeration units, forcing some to warm to 50C (120F) overnight, according to one supermarket chain affected.
The chief executive of Coopérative U said several of its supermarkets had been hit by the “extremely serious and unprecedented” attack, according to BBC.
More than 100 of the chain's supermarkets were targeted, while 180 stores from Intermarché and its Netto brand were affected, with a spokesman saying that another 100 shops were urgently disconnected from the internet to prevent the same thing happening to them.
Other major food retailers including Carrefour, Monoprix and E.Leclerc were also hit by the attack, which targeted software provided by Danish engineering firm Danfoss.
The software allows retailers to manage their cold units remotely.
Normally, supermarket freezers go through a short period of defrosting overnight, in which temperatures rise slightly. But the hackers ordered the units to heat up and stay hot, although Danfoss did not confirm any reports about just how warm the fridges and freezers could become in that process.
Danfoss said the affected cold units were older models whose security software could not be updated to ward off a risk they had identified.
The firm added in a statement that it had “long advised” businesses to keep supported systems up to date.
“Reliable refrigeration is critical to our customers' operations, and we remain committed to supporting our customers and helping them maintain secure and reliable systems they are used to.”
About 700 Affected Supermarkets
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure told Parliament on Tuesday that about 700 of the country’s 10,000 supermarkets were affected.
He said there was no risk to France’s food supplies but acknowledged that the attack “touches the heart of our food security.”
“It was a wake-up call for everyone,” he said, according to AP.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said Tuesday that its cybercrime unit was investigating the large-scale attack, including the extent of damage caused by spoiled food and reports of fires.
Before Lescure’s statement, figures supplied by individual chains suggest about 400 stores were affected out of 15,000 or so overall in France.
Carrefour said fridges in 80 of its 6,000 stores were hacked, while Monoprix said 5% of its 400-plus stores had been hit, with food removed from sale if its condition could not be guaranteed.
In a statement to the BBC, Mousquetaires Group - which owns Intermarché and Netto - said some fresh and frozen food display units remained out of service on Monday afternoon.
The stores had “taken all necessary precautions to remove the products from these units”, it said, adding that staff were working to restock the shelves “as soon as possible.”
Intermarché said its fridges had heated up to 50C for six hours overnight into Monday, and the retailer had thrown away all the affected food to avoid health risks, the Reuters news agency reported.
As a result of the attack, managers arriving at branches of several supermarket chains on Monday morning were hit by a wave of hot air from the freezers. In some places there were even small fires.
French broadcaster BFMTV published an image showing a freezer in an ice cream aisle displaying a temperature of 26.5C.
Two supermarkets in the Alsace region reported losses of €270,000 (£228,000) between them, the broadcaster added, meaning the nationwide total could run into the millions.
French prosecutors have opened a specific cyber-crime investigation into the incident, which the Paris prosecutor's office called a “large-scale cyber-attack affecting the refrigerators of several major food retail chains across France.”
European Food Commissioner Christophe Hansen condemned the hack in a post on X and added: “Food security requires more attention at all levels. Because the weaponization of food has become a reality.”
In a post on X, Coopérative chief executive Dominique Schelcher said staff were “fully mobilized, in co-ordination with refrigeration specialists, to restore the situation as quickly as possible.”
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