Today in Pictures, Aug 5, 2025
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Straits Times
2 days ago
- Straits Times
Turkey wildfires force busy shipping route to close
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox ISTANBUL - Wildfires in Turkey forced authorities to suspend shipping in the busy Dardanelles Strait and evacuate villages on Aug 8 as firefighters battled the blazes, officials said. Turkey 'temporarily' shut the busy strait in both directions, the transport ministry said, after the fires broke out in the northwestern province of Canakkale and spread, fanned by heavy winds. Authorities evacuated three villages and a care home that housed 52 elderly people, the provincial governor's office said in a statement. Images broadcast by Turkish media showed firefighters being forced to abandon one of their trucks on a forest road as the flames engulfed it. Authorities warned of further strong winds at the weekend with temperatures expected to reach 35 deg C. Linking the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles Strait is a popular tourist destination because it is also the site of the ancient ruins of the city of Troy. In July, one wildfire killed at least 10 forest workers and rescuers who were fighting a blaze near Eskisehir in western Turkey. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore PM Wong calls on S'poreans to band together for nation to remain exceptional in National Day message Opinion Singapore must look ahead, prepare to ride next wave of change Singapore Nation building is every Singaporean's responsibility, not the work of one party alone: Pritam Singapore Four foreign leaders to attend NDP 2025 at the Padang Singapore Relaxed rules 'not a silver bullet', but a step in right direction, say nightlife businesses Singapore Non-invasive depression treatment TMS helps engineer get his life back Business Singapore's digital banks trim deposit rates, mirroring moves by incumbent players Singapore Chief Justice allows founder of site that ran fake KKH story to be called to the Bar Authorities say the risk of fires will remain high until October. Scientists say human-caused climate change is raising the likelihood and intensity of wildfires. AFP
CNA
5 days ago
- CNA
Danish zoo in hot water over public call for animals as food
COPENHAGEN: Any chickens or rabbits to spare? Denmark's Aalborg Zoo is seeking animals to feed to its predators - after they have been euthanised - a plea that has sparked a public backlash. "We are looking for small livestock, not pets," Anette Sofie Warncke Nutzhorn, one of the zoo's managers, told AFP on Tuesday (Aug 5). "It can be for instance a chicken that doesn't lay eggs anymore." "Predators usually catch prey of this size, so it's like the natural course," she added. The zoo has found itself in hot water since sending out the appeal in social media. "If you have an animal that, for various reasons, has to go, you are welcome to donate it to us," it wrote last week. The zoo specified that it was looking in particular for chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs and horses. "The animals are carefully put down by qualified staff and then used as food," it said. Only healthy animals are accepted by the zoo, which has been accepting donated animals for several years. "It is a very common practice, we were just sending a friendly reminder," Warncke Nutzhorn said. The zoo later turned off the comments section on the social media post in response to what it called "hateful" postings. Practices at Danish zoos, particularly the euthanasia of healthy animals to limit the risk of inbreeding, have in the past triggered fierce international criticism. In 2014, a giraffe calf named Marius was put down at the Copenhagen Zoo and staff later performed an autopsy on the carcass in front of visitors, before feeding it to the lions.
Straits Times
5 days ago
- Straits Times
Death of a delta: Pakistan's Indus sinks and shrinks
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Abandoned houses are pictured in one of the villages of Kharo Chan town, in the Indus delta, south of Pakistan. KHARO CHAN, Pakistan - Salt crusts crackle underfoot as Habibullah Khatti walks to his mother's grave to say a final goodbye before he abandons his parched island village on Pakistan's Indus delta. Seawater intrusion into the delta, where the Indus River meets the Arabian Sea in the south of the country, has triggered the collapse of farming and fishing communities. 'The saline water has surrounded us from all four sides,' Mr Khatti told AFP from Abdullah Mirbahar village in the town of Kharo Chan, around 15km from where the river empties into the sea. As fish stocks fell, the 54-year-old turned to tailoring until that too became impossible with only four of the 150 households remaining. 'In the evening, an eerie silence takes over the area,' he said, as stray dogs wandered through the deserted wooden and bamboo houses. Kharo Chan once comprised around 40 villages, but most have disappeared under rising seawater . The town's population fell from 26,000 in 1981 to 11,000 in 2023, according to census data. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 'She had a whole life ahead of her': Boyfriend mourns Yishun fatal crash victim World Israel to decide next steps in Gaza after ceasefire talks collapse Singapore Singapore-made bot matchmakes strangers virtually – without profile photos Life Urinary issues: Enlarged prostate affects half of men in their 50s and up Business Lendlease Reit to sell office component of Jem to Keppel for $462 million Singapore Conditional warning for ex-manager at Mendaki accused of trying to obtain laptop as bribe Mr Khatti is preparing to move his family to nearby Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, and one swelling with economic migrants, including from the Indus delta. The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, which advocates for fishing communities, estimates that tens of thousands of people have been displaced from the delta's coastal districts. However, more than 1.2 million people have been displaced from the overall Indus delta region in the last two decades, according to a study published in March by the Jinnah Institute, a think tank led by a former climate change minister. The downstream flow of water into the delta has decreased by 80 per cent since the 1950s as a result of irrigation canals, hydropower dams and the impacts of climate change on glacial and snow melt, according to a 2018 study by the US-Pakistan Centre for Advanced Studies in Water. That has led to devastating seawater intrusion. The salinity of the water has risen by around 70 per cent since 1990, making it impossible to grow crops and severely affecting the shrimp and crab populations. 'The delta is both sinking and shrinking,' said Mr Muhammad Ali Anjum, a local WWF conservationist. 'No other choice' Beginning in Tibet, the Indus River flows through disputed Kashmir before traversing the entire length of Pakistan. The river and its tributaries irrigate about 80 per cent of the country's farmland, supporting millions of livelihoods. The delta, formed by rich sediment deposited by the river as it meets the sea, was once ideal for farming, fishing, mangroves and wildlife. But more than 16 per cent of fertile land has become unproductive due to encroaching seawater, a government water agency study in 2019 found. In the town of Keti Bandar, which spreads inland from the water's edge, a white layer of salt crystals covers the ground. Boats carry in drinkable water from miles away and villagers cart it home via donkeys. 'Who leaves their homeland willingly?' said Mr Haji Karam Jat, whose house was swallowed by the rising water level. He rebuilt farther inland, anticipating more families would join him. 'A person only leaves their motherland when they have no other choice,' he told AFP. Way of life British colonial rulers were the first to alter the course of the Indus River with canals and dams, followed more recently by dozens of hydropower projects. Earlier in 2025, several military-led canal projects on the Indus River were halted when farmers in the low-lying riverine areas of Sindh province protested. To combat the degradation of the Indus River Basin, the government and the United Nations launched the Living Indus Initiative in 2021. One intervention focuses on restoring the delta by addressing soil salinity and protecting local agriculture and ecosystems. The Sindh government is currently running its own mangrove restoration project, aiming to revive forests that serve as a natural barrier against saltwater intrusion. Even as mangroves are restored in some parts of the coastline, land grabbing and residential development projects drive clearing in other areas. Neighbouring India meanwhile poses a looming threat to the river and its delta, after revoking a 1960 water treaty with Pakistan which divides control over the Indus basin rivers. It has threatened to never reinstate the treaty and build dams upstream, squeezing the flow of water to Pakistan, which has called it 'an act of war'. Alongside their homes, the communities have lost a way of life tightly bound up in the delta, said climate activist Fatima Majeed, who works with the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum. Women, in particular, who for generations have stitched nets and packed the day's catches, struggle to find work when they migrate to cities, said Ms Majeed, whose grandfather relocated the family from Kharo Chan to the outskirts of Karachi. 'We haven't just lost our land, we've lost our culture.' AFP
