Latest news with #BorjaSuarez
Straits Times
3 days ago
- General
- Straits Times
Seven migrant women and children died metres from shore in Canary Islands
A member of the Red Cross prays next to the coffins of migrants who were on a migrant boat that capsized as it neared La Restinga harbor on the island of El Hierro, in El Pinar, Spain, May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Borja Suarez The coffin of a migrant girl, who was on a boat that capsized as it neared La Restinga harbor on the island of El Hierro, sits before its entombment in El Pinar, Spain, May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Borja Suarez MADRID - Seven migrant women and children who died when their boat capsized just metres from shore in Spain's Canary Islands were buried on Friday at the La Restringa harbour where they had hoped to find safety. Two five-year-old girls and a 16-year-old were among the dead, emergency services said. The migrant boat capsized as rescuers were escorting it to port at La Restringa on the El Hierro island on Wednesday, the services said. "I heard the screams and didn't hesitate. Like any citizen faced with an emergency or an accident, I got in my car, rushed to where the boat was, and helped however I could," Javier Iglesias, a La Restringa resident, said at the funeral of the seven, which was also attended by surviving migrants. "What really moves you and leaves an impression is when you see the faces, the expressions of those people who didn't reach their dream, just five metres from the shore." The number of migrants reaching the Canary Islands from West Africa hit an all-time high in 2024, but the number of arrivals has fallen this year, Interior Ministry data shows. In the first five months of 2024, 4,808 people died on the perilous Atlantic voyage to the Canaries after leaving Africa, according to migrant rights group Walking Borders. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
GMA Network
22-05-2025
- Science
- GMA Network
'Red alert': Fires drive tropical forest loss to record high
Firefighters battle the Tijarafe forest fire on the Canary Island of La Palma, Spain, July 16, 2023. REUTERS/ Borja Suarez/File photo PARIS, France - Eighteen football pitches every minute of every hour of every day: that is the record extent of tropical rainforest destroyed last year due in large measure to fires fueled by climate change, researchers reported Wednesday. Tally it all up and the world lost 67,000 square kilometers (25,900 square miles) of precious primary tropical forest, an area double the size of Belgium or Taiwan. The loss was 80 percent higher than in 2023, according to the Global Forest Watch think tank. "This level of forest destruction is completely unprecedented in more than 20 years of data," its co-director Elizabeth Goldman said in a briefing. "This is a global red alert." Fires are responsible for nearly half of these losses, surpassing for the first time agriculture as the main driver of destruction. Loss of tree cover in 2024 – from deforestation and fires, deliberate or accidental – generated more than three billion tonnes of CO2 pollution, exceeding India's emissions from fossil fuel use over the same period. Tropical forests, which harbor the highest concentrations of biodiversity, are the most threatened of any forest biomes on the planet. They are also sponges for CO2, helping to prevent global temperatures from rising even faster than they have. Forest fires are both a cause and effect of climate change, injecting billions of tonnes of CO2 in the atmosphere that in turn accelerate warming and the conditions leading to more destructive fires. Extreme conditions The exceptional fires last year were fueled by "extreme conditions" that made them more intense and difficult to control, the authors said. Climate change driven by the massive burning of fossil fuels and boosted by natural El Niño weather phenomenon made 2024 the hottest year on record, with temperatures averaging more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. Historically, most fires in tropical forests are set to clear land for agriculture and livestock, especially the so-called "big four" commodities: palm oil, soy, beef and timber. Brazil saw 2.8 million hectares (6.9 million acres) of primary forest destroyed last year, two-thirds to fires typically started to make way for soybeans and cattle. In 2023, Brazil made measurable progress in reducing forest loss during President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's first year after returning to office. "But this progress is threatened by the expansion of agriculture," said Sarah Carter, a researcher at the World Resources Institute in Washington. The Brazilian Amazon was most affected, with destruction at its highest level since 2016. Global Forest Watch reports on forest destruction from all causes, deliberate or accidental. This stands in contrast to the Brazilian government's monitoring network MapBiomas, which published figures last week showing a sharp decline in deforestation in 2024 -- but based on narrower criteria and not including many areas ravaged by fire. New phenomenon Forest protection is high on the agenda of the COP30 UN climate conference that Brazil will host in November in the tropical city of Belem. Neighboring Bolivia's forest loss –- 1.5 million hectares – skyrocketed by 200 percent last year, with a record 3.6 percent of primary forests destroyed in a single year, mostly due to fires set to clear land for industrial-scale farms, according to the report. The picture is mixed elsewhere, with improvements in Indonesia and Malaysia but a sharp deterioration in Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo. While policies have resulted in a slowdown of the extent of forests lost to palm oil plantations, notably in Asia, the destructive footprint of other commodities has expanded, including avocados, coffee and cocoa. "We shouldn't assume that the drivers are always going to be the same," said Rod Taylor, director of the WRI's forest program. "One new driver we are seeing, for example, is linked to mining and critical minerals." — Agence France-Presse
The Star
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
EU proposes allowing deportation of asylum seekers to third countries
FILE PHOTO: Migrants line up to eat at the Las Raices migrant camp in La Laguna, on the island of Tenerife, Spain, October 27, 2024. REUTERS/Borja Suarez/File Photo (Reuters) -The European Union executive on Tuesday proposed amending EU law to allow member states to deport rejected asylum seekers to countries with which they have no connection, a move rights groups say would undermine the right to asylum. The European Commission said the changes, which would let countries remove an asylum applicant if they could be sent to a third country deemed safe by the EU, would "accelerate asylum processes and reduce pressure on asylum systems". The proposal would lift the requirement for a connection between the asylum seeker and the safe third country. 'The revised Safe Third Country concept is another tool to help member states process asylum claims more efficiently, while fully respecting the EU's values and fundamental rights,' said EU internal affairs and migration commissioner Magnus Brunner. Anti-immigration sentiment has grown across the 27-nation EU since over a million people - mostly Syrian refugees - arrived via the Mediterranean in 2015, catching the bloc unprepared. Unable to agree on how to share responsibility, EU countries have primarily focused on returns and reducing arrivals. The amendments also stipulate that if asylum seekers appeal their rejected requests, they cannot automatically remain in EU territory during the appeals process. Amnesty International sharply criticised the proposal. 'Let's be clear: this revision would only further weaken access to asylum in Europe, diminish people's rights, and increase the risk of refoulement and widespread arbitrary detention in third countries - especially given the EU's increasingly evident inability to monitor and uphold human rights in its partner countries,' said Olivia Sundberg Diez, Amnesty's EU Advocate on Migration and Asylum. The proposal stems from the EU migration pact that was adopted in 2023 and is expected to take effect in 2026. However, it will require approval by the European Parliament and EU member governments. In April, the EU Commission included states such as Egypt and Tunisia - where human rights records have come under scrutiny - on a list of "safe countries" to which failed asylum seekers could be returned. A month earlier, it proposed that member states be allowed to set up centres in non-EU countries where migrants whose asylum claims were rejected would await deportation. (Reporting by Amina Ismail; editing by Mark Heinrich)
The Star
12-05-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Soccer-Ancelotti to leave Real Madrid and take over Brazil national team
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Copa del Rey - Final - FC Barcelona v Real Madrid - Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville, Spain - April 26, 2025 Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti reacts REUTERS/Borja Suarez/File Photo
