Latest news with #ThomasMukoya
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- The Guardian
Week in wildlife: blue waterfowl, a rescued baby orangutan and a real-life Pikachu
Ahead by a nose … a rabbit chases a hare in a surprising turn of events in Anglesey, UK Photograph: Stuart Benson/SWNS Rangers at Lewa wildlife conservancy in Kenya prepare to notch the ear of Quintus, a tranquillised three-year-old-male white rhino. They are carrying out the operation on 40 sub-adult rhinos, hoping it will help them identify individuals and monitor the species Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters A mother and baby humpback whale in Kiama, New South Wales, Australia. Humpback whales give birth while migrating – and carry on travelling with their babies, new research reveals. Researchers were puzzled as baby whales were spotted in unexpected places along Australia's 'humpback highway' between Queensland and Antarctica. Newborns have been seen in colder waters as far south as Tasmania, suggesting humpbacks' habits of breeding and migration are more complex than we thought Photograph: Vanessa Risku/SWNS Feelin' blue … two colourful waterfowl emerge from a contaminated lake in the botanical garden in Jundiaí, Brazil. The lake water was tinted blue after a truck carrying five tanks, each containing 1,000 litres of dye, crashed and spilled all its cargo Photograph: Sebastião Moreira/EPA This hazel dormouse is being given a once-over by a disease risk team at ZSL London Zoo, UK, as part of reintroduction programme. The dormice will be released to a new woodland home in June, and so the specialist wildlife health team must ensure they are fit and healthy beforehand … Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian … but undergoing all those medical checks really takes it out of you Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian A mother mute swan attends to her cygnets at Abbotsbury Swannery, Dorset, UK. The arrival of mute swan cygnets is traditionally seen as the start of summer, and it's said the Benedictine monks who owned the swannery between about 1000 and the 1540s believed the first cygnet signalled the season's first day Photograph:A lion sits in a cage waiting to be transported to Mazatlan on Mexico's west coast. Hundreds of animals including elephants, crocodiles, lions and tigers have been moved out of a violence-torn Mexican cartel heartland further north in an operation described as a '21st-century Noah's Ark'. Regular roadblocks and armed clashes in the region made it difficult for the sanctuary's workers to keep the captive wildlife fed. In total, about 700 animals were moved to a ranch on the coast Photograph: Félix Márquez/AP A vet checks over a rescued baby orangutan seized from the illegal wildlife trade at the Royal Forest Department's wildlife clinic in Bangkok, Thailand. Two baby orangutans were rescued after Thai police arrested a suspect who was about to hand them over to a would-be buyer Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA Video footage shows a baby howler monkey clinging onto a young adult male capuchin monkey on Jicarón Island, Panama. Scientists have spotted surprising evidence of what they describe as monkey kidnappings while reviewing video footage from the small island. Capuchin monkeys were seen carrying at least 11 howler babies between 2022 and 2023 – but no one is sure why they do it Photograph: Brendan Barrett/AP A souslik, or ground squirrel, feeds in a meadow near Karaman, Turkey. With its yellowish fur, spots and alert posture, it can look oddly like a real-life Pikachu Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images A group of Orinoco crocodile hatchlings are released into the wild at the Capanaparo River, in a remote corner of Venezuela. For decades, the Crocodile Specialist Group have been raising younglings of the critically endangered species in captivity in a race against time to avoid its extinction, as fewer than 100 Orinoco crocodiles remain in the wild. Decades of poaching for leather has pushed the species to the brink, and now struggling Venezuelans who hunt the animals for meat and take their eggs for food threaten to deal the final blow Photograph: Gaby Oráa/Reuters Honeybees return to their hive in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany. Plants can 'hear' bees buzzing and serve up more nectar when they are nearby, scientists have found. Amazingly, they can tell the difference between a bee's buzz and that of a non-pollinating insect such as a wasp Photograph: Michael Probst/AP A colony of sand martins come and go from their nests at Yumurtalık lagoon in Adana, Turkey Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images Two damselflies form a heart shape (almost) as they mate in warm weather in County Armagh, UK Photograph: David Hunter/Alamy Live News A lion rests on a dead tree on the savannah at the Lewa wildlife conservancy, Kenya Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters A fox cub plays in a garden in Clapham, London, UK, closely watched by a parent. As they play, the cubs are also learning how to chase and pounce Photograph: Anna Watson/Alamy Live News Seagulls squabble along the banks of the Tejo River in Portugal Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images A swallowtail butterfly sits on a blooming flower in a butterfly garden at Benchakitti park in Bangkok, Thailand Photograph: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images An alligator lurks in a manmade canal at the Everglades national park, Florida, US Photograph: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images A peacock displays its feathers at a park in Singapore Photograph: Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images A stork mother guards her chicks from passing traffic on the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany Photograph: Michael Probst/AP
Straits Times
08-05-2025
- Health
- Straits Times
South Sudan clashes block aid to 60,000 malnourished children
FILE PHOTO: A 25-year-old mother holds her severely malnourished child at the paediatric ward of the Mother of Mercy Hospital in Gidel, South Kordofan, Sudan, June 25, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo NAIROBI - Fighting along the Nile River in South Sudan has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching more than 60,000 malnourished children in the northeast of the country for almost a month, two United Nations agencies said on Thursday. The U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) and agency for children (UNICEF) said they expect nutrition supplies for Upper Nile State, which has some of the highest rates of malnutrition in the country, to run out by the end of May. "Children are already the first to suffer during emergencies. If we can't get nutrition supplies through, we are likely to see escalating malnutrition in areas already at breaking point," Mary-Ellen McGroarty, WFP's representative in South Sudan, said in a joint WFP-UNICEF statement. The Nile is a crucial transport artery in South Sudan because the impoverished country has few paved roads and a lot of challenging terrain, particularly during the rainy season when many roads become impassable. The agencies did not say which fighting had disrupted the route of their aid barges, but government forces have been fighting an ethnic Nuer militia known as the White Army in areas near the Nile since March. The battles led to the arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar and a spiralling political crisis, which the United Nations has warned could reignite the brutal civil war that ended in 2018. In mid-April, barges carrying 1,000 metric tonnes of food and nutrition supplies bound for Upper Nile State were forced to return due to insecurity, WFP and UNICEF said. The agencies decided against pre-positioning supplies in health centres and warehouses in insecure areas because they could have become targets for looting, they said. "We have reluctantly taken the unprecedented step of holding back supplies for fear that they will not reach the children that so desperately need them, due to the ongoing fighting, looting and disruption of the river route," said Obia Achieng, UNICEF's representative. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Kenyan lawmaker shot dead in capital Nairobi, local media says
Proctor Were stands behind the cordon as forensic experts secure the vehicle in which his slain father and Kenyan lawmaker Charles Were from Kasipul Constituency was shot dead at close range by two gunmen who were trailing him with a motorbike, outside the Nairobi hospital in Nairobi, Kenya April 30, 2025. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya Kenyan politicians address the media after viewing the remains of slain Kenyan lawmaker Charles Were from Kasipul Constituency who was shot dead at close range by two gunmen who were trailing him with a motorbike, arrives at the Lee Funeral home in Nairobi, Kenya April 30, 2025. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya Kenyan Parliamentary staff and forensic experts secure the vehicle in which slain Kenyan lawmaker Charles Were from Kasipul Constituency was shot dead at close range by two gunmen who were trailing him with a motorbike, outside the Nairobi hospital in Nairobi, Kenya April 30, 2025. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya NAIROBI - A Kenyan lawmaker was shot dead on Wednesday night in the capital Nairobi by gunmen on motorcycles, local broadcaster Citizen TV reported. The news was also reported by other Kenyan outlets, including The Nation and The Standard newspapers. The lawmaker, Charles Were, who represents Kasipul constituency in Kenya's west, was shot dead at around 7:30 pm local time "by two gunmen who were trailing him with a motorbike," Citizen TV reported. One of the gunmen got off the motorbike and shot Were at close range, Citizen TV reported, adding that his driver had survived the shooting. The MP was pronounced dead at a hospital where he had been rushed for medical care. Were was a member of the opposition ODM party led by veteran politician Raila Odinga, who lost to William Ruto in the last election in 2022. Odinga, who rejected the election result, alleging irregularities, has since struck an agreement with Ruto to address issues troubling Kenya. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Refugees and surrendering Congolese soldiers stream into Rwanda
By Thomas Mukoya GISENYI, Rwanda (Reuters) - Refugees, surrendering Congolese soldiers and stranded truckers thronged the Rwandan border on Tuesday, hoping to reach safety after rebels captured the nearby Congolese city of Goma and spurred them to flee. Gunfire and explosions could be heard from Goma late on Monday and early on Tuesday in Rubavu district on Rwanda's northeast frontier with Democratic Republic of Congo. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Through the night, people waited on the Congo side of the border, laden with mattresses and the few belongings they could grab as Rwanda-backed M23 fighters advanced on Goma. At daylight on Tuesday, Rwanda began admitting them, some holding their hands aloft in joyful thanks as they walked across the border. "We saw and heard terrible things. Dead bodies, gunshots, bombs," said Alois Emmanuel Bebe, a Tanzanian trucker among a group of 47 drivers seeking refuge in Rwanda after they were cut off by fighting in eastern Congo. An escalation of the three-year insurgency in Congo since the start of the year has forced around 400,000 people from their homes. As in previous security crises in the rebel-torn region, some refugees have headed to Rwanda even as Congo and the United Nations accuse the neighbour of fuelling the conflict with its own troops and weapons. Shouldering colourfully-wrapped bundles, families waited on Tuesday to be registered at an open-air refugee reception centre in the Rwandan border town of Gisenyi. Small children clung to the skirts of their mothers, some of whom also had babies strapped to their backs or fronts. Elsewhere, the Rwandan authorities processed a number of Congolese soldiers. In a large hall in Gisenyi, dozens of men sat on the floor under the watch of members of the Rwanda Defence Force. Some wore army boots and fatigues with the Congolese insignia while others were in civilian clothes. A few received treatment for cuts and minor injuries. Rwandan regional ambassador Vincent Karega said 102 Congolese soldiers had surrendered by voluntarily crossing into Rwanda on Monday. "More continue to cross today. They run away from the battles," he told Reuters, adding that they would be treated like other refugees once disarmed and registered. "They will return home at will when it suits them, or decide to go into exile in Rwanda or elsewhere." It is not yet clear how many citizens and soldiers have fled to Rwanda in recent days. Congolese citizens accounted for over 56% of the 114,461 refugees there as of November, according to the U.N. refugee agency. The Congolese government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Additional reporting by Sonia Rolley in Paris; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
