1. United States
Harbor porpoises have made a comeback after the banning of gill netting in key coastal communities of California, new research shows. Gill nets are a cheap and effective way for commercial fishers to catch loads of sea bass and halibut by the gills, but they also wreak havoc on other species, including sea otters, some sea birds, and the lesser-known harbor porpoise. The latter exclusively lives in shallow waters. Being unable to detect the nylon mesh using echolocation, the porpoises would frequently drown after getting tangled in gill nets. Aerial surveys for harbor porpoises, which began in 1986, allowed researchers to identify and track four distinct porpoise populations off California’s coast as gill netting bans rolled out over the following decade. The latest assessment of that data shows the groups affected by gill netting have doubled their populations since the bans were put in place, and are now beginning to stabilize. It’s the first documented case
Tourism operators in Sabah, Malaysia, put on a brave face amid plunge in visitors and a second coronavirus lockdown
The appeal of the Borneo region’s natural beauty and wildlife will endure, but will its tour operators?
Borders are still shut, visitor numbers fell 70 per cent in 2020 and Sabah is back in lockdown, with only essential businesses open. Yet optimism persists
Prevalence of simian malaria parasites in macaques of Singapore
Meizhi Irene Li , Roles Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing
Affiliation Environmental Health Institute, National Environment Agency, Singapore ⨯
Diyar Mailepessov , Roles Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing
Affiliation Environmental Health Institute, National Environment Agency, Singapore
Affiliation Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ⨯
Vernon Lee,
Affiliation Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore ⨯
Patrick Lam,
Affiliation Biodefence Centre, Force Medical Protection Command, Headquarters Medical Corps, Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore ⨯
[Handout/Robinson Niñal/Presidential Photo/PCOO]
The Catholic Church’s highest official in the southern Philippines on Friday endorsed a term extension for ex-separatist leader Murad Ebrahim as head of an autonomous Muslim region.
Murad, who leads the Bangsamoro Transitional Authority (BTA), told BenarNews last month that he was lobbying to have his term extended beyond its scheduled expiry in 2022. He said he needed more time to pursue reforms hampered by the coronavirus pandemic and threats from militants linked to Islamic State.
“Elections in 2022 would simply erode whatever fragile gains the Bangsamoro Transitional Authority shall have obtained within the transition period,” Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, the archbishop emeritus of Cotabato, said in a statement.
AFP
Muhyiddin Yassin’s government shouldn’t politicize the country’s health system, medical groups said after Malaysia this week declared a national emergency, which much of the opposition criticized as a move to cling to power rather than contain a worsening coronavirus pandemic.
The government should use the sweeping powers granted it under the emergency responsibly and prepare a collaborative COVID-19 response focused on the people’s welfare, the Malaysian Health Coalition (MHC) and the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) said.
Meanwhile, some doctors and analysts interviewed by BenarNews said that an emergency declaration was needed for political stability during the pandemic, especially when Muhyiddin’s coalition had just lost the support of a parliamentary majority and may have faced imminent elections.