AFP UK

More than 58,000 people have been displaced by the quake in Indonesia, and 151 remain missing

Survivors of an Indonesian earthquake that killed at least 268 people appealed for food and water Wednesday, as rescuers picked through devastated villages with hopes of finding anyone alive fading.

The calls for help came as authorities warned that debris from landslides caused by the strong quake near the town of Cianjur in West Java needed to be cleared ahead of heavy rains forecast in the coming weeks, threatening a second disaster.

Two days after the quake flattened their homes, residents were still trying to retrieve priceless belongings including family photos, religious books and marriage certificates.

“Although some supplies have arrived, it is not enough. We got rice, instant noodles, mineral water but it’s not enough,” Mustafa, a 23-year-old resident of Gasol village, told AFP. 

Mustafa had just dug through the rubble of an elderly neighbour’s house at her request, appearing from the destroyed facade carrying a pile of clothes before returning to collect rice, a gas stove, canisters and frying pans.

“We have no clothes and we have not changed for days, so I am digging through the rubble to find some clothes.”

More than 58,000 people have been displaced by the quake, around 1,000 are injured and 151 missing, with more than half of the dead still to be identified, the national disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said Tuesday.

The government has dispatched tents and other supplies to Cianjur for the displaced, and the military sent 12,000 personnel on Wednesday to help rescue and aid efforts, officials said.

“For the refugees… their basic life necessities must be guaranteed, water, food, that’s non-negotiable,” BNPB chief Suharyanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told a press conference Wednesday.

But another resident appealed to Jakarta to send more stocks because of shortages. 

“My child has a fever and she can’t eat. There are many children and old people here. Children need milk, diapers, food and medicine,” said 30-year-old Yunisa Yuliani.

– ‘Lacking food and medicine’ –

Dede Masliyah, a 45-year-old evacuee living in a makeshift tent, said the survivors had yet to receive any aid and were battered by heavy rains overnight.

“We are lacking food and medicines. We desperately need a proper tent because there are many children and small babies here,” she said.

“The tent leaked when it rains. There are more than 60 people staying here. We have not been reached by the aid distribution.”

Indonesia is vulnerable to landslides and flash floods in the rainy season, which has already begun and peaks in December in West Java. Heavy thunderstorms are forecast for Cianjur in the weeks ahead and rains began overnight into Wednesday.

The country’s meteorology agency warned the town is prone to another catastrophe just days after homes were destroyed and loved ones buried by rubble.

“We have to be vigilant over a potential second disaster, such as a landslide,” Dwikorita Karnawati, head of the meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency told a press conference Tuesday.

“The urgent step is to control heaps of fallen material,” she said.

– Deadliest quake since 2018 –

On Tuesday, Cianjur’s residents began mourning loved ones, laying them to rest in accordance with their Islamic faith after authorities released them from morgues.

And there are fears of even more deadly scenes as the heavy rains approach.

Karnawati said rivers could be blocked by landslides or rubble and spark a flash flood in Cianjur.

“We urgently need to clear materials and rubbles that block river flows in the upper hills,” she said.

Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide.

Monday’s tremor was the deadliest in the archipelago nation since a 2018 earthquake and resulting tsunami killed more than 4,000 people on the large island of Sulawesi.

As rescuers trawled the rubble and residents reckoned with the trauma of losing those closest to them, there was a glimmer of hope for one couple.

Mimin, 52, and her husband Rosyid, 67, scrabbled through their destroyed home looking for one item only — a treasured two-gram gold ring. 

They pulled clothes from the concrete mess, patting them and shaking them down, until the gleaming piece of jewellery that represented their savings popped out.

“Praise God! I found the ring!” Mimin yelled.

Residents left homeless by the quake are trying to retrieve priceless belongings

Survivors of an Indonesian earthquake that killed at least 268 people appealed for food and water Wednesday, as rescuers picked through devastated villages with hopes of finding anyone alive fading.

The calls for help came as authorities warned that debris from landslides caused by the strong quake near the town of Cianjur in West Java needed to be cleared ahead of heavy rains forecast in the coming weeks, threatening a second disaster.

Two days after the quake flattened their homes, residents were still trying to retrieve priceless belongings including family photos, religious books and marriage certificates.

“Although some supplies have arrived, it is not enough. We got rice, instant noodles, mineral water but it’s not enough,” Mustafa, a 23-year-old resident of Gasol village, told AFP. 

He had just dug through the rubble of an elderly neighbour’s house at her request, appearing from the destroyed facade carrying a pile of clothes before returning to collect rice, a gas stove, canisters and frying pans.

“We have no clothes and we have not changed for days, so I am digging through the rubble to find some clothes.”

The government has dispatched tents and other supplies to Cianjur for the displaced but another resident appealed to Jakarta to send more stocks because of shortages. 

“My child has a fever and she can’t eat. There are many children and elderly people here. Children need milk, diapers, food and medicine,” said 30-year-old Yunisa Yuliani.

Indonesia is vulnerable to landslides and flash floods in the rainy season, which has already begun and peaks in December in West Java. Heavy thunderstorms are forecast for Cianjur in the weeks ahead.

The country’s meteorology agency warned the town is prone to another catastrophe just days after homes were destroyed and loved ones buried by rubble.

“We have to be vigilant over a potential second disaster, such as a landslide,” Dwikorita Karnawati, head of the meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency told a press conference Tuesday.

“The urgent step is to control heaps of fallen material,” she said.

The agency’s count of the tremor’s aftershocks has increased to 145, with magnitudes ranging from 1.2 to 4.2, Karnawati said.

– Deadliest quake since 2018 –

On Tuesday, Cianjur’s residents began mourning loved ones, laying them to rest in accordance with their Islamic faith after authorities released them from morgues.

And there are fears of even more deadly scenes as the heavy rains approach.

In February, an earthquake in West Pasaman on Sumatra killed several people and left the area’s soil unstable and prone to rains that would cause landslides weeks later.

Karnawati said rivers blocked by landslides or rubble sparked a flash flood in West Pasaman and warned the same could happen in Cianjur.

“We urgently need to clear materials and rubbles that block river flows in the upper hills,” she said.

Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide.

Monday’s tremor was the deadliest in the archipelago nation since a 2018 earthquake and resulting tsunami killed more than 4,000 people on the large island of Sulawesi.

A 6.2-magnitude quake that shook Sulawesi island in January 2021 killed more than 100 people and left thousands homeless.

Thousands of Australians were ordered to evacuate their homes in Sydney as floodwaters inundated its outskirts earlier this year

Rising temperatures are fuelling widespread environmental degradation across Australia and supercharging natural disasters, according to a government report released Wednesday in the wake of flash floods on the country’s east coast.

The State of the Climate report found global warming was also slowly melting Australia’s fragile alpine regions while contributing to ocean acidification and rising sea levels. 

Climate researcher Ian Lowe said the report was a “frightening” wake-up call for Australia, which relies heavily on coal and gas exports for economic growth.  

“The scale of changes demonstrates that cleaning up our energy use is an urgent priority,” Lowe said. 

“We also need to reduce our exports of coal and gas.” 

The report, a joint effort between the government’s weather bureau and national science agency, found Australia’s climate had warmed by an average of 1.47 degrees Celsius since records began in 1910. 

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said it was “sobering” reading. 

“For our environment, for our communities, this report reinforces the urgent need for climate action,” she said. 

– ‘Record-breaking extremes’ –

Australia has in recent years experienced a series of extreme weather events linked to rising global temperatures. 

Flash floods swept through parts of inland New South Wales earlier this month, tearing entire homes from their foundations in some country towns.

Tens of thousands of Sydney residents were ordered to evacuate in July when floods swamped the city’s fringe.

An east coast flooding disaster in March — caused by heavy storms in Queensland and New South Wales — claimed more than 20 lives.

Catastrophic bushfires swept through huge chunks of New South Wales in the “Black Summer” of 2019 and 2020, while the Great Barrier Reef has suffered four separate mass coral bleaching events since 2016. 

“These changes are happening at an increased pace,” the State of the Climate report found. 

“The past decade has seen record-breaking extremes leading to natural disasters that are exacerbated by anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week unveiled a bid to host the 2026 COP summit, seeking to repair Australia’s international reputation as a climate change laggard. 

Albanese’s centre-left government introduced a 2050 net zero emissions target following its election earlier this year but has faced calls domestically to do more. 

University of Melbourne climate scientist Andrew King said Australia needed to rapidly cut its carbon emissions. 

“The consequences of our continued use of fossil fuels are clear in Australia like elsewhere,” he said. 

“We must act quickly to decarbonise our economy to limit further damages from worsening extreme events.” 

Ailie Gallant from the Australia Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes said the deterioration in the country’s climate would “continue without deep and aggressive cuts to carbon emissions”.

The final frontier: a person with a disability could become a 'parastronaut'

The first astronaut — or astronauts — with a physical disability could be announced as soon as Wednesday, according to the European Space Agency.

People with physical disabilities have previously been excluded from one of the most exclusive and demanding jobs on Earth — and beyond — due to strict selection requirements.

Guillaume Weerts, the ESA’s head of space medicine, told AFP that the agency’s “parastronaut project” required “a complete change in philosophy” about the concept of medical aptitude, which originally came from the military and the selection of fighter pilots.

After carrying out a feasibility study, the ESA said potential candidates could include people who have deficiencies in their lower limbs, whether from amputation or congenital defects.

Shorter people of up to 1.3 metres (4.3 feet) tall or those with different leg lengths were also eligible to apply.

The educational and psychological requirements for the candidates remained the same as for any other astronaut. Applications closed in June 2021.

The ESA is expected to name between four to six new European astronauts — without disabilities — during its ministerial council in Paris on Wednesday.

While Weerts said the parastronaut project runs somewhat separately, “there is a real possibility that as part of the announcement one or more people with disabilities” will also be presented.

– ‘Disability is not a limitation’ – 

In the extremely precise world of space travel, even small alterations can become extremely complicated — and expensive.

For example, the existing systems are designed for people of a certain height, Weerts said.

“What does that mean for someone who is a shorter size? How can we make sure that person can just reach the buttons?”

The ESA plans to work with those who are selected to find the best way to overcome such potential challenges.

As a member of the selection panel, Weerts could not reveal details about particular candidates.

But he said “a really great group of people” had applied and worked their way through the selection process.

“We have encountered absolutely marvellous individuals,” he said.

The process was an excellent “demonstration that disability is not a limitation”, he added.

“It’s really something that we all believe in,” he said, adding that there was a high level of commitment to the project from ESA’s partners.

So when could the first astronauts with a disability blast off?

“Space is a not a business for people who are in a hurry,” Weerts said.

The timeline is difficult to predict because “it really depends on what we encounter”, he said, adding that plenty more work would be carried out once the ESA has selected its candidates.

But he did say that an astronaut with a disability could launch into space “potentially in the next 10 years”.

– ‘Incredibly exciting’ – 

Kamran Mallick, the chief executive of the charity Disability Rights UK, said the project was “incredibly exciting”.

“Disabled people are excluded (from) large aspects of everything that we do in the world,” he told AFP.

“If we are truly to explore the universe, we have to accept that we can’t just have it solely for a particular group of individuals.”

Mallick praised the ESA’s plan to work with the astronauts to figure exactly what they need. 

“I’m a wheelchair user, and it is far better that people ask me what works for me, what I would need, rather than making assumptions of what someone can or cannot do,” he said.

Mallick said that while watching a space shuttle launch as a teenager, he dreamt of becoming an astronaut.

“Of course, I was quickly told that was not going to happen. Don’t aspire to be an astronaut,” he said.

“I wish I’d pursued it now.”

The final frontier: a person with a disability could become a 'parastronaut'

The first astronaut — or astronauts — with a physical disability could be announced as soon as Wednesday, according to the European Space Agency.

People with physical disabilities have previously been excluded from one of the most exclusive and demanding jobs on Earth — and beyond — due to strict selection requirements.

Guillaume Weerts, the ESA’s head of space medicine, told AFP that the agency’s “parastronaut project” required “a complete change in philosophy” about the concept of medical aptitude, which originally came from the military and the selection of fighter pilots.

After carrying out a feasibility study, the ESA said potential candidates could include people who have deficiencies in their lower limbs, whether from amputation or congenital defects.

Shorter people of up to 1.3 metres (4.3 feet) tall or those with different leg lengths were also eligible to apply.

The educational and psychological requirements for the candidates remained the same as for any other astronaut. Applications closed in June 2021.

The ESA is expected to name between four to six new European astronauts — without disabilities — during its ministerial council in Paris on Wednesday.

While Weerts said the parastronaut project runs somewhat separately, “there is a real possibility that as part of the announcement one or more people with disabilities” will also be presented.

– ‘Disability is not a limitation’ – 

In the extremely precise world of space travel, even small alterations can become extremely complicated — and expensive.

For example, the existing systems are designed for people of a certain height, Weerts said.

“What does that mean for someone who is a shorter size? How can we make sure that person can just reach the buttons?”

The ESA plans to work with those who are selected to find the best way to overcome such potential challenges.

As a member of the selection panel, Weerts could not reveal details about particular candidates.

But he said “a really great group of people” had applied and worked their way through the selection process.

“We have encountered absolutely marvellous individuals,” he said.

The process was an excellent “demonstration that disability is not a limitation”, he added.

“It’s really something that we all believe in,” he said, adding that there was a high level of commitment to the project from ESA’s partners.

So when could the first astronauts with a disability blast off?

“Space is a not a business for people who are in a hurry,” Weerts said.

The timeline is difficult to predict because “it really depends on what we encounter”, he said, adding that plenty more work would be carried out once the ESA has selected its candidates.

But he did say that an astronaut with a disability could launch into space “potentially in the next 10 years”.

– ‘Incredibly exciting’ – 

Kamran Mallick, the chief executive of the charity Disability Rights UK, said the project was “incredibly exciting”.

“Disabled people are excluded (from) large aspects of everything that we do in the world,” he told AFP.

“If we are truly to explore the universe, we have to accept that we can’t just have it solely for a particular group of individuals.”

Mallick praised the ESA’s plan to work with the astronauts to figure exactly what they need. 

“I’m a wheelchair user, and it is far better that people ask me what works for me, what I would need, rather than making assumptions of what someone can or cannot do,” he said.

Mallick said that while watching a space shuttle launch as a teenager, he dreamt of becoming an astronaut.

“Of course, I was quickly told that was not going to happen. Don’t aspire to be an astronaut,” he said.

“I wish I’d pursued it now.”

Solomon Islands quake

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Solomon Islands on Tuesday, swaying buildings, hurling items off shelves and briefly knocking out power in parts of the capital Honiara.

There were no reports of serious injuries or major structural damage.

“This was a big one,” Joy Nisha, a receptionist with the Heritage Park Hotel in the capital told AFP.

“Some of the things in the hotel fell. Everyone seems OK, but panicky.”

At one recently built mall, chunks of cladding were shaken loose, crushing the bonnet of a car and breaking the windshield.

The roof of an annexe at the Australian High Commission also collapsed, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told parliament in Canberra, stating “there are no known injuries”.

An AFP reporter in Honiara said the shaking lasted for around 20 seconds.

Power was immediately knocked out in some areas of the capital and phone lines were also down.

Across the city, people fled their homes and workplaces for higher ground, fearing a tsunami.

“I was really scared because this is the first time I felt this kind of earthquake,” said a manager at the Pacific Casino Hotel, who asked not to be named.

“The building was really violently shaking,” she said. “It was really strong, it made you move side to side.”

Dozens of staff and guests fled the building to the relative safety of the car park, hoping not to be hit by debris on the way out.

The nation’s attorney general, John Muria, posted images on social media of office files that had spilled from several large metal filing cabinets. 

– Aftershocks –

The quake struck at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometres, just off the southwest coast of Guadalcanal island.

A tsunami warning had been issued for an area of the Solomons coast within 300 kilometres (185 miles) of the epicentre, but the UN-backed Pacific warning centre later said the threat had “largely” passed.

As nightfall approached, power was starting to return to Honiara, but local authorities urged caution.

“We expect aftershocks so people should stay alert around buildings and tall structures because of the size of the earthquake,” said David Hiba Hiriasia, director of the Solomon Islands Meteorological Service.

Staff at one hospital were readying to evacuate patients if needed.

According to UN data, about 20,000 people live within 50 kilometres of the epicentre.

The Solomons — a sprawling archipelago in the South Pacific — is home to about 800,000 people.

The quake hit exactly a year after anti-government riots that killed at least three people and caused tens of millions of dollars in damage. 

Solomon Islands quake

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Solomon Islands on Tuesday, with eyewitnesses reporting violent shaking that hurled items to the ground and knocked out power in parts of the capital Honiara.

“This was a big one,” Joy Nisha, a receptionist with the Heritage Park Hotel in the capital Honiara, told AFP. “Some of the things in the hotel fell. Everyone seems OK, but panicky.”

An AFP reporter in Honiara said the shaking lasted for around 20 seconds. 

There were no immediate reports of serious structural damage, but power was out in some areas of the city and people were rushing from their offices and fleeing to higher ground.

“I was really scared because this is the first time I felt this kind of earthquake,” said a manager at the Pacific Casino Hotel, who asked not to be named.

“The building was really violently shaking,” she said. “It was really strong, it made you move side to side.”

Dozens of staff and guests fled the building to the relative safety of the car park, hoping not to be hit by debris on the way out.

The nation’s attorney general, John Muria, posted images on social media of office files that had spilled from several large metal filing cabinets. 

– Aftershocks –

The US Geological Survey revised the earthquake’s magnitude down from an initial 7.3.

The quake struck at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometres, just off the southwest coast of Guadalcanal island.

A tsunami warning had been issued for an area of the Solomons coast within 300 kilometres (185 miles) of the epicentre, but the UN-backed Pacific warning centre later said the threat had “largely” passed.

Solomon Islands authorities also said the tsunami threat had passed, but urged caution.

“We expect aftershocks so people should stay alert around buildings and tall structures because of the size of the earthquake,” said David Hiba Hiriasia, director of the Solomon Islands Meteorological Service.

According to UN data, about 20,000 people live within 50 kilometres of the epicentre.

The Solomons — a sprawling archipelago in the South Pacific — is home to about 800,000 people.

The quake hit exactly a year after anti-government riots that killed at least three people and caused tens of millions of dollars in damage. 

The glass frog is an increasingly sought-after pet, being trafficked and collected for their unusual beauty

A global wildlife summit in Panama will decide whether to take measures to protect the translucent glass frog and 12 types of freshwater turtles in its final week, which kicked off Monday.

Conservation experts and delegates from more than 180 nations began the week with a decision to maintain a ban on the trade of white rhinoceros horn, despite a request from Eswatini that was backed by Japan and several other African countries.

The tiny nation, formerly known as Swaziland, had argued the money from the sale of rhino horn would aid in conserving the threatened species.

Delegates also authorized the export of Brazil’s broad-snouted caiman and the saltwater crocodile from the Philippines for animals raised in captivity, but a ban on cross-border trade in Siamese crocodiles raised by Thai farmers was left intact.

The meeting in Panama City began on November 14 to discuss 52 proposals to modify protection levels set by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The fate of several unique amphibians will be up for debate before the meeting wraps up on Friday.

“Freshwater turtles are among the main groups that are trafficked in the countries, and there is high pressure for international trade,” said Yovana Murillo, who heads a program against wildlife trafficking in the Andes, Amazon and Orinoco region for the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Peru want to list two species of matamata turtles, which live in the Amazon and Orinoco basins, on CITES Appendix II, which requires the tracking and regulation of trade.

Doris Rodriguez of Peru’s forestry service told AFP that the striking matamata turtles, with their beetle-like appearance, have become sought-after pets and “face many threats.”

These include habitat destruction, pollution, illegal trade, and being hunted for their meat and eggs.

– Glass frog –

Delegates will also debate regulating the trade of the nocturnal glass frog, found in several rainforests in Central and South America.

The amphibian is an increasingly popular pet. Some are a lime green color, while others have translucent bellies and chests. 

“They are being collected for their beauty. They are being trafficked and some are in critical danger,” said Rodriguez.

CITES, in force since 1975, regulates trade in some 36,000 species of plants and animals and provides mechanisms to help crack down on illegal trade. It sanctions countries that break the rules.

The meeting of the parties to the convention takes place every two or three years.

On Friday, delegates rejected a request by Zimbabwe to allow the ivory trade to resume in some southern African countries, a decision lauded by conservation NGOs. 

Another hot issue up for debate is the possible addition of protections for two major shark families, which could upend Hong Kong’s controversial shark fin trade.

– Beleaguered porpoise –

The conference has seen fierce debate over the vaquita, a species of porpoise that lives in Mexico’s Gulf of California and is at risk of extinction.

On the eve of the summit, CITES issued an ultimatum to Mexico, to show progress in protecting the world’s most endangered marine animal by February 2023, or face sanctions against its fish exports.

Washington has argued that its neighbor is not doing enough to protect the vaquita, while Mexico countered it had boosted naval surveillance in the Gulf.

Good news also emerged from the summit: the Aleutian cackling goose was moved from the list of most threatened species to those no longer threatened with extinction, after its numbers increased.

“This is a positive story about the recovery of a species,” highlighted the president of the committee which approved the move, Britain’s Vincent Fleming.

The mining city of La Oroya in Peru is one of the most polluted places in the world, a desolate high-altitude place abandoned by many residents since a heavy metal foundry went bankrupt 13 years ago

The Peruvian mining city of La Oroya, one of the most polluted places in the world, is seeking to reopen a heavy metal smelter that poisoned residents for almost a century.

The Andean city, situated in a high-altitude valley at 3,750 meters (12,300 feet), is a grey, desolate place. 

Small houses and shops — many abandoned — cluster around towering black chimneys, surrounded by ashen mountain slopes corroded by heavy metals and long devoid of vegetation.

In 2009, the gigantic smelter that was the economic heartbeat of La Oroya went bankrupt, forcing residents to leave in droves and bringing local commerce to its knees. 

Since 1922, the plant processed copper, zinc, lead, gold, selenium, and other minerals from nearby mines.

If the metallurgical complex reopens, as announced by its new owners in October, it could breathe life back into the economy.

“The large majority of the population is eager and has waited a long time for this to start up again, because it is the source of life, the economic source,” said 48-year-old taxi driver Hugo Enrique.

But at what cost?

– A lifetime of disease –

In 2011, La Oroya was listed as the second-most polluted city on Earth, falling into fifth place two years later, according to the Blacksmith Institute, an NGO which works on pollution issues.

It was in insalubrious company, rubbing shoulders with Ukraine’s nuclear-sullied Chernobyl and Russia’s Dzerzhinsk, the site of Cold War-era factories producing chemical weapons.

According to the International Federation for Human Rights, in 2013, 97 percent of La Oroya children between six months and six years of age, and 98 percent between age seven and 12, had elevated levels of lead in their blood.

Manuel Enrique Apolinario, 68, a teacher who lives opposite the foundry, told AFP his body has high levels of lead, arsenic, and cadmium.

Residents had “gotten used to the way of life, surrounded by smoke and toxic gases,” he said.

“Those of us who have lived here for a lifetime have been ill with flu and bronchitis, especially respiratory infections.”

– Another 100 years?-

The foundry was opened in 1922, nationalized in 1974, and later privatized in 1997 when US natural resources firm Doe Run took it over.

In June 2009, Doe Run halted work after failing to comply with an environmental protection program and declared itself insolvent.

Now, despite years of residents accusing Lima and Doe Run of turning a blind eye to the harmful effects, some 1,270 former employees want to reopen the smelter next March — with the vow not to pollute.

Luis Mantari, one of the new owners, who is in charge of logistics, said the plant would operate “with social and environmental responsibility.”

“We want this unique complex to last another 100 years,” added human resources boss Jose Aguilar.

The company has stockpiled 14 million tonnes of copper and lead slag waste waiting to be converted into zinc.

“Those of us who fought against pollution have never opposed to the company working. Let it reopen with an environmental plan,” said Pablo Fabian Martinez, 67, who also lives near the site.

For many, though, the decision comes down to pure pocketbook issues.

“I want it to reopen because, without the company, La Oroya lost its entire economy,” added Rosa Vilchez, a 30-year-old businesswoman. Her husband left to work in another city after the closure.

– Respect health –

In 2006, La Oroya residents sued the Peruvian government at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for allowing the company to pollute at will.

Hearings began in October with the court sitting in the Uruguayan capital Montevideo, and residents recounted how they struggled with burning throats and eyes, headaches, and difficulty breathing.

Others told of tumors, muscular problems, and infertility blamed on pollution from the smelters.

The commission found last year that the state had failed to regulate and oversee the behavior of the mining company and “compromised its obligation to guarantee human rights.”

“We are aware that the metallurgical complex is a source of employment. We don’t deny that,” said Yolanda Zurita, one of the litigants, who plants trees to counter the pollution.

“But it must respect the population’s health.” 

Hand washing is advised to prevent infection with the pathogens S. aureus and E. coli, which are behind a huge numbers of deaths every year

Bacterial infections are the second leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for one in eight of all deaths in 2019, the first global estimate of their lethality revealed on Tuesday.

The massive new study, published in the Lancet journal, looked at deaths from 33 common bacterial pathogens and 11 types of infection across 204 countries and territories.

The pathogens were associated with 7.7 million deaths — 13.6 percent of the global total — in 2019, the year before the Covid-19 pandemic took off.

That made them the second-leading cause of death after ischaemic heart disease, which includes heart attacks, the study said.

Just five of the 33 bacteria were responsible for half of those deaths: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

S. aureus is a bacterium common in human skin and nostrils but behind a range of illnesses, while E. coli commonly causes food poisoning. 

The study was conducted under the framework of the Global Burden of Disease, a vast research programme funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation involving thousands of researchers across the world. 

“These new data for the first time reveal the full extent of the global public health challenge posed by bacterial infections,” said study co-author Christopher Murray, the director of US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

“It is of utmost importance to put these results on the radar of global health initiatives so that a deeper dive into these deadly pathogens can be conducted and proper investments are made to slash the number of deaths and infections.”

The research points to stark differences between poor and wealthy regions. 

In Sub-Saharan Africa, there were 230 deaths per 100,000 population from the bacterial infections.

That number fell to 52 per 100,000 in what the study called the “high-income super-region” which included countries in Western Europe, North America and Australasia.

The authors called for increased funding, including for new vaccines, to lessen the number of deaths, also warning against “unwarranted antibiotic use”.

Hand washing is among the measures advised to prevent infection.