AFP UK

Grace regained hurricane strength Friday as it barreled towards Mexico for a second time, triggering warnings of flooding and mudslides in mountains on the eastern mainland.

The hurricane first struck Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday as a Category One storm — the lowest on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale — near the town of Tulum, famed for its Mayan temples.

After losing strength, Grace’s winds whipped back up to 90 miles (145 kilometers) an hour on Friday, as it moved over the Gulf of Mexico, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

“Air force hurricane hunters find Grace has strengthened into a hurricane,” the NHC said, maintaining a warning zone stretching from Puerto Veracruz to Cabo Rojo, where the storm was expected to make landfall overnight.

As of 2100 GMT, Grace was centered about 115 miles (185 kilometers) northeast of the major port of Veracruz, and heading west towards the coast at a speed of 10 mph.

“Strengthening is forecast until Grace makes landfall, with rapid weakening expected as Grace moves inland over the mountains of central Mexico,” the NHC said.

– Troops on standby –

Grace is likely to be upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane before it reaches the coast, Alejandra Mendez, general coordinator of Mexico’s National Meteorological Service, told a news conference.

Authorities in the state of Veracruz said they had prepared 200 storm shelters and planned to open another 2,000 if necessary.

Veracruz Governor Cuitlahuac Garcia warned of the risk of flooding and mudslides as the storm dumps heavy rain on the mountainous region.

Members of the Mexican armed forces were ready to deploy if needed to protect residents, said civil protection national coordinator Laura Velazquez.

Businesses along the coast were packing up in preparation for the storm’s impact.

“We’ve removed all the umbrellas (from the beach) because the tide is already rising,” restaurant owner Victor Morales told AFP.

– ‘Scare over’ –

As the hurricane approached Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula earlier in the week, more than 6,000 tourists and residents were evacuated to storm shelters across the southeastern state of Quintana Roo.

The storm passed the Riviera Maya coastline without any loss of life, said Quintana Roo Governor Carlos Joaquin. He said electricity had been almost completely restored across the state. 

Workers were seen clearing up fallen branches and other debris in Tulum but the town escaped major damage.

“The scare is over and luckily everything turned out okay,” said Sandra Rodriguez, a 39-year-old Argentinian tourist visiting Cancun.

Rodriguez admitted she had been worried because she was not used to such storms.

“I thought the hurricane was going to drown us,” she said.

The storm toppled some trees and caused mostly minor damage in Quintana Roo and the neighboring state of Yucatan.

The NHC warned that heavy rainfall in Mexico through the weekend “will result in significant flash and urban flooding as well as mudslides.”

A “dangerous storm surge” would be accompanied by “large and destructive waves” near the coast, the report said.

“Life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” could continue into the weekend, the NHC added.

Grace regained hurricane strength Friday as it barreled towards Mexico for a second time, triggering warnings of flooding and mudslides in mountains on the eastern mainland.

The hurricane first struck Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday as a Category One storm — the lowest on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale — near the town of Tulum, famed for its Mayan temples.

After losing strength, Grace’s winds whipped back up to 90 miles (145 kilometers) an hour on Friday, as it moved over the Gulf of Mexico, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

“Air force hurricane hunters find Grace has strengthened into a hurricane,” the NHC said, maintaining a warning zone stretching from Puerto Veracruz to Cabo Rojo, where the storm was expected to make landfall overnight.

As of 2100 GMT, Grace was centered about 115 miles (185 kilometers) northeast of the major port of Veracruz, and heading west towards the coast at a speed of 10 mph.

“Strengthening is forecast until Grace makes landfall, with rapid weakening expected as Grace moves inland over the mountains of central Mexico,” the NHC said.

– Troops on standby –

Grace is likely to be upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane before it reaches the coast, Alejandra Mendez, general coordinator of Mexico’s National Meteorological Service, told a news conference.

Authorities in the state of Veracruz said they had prepared 200 storm shelters and planned to open another 2,000 if necessary.

Veracruz Governor Cuitlahuac Garcia warned of the risk of flooding and mudslides as the storm dumps heavy rain on the mountainous region.

Members of the Mexican armed forces were ready to deploy if needed to protect residents, said civil protection national coordinator Laura Velazquez.

Businesses along the coast were packing up in preparation for the storm’s impact.

“We’ve removed all the umbrellas (from the beach) because the tide is already rising,” restaurant owner Victor Morales told AFP.

– ‘Scare over’ –

As the hurricane approached Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula earlier in the week, more than 6,000 tourists and residents were evacuated to storm shelters across the southeastern state of Quintana Roo.

The storm passed the Riviera Maya coastline without any loss of life, said Quintana Roo Governor Carlos Joaquin. He said electricity had been almost completely restored across the state. 

Workers were seen clearing up fallen branches and other debris in Tulum but the town escaped major damage.

“The scare is over and luckily everything turned out okay,” said Sandra Rodriguez, a 39-year-old Argentinian tourist visiting Cancun.

Rodriguez admitted she had been worried because she was not used to such storms.

“I thought the hurricane was going to drown us,” she said.

The storm toppled some trees and caused mostly minor damage in Quintana Roo and the neighboring state of Yucatan.

The NHC warned that heavy rainfall in Mexico through the weekend “will result in significant flash and urban flooding as well as mudslides.”

A “dangerous storm surge” would be accompanied by “large and destructive waves” near the coast, the report said.

“Life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” could continue into the weekend, the NHC added.

India on Friday authorised the emergency use of a second homegrown Covid-19 vaccine, which is also the first approved for children older than 12 in the country.

India’s Department of Biotechnology announced its approval for ZyCoV-D, by Indian pharmaceutical firm Zydus Cadila, as the “world’s first and India’s indigenously developed DNA-based vaccine for Covid-19.”

The approval for ZyCoV-D, which can be applied using a needle-free injector, comes with vaccination rates picking up across the country over the last few weeks.

“This three-dose vaccine… when injected produces the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and elicits an immune response,” the biotechnology department, which partnered with Zydus Cadila, said in a statement.  

“The plug-and-play technology on which the plasmid DNA platform is based can be easily adapted to deal with mutations in the virus, such as those already occurring,” it added. 

ZyCov-D is now the sixth vaccine to be approved by New Delhi after Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield, Covaxin — which was developed by Indian firm Bharat Biotech, Russia’s Sputnik V, and Johnson and Johnson.  

More than 574 million jabs have been administered so far in India. 

The country broke its daily record earlier this week by administering more than 9.2 million vaccine doses in the mass vaccination programme which began in mid-January.

India hopes to inoculate its entire eligible population by the end of December. But with only about 10 percent — or 127 million people — having received both doses of a two-shot regime, some health experts say the country will need to further boost its indigenous vaccine production. 

Logistical challenges make Indian vaccines, which don’t need any special storage facilities, the easiest to transport and use across the country.

The nation of 1.3 billion people was hit by a massive spike of coronavirus cases in April and May that pushed the health care system to breaking point. 

India has so far recorded at least 433,589 deaths and more than 32 million Covid-19 infections.   

Grace barreled westwards in the Gulf of Mexico Friday as it regained hurricane strength ahead of an expected second landfall later in the day, having already torn through Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

The hurricane first struck the coast of Mexico before dawn on Thursday as a Category One storm — the lowest on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale — near the town of Tulum, famed for its Mayan temples.

After losing strength, Grace’s winds whipped back up to 85 miles (135 kilometers) an hour on Friday as it moved over water, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

“Air force hurricane hunters find Grace has strengthened into a hurricane,” the NHC said, maintaining a warning zone stretching from Puerto Veracruz to Cabo Rojo.

“The center of Grace is forecast to move across the southwestern Gulf of Mexico this afternoon, and then make landfall along the coast of mainland Mexico within the hurricane warning area this evening or tonight,” it said.

As of 1500 GMT, Grace was centered about 155 miles (250 kilometers) northeast of the major port of Veracruz, and heading west towards the coast at a speed of 14 mph.

“Strengthening is forecast until Grace makes landfall, with rapid weakening expected as Grace moves inland over the mountains of central Mexico,” the NHC said.

Authorities in the state of Veracruz said they had prepared 200 storm shelters and planned to open another 2,000 if necessary.

Veracruz Governor Cuitlahuac Garcia warned of the risk of flooding and mudslides as the storm dumps heavy rain on the mountainous region.

Members of the Mexican armed forces were ready to deploy if needed to protect residents, said civil protection national coordinator Laura Velazquez.

– ‘Scare is over’ –

As the hurricane approached Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula earlier in the week, more than 6,000 tourists and residents were evacuated to storm shelters across the southeastern state of Quintana Roo, according to local authorities.

The storm passed the Riviera Maya coastline without any loss of life, said Quintana Roo Governor Carlos Joaquin. He said electricity had been almost completely restored across the state. 

Workers were seen clearing up fallen branches and other debris in Tulum but the town escaped major damage.

“The scare is over and luckily everything turned out okay,” said Sandra Rodriguez, a 39-year-old Argentinian tourist visiting Cancun.

Rodriguez admitted she had been worried because she was not used to such storms.

“I thought the hurricane was going to drown us,” she said.

Intense wind and rain caused some damage to structures on the Cancun beach, which was pounded by strong waves.

In the neighboring state of Yucatan, the storm toppled trees in the city of Valladolid and damaged some of the less sturdy buildings, according to images released by local authorities.

The NHC warned that heavy rainfall in Mexico through the weekend “will result in areas of flash and urban flooding as well as mudslides.”

A “dangerous storm surge” would be accompanied by “large and destructive waves” near the coast, the report said.

“Hurricane conditions and dangerous storm surge are likely along portions of eastern mainland Mexico beginning late today,” it said.

The NHC added that “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” could continue into the weekend.

Scotland’s ruling party on Friday announced a landmark power-sharing deal for a pro-independence majority in the devolved parliament in Edinburgh, catapulting the Greens into their first ministerial positions in UK politics.

The agreement between the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Scottish Green Party needs to be approved by members but tightens ties between the two parties, which both back a new vote on independence.

The deal promises to deliver another referendum before the end of the first half of the current parliamentary session in 2024, if the coronavirus crisis had ended.

First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon hopes to secure the so-called “indyref2”, despite strong opposition from the UK government in London.

“For my part, I am determined there will be an independence referendum in this parliament,” she said at a joint press conference at her Edinburgh residence, Bute House.

“We (the SNP and the Scottish Green Party) are choosing to work together and we are doing so not out of necessity but for the common good.

“We also in this agreement reaffirm our shared commitment to securing independence.”

The deal is not a coalition, however, according to its text. The Greens will get two ministerial positions. Appointments have yet to be announced.

Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie hailed the agreement as a “historic moment” but insisted the two parties would retain their “distinctive voices”.

Party members have to vote next week on whether to back the deal. 

It comes as the UK government prepares to host the COP26 UN climate change summit in Glasgow, western Scotland, from November 1.

Campaigners, including Friends of the Earth Scotland, said they hoped the alliance would help prioritise environmental issues to combat global warming.

The Scottish Greens have just eight seats in the 129-seat parliament in Edinburgh, which has powers to set policy in areas such as health, education, transport and the environment.

The SNP, which has been banking on Scottish opposition to the UK departure from the European Union, has 64, just short of an overall majority.

The last independence referendum in Scotland in 2014 saw 55 percent vote against severing ties with England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In a deadly silent and scorched landscape, French scientist Dominique Guicheteau lies on his front, plunges his hand under a rock and brings out a Hermann’s tortoise.

This one, at least, appears to have survived the raging wildfire’s merciless passage through a biodiversity hotspots in southern France, near the glitzy resort of Saint Tropez.

For four days firefighters have battled the blaze that killed two and forced thousands to flee. A few kilometres away, the struggle continues.

Equipped with antennas, around 20 specialist volunteers are Thursday on the lookout for the creatures with black and yellow-patterned carapaces still in the area, home to 241 protected species.  

So far, the group has found 31 alive, and one dead. But the happy average is far from a coincidence. 

“We headed to the areas where we knew the tortoises might survive, thanks to the rocks” that protect from the flames, says Guicheteau, the scientific director of Plaine des Maures natural reserve.  

The tortoises are plunged into a bowl of water, weighed and measured. The volunteers then carefully put them back in their now-burnt natural habitat where they will have to wait for autumn and rain to feed on grass, before hibernating. 

As wildfires supercharged by climate change-induced drought and heatwaves ravage parts of Europe, conservationists are increasingly concerned for the fate of wild species.

– ‘Ecological catastrophe’ –

“Fires falling outside natural patterns are jeopardising the survival of wildlife, which are killed or injured through direct contact with smoke and flames or suffer widespread habitat destruction,” Margaret Kinnaird, global wildlife practice leader at WWF International, told AFP this week.

Climate change amplifies droughts which dry out regions, creating ideal conditions for wildfires to spread out-of-control and inflict unprecedented material and environmental damage.

In France’s worst blaze of the summer, half of the arid Plaine des Maures natural reserve — filled with cork oaks and poplars and home to bats, tree frogs and other reptiles — has been burnt.

Hermann’s tortoise is already classified as “vulnerable” on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. 

Scientists estimate there are around 15,000 in the Var department, and 10,000 in the natural reserve. 

“It’s an ecological catastrophe, unparalleled in France,” said Marie-Claude Serra, the park conservator. 

Although the tortoise’s slowness makes it hard to outrun the flames, it has proven its toughness throughout the ages — first appearing on Earth some 250 million years ago.

“The tortoise can fast for several weeks, but the risk with fires is that it becomes dehydrated,” Sebastien Caron, who heads the Station of Observation and Protection of Tortoises in Carnoules, told AFP on site. 

If the tortoise makes it through the flames, it will probably survive afterwards, says Caron. 

But the exact consequences on the reproduction of the species — that can live until 60 — will only be known in around 30 years, he adds.

Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg said on Friday she hoped to go to the COP26 climate summit in November, months after threatening to skip the event because of unfair vaccine rollouts.

“I’ve heard from people that all the delegates will be offered a vaccine,” Thunberg told AFP. “If that’s considered safe, then I will hopefully attend.” 

The 18-year-old said in April that by November richer countries would be vaccinating young healthy people “very often at the expense of people in risk groups in other parts of the world”.

She said at the time that the conference in Glasgow should be postponed if everyone could not attend on the same terms. 

The conference has already been postponed once from its original date of November 2020.

Thunberg spoke to AFP on Friday, the third anniversary of the start of her now world-famous “School Strike for the Climate”.

Marking the day with a protest outside the Swedish parliament with other climate activists, she said her campaign had accomplished a lot in three years.

“It depends how you see it,” she said.

“You can either see it as we have been able to mobilise millions of people and raise the level of awareness. But you can also see it as the emissions are still increasing and the changes necessary are still nowhere in sight.

“We need to begin to treat the crisis like a crisis. If we don’t do that, then we won’t be able to do anything else. That is the only step forward.”

Asked where she expected to be in three years, the high school student said she would still be leading her campaign.

“Unfortunately, I think we will still be protesting in three years because this will take many decades unfortunately, or at least many years.”

Grace barreled westwards in the Gulf of Mexico Friday as it regained hurricane strength ahead of an expected second landfall later in the day, having already torn through Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. 

The hurricane struck the coast of Mexico before dawn on Thursday as a Category One storm — the lowest on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale — near the town of Tulum, famed for its Mayan temples.

After losing strength, Grace’s winds whipped back up to 85 miles (135 kilometers) an hour early Friday, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

“Air force hurricane hunters find Grace has strengthened into a hurricane,” the NHC said, maintaining a warning zone stretching from Puerto Veracruz to Cabo Rojo.

“The center of Grace is forecast to move across the southwestern Gulf of Mexico today, and then make landfall along the coast of mainland Mexico this evening or tonight,” it said, adding the system was likely to strengthen throughout the day.

As of 1200 GMT, Grace was centered about 185 miles (300 kilometers) northeast of Veracruz, and heading west toward more fishing villages and resort towns at a speed of 15 mph.

“After landfall, Grace should weaken rapidly as it moves into the mountains of central Mexico.”

As the hurricane approached Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula earlier in the week, more than 6,000 tourists and residents were evacuated to storm shelters across the southeastern state of Quintana Roo, according to local authorities.

– ‘Scare is over’ –

The storm passed the Riviera Maya coastline without any loss of life, said Quintana Roo Governor Carlos Joaquin. He said water and electricity were being restored across the state. 

Workers were seen clearing up fallen branches and other debris in Tulum but the town escaped major damage.

“The scare is over and luckily everything turned out okay,” said Sandra Rodriguez, a 39-year-old Argentinian tourist visiting Cancun.

Rodriguez admitted she had been worried because she was not used to such storms.

“I thought the hurricane was going to drown us,” she said.

Electricity was cut off to almost 150,000 people, Joaquin said, but by late Thursday the Federal Electricity Commission said supply had been restored to 63 percent of affected users in Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan.

Intense wind and rain caused some damage to structures on the Cancun beach, which was pounded by strong waves.

In the neighboring state of Yucatan, the storm toppled trees in the city of Valladolid and damaged some of the less sturdy buildings, according to images released by local authorities.

The NHC warned that heavy rainfall in Mexico through the weekend “will lead to flash and urban flooding, along with the likelihood of mudslides.”

“Hurricane conditions and dangerous storm surge are likely along portions of eastern mainland Mexico beginning late today,” it said.

The NHC added that “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” could continue into the weekend.

Hurricane Grace grounded flights and forced tourists to spend the night in shelters on Mexico’s white sand Caribbean coastline as it tore through the Yucatan Peninsula before barreling farther north. 

Grace made landfall before dawn Thursday as a Category One hurricane — the lowest on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale — near the town of Tulum, famed for its Mayan temples.

After initially losing strength, Grace’s winds whipped back up to 70 miles per hour early Friday and it was expected to soon regain hurricane force and make a second landfall on Mexico’s Gulf coast, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC). 

“The system is expected to regain hurricane strength this morning,” the NHC said, issuing a hurricane warning for the coast of mainland Mexico from Puerto Veracruz to Cabo Rojo. 

“After landfall, Grace should weaken rapidly as it moves into the mountains of central Mexico.”

As of 0900 GMT, it was centered about 215 miles (345 kilometers) northeast of Veracruz, Mexico, and heading west toward more fishing villages and resort towns at a speed of 16 mph.

As the hurricane approached Mexico, more than 6,000 tourists and residents were evacuated to storm shelters across the southeastern state of Quintana Roo, according to local authorities.

The storm passed the Riviera Maya coastline without any loss of life, said Quintana Roo governor Carlos Joaquin. He said that water and electricity were being restored across the Caribbean state. 

The airport in resort hotspot Cancun had canceled over 100 flights Wednesday but resumed operations the following day even as ports remained closed, Joaquin said on Twitter.

Workers were seen clearing up fallen branches and other debris in Tulum but the town escaped major damage.

“The scare is over and luckily everything turned out OK,” said Sandra Rodriguez, a 39-year-old Argentinian tourist visiting Cancun.

Rodriguez admitted she had been worried because she was not used to such storms.

“I thought the hurricane was going to drown us,” she said.

– Blackouts, minor damage –

Electricity was cut off to almost 150,000 people, Joaquin said, but by late Thursday the Federal Electricity Commission said supply had been restored to 63 percent of affected users in Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan.

Cancun’s hotel zone was largely deserted at dawn as intense wind and rain caused some damage to structures on the beach, which was pounded by strong waves.

In the neighboring state of Yucatan, the storm toppled trees in the city of Valladolid and damaged some of the less sturdy buildings, according to images released by local authorities.

After it crosses the Yucatan, the storm is expected to move over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico before hitting the state of Veracruz, where a hurricane warning was in effect.

“Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” the NHC said.

Heavy rainfall is likely to continue to buffet the area, with flash flooding and possible mudslides expected, the NHC said. 

The storm surge will be accompanied by “large and destructive waves” near the coast, it warned.

It added that “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” could continue into the weekend.

Romania will soon conduct a census of its protected brown bears using DNA for the first time, with tensions raised between villagers fearing further attacks and conservationists warning against looser hunting laws.

Incidents with hungry bears descending into villages have sparked the ire of residents, in a country that has seen around 100 attacks over the last three years. 

A hunting ban loophole that allows the shooting of so-called nuisance bears is already being abused, say activists, who fear a rise in killings if the census finds the species is more numerous than thought. 

Sport hunting — which attracts amateurs from all over the world in search of a “trophy” — has been banned since 2016. 

But in a recent controversial case, environmentalists accuse a Liechtenstein prince of killing a brown bear, named Arthur, on a March hunt in the Carpathian Mountains — using a permit to shoot a female bear seen as a nuisance to residents.

Activists say the 17-year-old bear was the country’s largest, observed for years in the area.

Yet while the hunting ban loophole may be abused, residents are also fed up with rampant bear attacks — and want protection.

– ‘Villagers frightened’ –

Last month, a bear killed a shepherd and seriously injured another in the eastern part of the forested and mountainous Transylvania region.

“The situation has become untenable,” Marton-Csaba Bacs, mayor of Bixad village in central Romania, told AFP.

“Every day, bears ransack orchards and attack sheep. They even entered the courtyard of the clinic… The villagers are frightened.”

In neighbouring Harghita, Environment Minister Barna Tanczos’s home county, bears were seen on a train station platform and even in a restaurant kitchen, according to the police, who were called upon 12 times in a single weekend last month to keep them away. 

In this tense context, the results of the census may lead to a tug of war between environmentalists and the defenders of hunting. 

While activists welcome the census project, they fear it could lead to the hunting ban being lifted if authorities deem there are too many bears.

“Collecting samples and interpreting statistics in a transparent way is crucial,” Cristian Papp of the World Wildlife Fund told AFP.

– Analysing faeces –

Romania has long been known as having the largest population of brown bears in the EU, but just how many of the protected species actually roam the Carpathians remained unknown — until now.

In the coming months, 400 experts and volunteers will take samples of faeces and hair for DNA analysis, thanks to a EU fund of 11 million euros ($13 million), Tanczos told AFP.

Authorities say figures from the 1990s of more than 6,000 brown bears spread across some 30 percent of the country, especially in the Carpathians, are underestimated.

Whereas the methodology used so far — counting tracks in mud and snow — is unreliable, the collection of droppings and hair will make it possible to create a database of samples, each one duly stamped with a barcode, according to the minister.

The procedure can provide a wealth of information, including an animal’s sex and family ties, says Robin Rigg, president of the Slovak Wildlife Society, who has used the same methodology to count wolves. 

– ‘Massacre being prepared’ –

By casting a wide net, the number of samples “should be about three times bigger than the expected animal population,” said Djuro Huber, a professor at the University of Zagreb.

The census project also entails the creation of a bear sanctuary.

Last month, Bucharest adopted a decree giving local authorities the right to permit nuisance bear shootings, speeding up a laborious process that could take weeks. 

Now, in a matter of hours, aggressive bears could become a legal target — a move widely condemned by activists.

“A massacre is being prepared against these often starving animals, which are victims of logging, the destruction of their habitat and an attempt at demonisation by groups of hunters,” the Brigitte Bardot Foundation said in a letter to Romania’s president.

Tanczos has dismissed such accusations as “unfounded”, saying that the first option to deal with nuisance animals will always be their relocation, though he admits human-bear relations “have deteriorated”.

“If the state does not intervene, there’s a risk that desperate people will resort to illegal solutions to settle this conflict,” he said.