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Can Little Fluffy Clouds Save Australia's Great Barrier Reef? Scientists Think So

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Can Little Fluffy Clouds Save Australia's Great Barrier Reef? Scientists Think So" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-07/rps5vd0o_great-barrier-reef_625x300_22_July_21.jpg" title="Can Little Fluffy Clouds Save Australia's Great Barrier Reef? Scientists Think So" /></div>
The Great Barrier Reef is world's largest coral reef ecosystem. (File)
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Sydney:
To slow the speed at which high temperatures and warm waters bleach the corals of the Great Barrier Reef, Australian scientists are spraying droplets of ocean water into the sky to form clouds to protect the environmental treasure.
Researchers working on the so-called Cloud Brightening project said they use a turbine to spray microscopic sea particles to thicken existing clouds and reduce sunlight on the world's largest coral reef ecosystem located off Australia's northeast coast.
The water droplets evaporate leaving only tiny salt crystals which float up into the atmosphere allowing water vapour to condense around them, forming clouds, said Daniel Harrison, a senior lecturer at Southern Cross University, who runs the project.
"If we do it over an extended period of time for a few weeks to a couple of months when the corals are experiencing a marine heatwave we can actually start to lower the water temperature over the Reef," said Harrison.
The project had its second trial in March, the end of the Southern Hemisphere summer when the Reef off Australia's northeast is at its hottest, gathering valuable data on the atmosphere when corals are at most risk of bleaching.
A combination of light and warm water causes coral bleaching. By cutting light over the reef by 6% in summer, "bleaching stress" would be cut by 50% to 60% on the undersea ecosystem, Harrison said.
But the benefits of cloud brightening would lessen over time unless other measures slowed the march of climate change.
"If we do have really strong action on climate change then the modelling shows that the cloud brightening is enough to stop the reef declining and to actually see it through this period while we reduce our carbon emissions," he said.
One of Australia's best-known natural attractions, the Reef came close to being listed as an endangered World Heritage Site by the United Nations, although it avoided the designation following lobbying by Australia.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/climate-change-can-little-fluffy-clouds-save-australias-great-barrier-reef-scientists-think-so-2556008">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/climate-change-can-little-fluffy-clouds-save-australias-great-barrier-reef-scientists-think-so-2556008</a>

news world Can Little Fluffy Clouds Save Australia's Great Barrier Reef? Scientists Think So

The Great Barrier Reef is world's largest coral reef ecosystem. (File) Sydney: To slow the speed at which high temperatures and war...

A Dire Warning For Sydney's Unvaccinated When Lockdown Ends: Social Isolation

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="A Dire Warning For Sydney's Unvaccinated When Lockdown Ends: Social Isolation" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/oia4mcis_sydney-covidreuters650_625x300_17_September_21.jpg" title="A Dire Warning For Sydney's Unvaccinated When Lockdown Ends: Social Isolation" /></div>
Australia has struggled to contain outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant in Sydney.
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Sydney:
Sydney residents who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 risk being barred from various social activities even when they are freed from stay-at-home orders in December, New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejkilian warned on Tuesday.
Under a roadmap to exit lockdown in Australia's biggest city, unvaccinated people are already subject to delays in freedoms that will be gradually granted to inoculated citizens between Oct. 11 and Dec. 1.
The two-tier system, designed to encourage more people to get vaccinated, has been criticised for both penalising vulnerable groups who have not had access to inoculations and for falling short of providing a real incentive for the vaccine hesitant.
However, Berejkilian said people who choose not to be vaccinated could be barred entry to shops, restaurants and entertainment venues even after the state lifts all restrictions against them on Dec. 1.
"A lot of businesses have said they will not accept anyone who is unvaccinated," Berejiklian told Seven News on Tuesday. "Life for the unvaccinated will be very difficult indefinitely."
Pubs, cafes, gyms and hairdressers will reopen to fully vaccinated people on Oct. 11 in New South Wales, home to Sydney, and more restrictions will be relaxed once the state's 80% adult population becomes fully vaccinated, expected by the end of October.
Australia is pursuing a faster reopening through higher vaccination rates despite persistent infections, largely in its two biggest cities Sydney and Melbourne.
There are some tentative signs cases in New South Wales, the epicenter of the country's worst outbreak, may be flattening. The state reported 787 new cases on Monday, its lowest daily figure in more than a month. The number of people hospitalised dipped to 1,155 from 1,266 a week ago as vaccination levels in people aged over 16 topped 60% in the state.
Neighbouring Victoria, however, reported its biggest daily rise in infections, with 867 cases.
Australia had managed the pandemic better than many other comparable countries until the arrival of the Delta variant in June triggered a third wave of infections.
The highly infectious strain has been responsible for nearly 70% of the country's total of almost 100,000 cases.
Deaths stand at 1,249 but the mortality rate from Delta is lower than last year due to higher vaccination rates among the vulnerable population.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/coronavirus-a-dire-warning-for-sydneys-unvaccinated-when-curbs-end-social-isolation-2556004">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/coronavirus-a-dire-warning-for-sydneys-unvaccinated-when-curbs-end-social-isolation-2556004</a>

news world A Dire Warning For Sydney's Unvaccinated When Lockdown Ends: Social Isolation

Australia has struggled to contain outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant in Sydney. Sydney: Sydney residents who are not vacc...

Taliban Ban Barbers From Trimming Beards In Afghan Province: Report

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Taliban Ban Barbers From Trimming Beards In Afghan Province: Report" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-08/72e3rr2_taliban-terrorists-afp-650_625x300_17_August_21.jpg" title="Taliban Ban Barbers From Trimming Beards In Afghan Province: Report" /></div>
Taliban Takeover: The Taliban took effective control of Afghanistan on August 15 (File)
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Kabul:
The Taliban have banned hairdressers in Afghanistan's Helmand province from shaving or trimming beards, a media report said.
"The Taliban have banned stylish hairstyles and shaving beards in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan," The Frontier Post reported citing the Taliban's letter.
The publication further stated that officials from the Ministry of Islamic Orientation, at a meeting with representatives of men''s hairdressing salons in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, advised against styling hair and shaving beards.
The order, distributed on social networks, also contains a request not to play music or hymns on the premises of hairdressing salons, The Frontier Post reported.
Meanwhile, the Taliban is re-imposing repressive laws and retrograde policies. They are imposing laws that defined its 1996-2001 rule when they enforced their version of Islamic Sharia law.
Amid reports of large-scale human rights violations by the Taliban in Afghanistan, the outfit earlier had put on public display the bodies of four people who were killed after they allegedly carried out a kidnapping in the western city of Herat.
It is been over a month since the Taliban captured Kabul after an aggressive and rapid advance against Afghanistan government forces amid the withdrawal of US and NATO troops from the country.
The country plunged into crisis last month after Kabul fell to the Taliban and the democratically elected government of former president Ashraf Ghani collapsed.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/taliban-takeover-afghanistan-news-afghanistans-taliban-ban-barbers-from-trimming-beards-in-hemland-afghan-province-in-southern-afghanistan-report-2556001">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/taliban-takeover-afghanistan-news-afghanistans-taliban-ban-barbers-from-trimming-beards-in-hemland-afghan-province-in-southern-afghanistan-report-2556001</a>

news world Taliban Ban Barbers From Trimming Beards In Afghan Province: Report

Taliban Takeover: The Taliban took effective control of Afghanistan on August 15 (File) Kabul: The Taliban have banned hairdressers in ...

Noone From Taliban Will Address World Leaders At UN As Ousted Envoy Withdraws

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Noone From Taliban Will Address World Leaders At UN As Ousted Envoy Withdraws" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/66f21f4_un-general-assembly_625x300_28_September_21.jpg" title="Noone From Taliban Will Address World Leaders At UN As Ousted Envoy Withdraws" /></div>
No representative from Afghanistan will address the annual UN General Assembly.
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United Nations:
No representative from Afghanistan will address the annual high-level U.N. General Assembly in New York after the ambassador for the government ousted by the Taliban - who was due to speak on Monday - withdrew his name.
The move comes as the ambassador, Ghulam Isaczai, and the Taliban, which seized power in Afghanistan last month, have made competing claims for the country's U.N. seat in New York.
U.N. accreditation issues are dealt with by a nine-member committee, whose members include the United States, China and Russia. The committee is not due to meet until October or November and until it makes a decision, Isaczai remains in the seat.
Isaczai had been scheduled to address the final day of the high-level U.N. gathering, but withdrew late on Sunday, diplomats said.
Afghanistan's U.N. mission in New York posted on Twitter on Monday that Isaczai decided not to speak "to preserve the national interests, preserve the seat of Afghanistan in the United Nations and to continue long-term cooperation with United Nations and Security Council on main issues."
It added that Isaczai would continue "activities as usual" at the world body.
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi last week asked to address the gathering of world leaders at the United Nations and nominated the Islamist group's Doha-based spokesman Suhail Shaheen as Afghanistan's U.N. ambassador.
But Muttaqi will not be able to address the high-level meeting because the credentials committee has not yet met to consider who should sit in the Afghanistan U.N. seat.
When the Taliban last ruled between 1996 and 2001 the ambassador of the Afghan government they toppled remained the U.N. representative after the credentials committee deferred its decision on rival claims to the seat.
Eventual U.N. acceptance of the ambassador of the Taliban would be an important step in the hardline Islamist group's bid for international recognition, which could help unlock badly needed funds for the cash-strapped Afghan economy.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that the Taliban's desire for international recognition is the only leverage other countries have to press for inclusive government and respect for rights, particularly for women, in Afghanistan.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that international recognition of the Taliban was not currently under consideration.
Rival claims have also been made for Myanmar's U.N. seat after a military coup in February ousted the elected government. No representative from Myanmar will address the high-level General Assembly meeting.
Diplomats said China, Russia and the United States had reached an understanding, where Moscow and Beijing would not object to Myanmar's U.N. envoy Kyaw Moe Tun - representing the ousted government - remaining in Myanmar's U.N. seat for the moment as long as he does not speak during high-level week.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/taliban-takeover-noone-from-taliban-will-address-world-leaders-at-un-as-ousted-envoy-withdraws-2556000">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/taliban-takeover-noone-from-taliban-will-address-world-leaders-at-un-as-ousted-envoy-withdraws-2556000</a>

news world Noone From Taliban Will Address World Leaders At UN As Ousted Envoy Withdraws

No representative from Afghanistan will address the annual UN General Assembly. United Nations: No representative from Afghanistan will...

US President Joe Biden Gets COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shot

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="US President Joe Biden Gets COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shot" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/u4jlbc3s_joe-biden_625x300_28_September_21.jpg" title="US President Joe Biden Gets COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shot" /></div>
Joe Biden got his Covid booster shot on Monday.
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Washington, United States:
US President Joe Biden received a Covid-19 vaccine booster on Monday and told Americans still resisting the shots that they are damaging the country.
Biden rolled up his left sleeve in the White House and got a third Pfizer dose in line with the recently approved health guidance, which allows boosters for those 65 or older.
"I know it doesn't look like it, but I am over 65," Biden, 78, joked.
Also eligible for boosters are adults with high-risk medical conditions and those in jobs where they are frequently exposed to the virus.
But the problem, Biden said, is that a significant chunk of Americans continue to refuse even one shot of the vaccine, fueling a deadly nationwide surge of the Delta variant.
Biden said 77 percent of Americans had got vaccines but this wasn't enough, with still nearly a quarter refusing.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-president-joe-biden-gets-covid-19-vaccine-booster-shot-2555991">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-president-joe-biden-gets-covid-19-vaccine-booster-shot-2555991</a>

news world US President Joe Biden Gets COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shot

Joe Biden got his Covid booster shot on Monday. Washington, United States: US President Joe Biden received a Covid-19 vaccine booster o...

‘We’re NEVER Getting Back to Normal’: Australian Nightmare Intensifies

The CEO of the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer says that normal life will return within a year, but not for those who don’t have regular COVID-19 vaccinations.
During an appearance on ABC This Week with George Stephanapoulos, Albert Bourla was asked about when he foresaw the end of the pandemic.
“Within a year, I think we will be able to come back to normal life,” said Bourla, although he made it very clear that this statement only applies to those who are prepared to take regular coronavirus booster shots.
“I don’t think that this means that variants will not be continuing coming,” Bourla added. “And I don’t think that this means that we should be able to live our lives without having vaccinations, basically.”
Bourla said that the “most likely scenario” was “annual re-vaccinations” due to the emergence of “new variants.”
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The Pfizer’s CEO’s comments on annual vaccinations are interesting given that the FDA has so far only approved booster shots for elderly people and “high risk individuals.”
Bourla’s rhetoric is similar to that espoused by Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel, who <a href="https://summit.news/2021/09/23/ceo-of-moderna-says-even-young-will-need-to-take-vaccine-booster-shots-indefinitely/">said</a> last week that even younger people will have to get vaccine booster shots at least once every three years.
This once again underscores how a two tier society is being created where only those who submit to regular shots will be able to enjoy a relatively normal lifestyle.
For those who continue to refuse to be vaccinated, travel, employment and potentially even basic leisure activities will continue to be curtailed, leaving them in a de facto state of lockdown indefinitely.
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source <a href="https://summit.news/2021/09/27/were-never-getting-back-to-normal-australian-nightmare-intensifies/">https://summit.news/2021/09/27/were-never-getting-back-to-normal-australian-nightmare-intensifies/</a>

revolution summit ‘We’re NEVER Getting Back to Normal’: Australian Nightmare Intensifies

The CEO of the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer says that normal life will return within a year, but not for those who don’t have regular COVID-1...