Toxic algae blamed for 300 tons of dead fish in Oder River on German-Polish border: "A man-made environmental disaster"
CBSN
Germany said Friday that mass fish deaths in the Oder River were a "man-made environmental disaster," blaming toxic algae growth sparked by the introduction of salt into the waters.
Presenting a report into the disaster that saw at least 300 tons of dead fish pulled from the river in Germany and Poland this summer, the German environment ministry said the most likely cause was "a sudden increase in salinity."
The "introduced salt" led to "massive proliferation of a brackish water algae that is toxic to fish," it said.
London — As authorities clamp down on fentanyl distribution and the amount of heroin produced in Afghanistan decreases under the Taliban, criminal enterprises have turned to a deadly alternative. Some health agencies in Europe are reporting a rise in deaths and overdoses from a type of synthetic opioid that can reportedly be hundreds of times stronger than heroin and up to forty times stronger than fentanyl.
Vaughan Gething was elected as the new first minister of Wales on Wednesday, becoming the first Black leader of a government in the U.K. Gething was elected to lead the government by members of the Welsh parliament in Cardiff, four days after winning the contest to be leader of Wales' governing Labour Party. He secured 27 of 51 votes in the legislature, the Senedd, where Labour is the biggest party.
Errekunda, Gambia — Lawmakers in Gambia will vote Monday on legislation that seeks to repeal a ban on female genital mutilation, or FGM, which would make the West African nation the first country anywhere to make that reversal. The procedure, which also has been called female genital cutting, includes the partial or full removal of external genitalia, often by traditional community practitioners with tools such as razor blades or at times by health workers.
Man falls to his death from hot-air balloon in Australia, leaving pilot and passengers "traumatized"
A man fell to his death from a hot-air balloon Monday as it passed over suburban Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city.