worldwide | Common News Update

Sep232023 by adminNo Comments

Metal-mining pollution impacts 23 million people worldwide

Science

Getty ImagesBy Victoria GillScience correspondent, BBC NewsAt least 23 million people around the world live on flood-plains contaminated by potentially harmful concentrations of toxic waste from metal-mining activity, according to a study.UK scientists mapped the world's 22,609 active and 159,735 abandoned metal mines and calculated the extent of pollution from them.Chemicals can leach from mining operations into soil and waterways. The researchers say future mines have to be planned "very carefully". This is particularly critical as the demand surges for metals that will support battery technology and electrification, including lithium and copper, says Prof Mark Macklin from the University of Lincoln, who led the research. .flourish-container{position:relative;color:#404040;font-family:'H...

Aug102020 by adminNo Comments

Australia records deadliest day as worldwide cases near 20M

World

Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Monday the island nation recorded its highest single-day death toll of 19 but experienced a slight drop in cases. The announcement came as infections worldwide inched toward 20 million. Advertisement However, Australia has fared comparatively better than most countries in the face of COVID-19, but it has been fighting spiking cases in the southeastern state of Victoria. Of Australia's roughly 21,000 infections and more than 300 deaths, 14,957 infections were diagnosed in Victoria including 228 people who died to the virus, the state's health ministry said in an update. On Monday, all 19 deaths in the past 24 occurred in Victoria. The previous daily high was 17, which was also set by Victoria a day prior. Though deaths continu...

Jul122020 by adminNo Comments

Cases, deaths climb worldwide as COVID-19 mortality rate declines to 4.4%

World

July 12 (UPI) -- Coronavirus has spread worldwide since the pandemic began earlier this year, rising exponentially in deaths to more than 567,000 and nearly 13 million cases. But despite those grim statistics, the mortality rate -- comparing deaths and cases -- has been declining. On May 1, the mortality rate was 7.2 percent but on Saturday it had decreased to 4.4 percent overall. Advertisement Seventy-two days ago, the death count was 240,976 and cases were 3,351,722. Deaths have more than doubled to 567,035, while cases almost quadrupled to 12,884,231. On Saturday, there were 214,786 new cases, below the record of 236,918 the day before. Deaths rose by 4,996 Saturday compared with 5,684. Since the first deaths were reported in Wuhan, China, the outbreak spread to Europe, then the United...

Jun282020 by adminNo Comments

Coronavirus: Number of Covid-19 infections tops 10m worldwide

World

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases around the world has passed the milestone of 10 million, according to Johns Hopkins University in the US. The virus emerged in China late last year and has since led to more than 500,000 deaths, Johns Hopkins reports.Half the world's cases have been in the US and Europe, but Covid-19 is now rapidly growing in the Americas. The virus is also affecting South Asia and Africa, where it is not expected to peak until the end of July. Outbreaks are still spreading in many parts of the world, with one million new cases recorded in the last six days. The US has reported a total of 2.5 million cases and 125,000 deaths with Covid...

May212020 by adminNo Comments

Coronavirus cases worldwide top five million

World

More than five million people have been infected with coronavirus globally and over 328,100 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.Latin America has overtaken the United States and Europe in the past week to report the largest portion of new daily COVID-19 cases. The United States has seen nearly 92,000 deaths and Europe has had nearly 165,000.It comes as the World Health Organisation (WHO) recorded 106,000 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday - the most in a single day yet."We still have a long way to go in this pandemic," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference. ...