While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Sept 14
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A man wears a face mask due to high levels of pollution, as he commutes in downtown Jakarta, Indonesia.
PHOTO: AFP
Human activity jeopardising Earth’s life-support systems
The Earth’s life-support systems are facing greater risks and uncertainties than ever before, with most major safety limits already crossed as a result of planet-wide human interventions, according to a scientific study released on Wednesday.
In a “health check” for the entire planet published in the Science Advances journal, an international team of 29 experts found that the Earth is now “well outside of the safe operating space for humanity” due to human activity.
The study, expanding on a 2015 report, said the world had now crossed six of nine “planetary boundaries” - the safe limits for human life in areas such as the integrity of the biosphere, climate change and the use and availability of fresh water.
In all, it said, eight of the nine boundaries are under more pressure than in the 2015 assessment, with only the sky’s ozone layer improving - raising the risk of dramatic changes in the Earth’s living conditions.
US approves $6.8b sale of F-35 jets to South Korea
The United States on Wednesday approved a US$5 billion (S$6.8 billion) sale to South Korea of F-35s, top-of-the-line fighter-jets with stealth capacity, as tensions soar with North Korea.
The State Department informed Congress that it had given the green light to the sale of 25 of the aircraft made by Lockheed Martin as well as engines and related equipment.
The sale “will improve the Republic of Korea’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing credible defence capability to deter aggression in the region and ensure interoperability with US forces,” a State Department statement said.
Ukraine says serious damage to Russian naval targets
Ukraine said it struck Russian naval targets and port infrastructure early on Wednesday in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, in what appeared to be the biggest attack of the war on the home of the Russian navy’s Black Sea Fleet.
A Ukrainian intelligence official said a large vessel and a submarine struck in the attack were so badly damaged as to be likely beyond repair.
The strike on Crimea, seized and annexed by Russia in 2014, was confirmed by Moscow.
US fugitive captured, ending two-week manhunt
A convicted murderer who escaped from a Pennsylvania jail was captured on Wednesday with the help of a heat-sensing aircraft and a police dog, ending an intense, two-week manhunt that unnerved residents in the Philadelphia suburbs, authorities said.
Tactical teams surrounded the fugitive, Danelo Cavalcante, at around 8am in a rural area about 50km west of Philadelphia.
As he tried to crawl away, a police dog subdued him and he was forcibly taken into custody, Pennsylvania State Police Lieutenant-Colonel George Bivens said.
Top-seed Ons Jabeur crashes out of WTA San Diego Open
Anastasia Potapova stunned top-seeded Tunisian Ons Jabeur 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) to reach the quarter-finals of the WTA San Diego Open on Wednesday.
Potapova, ranked 27th in the world, said patience was the key against the world number seven, who reached her third Grand Slam final at Wimbledon this year.
“Ons is very tough to play,” said Potapova, who had edged Alycia Parks in three sets in the first round as Jabeur enjoyed a first-round bye.
