Science

By Philippe Alfroy Gir National Park, India (AFP) Dec 9, 2025 A powerful roar rocked the forest before the silhouette of a lioness appeared at an Indian reserve, a potent image of how conservation efforts have brought the creatures back from the brink. In Gir National Park, Asiatic lions reign over a 1,900-square-kilometre (735-square-mile) expanse

by AFP Staff Writers Jakarta (AFP) Dec 8, 2025 Regions hit by floods that killed hundreds in Indonesia were suffering from food and medical shortages, authorities said, as elephants pitched in on Monday to help clear up debris. Tropical storms and monsoon rains have pummelled Southeast and South Asia this month, triggering landslides and flash

By AFP bureaus Hong Kong (AFP) Dec 8, 2025 Australia’s landmark move to ban under-16s from social media will be closely watched by other countries, which could follow suit with similar laws. AFP spoke to teenagers and adults around the world about the Australian ban, which comes in on Wednesday. Here are some of their

by AFP Staff Writers Jakarta (AFP) Dec 8, 2025 Officials in flood-hit parts of Indonesia reported shortages of food, shelter, and medicine as the death toll reached 950 Monday following weeks of heavy rain. A slew of tropical storms and monsoon rains has pummelled Southeast and South Asia, triggering landslides and flash floods from the

by AFP Staff Writers Colombo (AFP) Dec 8, 2025 Sri Lanka has almost doubled its military deployment to regions struck by a cyclone that has killed 627, sending tens of thousands of troops to help areas hit by a wave of destruction, the army said Monday. More than two million people — nearly 10 percent

By Amal JAYASINGHE and Alfath ASMUNDA in Banda Aceh Colombo (AFP) Dec 7, 2025 Sri Lankan authorities issued fresh landslide warnings on Sunday with rains lashing areas already devastated by a powerful cyclone, as the death toll rose to 627. A chain of tropical storms and monsoon rains has battered Southeast and South Asia, setting

by AFP Staff Writers New Delhi (AFP) Dec 3, 2025 India’s government amended on Wednesday an order that required phone makers to pre-install a government-run cyber security app, after it sparked uproar over privacy concerns. Earlier this week, authorities had given manufacturers and importers 90 days to comply with the now-reversed rule. But a government

by Clarence Oxford Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 05, 2025 Researchers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County extracted building blocks from precise hand gestures in Bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance form. Their analysis revealed a richer set of movement patterns than those in natural grasps. The team published findings online Nov. 24 in Scientific

By Alfath Asmunda with Amal Jayasinghe in Colombo Banda Aceh, Indonesia (AFP) Dec 2, 2025 Governments and aid groups in Indonesia and Sri Lanka worked Tuesday to rush aid to hundreds of thousands stranded by deadly flooding that has killed more than 1,300 people in four countries. Torrential monsoon season deluges paired with two separate

by AFP Staff Writers Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka (AFP) Dec 2, 2025 In the mist-draped mountains of Sri Lanka’s tea country, rescuers were still plucking bodies from the reddish-brown mud on Tuesday after last week’s cyclone, the island’s worst natural disaster in decades. At least 465 people were killed, according to disaster officials, with another