World

Across South Africa’s Greater Kruger landscape, a pioneering group of women is challenging conventional ideas about how endangered wildlife should be protected. Known as the Black Mambas, these unarmed female rangers patrol the bush looking for snares, damaged fences, footprints and other signs of illegal activity. Rather than confronting suspected poachers with guns, their approach…

During the Second World War, a small, uninhabited island off Scotland’s north-west coast became the site of one of Britain’s most secret military experiments. In 1942, Gruinard Island was deliberately contaminated with anthrax spores as part of a classified biological warfare programme designed to test whether the deadly bacterium could be used against enemy livestock….

Image: National Geographic In March 1999, archaeologists climbing one of the highest volcanoes in the Andes discovered something never seen before. Near the 6,739-metre summit of Mount Llullaillaco, on the border of Argentina and Chile, they uncovered the remarkably preserved body of a teenage Inca girl who had remained frozen for more than 500 years….

For years, China’s empty subway stations became some of the internet’s favourite examples of “ghost cities” and questionable urban planning. Images of polished platforms, escalators and station entrances surrounded by fields appeared to show infrastructure built far ahead of demand. Among the most famous examples was Caojiawan Station in Chongqing, which seemed to stand alone…

Lynn Marie Zamora stabs friend after he refused to let her drink beer in Uber. A 32-year-old Florida woman has been arrested after allegedly stabbing her friend with a pair of scissors during an Uber ride following an argument over drinking beer inside the vehicle, according to arrest records.The incident took place on Monday after…

Once synonymous with isolation, imprisonment and political persecution, the remote Greek island of Gyaros is today gaining recognition for a dramatically different reason. The uninhabited island in the Cyclades, which was used for decades to exile and imprison political dissidents, has become an important refuge for the endangered Mediterranean monk seal, one of the world’s…

Long before Odysseus became a symbol of courage and intelligence, he was a king caught between victory and survival. The Greek warrior helped end the legendary Trojan War with one of history’s most famous strategies: the Wooden Horse that allowed Greek soldiers to enter Troy. But his triumph marked the beginning of another battle, one…

US President Donald Trump (PTI file photo) TOI correspondent from Washington: US President Donald Trump on Thursday accused China of carrying out “the largest compromise of American election data in history,” alleging Beijing illicitly acquired 220 million US voter files in a sweeping espionage operation that he described as an unprecedented threat to American democracy.“China’s…

A campaign intended to protect China’s food supply became one of history’s starkest examples of ecological miscalculation. In 1958, Mao Zedong’s government targeted sparrows under the nationwide Four Pests Campaign because the birds were believed to consume valuable grain. Millions of citizens were mobilised to destroy nests, break eggs and drive the birds from the…

More than 40 years after the Mount St. Helens eruption buried a Washington river valley under volcanic sediment, 58 relocated beavers have helped restore the damaged landscape. (Representational AP photo) More than four decades after the 1980 eruption of Mount St Helens, one family in the US state of Washington has watched a damaged landscape…