Environment

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior U.S. officials warned Wednesday that climate change is an increasing threat to national security, a message at odds with a broader Trump administration effort to downplay the threat from global warming.

Military and intelligence officials outlined a range of long-term threats arising from climate change, including food and water shortages that can produce political turmoil and land disputes, as well as melting ice in the Arctic that Russia and other adversaries could exploit for commercial gain.

MANILA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck Sultan Kudarat province in the southern Philippines on Thursday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

The institute said the quake, which struck at 4:41 a.m. local time (2041 GMT Wednesday), hit at a depth of 470 km, about 17 km northeast of Palimbang town.

The institute said the tremor, which was tectonic in origin, was also felt in Cagayan de Oro City.

There was no reported casualties or damage.

The institute said aftershocks are expected.

MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/. The statement by US National Security Advisor John Bolton on Washington’s intent to challenge Russia in the Arctic is fraught with consequences for the region, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated during Wednesday’s press briefing.

On May 22, Bolton stated that the US aims to expand the number of icebreakers in the Arctic in order to "challenge growing Russian military influence" in the region.

TOKYO, June 4. /TASS/: An earthquake of 6.1 magnitude has rocked Japan's remote Ogasawara islands, Japan Meteorological Agency said on Tuesday.

The earthquake's epicenter lay at the depth of 440 km.

No injuries or damages were reported. A tsunami alert was initially issued but was cancelled several minutes later.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 03 (APP): A UN expert said Monday that the failure of governments across the world to ensure clear air, constitutes a “violation of the rights to life, health and well-being, as well as the right to live in a healthy environment.”

Ahead of the 2019 World Environment Day on Wednesday, which has air pollution as its theme, David Boyd, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, called on states to take urgent action to improve air quality in order to fulfill their human rights obligations.

Gwalior (MP), Jun 2 (PTI) Want a gun license? Plant trees and shoot a selfie -- this is the new rule in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior-Chambal region, known for its infatuation with firearms.

An exception will be made only if the license is sought because of an immediate threat to the applicant's life.

"Gun license seekers will need to plant at least ten saplings. If the person does not own land, the administration has earmarked revenue land where he or she can plant saplings," said Gwalior district collector Anurag Choudhary.

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 struck rural areas in Albania early Saturday southeast of Tirana, the capital, injuring four people and damaging about 100 houses, authorities said.

The Defense Ministry reported that four people were injured from falling walls at their homes and about 100 houses, many uninhabited, were damaged. The injured were sent to a local hospital.

CATANIA, Sicily (AP) — Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, is spewing ash and lava once again, but officials say the activity is taking place at its summit and does not pose a risk to people.

Etna began a new phase of eruptions on Thursday as new cracks in the volcano opened up, sending lava down its flank.

The volcano previously erupted in December and sparked minor earthquakes that caused extensive damage to buildings in the vicinity.

Shimla, May 31 (PTI) Fishing will be banned in all the reservoirs of Himachal Pradesh for June and July, a state minister said Friday.

The ban for the two months every year is a routine process, Himachal Pradesh Fisheries Minister Virender Kanwar said.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Relentless flooding in the central U.S. on Friday inundated communities and damaged or spilled over levees on three major rivers in two states, and authorities discovered the body of a drowning victim at a Missouri lake.

The fast-flowing Arkansas River smashed a 40-foot (12-meter) hole in a levee in rural western Arkansas, causing water to spill into a nearby community. In northeast Missouri, a levee was overtopped on the Mississippi River, and another levee was topped on the Missouri River in the central part of the state.