Russia has reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N2 bird flu on a farm in the Kostromskaya Oblast region, the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Friday. The disease was detected on December 17 and led to the culling of more than 660,000 birds, the OIE said, citing a report from the Russian ministry of agriculture. It did not specify the type of birds that were infected
Beijing’s battle against air pollution will take time and be very tough to win despite recent improvements, the acting mayor of China’s capital said on Wednesday. The city has been fighting to clean its notoriously smoggy air through steps such as pushing households and factories to switch away from coal to cleaner fuels like natural gas. “Further improvement in air quality (will be) extremely difficult,” acting mayor of Beijing, Chen Jining, said in a statement released during the city’s congress meeting. The central government’s intense focus on air quality means many local officials’ careers are linked to the success of efforts to tackle smog, making it unusual to speak candidly about the challenges of meeting tough targets. Beijing has chalked up a short-term success by cutting the annual average level of breathable particulate matter (PM 2.5) to 58 micrograms per cubic metre in 2017, beating a target set by the State Council in 2012. However, the city is still some way f...
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