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Stock photo from Zermatt, Switzerland. THOMAS C. GERBER / ap  

 

The climate threat The threats to species richness 

Melting alpine glaciers a threat to invertebrates  

 

Animal species vital to the Alps' ecosystems are threatened as glaciers melt as an effect of climate change, according to a new study reported by The Guardian.  

 

It is about insects such as brook dragonflies, which live in and near running water. Rising temperatures cause the glacier cover to decrease, which in turn is expected to lead to rivers drying up and flowing more slowly.  

 

Water that would otherwise be cooled by the glacier cover may completely disappear. 

 

- The habitat for these species is shrinking rapidly, says Lee Brown, one of the researchers behind the study.

 

Pictures from Nyamukubi village. TT.  

The floods in Central Africa More flood victims found - over 200 dead  

The death toll from the floods in Congo-Kinshasa has passed 200 on Saturday, writes AP with reference to local authorities in the eastern parts of the country. Many are still missing.  

Anuarite Zikujuwa tells the news agency that she lost her entire family, as well as her in-laws.  

- The whole village has turned into wasteland.  

According to TT, hundreds of houses in South Kivu province have been swept away by masses of water caused by heavy rains and flooded rivers.

Nigerian politician offered 90,000 for kidney donation  

Top Nigerian politician Ike Ekweremadu has been sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison in Britain for organ trafficking, British media reports.  

This since the 60-year-old, his wife and another man, described as an intermediary, brought a 21-year-old man from Lagos to the UK in the hope of a kidney donation for the politician's daughter.  

Sky News notes that kidney donations are not illegal, unless they are in exchange for money. In this case, the 21-year-old should have been offered the equivalent of just over SEK 90,000. 

The sentence is unique in its kind as the politician is the first to be sentenced under the Modern Slavery Act. The wife and the intermediary were also sentenced to prison for four and a half years and ten years respectively.