How A Fake News Study Tested Ethical Research Boundaries – Analysis

 June 11, 2025  

By SwissInfo

A controversial fake news study, carried out by Swiss-based researchers on the social media platform Reddit, has highlighted the ethical responsibilities and challenges of conducting studies on society. 

By Matthew Allen

The research team, which has been linked to the University of Zurich, covertly tested the ability of artificial intelligence (AI) to manipulate public opinion with misinformation on a subreddit group.

For several months, the researchers stretched the ethical boundaries of observing social behaviour beyond breaking point. They used Large Language Models (LLMs) to invent opinions on a variety of subjects – from owning dangerous dogs to rising housing costs, the Middle East and diversity initiatives.

The AI bots hid behind fictitious pseudonyms as they churned out debating points into the subreddit r/changemyview. Members of the group then argued for or against the AI-composed opinions, unaware they were part of a research project until the researchers came clean at its completion.

The revelation provoked a storm of criticism within Reddit, the research community and the international media.

At first, the researchers, who will not reveal their identities for fear of reprisals, defended their actions, because the “high societal importance of this topic” made it “crucial to conduct a study of this kind, even if it meant disobeying the rules” of the channel, which included a ban on AI bots.

They later issued a “full and deeply felt apology” as “the reactions of the community of disappointment and frustration have made us regret the discomfort that the study may have caused.”

‘Bad science is bad ethics’

“The issue here is not only about conducting research involving deception,” said Professor Dominique Sprumont, president of the Vaud Cantonal Research Ethics Commission in Switzerland. “It is about willfully breaking the rules of a community of human beings who build trust in their network based on those rules.”

“Furthermore, the scientific quality of the project is more than dubious. Bad science is bad ethics.”

The Swiss team ran into a problem familiar to many researchers: how much information to withhold from participants to make the study realistic.

Previous fake news research has faced the same conundrum, according to Gillian Murphy and Ciara M Greene from the University College, Cork, and University College Dublin, Ireland, who have conducted their own misinformation research and examined the results of other studies.

Researchers sometimes disguise the exact purpose of the study at the outset, and only inform participants once it has been completed, they wrote in an article, published in the journal sciencedirect in 2023.  For example, by stating at the outset that the research is about news consumption in general, rather than specifically on fake news.

Limits to deception

“For some misinformation research, it would be impossible to study how participants naturally respond to misinformation without employing this kind of deception, as participants’ suspicions, motivations and behaviours may change when they know the information they will be shown might be misleading,” wrote the authors.

But the authors also note that there are limits to deception. Researchers have a moral duty to respect the human rights and privacy of test participants, inform them at the outset that they are taking part in research, gain explicit consent for using their data and to take steps to avoid inflicting damage on people.

In this video, we explain some of the ways researchers can approach such research ethically. 

In 2014, Facebook was criticised by academics, lawyers and politicians for covertly manipulating thousands of newsfeeds to test how users’ moods were impacted by negative or positive posts submitted by their friends.

The social media platform said the experiment was important to test the emotional impact of its newsfeed service on users but later admitted it had gone about the study in the wrong way.

Responsibility unclear

The Swiss fake news study on Reddit has likewise been condemned for failing to inform people in advance that they were participating in a research project.

It has also stirred up confusion as to who is responsible. It was conceived by a researcher employed at the University of Zurich and presented to its Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in April of last year as one of four tests – and the only one of the four that involved AI bots.

At the time, the ethics body red-flagged the Reddit study as “exceptionally challenging”, according to the university. It recommended that researchers should inform participants “as much as possible” and fully comply with the rules of Reddit.

But the lead researcher left the university in September and only started the study after leaving, the university says, adding that responsibility for the project and publication therefore lies with the researchers and not the university.

“There were no [Zurich university] researchers or students engaged in the Reddit project at the time it was carried out.”

The research team’s preliminary findings were published at first but were later taken offline.

Stricter review process

Zurich Data Protection Commissioner Dominka Blonski has not yet started a formal probe of the matter, but her office is aware of the controversy. “We do not know whether the research was conducted by the University of Zurich or its faculty, or by individual researchers on their own initiative,” she told SWI swissinfo.ch.

Blonski must first identify whether to investigate the university or individuals. But she is concerned at evidence in media reports that point to potential violations of data protection laws, particularly related to the apparent profiling of some Reddit users.

The university must also contend with unspecified “formal legal demands” from Reddit and is investigating the incident internally.

“In light of these events, the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences intends to adopt a stricter review process in the future and, in particular, to coordinate with the communities on the platforms prior to experimental studies,” said a spokeswoman.

SwissInfo

swissinfo is an enterprise of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to inform Swiss living abroad about events in their homeland and to raise awareness of Switzerland in other countries. swissinfo achieves this through its nine-language internet news and information platform.

Mapping Ireland’s peatlands to help cut carbon emissions


By AFP

June 10, 2025


Cultivated peatlands account for some five percent of greenhouse gas emissions - Copyright AFP Justin TALLIS

Peter MURPHY

Mapping more accurately than ever Ireland’s peatlands, which are vital as carbon sinks but whose boundaries can be hard to determine, could help fight global warming, researchers say.

Ireland is pockmarked with patches of dark brown peat soil that make up at least 20 percent of the land cover, according to Eve Daly, a geophysicist at the University of Galway, who co-led a groundbreaking project on finding peat.

“Peatland soils contain comparable amounts of carbon to the likes of rainforests so a more accurate map can lead to better land management decisions and mitigate against greenhouse gas emissions,” Daly told AFP.

Her research team developed a new mapping approach using gamma radiation measurements to identify for the first time “transition zones” — typically hidden under forests and grasslands — where the soil changes from being peat to mineral-based.

Daly says the area of soil in Ireland considered “peaty” has increased thanks to a new colour-coded “peat/non-peat” map produced by the researchers.

“Improved mapping at higher resolution and locating where hidden organic peat soils are and their extent are key inputs into working out carbon emission factors,” she said.

Her project co-leader Dave O’Leary told AFP about 80 percent of Ireland had now been mapped out in patches of “peat” brown or “non-peat” green.

“Few countries have invested in such an incredible data set, which puts Ireland at the forefront of peatland mapping research,” he said.



– ‘New lens’ –



Land use, including farming and peatland draining, is a major source of Ireland’s carbon emissions which could see the country failing to meet an EU-agreed climate target to cut emissions by over 50 percent by 2030.

A recent report said Ireland risks an EU fine of almost 30 billion euros if it fails to reach the target and recommended the restoring — and rewetting — of thousands of hectares of peatlands to help deliver “massive” cuts in emissions.

“We need to use more modern technologies or use old technologies with new lenses to try and find these hidden peat soils,” Daly said.

Ireland’s boggy areas are typically located in the middle of the bowl-shaped country which is ringed with hills and low mountains around the coastal areas.

Triven Koganti, an agroecology expert at Denmark’s Aarhus University, told AFP that five percent of global greenhouse gas emissions came from cultivated peatlands.

“Historical agricultural draining of peatlands… or to use them as a fuel source has led to significant greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

So “an accurate accounting” of peatland boundaries is needed to achieve “current global initiatives to restore peatlands”, he said, adding the Irish research “plays an important role in establishing this”.



– ‘Bird’s eye’ technique –



The mapping technique — described as “bird’s eye” by Daly — is based on gamma-ray data measured by a sensor onboard a plane that has been flown low over Ireland for a decade in a state-funded geophysical survey.

“All rocks and different amounts of soils give off a certain amount of natural radiation but peat doesn’t as it’s full of organic material,” Daly said.

Soils are usually a mixture of broken bits of rock, water and air, but peat soils are distinct from mineral soils as they are formed from decaying plant material, water and air, and contain a very high amount of carbon.

When waterlogged, this carbon is stored in the soil but when water is removed, for example via drainage, peat soils then emit carbon dioxide as the decay process restarts, Daly said.

The state-funded “Tellus” survey began in 2011 and is expected to be completed later this year.

French Tesla customers sue over brand becoming ‘extreme right’

By AFP
June 10, 2025


Tesla sales in the EU have nearly halved, with many customers looking for electric cars put off by Elon Musk's political positions - Copyright AFP/File JULIEN DE ROSA

Around 10 French clients with leases on Teslas are suing the US carmaker, run by Elon Musk, because they consider the vehicles to be “extreme-right” symbols, the law firm representing them said on Wednesday.

They feel they suffered “direct and concrete” damage from the way Teslas are now associated with “Elon Musk’s actions”, the GKA law firm said.

They are demanding the Paris commercial court order their lease contracts be terminated and legal costs reimbursed, it said in a statement, signed by lawyers Patrick Klugman and Ivan Terel.

The lawsuit comes as Tesla sales in the European Union have almost halved since the beginning of the year, a slump attributed to Musk’s political activities.

Those activities include him — until last week — standing firmly with US President Donald Trump, and overseeing efforts to cut down US departments and agencies.

He has also lent public support to Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, and came under criticism for making a repeated gesture with an out-thrust arm interpreted by many historians to be a Nazi salute.

“Because of Elon Musk’s actions… Tesla branded vehicles have become strong political symbols and now appear to be veritable extreme-right ‘totems’, to the dismay of those who acquired them with the sole aim of possessing an innovative and ecological vehicle,” GKA said in a statement.

The perception of the Teslas they leased “prevents them from fully enjoying their car”, it said.

Most of the leases run for four years, with an option at the end to buy the vehicle.

Tesla cars in Europe and elsewhere have been targeted by vandals, with some drivers reporting they have been insulted for using what is sometimes called on social media a “swasti-car”.

Several owners have taken to putting stickers on their Teslas reading “I bought this before Elon went crazy”.

“The situation is both unexpected and impossible for French Tesla owners,” Klugman told AFP.

“Musk’s political positions have interrupted enjoyment” of the vehicles, and “we believe that Mr Musk owes these buyers the peaceful possession of the thing sold”, he said.

Contacted by AFP for comment, Tesla did not immediately respond.

Toxic Thailand rivers pinned on Myanmar mines


By AFP
June 10, 2025


Thai authorities say they have detected high arsenic levels in their waterways, which could pose a risk to aquatic life and people - Copyright AFP Manan VATSYAYANA

Chayanit Itthipongmaetee and Sally Jensen

A sprawling new mine is gouged into the lush rolling hills of northeast Myanmar, where civil war has weakened the government’s already feeble writ, and pollution levels are rising downstream in Thailand.

The complex is one of around a dozen extraction operations that have sprung up in Shan state since around 2022, in territory controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), one of conflict-wracked Myanmar’s largest and best-equipped ethnic armed groups.

A few kilometres away across the border, locals and officials in Thailand believe toxic waste is washing downstream from the mines into the Kok River, which flows through the kingdom’s far north on its way to join the mighty Mekong.

Thai authorities say they have detected abnormally high arsenic levels in their waterways, which could pose a risk to aquatic life and the people further up the food chain.

The price fisherman Sawat Kaewdam gets for his catch has fallen by almost half, he says, because locals fear contamination.

“They say, ‘There’s arsenic. I don’t want to eat that fish’,” he told AFP.

Tests in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai by a government pollution agency found levels of the toxic element as high as 49 microgrammes per litre (mcg/l) of river water — nearly five times international drinking water standards.

Experts say that while the effects on human health would not be visible immediately, the fish-heavy local diet risks a cumulative impact over several years.

“We already know where the contamination is coming from,” says fisherman Sawat.

“They should go fix it at the source.”



– Fivefold rise –



Pianporn Deetes, campaign director of the International Rivers NGO, blames the arsenic levels on Shan state’s unlicensed mines, which operate outside any regulation or control by the central government.

It was Thailand’s “largest-ever case of transboundary pollution”, she added.

The mines are believed to be run by Chinese companies with close links to the UWSA, whose members themselves have longstanding ties to China, speak Mandarin and use China’s yuan currency.

It is unclear whether the mines are digging for gold, rare earths or a variety of minerals, and it is also difficult to gauge the size of an industry operating in a secretive grey zone.

But videos on Chinese social media suggest much of what is produced in Myanmar ends up being sold to Chinese buyers.

In a report Tuesday citing Chinese customs data, think tank ISP-Myanmar said the country was the source of around two-thirds of China’s rare earth imports by value.

The Asian giant had imported five times as much rare earths from Myanmar in the four years since the 2021 military coup than in the equivalent preceding period, it added.

Many modern mines use a system of tailing ponds to reuse leftover waste and water and stop it being released into rivers, said Tanapon Phenrat of Naresuan University’s civil engineering department.

But “in Myanmar, they reportedly discharge it directly into natural waterways”, he added, increasing the risk of contamination spreading into the food chain.

“What we need is for mines to treat their waste properly and stop discharging toxic substances into shared waterways.”

AFP was unable to reach UWSA officials for comment.



– ‘Legal and orderly’ –



From its Myanmar headwaters, the 285-kilometre (177-mile) Kok River is a vital resource for thousands of people as it wends through Chiang Rai province on its way to feed the Mekong.

In Chiang Rai City, a tranquil place popular with tourists, environmentalists dressed as wart-afflicted fish dance in protest.

The Thai government has proposed building a dam to prevent contaminated water from entering the country, but campaigners say physical barriers alone cannot stop pollution.

Bangkok acknowledges that Myanmar’s junta may be unable to stop Chinese companies operating mines in militia-controlled areas.

And Chonthicha Jangrew of Thailand’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee met senior Beijing officials last month, urging them to supervise Chinese mining firms “in order to stop the impact on people downstream”, she said.

The Chinese embassy in Bangkok posted on Facebook Sunday that it had instructed Chinese companies “to comply with the laws of the host country and to conduct their business in a legal and orderly fashion at all times”.

The Myanmar junta did not respond to questions from AFP.

“The water isn’t beyond saving yet,” said Tanapon of Naresuan University.

“But this is a clear signal,” he added. “We need to act now.”

Trump’s cuts are ‘devastating’ for vulnerable women worldwide: UN

MAGA WORLD WAR ON WOMEN (FEMINISM)


By AFP
June 10, 2025


United Nations Population Fund clinics, like this one at Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, will be shuttered by current budget cuts - Copyright afp/AFP/File Khalil MAZRAAWI

Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has faced budget cuts before, but the impact of President Donald Trump’s policies has been even more “devastating” for reproductive health worldwide, chief Natalia Kanem told AFP.

The agency has been targeted by US conservatives since the Kemp-Kasten Amendment’s enactment in 1985 by Congress, when the administration of then president Ronald Reagan rallied against China’s population policies, accusing Beijing of promoting forced abortions and sterilizations.

All subsequent Republican presidencies have cut US funding to UNFPA, and the second Trump administration is no exception.

“We’ve had over $330 million worth of projects ended,” virtually overnight, in “some of the hardest hit regions of the world” like Afghanistan, Kanem said in an interview coinciding with the release of the UNFPA’s annual report Tuesday.

“So yes, we are suffering.”

Kanem pointed to the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan as an example, where over the years more than 18,000 pregnancies were delivered by “heroic midwives” who “conducted these over 18,000 deliveries without a single maternal death, which you know, in a crisis situation is extraordinary.”

“Those maternity wards today have closed. The funding cuts immediately have meant that those midwives are no longer able to do their jobs,” Kanem said.

Although it is too soon to estimate the precise impacts of the US cuts, they will inevitably result in increased maternal mortality and more unintended pregnancies, according to Kanem.

“What’s different this time for UNFPA is that our ecosystem of other reproductive health actors who might be able to fill in for us,” Kanem said, adding they are “reeling from huge impact of having their funding denied.”

The Trump administration has slashed many such external aid programs.

“So it is very lamentable that this year, to me, has been drastically worse than ever before, precisely because now everybody is caught up in the whirlwind.”

“The withdrawal of the United States from the funding arena for reproductive health has been devastating,” Kanem said.



– Desire and rights –



American policy is not only marked by funding cuts, but also a challenge to gender equality matters.

“There will be debates about concepts, but there shouldn’t be any debate about the non-negotiability of the rights and choices of women and adolescent girls,” Kanem emphasized.

“We always embrace change, but we should not compromise on these common values which spell the difference between life and death for women and girls all around the world,” she continued.

“Women deserve support. Adolescent girls deserve to finish their schooling, not become pregnant, not be bartered or sent off into marriage as a non-solution to issues that families may face.”

The UNFPA’s annual report, published Tuesday and based on the results of an survey of 14,000 people from 14 countries — nations which represent over a third of the world’s population — also underscores concerns that millions of people around the world cannot create the families they desire.

More than 40 percent of those over the age of 50 reported not having the number of children they wanted — with 31 percent saying they had fewer kids than they desired and 12 percent saying they had more than they wanted.

More than half of respondents said economic barriers prevented them from having more children.

Conversely, one in five said they were pressured into having a child, and one in three adults reported an unintended pregnancy.

The majority of people “live in countries where fertility rates have fallen so far and so fast that they are below replacement,” Kanem said.

“We know that the issue of population pressure takes almost like a headline drastic view. Some people think there are way too many people. Others are saying we don’t have enough, women should have more babies,” Kanem said.

“What UNFPA really cares about is a woman’s true desire, rights and choices,” Kanem said.

Sunny Greece struggles with solar energy overload


By AFP
June 10, 2025


Solar accounted for 23 percent of the 55 percent of electricity consumed from renewables last year - Copyright AFP Aris MESSINIS

John HADOULIS

In a field in central Greece that once grew clover and corn, maintenance worker Nikos Zigomitros deftly drives a tractor between rows of solar panels, trimming weeds under a blazing sun.

“Letting them grow too high impairs the panel performance,” the 52-year-old explains, wiping sweat from his brow.

Once a centre of agricultural production, the area around Kastron Viotias, some 110 kilometres (70 miles) northwest of Athens, has seen solar parks mushroom over the past 15 years, part of a major renewable energy push in the country.

Greece currently has 16 gigawatts of renewable energy installed, with solar power representing nearly 10 gigawatts, including 2.5 gigawatts that came on line last year.

The rapid growth of solar is similar to other countries in Europe, where it has overtaken coal for electricity production, according to climate think tank Ember.

It estimates renewables have risen to account for nearly half of the EU’s electricity production.

Greece did even better: 55 percent of annual consumption was covered by renewables last year, with solar accounting for around 23 percent, according to SPEF, an association which unites local solar power producers.

In 2023, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis predicted that Greece would “soon generate 80 percent of its electricity needs through renewables.”

But getting there is proving complicated.

SPEF chairman Stelios Loumakis said that the solar sector has hit a wall because of a combination of factors, including Greece’s small size, limited infrastructure and delays in building up energy storage capacity.



– Saturated –



The Greek state approved too many photovoltaic projects over the last five years and the market is saturated, leading to a “severe production surplus” on sunny days, the 56-year-old chemical engineer and energy consultant said.

Greece’s national grid operator in May repeatedly ordered thousands of medium-sized operators to shut down during the sunniest hours of the day to avoid overburdening the network and triggering a blackout.

“The trick is to balance supply and demand. If you don’t do it well, you get a blackout,” said Nikos Mantzaris, a senior policy analyst and partner at the independent civil organisation Green Tank.

In April, a huge blackout of unknown origin crippled the Iberian Peninsula. The Spanish government has said two major power fluctuations were recorded in the half-hour before the grid collapse, but the government insisted renewables were not to blame.

“It could be something as mundane as a faulty cable,” Mantzaris said.



– Batteries ‘crucial’ –



To manage the surplus, Greece is building battery storage capacity. But catching up to its solar electricity production will take years.

“The next three years will be crucial,” said Stelios Psomas, a policy advisor at HELAPCO, a trade association for Greek companies producing and installing solar panels.

In the meantime, solar panel operators will have to ensure production does not outstrip capacity, thereby limiting their potential earnings.

“Managing high shares of renewables — especially solar — requires significant flexibility and storage solutions,” said Francesca Andreolli, a senior researcher at ECCO, a climate change think tank in Italy, which faces a similar problem.

“Battery capacity has become a structural necessity for the electricity system, by absorbing excess renewable energy and releasing it when demand rises,” she told AFP.



– Farm income –



Mimis Tsakanikas, a 51-year-old farmer in Kastron, readily admits that solar has been good to his family.

The photovoltaic farm they built in 2012 at a cost of 210,000 euros clears at least 55,000 euros a year, far more than he could hope to earn by growing vegetables and watermelons.

“This park sustains my home,” he said.

But the father of two also notes that the environmental balance has tipped in his area, with the spread of solar installations now causing concerns about the local microclimate.

Tsakanikas says the area has already experienced temperature rises of up to 4.0 degrees Celsius (7.2 Fahrenheit), which he blames on the abundance of heat-absorbing solar panel parks in the area.

“The microclimate has definitely changed, we haven’t seen frost in two years,” he told AFP.

“(At this rate) in five years, we’ll be cultivating bananas here, like in Crete,” he said.

Japan says two Chinese aircraft carriers seen in Pacific


By AFP
June 10, 2025


A model and painting of China's Liaoning aircraft carrier at the Military Museum in Beijing - Copyright AFP Pedro PARDO

Kyoko Hasegawa and Katie Forster

Two Chinese aircraft carriers were operating in the Pacific for the first time, according to Japan, whose defence minister said Tuesday the move revealed the expansion of Beijing’s military activities.

China’s Shandong and Liaoning carriers — its only two currently in operation, with a third undergoing sea trials — were both spotted with their fleets in recent days, Tokyo said.

“We believe the Chinese military’s purpose is to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” a defence ministry spokesman told AFP.

Defence Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters the sightings show that the Chinese military’s “activity area is expanding”.

“Japan has expressed its position that the Chinese activities should not threaten Japan’s safety” through diplomatic routes to Beijing, Nakatani said.

The Japanese military would continue to closely monitor and patrol the operations of Chinese naval warships, he added.

China’s use of naval and air assets to press its territorial claims has rattled the United States and its allies in the Asia-Pacific region.

When asked about the moves at a regular news briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian reiterated a statement given the previous day about the Liaoning’s trip.

“The activities of Chinese warships in the relevant sea areas are fully in line with international law and international practice,” he said, adding that Japan should “take an objective and rational look at this issue”.



– Island chains –



On Monday, the Shandong sailed inside the Japanese economic waters surrounding the remote Pacific atoll of Okinotori, Tokyo’s defence ministry said.

It was accompanied by four other vessels including a missile destroyer, and fighter jets and helicopters conducted take-offs and landings there, having also been seen sailing through Pacific waters on Saturday.

The ministry previously said that China’s other operational carrier Liaoning and its fleet entered Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Pacific over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets.

Japanese and US defence officials say China wants to push the American military out of the so-called “first island chain” from Japan down through the Philippines.

Eventually, its strategy is to dominate areas west of the “second island chain” in the Pacific between Japan’s remote Ogasawara Islands and the US territory of Guam, they say.

The Liaoning’s recent cruise eastwards marked the first time the Japanese defence ministry has said a Chinese aircraft carrier had crossed the second island chain.

Daisuke Kawai from the University of Tokyo’s economic security research programme told AFP these activities represent “a highly significant strategic escalation”.

“China’s naval incursions into Japan’s EEZ are unquestionably provocative, strategically designed to test Japan’s reaction thresholds without crossing the legal line into outright illegality under international law,” he said.



– Third carrier –



In September, the Liaoning sailed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan and entered Japan’s contiguous waters, an area up to 24 nautical miles from its coast.

At the time, Tokyo called that move “unacceptable” and expressed “serious concerns” to Beijing.

Under international law, a state has rights to the management of natural resources and other economic activities within its EEZ, which is within 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) of its coastline.

Kawai said the anticipated commissioning of Beijing’s third aircraft carrier, named Fujian, later this year means that “China’s maritime operational tempo and geographic scope of influence will significantly increase”.

And the timing of the sailings could be linked to the broader context of US-China economic tensions.

“Senior US policymakers, including President Trump himself, have shifted their focus from strategic containment of China toward securing economic compromises,” Kawai said.

“Thus, Beijing calculated that the United States would be less willing or able to respond militarily at this precise moment, seeing it as an opportune time to demonstrate its expanding military capabilities.”

Indian coastguard battles blaze on container ship


By AFP
June 10, 2025


The Singapore-flagged container ship MV Wan Hai 503 caught on fire on Monday off India's southern coast - Copyright Indian Coast Guard (ICG)/AFP -

India’s coastguard said Tuesday it was battling to stop a fierce blaze that has engulfed a Singapore-flagged container ship listing off the southern coast that broke out a day earlier.

The 268-metre (879-foot) container vessel MV Wan Hai 503 carrying 22 crew members caught fire some 78 nautical miles off India’s Beypore port on Monday.

Eighteen crew members were rescued by the Indian coastguard and navy, with four still missing.

Indian Coast Guard said Tuesday that “fires and explosions persist” on the vessel, which was tilting at around “10–15 degrees”.

They issued photographs that showed flames leaping from the stacked containers, with the ship surrounded by thick plumes of billowing black smoke.

Initial images on Monday showed heavy containers that had seemingly been hurled up by a powerful explosion on board, with the coastguard saying that some were in the water.

Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority had said there were “some injuries” among the crew.

Coastguard vessels alongside the blackened and burning ship poured jets of water onto the flames, according to video footage released.

The MV Wan Hai container ship is the second to run into trouble off India’s southern coast within weeks.

A Liberian-flagged container ship with hazardous cargo sank off the coast of Kerala on May 24. The Indian navy rescued all 24 crew members.

Indonesia revokes most mining permits in dive hotspot after outcry


By AFP
June 10, 2025


Greenpeace said nickel exploitation on the islands of Gag, Kawe and Manuran had led to the destruction of more than 500 hectares of forest and vegetation - Copyright AFP Pedro PARDO

Dessy SAGITA

Indonesia revoked permits on Tuesday for four of the five mining companies operating in the eastern archipelago of Raja Ampat after activists shared videos of islands damaged by nickel extraction.

The cluster of islands and shoals in Southwest Papua Province sits in the Coral Triangle and is thought to be one of the world’s most pristine reefs, with its clear blue waters making it a popular diving spot.

Indonesia has the world’s largest nickel reserves and is the biggest producer of the metal, which is used in electric vehicle batteries and stainless steel, and a 2020 export ban has spurred a domestic industrial boom.

Last week, Greenpeace Indonesia published videos showing environmental damage to three islands because of nickel mining projects, including one clip which racked up more than 15 million Instagram views.

President Prabowo Subianto “decided that the government will revoke the mining business licence of four companies in Raja Ampat”, state secretariat minister Prasetyo Hadi told reporters.

Energy and mineral resources minister Bahlil Lahadalia said “they have violated” regulations.

“We believe this region must be protected,” he said.

Greenpeace said nickel exploitation on the islands of Gag, Kawe and Manuran had led to the destruction of more than 500 hectares (1,200 acres) of forest and vegetation.

Environmentalists say coral reefs and marine life are threatened by the operations, but Bahlil denied the surrounding environment had been harmed.

“If people say the coral reefs and the ocean have been damaged, you can see for yourself. Please be careful to differentiate which one is real and which one is not,” he said.



– ‘Make sure they stop’ –



The NGO’s campaign led to growing calls by politicians and celebrities for the licences to be withdrawn.

The four companies impacted by the immediate ban are PT Anugerah Surya Pratama, PT Nurham, PT Kawei Sejahtera Mining and PT Mulia Raymond Perkasa.

PT Nurham received its mining permits this year and has not started production but the other three have had them since 2013, according to the energy ministry.

One more company — PT Gag Nikel — will continue to operate on Raja Ampat’s Gag island but be closely monitored, said Bahlil. It received its operational permit in 2017.

The three affected islands are categorised as small islands that under Indonesian law should be off-limits to mining, Greenpeace said.

Greenpeace Indonesia said the decision was a good start but the government needed to take further action.

“We appreciate this decision but we need to make sure the decision will be implemented. We need to make sure they stop,” forest campaign team leader Arie Rompas said.

He warned the government could reissue the permits later or the companies could appeal the decision in court.

The activist said the government should also revoke the operating permit for the fifth company.

A report last week by Climate Rights International alleged the Indonesian government was allowing environmental damage and violations against Indigenous people to go unchecked by nickel mining firms in the eastern Maluku islands.

Processing and mining operations have grown there around Weda Bay, the world’s largest nickel mine by production, but have led to locals reporting a spike in air pollution from smelters and rivers polluted by nickel tailings in soil carried by rain.

An AFP report last month detailed how the home of the nomadic Hongana Manyawa tribe was being eaten away by that mine, with members issuing a call for nickel companies to leave their tribal lands alone.

Emperor penguin populations declining faster than expected


By AFP
June 10, 2025


NASA image released on December 11, 2018, shows sea ice forming in the Bellingshausen Sea - Copyright ANP/AFP Koen van Weel

Kelly MACNAMARA

Emperor penguin populations in Antarctica have shrunk by almost a quarter as global warming transforms their icy habitat, according to new research on Tuesday that warned the losses were far worse than previously imagined.

Scientists monitoring the world’s largest penguin species used satellites to assess sixteen colonies in the Antarctic Peninsula, Weddell Sea and Bellingshausen Sea, representing nearly a third of the global emperor penguin population.

What they found was “probably about 50-percent worse” than even the most pessimistic estimate of current populations using computer modelling, said Peter Fretwell, who tracks wildlife from space at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).

Researchers know that climate change is driving the losses but the speed of the declines is a particular cause for alarm.

The study, published in the journal Nature Communications: Earth & Environment, found that numbers declined 22 percent in the 15 years to 2024 for the colonies monitored.

This compares with an earlier estimate of a 9.5-percent reduction across Antarctica as a whole between 2009 and 2018.

Warming is thinning and destabilising the ice under the penguins’ feet in their breeding grounds.

In recent years some colonies have lost all their chicks because the ice has given way beneath them, plunging hatchlings into the sea before they were old enough to cope with the freezing ocean.

Fretwell said the new research suggests penguin numbers have been declining since the monitoring began in 2009.

That is even before global warming was having a major impact on the sea ice, which forms over open water adjacent to land in the region.

But he said the culprit is still likely to be climate change, with warming driving other challenges for the penguins, such as higher rainfall or increasing encroachment from predators.

“Emperor penguins are probably the most clear-cut example of where climate change is really showing its effect,” said Fretwell.

“There’s no fishing. There’s no habitat destruction. There’s no pollution which is causing their populations to decline.

“It’s just the temperatures in the ice on which they breed and live, and that’s really climate change.”



– ‘Worrying result” –



Emperor penguins, aka Aptenodytes forsteri, number about a quarter of a million breeding pairs, all in Antarctica, according to a 2020 study.

A baby emperor penguin emerges from an egg kept warm in winter by a male, while the female in a breeding pair embarks on a two-month fishing expedition.

When she returns to the colony, she feeds the hatchling by regurgitating.

To survive on their own, chicks must develop waterproof feathers, a process that typically starts in mid-December.

Fretwell said there is hope that the penguins may go further south in the future but added that it is not clear “how long they’re going to last out there”.

Computer models have projected that the species will be near extinction by the end of the century if humans do not slash their planet-heating emissions.

The latest study suggests the picture could be even worse.

“We may have to rethink those models now with this new data,” said Fretwell.

“We really do need to look at the rest of the population to see if this worrying result transfers around the continent,” he added.

But he stressed there was still time to reduce the threat to the penguins.

“We’ve got this really depressing picture of climate change and falling populations even faster than we thought but it’s not too late,” he said.

We’re probably going to lose a lot of emperor penguins along the way but if people do change, and if we do reduce or turn around our climate emissions, then then we will save the emperor penguin.”