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Spanish mountain village braces for astrotourists lured by total solar eclipse

Somosierra will be prime spot to view celestial alignment on 12 August, an event that poses logistical challengesLittle stirs in the mountains above Somosierra beyond the wind that lashes the flat peaks, the cows that graze on parched grass and the sun that beats down on the abandoned aerodrome where generations of glider pilots learned to ride air currents alongside squadrons of vultures and red kites.But all this stillness will disappear, albeit temporarily, on the evening of 12 August, when swathes of northern and eastern Spain and the Balearic islands experience a total solar eclipse, the likes of which has not been seen here for more than 120 years. Continue reading...

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‘We saw death and suffering’: Dozens of Nigerians freed after 6 months in jihadi captivity

At least 163 Nigerian captives, mostly women and children, have spoken of the suffering and fear they lived in for six months They were handed over by security forces in Kwara on Friday and were anticipating their return home to reunite with their fami...

'We saw death and suffering': Dozens of Nigerians freed after 6 months in jihadi captivity

Some of the 163 kidnapped Nigerians rescued from jihadi captivity have spoken of the suffering and fear they lived in for six months.

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‘I couldn’t breathe’: the deadly health burden of wildfire smoke

Scientists race to untangle complex links between exposure and mortality as fire weather grows more prevalentA thousand kilometres from the infernos gorging on northern Ontario’s boreal forests, Erin O’Connor watched the sky above Canada’s biggest city turn an “almost post-apocalyptic” orange as it filled with light-scattering particles of soot and ash. Stepping outside the halls of Toronto General hospital, where air filters were keeping patients safe from the worst of the fumes, she was struck by a smell so strong it felt like standing by a campfire.“It really hit you in the face as soon as you walked outside,” said O’Connor, who runs University Health Network’s emergency department and saw a rise in patients presenting with allergies and shortness of breath. “As the days progressed, it was like that everywhere. It seemed even inside you could smell that burning.” Continue reading...

Families retrieve bodies after a 14-year-old killed at least 7 in a shooting outside Bangkok

Relatives of victims of the shooting at a high school and a home outside Bangkok retrieved the bodies of their loved ones Saturday, a day after the gunman killed at least seven people.