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Peru races to save birds threatened by oil spill

AFP

A Lima zoo is racing to save dozens of seabirds, including protected penguins, after 6,000 barrels of crude oil spilled off Peru’s coast due to waves from a volcanic eruption in the South Pacific.

More than 40 birds, including Humboldt penguins — listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature — were brought to the Parque de Las Leyendas zoo after being rescued from polluted beaches and nature reserves.

“We have never seen anything like this in the history of Peru,” biologist Liseth Bermudez told AFP, while tending to a bird.

“We didn’t think it was going to be of this magnitude.”

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A team of veterinarians is caring for the birds, bathing them with special detergents to remove the suffocating oil.

The animals have also been given anti-fungal and anti-bacterial drugs, as well as vitamins.

“The birds’ prognosis is unclear,” Bermudez said. “We are doing everything we can.”

Peru has declared an environmental emergency after almost 264,000 gallons (1.2 million liters) of crude oil spilled into the sea last Saturday when a tanker was hit by big waves while offloading at a refinery.

The abnormally large waves were triggered by the eruption of an undersea volcano near the archipelago of Tonga, thousands of miles (kilometers) away.

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The spill near Lima has fouled beaches and harmed the fishing and tourism industries, with crews working non-stop to clean up the mess.

The environment ministry said Sunday that more than 180 hectares — equivalent to around 270 soccer fields — of beach and 713 hectares of sea were affected, as sea currents spread the spilled oil along the coast.

The health ministry has warned would-be bathers to stay away from at least 21 affected beaches.

– Bird food contaminated –

Biologist Guillermo Ramos of Peru’s Serfor forestry service said more animals will die if the oil spreads.

“There are species here that feed on crustaceans and fish that are already contaminated,” he said.

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Serfor staff have found many dead birds and sea otters on beaches and in natural reserves since the spill, he added.

More than 150 bird species in Peru depend on the sea for nutrition and reproduction.

Among the birds rescued alive but in need of help are different types of cormorants and six Humboldt penguins.

Juan Carlos Riveros, scientific director of rescue NGO Oceana Peru, said the oil could affect the reproductive capacity of some animals and cause birth defects, especially in birds, fish and turtles.

The government has sought compensation from Spanish oil company Repsol, which owns the tanker.

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But the company denies responsibility, saying maritime authorities had issued no warning of abnormal waves after the Tonga eruption.

On Sunday, Jaime Fernandez-Cuesta, president of Repsol in Peru, said the Spanish company was doing everything it could to mitigate the environmental damage.

“We are doing everything possible, without sparing any expense, to remedy this entire disaster as soon as possible,” Fernandez-Cuesta told the TV show Punto Final.

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International

Brazil’s Lula wishes Trump a successful term focused on prosperity and peace

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wished the new U.S. President, Donald Trump, a “successful” term that promotes “prosperity and well-being for the U.S. people” and “a fairer and more peaceful world.”

“On behalf of the Brazilian government, I congratulate President Donald Trump on his inauguration,” said the progressive leader on his social media, shortly after Trump took the oath of office at the Capitol in Washington.

Lula, 79, highlighted that the relationship between Brazil and the United States, one of its most important trade partners, is “marked by a history of cooperation, based on mutual respect and historical friendship.”

“Our countries maintain strong ties in various areas such as trade, science, education, and culture. I am confident that we can continue to make progress in these and other areas,” he added.

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International

Iran hopes U.S. will adopt realistic approaches under Trump administration

Iran declared on Monday that it hopes the new U.S. administration under Donald Trump will adopt “realistic approaches” toward Tehran and show “respect” for the interests of the countries in the region.

The Republican tycoon will take the oath for his second term as president of the United States on Monday at noon Washington time (17:00 GMT).

“We hope that the approaches and policies of the new U.S. government will be realistic and based on respect for the interests… of the countries in the region, including the Iranian nation,” said the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baqaei, during a weekly press briefing.

During his first term (2017-2021), Trump implemented a “maximum pressure” policy toward Iran.

In 2018, under his administration, the United States withdrew from the international nuclear deal with Iran, concluded three years earlier, which offered Tehran relief from sanctions in exchange for assurances that the country would not seek to acquire nuclear weapons. Tehran denies any such intentions.

In response, Tehran significantly increased its stockpile of enriched materials and raised the enrichment threshold to 60%, approaching the 90% required to produce an atomic bomb, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Tehran, which has expressed a desire to relaunch negotiations to revive the deal, defends its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and denies any intention to develop nuclear weapons.

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International

Trump to sign executive order recognizing only two sexes

Donald Trump will sign an executive order instructing his administration to “recognize” the existence of only “two sexes,” future White House officials announced on Monday, just before the Republican’s inauguration.

“What we are doing today is defining that the policy of the United States is to recognize two sexes: male and female,” said the official, speaking to the press on the condition of anonymity.

The aim of the decree is “to defend women against the ideological extremism of gender and to restore biological truth within the Federal Government,” the official added, explaining that a person’s sexual identity will be defined solely by the gametes they possess.

During his campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to put an end to the “transgender delusion.”

The elected president also plans to eliminate federal funding for programs supporting diversity in the administration, the same officials from his incoming cabinet stated.

“We are going to end this type of funding, we are going to put an end to these programs,” said one source from the future team, speaking anonymously about antiracism and diversity training courses.

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