*United Kingdom, torrential rains and strong winds disrupt new year’s celebrations
*Brazil, the highest number of fires reported in the Amazon since 2007
*India, authorities clear toxic waste 40 years after Bhopal gas disaster
*Brazil, the highest number of fires reported in the Amazon since 2007
*India, authorities clear toxic waste 40 years after Bhopal gas disaster
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NewsTranscript
00:00We now move on to other topics.
00:14In the United Kingdom, some areas were flooded on Wednesday as heavy rains and strong winds
00:19continued to disrupt New Year celebrations.
00:22Several communities in the Manchester area were flooded, with homes evacuated and cars
00:27submerged up to the roofs.
00:29After nearly a month's worth of rain fell in just two days, a major incident was declared
00:35and mountain rescue teams were called in to help firefighters deal with flooded homes
00:40and stranded vehicles.
00:42In Stockport, rivers were overflowing and local floods chiefs warned that extra measures
00:48may have to be taken.
00:49At one point, more than 150 communities across the United Kingdom were under flood warnings,
00:56most of them in northern England.
00:59By the end of the day, however, dozens of those warnings had been lifted.
01:09And in Brazil, during 2024, there was a 42% increase in the number of forest fires recorded
01:15in the Amazon and the highest number since 2007.
01:19According to the National Institute for Space Research, in the last year, 186,463 forest
01:27fires were recorded, while the agency insists that there were indications that the total
01:33area that suffered deforestation could be the lowest in years.
01:38According to reports, deforestation in the region from 2023 to August 2024 had decreased
01:44by more than 30% and was at the lowest in nine years.
01:48At the same time, the director of Amazon Watch, Andrew Miller, pointed out that the fires
01:53and droughts experienced in 2024 in the Amazon rainforest could be indicators of an ecological
02:01turning point.
02:06And on Thursday, Indian authorities removed hundreds of tons of toxic waste remaining
02:10for over 40 years after the world's deadliest industrial disaster struck the city of Bhopal.
02:16And as dozen trucks carried the 337 tons of waste in a slow convoy to the disposal
02:23site some 225 kilometers away at Pitampur town.
02:28According to State Gas Relief and Rehabilitation Department Director Swantra Kumar Singh, the
02:35convoy has been fortified with the highest security protocol ever witnessed in the movement
02:40of industrial waste in the country.
02:43For decades, people had blamed a high level of sickness on underground water pollution
02:50after the toxic gas leak from the Union Carbide factory in December of 1984.
02:56Therefore, this initiative by the Indian authorities will substantially improve the living conditions
03:01of the communities near the disaster area.