ARBUS: The sheep huddle together, bleeding from the nose, aborting lambs or suffocating on saliva as they succumb to bluetongue, a virus sweeping through flocks on the Italian island of Sardinia.
Some 20,000 sheep have died so far this year on the island, which is home to nearly half Italy’s flock and plays an important role in the production of famed Italian cheeses such as Pecorino.
It is another blow for farmers in a region already battered by a drought aggravated by man-made climate change — which experts say is also fueling the spread of bluetongue and longer outbreaks.
“The virus hit about two and a half months earlier than usual,” 39-year-old farmer Michela Dessi told AFP as she scanned her flock for panting or limping sheep in her fields in Arbus in western Sardinia.
Bluetongue does not present any risks to humans but in animals it causes swollen heads, high fevers, mouth ulcers, difficulty swallowing and breathing, and can turn an infected animal’s tongue blue.
It is transmitted between animals by biting midges.
While cattle, goats and deer can get it too, sheep are the most severely affected, according to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).
Infected and pregnant ewes abort or their lambs are born deformed, and survivors can lose their wool.
Sunken sides are a sign the ewes are carrying dead fetuses. The sick animals struggle to expel them.
The infection rate this year on Dessi’s farm is about 60 percent, and some 30 percent of her sheep have aborted.
Around 50 of her 650 sheep have died — and in a way she said was “horrible to watch.”
With high fevers, “they refuse food and water and some suffocate or drown in their own saliva,” she said, adding that it is illegal to euthanize them.
Nearly 3,000 outbreaks have been recorded so far this year in Sardinia, compared to 371 last year — and the end is not yet in sight.
Bluetongue used to peak in Sardinia in August but has done so as late as November in recent years, according to the region’s veterinary research institute (IZS).
“Climatic conditions heavily influence midge populations,” the animal health division at the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome told AFP.
They affect “their biting behavior and the speed of development of the virus, with climate change likely driving the virus’s expansion... and contributing to larger outbreaks.”
Cases have been reported this year in other European countries, from neighboring France to Portugal, Spain, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Bluetongue has been present in Sardinia since 2000 but Italy’s farming lobby Coldiretti says authorities are too slow each year to vaccinate the island’s flocks.
The costs of failing to rein it in are high.
A University of Bologna study last year found the 2017 outbreak, which killed 34,500 sheep, cost an estimated 30 million euros ($33 million).
That included damages suffered by farms — deaths, reduced milk yields, infertility, abortions — costs to animal health authorities and subventions paid by the region to affected farms.
“The first outbreaks occur in the same at-risk areas each year,” meaning highly targeted measures could theoretically prevent outbreaks, said Stefano Cappai from research institute IZS.
There are three variants on the island this year, two of which can be vaccinated against, with mortality rates twice as high among unvaccinated sheep.
Flocks should be vaccinated in March or April, Cappai said, but vaccines were only issued by the region in mid-June this year.
By that point, the virus had begun to spread unchecked.
Even if the vaccines had been made available earlier, some farmers fear to use them.
Others only vaccinate part of their flock, which means they fail to reach herd immunity, Cappai said.
And some farmers — like Dessi — vaccinated her flock, only for the sheep to catch the variant for which there is no vaccine yet.
Battista Cualbu, head of Coldiretti in Sardinia, who also has an outbreak on his farm, said vaccines are not enough and authorities must disinfect areas and provide midge repellents.
“It would certainly save public money because the region has to pay compensation for dead livestock (and) lost income,” he said, including less milk sold and fewer lambs for the slaughterhouse.
Compensation is set at 150 euros per sheep killed by bluetongue — a figure Coldiretti is battling to increase, although the region has failed to pay up over the past three years, Dessi said.
As temperatures fall, the case numbers are expected to decline but Dessi said the end was weeks away.
“I’ve dug three mass graves already and I fear the worst is still to come,” she said.
Sardinia’s sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
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Sardinia’s sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Some 20,000 sheep have died so far this year on the island, which is home to nearly half Italy’s flock and plays an important role in the production of famed Italian cheeses such as Pecorino
World’s largest captive crocodile Cassius dies in Australia
- Cassius, weighing in at more than one tonne, had been in declining health since October 15
- He took the title after the 2013 death of Philippines crocodile Lolong, who measured 6.17 meters
SYDNEY: A 5.48-meter (18 feet) Australian crocodile that held the world record as the largest crocodile in captivity has died, a wildlife sanctuary said on Saturday. He was thought to be more than 110 years old.
Cassius, weighing in at more than one tonne, had been in declining health since Oct. 15, Marineland Melanesia Crocodile Habitat said on Facebook.
“He was very old and believed to be living beyond the years of a wild Croc,” according to a post by the organization, based on Green Island near the Queensland tourist town of Cairns.
“Cassius will be deeply missed, but our love and memories of him will remain in our hearts forever.”
The group’s website said he had lived at the sanctuary since 1987 after being transported from the neighboring Northern Territory, where crocodiles are a key part of the region’s tourist industry.
Cassius, a saltwater crocodile, held the Guinness World Records title as the world’s largest crocodile in captivity.
He took the title after the 2013 death of Philippines crocodile Lolong, who measured 6.17m (20 feet 3 inches) long, according to Guinness.
Rapper Young Thug pleads guilty to gang, drug and gun charges
ATLANTA: Rapper Young Thug pleaded guilty Thursday in Atlanta to gang, drug and gun charges and will be released from jail, though he could be put back behind bars if he violates the terms of his sentence.
The 33-year-old Grammy winning artist, whose given name is Jeffery Williams, entered his pleas without reaching a deal with prosecutors after negotiations between the two sides broke down, lead prosecutor Adriane Love said. That left the sentence completely up to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker.
Young Thug’s plea comes two and a half years after he was arrested and charged and nearly a year after the prosecution started presenting evidence in the problem-plagued trial. Jury selection at the courthouse in Atlanta began in January 2023 and took nearly 10 months. Prosecutors have called dozens of witnesses since opening statements last November in the trial of six defendants.
The trial has faced many delays, including in July when the original judge was removed after two defendants sought his recusal, citing a meeting the judge held with prosecutors and a state witness.
Young Thug pleaded guilty to one gang charge, three drug charges and two gun charges. He also entered a no contest plea to another gang charge and a racketeering conspiracy charge, meaning that he decided not to contest those charges but can be punished for them as if he had pleaded guilty.
The judge imposed a sentence of 40 years with the first five to be served in prison but commuted to time served, followed by 15 years on probation. If he successfully completes that probation without any violations, another 20 years will be commuted to time served. But if he violates the conditions, he will have to serve those 20 years in addition to any penalty for a probation violation.
Young Thug must stay away from the metro Atlanta area for the first 10 years of his probation, except for weddings, funerals, graduations or serious illness of family members, the judge said.
But she also ordered him to return to the Atlanta area four times a year during his probation to make a live anti-gang, anti-gun violence presentation at a school or a community organization serving children. She said that can count toward the 100 hours of community service she ordered him to perform each year during probation.
He’s also not allowed to associate with gang members or with the victims or other defendants in the case, with the exception of his brother and the rapper Gunna, with whom he has contractual obligations. He also cannot promote any criminal street gang or gang activity and can’t use hand signs or terminology that promotes a street gang.
Additional conditions include submitting to random drug screens and not possessing a gun. But he is allowed to travel both nationally and internationally for work, even while on probation.
Love had outlined for the judge the evidence she would have presented to prove Young Thug’s guilt, including some of his rap lyrics. She asked the judge to sentence him to 45 years, with 25 years in prison and the remaining 20 years on probation.
The rapper’s lead attorney Brian Steel said they “vehemently disagree” with many of the statements Love made and said it was “offensive” that the state is using Young Thug’s lyrics against him.
Steel said the evidence against his client is weak and accused prosecutors of misrepresenting and hiding evidence, saying Young Thug was “falsely accused.” Steel said he told his client that he thought they were winning the trial and should go through to a jury verdict.
“But he told me, ‘I can’t wait another three months if there is any possibility I could go home because I have children that are hurting. I have things to do,’” Steel said.
Steel asked the judge to impose a sentence of 45 years with five in prison commuted to time served and 40 years on probation.
Young Thug asked the judge to let him go home, saying he wouldn’t be in a similar situation again.
“I’ve learned from my mistakes, you know. I come from nothing and I’ve made something and I didn’t take full advantage of it. I’m sorry,” he said.
The judge said she appreciated that he realized the impact that he has on people worldwide. She said rap music may involve a lot of posturing but that children emulate some of the dangerous behavior mentioned in songs. She encouraged Young Thug to use his talent and influence to encourage kids to do the right thing.
“I want you to try to be more of the solution and less of the problem,” Whitaker said.
A tremendously successful rapper, Young Thug started his own record label, Young Stoner Life or YSL. Prosecutors have said he also co-founded a violent criminal street gang and that YSL stands for Young Slime Life.
He was charged two years ago in a sprawling indictment accusing him and more than two dozen other people of conspiring to violate Georgia’s anti-racketeering law. He also was charged with gang, drug and gun crimes.
Three of his Young Thug’s co-defendants had already pleaded guilty this week after reaching deals with prosecutors. The pleas leave the fates of two other co-defendants still undecided.
Nine people charged in the indictment accepted plea deals before the trial began. Twelve others are being tried separately. Prosecutors dropped charges against one defendant after he was convicted of murder in an unrelated case.
Apple results top Wall Street targets on strong iPhone sales, shares drop on outlook
- Early iPhone 16 sales grew faster than iPhone 15 sales, says CEO Tim Cook
- Apple’s AI strategy includes new iPhone 16 features
Apple beat Wall Street sales and profit expectations on Thursday for its fiscal fourth quarter, bolstered by strong early sales of iPhone 16, and forecast revenue growth of low to mid single digits for the current period.
“We expect our December quarter, total company revenue to grow low to mid single digits year over year,” CFO Luca Maestri said on a call with analysts. Analysts had expected revenue growth of 6.65 percent to $127.53 billion during the first quarter, according to LSEG data.
Shares dropped about 2 percent in extended trading. Apple said sales were $94.93 billion, ahead of Wall Street targets of $94.58 billion, according to LSEG. Earnings of $1.64 per share, excluding a massive one-time tax charge in the European Union, topped analyst expectations of $1.60 per share. Sales during the fourth quarter of Apple’s iPhone, the company’s main product, were up 5.5 percent to $46.22 billion, compared with analyst estimates of $45.47 billion. Other product lines missed expectations and the China sales total was less than Wall Street expected.
Apple’s fourth quarter ended Sept. 28, meaning it reflects only a few days of sales of its iPhone 16 series that went on sale Sept. 20. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook told Reuters that iPhone 16 sales grew faster than iPhone 15 sales did a year earlier, with both phones on sale for the same number of days in the fourth quarter.
Cook also said Apple customers are downloading a new version of its iPhone operating system with what it calls Apple Intelligence features at twice the rate they had the year before.
“We’ve had great feedback from customers and developers already,” Cook said. “We’re off to a good start.”
Tom Forte, an analyst at Maxim Group, attributed Apple’s slight share drop to China sales coming in below expectations.
“We see the potential for sustained weakness in China as we await additional details on the earnings call regarding the potential timing of Apple Intelligence in that important country,” Forte said.
Apple’s call with analysts began at 5 p.m. ET (2100 GMT).
The rollout of Apple’s artificial-intelligence strategy, which it revealed this year, hinges on how well its new phones sell.
Rather than introduce AI in a standalone app or service, Apple has sprinkled Apple Intelligence throughout its most recent operating systems as new features, such as the ability to help re-write an email in a more professional tone. Those features will mostly be available on iPhone 16 models, which feature more powerful computing chips, although the pro versions of the iPhone 15 both work with Apple Intelligence. While some of those Apple Intelligence features arrived this week, others have been delayed, which has led some Wall Street analysts to wonder whether consumers will be slower to upgrade their devices this year while flagship software features trickle out.
The early iPhone 16 results on Thursday could allay some of those concerns. IPhone sales helped steady Apple’s fourth-quarter sales in China, which were down less than 1 percent to $15.03 billion overall. Analysts were expecting China sales of $15.78 billion on average, according to data from Visible Alpha.
Apple’s rivals Microsoft and Meta both said this week they expect continued increases in spending to support their AI strategies. Apple said payments for property and equipment — a measure of its capital expenditures — were up $2.91 billion from the previous quarter to $9.45 billion.
Apple’s lower spending comes in part because it uses third-party data centers for some AI work. Some aspects of Apple Intelligence do rely on Apple’s own data centers, but the company is using its own in-house chips to power those features.
“There would be some (financial) benefit to us by using our own silicon, obviously, but that’s not the reason we’re doing it. We’re doing it because we can provide the same standard of privacy and security that we can provide on device,” Cook said.
Sales in Apple’s services business, which includes iCloud storage and Apple Music, were $24.97 billion, compared with analyst expectations of $25.28 billion, according to LSEG. Mac and iPad sales were $7.74 billion and $6.95 billion, respectively, compared to estimates of $7.82 billion and $7.09 billion, according to LSEG data.
Sales in Apple’s home and wearables business, which includes its Apple Watch and AirPods devices, fell to $9.04 billion, compared with estimates of $9.2 billion, according to LSEG.
Earnings per share were 97 cents including the charge related to a one-time multi-billion-euro European tax payment.
Starbucks reports drop in comparable sales, earnings as global demand suffers
- The Seattle-based company’s strategy to drive demand through promotions and improved loyalty program offers fell flat
Starbucks on Wednesday reported a 7 percent drop in global comparable sales for the fourth quarter as the coffee chain struggles to revive demand for its pricey lattes in the key US and China markets.
Last week, Starbucks reported preliminary fourth-quarter results and suspended its annual forecast through the next fiscal year as new CEO Brian Niccol tries to steer the company toward the path to growth.
The Seattle-based company’s strategy to drive demand through promotions and improved loyalty program offers fell flat in the face of muted spending from cost-conscious consumers.
Starbucks is also facing an uphill battle in China, where it is dealing with a choppy macroeconomic recovery and stiff competition from local brands.
Comparable sales in China, the company’s second-largest market after the US, declined for three straight quarters, falling 14 percent in the fourth quarter.
Investors, however, are betting on seasoned industry veteran and ex-Chipotle Mexican Grill head Niccol to simplify the company’s leadership and operating structure, and reinvigorate the coffee-house culture at Starbucks’ US stores.
Shares of the company have risen about 26 percent since Niccol replaced Laxman Narasimhan as CEO in a surprise announcement in August. They were down about 1 percent in extended trading on Wednesday.
International comparable sales fell 9 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with expectations of a 6.5 percent drop, as per data compiled by LSEG.
Starbucks’ loyalty program growth was also tempered in the fourth quarter, with 90-day active members in the US remaining flat sequentially. That compares with a 3 percent sequential rise reported in the third quarter.
The company’s net income fell to $909.3 million, or 80 cents per share, from $1.22 billion, or $1.06 per share, a year earlier in the fourth quarter ended Sept 29.
Australian police recover 40,000 stolen coins based on the children’s animated series ‘Bluey’
- A police statement said on Wednesday 40,061 coins were found on Tuesday afternoon in a self-storage business in Sydney
- Police were notified on July 12 that 63,000 of the coins had been stolen from a Sydney warehouse
SYDNEY: Australian police said on Wednesday they had recovered more than 40,000 stolen limited-edition coins based on the hit children’s animated series “Bluey.”
The Bluey coins, with a face value of one Australian dollar (65 US cents) each, were found on Tuesday afternoon in a self-storage business in the Sydney suburb of Wentworthville, a police statement said.
Bluey is the name of a blue heeler puppy whose adventures with her cattle dog family living in the Australian city of Brisbane, where the series is produced, have become popular among children around the globe.
The series premiered in Australia in 2018 and began streaming on Disney+ in 2020.
The 40,061 recovered coins were still in the Royal Australian Mint plastic bags that they had been stolen in three months earlier, police said.
Police were notified on July 12 that 63,000 of the yet-to-be-released series of coins produced by the national mint in Canberra had been stolen from a warehouse in the Sydney suburb of Wetherill Park, not far from where the coins were recovered on Tuesday.
Police formed Strike Force Bandit to investigate. Bandit is the name of Bluey’s dad.
Three people have been charged over the theft.
A 27-year-old woman whom police allege drove two accomplices to the July burglary was arrested on Tuesday hours before the coins were recovered.
Two men had earlier been charged over the theft and police were a searching for a fourth suspect.
Police raided a Sydney property on July 31 and recovered 189 of the coins. They discovered the dealer selling them was a legitimate coin collector who had innocently bought them for AU$1.50 (98 US cents) each. He was paid no compensation for the seized coins.
A Royal Australian Mint spokesperson was not available for comment on Wednesday.