European wild boars escaped a North Carolina hunting ranch in 1912; a century later the Smokies still removes hundreds each year to limit their damage

European wild boars are large, powerful wild pigs native to Europe and parts of Asia and North Africa, known for their strong snouts, dark coats and sharp tusks. A shipment of European wild boars brought to a North Carolina hunting estate more than a century ago continues to cause serious ecological problems inside Great Smoky…

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An unstable rock formation threatens the existence of an entire Swiss village of 1,300 residents as thawing glaciers destabilise the Alps

The Swiss village of Kandersteg could be destroyed by a landslide due to an unstable mountain rock formation, and scientists are linking the threat to thawing permafrost and glacier dynamics. The 1,300 residents of the village in Switzerland’s Bern canton live in the midst of a charming landscape including sharp peaks, white glaciers, steep green…

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Women were excluded from Liechtenstein’s throne for more than 400 years; a new royal rule now gives the firstborn child, regardless of gender, the right to inherit, and know who’ll now own the throne

Several European nations have female leaders next in line for the throne, but one of them has recently initiated the norm. Liechtenstein has become the latest country to amend its royal rules and allow women to take the throne. During its national day celebrations on Saturday, August 15, the country announced the change.“The order of…

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An 18-year-old construction worker in Belgium uncovered a €9 million gold hoard hidden inside a former brewery cellar

Local police shared images of the hoard, PC: Lokale Politie Dendermonde An 18-year-old named Kobe was spending his summer break working construction in Sint-Gillis-Dendermonde, a small community in East Flanders, Belgium, when an ordinary day of demolition work turned into the find of a lifetime. His crew had been renovating a former brewery building, once…

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Two pairs of North American raccoons were released in Germany’s Kassel, today it is called the ‘raccoon capital of Europe’ with a population of around 30,000 animals and a disturbed public life

Raccoons are loved by some, despised by others. Some feed them nearby their homes and others keep weapons ready at their disposal. But in Germany they hold a reputation that exceeds any. Labelled as “bandits,” due to the distinctive black strip across their eyes, they regularly make headlines for breaking into hospitals, zoos, power plants…

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Jellyfish turned into an unexpected threat to France’s Gravelines nuclear plant after a huge swarm clogged its cooling system

PC: Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP via Getty  A huge swarm of jellyfish has forced France’s Gravelines nuclear power plant to shut three reactors and reduce output from a fourth, after the animals clogged parts of the seawater cooling system. EDF took reactors 2, 3 and 4 offline as a precaution, while reactor 1 was limited to…

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The ground beneath 394-foot wind turbines in Poland became unexpected nesting and feeding grounds for wild bees in farmland

At a wind farm in western Poland, the ground beneath the turbines has quietly turned into unexpected pollinator territory. A wind turbine standing 394 feet tall rises above sprayed grain fields near Gołańcz, and the unmown gravel patch encircling its base has been found to hold as many wild bees as the seminatural grasslands set…

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Ryanair passenger partially sucked through airplane window after engine blade smashed into cabin: Report

Ryanair flight broken window/Image: NTSB A Ryanair passenger was partially sucked through a broken aircraft window after a fan blade from the plane’s engine broke apart and struck the cabin shortly after takeoff from Greece, a preliminary report by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has found.The July 10 flight to Memmingen, Germany, had…

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