Environment

Tigers held in captivity in China are being held in abhorrent conditions so that they can produce “tiger wine” – an aphrodisiac for Chinese men.  According to GeoBeats News: Captive tigers in China are being kept in appalling conditions in order to produce the aphrodisiac known as “tiger wine” for Chinese men, according to animal rights activists. It’s technically illegal in the country to breed the big cats in captivity, however, an exception allows tiger farms to do so if they are professedly in place to deter poaching, reports RT.

Don’t worry, Monsanto is coming to the rescue! When it comes to human food crops, 70 out of the main 100 are pollinated by bees. In the last 60+ years, honey bee populations have declined 90% from 3.2 million hives to 2.4 million. Monsanto is now working on a way to solve this crisis…. According to HealthyLife-Online.com: Beekepers in Western countries have been reporting slow declines of stocks due to impaired protein production, changes in agricultural practice, or unpredictable weather.

Some believe that China’s dispute with America’s allies in The South China Sea may be the cause of the next world war. Now, the U.S. Navy has announced plans to patrol the disputed islands in the South China Sea in April. This mission comes after China has repeatedly told the United States to stay away from its international affairs. According to The New York Times: The exact timing of the exercise and which ship would travel inside a 12-nautical mile limit around a disputed island was not immediately clear.

Kim Jong-un has warned that North Korea is on the verge of sending China a “nuclear storm” for its “betrayal of socialism”, according to a leaked document from the Workers’ Party of North Korea.  The document reads, “we must no longer go easy on the Chinese and instead deal with them equally in order to change their attitude of taking us lightly,” the document repeatedly declares China an “enemy state.” North Korea now consider China to be on the same ranks as South Korea, the U.S., and Japan.

Japan plans to build a 1.5-km-long underground refrigeration system around the Fukushima nuclear power plant in the hope of containing groundwater contamination around the crippled facility. Radioactive water has been seeping into the groundwater and the ocean following the tsunami and earthquake of March 2011. Science alert reports: The move comes after swimming robots specially designed to remove Fukushima’s melted fuel rods ‘died’ within days of starting their mission this month, due to high levels of radioactive material destroying their wiring.