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ore than a fifth of migratory species under international protection are threatened with extinction, including nearly all nomadic fish, according to the first UN expert assessment. From humpback whales to Dalmatian pelicans, each year, billions of animals journey with the seasons over oceans, on land and in the skies. But a new report by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) has found that many migratory species are at risk of disappearing, threatened by human pollution, the spread of invasive species and the climate crisis. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/12/from-turtles-to-fruit-bats-migratory-species-increasingly-under-threat-says-un

FC Porto stunned a drab Arsenal side with a wonderful last-minute winner from Galeno as the Portuguese side took a Champions League last-16 first-leg win to London. After scoring 11 goals in their last two Premier League games, the Gunners had an off-night in Portugal and failed to register a shot on target for the first time in two years - and were left aghast as Galeno cut inside and hit a superb long-range effort past David Raya in the fourth minute of stoppage time.Galeno should have put Porto ahead in the first half when he missed two sitters from close range - first hitting the post then somehow putting an even better chance from the rebound wide.Arsenal's best chances came from set pieces as William Saliba, Gabriel and Kai Havertz put efforts from dead ball situations wide. But Galeno's dramatic winner means Mikel Arteta's side will have to come from behind to progress to the quarter-finals when the second leg comes around on March 12."We lacked threat, we lacked much more threat. More aggression [was needed], especially when we had the ball in the final third, especially in the back with more purpose to help them," Arteta said to TNT Sports after the game."We will tweak a few things to attack better especially because, to be fair, we haven't conceded much at all. But we can do better." https://www.skysports.com/football/fc-porto-vs-arsenal/report/501461

Dozens of archaeological sites in Afghanistan have been bulldozed to allow systematic looting, according to researchers at the University of Chicago. They say their analysis of satellite photos provides the first definitive photographic evidence that looting patterns that began under the previous government have continued since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Ancient settlements dating back to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age - some earlier than 1000BC - are among those they say have been damaged. Most of the sites identified are in northern Afghanistan's Balkh region, which more than two millennia ago was the heartland of Bactria. It was one of the richest and most populous regions of ancient Afghanistan under the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th Century BC. By 327BC, Alexander the Great had conquered the region and married a Bactrian woman named Roxana, after defeating the Achaemenid ruler. Located on a major east-west Silk Route, the region's central city Bactra - later called Balkh - has been a centre of both the Zoroastrian faith and Buddhist learning. It later became an important Islamic city. The researchers from the University of Chicago's Center for Cultural Heritage Preservation have identified more than 29,000 archaeological sites across Afghanistan, helped by satellite imagery and other tools. But they spotted a new pattern in the Balkh region from 2018 onwards. They say they have identified specks on the images that they are confident are bulldozers because of the way they appear and disappear over time, and the tracks they leave in their wake. These freshly bulldozed areas then appear in later images, covered with pits dug by looters, Prof Gil Stein, the centre's director explained. "Basically, the people were clearing out vast areas to make it easier to loot the site systematically," he told me. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68311913