World in brief: Paramilitary leader extradited to U.S.
The Colombian government Wednesday extradited a right-wing paramilitary leader to the United States, where he has been wanted on drug-trafficking charges.
Carlos Mario Jimenez, alias Macaco, had given himself up as part of a paramilitary demobilization program that by 2006 had seen 31,000 militia members and leaders lay down their arms, a keystone of President Alvaro Uribe’s plan to end this country’s four-decades-long civil war.
Militia leaders including Jimenez were promised light prison sentences and immunity from extradition as long as they gave up their lives of crime, made restitution and confessed fully for their crimes. But Jimenez violated the terms of the agreement of the Peace and Justice Law by continuing to run his drug trafficking and illicit business empire from jail, Colombian and U.S. officials charged Wednesday.
“He’s a huge one,” said a high-ranking U.S. government official when asked about the scope of Jimenez’s alleged drug-trafficking activities.
Canberra, Australia
Study says CO2 threatens koalas
Koalas are threatened by the rising level of carbon dioxide pollution in the atmosphere because it saps nutrients from the eucalyptus leaves they feed on, a researcher said Wednesday.
Ian Hume, emeritus professor of biology at Sydney University, said he and his researchers also found that the amount of toxicity in the leaves of eucalyptus saplings rose when the level of carbon dioxide within a greenhouse was increased.
Hume presented his research on the effects of carbon dioxide on eucalyptus leaves to the Australian Academy of Science in Canberra on Wednesday.
The researchers found that carbon dioxide in eucalyptus leaves affects the balance of nutrients and “anti-nutrients” – substances that are either toxic or interfere with the digestion of nutrients.
An increase in carbon dioxide favors the trees’ production of carbon-based anti-nutrients over nutrients, so leaves can become toxic to koalas, Hume said.
Hume estimated that current levels of global carbon dioxide emissions would result in a noticeable reduction in Australia’s koala population in 50 years due to a lack of palatable leaves.