A "doomsday" vault storing food crop seeds from around the world in man-made caves on a remote Norwegian Arctic island will receive more than 14,000 new samples on Tuesday, a custodian of the facility said.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, set deep inside a mountain to withstand disasters from nuclear war to global warming, was launched in 2008 as a backup for the world's gene banks that store the genetic code for thousands of plant species.
Protected by permafrost, the vault has received samples from across the world, and played a leading role between 2015 and 2019 in rebuilding seed collections damaged during the war in Syria.
"The seeds deposited this week represent not just biodiversity, but also the knowledge, culture and resilience of the communities that steward them," Executive Director Stefan Schmitz of the Crop Trust said in a statement.
The new contributions include a sample of 15 species from Sudan, consisting of several varieties of sorghum - a plant that is significant both for the country's food security and its cultural heritage, the Crop Trust said.
The war between the Rapid Support Forces and the army which broke out in April 2023 has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 12 million, while plunging half of Sudan into hunger and several locations into famine.Arctic
"In Sudan...these seeds represent hope," the director of Sudan's Agricultural Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and Research Centre said in a statement.
The total of 14,022 new samples will be deposited at 1430 GMT, including seeds of Nordic tree species from Sweden and rice from Thailand, the Crop Trust said.
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The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to María Corina Machado, a prominent Venezuelan opposition leader, for her tireless efforts in advocating for democracy and a peaceful transition in Venezuela.
Democracies must be prepared to fight for freedom in order to survive, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado said on Wednesday, in a speech delivered by her daughter during a ceremony Machado could not attend.
Scores of demonstrators gathered outside the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo Tuesday (9 December) to protest against the awarding of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
French naval forces opened fire on a swarm of unidentified drones that flew over one of the country’s most sensitive military installations, the Île Longue submarine base in western Brittany, officials confirmed on Friday.
The latest clashes between Thailand and Cambodia mark a dangerous escalation in one of Southeast Asia’s oldest and most sensitive disputes.
In the complex world of international diplomacy, the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan have raised significant questions about the role of third-party mediation.
Citizens from an additional seven countries, including Syria, are being banned from travelling to the U.S. from the 1st of January next year. President Donald Trump made the annoucement on Tuesday (16 December) now has a total of 39 countries banned from entering the States.
Austria’s public broadcaster ORF, which is hosting the Eurovision Song Contest next year, has said it will not block Palestinian flags in the audience or suppress crowd reactions during Israel’s performance.
Police in Australia have charged a man who allegedly opened fire on a Jewish event on Sydney's Bondi Beach with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act.
Dense smog has forced authorities in Pakistan’s Punjab province to shut several major motorways on Tuesday (16 December), stranding commuters as visibility dropped sharply and Lahore’s air quality reached hazardous levels.
At least 37 people have been killed in flash floods triggered by torrential rain in Morocco's Atlantic coastal province of Safi, Moroccan authorities said on Monday (15 December).
Climatologists say Poland has logged its warmest December in 74 years, with 2025 continuing a run of above-average temperatures and repeated national records.
As the world marks the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, progress in combating global climate change is mixed.
An extratropical cyclone has caused widespread disruption across Brazil’s São Paulo state, with powerful winds toppling trees and power lines, blocking streets and leaving large parts of the region without electricity.
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