内容摘要：ROME (AP) — Nino Benvenuti, an Italian former boxer who won gold at his home Olympics in 1960 before earning world championship titles in two weight classes as a pro, has died at age 87.

ROME (AP) — Nino Benvenuti, an Italian former boxer who won gold at his home Olympics in 1960 before earning world championship titles in two weight classes as a pro, has died at age 87.

Using less water and using a drone to fertilize are new techniques that Van is trying andhopes will help solve a paradox at the heart of growing rice: The finicky crop isn’t just vulnerable to climate change but also contributes uniquely to it.

Rice must be grown separately from other crops and seedlings have to be individually planted in flooded fields; backbreaking, dirty work requiring a lot of labor and water that generates a lot of methane,that can trap more than 80-times more heat in the atmosphere in the short term than carbon dioxide.A worker surveys Vo Van Van’s rice fields after spraying fertilizer over the fields using a drone in Long An province in southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A worker surveys Vo Van Van’s rice fields after spraying fertilizer over the fields using a drone in Long An province in southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)It’s a problem unique to growing rice, as inundated fields stop oxygen from entering the soil, creating the conditions for methane-producing bacteria. Rice paddies contribute 8% of all human-made methane in the atmosphere,

Vietnam is the world’s third-largest rice exporter, and the staple importance to Vietnamese culture is palpable in the Mekong Delta. The fertile patchwork of green fields crisscrossed by silvery waterways has helped stave off famine since the Vietnam War ended in 1975. Rice isn’t just the

, it is considered a gift from the gods and continues to be venerated.Critics slammed Abdullah for concurrently taking on the finance minister and internal security minister posts. He was often criticized for dozing off during meetings or at public events, which he blamed on a sleep disorder. Khairy, his son-in-law, led a team of advisers in the Prime Minister’s Office whom critics said influenced Abdullah’s decisions and controlled access to him.

Abdullah also fell out with Mahathir after he axed some of the former leader’s projects, including a proposed bridge to Singapore. Mahathir turned into one of his fiercest critics and accused Abdullah of nepotism and inefficiency..While Abdullah was viewed as a weak leader, he ushered in limited freedom of speech and allowing a more critical media. Conservatives in his party said that was his undoing as it bolstered a newly resurgent opposition led by reformist Anwar Ibrahim. Anwar, Malaysia’s current leader, became prime minister after 2022 elections.

In late 2007, Abdullah faced a series of massive street protests on issues including fuel hikes, demands for electoral reforms and fairer treatment for ethnic minorities. The protests shook his administration. Police cracked down on the rallies and Abdullah warned he would sacrifice public freedoms for stability.In the March 2008 general election, his National Front suffered one of its worst results in a huge blow to Abdullah. It failed to secure a two-thirds legislative majority for the first time in 40 years, yielding 82 seats to the opposition in the 222-member Parliament. It also lost an unprecedented five states.