Australia has listed the koala as an endangered species across most of its east coast, after a dramatic decline in numbers. The once-thriving marsupial has been ravaged by land clearing, bushfires, drought, disease and other threats. The federal government said the listing was for Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It has been urged to do more to protect koalas from rapidly diminishing habitats and climate change. The species was listed as “vulnerable” in those states and territory only in 2012. Despite the rapid deterioration, governments have been accused of dithering. “This listing adds priority when it comes to the conservation of the koala,” Environment Minister Sussan Ley said on Friday.(BBC)…[+]

French President Emmanuel Macron refused a Russian Covid test ahead of his meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has confirmed. The test required a health protocol that was unacceptable and did not fit with the French leader’s schedule, a French source told the BBC. It follows reports that Mr Macron refused the PCR test over fears the Russians would get hold of his DNA. The leaders subsequently held a socially-distanced meeting. They did not shake hands and sat with a four-metre-long table between them, with observers wondering whether Mr Putin was using it to send a diplomatic message. But French diplomatic sources told Reuters that Mr Macron had been told to choose between accepting a Russian PCR test to get closer to Putin or abide by strict social distancing rules. “We knew very well that meant no handshake and that long table. But we could not accept that they get their hands on the president’s DNA,” one of the sources told Reuters. The source did not elaborate on how the Russian intelligence services could exploit Mr Macron’s DNA.(BBC)…[+]