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GENEVA -- The United Nations chief delivered a strong defense of science and meteorology on Wednesday, praising the U.N. weather agency for helping save lives by keeping watch for climate disasters around the world. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to the World Meteorological Organization as science faces an assault in the United States: President Donald Trump's administration has led an anti-science push, and Trump has called climate change "a con job." A longtime advocate for the fight against global warming, Guterres spoke at a special WMO meeting aimed at promoting early-warning systems that help countries rich and poor brace for floods, storms, forest fires and heat waves. "Without your long-term monitoring, we wouldn't benefit from the warnings and guidance that protect communities and save millions of lives and billions of dollars each year," he said, alluding to "the dangerous and existential threat of climate change." Last week, the weather agency reported that heat-trapping carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere jumped by the highest amount on record last year, soaring to a level not seen in human civilization and causing more extreme weather. Taiwan reports 1st swine fever outbreak TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan reported its first cases of African swine fever on Wednesday and culled at least 195 pigs from the affected farm. Authorities also ordered a ban on the movement and slaughter of pigs across the island. The Ministry of Agriculture said samples from dead pigs from a farm in the coastal city of Taichung had tested positive for African swine fever on Tuesday. Animal protection and quarantine authorities immediately went to the farm and "preventively culled 195 pigs," the ministry said. The authorities then supervised the cleaning and disinfection of the farm and established a control zone with a radius of almost 2 miles from its center. Authorities also ordered a five-day ban on the movement and slaughtering of pigs across the island, starting at noon on Wednesday. Taiwan will isolate the virus strain before officially reporting it to the World Organization of Animal Health, Agriculture Minister Chen Junne-jih told a news conference. African swine fever, which is nearly always fatal to swine, does not affect humans or other animals outside of the pig family. This is Taiwan's first-ever reported case of the virus, Chen said. The island prohibits bringing in any meat or meat products without proper inspection and quarantine, with fines of up to more than $32,000. Guatemala passes anti-gang measure GUATEMALA CITY -- Guatemala passed a new anti-gang law on Tuesday aimed at giving the government more resources to fight the groups, which are now considered terrorist organizations. The law designates the Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha gangs as terrorist groups, increases prison sentences for gang members convicted of crimes, and orders the construction of a new prison for gang members. The legislation, which had been in limbo for years, gained momentum after the escape of 20 members of Barrio 18 from a prison earlier this month. That security failure led President Bernardo Arévalo to accept the resignations of three top security officials last week. On Tuesday, before the legislation passed, Arévalo said the escape had been a coordinated plot by the gang, which was frustrated by steps his then-Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez was taking to toughen conditions for them in prison. Also Tuesday, police said that a fourth gang member who escaped with the group had been recaptured. In September, the Trump administration designated Barrio 18 as a foreign terrorist organization, something it had already done with Mara Salvatrucha. Guatemala's neighbor El Salvador has successfully decimated the gangs in its territory, but has done so by suspending some fundamental rights under a more than three-year state of emergency and putting more than 80,000 people into prison. Migrant boat sinks near Tunisia; 40 dead TUNIS, Tunisia -- Forty people, including infants, died when a boat carrying migrants seeking to reach Europe sank Wednesday off the coast of Tunisia, according to local judicial authorities. Tunisian naval units that arrived on the scene rescued 30 other migrants on board the boat, which sank off the Mediterranean port of Mahdia in central Tunisia, Mahdia court spokesman Walid Charbi said. Charbi said those aboard were from sub-Saharan Africa, without providing further details. The prosecutor's office has ordered an investigation to determine the causes and circumstances of the sinking, Charbi said. Mahdia is Tunisia's second-biggest port of call for departures of boats carrying people from Tunisia and elsewhere in Africa as well as Asia seeking to reach Europe. Tunisian security forces have ramped up efforts to prevent migrants from reaching or crossing the sea -- a journey that can be deadly.
