People News Roundup: Meghan loses bid to stop newspaper; COVID curbs set new hurdle in climate fight and more

The duchess, wife of Queen Elizabeth's grandson Prince William, joins the monarch's cousin, the Duke of Kent, as president of the organisation which works with about half a million people aged 6 to 25.

Following is a summary of current people news briefs.

David Attenborough leads call for world to invest $500 billion a year to protect nature

British broadcaster David Attenborough on Wednesday led a campaign by conservation groups for the world to invest $500 billion a year to halt the destruction of nature, saying the future of the planet was in "grave jeopardy". Attenborough, whose new film "A Life on Our Planet" documents the dangers posed by climate change and the extinction of species, made his statement as the United Nations convened a one-day summit aimed at galvanising action to protect wildlife.

Meghan loses bid to stop newspaper using biography in court battle

Meghan, Britain's Duchess of Sussex, has lost the latest skirmish in her privacy lawsuit against a tabloid newspaper, after London's High Court ruled on Tuesday the paper could amend its case to include details from a recently published biography. Meghan, wife of Queen Elizabeth's grandson Prince Harry, is suing publisher Associated Newspapers over articles the Mail on Sunday last year that included parts of a handwritten letter she sent to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, in 2018.

Helen Reddy, singer of feminist anthem 'I Am Woman', dies at 78

Singer Helen Reddy, whose 1972 song "I Am Woman" became a global feminist anthem, died in Los Angeles aged 78 on Tuesday, her family said. "Our hearts are broken. But we take comfort in the knowledge that her voice will live on forever," the family wrote on her official Facebook account.

For Ugandan activist, COVID curbs set new hurdle in climate fight

In a run-down residential compound in Kampala, Vanessa Nakate thrusts her fist in the air as she rallies 30 young demonstrators to defend their planet against climate change. "What do we want?" she shouts, to a ragged chorus of "climate justice". The youngest protester, two-year-old Manvir Ssozi, sucks his thumb as he flaps a placard that reads: "Money will be ... useless on a dead planet."

Duchess Kate toasts new scout appointment with marshmallows

Kate, Britain's Duchess of Cambridge, marked her appointment as joint president of Britain's Scout Association on Tuesday by joining scouts in north London for their traditional activity of toasting marshmallows over a camp fire. The duchess, wife of Queen Elizabeth's grandson Prince William, joins the monarch's cousin, the Duke of Kent, as president of the organisation which works with about half a million people aged 6 to 25. The queen herself remains its patron.

Syrian amputee gets new lease of life from designing prosthetics, helping others

Abdelmawla Ibrahim was only 16 when he felt his life was over. While driving through a checkpoint with his family in northern Syria, a stray bullet pierced his left leg, shattering his bones and forcing doctors to amputate it above the knee. "I hated myself, hated my life, I was very depressed," said Ibrahim, now 24.

(With inputs from agencies.)