GLASGOW: Leaders at the COP26 global climate conference in Glasgow have pledged to stop deforestation by the end of the decade and slash emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane to help slow climate change.
The inability of major powers so far to agree more broadly on rapid reductions in the use of fossil fuels, the main cause of manmade global warming, has upset the poorer, smaller countries likely to suffer its worst effects.
Surangel Whipps Jr, president of Palau, a Pacific state of 500 low-lying islands under threat from rising sea levels, told the leaders of the G20 industrial powers in a speech: “We are drowning and our only hope is the life-ring you are holding.”
Nearly 90 countries have joined a US- and EU-led effort to slash emissions of methane 30 percent by 2030 from 2020 levels, a senior Biden administration official said ahead of a formal announcement on Tuesday.
Methane is more short-lived in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide but 80 times more potent in warming the earth. Cutting emissions of the gas, which is estimated to have accounted for 30 percent of global warming since pre-industrial times, is one of the most effective ways of slowing climate change.
The Global Methane Pledge, first announced in September, now covers emissions from two-thirds of the global economy, according to the US official.
Among the signatories to be announced on Tuesday is Brazil — one of the five biggest emitters of methane, which is generated in cows’ digestive systems, in landfill waste and in oil and gas production. Three others — China, Russia and India — have not signed up, while Australia has said it will not back the pledge.
Humanity has also boosted the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by hacking away at the forests that absorb roughly 30 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, according to the nonprofit World Resources Institute.
In 2020, the world lost 258,000 sq km (100,000 sq miles) of forest — an area larger than the United Kingdom, according to WRI’s Global Forest Watch. The conservation charity WWF estimates that 27 football fields of forest are lost every minute.
More than 100 national leaders pledged to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by the end of the decade, underpinned by $19 billion in public and private funds to invest in protecting and restoring forests.
The agreement vastly expands a commitment made by 40 countries as part of the 2014 New York Declaration of Forests, and promises more resources.
“Let’s end this great global chainsaw massacre by making conservation do what we know it can do and deliver long-term sustainable jobs and growth as well,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
COP26 aims to keep alive a receding target of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels to avert still greater damage from the intensified heatwaves, droughts, storms, floods and coastal damage that climate change is already causing.
Under the agreement, 12 countries pledged to provide $12 billion of public funding between 2021 and 2025 for developing countries to restore degraded land and tackle wildfires.
At least $7.2 billion will come from private sector investors representing $8.7 trillion in assets under management, who also pledged to stop investing in activities linked to deforestation such as cattle, palm oil and soybean farming and pulp production.
Brazil, which has cleared vast swathes of the Amazon rainforest, did make a new commitment on Monday to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030, compared with a previous pledge of 43 percent.
And Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time set out a target date for India, heavily reliant on coal, to reduce its carbon emissions to a level it can absorb, albeit only in 2070 — 20 years beyond the UN’s global recommendation.
But there is scant sign so far of shared resolve by the world’s two biggest carbon polluters, China and the United States, which together account for more than 40 percent of global emissions but are at odds on numerous issues.
US President Joe Biden has singled out China and leading oil producer Russia for failing to step up their climate goals in Glasgow, while Beijing has rejected Washington’s efforts to separate climate issues from their wider disagreements.
The Communist Party-run Global Times said in an editorial on Monday that Washington’s attitude had made it “impossible for China to see any potential to have fair negotiation amid the tensions.”
China said on Tuesday that President Xi Jinping, who decided not to attend in person, had not been given an opportunity to deliver a video address, and had to send a written response instead — in which he offered no additional pledges.
The British government said it had wanted people to attend the conference in person, and had offered absentees the chance to provide recorded addresses or statements.
“If the world was a private company,” said Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada, “imagine that for a minute, and the leaders of the world were to be different CEOs of the corporations — today we would all be fired.”
Leaders at global climate talks pledge to cut methane and save forests
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Leaders at global climate talks pledge to cut methane and save forests
- Clamping down on methane flaring and leaks from oil wells and gas pipelines is considered one of the easiest ways to cut emissions
- Brazil, which has cleared vast swathes of the Amazon rainforest, did make a new commitment on Monday to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030
Moscow attack death toll rises to 143: authorities
Authorities listed the names of the dead on the Russian ministry for civil defense and emergency situations five days after last Friday’s attack, the deadliest claimed to date by Daesh on European soil and the worst in Russia in two decades.
By Wednesday afternoon, 80 people injured in the attack, including six children, remained in hospital, TASS news agency quoted Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko as saying.
An anonymous medical source told TASS 205 people had received outpatient care.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova told reporters the previous day that many people in shock had initially not returned to the hospital for treatment.
On Friday, gunmen opened fire at the Crocus City concert hall near Moscow, also setting fire to the venue.
Four attack suspects — all from Tajikistan according to Russian state media — are under arrest along with several suspected accomplices.
A Moscow court has ordered the men be held in pre-trial detention until May 22 — a date likely to be extended until a full trial.
Russia said Saturday it had arrested 11 people in connection with the attack. There has been no information on the other seven.
The attack was swiftly claimed by Daesh although Moscow has repeated its initial line of a link to Ukraine.
Kyiv rejects any involvement.
Russia has for some years been a target of Daesh owing to its role in suppressing unrest in regions with a substantial Muslim majority as well as its support for the regime in Syria’s civil war.
On Monday, three days after the attack, President Vladimir Putin admitted for the first time that the presumed gunmen were radical Islamists but continued to insist on a link to Ukraine, saying the perpetrators were headed there when they were caught some 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the border.
French parliament condemns 1961 Paris massacre of Algerians
- In recent years France has made a series of efforts to come to terms with its colonial past in Algeria
- The text of the resolution, which is largely symbolic, stressed the crackdown took place “under the authority of police prefect Maurice Papon”
PARIS: The French parliament’s lower house on Thursday approved a resolution condemning as “bloody and murderous repression” the killing by Paris police of dozens of Algerians in a crackdown on a 1961 protest to support Algerian independence.
In recent years France has made a series of efforts to come to terms with its colonial past in Algeria.
Dozens of peaceful demonstrators died during a crackdown by Paris police on a protest by Algerians in 1961. The scale of the massacre was covered up for decades by French authorities before President Emmanuel Macron condemned it as “inexcusable” in 2021.
The text of the resolution, which is largely symbolic, stressed the crackdown took place “under the authority of police prefect Maurice Papon” and also called for the official commemoration of the massacre.
The bill, put forward by Greens lawmaker Sabrina Sebaihi and ruling Renaissance party MP Julie Delpech, was approved by 67 lawmakers, mainly representatives of the left and Macron’s party.
Eleven voted against, all members of the far-right National Rally party.
Sebaihi said the vote represented the “first step” toward the “recognition of this colonial crime, the recognition of this state crime.”
The term “state crime” however does not appear in the text of the resolution, which was jointly drafted by Macron’s party and the Elysee Palace. The subject remains highly sensitive both in France and Algeria.
The Paris police chief at the time, Papon, was in the 1980s revealed to have been a collaborator with the occupying Nazis in World War II and complicit in the deportation of Jews. He was convicted of crimes against humanity but later released.
On the 60th anniversary of the bloodshed in 2021, Macron acknowledged that several dozen protesters had been killed, “their bodies thrown into the River Seine.”
The precise number of victims has never been made clear and some activists fear several hundred could have been killed.
“Let us spare a thought here today for these victims and their families, who have been hit hard by the spiral of violence,” Dominique Faure, the minister for local and regional authorities, said on Thursday.
She noted that efforts had been made in the past to recognize the massacre.
In 2012, then president Francois Hollande paid “tribute to the victims” of a “bloody crackdown” on the men and women demonstrating for “the right to independence.”
The rally was called in the final year of France’s increasingly violent attempt to retain Algeria as a north African colony, and in the middle of a bombing campaign targeting mainland France by pro-independence militants.
However, Faure expressed reservations about establishing a special day to commemorate the massacre, pointing out that three dates already existed to “commemorate what happened during the Algerian war.”
“Much remains to be done to write this history, but in my opinion this is the only way to build a sincere and lasting reconciliation,” she said.
“I think it is important to let history do the work before considering a new day of commemoration specifically for the victims of October 17, 1961.”
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is set to travel to France for a state visit, scheduled for late September or early October, according to the Elysee.
However, National Rally lawmaker Frank Giletti criticized “excessive repentance” based on “lies.”
“By proposing this resolution, you are following in the footsteps of Emmanuel Macron, who has never stopped kneeling before the Algerian government, and who is working to mortify his own country through continuous repentance that has become unbearable,” he said.
France has made several attempts over the years to heal the wounds with Algeria, but it refuses to “apologize or repent” for the 132 years of often brutal rule that ended in 1962 after a devastating eight-year war.
French historians say half a million civilians and combatants died during the war for independence, 400,000 of them Algerian. The Algerian authorities say 1.5 million were killed.
France blocks fake Ukraine war recruitment website
- The site, which is now inaccessible, said 200,000 French people were invited to “enlist in Ukraine,” with immigrants given priority
- A link to the site — that resembled the French army’s genuine recruitment portal — had been posted on X, the French defense ministry said
PARIS: French authorities have uncovered a website containing a fake recruitment drive for French volunteers to join the war in Ukraine, the defense ministry said on Thursday.
The site has now been taken down by French services, a government source, who asked not to be named, told AFP without giving further details on the nature of the operation.
The site, which is now inaccessible, said 200,000 French people were invited to “enlist in Ukraine,” with immigrants given priority.
A link to the site — that resembled the French army’s genuine recruitment portal — had been posted on X, formerly Twitter, the French defense ministry said.
“The site is a fake government site,” the ministry said, also on X, “and has been reposted by malevolent accounts as part of a disinformation campaign.”
The ministry did not name any suspects in the website spoof, but a government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the site bore “the hallmarks of a Russian or pro-Russian effort as part of a disinformation campaign claiming that the French army is preparing to send troops to Ukraine.”
French President Emmanuel Macron angered the Russian leadership last month by hardening his tone on the conflict sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, refusing to rule out sending ground troops and insisting Europe had to do all that was needed for a Russian defeat.
Similar recent examples of disinformation posts included pictures of French army convoys wrongly presented as moving toward the Ukrainian border, the official said.
The fake website invited potential recruits to contact “unit commander Paul” for information about joining.
The defense ministry and government cyber units are investigating, ministry staff told AFP.
The French government has recently stepped up efforts to denounce and fight what it says are Russian disinformation and destabilization campaigns aimed at undermining French public support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Indonesian medics in Gaza ‘shocked’ by scale of humanitarian catastrophe
- Team of 11 Indonesian doctors, surgical nurses are part of emergency medical team in Gaza
- Medics say they ‘won’t be able to forget’ views of death and destruction
JAKARTA: Indonesian medics who are on an emergency mission in Rafah say they are shocked at the scale of human catastrophe in Gaza, as they witness the worst scenes of suffering they have ever seen.
A team of 11 Indonesian doctors and surgical nurses organized by the Jakarta-based Medical Emergency Rescue Committee entered Gaza last week as part of an emergency deployment led by the World Health Organization.
They are now working at a number of health facilities in Rafah, a city on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip where over a million Palestinians have sought refuge and Israel’s deadly bombings have increased.
“They are certainly shocked. These are medics who usually work in ordinary settings and are suddenly thrown into such heartbreaking scenes,” Sarbini Abdul Murad, chairman of MER-C’s executive committee, told Arab News on Thursday.
In Gaza, the medical volunteers not only witness the death and injury from Israeli attacks but also famine.
“They see the extent of people fighting to get food, or they see children fighting over scraps of meals to give to their family,” Murad said. “Their consciences are being sliced open as they bear witness to these scenes that they won’t be able to forget in their lives.”
Israeli attacks, which began in October, have killed more than 32,500 Palestinians and wounded 74,000 others, while over 1 million people in Gaza are at risk of imminent famine as Israel continues to block aid to the besieged strip.
The team of Indonesian medics is part of a larger emergency medical deployment led by the WHO and composed of members from different countries. It includes orthopedic physicians and surgical nurses to help victims of Israeli attacks who suffer injuries from bombings, missile attacks and gunshots.
They have been struggling with the limited amount of medicines and surgical equipment in the besieged territory.
“The medical sector in Gaza is extremely overwhelmed because of the number of victims and the fact that the number of doctors and health services available are inadequate,” Murad said.
“They handle war victims with traumatic burn injuries, and many patients have to undergo amputation as well.”
Israel has continued to bomb Gaza and block crucial humanitarian aid, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling on Monday for an immediate ceasefire in the strip during Ramadan.
A day after the council’s ceasefire resolution was passed, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese said that there are reasonable grounds to believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
At Philippines’ maximum-security prison, longing for family reunion fills Ramadan prayers
- New Bilibid Prison in Metro Manila has one of the largest prison populations in the world
- It grants Muslim inmates exceptions to help them observe religious duties during the fasting month
MANILA: At 2 a.m. lights are usually still off at the largest Philippine prison, but the rules are less strict during the month of Ramadan, when Muslim inmates need to wake up earlier to perform their religious duties.
They prepare for early morning prayers and sahoor, the meal they consume before starting their daily fast.
“This is what we have been doing since the start of the month of Ramadan. Alhamdullilah we can continue,” said Yacob, an imam at the prison’s maximum-security compound mosque.
“Ramadan for us is when we can relax ourselves, our hearts, and be at peace. And we are very grateful to our government because here in the Philippines there is respect for religious freedom. We can practice our faith.”
The New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa, Metro Manila, has one of the largest prison populations in the world, housing more than 27,000 people. More than half of them, including 700 Muslim inmates, are in the maximum-security compound.
Yacob told Arab News that Muslim inmates have been observing the same way they have always done it.
At 4 p.m., they get together at the prison kitchen to prepare for iftar.
“We made a request to use the kitchen, which was also granted,” he said, adding they faced no difficulties in religious observance.
“Our only major challenge is that during Ramadan everyone needs to be with their loved ones, their children, because that is the spirit of Ramadan.”
Convicted of a deadly bomb attack in 2002, Yacob is a native of Zamboanga Sibugay in Mindanao, the southern island that is home to most Filipinos who profess Islam in the predominantly Catholic country.
Many other Muslim inmates also come from the same region, which until 2014 was at the heart of a four-decades-long separatist struggle.
Zainal, a 48-year-old from Marawi, was imprisoned 20 years ago on murder charges.
He prays that one day he and other inmates will be given the chance to observe Ramadan again at home.
“That’s our top priority, to be with our family specially during this time,” he said.
“I hope we will be forgiven.”
The prison is maintained by the Bureau of Corrections under the Philippine Department of Justice.
The bureau’s director, Gregorio Catapang Jr., told Arab News it was part of its adherence to religious freedom to grant Muslim inmates exemptions during the fasting month. It means they are allowed to receive more food items from relatives, observe different schedules to consume meals, and more freedom of movement.
“The maximum compound is divided into four quadrants or sectors. And they are not allowed to move between sectors or quadrants for security sectors. But during Ramadan they are free to do so,” he said.
“I always tell them: Before anything else you have to find your God ... Their religion will help them in their reformation.”
During Ramadan, access to the mosque is also granted outside the regular hours.
Datucan, who has been imprisoned on drugs-related charges, has been trying to keep himself focused on intense prayer and good deeds.
“We also avoid thinking or talking bad,” he said. “Ramadan is really the most sacred time for us.”
He remembers God and keeps thinking about all those who are dear to him.
“I want my family to be safe and far from harm,” he said.
“For all those who are imprisoned we have the same hope: to get out of this situation, to be free. I hope we will have a second chance, too. We will wait. It will come at the right time.”