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☆ Taliban carry out first public execution since Afghan takeover
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

ISLAMABAD — The Taliban authorities on Wednesday executed an Afghan convicted of killing another man, the first public execution since the former insurgents took over Afghanistan last year, a spokesman said. The execution, carried out with an assault rifle by the victim’s father, took place in western Farah province before hundreds of spectators and many top Taliban officials, according to Zabihullah Mujahid, the top Taliban government spokesman. The executed man, identified as Tajmir from Herat province, was convicted of killing another man five years ago and stealing his motorcycle and mobile phone. Taliban security forces had arrested Tajmir after the victim’s family accused him of the crime, said a statement from Mujahid, the spokesman. During the previous Taliban rule of the country in the late 1990s, the group carried out public executions, floggings and stoning of those convicted of crimes in Taliban courts.

The deal to create a "loss and damage" fund was hailed as a breakthrough for developing country negotiators at the COP27 climate talks in Egypt, overcoming years of resistance from wealthy nations in European Union and United States. Morgan, along with Chile's environment minister, led the working group that came up with the U.N. deal on loss and damage. The fund was created on the principle that rich, industrialized nations that are responsible for most of the world's greenhouse emissions should pay developing countries for the damage caused to the climate. But Morgan said the fund needed to go beyond public money from industrialized countries to find innovative funding sources. Climate Envoy John Kerry told Reuters that the United States consulted with COP27 host Egypt and the United Nations on loss and damage, proposing that the fund be created in 2023 rather than 2024.

☆ Countries split on plastics treaty focus as UN talks close
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Valerie Volcovici | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The High Ambition Coalition of over 40 countries, including EU members, Switzerland, host Uruguay and Ghana, wants the treaty to be based on mandatory global measures, including curbs on production. That approach contrasts with the country-driven pledges advocated by countries including the United States and Saudi Arabia. Critics say such an approach would weaken a global treaty. Industry representatives at the talks touted the essential role of plastics in daily life, calling for the treaty to focus tackling waste rather than measures to sap production. Environmental group Greenpeace said that without a strong treaty, plastic production could double within the next 10 to 15 years, and triple by 2050.

☆ Opinion: It's time for African countries to consider a climate tax on exports
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Adjoa Adjei-Twum | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

I welcome progress here, as African nations are bearing the brunt of climate change. It is now time for African nations to levy a climate export tax on commodities, such as cocoa and rubber, to help pay for climate adaptation. Adaptation is all about building resilience and capacity, and I believe our governments, banks, and businesses must also adapt. Additionally, G20 countries are asking their banks to forecast how risky their loans are due to climate change. It is a wake-up call for African governments, banks, institutions, and companies to unite, step up, and adapt to a new climate reality.

☆ Kim Jong Un’s sister warns U.S. of ‘a more fatal security crisis’
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

After the meeting, Thomas-Greenfield also read a statement by 14 countries that supported action to limit North Korea’s advancement of its weapons programs. During the Security Council meeting, the United States and its allies strongly criticized the ICBM launch and called for action to limit North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. But Russia and China, both veto-wielding members of the Security Council, opposed any new pressure and sanctions on North Korea. The status of North Korea’s nuclear capability remains shrouded in secrecy. Some analysts say North Korea already has nuclear-armed missiles that can strike both the U.S. mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan, but others say the North is still years away from possessing such missiles.

☆ Rich countries driving the climate crisis have agreed to pay developing nations for damage. But collecting the money will be tough.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Developing nations won creation of a "loss and damage" fund for climate disasters. Climate diplomats left Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, with a historic deal — 30 years in the making — for rich countries to pay developing nations for the damages they are already facing from a warming planet. But the negotiators who gathered in the resort city along the Red Sea failed to hammer out a more aggressive plan to curb the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving the crisis. The agreement follows a decades-long push by a coalition of developing nations known as the G77+ China. That country, despite being the world's largest polluter, is considered a developing country by international institutions and therefore isn't obligated to contribute to climate finance.

☆ Russian prankster impersonating Macron spoke to Poland's Duda after blast
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Emmanuel, believe me, I am extra careful," Duda tells the caller. "I don't want to have war with Russia and believe me, I am extra careful, extra careful." "During the call, President Andrzej Duda realized from the unusual way the interlocutor conducted the conversation that there might have been an attempted hoax attempt and ended the conversation." Duda's office was investigating how the callers managed to get through to him together with the relevant services, it said. In 2020 Vovan and Lexus called Duda pretending to be U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, raising questions about security and call screening in Duda's office.

☆ U.S. calls for U.N. Security Council president's statement on North Korea missiles
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield said it was vital the 15-member Security Council respond with one voice and reiterated U.S. charges that China and Russia were "emboldening" Pyongyang by blocking council action. The United States will be proposing a Presidential Statement to this end," she said, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. He said Washington should take the initiative and put forward realistic proposals to respond to North Korea's "legitimate concerns." A spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the United Nations said a draft president's statement would be shared with the Security Council soon and negotiations would follow. It said the Council must act to limit the advancement of North Korea's weapons programs.

☆ North Korea's foreign minister says U.N. secretary general not impartial
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SEOUL, Nov 21 (Reuters) - North Korea's foreign minister on Monday accused U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres of siding with the United States and failing to maintain impartiality and objectivity. "Recently I have often taken the UN secretary-general for a member of the U.S. White House or its State Department," Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said in a statement carried by state media defending the nuclear-armed North's right to develop weapons for self defence. Reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: COP27 loss and damage fund heralds 'new dawn for climate justice'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Megan Rowling | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Yeb Saño, head of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said the fund's approval "marks a new dawn for climate justice." While the loss and damage fund would not be enough to deal with growing climate losses, "it is a much-needed political signal to rebuild broken trust" between rich and poor nations, he said in a video statement. Their opposition was rooted in fears of being held financially liable for the impacts of their historically high greenhouse gas emissions. FOSSIL FUELS MISSINGPolitical figures had urged countries at COP27 to set aside geopolitical fights in order to keep climate action on track. Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, global climate and energy lead for environmental group WWF, who presided over COP20 in Peru, said leaders had missed the chance in Egypt to speed up the rapid and deep emissions cuts essential to limit climate damage.

☆ What are people saying about the COP27 deal?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"I urge you to acknowledge when you walk out of this room, that we have all fallen short in actions to avoid and minimise loss and damage. "Too many parties are not ready to make more progress today in the fight against climate crisis." PAKISTAN CLIMATE CHANGE MINISTER SHERRY REHMAN"We have struggled for 30 year on this path and today in Sharm el-Sheikh this journey has achieved its first positive milestone ... MALDIVES CLIMATE CHANGE MINISTER AMINATH SHAUNA"I recognise the progress we made in COP 27 particularly on...the funding arrangements for loss and damage. And we were able to prevent a backslide behind the consensus of Glasgow and Paris (climate summits).

Here's what you need to know about the agreement:WHAT IS 'LOSS AND DAMAGE'? In U.N. climate talks, "loss and damage" refers to costs being incurred from climate-fuelled weather extremes or impacts, like rising sea levels. Loss and damage funding is different, specifically covering the cost of damage that countries cannot avoid or adapt to. A few governments have made relatively small but symbolic funding commitments for loss and damage: Denmark, Belgium, Germany and Scotland, plus the EU. Some existing U.N. and development bank funding does help states facing loss and damage, though it is not officially earmarked for that goal.

☆ Russia launches new Ukraine barrage as grain deal extended
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Russian airstrikes inflicted more damage on Ukraine on Thursday, with the latest barrage smashing into energy infrastructure, apartment buildings and an industrial site. At least four people were killed and more than a dozen others wounded in drone and missile strikes around the country, authorities said. The deals signed in Istanbul are aimed to help bring down prices of food and fertilizer and avoid a global food crisis. Air raid sirens sounded all across Ukraine early Thursday amid fears that Moscow was unleashing its latest large-scale missile attack as the war approaches its nine-month milestone. In Kyiv, the city’s military administration said air defenses shot down at least two cruise missiles and five Iranian-made exploding drones.

☆ Russia Agrees to Renew Ukraine Grain Deal, U.N. Says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( William Mauldin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The agreement allowed Ukraine to resume shipping grain through three Black Sea ports after a monthslong blockade. Moscow agreed to renew an arrangement with Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations that allows for the export of Ukrainian agricultural products through the war-torn Black Sea region, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said. “I welcome the agreement by all parties to continue the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” Mr. Guterres said in a statement.

☆ Talks at COP27 enter final stretch — but draft deal slammed for paving the way to ‘climate hell’
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Around 35,000 delegates from nearly 200 countries are expected to convene in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss collective action to tackle the climate emergency. Ahmad Gharabli | Afp | Getty ImagesAs talks at the COP27 climate summit enter the final stretch, government ministers and negotiators from nearly 200 countries are scrambling to build consensus on an array of issues critical to tackling the climate emergency. The U.N. climate agency on Thursday published a 20-page first draft of a hoped-for final agreement. It is highly likely to be reworked in the coming days as climate envoys in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh strive to reach an overarching deal before Friday's deadline. Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during the COP27 climate conference in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

☆ UN Secretary General says Black Sea grain deal extended
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The United Nations Secretary General said on Thursday he welcomed an agreement by all parties to extend the Black Sea grain deal to facilitate Ukraine's agricultural exports from its southern Black Sea ports. "I welcome the agreement by all parties to continue the Black Sea grain initiative to facilitate the safe navigation of export of grain, foodstuffs and fertilisers from Ukraine," UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a statement on Thursday. Gueterres said the UN was also "fully committed to removing the remaining obstacles to exporting food and fertilisers from the Russian Federation" - a part of the deal Moscow sees as critical. Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Guy FaulconbridgeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ "Stand and deliver," UN chief tells faltering COP27 climate summit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( William James | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Negotiators at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt must overcome a "breakdown in trust" between rich and poor nations to deliver a deal to save the world from the worst of global warming, U.N. chief Antonio Guterres said on Thursday. "The world is watching and has a simple message: stand and deliver." His speech was intended to rally negotiators that have become stuck on issues from whether a fund should be established to compensate poor nations for climate damage already ocurring, to language around fossil fuels use. "No one can deny the scale of loss and damage we see around the globe," he said. He also urged developed countries to deliver on a past pledge to provide $100 billion per year to help poor nations adapt to climate change and switch to clean energy.

☆ Why the energy transition is so tough for Africa: 600 million people still have no access to power
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Ahead of COP 27, CNN’s Eleni Giokos discussed this and other topics at Africa Energy Week in Cape Town, with Verner Ayukegba, Senior Vice President of the African Energy Chamber, which works with businesses in the continent and promotes energy growth. At the African Energy Chamber, we have decided to champion making energy poverty history by 2030. We need to make sure that we solve, of course, the climate issues, but also the power issues. What we are saying, however, is that you can’t transition in Limpopo [South Africa] in the same way you transition in New York. For anybody who has a constituency with 600 million people without power, you need to talk differently about these issues.

Brazil's 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro set the stage for all major international environmental agreements since, with the signing of U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is aimed at preventing extreme climate change and was the foundation of the COP meetings. He said Lula would turn around Brazil's environmental policies "180 degrees" from those of Bolsonaro. Lula won office last month over Bolsonaro, who appointed climate skeptics as ministers and saw deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest spike to a 15-year high. On Thursday, Lula will meet with civil society and indigenous groups, as well as United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

☆ 'Profoundly disturbing': The PR firm for the COP27 climate summit has a long history with Big Oil
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

"Hill and Knowlton is the main lobbying communications firm for the oil industry," said Duncan Meisel, campaign director at Clean Creatives, a U.S.-based group working to disentangle the PR industry from the fossil fuel sector. "Any PR firm that is actively supporting to promote [a] narrative of continued fossil fuel expansion under any circumstances is a problem," Muffett told CNBC via telephone. watch nowIt comes at a time of growing momentum for calls to end fossil fuel production worldwide. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently called out what he described as the "massive public relations machine raking in billions to shield the fossil fuel industry from scrutiny." "Fossil fuel interests need to spend less time averting a PR disaster — and more time averting a planetary one."

☆ The world's 8 billionth person was just born, UN projection shows — the first time the global population has been so big
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The world population was due to hit 8 billion for the first time on November 15, 2022. That's in spite of the global population growing more slowly in recent years. That means a billion people have been added to the world population in the past 12 years, CNN reported. The world's population is due to grow further: hitting 9 billion around 2037 and 10 billion around 2058, the UN predicted in a statement. The new milestone happened in spite of global population growth slowing down overall, to under 1% a year, per CNN.

Lula's team also worked to secure a jungle conservation alliance announced on Monday between the three largest rainforest nations - Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. That includes pushing for rich nations with high greenhouse gas emissions to pay poor nations for historic damage the climate. Colombia's Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said Lula's election would allow for renewed regional cooperation among Amazon rainforest nations to tackle deforestation, a major contributor to climate change. Lula environmental advisor Izabella Teixeira said she felt the mood about Brazil has shifted at COP27 from previous summits. "When I come to COP and meet people after the election of President Lula, there is hope," she said.

An EU official said Lula would also meet on Wednesday with EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans. Last month, Lula defeated right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who oversaw mounting destruction of the Amazon rainforest and refused to host the 2019 climate summit originally planned for Brazil. His team also worked to secure a jungle conservation alliance announced on Monday between the three largest rainforest nations - Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia. They said other countries know Brazil will soon have a Lula government that has promised to take the issue more seriously than Bolsonaro, a climate change sceptic. Colombia's Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said Lula's election would allow renewed regional cooperation among Amazon rainforest nations to tackle deforestation, a major contributor to climate change.

☆ Russia's Lavrov went to hospital for 'checkup': Indonesia official
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited and later left a Bali hospital ahead of the Group of 20 summit being held on the island, Indonesian authorities said Monday. Four Indonesian government and medical officials earlier told The Associated Press that Lavrov was treated at the hospital in the provincial capital, Denpasar. Lavrov is Russia’s longest-serving foreign minister since Soviet times, when Andrei Gromyko, nicknamed “Mr Nyet” in the West for his uncompromising approach, held the post for 28 years. Before becoming foreign minister, Lavrov served as Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations. Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Lavrov repeatedly dismissed U.S. and British assertions that Putin was preparing to order an invasion.

☆ G20 summit latest: Biden and Xi meet
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BIDEN AND XI* The meeting ahead of the G20 summit, being held on Tuesday and Wednesday on the Indonesian island of Bali, was their first in-person talks since Biden became president. RUSSIA AND UKRAINE* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he will address the G20 gathering by videolink on Tuesday. * Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would hold a bilateral meeting with Xi on Tuesday. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will also meet Xi on Tuesday. * Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, the summit host, told Biden he expected the meeting to deliver concrete partnerships that might help global economic recovery.

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