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Last month, after the biggest Israeli military raid on a Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West Bank in years, Palestinians turned their wrath on their own security forces. They unleashed gunfire, firebombs and pipe bombs at Palestinian security buildings in an outpouring of rage against the Palestinian Authority’s failure to protect them from the devastating July 3 raid and a long-running, deeply unpopular security alliance with Israel. “The horrible events of that night reminded us of the lead-up to the Hamas coup in Gaza,” the head of police in Jenin, Brig. Gen. Azzam Jebara, said at a ceremony this week for officers who defended a police station from rampaging protesters. “It was a warning.” Scarred by the Hamas militant group’s violent takeover of Gaza from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ forces in 2007, the Palestinian Authority has cooperated with Israel to suppress Islamist militant groups and keep the secular nationalist Fatah party in power in the West Bank. Hamas is both a major threat to Israel and the biggest rival to Fatah. The July unrest exposed Palestinians’ seething resentment toward their semi-autonomous government and forced a reckoning for their beaten-down security forces, who in their blue camouflage uniforms have come to embody the tensions tearing at Palestinian society. Widely derided for working with Israel, the forces remain a symbol of Palestinian hopes for statehood. Seeking to regain trust during a lull in Israeli military raids, Palestinian police have stepped up a campaign to restore order in the city of Jenin, long a bastion of crime adjacent to the militarized refugee camp. Read more: Taliban official says women lose value if their faces are visible to men in public But the force's efforts to seize cars, cash and drugs have also revealed their limits. Unable to protect their people from radical Jewish settler attacks and near-daily Israeli military raids across the West Bank, Palestinian security forces described a law enforcement system on the brink of collapse. “If we think we’re establishing control now, we’re fooling ourselves,” said Ibrahim Abahre, deputy head of Preventive Security, a domestic intelligence agency, in Jenin. “At any moment, the Israeli army could enter and everything could explode.” Since the spring of last year, militants from the Jenin refugee camp, where Palestinian forces have lost control, have carried out dozens of shooting attacks in the West Bank and Israel. Israeli soldiers have repeatedly raided the camp to kill and capture suspected militants. Read more: Pakistan arrests 129 Muslims after mob attacks on churches and homes of minority Christians On July 3, Israeli special forces entered the camp under the cover of drone strikes, killing 12 Palestinians, at least eight of them militants, wounding dozens and leaving a trail of destruction. An Israeli soldier was also killed in the operation, which recalled one of the biggest battles of the second Palestinian uprising over 20 years ago. Nearly 180 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire across the West Bank in 2023, almost half of them affiliated with militant groups, according to a tally by The Associated Press. It’s the territory's highest death toll in nearly two decades. Palestinian attacks on Israelis have killed 27 people this year. Israel says its incursions are counterterrorism efforts prompted by the reluctance of Palestinian security forces to intervene against militants. “There is a line to how many Israelis can be killed while the Palestinians work out their internal struggles,” said an Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters. “At some point, we just have to go in.” Palestinians accuse Israel of trying to undermine their security efforts. “They want to embarrass us,” said acting Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rub. The Israeli raids, Palestinian officials say, have inflamed tensions, stoked anger toward the Palestinian Authority and inspired more militancy. “We understand the Palestinian Authority has lost power,” said Maj. Gen. Akram Rajoub, a longtime security commander and former Jenin governor. “But we are trying to control the chaos that erupts when Israel invades. Chaos is what undermines respect for the authority.” Read more: Niger's neighbours running out of options as defence chiefs meet to discuss potential military force In the camp, independent fighters drawn from a new generation of frustrated Palestinians have emerged from factions like Fatah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Militants say they've seen the Palestinian Authority, which promised them statehood, morph into a subcontractor for the Israeli occupation that can barely pay salaries or provide municipal services. “Abbas can have his politics. My specialty is resistance,” said 32-year-old Abu Suleiman, who served as a major in the security forces before being suspended for his militant activity. “Everything the Palestinian Authority does is in Israel’s interest,” he added from his living room, its shattered windows taped shut, walls pockmarked from July's raid. He gave only his nom de guerre because he is wanted by the Israeli military. At the funeral last month for those killed in the raid, jostling crowds shouted insults at senior officials from the ruling Fatah party and chased them out of the camp. “Collaborators!" they chanted — a reference to Palestinian intelligence coordination with Israel. “It was a natural, collective response to say, ‘wake up. Your job is to defend and protect us here, and you have failed,’” said 51-year-old Nidal Naghnagheyeh, the head of a committee running social support programs in the camp. A week after the raid, 87-year-old Abbas visited the camp for the first time in over a decade to display solidarity. Palestinian security forces began to rebuild their presence in Jenin — a bid to show they can impose order without Israeli interference. Israel's army scaled back its operations in the camp to allow for that, the Israeli military official said. Palestinian authorities have deployed 1,000 new security officers from Abbas' presidential guard across the city of Jenin. They have set up checkpoints to catch criminals who long have taken refuge in the city. Militants are lying low, officials say, rather than shooting in the air and showing off their M-16s in the streets. In the weeks since, police say they've seized scores of stolen cars from the streets, confiscated hundreds of narcotic pills and arrested 364 criminals, including over a dozen wanted in cold murder cases. Authorities are preparing to inaugurate a local prison. Vendors without permits have been expelled from Jenin’s outdoor market and sent outside the city center. But the law-and-order campaign does not extend to the territory's greatest source of instability — the Jenin refugee camp. Police say they won’t disarm gunmen wanted by Israel or make arrests in the camp, underscoring the complexity of the security situation. But even the stepped-up police tactics have rankled gunmen, who drive stolen cars to commit shooting attacks, carry smuggled weapons and own unlicensed vegetable stands. Last month the mayor, who helped devise the Jenin market makeover, narrowly escaped when peddlers angry about losing their income opened fire on his car. “At night we face the Israeli army and during the day the Palestinian Authority is now after us,” Abu Suleiman said, adding that he had been stopped this week by plainclothes Palestinian police and almost opened fire, mistaking the men for undercover Israeli soldiers. “At some point, hell will break loose." Jebara, the police chief, said authorities' failure to dismantle militant groups is tantamount to the failure of the Palestinian national project, which officers like him had hoped they were building. “I joined the police force 21 years ago because I wanted to be accountable to my people, to impose sovereignty on our own land,” he said. “Now Israeli settlements have killed our state. Where does that leave us?”

COP28 President-Designate Dr Sultan Al Jaber has addressed the nineteenth session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, sharing his vision and priorities for COP28, especially the need for adaptation financing and acceleration of the energy transition. A key partner to COP28, AMCEN unites environment ministers from across the continent and provides political guidance and coordinates policy positions among its member states, which include all 54 African countries. Ethiopia will chair AMCEN in 2024. In his speech, Dr. Al Jaber highlighted the need for urgent action to put the world back on track to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and keep the ambition of 1.5 within reach. “With just over 100 days before the world gathers in Dubai for COP28, both the science and common sense are telling us that our collective response to climate change is nowhere near good enough.” The COP President Designate not only recognized Africa's position at the frontline of climate impacts but also its performance and potential as a leading force in the energy transition. He said, “When it comes to transitioning to an energy system free of unabated fossil fuels, Africa has many lessons for the rest of us. Here in Ethiopia, almost 100 per cent of the country’s energy comes from renewable hydro power. […] across this great continent, a young and growing population is seizing the potential of other clean energy sources from wind to solar and choosing low carbon economic growth." Read: July was the hottest month on record by far, European scientists confirm  However, he also acknowledged that a chronic lack of available, accessible and affordable climate finance is holding back Africa's potential, noting that barely one tenth of global climate finance finds its way to the continent. Read:  As such, Dr. Al Jaber highlighted the urgent need to reform international climate finance. He said, “First, the international community must come through with the 100-billion-dollar pledge they made over a decade ago. I will continue to press donor countries to ensure delivery no later than this year […] Next, the entire global financial architecture from IFIs to MDBs needs modernizing. They were built for the second half of the last century. They urgently need to be upgraded to meet the needs of this one.” He was also clear on his call to action on Loss and Damage: "we must operationalize the fund and funding arrangements for Loss and Damage, and early pledges are vital to ensure we live up to the commitments made at Sharm El Sheikh". Read: UN chief calls for due process in proceedings against Pakistan's Khan  In making these remarks, Dr. Al Jaber referred to a meeting of the Independent High-Level Expert Group (IHLEG) that united world leading economists in Abu Dhabi for two days of talks on the 15 and 16 August. The meeting, which was attended by leading figures including IHLEG co-chairs Lord Nicholas Stern and Dr. Vera Songwe as well as representatives from the World Bank, IMF, ECF and IFC, the COP28 and COP27 Presidencies, set out crucial next steps to reform international climate finance. A detailed report, including a clear roadmap on how to implement recommendations, will be presented to world leaders at COP28. Looking to the future and another significant moment to drive forward 'fixing climate finance', Dr. Al Jaber also announced that the COP28 UAE Presidency will co-host the third Climate and Development Ministerial alongside the UK, Malawi and Vanuatu governments in the UAE on 29 October during the formal 'pre-COP' period. Read: Heat, wildfires and floods make summer of 2023 "a summer of extremes" The meeting – which will focus on advancing access to, and delivery of, adaptation finance – will be led by climate and development ministers from LDC and AOSIS states and will also be attended by ministers and leaders from ally countries, International Financial Organizations (IFIs), multilateral development banks (MDBs), Climate Funds and leading multinational organizations. During his visit to Ethiopia, Dr. Al Jaber also held bilateral meetings with African leaders to discuss the COP28 climate finance and energy transition agenda, including with Alioune Ndoye, Minister of Environment, Development and Ecological Transition of Senegal; Barbra Creecy, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs of South Africa and Collins Nzovu, Minister of Green Economy and Environment of Zambia. He also particularly praised Ethiopia's afforestation and reforestation-focused Green Legacy Initiative, which has created over 767,000 green jobs under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali’s leadership. Dr. Al Jaber’s visit to the African region and speech at the AMCEN summit is an important moment in mobilizing African leaders ahead of COP28 and preparing the ground for strong outcomes on international climate finance, including loss and damage. Read: COP28 UAE Presidency: Leading economists set out crucial next steps to reform int’l climate financing  

A two-day meeting of leading global economists and finance leaders convened by the COP28 Presidency has delivered consensus on the next key steps needed to establish a new framework for international climate financing and to drive progress at COP28 and beyond. Economists from the Independent High-Level Expert Group (IHLEG) met with figures from leading global institutions including the World Bank, IMF, ECF and IFC, the COP28 and COP27 Presidencies and UN Climate Change High-Level Champions for two days of talks in Abu Dhabi on August 15-16. Those assembled agreed that they will come to COP28 with recommendations on a new framework for international climate finance, as well as a definitive roadmap on how to implement the recommendations. COP28 UAE Presidency: Leading economists to drive progress on int’l finance reforms Particular areas of focus for the new framework will include addressing debt distress in vulnerable countries, and the role of the private sector in delivering increased financing. Here, the group recognised that although private finance flows are growing, they need to grow much faster to meet the USD 2.4 trillion total investment estimated to be needed annually by 2030 to address climate change in emerging markets and developing economies. The roadmap will be designed to guide all institutions – UN agencies, the IMF, WB, regional MDBs, national governments and the private sector – around short and long-term plans to achieve the Paris Agreement. Agreement on the roadmap at COP28 will allow leaders across the public, private and third sectors to drive forward a clear plan of action on international climate finance. All those in the meetings were unanimous in their agreement that financing is fundamental for the delivery of solutions to enable the transition to a net zero, climate-resilient future. Momen pledges Dhaka’s all possible support for COP28 They also agreed that the primary focus of their work would be to rapidly increase international climate finance between now and the end of the decade to support emerging markets’ and developing economies’ mitigation and adaptation initiatives. The COP-28 President-Designate Dr Sultan Al Jaber opened the meetings with a clear call to action for those attending to deliver "a detailed action-oriented framework and tangible recommendations that lead to real results". Following the meeting, he commented: "For too long, climate finance has divided the international community and held back progress in tackling climate change and supporting countries most impacted by it. But climate finance is the issue that lies at the core of the COP28 agenda because finance is how we transform goals into reality.” MPs’ roundtable seeks UK-Bangladesh joint efforts ahead of COP28 Lord Nicholas Stern, co-chair of the IHLEG, said: "These meetings have proved to be very fruitful, in large measure due to the leadership of Dr Sultan and the support from his team. We are all in no doubt of the urgency of the challenges, of the scale of the problems that we must tackle, and of the global action necessary to rise to these challenges. This is a moment where all stakeholders must step up, including the MDBs, their shareholders, and the private sector. We will continue to work with the COP28 Presidency to drive forward in the weeks ahead." Dr Vera Songwe, co-chair of the IHLEG also noted: "Over the last few months every corner of the world has been hit by a climate event. We must act fast, collectively and at scale to turn these climate disruptions into a growth opportunity for people and planet. The IHLEG group, the COP28 president and all the esteemed colleagues gathered here agree that raising the $2.4 trillion will not be sufficient if we do not accelerate implementation. I look forward to a COP28 that will deliver impact." Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, stated: “The IMF is committed to ensuring climate policy support and finance are reaching those most in need, and I am thankful to the leadership of COP28 for convening this important meeting today. We look forward to partnering with all stakeholders in the lead up to COP28 and working to drive stronger partnerships between the public and private sector for climate success." UAE names oil company chief to lead UN COP28 climate talks The IHLEG meetings in Abu Dhabi were attended by a host of cross-sector senior leaders and actors in international climate finance including: •            H.H. Sheikha Shamma, President and Chief Executive Officer, UAE Independent Climate Change Accelerators (UICCA) •            Larry Summers, economist and former US Treasury Secretary •            Mark Carney, economist and former governor of the Bank of England •            Todd Stern, United States' chief negotiator at the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement •            NK Singh, prominent Indian economist, academician, and policymaker •            Tubiana Laurence, CEO of the European Climate Foundation (ECF) •            Makhtar Diop, managing director of the International Finance Corporation •            Rachel Kyte, 14th dean of The Fletcher School at Tufts University •            Mark Gallogly, investor and climate change activist •            Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, Egypt •            Mahmoud Mohieldin, Climate Champion, COP27 •            Nigel Topping, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion at COP26 •            Alain Ebobissé, CEO, Africa50 •            Harry Boyd-Carpenter, Managing Director Green Economy and Climate Action, EBRD •            Hamad Sayah Al Mazrouei, CEO, ADGM Registration Authority The IHLEG develops and presents policy options and recommendations to enable the public and private investment necessary for delivery of the ambitions of the Paris Climate Agreement. Its ultimate goal is to advance a holistic financial framework for resource mobilization to deliver an equitable and efficient climate finance system, as set out in the Paris Agreement and Glasgow Pact and start its implementation.     The COP28 UAE Presidency has named “fixing climate finance” one of its four priority action pillars for COP28, alongside fast-tracking the energy transition, ensuring full inclusivity, addressing lives and livelihoods.  COP28 UAE will take place at Expo City Dubai from November 30 to December 12, 2023. The conference is expected to convene over 70,000 participants, including heads of state, government officials, international industry leaders, private sector representatives, academics, experts, youth, and non-state actors.     

A mobile morgue unit arrived Tuesday to help Hawaii officials working painstakingly to identify the remains of people killed in wildfires that ravaged Maui, as the death rose above 100 and teams intensified the search for more dead in neighborhoods reduced to ash. Gov. Josh Green announced the confirmed death toll had risen from 99 to 101 in an afternoon video address, saying, “We are heartsick that we’ve had such loss.” The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services deployed a team of coroners, pathologists and technicians along with exam tables, X-ray units and other equipment to identify victims and process remains, said Jonathan Greene, the agency's deputy assistant secretary for response. As death toll from Maui fire reaches 89, authorities say effort to count the losses is just starting “It’s going to be a very, very difficult mission,” Greene said. “And patience will be incredibly important because of the number of victims.” A week after a blaze tore through historic Lahaina, many survivors started moving into hundreds of hotel rooms set aside for displaced locals, while donations of food, ice, water and other essentials poured in. Crews using cadaver dogs have scoured about 32% of the area, the County of Maui said in a statement Tuesday. The governor asked for patience as authorities became overwhelmed with requests to visit the burn area. Just three bodies have been identified, and officials expected to start releasing names Tuesday, according to Maui Police Chief John Pelletier, who renewed an appeal for families with missing relatives to provide DNA samples. So far 41 samples have been submitted, the county statement said, and 13 DNA profiles have been obtained from remains. 6 diesel-fired plants to shut by year-end, saving Tk 2,250cr annually The governor warned that scores more bodies could be found. The wildfires, some of which have not yet been fully contained, are already the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century. Their cause was under investigation. When asked by Hawaii News Now if children are among the missing, Green said Tuesday: “Tragically, yes. ... When the bodies are smaller, we know it's a child.” He described some of the sites being searched as “too much to share or see from just a human perspective.” Survivors of Maui's wildfires return home to blackened ruins as death toll rises to 67 Another complicating factor, Green said, is that storms with rain and high winds were forecast for the weekend. Officials are mulling whether to “preemptively power down or not for a short period of time, because right now all of the infrastructure is weaker.” A week after the fires started, some residents remained with intermittent power, unreliable cellphone service and uncertainty over where to get assistance. Some people walked periodically to a seawall, where phone connections were strongest, to make calls. Flying low off the coast, a single-prop airplane used a loudspeaker to blare information about where to get water and supplies. Victoria Martocci, who lost her scuba business and a boat, planned to travel to her storage unit in Kahalui from her Kahana home Wednesday to stash documents and keepsakes given to her by a friend whose house burned. “These are things she grabbed, the only things she could grab, and I want to keep them safe for her,” Martocci said. The local power utility has already faced criticism for not shutting off power as strong winds buffeted a parched area under high risk for fire. It’s not clear whether the utility’s equipment played any role in igniting the flames. Hawaiian Electric Co. Inc. President and CEO Shelee Kimura said many factors go into a decision to cut power, including the impact on people who rely on specialized medical equipment and concerns that a shutoff in the fire area would have knocked out water pumps. Green has said the flames raced as fast as a mile (1.6 kilometers) every minute in one area, fueled by dry grass and propelled by strong winds from a passing hurricane. The blaze that swept into centuries-old Lahaina last week destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000. That fire has been 85% contained, according to the county. Another blaze known as the Upcountry fire was 60% contained. The Lahaina fire caused about $3.2 billion in insured property losses, according to calculations by Karen Clark & Company, a prominent disaster and risk modeling company. That doesn’t count damage to uninsured property. The firm said more than 2,200 buildings were damaged or destroyed by flames, with about 3,000 damaged by fire or smoke or both. Even where the flames have retreated, authorities have warned that toxic byproducts may remain, including in drinking water, after the flames spewed poisonous fumes. That has left many unable to return home. The Red Cross said 575 evacuees were spread across five shelters as of Monday. Green said thousands of people will need housing for at least 36 weeks. He said Tuesday that some 450 hotel rooms and 1,000 Airbnb rentals were being made available. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he and first lady Jill Biden would visit Hawaii “as soon as we can” but he doesn’t want his presence to interrupt recovery and cleanup efforts. During a stop in Milwaukee to highlight his economic agenda, Biden pledged that “every asset they need will be there for them.” More than 3,000 people have registered for federal assistance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and that number was expected to grow. FEMA was providing $700 to displaced residents to cover the cost of food, water, first aid and medical supplies, in addition to qualifying coverage for the loss of homes and personal property. The Biden administration was seeking $12 billion more for the government’s disaster relief fund as part of its supplemental funding request to Congress. Green said “leaders all across the board” have helped by donating over 1 million pounds (450,000 kilograms) of food as well as ice, water, diapers and baby formula. U.S. Marines, the Hawaii National Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard have all joined the aid and recovery efforts. Lahaina resident Kekoa Lansford helped rescue people as the flames swept through town. Now he is collecting stories from survivors, hoping to create a timeline of what happened. He has 170 emails so far. The scene was haunting. “Horrible, horrible," Lansford said Tuesday. "You ever seen hell in the movies? That is what it looked like. Fire everywhere. Dead people.”  

The upcoming summit of BRICS, a group of major emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, holds significant implications for global geopolitics, reported Modern Diplomacy on Friday (August 11, 2023). The summit has its central agenda revolving around the launch of a common currency among the member nations, the report said, adding that the move, aimed at reducing the dominance of the U.S. Dollar in international trade, has the potential to reshape the geopolitical landscape and challenge American supremacy. "For decades, the U.S. Dollar has reigned supreme in global trade and transactions, affording the United States unparalleled economic and geopolitical leverage. The U.S. has been using dollar and economy as tools to coerce and pressurize its adversaries," it said. "Imposing sanctions was a common tool against its rivals to achieve political goals." 2023 BRICS Summit: Lot of interest in how new members are chosen and which countries would be eligible There has been a growing sentiment against the U.S. hegemony, supremacy and coercion. "The proposed launch of a BRICS common currency or de-dollarization aims to alter this status quo, potentially diminishing the American influence and power that is closely tied to the dollar's dominance," it said. "BRICS is a strong Alliance and plays a huge role in Global Trade and Investments, and above all, it is above American influence," it added. "BRICS is in a position to transform the global economy in total. This move represents a growing discontent with the U.S. dollar's global dominance and a push toward Eastern superiority." BRICS Summit: PM Hasina’s meetings on sidelines yet to be confirmed, says foreign ministry spokesperson

Now that last month's sizzling numbers are all in, the European climate monitoring organization made it official: July 2023 was Earth's hottest month on record by a wide margin. July's global average temperature of 16.95 degrees Celsius (62.51 degrees Fahrenheit) was a third of a degree Celsius (six tenths of a degree Fahrenheit) higher than the previous record set in 2019, Copernicus Climate Change Service announced Tuesday. Normally global temperature records are broken by hundredths or a tenth of a degree, so this margin is unusual. The United States is now at a record 15 different weather disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damage this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Tuesday. It's the most mega-disasters through the first seven months of the year since the agency tracked such things starting in 1980, with the agency adjusting figures for inflation. "These records have dire consequences for both people and the planet exposed to ever more frequent and intense extreme events," said Copernicus deputy director Samantha Burgess. There have been deadly heat waves in the Southwestern United States and Mexico, Europe and Asia. Scientific quick studies put the blame on human-caused climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas. The previous single-day heat record was set in 2016 and tied in 2022. From July 3, each day has exceeded that record. It's been so warm that Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organization made the unusual announcement that it was likely the hottest month days before it ended. Tuesday's calculations made it official. "We should not care about July because it's a record, but because it won't be a record for long," said Imperial College of London climate scientist Friederike Otto. "It's an indicator of how much we have changed the climate. We are living in a very different world, one that our societies are not adapted to live in very well." The global average temperature last month was 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial times. In 2015, the nations of the world agreed to try to prevent long-term warming — not individual months or even years, but decades — that is 1.5 degrees warmer than pre-industrial times. Last month was so hot, it was .7 degrees Celsius (1.3 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than the average July from 1991 to 2020, Copernicus said. The world's oceans were half a degree Celsius (0.9 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the previous 30 years and the North Atlantic was 1.05 degrees Celsius (1.9 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than average. Antarctica set record lows for sea ice, 15% below average for this time of year. Copernicus, a division of the European Union's space program, has records going back to 1940. July's temperature would be hotter than any month the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has recorded and their records go back to 1850. But scientists say it's actually the hottest in a far longer time period. "It's a stunning record and makes it quite clearly the warmest month on Earth in 10,000 years," said Stefan Rahmstorf, a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research in Germany. He wasn't part of the Copernicus team. Rahmstorf cited studies that use tree rings and other proxies that show present times are the warmest since the beginning of the Holocene Epoch, about 10,000 years ago. And before the Holocene started there was an ice age, so it would be logical to even say this is the warmest record for 120,000 years, he said. While much of the world broiled in July, the United States only had its 11th hottest July in its 129-year record, according to NOAA. But Arizona, Florida, Maine and New Mexico had their warmest Julys on record. Arizona broke its record by nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) and Phoenix averaged 102.8 degrees for the entire month making it the hottest month for any city in the United States, according to NOAA. Death Valley reported its hottest midnight temperature on record with 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.9 degrees Celsius) on July 17.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on the Pakistani authorities to respect due process and the rule of law in proceedings against former Prime Minister Imran Khan. "The secretary-general takes note of the ongoing protests that have erupted following the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad, and he calls for all parties to refrain from violence," said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for Guterres. Pakistan's ex PM Imran Khan moved to high-security prison "He (Guterres) stresses the need to respect the right to peaceful assembly," Haq told a daily press conference. "The secretary-general urges the authorities to respect due process and the rule of law in proceedings brought against the former prime minister." Prison probably isn’t the end of the political road for Pakistan’s ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan Khan was arrested on Saturday after a local court sentenced him to three-year imprisonment for hiding financial assets, which triggered protests. 

New Zealand's government said Tuesday it will partner with U.S. investment giant BlackRock in its aim to become one of the first nations in the world to have its electricity grid run entirely from renewable energy. The government said it was helping BlackRock launch a $1.2 billion fund to ramp up investments in wind and solar generation, as well as battery storage and green hydrogen. Some of the investment is expected to come from government-owned companies. New Zealand's electricity grid already runs off about 82% renewable energy after it damned rivers decades ago to produce hydroelectric power. The government said it aims to reach 100% renewable generation by the end of this decade. The announcement comes two months out from an election, with the government hoping to burnish its green credentials. Critics point out the nation’s overall greenhouse gas emissions have barely budged since the government symbolically declared a climate emergency in 2020. Read: Bangladesh encourages enhancing share of renewable energy in fuel-mix: Nasrul “This is a gamechanger for the clean-tech sector, and an example of the pragmatic and practical steps the government's taking to accelerate climate action while actually growing our economy and creating jobs,” Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told reporters in Auckland. Hipkins said the fund would allow New Zealand companies to produce intellectual property that could be commercialized across the world. “Partnering with, and supporting, industry to solve the climate crisis is a no-brainer,” Hipkins said. BlackRock released few details about the planned 2 billion New Zealand dollar ($1.22 billion) fund, but did say it would initially target institutional investors. It was the first time BlackRock had launched an initiative of its kind, said Andrew Landman, the head of BlackRock in Australia and New Zealand. Read: Norway keen to invest in Bangladesh’s renewable energy sector “The level of innovation is far greater in this country than we see elsewhere in clean tech,” Hipkins told reporters. “We are seeing enormous visionary capabilities out of those investee companies.” BlackRock said making the grid completely green would require a total investment of about US$26 billion. BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink said on social media that “the world is looking for models of cooperation between the private and public sectors to ensure an orderly, just and fair energy transition.” David Seymour, the leader of New Zealand's libertarian ACT Party, said the plan would push up power prices for little environmental gain. Read: ADB to fund urban transport, climate resilience, renewables projects worth $628 million “New Zealanders don’t want to be subject to a ‘world first’ climate change experiment that will mean the government micromanages their lives," Seymour said in a statement.

Almost one-third of Australians report feeling lonely, a landmark study has found. Ending Loneliness Together, a national coalition of research and advocacy organizations, on Monday published the first State of the Nation Report into social connection. The survey of more than 4,000 people aged 18-92 revealed that 32 percent of Australian women and 31 percent of men are lonely. Mass virus test in nursing home seeks to combat loneliness Those aged 18-24 were the most likely to often or always feel lonely, at four times the rate of those aged 75+. People in rural areas were slightly more likely to be lonely than those in metropolitan areas. The report found that Australians who feel lonely are typically less engaged in physical activity, less productive at work and more likely to have a social media addiction. Lonely Australians are 4.6 times more likely to have depression and two times more likely to have chronic disease than the rest of the population. Dog ownership helps reduce loneliness: Research "Loneliness is a critical issue of our time and has been recognized as a public health priority for many countries around the world. While the detrimental health, economic and social impacts of loneliness are well established, community awareness and action remain low," Michelle Lim, chair of Ending Loneliness Together, said in the report. The report was released to coincide with the start of Australia's first Loneliness Awareness Week. "Loneliness should not be seen as a sign of weakness or fault. Feeling lonely is an innate signal for us to acknowledge and address our basic human need for connection. Understanding this is the first step to creating a more connected Australia," Lim said. Thirty-nine percent of people who reported loneliness were living in Australia's most disadvantaged neighborhoods compared to 28 percent in the least disadvantaged. One-third of people said they feel ashamed about being lonely and 58 percent said they avoid talking about it. Australia-Bangladesh willing to take bilateral relations to new height

The summer of 2023 is "a summer of extremes," resulting in major damage to people's health and the environment, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Friday. Clare Nullis, spokesperson for the WMO, said here at a press briefing that dangerous weather, including intense heat and devastating rainfall, has impacted large parts of the world in this "summer of extremes." She said many new station temperature records around the world were broken in July, and the start of August also saw a winter heatwave in parts of South America. Crash of plane fighting Greek island wildfire kills both pilots as Italian blaze claims 2 lives In a series of updates on extreme weather, WMO said earlier this week that many countries like France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Algeria and Tunisia all reported new maximum daytime and overnight station temperature records. Large parts of the United States were also gripped by extensive heatwaves. "We need to broaden focus beyond maximum temperatures because the minimum temperature is most important for health and critical infrastructure," said WMO extreme heat senior advisor John Nairn. WMO pointed out that heatwaves are among the deadliest natural hazards with thousands of people dying from heat-related causes each year, while the full impact of a heatwave is often not known until weeks or months afterwards. Climate change keeps making wildfires and smoke worse. Scientists call it the 'new abnormal' According to WMO, sea surface temperatures of the Mediterranean are set to be exceptionally high in the coming days and weeks, exceeding 30 degrees Celsius in some parts, and more than four degrees Celsius above average in a large part of the western Mediterranean. WMO believes that the impacts of marine heatwaves include migration of species and extinctions, arrival of invasive species with consequences for fisheries and aquaculture. Speaking at Friday's press briefing, the WMO spokesperson also said that Canada is experiencing its worst wildfire season on record. Climate: 18,000 killed by heat in Italy last summer - study In Canada, record-breaking wildfires continue to burn big forest areas. More than 650 wildfires were out of control as of July 24. And earlier this week WMO said wildfires had forced evacuation of hundreds of residents and tourists on the Greek islands of Rhodes, Evia and Corfu since July 17. The emissions of these wildfires have reached record levels. Heavy rains and flooding also caused severe damage and loss of life in parts of the world. "As the planet warms, the expectation is that we will see more and more intense, more frequent, more severe rainfall events, leading also to more severe flooding," said Stefan Uhlenbrook, director of hydrology, water and cryosphere at WMO. WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas noted that "The extreme weather - an increasingly frequent occurrence in our warming climate - is having a major impact on human health, ecosystems, economies, agriculture, energy and water supplies." "This underlines the increasing urgency of cutting greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and as deeply as possible," said Taalas.