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Those votes are likely to win more support than in previous years from large asset managers seeking clarity on how executives plan to adapt and prosper in a low-carbon world, according to Reuters interviews with more than a dozen activist investors and fund managers. In the United States, shareholders have filed 79 climate-related resolutions so far, compared with 72 for all of last year and 67 in 2019, according to data compiled by the Sustainable Investments Institute and shared with Reuters. The institute estimated the count could reach 90 this year. Topics to be put to a vote at annual general meetings (AGMs) include calls for emissions limits, pollution reports and “climate audits” that show the financial impact of climate change on their businesses. A broad theme is to press corporations across sectors, from oil and transport to food and drink, to detail how they plan to reduce their carbon footprints in coming years, in line with government pledges to cut emissions to net zero by 2050. “Net-zero targets for 2050 without a credible plan including short-term targets is greenwashing, and shareholders must hold them to account,” said billionaire British hedge fund manager Chris Hohn, who is pushing companies worldwide to hold a recurring shareholder vote on their climate plans. Many companies say they already provide plenty of information about climate issues. Yet some activists say they see signs more executives are in a dealmaking mood this year. Royal Dutch Shell said on Feb11 it would become the first oil and gas major to offer such a vote, following similar announcements from Spanish airports operator Aena, UK consumer goods company Unilever and US rating agency Moody’s. While most resolutions are non-binding, they often spur changes with even 30% or more support as executives look to satisfy as many investors as possible. “The demands for increased disclosure and target-setting are much more pointed than they were in 2020,” said Daniele Vitale, the London-based head of governance for Georgeson, which advises corporations on shareholder views. COMPANIES WARM THE WORLD While more and more companies are issuing net-zero targets for 2050, in line with goals set out in the 2015 Paris climate accord, few have published interim targets. A study here from sustainability consultancy South Pole showed just 10% of 120 firms it polled, from varied sectors, had done so. “There’s too much ambiguity and lack of clarity on the exact journey and route that companies are going to take, and how quickly we can actually expect movement,” said Mirza Baig, head of investment stewardship at Aviva Investors. Data analysis from Swiss bank J Safra Sarasin, shared with Reuters, shows the scale of the collective challenge. Sarasin studied the emissions of the roughly 1,500 firms in the MSCI World Index, a broad proxy for the world’s listed companies. It calculated that if companies globally did not curb their emissions rate, they would raise global temperatures by more than 3 degrees Celsius by 2050. That is well short of the Paris accord goal of limiting warming to “well below” 2C, preferably 1.5C. At an industry level, there are large differences, the study found: If every company emitted at the same level as the energy sector, for example, the temperature rise would be 5.8C, with the materials sector - including metals and mining - on course for 5.5C and consumer staples - including food and drink - 4.7C. The calculations are mostly based on companies’ reported emissions levels in 2019, the latest full year analysed, and cover Scope 1 and 2 emissions - those caused directly by a company, plus the production of the electricity it buys and uses. ‘TAILWIND ON CLIMATE’ Sectors with high carbon emissions are likely to face the most investor pressure for clarity. In January, for example, ExxonMobil - long an energy industry laggard in setting climate goals - disclosed its Scope 3 emissions, those connected to use of its products. This prompted the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (Calpers) to withdraw a shareholder resolution seeking the information. Calpers’ Simiso Nzima, head of corporate governance for the $444 billion pension fund, said he saw 2021 as a promising year for climate concerns, with a higher likelihood of other companies also reaching agreements with activist investors. “You’re seeing a tailwind in terms of climate change.” However, Exxon has asked the US.jSecurities and Exchange Commission for permission to skip votes on four other shareholder proposals, three related to climate matters, according to filings to the SEC. They cite reasons such as the company having already “substantially implemented” reforms. An Exxon spokesman said it had ongoing discussions with its stakeholders, which led to the emissions disclosure. He declined to comment on the requests to skip votes, as did the SEC, which had not yet ruled on Exxon’s requests as of late Tuesday. ‘A CRUMB BUT A SIGN’ Given the influence of large shareholders, activists are hoping for more from BlackRock, the world’s biggest investor with $8.7 trillion under management, which has promised a tougher approach to climate issues. Last week, BlackRock called for boards to come up with a climate plan, release emissions data and make robust short-term it targets, or risk seeing directors voted down at the AGM. It backed a resolution at Procter & Gamble’s AGM, unusually held in October, which asked the company to report on efforts to eliminate deforestation in its supply chains, helping it pass with 68% support. “It’s a crumb but we hope it’s a sign of things to come” from BlackRock, said Kyle Kempf, spokesman for resolution sponsor Green Century Capital Management in Boston. Asked for more details about its 2021 plans, such as if it might support Hohn’s resolutions, a BlackRock spokesman referred to prior guidance that it would “follow a case-by-case approach in assessing each proposal on its merits”. Europe’s biggest asset manager, Amundi, said last week it, too, would back more resolutions. Vanguard, the world’s second-biggest investor with $7.1 trillion under management, seemed less certain, though. Lisa Harlow, Vanguard’s stewardship leader for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, called it “really difficult to say” whether its support for climate resolutions this year would be higher than its traditional rate of backing one in ten. ‘THERE WILL BE FIGHTS’ Britain’s Hohn, founder of $30 billion hedge fund TCI, aims to establish a regular mechanism to judge climate progress via annual shareholder votes. In a “Say on Climate” resolution, investors ask a company to provide a detailed net zero plan, including short-term targets, and put it to an annual non-binding vote. If investors aren’t satisfied, they will then be in a stronger position to justify voting down directors, the plan holds. Early signs suggest the drive is gaining momentum. Hohn has already filed at least seven resolutions through TCI. The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, which Hohn founded, is working with campaign groups and asset managers to file more than 100 resolutions over the next two AGM seasons in the United States, Europe, Canada, Japan and Australia. “Of course, not all companies will support the Say on Climate,” Hohn told pension funds and insurance companies in November. “There will be fights, but we can win the votes.”

For many bankers and traders, the days of company perks such as sleek limos, cushy business class seats, and fat steaks are gone. Multibillion dollar write-downs have forced trading desk heads and senior bankers to chip away at small comforts to reduce expenses and strengthen the bottom line. Just ask Ron Karp, a controller at Corporate Transportation Group, which provides rides home to Wall Streeters working late. "The phone doesn't ring as much as it used to. If you're firing people you're not going to send them around in limos," Karp said. The slowdown has been visible over the past month at car services city-wide, he added. Cutbacks are happening in individual departments, rather than companywide as seen early this decade after the tech bubble burst. But affected employees feel the pinch anyway. Credit Suisse has reduced some cell phone subsidies and done away with car vouchers. Merrill Lynch has banned business class travel for some divisions, Goldman Sachs has pulled free soda, and JP Morgan has upped the requirements for free meals and car rides. Slashing small perks cuts costs, but more importantly it signals that workers should keep expenses down in areas under their control. "Banks cut perks to reinforce to employees that the firm's under pressure," Brad Hintz, an equity analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said. "It tells people to use their heads and watch expenses." A HARSH CLIMATE Financial institutions have announced more than $300 billion of write-downs, losses and credit provisions since mid-2007. That has spurred big layoffs, including over 23,000 announced in April, with about half the cuts coming out of Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. "The usual pattern is to accelerate layoffs and cut operating costs as much as they can," said Roy Smith, a professor of entrepreneurship and finance at the Stern School of Business and a former partner at Goldman Sachs. Banks followed this protocol in 1987, 1990-91, 1994, 1998 and 2000-2002, he said. The question remains whether the cuts will end as the outlook for Wall Street firms improves, with the AMEX Security Broker Dealer Index .XBD rising over 30 percent to 181 since its March 17 lows. TIGHTENING THE BELT Managers forced to make a choice prefer to cut comforts rather than personnel so that they are equipped to take advantage of any rebound in the markets. Hence, at Credit Suisse, some divisions have placed a strict $30 limit on meals ordered by traders working late, according to a person familiar with the matter. Employees can no longer choose dinner from any restaurant in town. Instead, all catering goes through online service SeamlessWeb, so that managers can better monitor food orders. Gone are some employees' free personal cell phone bills: the firm now only subsidizes a portion. Car vouchers are history: traders must pay for rides with corporate cards. Some divisions at Merrill Lynch, which recently posted its third straight quarterly loss, have pushed employees to the back of the airplane: they've eliminated first class and business class travel for all domestic flights, according to one equity trader familiar with the matter. Spokespersons for Credit Suisse and Merrill said the changes were not implemented across each company, but by individual teams or divisions. Even firms relatively unscathed by the credit crunch are slashing expenses. At JPMorgan, which acquired Bear Stearns for a fire sale price in March, one bond trader said some employees must work later to be eligible for a car ride home, while others must stay at work for a specified time after ordering food on the company account. A JPMorgan spokesperson declined to comment on the issue. Free soda stopped flowing on certain Goldman Sachs trading floors a few weeks ago, a company spokesperson said. Cost cuts can go too far though, and companies may end up paying in other ways, said Jeff Visithpanich, a principal at compensation consultant Johnson Associates. "Maybe it looks good on paper, but what you get is a number of people taking longer breaks to go downstairs to Starbucks."

Mohsin passed away during treatment in Dhaka's Combined Military Hospital at 9:30am Monday, Selina Haque, additional secretary to the defence ministry, confirmed. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed deep shock at the death of Mohsin and offered her condolences to the bereaved family. Mohsin was admitted to CMH on Jun 2 after testing positive for the coronavirus infection. Later, he was moved into intensive and received plasma therapy as his condition deteriorated. The younger brother of former principal secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, Mohsin was promoted to the rank of senior secretary on Jun 14 while he was hospitalised. Born in Cumilla in 1963, Mohsin secured an MSc in Soil Science from Dhaka University. Later, he completed MA in Governance Studies from Northern University in Dhaka. A member of the 1985 BCS batch, Mohsin served the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industries, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the Prime Minister's Office in different capacities.  He was the secretary to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change before his stint at the defence ministry.

The top diplomats of Pakistan and India met in Islamabad on Thursday, emerging from talks to signal a joint resolve against militant extremism and hinting that more comprehensive discussions may be renewed. It was the second meeting in four months between Foreign Secretaries Salman Bashir and Nirupama Rao, of Pakistan and India, respectively. The two last met in New Delhi - the first official talks between the two sides since the 2008 Mumbai attacks - but those discussions were seen as having achieved little. On Thursday, however, both sides said the talks were marked by "a great deal of cordiality, sincerity and earnestness," that will pave the way for a more comprehensive dialogue, signalling a possible - and unexpected - thaw. "I believe we must work together to deal with that threat and we must deny terrorist elements any opportunity to derail the process of improvement of relations between our two countries," Rao told a joint news conference. Pakistan blog: blogs.reuters.com/Pakistan/ Security is high on India's list of concerns with Pakistan, with New Delhi accusing Islamabad of supporting militant groups in a bid to wrest control of India's part of Kashmir and check rising Indian influence in Afghanistan. Tackling militant groups such as Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)- blamed by India for the Mumbai attack, which killed 166 people - has been a precondition of India for restarting comprehensive talks over water, Kashmir and other disputes. Pakistan has been reluctant to do so, and has done little against LeT's founder, Hafiz Saeed, who remains a free man. SOFTER INDIAN POSITION ON TALKS? Rao seemed to signal that India's position on future talks might be softening. "There was a lot of soul-searching here," she said. "The searchlight is on the future, not on the past." Pakistan welcomed the apparent softening of India's attitude. "After this engagement, I feel much more optimistic and confident about a good outcome at the ministerial level and good prospects for the two countries in terms of their relationship," Bashir said. Prime ministers Yusuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan and Monmohan Singh of India met in Bhutan in April on the sidelines of a regional summit in a bid to restart talks between the two nuclear-armed rivals. The Mumbai attack pitched relations into a diplomatic deep-freeze. The renewed tension, along with the proxy war, is seen as hampering U.S.-led efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan. Rao said the two prime ministers had asked their foreign ministers and foreign secretaries to meet "as soon as possible to work out the modalities for restoring trust" and taking the dialogue forward. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the climate of talks had changed for the better and the two leaders had asked their officials to meet as frequently as possible. "I don't think either side was expecting such a positive turn in dialogue," Qureshi told reporters. "It was a step in the right direction and it was in the right spirit." While Thursday's meeting showed that both sides may be willing to focus on improving ties, there are also fears that strong domestic concerns may stop them from making the concessions needed for a breakthrough. One risk to normalising relations is that another major militant attack in India and the subsequent domestic political pressure could force the government to break off dialogue again. India's Intelligence Bureau issued an alert on a possible militant attack on Thursday. Local media reports, citing unnamed sources, said a militant strike was aimed at sabotaging talks. "A terror alert has been issued by the Intelligence Bureau," confirmed Onkar Kedia, a spokesman for the Home Ministry, speaking to Reuters by telephone.

Developing nations might get help to build nuclear power plants under proposals at 170-nation climate talks in Bonn for expanding a fast-growing UN scheme for curbing greenhouse gases. Nuclear power is the most contentious option for widening a U.N. mechanism under which rich nations can invest abroad, for instance in an Indian wind farm or a hydropower dam in Peru, and get credit at home for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. "It's one of the issues that needs to be considered," Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, said on Thursday of suggestions by countries including India and Canada at the June 2-13 talks of aid for atomic energy. Other proposals at the talks include giving credits for capturing and burying carbon dioxide, for instance from coal-fired power plants, or to do far more to encourage planting of forests that soak up carbon as they grow. Many nations and environmentalists oppose expanding the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to include nuclear power. The CDM is part of the United Nations' Kyoto Protocol for curbing emissions of greenhouse gases running until 2012. "Nuclear power is not the energy of the future," said Martin Hiller of the WWF conservation group. "It should not be in the CDM. The CDM should be about renewable energy." He said nuclear power was too dangerous although it emitted almost none of the greenhouse gases associated with burning coal, oil and gas and which are blamed for heating the planet. KYOTO No decisions on overhauling the CDM will be taken at the Bonn talks, part of a series of negotiations meant to end with a new long-term U.N. climate treaty by the end of 2009 to succeed the existing Kyoto Protocol. "I think nuclear power in the CDM is a non-starter for most delegations," one European delegate said. The debate reflects wide uncertainty about whether to turn to nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuels in a fight to avert rising temperatures that could bring heatwaves, droughts, rising seas and more powerful cyclones. De Boer projected that the CDM could channel up to $100 billion a year towards developing nations in coming decades if industrialised countries agreed sweeping cuts in emissions and made half their reductions abroad. That was also based on the assumption that credits for averting greenhouse gas emissions would average $10 a tonne. So far the CDM has projects approved or under consideration that would avert a combined total of 2.7 billion tonnes of emissions by 2012, roughly equivalent to the combined annual emissions of Japan, Germany and Britain. De Boer rejected criticisms that the CDM was badly flawed, for instance for handing huge profits to carbon traders and companies in China that destroy HFC 23, a powerful greenhouse gas that is a waste product from making refrigerants. "The fact that people have found a way to remove a powerful greenhouse gas and make a profit is not morally wrong," he said. "We've created a market mechanism and, guess what, it's working." Other criticisms of the scheme focus on whether or not funding has led to emissions cuts, or whether these would have happened anyway -- for example because of existing state support for wind power in China or India.

In France and Austria, the pandemic brought the planes-vs.-trains question to the forefront. The French government’s COVID bailout package of Air France required the airline to eliminate domestic flights when there was a rail option that took under 2 1/2 hours to complete; the measure was later written into law. The Austrian government placed a similar condition on its support to Austrian Airlines, demanding that the company end its 50-minute flight between Vienna and Salzburg, a journey that passengers can make by train in about three hours. The European Commission also designated 2021 as the “Year of European Rail,” seizing the opportunity to spread the word about train travel, particularly to a younger audience. While passenger traffic was growing steadily through 2019, it was starting from a low base: Before the pandemic, only 8% of all passenger travel in the European Union was by train. But in addition to the public relations campaign, European leaders are also working to reduce practical barriers to cross-border train travel by introducing new data-sharing systems; replacing outdated infrastructure; and building new high-speed routes, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. “The idea is that for train trips of less than four hours, no businesspeople will choose to fly, and for trips below six hours, normal people — tourists — will take the train,” said Alberto Mazzola, executive director of the Community of European Railways and Infrastructure Companies, which is based in Brussels. Mazzola added that government leaders are throwing their weight behind railway infrastructure, particularly high-speed lines. “We heard this 20 years ago,” he added. “The difference today is that we are seeing the investments.” NIGHT TRAINS ON THE RISE Europe’s night trains are a big part of the rising tide of rail on the continent. On the decline since the 1990s, overnight services suffered alongside the growth of low-cost air carriers and a rise in government investment in high-speed trains, whose faster daytime services often displaced their slower nighttime counterparts. But that trend was already starting to shift before the pandemic, and now the momentum behind night trains appears to be building fast, with new sleeper connections cropping up across the continent. “It’s true that we have a real revival of night trains in France and in Europe,” said Alain Krakovitch, director of travel at SNCF, France’s state-owned railway company. “It is a very strong demand, both from customers but also from elected officials, mayors and the government.” Last year, SNCF relaunched overnight services between Paris and Nice, with tickets starting as low as 19 euros, about $21, for a midweek low-season ticket. That compares with 31 euros, not including baggage fees or the cost of airport transfers, for a short flight on EasyJet leaving on a similar day. SNCF also offers overnight services between Paris and Toulouse, and between Paris and Lourdes in southwestern France. A night train to Hendaye, a French coastal town near the Spanish border, will run in July and August. And change-free overnight service between Paris and Berlin — a journey that currently takes eight hours and requires at least one change — is scheduled to begin in December 2023 as a cooperative effort between four European operators. So far, said Krakovitch, demand has been strong. “It’s true that this is a huge draw for passengers. The idea of being able to fall asleep in Paris and wake up in Nice saves a night in a hotel,” Krakovitch said. “It allows you to arrive very early in Nice without being tired. It’s a product that has many benefits, but we had to invest heavily to relaunch it. We hope to keep this momentum going.” It’s a similar story elsewhere in Europe. Last year, the Swiss Federal Railways launched a new overnight connection from Zurich to Amsterdam (with stops in Basel, Switzerland, and Cologne, Germany), adding to overnight services connecting Switzerland’s largest city to Berlin; Budapest, Hungary; Prague; and Zagreb, Croatia; among other destinations. European Sleeper, a Dutch Belgian company founded by two entrepreneurs, is planning an overnight connection between Brussels and Prague, with stops in Amsterdam and Berlin, among other cities; they hope to launch the service this summer, but the start date is not yet confirmed. Meanwhile, Austrian operator ÖBB’s Nightjet service has recently begun offering an overnight link between Vienna and Paris, with tickets ranging from about 30 euros for a normal train seat to 200 euros or higher, depending on the date of travel, for a first-class private cabin. (A midweek, low-season flight on the same route costs 44 euros, not including baggage fees, on low-cost carrier Transavia.) Nightjet, which also runs overnight services to cities like Rome, Milan, Brussels and Amsterdam, is offering passengers more options to book private compartments, a Nightjet spokesperson said, adding that some cabins have a private shower and toilet. The prices scale with the amenities provided: A couple travelling overnight from Vienna to Amsterdam on a weeknight in July, for instance, can book two seats in a private compartment for a total of 129 euros. Alternatively, they could opt for a two-bed sleeper cabin for 378 euros for both travellers, including breakfast. Add a private shower and toilet, and the price rises to 418 euros. At the moment, all of the Nightjet “rolling stock” is in use, but new services should be coming online in the years ahead, the spokesperson said. More than 30 new sleeper trains should be delivered beginning in 2023. ONGOING CHALLENGES But while night trains are offering new connections for travellers, they serve only specific routes. People who are looking to make connections between cities that aren’t linked on those networks continue to face challenges, both in booking their tickets and in the prices they are charged. Some long-distance journeys with multiple stops are still much cheaper by plane than by train. The fact remains that, despite the European Union’s support for rail, the bloc’s governments continue to grant enormous subsidies to airlines — in the form of bailout packages as well as low taxes on jet fuel — although that could change soon. And while the French and Austrian bans on short-haul flight bans attracted attention in Europe, in effect, the measures ended flights on just one route — Vienna to Salzburg — in Austria, and three in France: Paris to Bordeaux, Paris to Lyons, and Paris to Nantes. In the French case, passengers are still allowed to fly those routes if they make up part of a longer plane journey. Herwig Schuster, a transport campaigner for Greenpeace’s EU Mobility for All campaign, called the French and Austrian measures “a starting point” and said the European Union should prohibit flights for which there is a train alternative that takes under six hours, instead of just two or three. Such a measure would eliminate about one-third of Europe’s most popular short-haul routes, but Schuster maintained that consumers are ready for such a shift: A recent climate survey found that 62% of Europeans support a ban on short-haul flights. The biggest obstacle, he added, would be making sure that rail options are at least as affordable as flights. On several European routes — especially longer-distance trips that cross multiple national borders — flying remains the cheaper option: A one-way, midweek flight from Zurich to Barcelona, Spain, in July costs as little as 45 euros on low-cost carrier Vueling, compared with 140 euros (and many more hours) to cover the same distance by rail. Flying is also usually the more affordable option for trips from London to Madrid, Copenhagen to Rome, and Paris to Budapest. The fact that Europe’s vast rail network lacks a single ticketing system presents another challenge, said Mark Smith, who runs The Man in Seat 61, a website with resources for train travel in Britain, Europe and around the world. But he said that in many cases, trains are a good value compared with planes, especially when you account for baggage fees and the cost of getting to and from the airport. Booking in advance, just as you would for a flight, can also save travellers a lot of money, Smith said, adding that he advises people to reserve their long-distance train travel one to three months ahead to avoid last-minute price hikes. He also recommends sites like Trainline and Rail Europe for booking multicountry trips in Europe. He added that many travellers still opt for the train, even if, in some cases, it does mean paying more for their ticket. When he started his site 20 years ago, Smith said, most people he spoke to who were interested in long-distance train travel were either scared of flying or unable to fly for medical reasons. These days, he hears a different rationale. “People are fed up with the airport and airline experience; they want something less stressful and more interesting,” he said. “And they want to cut their carbon footprint.” © 2022 The New York Times Company

The planet Venus made a slow transit across the face of the sun on Tuesday, the last such passing that will be visible from Earth for 105 years. Transits of Venus happen in pairs, eight years apart, with more than a century between cycles. During Tuesday's pass, Venus took the form of a small black dot slowly shifting across the northern hemisphere of the sun. Armchair astronomers watched the six-hour and 40-minute transit on the Internet, with dozens of websites offering live video from around the world. Closeup views from the Prescott Observatory in Arizona, fed into Slooh.com's webcast, showed a small solar flaring in the making just beneath Venus' sphere. Tuesday's transit, completing a 2004-2012 pair, began at 6:09 p.m. EDT (2209 GMT). Skywatchers on seven continents, including Antarctica, were able to see all or part of the transit. Even astronauts aboard the International Space Station joined in the spectacle. "I've been planning this for a while," space station flight engineer Don Pettit said in a NASA interview. "I knew the transit of Venus would occur during my rotation, so I brought a solar filter with me." It's not all about pretty pictures. Several science experiments were planned, including studies that could help in the search for habitable planets beyond Earth. Telescopes, such as NASA's Kepler space telescope, are being used to find so-called extrasolar planets that pass in front of their parent stars, much like Venus passing by the sun. During the transit of Venus, astronomers planned to measure the planet's thick atmosphere in the hope of developing techniques to measure atmospheres around other planets. Studies of the atmosphere of Venus could also shed light on why Earth and Venus, which are almost exactly the same size and orbit approximately the same distance from the sun, are so different. Venus has a chokingly dense atmosphere, 100 times thicker than Earth's, that is mostly carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Its surface temperature is a lead-melting 900 degrees Fahrenheit (480 degrees Celsius) and towering clouds of sulfuric acid jet around the planet at 220 miles per hour dousing it with acid rain. "Venus is known as the goddess of love, but it's not the type of relationship you'd want," an astronomer said on the Slooh.com webcast. "This is a look-but-don't-touch kind of relationship." Scientists are interested in learning more about Venus' climate in hopes of understanding changes in Earth's atmosphere. During previous transits of Venus, scientists were able to figure out the size of the solar system and the distance between the sun and the planets. Tuesday's transit is only the eighth since the invention of the telescope, and the last until December 10-11, 2117. It also is the first to take place with a spacecraft at Venus. Observations from Europe's Venus Express probe will be compared with those made by several ground and space-based telescopes, including NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, the joint US-European Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and Japan's Hinode spacecraft.

World business leaders welcomed U.S. President George W. Bush's acknowledgment of climate change as "a serious challenge" and called on Wednesday for long-term emissions standards to help them plan. Bush declined in his annual State of the Union address to support mandatory caps on heat-trapping carbon gases that big U.S. companies such as General Electric Co. have pushed for, instead backing new technologies to cut the amount of gasoline used in the United States. While supporting the White House nod to alternative energies such as ethanol, wind, solar and nuclear power, corporate executives meeting at the Swiss ski resort of Davos said they wanted Washington to lock in stricter U.S. emissions standards. "It is a good step, but we need to take many more," Duke Energy chief executive James Rogers said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting, where climate change is dominating talks among some 2,400 movers and shakers from around the globe. Power plants being built today will be used for 50 years, so a sense of future regulations is critical for current investment decisions, Rogers said, explaining the business interest in more far-reaching U.S. standards. "We are not sitting on the sidelines waiting. A tremendous amount of work is going into being prepared (for a new regulatory regime)," Rogers said. Alcoa chief executive Alain Belda agreed, saying it was untenable for the American climate change agenda to continue to be set by individual states such as California. "I think the country needs one rule," he told a climate change panel at Davos, noting such a standard could reduce the risks for companies of adopting new -- often expensive -- emissions-cutting technologies. He also said strong leadership from the United States, the top global source of greenhouse gases, could spur other less wealthy countries to tighten their emissions rules. 'BEHIND THE CURVE' In Japan, the head of the United Nations Climate Secretariat Yvo de Boer celebrated Bush's environmental messages as a sign "that the climate on climate is changing in the U.S." Former German environment minister Juergen Trittin told German radio that the speech could "improve transatlantic cooperation in the fight against climate change." But others dismissed the speech as too little, too late. "The president failed to produce a comprehensive plan," said Sven Teske, a renewable energy expert at environmental group Greenpeace. "It's a collection of technical suggestions but no real policy shift. Diane Wittenberg of the California Climate Registry, an organization that helps companies and other groups monitor their emissions, said the Bush speech was a disappointment. "He started behind the curve and never got ahead of it," she said, noting that most U.S. climate change leadership has come from state governments and the private sector, who are seeking to shape future environmental policies to their favour. "Businesses see that climate will make a new set of winners and losers in the business community, and they want to be on the winning side," she said. According to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers survey released at Davos, 40 percent of 1,100 chief executives globally are concerned about threats from climate change, though in the United States the figure was a much lower 18 percent. Mark Spelman, head of European strategy at rival consultancy Accenture, said increased corporate attention to environmental issues was partially a public relations exercise, designed to woo green-conscious consumers, but also reflected long-term calculations over future energy costs. "Your enlightened CEO can see that down the road the price of carbon is going to go up, and that is going to have an impact on long-term profitability, so getting ahead of the curve will put the company in better shape," Spelman said. Still others see commercial opportunity in a shift toward a new clean or low-carbon economy. Citigroup has listed 74 companies that are well-placed to benefit from a switch to a more carbon-neutral global economy, including clean energy companies, water utilities and carmakers.

An upsurge in anti-Western rhetoric is unlikely to scare foreign investors off Libya because Muammar Gaddafi has made clear his political views will not block economic reform. The veteran ruler made stinging attacks on Western corporate "colonialism" in early March in speeches marking the 30th anniversary of his state of the masses Jamahiriyah system which bans elections and political parties. The comments appeared aimed at placating hardline aides who fear being sidelined by economic liberalisation, analysts say. They may also reflect official discontent at what Libya feels is insufficient reward by the West for its 2003 abandonment of its weapons of mass destruction programme. But analysts consider that his opinions -- albeit heartfelt -- will not endanger pro-business reforms Gaddafi himself has sponsored in the oil- and gas-exporting OPEC member country. Gaddafi has long said he dislikes what he calls the pro-Western world economic order but argues Libya has no choice but to cooperate with it or risk economic disaster. QUIRKINESS Geoff Porter, an analyst at Eurasia Group consultants, which advises multinational corporations on political risk, said the speeches appeared to be for domestic consumption. "The oil companies have not been deterred. They've developed a finely tuned ear to filter out the rhetoric," he said. Monica Enfield of PFC Energy consultants said: "This is characteristic of his quirkiness. Companies get used to it." Western firms might be forgiven for having reservations. Libyans must train militarily to guard against plans by Western oil firms to instal a puppet ruler, Gaddafi said. "Anyone who spreads the poison of colonisation will be crushed," Gaddafi said. "If an American company found someone who tells it he will rule Libya and give it 90 percent of oil revenues it will accept this and support him. Why not?" "They will give him millions in order to gain billions." Analysts said the speeches appeared aimed primarily at members of influential revolutionary committees who fear they may no longer have a place in a Libya opening to the world. The job of the committees of Gaddafi devotees is to encourage Libyans to attend grassroots congresses that make up the government and ensure loyalty to his no-party ideology. But some in the committees have prospered using business links to the state, commentators say, and they could see a fairer and more open business climate as a threat. "He's playing to the old guard that emerged with him," said Mansour el-Kikhia, a Libyan political scientist at the University of Texas. "The old guard is afraid that if he changes his tune they'll be affected. He has to reassure them they still have a place." Ashour Shamis, a veteran UK-based Libyan commentator, said Gaddafi's comments should be seen mainly in the context of a struggle between opponents and advocates of economic reform. "Neither side is certain they have his backing. He's trying to placate the committees by indicating 'there may be some changes ahead but they won't affect the core of the system'." Some argue that growing business ties to the West indicate that the tide is flowing in favour of the reformists. A delegation of top companies led by the US-Libya Business Association visited Tripoli in December 2006 and were briefed on $25 billion in investment opportunities. "We were deeply impressed with the warmth and quality of our exchanges with the government," association director David Goldwyn said. In February, Ahmed Fituri, head of the Americas department of Libya's foreign ministry, became the highest ranking official to visit Washington since the 2003 announcement. OUTRAGEOUS RHETORIC Rex Tillerson, chairman of America's Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly listed oil firm, visited Tripoli in February to attend the signing of an energy exploration venture. Claire Spencer of Britain's Royal Institute of International Affairs said the speeches may also have been a bid to signal that Libya still needs to be courted and remains important. "They feel they've been ignored since WMD," she said of the 2003 weapons move. "They suspect the US thinks it's dealt with Libya and they see that the more outrageous rhetoric these days comes from Iran and Venezuela, which gets them the attention." In 2004 the United States ended a broad trade embargo placed on Libya in 1986 and diplomatic ties were restored in 2006. But the two sides have had differences over Libyan payments of restitution to families of those killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland. The bomb was linked to Libyan agents and killed 270 people. Many of the victims' relatives say Tripoli has not completed restitution payments.

The agency said it was lifting India’s rating to Baa2 from Baa3 and changed its rating outlook to stable from positive as risks to India’s credit profile were broadly balanced. The upgrade, Moody’s first of India since January 2004, moves the rating to the second-lowest investment grade, one notch higher than Standard & Poor’s and Fitch, which have kept India just above “junk” status for a decade and more. The decision by Moody’s is a plaudit for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and the reforms it has pushed through, and comes just weeks after the World Bank moved India up 30 places in its annual ease of doing business rankings. Indian stocks, bonds and the rupee rallied. “It seems like Santa Claus has already opened his bag of goodies,” said Lakshmi Iyer, head of fixed income at Kotak Mutual Fund. “The (ratings) move is overall positive for bonds which were caught in a negative spiral. This is a structural positive which would lead to easing in yields across tenors.” India had lobbied Moody’s hard for an upgrade last year, but failed. The agency cited doubts about the country’s debt levels and fragile banks, and declined to budge despite government criticism of its rating methodology. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters the upgrade was a “belated recognition” of the steps the government has taken to fix India’s $2 trillion economy. Modi’s top colleagues portrayed it as a further victory for the prime minister after U.S.-based research agency Pew released a survey this week that showed nearly nine out of 10 Indians held a favourable opinion of him. Other upgrades doubted But some economists said the other big rating agencies were unlikely to follow suit soon. Radhika Rao, an economist at DBS, said implementation of reforms, a subdued rural sector and weak investment had slowed growth while rising oil prices have raised risks to the economy. “We don’t think the other two global rating agencies, Fitch and S&P, will follow up in a hurry, based on their cautious rhetoric,” she said, noting their concerns on “weak” state and central government finances. Jaitley said the government will stick to the path of fiscal consolidation. It is targeting a fiscal deficit of 3.2 percent of gross domestic product for the year ending in March 2018, falling to 3 percent in 2018/19. “We will maintain the fiscal discipline,” he said, expressing confidence that existing policies will let India “glide” to a stronger financial position. Moody’s separately raised the ratings of top Indian lender State Bank of India and HDFC Bank as well as state-run energy firms NTPC, NHPC and GAIL India Limited and the National Highways Authority of India, potentially lowering their borrowing costs. Markets surge India’s benchmark 10-year bond yield fell to as low as 6.94 percent before ending at 7.05 percent while the rupee ended at 65.02 per dollar, stronger from 65.3250 at Thursday’s close. The main Mumbai stock index closed 0.67 percent higher. But debt traders said heavy bond supply and a hawkish inflation outlook meant the rally was unlikely to last beyond a few days. “Who has the guts to continue buying in this market?” said a bond trader at a private bank. Moody’s said the recently introduced goods and services tax (GST), a landmark reform that turned India’s 29 states into a single customs union for the first time, would boost productivity by removing barriers to inter-state trade. “The upgrade takes into account the potential impact of the recent good and services tax reform to support growth over time,” Marie Diron, associate managing director, sovereign risk group at Moody’s Investors Service, told Reuters. She said Moody’s had also accounted for a higher general government deficit, adding: “We think there is a commitment to fiscal consolidation even if there are some slippages in the short-term.” But some market participants questioned the timing of the upgrade, with one foreign bank dealing describing it as “a little dicey given ... concerns about the government’s fiscal discipline.” Moody’s said it expects India’s real GDP growth to moderate to 6.7 percent in the fiscal year ending in March 2018 from 7.1 percent a year earlier. The agency also raised India’s local currency senior unsecured debt rating to Baa2 from Baa3 and its short-term local currency rating to P-2 from P-3. Moody’s said that while a number of key reforms remain at an early stage, it believes those already implemented will advance the government’s objective of improving the business climate, enhancing productivity and stimulating investment. “Longer term, India’s growth potential is significantly higher than most other Baa-rated sovereigns,” said Moody’s.

Rescuers searched for more than 800 people missing in the southern Philippines on Sunday after flash floods and landslides swept houses into rivers and out to sea, killing more than 650 people in areas ill-prepared to cope with storms. Cagayan de Oro and nearby Iligan cities on Mindanao island were worst hit when Typhoon Washi slammed ashore while people slept late on Friday and early Saturday, sending torrents of water and mud through villages and stripping mountainsides bare. The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) said 652 people were killed in eight provinces in the southern Mindanao region, with more than 800 missing. "Our office was swamped with hundreds of requests to help find their missing parents, children and relatives," Gwendolyn Pang, secretary-general of the PNRC, told reporters. "We're helping coordinate the search with local government, army, police and even other aid agencies." Floods washed away entire houses with families inside in dozens of coastal villages in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. "This is the first time this has happened in our city," Vicente Emano, mayor of Cagayan de Oro, said in a radio interview. He said officials in the area did not receive adequate warning before the typhoon struck. The state disaster agency said adequate warnings had been given to officials and residents three days before the typhoon made landfall on Friday. BODIES PILED UP; SOLDIERS BUILD COFFINS Disaster and health officials were struggling to deal with the scores of bodies that have been recovered. Some were stacked one on top of each other in under-staffed mortuaries that were unable to cope with the numbers of dead. "I saw for myself bloated bodies of women and children, not less than 100," Vice President Jejomar Binay told Philippines radio as he toured the worst hit areas in Cagayan de Oro. Binay distributed food packs and ordered the relocation of families living near waterways and other hazards. Brigadier General Roland Amarille, head of an army task force in Iligan, said soldiers had been mobilized to recover bodies and build coffins. "We need body bags and lime to deal with too many cadavers," Amarille said, fearing an outbreak of disease. "Local mortuaries are no longer accepting cadavers and they are even asking people to bury the dead at once because there are too many bodies even in hallways," he said. Most of the fatalities were from a slum area on an island sandwiched by two rivers in Iligan. "About 70 percent of the houses on the island were washed into the sea," Amarille said. Mindanao island, the southernmost in the Philippines, is a mineral-rich region that also produces rice and corn but is not normally in the path of an average 20 typhoons that hit the Southeast Asian country each year. "This poses challenges to us ... We need to educate people with this kind of change in climate," Pang said. "The volume of rainfall for one month fell in just one day." RESCUED BY CARGO SHIP Typhoons normally strike the central Visayas region and the south and east of Luzon, the main island in the north. Carmelita Pulosan, 42, said she and eight family members and neighbors survived by sitting on top of the tin roof of their house as it drifted miles into the open sea after floodwater swept through their village. They were rescued by a cargo ship. "There was a deafening sound followed by a rush of water. We found ourselves in the river and the current took us out to the sea," Pulosan, from Cagayan de Oro, told Reuters. "The current was very strong. God is really good to us. He saved my family," she said. Only one 3-storey building was left standing in their village, Pulosan said. Red Cross official Pang said officials and residents did not expect such a huge volume of water cascading down mountains into river systems because the area was not in the typhoon belt. She said Cagayan de Oro last experienced floods in 2009 but there was only minimal damage and no deaths. Many people found their homes destroyed after returning to shattered villages, Pang said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States, a major ally of the Philippines, was ready to help. The Chinese embassy would donate $10,000 to help in the relief efforts, an embassy official said. Washi, downgraded to a tropical storm with gusts of up to 80 km per hour (50 miles per hour), was hovering about 60 km (40 miles) west of the southwestern city of Puerto Princesa and was expected to move out of Philippine waters late on Sunday.

An African Union summit opened on Monday with the stage set for a battle over Sudan's determination to assume the chair despite fierce criticism of continuing bloodshed in its Darfur region. Sudan was adamant it should get the chairmanship, promised a year ago, despite a chorus of demands from rights organisations and Western governments that it be snubbed because of abuses in Darfur, where the the United States says genocide has occurred. Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol told Reuters: "I don't expect responsible leaders of the AU to change their position because there are some rights groups outside the AU pressuring them. I think they are beyond pressure." The chairmanship was promised to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir a year ago when he was passed over for the post because of the violence in Darfur, which experts estimate has killed 200,000 people and driven 2.5 million from their homes. Critics say that far from abating, the violence has worsened in the last year and government-backed Arab militias have killed thousands. Bashir has repeatedly blocked deployment of UN peacekeepers to bolster an overstretched African Union military mission of 7,000 soldiers and monitors. In an opening speech at the summit, the AU's top diplomat, Alpha Oumar Konare, accused Sudan of attacking Darfur civilians. "We appeal to the government of Sudan to stop attacking and bombarding Darfur and instead restore peace," he said. Rights group Amnesty International said in a statement on the eve of the two-day summit that the AU would undermine its credibility if it gave the chairmanship to Bashir while abuses continued in Sudan's vast Western region. Chad, whose relations with Sudan are severely strained after the Darfur conflict spilled over their border, has vowed to withdraw from the AU if Bashir gets the chair. Asked at the summit opening what he would do if the chair went to Sudan, Chad President Idriss Deby said: "This is not a foreseeable step that would be taken by the African Union." Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told reporters: "The Egyptian position is that there is a decision to give Sudan the chair and that needs to be implemented unless the summit decides otherwise." But he expected as big a struggle over Sudan's candidacy as a year ago. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo told reporters: "I think we will have an easier solution to the question of the chairmanship than we did last year. The decision has not been made." Diplomats said moves were under way to promote Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete as an alternative to Bashir. They said Western governments were lobbying in favour of Kikwete. "(The AU) is one of the great success stories in international relations and diplomacy and it can be lost in half an hour. That's what the AU needs to weigh up," British Africa minister David Triesman told Reuters before the summit. An AU committee of seven "wise men", including Obasanjo, will discuss the Sudan issue on Monday and then present recommendations to the full summit, delegates said. The Addis Ababa meeting is also due to discuss raising a peacekeeping force for Somalia to replace Ethiopian troops, unrest in Guinea and climate change, as well as the AU military mission in Darfur, but diplomats say much of the debate will be overshadowed by Sudan. Delegates said opposition to Sudan was rising among the AU governments. "How can you ask someone who is dealing with their own internal conflict to deal with all the other issues going on the continent? The leaders are taking this into account and a solution will be found," one African delegate said.

Australia's two major parties wooed independent lawmakers on Sunday after an inconclusive election left the nation facing its first hung parliament since 1940 and set up financial markets for a sell-off. The Australian dollar and shares were likely to fall when trading resumes on Monday, analysts said, with the vote count threatening to drag on for days and both the ruling Labor party and opposition seemingly unable to win a majority. "The uncertainty is going to be a real killer to the financial markets," said economist Craig James of Commsec, suggesting the Australian dollar could fall a cent or more. With 78 percent of votes counted, a hung parliament was most likely, with two possible scenarios for a minority government: a conservative administration backed by rural independents or a Labor government backed by Green or green-minded MPs. The latter scenario is frightening for many investors, with Prime Minister Julia Gillard indicating on Sunday after early talks with independent and Green MPs that she was open to discussing the policies of this disparate group of lawmakers. "It's my intention to negotiate in good faith an effective agreement to form government," said Gillard, adding her Labor party was better placed to deliver stable government and noting that Labor had won more votes than the conservatives. Conservative leader Tony Abbott also met some crossbench MPs on Sunday. "I have spoken briefly to each of the three incumbent independents. I don't want to pre-empt the discussions that I expect will be held over the next few days," Abbott said. "I intend to be very pragmatic, but within the broad policy parameters we discussed during the election," Abbott told reporters in Sydney. The independent and Green lawmakers who have emerged from the election stand for everything from higher income and company taxes, in the case of the Greens, to more open government and fewer banana imports, in the case of two independents. The Greens party, which is also set to win the balance of power of the Senate, will certainly push for action on climate change, with Labor postponing its carbon emissions trading scheme until 2012 and the conservatives opposing a carbon price. "The minimum for climate change is to take action, to get something under way," said Greens leader Senator Bob Brown. Brown has earlier suggested an interim, fixed A$20 ($17.8) a tonne carbon price ahead of a full-blown emissions trading scheme. Treasurer Wayne Swan sought to reassure markets that the caretaker Labor administration could provide stability until a new government is formed. "The investment and broader community can be assured that Australia's economy is among the strongest in the world, with a stable financial system and world class regulators who have served both sides of politics very effectively," he said. MARKET BRACED FOR SELL-OFF Investors would prefer a minority conservative administration over a Labor-Green arrangement, UBS chief strategist David Cassidy said, noting that conservative leader Abbott had pledged to scrap Labor's proposed 30 percent mining tax. The tax on major iron ore and coal-mining operations has weighed on mining stocks such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto and the Australian dollar. "Clearly the market won't like the uncertainty," UBS's Cassidy said, predicting moderate selling. "Markets would be uncomfortable with a Labor government with Green assistance." Greens leader Brown met Gillard, who ousted former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in a party coup in June, for preliminary talks on Sunday, though Brown said later that no agreements were reached, no policies discussed and no demands made. He said he was now ready to meet Abbott: "We have repeatedly shown we are very responsible in working with the bigger parties to get good outcomes in positions of balance of power." Election analysts said both Gillard's Labor party and the opposition conservatives were likely to fall short of enough seats to form a government alone, forcing them to rely on four independents and a Green MP to take power. One Green-minded and center-left independent candidate, Andrew Wilkie, who has a chance to win a lower house seat, said on Sunday he already had taken a call from Gillard but declined to be drawn on which major party he would support. "I am open-minded," Wilkie told ABC radio, adding he would back the party that could ensure stable and "ethical" government. Another independent, Bob Katter, a stetson-wearing maverick from the outback, said he would support the party he felt would do more for rural communities and ensure their right "to go fishing and camping and hunting and shooting." Independent Tony Windsor said he would be "happy to talk to anybody" when the final results were in, local media reported. Some of the independents have protectionist views and are outspoken about Chinese investment in Australian resources.

The mountain had been scribbled on a piece of cardboard, and formed the backdrop for an online show she was performing as part of the annual Leicester Comedy Festival. But Ives said it was more than a prop: It was a metaphor for the daily struggles of transgender people in Britain, who have to continually deal with attacks, as if clambering up a hill. If it sounded like a tough premise for a comedy show, Ives insisted it would be fine. “I’m more than qualified to take you up this hypothetical mountain.” After all, she said, “I am transgender myself.” Transgender people have never had a higher profile in British culture, but with that visibility has come opposition to transgender rights, in mainstream news media and on social media. And in stand-up comedy, a medium that reacts to society’s preoccupations, trans issues have often been treated like a punchline. Stepping on stage as a trans comedian in this context, Ives said in a recent phone interview, she sometimes felt as if she had to represent an entire community when she would prefer to just tell jokes. Unlike in the United States, where positions on transgender issues are split along partisan lines, in Britain, prominent voices on both the political left and right have said, for example, that allowing transgender women to use bathrooms that match their gender identity endangers other women. (A 2018 study from UCLA found concerns about safety and privacy were unfounded.) JK Rowling, the author of the “Harry Potter” books, is perhaps the most famous British figure to make such claims, and people, including many fans, have accused her of transphobia. In an essay last year, she wrote that she saw the movement for transgender rights as doing “demonstrable harm in seeking to erode ‘woman’ as a political and biological class and offering cover to predators like few before it.” Jen Ives, a British comedian, in London on Feb 24, 2021. Lauren Fleishman/The New York Times Dan Healey, an academic at the University of Oxford’s Centre for Gender, Identity, and Subjectivity, said in a telephone interview the debate around transgender rights in Britain was louder than in the United States. “What we have here is a debate between groups of feminists who either accept trans women are women, or who don’t,” he said. Jen Ives, a British comedian, in London on Feb 24, 2021. Lauren Fleishman/The New York Times Trans people say feminists who don’t accept them question their very humanity. “One of the worst things about the state of trans issues in the UK now is it does feel like there’s an active attempt to dehumanise trans people,” Ives said. “We’re so often not viewed as people. We’re viewed as a debate, or an agenda or a trend.” Ives, 30, said she had talked about being transgender onstage since she first tried stand-up in 2017, and audiences seemed to “like the fact someone was talking about it,” she said. “Peak Trans,” her show, was partly a response to the toxic climate in Britain, she said. “If you make someone laugh, you’re not going to necessarily change their mind, but you’re at least showing them that you are a person,” she added. In the show, even when Ives talked about the anger against transgender people, she was never far from a silly joke. “Being trans is not the only thing about me,” she said at one point, adding she was also a vegetarian. “I really, really, really did want to go vegan over Christmas,” she said, “but as a trans woman I just felt I’d put my dad through enough.” Trans comedians have been appearing on British stages for decades. In December, the hugely popular Eddie Izzard made headlines after saying she wants “to be based in girl mode” and is using she/her pronouns, having worn dresses and heels onstage since the early 1990s. Debra-Jane Appleby, a trans stand-up, won the Funny Women comedy award in 2005, and Bethany Black, who is also trans, has been a regular on Britain’s comedy circuit for almost two decades. In 2010, Black told The Guardian newspaper that “mostly people don’t care about me being trans.” During a recent video interview, she laughed when she was reminded of that comment. “Yeah, that’s changed a bit,” she said. Back then, people “thought perhaps there were like 10 or 15 transsexuals in the world,” she said. “Now, they’re like, ‘They’re everywhere and they’re trying to get into sports!’” Despite the fact she jokes about transphobia onstage, Black said the debate in Britain around trans people has taken a toll on her. “I was diagnosed with agoraphobia a couple of years ago, and a lot of that comes down to constantly feeling like I’m in this battle,” she said. Also tiring are the comedians and TV shows that make lazy jokes about transgender people, Black said. Those had become such a feature of some high-profile comedians’ routines that James Acaster, another British stand-up, mocked this tendency in a 2019 set. Yet many comics avoided those jokes when they were on the same lineup as she was, Black added. “No matter how much they are all bold, super pro-free speech, a lot of them suddenly don’t say it when I’m on the bill,” she said. One exception was comedian Adam Rowe, she added. Rowe has a routine in which he says lingerie company Victoria’s Secret wouldn’t cast transgender or plus-size models in its shows. In an undated photo made remotely, Bethany Black, a British comedian, on Feb 25, 2021. “This is my life,” Black said of being transgender. “This is something that I have to deal with every day, and not as a thought experiment.” Many British comedians made jokes about trans people, Black said — though she added they usually avoid those when she is on the same lineup. Devin Oktar Yalkin/The New York Times “If you were born as a man, you can identify as a woman,” he says in the routine. “You can’t identify as a Victoria’s Secret model,” he adds, saying to an imaginary trans applicant, “Why not? Because your hands are like shovels, Brian.” (Toward the end of the routine, he notes that Victoria’s Secret did, in fact, recently cast a trans model.) In an undated photo made remotely, Bethany Black, a British comedian, on Feb 25, 2021. “This is my life,” Black said of being transgender. “This is something that I have to deal with every day, and not as a thought experiment.” Many British comedians made jokes about trans people, Black said — though she added they usually avoid those when she is on the same lineup. Devin Oktar Yalkin/The New York Times In an email, Rowe defended the joke. “The routine isn’t transphobic,” he said, adding it was actually written to “trap people who aren’t listening properly into thinking that it is.” He said people got distracted by buzzwords. Ives said she had seen comedians who aren’t trans do trans material, and it could be “hilarious.” After all, “I can laugh at myself,” she said. But, she added, “a lot the time it just feels like a cheap dig.” Many times in her career, she has had to go onstage directly after a male comedian who’d made jokes about transgender women, she added. She would normally mock the comedian in response. “But that’s making the best of a bad situation,” Ives said. “I’d rather not.” During her recent show, Ives gradually led her audience up the metaphorical Peak Trans, stopping along the way to make jokes about transgender people in sport and her own coming out. But then, as the climbing party got closer to the summit, one subject loomed into view. “I’m sorry,” Ives said. “We’re going to talk about JK Rowling.” Ives first made a joke about Rowling’s recent novel “Troubled Blood,” which features a male killer who disguises himself as a woman. Ives said she really wanted to “be an activist and speak out about it.” “The problem is,” she said, “that book is 1,000 pages long. I’m not reading that!” Rowling wanted “people like me to stop using women’s spaces,” Ives said. “And she wants me to use men’s toilets.” Ives became quieter. “Trans women are a lot like spiders,” she said, “and not just because we’re hairy and we set traps. We’re like spiders because we’re generally more scared of you than you are of us.” © 2021 New York Times News Service

But Trump's election win could hand Moscow an elusive prize - the lifting or easing of Western sanctions. Rolling back those sanctions, imposed by the United States and the European Union to punish Moscow for its 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, could spur investment in Russia's flat-lining economy. That might make it even easier for Putin, who is trying to plug holes in the state budget inflicted by low oil prices and sanctions, to win a fourth presidential term in 2018 by allowing him to show he has returned the economy to growth. "Clearly the chances of sanctions being lifted on Russia have risen substantially," Charles Robertson, Renaissance Capital's global chief economist, said. "That would improve the investment climate for Russia." Russia's rouble currency and stocks gained on the Trump election victory. Ukraine's dollar-denominated bonds tumbled to multi-month lows, reflecting pessimism about what a Trump presidency means for the divided and indebted country. The Kremlin had been bracing for fraught relations if the White House had been won by Hillary Clinton - a politician Putin once accused of stirring up protests against him and who state media portrayed as an anti-Russian warmonger. Trump was portrayed in a more positive light. Putin described him as "very talented" and in Kremlin-backed media he was cast as a plucky political maverick. Still, few in Moscow had believed the Republican candidate would win, apart from a group of Trump-supporting nationalists who gathered in a Moscow bar decorated with a triptych of Putin, Trump and French Front National leader Marine Le Pen. Once it became clear he had won, Russia's parliament erupted in applause and Putin told foreign ambassadors he was ready to fully restore ties with Washington. State TV ran a clip of a Russian doppelganger of Trump taunting a cowed Clinton lookalike and Margarita Simonyan, the boss of RT, the Kremlin's English-language TV news channel, said she would drive around Moscow with a US flag to celebrate. But Russian glee was tempered by a recognition that Trump's pre-election promises might be diluted and that deep contradictions between Moscow and Washington would remain, even if Trump and Putin adopt a friendly tone in public. Easing sanctions Trump's attempts to ease restrictions on doing business with Russia could also be constrained by Congress, which has shown it has little patience for the Kremlin's military adventures. Executives with Western firms say the biggest obstacle to deals with Russia is not the sanctions themselves but the prospect that more could be imposed and the zeal with which existing sanctions are enforced. If a Trump White House were to send a signal to businesses that it was taking a more lax approach, investments could start flowing again with sanctions still in place. A softer US stance could also weaken European sanctions resolve. The bloc's measures have already started to look wobbly, with some member states finding ways to circumvent them, others saying it is time to discuss moving on, and some business groups in countries such as Germany lobbying against them. Until now, Washington has helped stiffen European resolve. When Russia placed a Eurobond in May this year, many European banks decided not to take part because they did not want to fall foul of US financial regulators. "America was the leader there and amazingly has been able to hold Europe together (on sanctions)," political analyst Masha Lipman told Reuters. "With Donald Trump in the White House I think there may be changes, something that might be beneficial for Russia." Putin needs sanctions lifted as they risk hurting his re-election prospects. Russia's central bank is forecasting economic growth of up to 1 percent next year, well below the level Russian households have come to expect. After previous slumps, recoveries have been driven by foreign lending and investment. There are already some signs that the economy is hurting support for Putin, a trend that is only likely to grow in the 18 months until the Russian presidential election. Hard bargain Kremlin-watchers said that, even if US-relations were less antagonistic with Trump in the White House, any deal would involve hard bargaining on both sides. Russia is seeking formal recognition from the world that Crimea, part of Ukraine, is now Russian territory, something it has only got so far apart from a handful of nations. It also wants Kiev to do more to implement a peace deal covering eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists hold sway. In Syria, where Russia is helping President Bashar al-Assad fight a war with air strikes and military assistance, Moscow wants the West to drop ideas about changing the government, abandon help for what it says are hardline Islamists, and drop talk of possible no-fly zones. One possibility is a quid pro quo, with Russia making concessions on Syria in exchange for the United States ceding ground on Ukraine and sanctions. "For Russia the key point is Ukraine. If Trump says that America does not care about Ukraine, then that is all that Russia wants to hear right now," Georgy Bovt, editor of the Russkiy Mir magazine, told Reuters. "On Syria it will be easier to reach a deal. I think that on Assad, Russia will be willing to compromise because Ukraine is more important for Russia." Personalities Much has been made in Russian and Western media of the perceived similarities and differences between Putin and Trump, who have never met. Both are fond of tough talking and some Russian politicians have suggested the pair might be able to forge a close working relationship similar to the one the Russian leader enjoyed with former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Trump has said he might even meet Putin before his inauguration. Putin's spokesman said there were currently no plans for such a meeting. People familiar with both men's leadership styles advised caution however, saying both were relatively thin-skinned when it came to criticism. Andrey Kortunov, director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, a think-tank close to the Foreign Ministry, told Reuters the fact that Trump was an untested politician would also be a worry for the Kremlin. "He's a loose cannon and you never know what to expect from him," he said. There were also concerns the two men might be too alike. "The problem is that both of them, Putin and Trump, are macho," Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-connected analyst and former pro-Putin lawmaker, told Reuters. "They could try to take the measure of each other. We can't let that happen."

Italy's political stalemate and the prospect of months of political uncertainty has created alarm across Europe just as the standoff over bank deposits in Cyprus reawakened fears that the euro zone debt crisis could flare up again.Center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, who won a majority in the lower house but not in the Senate, commands the largest bloc in parliament but cannot govern unless he has support from one of the other parties.However there has been no sign that an accord is possible with either former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right alliance, the second biggest force in parliament, or the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement led by ex-comic Beppe Grillo which holds the balance of power.If no agreement can be struck between parties that remain bitterly divided, Italy faces the prospect of a brief period under a caretaker government followed by a return to the polls, possibly as early as June.Napolitano meets minor parties, including Prime Minister Mario Monti's centrist bloc on Wednesday before seeing representatives from the 5-Star Movement, Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party and Bersani's Democratic Party (PD) on Thursday.Bersani, 61, received a small boost at the weekend when his two candidates were elected the speakers of the two houses of parliament, despite the center-left's lack of a majority in the upper house.Both speakers announced late on Tuesday that they would take a 30 percent wage cut and urged other parliamentarians to do the same, a move that followed an example set by 5-Star members elected as local officials in Sicily last year who gave up most of their salaries and used the savings to fund small businesses.LIMITEDBersani is proposing to present a limited package of reforms aimed at fighting corruption and creating jobs that he hopes can be backed by the 5-Star Movement.Given the fractious climate, the prospects of a minority government surviving more than a short time are slim but Bersani has little alternative."The PD is not changing our line, we'll go to the consultations with the proposals which were voted by the party leadership immediately after the election," he told reporters on Tuesday.Italy, the euro zone's third-largest economy, can ill afford a prolonged political crisis after the turmoil which brought down Berlusconi's last government and dragged the single currency to the brink of disaster just 16 months ago.Its economy is deep in recession, and unemployment is at record levels especially among the young. Its 2 trillion-euro ($2.6 trillion) public debt is dangerously vulnerable to bond market volatility and any sharp rise in interest rates.However, far from prompting the parties to cooperate as they did when Monti's technocrat government took over from Berlusconi in 2011, the crisis appears to have deepened hostility.Grillo, who has pledged not to give a vote of confidence to a government led by any other party, warned followers against falling into a "trap" after a handful of rebels voted with the center left in the election of the Senate speaker on Saturday.Berlusconi, fighting a tax fraud conviction and facing trial for paying for sex with a minor, has demanded that the center right be allowed to name the next president when Napolitano's term ends on May 15, offering his support to a Bersani-led government in exchange.That offer was rejected as "indecent" by the PD, prompting Berlusconi to pledge street protests if parliament appointed a center-left head of state.A rally organized by the PDL, called "All for Silvio!" is already planned for Saturday to protest against what his supporters say is a political campaign by magistrates against the 76-year-old billionaire.

Hogir Fathi was looking forward to home leave in his village in autonomous Kurdistan when the 24-year-old, a fighter in the Iraqi region's peshmerga forces, was killed by a bomb while on the frontline against Islamist militants who last month drove the Iraqi army from most of the north outside the Kurdish zone."I am proud my son was martyred," said his father, Mehdi, himself a peshmerga, who fought the army of Saddam Hussein. "There is no sacrifice too great for an independent Kurdistan."A century after the Kurds lost out in the carve-up of the Ottoman empire after World War One, denied a state of their own and left scattered across four others, that dream is suddenly closer as fighting among Iraq's Arabs - minority Sunnis and the Shias in power - fuels talk of the country being partitioned.The Kurds of Iraq, who have governed themselves since US air power pinned back the Sunni dictator Saddam after the 1991 Gulf War, have already exploited the chaos to expand their territory by as much as 40 percent, including the oilfields and city of Kirkuk, which they claim as their national capital.Their president last week called for a referendum on secession. And there is little doubt it would overwhelmingly back independence, as an unofficial plebiscite did in 2005.But economics and external pressures, from Baghdad but also from rival allies in Turkey, Iran and Washington, may well hold Kurdish leaders back from risking a final break any time soon."All the Kurdish people support it, but the leadership must consider whether the time is appropriate or not," said Kurdistan Vice President Kosrat Rasul Ali, a veteran peshmerga commander."If the political climate is not ripe, perhaps we will have to wait years. Otherwise it will be a misadventure," he added, echoing the caution of several leaders who spoke to Reuters.As it has for a decade, the threat alone of secession may offer greater benefits to the Kurds in the three-way bargaining with Shi'ites and Sunnis that has defined post-Saddam politics.TURKISH, IRANIAN INFLUENCESThe five million Iraqi Kurds, who are mostly Sunni Muslim by religion but define themselves by their language and culture, already enjoy wide autonomy, running their own armed forces and, to the annoyance of Baghdad, starting to export their own oil.Hostility from Turkey, which fought its own Kurdish revolt for decades, may no longer be the obstacle it once was to full independence for Iraqi Kurdistan.Though wary of the impact that might have on its own Kurdish minority and officially committed the unity of Iraq, Ankara has worked with Iraq's Kurds to buffer Turkey against the chaos to the south and become a buyer of their oil. Many Kurdish leaders are quietly confident Ankara would not block their sovereignty.More problematic may be Iran, a sponsor of the Shia parties which now hold power in Baghdad and which view Kurdish secession as a bid to grab an unfair share of Iraq's wealth.Tehran and Ankara have long supported competing factions within Iraqi Kurdistan, factions which fought a bitter civil war almost as soon as they were free of Saddam's control in 1991. Divergent interests between Iran and Turkey make for tensions within Kurdish politics that affect attitudes to independence.The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which leans towards Turkey, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), closer to Iran, each controls separate peshmerga units and different territories within Iraqi Kurdistan."If you don’t take care to balance the relationship between Iran and Turkey, they can spoil everything," said a senior figure in the PUK, whose leaders include Iraq's head of state, President Jalal Talabani, and Kurdistan Vice President Rasul.In a mark of hostility to Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani's KDP, Iraqi-born Iranian official and Shi'ite cleric Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, accused the KDP of being part of a Sunni conspiracy that included Turkey in support of the offensive by the Islamic State.That was part of a plan by the KDP and Ankara to break up Iraq, he said in comments carried by an Iranian news agency.US, ECONOMIC PRESSURESThe United States, to whom Kurds have long looked for aid since US air power forced Saddam's troops to quit the region in 1991, is also pressing them not to break away and has urged them to join a new Baghdad coalition with Shi'ites and Sunnis.Many Kurds resent Washington's "one Iraq" policy and have little appetite to salvage a country they would rather not be part of. But few are willing to alienate powerful allies.By going along with efforts to hold Iraq together, Kurdish leaders are likely to use their leverage in negotiations on a new government to extract new concessions, notably on allowing them to export oil outside the control of national authorities."If we can stay together, it must be on the basis of a new reality," Barzani's chief-of-staff Fuad Hussein said during a visit to Washington last week. "A new reality has to do with the fact that Kurdistan is now independent."Baghdad slashed the Kurds' share of federal budget spending this year in retaliation for them exporting oil unilaterally, creating a financial crisis in Kurdistan that exposed the limits of the region's capacity to run its own economy.Industry experts estimate it could take several years for the Kurds to export enough oil from their own territory to make as much money as they could otherwise reap from a share of the much greater oil revenues reaching Baghdad from southern fields.Taking control of Kirkuk could shift that arithmetic in due course but probably not quickly enough to change the economic argument that the Kurds would do better to delay independence.The likes of Mehdi, father of the fallen peshmerga fighter Hogir Fathi, call the cause of sovereignty one for which "we are all prepared to sacrifice ourselves". But a pragmatic Kurdish leadership may yet bide its time to see how Iraq's other groups and their foreign allies deal with the Islamist offensive."They are in a very good position right now," said one Western diplomat who follows Iraqi politics closely."Going towards independence may bring more pain than gain."

LONDON/NEW YORK, Wed Oct 22,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - The world's worst financial crisis in 80 years hammered emerging markets on Wednesday, prompting emergency central bank moves and calls for international help to curb investor flight. There was more bad news in the United States too, where AT&T Inc and Boeing were among companies reporting weaker-than-expected earnings and drugmaker Merck & Co said it would cut 7,200 jobs. Battered US bank Wachovia Corp, set to be taken over by Wells Fargo & Co, posted a $23.9 billion third-quarter loss, a record for any US lender in the global credit crisis. Emerging market stocks, sovereign debt and currencies all came under intense pressure as investors unwound funding positions amid worries about the deteriorating world economy. Fears of a global recession overshadowed signs that efforts by authorities across the world to bolster the financial system were beginning to bear fruit. Hungary ratcheted up interest rates by three full points to defend its forint currency. Belarus's central bank said it had requested credit from the International Monetary Fund, and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said she expected her country to receive substantial financial aid from the IMF next week. The IMF is also ready to help Pakistan, which needs funds to avoid a balance of payments crisis, and Iceland, driven close to bankruptcy as frozen credit markets caused its banks to fail. "It's not that the fundamentals for emerging markets have changed. Capital is now moving back from the emerging world to the developed world," said Neil Dougall, chief emerging markets economist at Dresdner Kleinwort. OPTIMISM? Those problems masked some otherwise optimistic noises from various officials about the financial crisis, which has prompted billions of dollars in rescue and liquidity packages from governments around the world. U.S. Treasury Undersecretary David McCormick, speaking in Hong Kong, said the U.S. economy was in for a challenging few quarters but could start to recover late next year. "The name of the game is to bring back confidence to the financial market," he said. Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England and a major player in Group of Seven nations' discussions on the crisis, said that the worst may have passed for the financial system. "We are far from the end of the road back to stability," he said late on Tuesday. "But the plan to recapitalize our banking system, both here and abroad, will I believe come to be seen as the moment in the banking crisis of the past year when we turned the corner." His comments were underlined by a further drop in U.S. dollar short-term funding costs in London and Asia, a sign banks are beginning to regain trust in each other. Emerging powerhouse Russia, whose markets have been battered during the crisis, also signaled improvements in bank lending. "The interbank (lending) has started working normally. The rates are high but coming down. Banks have started crediting sectors again. But we still need two or three weeks for the situation to start improving," the Financial Times quoted First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov as saying. RECESSION LOOMS The overarching fear, overshadowing the progress made in fighting financial collapse, was about the deteriorating global economic climate. Minutes from the Bank of England's last meeting, at which it joined a coordinated round of rate cuts, said the UK economy had deteriorated substantially and King, in his Tuesday comments, said it was probably entering its first recession in 16 years. Such worries swept financial markets. Wall Street looked set for a poor start -- Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 259 points, or nearly 3 percent. European shares were down more than 4.4 percent and Japan's Nikkei average ended down 6.8 percent. In emerging markets, MSCI's sector index was at its lowest since June 2005, and sovereign debt spreads widened beyond 700 basis points over Treasury yields for the first time since early 2003. Currencies other than the forint were also battered, with the Turkish lira falling to the lowest in more than two years and South Africa's rand at its lowest in more than 6 years against the dollar. "Now we are going to have to deal with the problems of a business cycle downturn, which in all likelihood will be a fairly intense one," said Sanjay Mathur, economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Singapore. A slew of other US company results on Wednesday gave a snapshot of conditions across an array of industries and sectors in the world's largest economy. Tobacco companies Philip Morris International and Reynolds American Inc posted quarterly profits that beat analysts' estimates, as did fast-food chain McDonald's Corp. But they were bright spots amid the gloom.

WASHINGTON, Fri Dec 4,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - The Obama administration may be putting out a fire in Afghanistan, but the dynamite factory is next door in nuclear-armed Pakistan, commented Democratic lawmaker Gary Ackerman this week. In other words, if President Barack Obama wants to achieve his goal to defeat al Qaeda, the strategic prize is Pakistan and its border area with Afghanistan, a region Obama called the "epicenter" of violent extremism when he announced his new Afghan war policy Tuesday night. "My constituents keep asking? Is it worth risking the lives of those who respond to the fire in a place that may or may not hold a lot of value in and of itself," Ackerman, a US congressman from New York, told Obama's defense and diplomatic chiefs. The hard part, said ex-CIA analyst Bruce Riedel, was to get Islamabad to cooperate in the fight against extremists in what is an increasingly complex political climate in Pakistan. President Asif Ali Zardari's government is teetering and public opinion still staunchly anti-American, albeit less so than under the Bush administration. Too much US pressure makes Zardari's position even more precarious, particularly with the army and police. "It is a very delicate balancing act," said Riedel, now with the Brookings Institution think tank. "You don't change Pakistan's strategic behavior very easily. It is not something that will change in the course of months or years," he added. RATTLED BY STRATEGY The Pakistanis are rattled by what the United States is doing in Afghanistan, with contradictory positions of not wanting a "surge" of 30,000 more U.S. forces across the border while also fearing Washington will withdraw too quickly and destabilize the region further. "So they don't want us to surge or leave, but they also don't want to do more to make America and NATO policy in Afghanistan more likely of any sort of success," said Robert M. Hathaway, director of the Asia program at the Wilson Center, another Washington-based think tank. Congress has been pushing the Obama administration to put more pressure on Pakistan and Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts made this point during a hearing in Washington on Thursday. "Today it is the presence of al Qaeda in Pakistan, its direct ties to and support from the Taliban in Afghanistan and the perils of an unstable, nuclear-armed Pakistan that drive our mission," he said. Senior US officials traveled to Pakistan in recent weeks to discuss the new Afghan strategy, including national security adviser James Jones, who personally delivered a letter to Zardari from Obama, urging Islamabad to do more. Obama has offered Zardari a range of incentives, including enhanced intelligence sharing and military cooperation, and experts expect there to be more CIA-operated pilotless drone attacks on suspected al Qaeda and Taliban targets as part of the new strategy. Nearly 50 drone air strikes in northwestern border regions this year have killed about 415 people, including many foreign militants, according to Pakistani officials and residents, but these attacks raise hackles locally. Since 2001, the United States has given more than $10 billion in U.S. military aid to Pakistan, and the Pentagon has started rushing hundreds of millions of dollars more to its military in recent months. Much of that assistance is under the radar because of political sensitivities and fears of annoying India, Pakistan's arch rival but an increasingly important ally for Washington in the region. The Pakistani government has been asking for additional F-16 fighter jets, and Riedel said they were also pushing for jets that could operate at night as their current capacity was limited mostly to the day. During the strategic review, Vice President Joe Biden was pushing for more focus on Pakistan, with discussions over whether to have more "unilateral operations" inside the country, seen by most experts as very risky. "I can imagine the very, very exceptional case where some limited operations might be called upon, but as an ongoing military tactic it has bad news written all over it," Hathaway said. Any radical, unilateral action, such as sending in special forces, would further alienate pro-Western elements in Pakistan, said Nick Schmidle, a fellow at the New America Foundation who recently wrote a book on Pakistan. No amount of goodwill could remove the decades-old trust deficit between the United States and Pakistan, he said. For example a proposed $7.5 billion non-military US aid package has been met with bountiful suspicion, particularly from the army, which says it comes with too many conditions. "They don't seem to want a strategic relationship. They want the money, they want the equipment, but at the end of the day they don't want a relationship that costs them too much," said Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey.

Industrialized nations have stepped up plans to help countries swept up in the Arab Spring rebuild their economies through more access to international credit markets, investment and trade, a senior State Department official said on Monday. Undersecretary of State Robert Hormats said while headlines from a G8 leaders' summit at the weekend focused on the economic crisis in the euro zone, the meeting also underscored efforts needed to stabilize the transition economies of Egypt, Libya, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. The G8 launched the so-called Deauville Partnership last year, including global lenders such as the IMF and World Bank, after uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya ended decades-long dictatorships and protests prompted political reforms in countries such as Morocco and Jordan. Hormats said there had been political and economic advances in the countries since the Arab Spring events, but financial conditions were still challenging and countries needed to export more and attract foreign investment. "This meeting ... was designed to give political support to the countries and also recognize we need to continue to build," he told Reuters. "Things are changing but they still have big financial challenges and need resources. The fact that there is economic weaknesses in their biggest Mediterranean markets is not helpful to them," he added, referring to the euro zone economic crisis. BOOSTING INVESTMENTS The G8 agreed to create a capital markets access initiative to help the five countries tap international capital markets "under reasonable financing terms" to meet their financing needs and allow government enterprises to invest in projects that create jobs, according State Department and U.S. Treasury statements on Monday. G8 donors also agreed to create a new transition fund to strengthen government institutions vital for economic development, they added. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was also trying to change its charter to create a special fund worth $4 billion to invest in the region over the next three years, Hormats said. "We'd like to get it done within the next month or so but certainly by September," he said of the plans. Hormats said further meetings around the Deauville Partnership would take place at a G20 leaders' summit in Mexico next month, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September, and at October meetings of the World Bank and IMF in Tokyo. He said he would travel to Paris and Tunis over the next few days to encourage more investment and trade opportunities. While budget constraints prevented the United States from committing new aid to the countries, Hormats said Washington could support through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and the Overseas Private Investment Corp. Hormats said G8 efforts were also focused on improving transparency and accountability in the countries, which will help improve the business climate. It would also facilitate the return under the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, or StAR, run by the World Bank and United Nations, of stolen loot stashed outside countries by former senior government officials. Political turmoil across the Middle East and North Africa has translated into slower economic growth and forced some governments to spend billions of dollars to create jobs and counter rising costs to stave off further protests. In addition, countries have been hard hit by the debt crisis in the euro zone, which has triggered global economic uncertainty and a slowdown in demand. Tourism, a major source of revenue for both Tunisia and Egypt, has been hammered, while worker remittances have fallen sharply. Egypt is currently in talks with the IMF to finalize a $3.2 billion loan although analysts have put the country's financing needs at about $15 billion. The Fund has said it could provide $35 billion to help emerging Arab democracies.

The parliamentary standing committee on the environment ministry formed a watchdog body on Wednesday to supervise expenses of the governmental allocation of Tk 400 crore to confront the consequences of the climate changes. The five-member sub-committee is headed by Md Ekabbar Hossain MP while the other members are Sohrab Ali Sana, Manaranjan Sheel Gopal, Md Golam Sabur and Giasuddin Ahmed. "The government has launched a Tk 400 crore programme to tackle the effects of climate change of which Tk 300 crore will be spent by different ministries," standing committee chairman Abdul Momin Talukder told reporters at parliament's media centre. "The rest will be spent thought different non-governmental organisations of the country." More than 5000 NGOs have applied for climate funds under the programme, he said. "The sub-committee was not formed to oversee the amount that will be expended under ministerial projects. Rather the committee will supervise the NGOs, especially which areas the money is being spent," Talukder said. "The sub-committee will submit its first report within the next two months," he said. Talukder also said that the standing committee had requested the home ministry to execute a joint operation consisting of RAB and police to control piracy in the country's forest areas.

Dhaka, Sept 9 (bdnews24.com)--New German ambassador Holger Michael met with president Zillur Rahman on Wednesday, the German embassy said in a statement. The ambassador conveyed the friendly greetings of the German president to the people of Bangladesh. "Germany and Bangladesh are united in a long and uninterrupted tradition of friendship and cooperation," the German president, Horst Kohler, said in the letter of credence. Michael, the envoy, lauded Bangladesh's achievement in the fight against poverty. "The German government acknowledges the significant challenges facing Bangladesh including climate change. Germany continues to be one of the major development partners of Bangladesh," he said. He was hopeful of increased trade and investment between the two countries. "We see still scope for increased trade and investment in both directions and are therefore committed to further expand our vibrant trade links." The envoy said his country is determined to support all efforts to strengthen democracy and human rights in Bangladesh. He praised the constructive role of Bangladesh in international politics. "Germany supports Bangladesh's efforts in the promotion of regional cooperation and stability in South Asia, Bangladesh's engagement in UN peace keeping operations and her role as speaker for the group of Least Developed Countries," Michael said. Prior to his assignment in Dhaka, Michael was head of Trade Promotion at the Federal Foreign Office. He served as deputy head of mission in Bangkok and Hong Kong, the statement said. He was also assigned to countries Korea, Nicaragua and Turkey, it added

His polished leather shoes crunched on dust the miners had spilled from nylon bags stuffed with cobalt-laden rocks. The man, Albert Yuma Mulimbi, is a longtime power broker in Congo and chair of a government agency that works with international mining companies to tap the nation’s copper and cobalt reserves, used in the fight against global warming. Yuma’s professed goal is to turn Congo into a reliable supplier of cobalt, a critical metal in electric vehicles, and shed its anything-goes reputation for tolerating an underworld where children are put to work and unskilled and ill-equipped diggers of all ages get injured or killed. “We have to reorganize the country and take control of the mining sector,” said Yuma, who had pulled up to the Kasulo site in a fleet of SUVs carrying a high-level delegation to observe the challenges there. But to many in Congo and the United States, Yuma himself is a problem. As chair of Gécamines, Congo’s state-owned mining enterprise, he has been accused of helping to divert billions of dollars in revenues, according to confidential State Department legal filings reviewed by The New York Times and interviews with a dozen current and former officials in both countries. Top State Department officials have tried to force him out of the mining agency and pushed for him to be put on a sanctions list, arguing he has for years abused his position to enrich friends, family members and political allies. Yuma denies any wrongdoing and is waging an elaborate lobbying and legal campaign to clear his name in Washington and Congo’s capital of Kinshasa, all while pushing ahead with his plans to overhaul cobalt mining. Effectively operating his own foreign policy apparatus, Yuma has hired a roster of well-connected lobbyists, wired an undisclosed $1.5 million to a former White House official, offered the United States purported intelligence about Russia and critical minerals and made a visit to Trump Tower in New York, according to interviews and confidential documents. Yuma met with Donald Trump Jr there in 2018, a session the mining executive described as a quick meet-and-greet. Despite such high-level access during the Trump administration, he was barred just two months later from entering the United States. His grip on the mining industry has complicated Congo’s effort to attract new Western investors and secure its place in the clean energy revolution, which it is already helping to fuel with its vast wealth of minerals and metals like cobalt. Batteries containing cobalt reduce overheating in electric cars and extend their range, but the metal has become known as “the blood diamond of batteries” because of its high price and the perilous conditions in Congo, the largest producer of cobalt in the world. As a result, carmakers concerned about consumer blowback are rapidly moving to find alternatives to the element in electric vehicles, and they are increasingly looking to other nations with smaller reserves as possible suppliers. There is a chance that Congo’s role in the emerging economy could be diminished if it fails to confront human-rights issues in its mines. And even if Yuma works to resolve those problems, as he has pledged to do, it still may not be enough for new American investors who want to be assured the country has taken steps to curb a history of mining-industry corruption. Congo’s president, Felix Tshisekedi, has tried to sideline Yuma by stacking Gécamines with his own appointees, but he has been unwilling to cross him further. During an interview at his hillside palace in Kinshasa, Tshisekedi said he had his own strategy for fixing the country’s dangerous mining conditions. “It is not going to be up to Mr. Yuma,” he said. “It will be the government that will decide.” The standoff between Yuma and the president echoes power struggles that have torn apart African countries rich with natural resources in the past. How this one plays out has implications that reach far beyond the continent, as the global battle against climate change calls for a stepped-up transition from gasoline-burning vehicles to battery-powered ones. For Congo, the question boils down to this: Will Yuma help the country ride the global green wave into an era of new prosperity, or will he help condemn it to more strife and turmoil? ‘TIRED OF DIGGING’  Statues greet motorists at the main roundabout in a mining hub in Congo’s Copperbelt. One depicts an industrial miner in hard hat, headlamp and boots; another a shoeless, shirtless man in ragged shorts holding a pickax. They tell the story of the country’s dual mining economies: industrial and artisanal. High-tech, industrial mines run by global corporations like China Molybdenum employ thousands of people in Congo’s cobalt sector, and while they have their own problems, they are largely not responsible for the country’s tarnished reputation abroad. It’s a different story for the artisanal sector, where Yuma plans to focus the bulk of his stated reforms. Consisting of ordinary adults with no formal training, and sometimes even children, artisanal mining is mostly unregulated and often involves trespassers scavenging on land owned by the industrial mines. Along the main highway bisecting many of the mines, steady streams of diggers on motorbikes loaded down with bags of looted cobalt — each worth about $175 — dodge checkpoints by popping out of sunflower thickets. Unable to find other jobs, thousands of parents send their children in search of cobalt. On a recent morning, a group of young boys were hunched over a road running through two industrial mines, collecting rocks that had dropped off large trucks. The work for other children is more dangerous — in makeshift mines where some have died after climbing dozens of feet into the earth through narrow tunnels that are prone to collapse. Kasulo, where Yuma is showcasing his plans, illustrates the gold-rush-like fervor that can trigger the dangerous mining practices. The mine, authorized by Gécamines, is nothing more than a series of crude gashes the size of city blocks that have been carved into the earth. Once a thriving rural village, Kasulo became a mining strip after a resident uncovered chunks of cobalt underneath a home. The discovery set off a frenzy, with hundreds of people digging up their yards. Today, a mango tree and a few purple bougainvillea bushes, leftovers of residents’ gardens, are the only remnants of village life. Orange tarps tied down with frayed ropes block rainwater from flooding the hand-dug shafts where workers lower themselves and chip at the rock to extract chunks of cobalt. Georges Punga is a regular at the mine. Now 41, Punga said he started working in diamond mines when he was 11. Ever since, he has travelled the country searching Congo’s unrivalled storehouse for treasures underfoot: first gold, then copper, and, for the past three years, cobalt. Punga paused from his digging one afternoon and tugged his dusty blue trousers away from his sneakers. Scars crisscrossed his shins from years of injuries on the job. He earns less than $10 a day — just enough, he said, to support his family and keep his children in school instead of sending them to the mines. “If I could find another job, I’d do it,” he said. “I’m tired of digging.” Officials in Congo have begun taking corrective steps, including creating a subsidiary of Gécamines to try to curtail the haphazard methods used by the miners, improve safety and stop child labour, which is already illegal. Under the plan, miners at sites like Kasulo will soon be issued hard hats and boots, tunnelling will be forbidden and pit depths will be regulated to prevent collapses. Workers will also be paid more uniformly and electronically, rather than in cash, to prevent fraud. As chair of the board of directors, Yuma is at the centre of these reforms. That leaves Western investors and mining companies that are already in Congo little choice but to work with him as the growing demand for cobalt makes the small-scale mines — which account for as much as 30% of the country’s output — all the more essential. Once the cobalt is mined, a new agency will buy it from the miners and standardize pricing for diggers, ensuring the government can tax the sales. Yuma envisions a new fund to offer workers financial help if cobalt prices decline. Right now, diggers often sell the cobalt at a mile-long stretch of tin shacks where the sound of sledgehammers smashing rocks drowns out all other noise. There, international traders crudely assess the metal’s purity before buying it, and miners complain of being cheated. Yuma led journalists from the Times on a tour of Kasulo and a nearby newly constructed warehouse and laboratory complex intended to replace the buying shacks. “We are going through an economic transition, and cobalt is the key product,” said Yuma, who marched around the pristine but yet-to-be-occupied complex, showing it off like a proud father. Seeking solutions for the artisanal mining problem is a better approach than simply turning away from Congo, argues the International Energy Agency, because that would create even more hardships for impoverished miners and their families. But activists point out that Yuma’s plans, beyond spending money on new buildings, have yet to really get underway, or to substantially improve conditions for miners. And many senior government officials in both Congo and the United States question if Yuma is the right leader for the task — openly wondering if his efforts are mainly designed to enhance his reputation and further monetize the cobalt trade while doing little to curb the child labour and work hazards. MILLIONS GONE MISSING Bottles of Dom Pérignon were chilling on ice beside Yuma as he sat in his Gécamines office, where chunks of precious metals and minerals found in Congo’s soil were encased in glass. He downed an espresso before his interview with the Times, surrounded by contemporary Congolese art from his private collection. His lifestyle, on open display, was clear evidence, he said, that he need not scheme or steal to get ahead. “I was 20 years old when I drove my first BMW in Belgium, so what are we talking about?” he said of allegations that he had pilfered money from the Congolese government. Yuma is one of Congo’s richest businessmen. He secured a prime swath of riverside real estate in Kinshasa where his family set up a textile business that holds a contract to make the nation’s military uniforms. A perpetual flashy presence, he is known for his extravagance. People still talk about his daughter’s 2019 wedding, which had the aura of a Las Vegas show, with dancers wearing light-up costumes and large white giraffe statues as table centerpieces. He has served on the board of Congo’s central bank and was reelected this year as president of the country’s powerful trade association, the equivalent of the US Chamber of Commerce. The huge mining agency where he is chair was nationalized and renamed under President Mobutu Sese Seko after Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960. Gécamines once had a monopoly on copper and cobalt mining and, by the 1980s, was among the top copper producers in the world. Jobs there offered a good salary, health care and schooling for employees’ families. But Mobutu, who ruled for 32 years, raided its funds to support himself and his cronies, a pattern followed by his successors, according to anti-corruption groups. By the 1990s, production from Gécamines had declined dramatically. Money wasn’t reinvested into operations, and the agency amassed debt of more than $1 billion. Eventually, half of its workforce was laid off. To survive, Gécamines was restructured, turning to joint ventures with private, mostly foreign, investors in which the agency had a minority stake. Yuma took over in 2010, promising to return Gécamines to its former glory. But instead, according to anti-corruption groups, mining revenues soon disappeared. The Carter Centre, a nonprofit, estimated that between 2011 and 2014 alone some $750 million vanished from Gécamines’ coffers, placing the blame in part on Yuma. The winners of Gécamines’ partnership deals under Yuma included Dan Gertler, a billionaire diamond dealer from Israel. Gertler was later put under US sanctions for “hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of opaque and corrupt mining and oil deals,” according to the Treasury Department. A confidential investigative report that was submitted to the State Department and Treasury and obtained by the Times accuses Yuma of nepotism, holding stakes in textile and food-importing businesses that got funding from a government agency he helped oversee, and steering work to a mining contractor in which he was alleged to have shares. US authorities also believed that Yuma was using some of the mining-sector money to help prop up supporters of Joseph Kabila, the kleptocratic president of Congo for 18 years who had first put him in charge of Gécamines. “Suspicious financial transactions appeared to coincide with the country’s electoral cycles,” said the State Department’s 2018 annual report on human rights in Congo, crediting the Carter Centre for the research. By his own tally, Yuma has been accused of cheating Congo out of some $8.8 billion, an amount he thinks is absurd, saying he has brought in billions of dollars in revenue to the country. Yuma has launched a bombastic counterattack on watchdog groups and his critics, calling them “new colonialists.” He has claimed that they somehow conspired with mining companies to stymie his efforts to revamp the industry, which, in his assessment, has left “the Congolese population in a form of modern slavery.” Yuma also sent the Times a 33-page document outlining his defence, noting the many “veritable smear campaigns that seek to sully his reputation and blur his major role in favour of the country through the reform of its mining policy.” WASHINGTON APPEAL  The room was packed. Top White House and State Department officials, mining executives, Senate staffers and other Washington elites sat rapt one day in 2018 at the DC headquarters of a foreign policy group as the microphone was handed to the guest of honour: Yuma. “We understand President Donald Trump’s desire to diversify and secure the US supply chain,” he said, speaking to the Atlantic Council. “It would be of our best interests to consider partnerships with American companies to develop projects for the supply of these minerals.” Accused at home of pillaging the country’s revenues, Yuma had taken his image-cleansing campaign abroad, seeking redemption by convincing Washington that he was a critical link to Congo’s minerals and metals. Yuma’s team of lobbyists and lawyers included Joseph Szlavik, who had served in the White House under President George Bush, and Erich Ferrari, a prominent sanctions lawyer. Lodging at the Four Seasons, he held meetings on two trips that spring with officials from the World Bank and the departments of Defence, Energy and the Interior. He also travelled to New York, where he met with Donald Trump Jr There, he was accompanied by Gentry Beach, a Texas hedge fund manager who was a major campaign fundraiser for the former president as well as a close friend and erstwhile business partner of the younger Trump. Beach has been trying to secure a mining deal in Congo, and was previously invested with Trump in a mining project there. He did not respond to requests for comment. “Someone wanted to introduce me to say hello,” Yuma said, playing down the exchange with the president’s son. Trump said he did not recall the meeting. Through all the encounters, Yuma said, he recited the same message: America needed him, and he was ready to help. In Washington, he even offered what he considered crucial intelligence about Russia’s efforts to acquire Congolese niobium, a shiny white metal that resists corrosion and can handle super-high temperatures like those found in fighter jet engines. Yuma said he had helped thwart the sale to benefit the United States, according to two US officials involved in the meeting. Signs of trouble emerged during one of the trips. A member of his lobbying team was pulled aside by a State Department official and given a stark warning. Yuma was now a target of a corruption investigation by the United States, and he was about to be punished. A few weeks later, in June 2018, the State Department formally prohibited him from returning to the United States. “Today’s actions send a strong signal that the US government is committed to fighting corruption,” the State Department said in a statement at the time that did not name Yuma, and instead said the actions involved “several senior” officials from Congo, which the Times confirmed included Yuma. A ‘FORMIDABLE PERSON’ For Yuma, the action signalled that he needed even more muscle. He would hire Herman Cohen, a former assistant secretary of state for African affairs under Bush, and George Denison, who had worked for President Gerald Ford. A former Congolese airline and telephone executive named Joseph Gatt, who lives in Virginia and is close to Yuma, also took up his cause. Gatt stationed a personal aide at the Fairmont, a luxury hotel about a mile from the White House, who organised meetings with the lobbyists to push for permission for Yuma to visit the United States. “He’s a very formidable person,” Gatt said of Yuma in an interview, insisting that the allegations against him were false and that he was “quite clean.” At the same time, Yuma worked on elevating his standing in Congo. He hatched a plan with the exiting president, Kabila: Yuma would act as his proxy by becoming prime minister, State Department officials told the Times. But a top US diplomat was sent to meet with Yuma at his home in Kinshasa to make clear that the United States strongly objected to the plan, according to an interview with the diplomat, J Peter Pham. After pulling out a bottle of Cristal Champagne, Yuma talked with Pham about political events in Congo, but things soon turned sour. Pham, then a special envoy to the region, told Yuma that the Americans were prepared to deport two of his daughters, who were completing graduate degrees in the United States, if he pursued Kabila’s scheme. “If we revoked your visa, we could revoke theirs,” Pham recalled telling Yuma. Yuma was undeterred, and his team recruited an aide to Rep Hank Johnson, to deliver an invitation for Yuma to visit the United States and discuss his work in Congo. The invitation was even shared with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, though the State Department shut it down. “We saw it for what it was: an attempt to get around the visa ban,” Pham said. Still determined to get his way, Yuma bolstered his collection of influencers. Denison briefly joined the Washington lobbying team with instructions to ensure that Yuma could travel to the United States and that he “not face legal sanctions,” a June 2020 email shows. The United States was considering putting Yuma on a sanctions list, according to State Department officials, a move that could freeze money he had in international banks. But a $3 million contract between the men did not mention that assignment, instead saying that Denison was to “promote the attractiveness of the business climate” in Congo, according to a copy of the document. Shortly after he started the work, Denison received $1.5 million, emails show, with instructions to transfer most of it to an account belonging to an associate of Yuma’s. The transaction drew scrutiny from the bank — and alarm bells went off for Denison, who said he was concerned that he might be unknowingly participating in a money-laundering scheme. Denison hired a lawyer, quit the job and ultimately returned all the funds. “He’s a huge crook,” Denison said. Yuma did not respond to a question on the matter. DUELING PRESIDENTS Tshisekedi and Yuma walked near a large terraced canyon at one of Glencore’s cobalt mines in the Copperbelt, a region so defined by mining that roadside markets sell steel-toed boots and hard hats alongside fresh eggs and spears of okra. The outing in May was awkward for these two political rivals. Tshisekedi, a longtime opposition member who took office in early 2019 in a disputed election, has been fully embraced by the Biden administration, which sees him as an ally in battling global warming. He is chair of the African Union and has repeatedly appeared with President Joe Biden at international events, including a meeting in Rome last month and then again a few days later in Glasgow, Scotland, at the global climate conference. Back home, Tshisekedi has announced that he intends to make Congo “the world capital for strategic minerals.” But some Congolese and US officials think that in order for that to happen, Yuma needs to be ousted. “We have continuously tried to apply pressure” to have Yuma removed, said one State Department official. Yet Yuma “retains considerable influence,” the official said, baffling the State Department. Meanwhile, Yuma is carrying on as usual, trailed by an entourage of aides who address him as President Yuma, as he is known throughout much of Congo for his business leadership. It is also a nod to his power base and ambitions. He talks of installing seven new floors and a helipad at his office building in downtown Kinshasa. He even had one of his lobbyists track down Tshisekedi in September in New York, during the United Nations General Assembly meeting, to press him to stand by Yuma. In Congo, Yuma also embarked on a nationwide tour this year that looked a lot like a campaign for public office. He set out to visit every province, strategically making his first stop in Tshisekedi’s hometown, where he met with a group of struggling pineapple juice sellers. Before leaving, he handed the group $5,000 in cash to jump-start their business. “Just to show them that I’m supportive,” he explained in an interview. Like the president, Yuma is hoping to get credit for attracting more US investors, convinced that his reform efforts will turn the tide. “I’m a friend of America,” he said in the interview. “I always work in goodwill to protect and to help the US invest in DRC [Congo]. And I told you, I love America. My children were at university there. One of these days, people will understand I’m a real good friend of America and I will continue to help.” If his success depends on transforming the mining sector, the task will be formidable. All day long on a main highway that runs through dozens of industrial mines, trucks groan with loads of copper and tubs of chemicals used to extract metals from ore. But snaking between them is motorcycle after motorcycle, with one man driving and one sitting backward, acting as a lookout, atop huge bags of stolen cobalt. ©2021 The New York Times Company

Michael Strizki heats and cools his house year-round and runs a full range of appliances including such power-guzzlers as a hot tub and a wide-screen TV without paying a penny in utility bills. His conventional-looking family home in the pinewoods of western New Jersey is the first in the United States to show that a combination of solar and hydrogen power can generate all the electricity needed for a home. The Hopewell Project, named for a nearby town, comes at a time of increasing concern over US energy security and worries over the effects of burning fossil fuels on the climate. "People understand that climate change is a big concern but they don't know what they can do about it," said Gian-Paolo Caminiti of Renewable Energy International, the commercial arm of the project. "There's a psychological dividend in doing the right thing," he said. Strizki runs the 3,000-square-foot house with electricity generated by a 1,000-square-foot roof full of photovoltaic cells on a nearby building, an electrolyzer that uses the solar power to generate hydrogen from water, and a number of hydrogen tanks that store the gas until it is needed by the fuel cell. In the summer, the solar panels generate 60 percent more electricity than the super-insulated house needs. The excess is stored in the form of hydrogen which is used in the winter -- when the solar panels can't meet all the domestic demand -- to make electricity in the fuel cell. Strizki also uses the hydrogen to power his fuel-cell driven car, which, like the domestic power plant, is pollution-free. Solar power currently contributes only 0.1 percent of US energy needs but the number of photovoltaic installations grew by 20 percent in 2006, and the cost of making solar panels is dropping by about 7 percent annually, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. As costs decline and the search accelerates for clean alternatives to expensive and dirty fossil fuels, some analysts predict solar is poised for a significant expansion in the next five to 10 years. The New Jersey project, which opened in October 2006 after four years of planning and building, cost around $500,000, some $225,000 of which was provided by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. The state, a leading supporter of renewable energy, aims to have 20 percent of its energy coming from renewables by 2020, and currently has the largest number of solar-power installations of any US state except California. New Jersey's utility regulator supported the project because it helps achieve the state's renewable-energy goals, said Doyal Siddell a spokesman for the agency. "The solar-hydrogen residence project provides a tremendous opportunity to reduce greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming," he said. The project also got equipment and expertise from a number of commercial sponsors including Exide, which donated some $50,000 worth of batteries, and Swageloc, an Ohio company that provided stainless steel piping costing around $28,000. Strizki kicked in about $100,000 of his own money. While the cost may deter all but wealthy environmentalists from converting their homes, Strizki and his associates stress the project is designed to be replicated and that the price tag on the prototype is a lot higher than imitators would pay. Now that first-time costs of research and design have been met, the price would be about $100,000, Strizki said. But that's still too high for the project to be widely replicated, said Marchant Wentworth of the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental group in Washington. To be commonly adopted, such installations would have to be able to sell excess power to the grid, generating a revenue stream that could be used to attract capital, he said. "You need to make the financing within reach of real people," Wentworth said. Caminiti argues that the cost of the hydrogen/solar setup works out at about $4,000 a year when its $100,000 cost is spread over the anticipated 25-year lifespan of the equipment. That's still a lot higher than the $1,500 a year the average US homeowner spends on energy, according to the federal government. Even if gasoline costs averaging about $1,000 per car annually are included in the energy mix, the renewables option is still more expensive than the grid/gasoline combination. But for Strizki and his colleagues, the house is about a lot more than the bottom line. It's about energy security at a time when the federal government is seeking to reduce dependence on fossil fuels from the Middle East, and it's about sustaining a lifestyle without emitting greenhouse gases. For the 51-year-old Strizki, the project is his life's work. "I have dedicated my life to making the planet a better place," he said.

US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that disappointment over the outcome of the Copenhagen climate change summit was justified, hardening a widespread verdict that the conference had been a failure. "I think that people are justified in being disappointed about the outcome in Copenhagen," he said in an interview with PBS Newshour. "What I said was essentially that rather than see a complete collapse in Copenhagen, in which nothing at all got done and would have been a huge backward step, at least we kind of held ground and there wasn't too much backsliding from where we were." Sweden has labeled the accord Obama helped broker a disaster for the environment, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the summit was "at best flawed and at worst chaotic," and climate change advocates have been even more scathing in their criticism. The talks secured bare-minimum agreements that fell well short of original goals to reduce carbon emissions and stem global warming, after lengthy negotiations failed to paper over differences between rich nations and developing economies. Some singled out China for special blame. British Environment Minister Ed Miliband wrote in the Guardian newspaper on Monday China had "hijacked" efforts to agree to significant reductions in global emissions. Beijing denied the claim and said London was scheming to divide developing countries on the climate change issue. Obama did not point any fingers, but did say the Chinese delegation was "skipping negotiations" before his personal intervention. "At a point where there was about to be complete breakdown, and the prime minister of India was heading to the airport and the Chinese representatives were essentially skipping negotiations, and everybody's screaming, what did happen was, cooler heads prevailed," Obama said. Obama forged an accord with China, India, Brazil and South Africa in the conference's final hours after personally securing a bilateral meeting with the four nations' leaders. "We were able to at least agree on non-legally binding targets for all countries -- not just the United States, not just Europe, but also for China and India, which, projecting forward, are going to be the world's largest emitters," he said.

The Financial Times said Friday that the Hong Kong government gave no reason for the decision not to renew a work visa for Victor Mallet, the newspaper’s Asia news editor. “This is the first time we have encountered this situation in Hong Kong, and we have not been given a reason for the rejection,” the newspaper said in a statement. The Hong Kong government said it would not comment on an individual case. “In handling each application, the Immigration Department acts in accordance with the laws and prevailing policies, and decides whether to approve or refuse the application after careful consideration of individual circumstances of each case,” the Immigration Department said in a statement. Mallet, a British national, is first vice president of the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club, and was the organisation’s main spokesman in August, when it hosted a talk by a Hong Kong independence advocate that was harshly criticised by the local government and mainland Chinese officials. Mainland China regularly punishes foreign journalists and media organisations by denying resident work visas to reporters and editors. But Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to Chinese control in 1997, has far greater protections for civil liberties. The plans to eject Mallet have further blurred the line between Hong Kong and mainland China, human rights advocates said. “This is unprecedented,” said Maya Wang, a senior China researcher for Human Rights Watch. “We expect foreign journalists to have this kind of visa rejection happen in China, but it has never happened in Hong Kong because Hong Kong has a tradition until recent years of respect for free speech.” The move “will have an immediate chilling effect on freedom of expression in the city,” Jason Y Ng, president of PEN Hong Kong, a literature and free speech organisation, said in a statement. “As Beijing constantly moves the red lines on what topics are ‘sensitive’ and out of bounds, the pressure for institutions and individuals to engage in self-censorship increases significantly,” Ng said. “The threats to free expression and a free flow of ideas directly harm Hong Kong’s image as an open, ‘world’ city that abides by the rule of law.” The expulsion “appears to be naked retaliation by the authorities to punish” the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, he added. In August, the Foreign Correspondent’s Club hosted a talk by Andy Chan, head of a political party that called for Hong Kong’s independence from China. The Hong Kong government had said beforehand that it planned to ban Chan’s tiny political party, the Hong Kong National Party, under a colonial-era law that allows the prohibition of groups for reasons of national security, public safety or public order. Officials from Hong Kong and the Chinese central government criticised the event. Leung Chun-ying, who was the city’s top official from 2012 to 2017, went further. He likened the talk to hosting supporters of “racism, anti-Semitism or Nazism” and said the Hong Kong government should review the lease of the FCC’s clubhouse in a historic, publicly owned building in central Hong Kong. Mallet, a veteran Financial Times editor who was previously the newspaper’s bureau chief in New Delhi, said during Chan’s talk that the club considered it a “normal event” involving an important news story in Hong Kong. “The fact that this lunch seems to have become far from normal and has generated such exceptional interest in Hong Kong and around the world I think tells us more about the political climate in Hong Kong and in Beijing than it does about the FCC,” he said. Last month Hong Kong banned Chan’s party. Under the law a person who claims to be an officeholder of the party could be imprisoned for up to three years, and anyone who provides a place for the group to meet could be imprisoned for up to a year for a first offence. Hong Kong, which maintains its own immigration policy and an internal border with the rest of China, has previously denied visas to academics and political activists. Last year two scholars from Taiwan were barred entry, and in 2014 several leaders of Taiwan’s 2014 protests against a trade bill with China were also not allowed to enter Hong Kong. The move against a foreign journalist signals an expansion of such restrictions. A journalist working for The Financial Times has never before had a visa renewal denied in Hong Kong, and human rights and free speech groups could not immediately recall any other foreign journalist being expelled. In 2011, Hong Kong authorities did not approve a work visa for Chang Ping, a prominent journalist from mainland China who had been given a job at a Hong Kong newspaper. Such treatment of foreign journalists is far more common in mainland China. Megha Rajagopalan, who was BussFeed News’ China bureau chief and had written stories about the widespread detention of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in western China, was not issued a new journalist visa this year. A visa renewal was denied in 2015 for Ursula Gauthier, a reporter in Beijing for the French newsweekly L’Obs and who questioned China’s treatment of Uighurs. The New York Times and Bloomberg have also had applications for new journalist visas blocked in China after reports in 2012 on the wealth accumulated by Chinese leaders’ families. In a confrontational speech about China on Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence described the country’s restrictions on foreign journalists as part of Communist Party efforts to spread censorship. © 2018 New York Times News Service

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday for talks that were likely to focus on climate change and a decades-old dispute over a group of Pacific islands. A senior Japanese official said Fukuda will urge Russia to accelerate talks aimed at resolving the territorial row over the islands, a running sore in relations that has prevented the two states from signing a peace treaty ending World War Two. "Over the past two to three years we have been able to qualitatively change the character of our relations," Putin told Fukuda at the opening of talks at the Russian presidential residence in Novo-Ogaryovo, outside Moscow. "We are continuing dialogue on the peace treaty and will create the necessary conditions for advancement along this path," Putin said. The Russian leader said bilateral trade had soared although "there still exist many unresolved problems". Fukuda will have talks later with Dmitry Medvedev, who will be sworn in as head of state on May 7. Putin, who is stepping down after eight years as president, will stay on as prime minister and leader of the biggest party. The main aims of Fukuda's visit are to "establish a personal relationship of trust with President Putin and president-elect Medvedev, and second, to prepare for the upcoming G8 summit", said a Japanese foreign ministry official. The islands, known in Russia as the Southern Kuriles and in Japan as the Northern Territories, were seized by Soviet troops in the last days of World War Two. They lie just north of the northern island of Hokkaido where Japan will host this year's Group of Eight summit. Japan has placed finding a more effective replacement for the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which expires in 2012, at the top of the summit agenda. Tokyo hopes the G8 summit will help draft a climate change agreement that would embrace the biggest polluters such as the United States, China and India. None of these has signed up to the Kyoto Protocol's limits on emissions. Russia, a G8 member, was one of the biggest emerging economies to sign up to Kyoto commitments. Japanese officials hope Moscow will support a successor agreement in Hokkaido. PERSONAL RELATIONS Fukuda will urge the Russian leaders to accelerate talks aimed at resolving the territorial row, a senior Japanese government official said. "Prime Minister Fukuda is expected to tell them that it is indispensable for the two countries to advance negotiations in a concrete fashion in order to elevate bilateral ties to a higher dimension," the official said. Russia has said it is ready to talk about the dispute, but has given no sign it is prepared to give up the islands. "There is no change in our position. We do not expect any breakthroughs (in the talks with Fukuda)," said a Kremlin official. Trade between Russia and Japan was worth $20 billion in 2007, fuelled by automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp which has set up a factory to tap into the booming Russian market. But trade is far smaller than the volumes between Russia and its biggest trading partner, the European Union. Japanese firms have taken stakes in vast oil and gas projects on Russia's Pacific Sakhalin island, and a pipeline is under construction that will eventually deliver oil from eastern Siberia to the Pacific coast.

Each resilient variety becomes a tiny, critical ingredient in a resilient seed system that supports agriculture, the foundation of a resilient food system. And in the tumultuous 2020 seed-catalogue season, resilience proved a valuable human trait as well, for seed company staff and their customers. Insights gleaned from that chaotic year of record sales can smooth the ground for the 2021 garden season, which officially begins this month, as new catalogues start appearing in mailboxes and online. This time last year, no one could have seen it coming — sales spikes of as much as 300% that began immediately after a national emergency was declared March 13, echoing the World Health Organization pandemic declaration two days earlier. “When many of us came back to the office Monday, we were astonished to see how many orders had come in,” said Joshua D’errico, marketing coordinator for Johnny’s Selected Seeds, which has 47 years of sales history for comparison. “We thought it was a blip, but it wasn’t.” Heron Breen, a research and development manager at Fedco Seeds, serving Northeastern gardeners since 1978, said: “Luckily, we had some warning from colleagues at other companies — a heads-up that they were seeing this volume. The bigger, first-line companies got flooded first, and when they were overwhelmed, then we really got swamped, too.” Fulfilment operations were pushed past capacity; sales had to be suspended by almost every supplier, sometimes repeatedly, in attempts to catch up. Catalogue requests and web searches for growing advice were way up as well. But sellers large and small, older and newer, have a reassuring message for home gardeners: They are well stocked. There are no seed shortages beyond what can happen in any farming year, when crop failure in one variety or another is always a possibility. That may sound counterintuitive to those who saw “out of stock” labels on many website product pages last spring. Despite the wording, it often wasn’t because of a lack of seed on hand. “It was more a matter of not enough hands to pack it into packets in time to meet the surge in demand,” said Andrea Tursini, chief marketing officer of the 25-year-old High Mowing Organic Seeds. “And it came near the tail end of our usual peak season — not a time when we are usually packing a high volume of seeds.” Add to that the challenge of staffing up safely and operating within pandemic guidelines — along with mounting employee burnout — and something had to give. Seed companies have worked overtime, skipping summer breaks, to refine and strengthen their systems. But before home gardeners start madly browsing their catalogues, it’s a good time for them to also fine-tune their processes. Here are some thoughts on how to shop smart, along with some favourite catalogues. Catalogues are for studying, not just shopping. When it comes to seed catalogues, more is better (whether in print or online). Each has its specialties. And they make for good reading. If you read variety descriptions carefully, you’ll learn about the diversity of traits possible within a single crop and notice that some broccoli makes one big head, for example, while others are “non-heading,” like Piracicaba, forming a cluster of smaller florets over a number of weeks. Catalogs also provide expert growing information — not simply when to sow, or how far apart, but which varieties stand up to summer heat — insights that can help you order and then sow each in its time, yielding months of continuous lettuce for salads, for example. The educational support that seed companies provide has only deepened with the creation of digital resources. A leading example is Johnny’s Grower’s Library, which has had “a huge increase in visits this year,” D’errico said. Avoid impulse buying. Seed-shopping and garden-planning season can start in the darkness of a cool, dry cupboard, where one might store leftover seed. A careful inventory of what remains is the first step, to prevent duplicates that waste money and seed. The occasional binge is encouraged; trying new things expands firsthand experience. But before placing your orders, study the basic rules of the game of succession planting. Want to enhance your sense of personal seed security? Order some open-pollinated varieties, not just hybrids (which may not reproduce true from seed), and save their seed for 2022. Be ready to adapt (like a seed). Despite all the preparations, no company can predict things like how many of last season’s new gardeners will order again, or if even more will show up for 2021. In a tiny piece of normalcy, one element, at least, remained basically unchanged from 2019 to 2020, D’errico said. At Johnny’s Selected Seeds, the same 12 crops were the top sellers among home gardeners, if in slightly different order. And among the top four — zinnias, bush beans, heirloom tomatoes and hot peppers — the order didn’t even change. Still, sellers and buyers must be ready to adapt. “Be flexible,” advised Tursini, of High Mowing Organic Seeds. “If Cherry Bomb tomato is sold out, try another cherry tomato variety.” You might find one you like better. Also: “Order early, but don’t panic,” she said, a sentiment echoed elsewhere, perhaps most memorably by Breen, of Fedco Seeds. “Be mindful and plan your garden,” he said, “not your dystopian survival plan.” Here’s where to find seed. Most companies listed here are farm-based companies that don’t just buy and resell seed, but grow — and even breed — at least some stock. In addition to the companies mentioned in this article — Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Fedco Seeds and High Mowing Organic Seeds — small Northeastern standouts include Hudson Valley Seed, Turtle Tree Seed and Fruition Seeds. It is hard to imagine a more cold-adapted bean or tomato than those from the North Dakota-based company Prairie Road Organic Seed. The Pacific Northwest is one of the most favourable and productive seed-farming climates in the United States, so it’s no surprise that some exceptional companies have taken root there, including Adaptive Seeds, Siskiyou Seeds, Uprising Seeds and Wild Garden Seed. For gardeners seeking heat-adapted seeds for Southeastern gardens (or Northerners wanting to try okra and greasy beans), I’d suggest Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and Sow True Seed. Companies serving niches with some of the toughest growing conditions also deserve attention. Examples include Redwood Seed Co. in Northern California; High Desert Seed and Gardens in high-altitude Colorado; Native Seed/SEARCH, a nonprofit in arid Arizona; and Snake River Seed Cooperative, in Idaho, focused on the Intermountain West. Seed Savers Exchange is in Iowa, but its longtime mission as a nonprofit (the preservation of heirloom varieties) makes it a national resource. Some of its collection came by way of Glenn Drowns, part of Sand Hill Preservation Center, also in Iowa. There is no online shopping cart, so expect old-school snail-mail ordering, but oh, the diversity. © 2020 New York Times News Service

SOFIA, Sun Jul 5, (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Bulgarians voted on Sunday in a parliamentary election they hope will restart reforms to combat endemic corruption and heal an economy severely damaged by the global crisis. Opinion polls show the Socialist party that leads the current coalition government is likely to lose due to recession and a climate of impunity for crime bosses and politicians that has turned Bulgaria into the black sheep of the European Union. Last year the ex-communist Balkan country, which joined the EU in 2007 and is the bloc's poorest member, lost access to over half a billion of euros in EU aid as punishment for graft. If opinion polls prove correct, the center-right opposition party of Sofia Mayor Boiko Borisov, GERB, will get a shot at forming a government, most likely another coalition. Borisov, 50, a former bodyguard-turned-politician, has promised to tackle crime but observers are cautious because of his limited track record and concerns his ability to introduce reforms may be watered down in any coalition talks. His party now garners roughly 30 percent of the vote, pollsters say, against 20 percent for the ruling Socialists. "I am fed up with the government," said former teacher Pepa Kozhuharova, 64, as she cast her vote in a Sofia neighborhood. "This country badly needs change. We have to show we don't want corrupt politicians anymore." Straight-talking, burly Borisov, nicknamed Batman after the fictional superhero due to his zeal for action, has won the hearts of many Bulgarians, tired of two decades of slow reforms. "I supported Boiko because he is the only man who can stand up and say what is wrong and what is right and implement it," said Maria Nikolova, 50, after casting her vote in Sofia. A new government must move fast to avoid new EU sanctions on aid, badly needed to fund Bulgaria's cash-strapped economy, and to attract investors, many of whom fled this year. It is not clear whether GERB will get enough votes for a stable majority in the 240-strong chamber with planned coalition partners, the Blue Coalition -- a group of rightist parties. SLIPSHOD REFORMS The current government took Bulgaria's 7.6 million people into the EU, lowered taxes and maintained tight fiscal policies. But critics accuse it of incompetence and lacking the will to sever links between politicians, magistrates and crime chiefs. Underscoring the depth of the problem, prosecutors have launched investigations into widespread allegations of vote-buying by virtually all parties before the ballot, and on Saturday at least five people were arrested. EU countries have also expressed concern over the participation of several suspected criminals who last month registered to run for parliament to obtain temporary immunity from prosecution and release from custody. Hit hard by the global financial crisis, Bulgaria is in recession after 12 years of growth and this has sparked mass protests. Rising unemployment is ending years of voracious private spending that has fueled a mountain of debt. The economy is seen shrinking by 2 percent in 2009, and like some of its former Soviet bloc peers now in the EU, Bulgaria will likely seek International Monetary Fund aid, analysts say. Voting started at 6 a.m. (11 p.m. EDT on Sunday) and ends at 7 p.m., with exit polls due shortly afterwards. Turnout was 29.3 percent by 6 a.m. EDT.

Trump told the New York Times in an interview that he thinks there is "some connectivity" between human activity and global warming, despite previously describing climate change as a hoax. A source on Trump's transition team told Reuters earlier this month that the New York businessman was seeking quick ways to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris Agreement to combat climate change. But asked on Tuesday whether the United States would withdraw from the accord, the Republican said: “I’m looking at it very closely. I have an open mind to it." A US withdrawal from the pact, agreed to by almost 200 countries, would set back international efforts to limit rising temperatures that have been linked to the extinctions of animals and plants, heat waves, floods and rising sea levels. Trump, who takes office on Jan 20, also said he was thinking about climate change and American competitiveness and "how much it will cost our companies,” he said, according to a tweet by a Times reporter in the interview. Two people advising Trump’s transition team on energy and environment issues said they were caught off guard by his remarks. A shift on global warming is the latest sign Trump might be backing away from some of his campaign rhetoric as life in the Oval Office approaches. Trump has said he might have to build a fence, rather than a wall, in some areas of the US-Mexican border to stop illegal immigration, tweaking one of his signature campaign promises. Also in Tuesday's interview, he showed little appetite for pressing investigations of his Democratic rival in the presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton. “I don’t want to hurt the Clintons, I really don’t. She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways," he told reporters, editors and other newspaper officials at the Times headquarters in Manhattan. But Trump said "no" when asked if he would rule out investigating Clinton over her family's charitable foundation or her use of a private email server while she was US secretary of state during President Barack Obama's first term. If Trump does abandon his campaign vow to appoint a special prosecutor for Clinton, it will be a reversal of a position he mentioned almost daily on the campaign trail, when he dubbed his rival "Crooked Hillary," and crowds at his rallies often chanted: "Lock her up." His comments to the Times about Clinton angered some of his strongest conservative supporters. Breitbart News, the outlet once led by Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, published a story on Tuesday under the headline, "Broken Promise: Trump 'Doesn't Wish to Pursue' Clinton email charges." The FBI investigated Clinton's email practices, concluding in July that her actions were careless but that there were no grounds for bringing charges. The Clinton Foundation charity has also been scrutinized for donations it received, but there has been no evidence that foreign donors obtained favours from the State Department while Clinton headed it. Businessman and president Trump, a real estate developer who has never held public office, brushed off fears over conflicts of interest between his job as president and his family's businesses. "The law's totally on my side, the president can't have a conflict of interest," he told the New York Times. My company's so unimportant to me relative to what I'm doing," Trump said. Conflict-of-interest rules for executive branch employees do not apply to the president, but Trump will be bound by bribery laws, disclosure requirements and a section of the US Constitution that prohibits elected officials from taking gifts from foreign governments, according to Republican and Democratic ethics lawyers. "There may be specific laws that don’t apply to the president, but the president is not above the law," said Richard Painter of the University of Minnesota, a former associate counsel to Republican President George W. Bush. "Do we really want to run our government where you have the president, the leader of the United States and the free world, saying: 'I'm going to do the bare minimum to squeak by?'" asked Norman Eisen, a former top ethics lawyer in Obama's White House. Trump's businesswoman daughter Ivanka joined her father's telephone call with Argentine President Mauricio Macri earlier this month and attended a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, raising questions of possible conflicts of interest. When asked whether House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republicans in Congress would consider his trillion-dollar infrastructure plan, Trump boasted he was popular with the party's leaders on Capitol Hill. “Right now, they’re in love with me," he said. Since his Nov 8 election victory, Trump has been meeting with prospective candidates for top positions in his administration. Ben Carson, a former Republican presidential hopeful who dropped out of the 2016 race and backed Trump, has been offered the post of secretary of housing and urban development, Carson spokesman Armstrong Williams said. Carson, a retired surgeon who met with Trump on Tuesday, will think about it over the Thanksgiving holiday, Williams said. Trump arrived in Florida on Tuesday evening to spend Thursday's holiday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.

Cyber attacks, terrorism, inter-state conflict and natural hazards are the top threats to British security, officials said Monday, a day before a major military review due to include deep spending cuts. In a new National Security Strategy, the government highlighted threats from al Qaeda and Northern Ireland-linked groups, as it sought to convince critics that a sweeping armed forces review due on Tuesday is policy driven, and not a money-saving exercise. Britain is trying to reduce a budget deficit close to 11 percent of national output, and at the same time retain Britain's place as strong military power in Europe and a capable ally to the United States, which it has backed in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Our strategy sets clear priorities -- counter-terrorism, cyber, international military crisis, and disasters such as floods," the government said in its National Security Strategy report. The report relegated threats from insurgencies abroad that could foster terrorist attacks in the UK -- a scenario similar to the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan -- to a lower, "tier two" level priority. The document said threats could come from other states, but highlighted threats from non-state and unconventional actors, a move likely to be used to justify cuts to major military hardware purchases. The Ministry of Defiance's budget of 36.9 billion pounds ($58.62 billion) is set to be cut less than 10 percent, way below the average of 25 percent applied to other government departments, but the cuts are still likely to have major political, industrial and diplomatic consequences. The National Security Strategy also highlighted nuclear proliferation as a growing danger and added that British security was vulnerable to the effects of climate change and its impact on food and water supply. ($1=.6295 Pound)

The financing will help rural people by reducing poverty and creating new livelihood opportunities, the World Bank said in a statement on Saturday. The funds will also help local communities in Cox’s Bazar hosting the Rohingyas who have fled violence in Myanmar, it said. “These three projects will create opportunities for the rural population and especially help the vulnerable people come out of poverty,” said Qimiao Fan, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. “At the same time, they will improve the country’s resilience to climate change.” According to the World Bank the $175 million Sustainable Forests & Livelihoods Project will help improve forest cover through a collaborative forest management approach involving the local communities. It will plant trees in about 79,000 hectares of forest, including a coastal green belt helping to increase climate change resilience, the statement said. The project will support increasing income for about 40,000 households in the coastal, hill and central districts in Bangladesh, said Madhavi Pillai, World Bank Senior Natural Resources Management Specialist adding it will include Cox’s Bazar, which became shelter for nearly one million Rohingya people. The project will develop and implement protected area management plans for about 10 Protected Forest Areas with involvement of community members. The World Bank says $240 million Sustainable Coastal and Marine Fisheries Project will help improve fisheries management, expand mariculture and strengthen aquaculture biosecurity and productivity in 10 coastal districts. It will also empower female workers through alternative livelihoods support, skills development, and nutrition awareness. “The project will help improve fisheries management systems, infrastructure, and other value chain investments. This will result in better productivity and availability of fish,” said Milen Dyoulgerov, World Bank Senior Environment Specialist and Task Team Leader for the project. Finally, the $100 million additional financing to the Second Rural Transport Improvement Project will help rehabilitate rural roads in 26 districts that were damaged from last year’s heavy rainfall and floods. The ongoing project has improved and repaired more than 5,000 km rural roads that helped millions of people to access markets, hospitals, and schools. The financing will factor in climate-resilience in planning, technical design, implementation and maintenance of the roads.

Dhaka, Nov 8 (bdnews24.com)— A shadow climate tribunal has held developed countries singularly responsible for destroying the livelihoods of fisherfolks communities in coastal Bangladesh. The shadow climate tribunal observed that climate change was responsible for bringing about the misery to these communities dependent on nature, and thus held the Annexe-1 countries (as in Kyoto Protocol), who are large emitters, to be responsible. UK-based international NGO, Oxfam organised the tribunal, aiming to find ways to safeguard victims of climate change in a legal context. Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihood (CSRL), an alliance of local NGOs and civil service organisation, coordinated the event, held Monday at the city's Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. A five-member jury panel headed by Bangladesh Human Rights Commission's chief Mizanur Rahman heard testimonies of four climate victims from different backgrounds, ranging from housewives in cyclone affected coastal regions to fishermen lost at sea and landing up in Indian jails. It also heard from a two experts of climate change and international law in an effort to establish a link between the science of climate change, its national and international legal aspects and the on-going multilateral negotiations. Unfortunately, the world still lacks a legally binding international instrument which could facilitate ensuring compensation to the climate change affected countries by the developed world, the carbon emitters, according to law expert Ahmed Ziauddin. "Bangladesh as a state can file its complaints in the Hague-based UN international court, the WTO and UNESCO, but there's now way to move individually for such damages," he said. An act for climate change as well as an article in this regard should be included in the constitution of Bangladesh, added Ziauddin. "There is no legal definition of climate change in Bangladesh," he added. Climate change expert Ahsan Uddin Ahmed told the tribunal that the developed nations ask for specific accounts of damage due to climate change in an apparent effort to shirk their responsibilities. "This is just impossible," he said, "that climate change is responsible, is scientifically proven but a separate account for that is hard to establish." After hearing testimonies, the jury recommended formulation of a separate law and including an article in the constitution on climate change. The jury ruled that since the developed nations were mostly responsible for the atrocities of climate change, it was their liability to pay for the mitigations. It also observed that the human rights of the coastal area people had been violated by the affects of climate change. The jury panel consisted of lawmakers Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Tarana Halim, Hasanul Huq Inu and economist Quazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmed.

Xi provided no details, but depending on how the policy is implemented, the move could significantly limit the financing of coal plants in the developing world. China has been under heavy diplomatic pressure to put an end to its coal financing overseas because it could make it easier for the world to stay on course to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement to reduce carbon emissions. Xi's announcement followed similar moves by South Korea and Japan earlier this year, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and US climate envoy John Kerry have urged China to follow the lead of its Asian counterparts. "China will step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energy, and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad," Xi said in his pre-recorded video address at the annual UN gathering, in which he stressed China's peaceful intentions in international relations. Kerry quickly welcomed Xi's announcement, calling it a "great contribution" and a good beginning to efforts needed to achieve success at the Oct 31-Nov 12 COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. "We’ve been talking to China for quite some period of time about this. And I’m absolutely delighted to hear that President Xi has made this important decision," Kerry said in a statement. Alok Sharma, the head of COP26, also hailed the announcement. "It is clear the writing is on the wall for coal power. I welcome President Xi’s commitment to stop building new coal projects abroad - a key topic of my discussions during my visit to China," he said on Twitter. Xi spoke after US President Joe Biden gave his first United Nations address. Biden mapped out a new era of vigorous competition without a new Cold War despite China's ascendance. In a measured speech, Xi made no direct mention of China's often bitter rivalry with the United States, where the Biden administration has made policies on climate change mitigation a top priority and sought to cooperate with Beijing. Xi repeated pledges from last year that China would achieve a peak in carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. Some experts have criticised those targets as not ambitious enough, though it allowed Beijing to claim moral high ground on the issue after then-US President Donald Trump, who had called climate change a "hoax", had withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement. China, the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, is still heavily reliant on coal for it's domestic energy needs. One of Biden's first moves after assuming office in January was to reassert US leadership on climate change and return the United States to the Paris agreement. "China was the last man standing. If there's no public finance of coal from China, there's little to no global coal expansion," Justin Guay, director of global climate strategy at the Sunrise Project, a group advocating for a global transition from coal and fossil fuels, said of Xi's promise. Guterres welcomed both Xi's move on coal and Biden's pledge to work with the US Congress to double funds by 2024 to $11.4 billion per year to help developing nations deal with climate change. "Accelerating the global phase out of coal is the single most important step to keep the 1.5-degree goal of the Paris Agreement within reach, he said in a statement. 'BREATHE FREE' Hours earlier, without mentioning China by name, Biden said democracy would not be defeated by authoritarianism. "The future will belong to those who give their people the ability to breathe free, not those who seek to suffocate their people with an iron hand," Biden said. "We all must call out and condemn the targeting and oppression of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, whether it occurs in Xinjiang or northern Ethiopia, or anywhere in the world," he said, referring to the western Chinese region where authorities have created a network of internment camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. China denies allegations of abuses in Xinjiang. Ties between the world's two biggest economies have been languishing at their lowest point in decades over issues ranging from human rights to transparency over the origins of COVID-19. Xi said there was a need to "reject the practice of forming small circles or zero-sum games," a possible reference to the US-led Quad forum of Australia, India, Japan and the United States seen as a means of pushing back against China's rise, which is due to meet at leader level in Washington on Friday. China last week warned of an intensified arms race in the region after the United States, Britain and Australia announced a new Indo-Pacific security alliance, dubbed AUKUS, which will provide Australia with the technology and capability to deploy nuclear-powered submarines. Biden's image has taken a battering over the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, but he has said the end to America's longest war will allow the United States to refocus resources and attention to the Indo-Pacific. "Military intervention from the outside and so-called democratic transformation entail nothing but harm," Xi said, in an apparent swipe at the United States.

Bacteria ate nearly all the potentially climate-warming methane that spewed from BP's broken wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico last year, scientists reported on Thursday. Nearly 200,000 tons of methane -- more than any other single hydrocarbon emitted in the accident -- were released from the wellhead, and nearly all of it went into the deep water of the Gulf, researcher David Valentine of the University of California-Santa Barbara said in a telephone interview. Bacteria managed to take in the methane before it could rise from the sea bottom and be released into the atmosphere, but the process contributed to a loss of about 1 million tons of dissolved oxygen in areas southwest of the well. That sounds like a lot of oxygen loss, but it was widely spread out, so that the bacterial munching did not contribute to a life-sapping low-oxygen condition known as hypoxia, said Valentine, whose study was published in the journal Science. What happens to methane has been a key question for climate scientists, because methane is over 20 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Like carbon dioxide, methane comes from natural and human-made sources, including the petroleum industry. For two months after the BP blowout on April 20, 2010, methane was not being consumed in and around the wellhead, leading some scientists to suspect it might linger in the water and eventually make its way into the air, where it could potentially trap heat and contribute to climate change. BACTERIA'S METHANE DIET "If you have a very large release of methane like this, and it did make it into the atmosphere, that would be a problem," Valentine said. "There have been a number of ... large-scale methane releases in the past that have come from the ocean that have warmed the climate." Those methane releases came from natural sources, and researchers like Valentine and his co-authors wondered what role bacteria might have had in those cases. The BP spill offered an "accidental experiment" that showed particular bacteria with an all-methane diet multiplied quickly as the methane spread with the underwater plume from the broken well. Peak consumption of methane probably came in late July and early August, Valentine said. Other organisms dealt with other hydrocarbons, including ethane and propane emitted in the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The methane-eating bacteria were the last to the hydrocarbon banquet, and based on past observation, the scientists questioned whether they could do the job. "Given observations about how slowly methane is normally consumed, we didn't think the (bacteria) population was up to the challenge at all ... we thought it would be a lot slower," Valentine said. The fact the bacteria took in that large amount of methane could indicate that bacteria might absorb other large-scale deep ocean methane releases, the scientists said. The US government filed a civil suit last month against BP and its partners for damage caused by the spill. The White House commission on the oil spill said on Wednesday that BP and its partners made a series of cost-cutting decisions that ultimately contributed to the spill.

This will be the last budget of the present Awami League-led grand alliance government, which would not get the entire fiscal year of 2013-14 to implement it.The allocation for annual development programme (ADP) was estimated at Tk 656 billion while the overall budget deficit would be Tk 563 billion, the minister told bdnews24.com in an interview at his Secretariat office.The Ministry of Finance has prepared the budgetary framework and a copy of the same is available with bdnews24.com.As per the preliminary estimate, the targeted GDP growth will be 7.2 percent in next fiscal.The minister also proposed to bring down overall inflation rate on an average below 7 percent.Tk 68.52 billion – Tk 19.83 billion and US$ 608 million in foreign currency – has been allocated in the next budget for construction of the much-talked-about Padma Multipurpose bridge.The Finance Minister will place the proposed budget in Parliament on June 6.Asked about the size of the national budget for the upcoming fiscal year, Muhith said: “The size is yet to be finalised, it’s under process. I’ll finalise the budget proposal after my return from the 38th Annual General Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank Group in Dushanbe, Tajikistan (on May 18–22).”“However, I can forecast that the size of the next budget will be more than Tk 2 trillion since the total outlay for the revenue and development in the outgoing fiscal was Tk 1.917 trillion. So, the size of the new budget will obviously be bigger.”Asked whether the figure would exceed Tk 2.20 trillion, Muhith said: “It’s likely. Wait for a few days and then you’ll be able to know everything.”In the budgetary framework, the targeted annual revenue income has been set at Tk 1674.60 billion (Tk 1.675 trillion).To meet the budget deficit, Tk 211.1 billion will come as foreign assistances while Tk 351.8 billion will be borrowed from the internal sources, according to the framework.Revised BudgetThe actual outlay for 2012-13 fiscal was Tk 1917.38 billion, but it has been revised to Tk 1893.30 billion.The revenue income was targeted at Tk 1396.70 billion and it has been kept unchanged in the revised budget.In the budget for the 2012-13 fiscal, expenditure for the ADP was estimated at Tk 550 billion which has been now revised to Tk 523.66 billion.The estimated budget deficit was Tk 520.68 billion which has been brought down to Tk 496.60 billion in the revised budget.Priorities in New BudgetPower, energy, roads, ports and infrastructural development sectors will be given the highest priority in the new budget. Besides, human resources development, agriculture and rural development, creating employments, strengthening the social safety net, climate change and building ‘Digital Bangladesh’ will also get importance.The ruling Grand Alliance government also gave priority to these sectors in the last four national budgets.Fulfilling Electoral PledgesThe budgetary framework said that the next budget will be the final step of the incumbent government to implement its election pledges. The new budget will strengthen the pillar of the economic and social development that the government laid in the last four budgets.The next budget will also set a directive for development for the next government. A new framework will be inserted in the new budget for development of the railway sector.

The 16-year-old Swede also told a huge Montreal rally that world leaders had disappointed young people with empty words and inadequate plans. "Today we are millions around the world, striking and marching again, and we will keep on doing it until they listen," Thurnberg told a crowd that organisers estimated to be about half a million people in the Canadian city. Trump mocked Thunberg this week and Canadian Member of Parliament Maxime Bernier called her alarmist and mentally unstable. "I guess they must feel like their world view or their interests or whatever... is threatened by us. We've become too loud for people to handle so they try to silence us," she told reporters before the rally. "We should also take that as a compliment." On Friday, the climate strikes she inspired started in Asia and continued in Europe after similar strikes a week earlier. Tens of thousands of students kicked things off in New Zealand. About 500 students in the South Korean capital, Seoul, urged more government action to address climate change, marching towards the presidential Blue House after a downtown rally, where they said the government gets an "F" in climate action. Thousands of Dutch children also skipped school to join a global climate strike on Friday, blocking traffic and asking their leaders "how dare you?" in a reference to Thunberg's speech at the United Nations. Matthew McMillan, 22, a mechanical engineering student at Montreal's Concordia University, held a "Make America Greta Again" poster as he joined other students at the protest. "I think it is the most important event of our generation," he said. Holding placards and chanting "protect the planet", nine-year-old Xavier Damien Tremblay joined his three younger siblings and mother Maude Richard in the march. "It's our planet that's at stake," he said. TRUDEAU TELLS THUNBERG CANADA MUST DO MORE Thunberg's presence in Canada coincides with campaigning ahead of an Oct. 21 federal election. She met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau privately for about 15 minutes in his capacity as a leader of the government not the Liberal Party. Later she was asked what her message to Trudeau had been. "He is of course obviously not doing enough but... this is such a huge problem," she said. "My message to all the politicians is the same, to just listen to the science, act on the science." Trudeau is promising more climate action but has also had to defend his decision to buy and expand a major oil pipeline in western Canada. "You are the problem! Climate criminal!" shouted a man who police hauled away from one of Trudeau's campaign stops. As the prime minister joined the Montreal march, police tackled another man who lunged at him to throw eggs. Video showed Trudeau consoling his son, who appeared to be frightened and was crying after the incident. Of his meeting with Thunberg, Trudeau said he had a "wonderful conversation with Greta" and that they "talked directly about the need to do more, much more". AVIATION LEADERS MEET IN MONTREAL United Nations aviation leaders are in Montreal on Friday attending a meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which is debating ways to minimise the sector's impact on climate. Commercial flying accounts for 2.5% of carbon emissions, but passenger numbers are forecast to double by 2037, so experts say emissions will rise if more is not done. ICAO expressed "enthusiasm and support" for the march on Thursday, adding that "more action and faster innovation are now required to address aviation's near- and long-term impacts".

Washington,Oct 9 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - With world attention trained on resolving a financial crisis in Western economies, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said the poverty-fighting institution is warning developing countries to prepare for tougher times. In an interview with Reuters ahead of weekend meetings of world finance ministers, Zoellick said business failures, bank emergencies and balance of payments crises are all possible in developing countries as the crisis spreads. He said a growing financial squeeze, together with higher food and fuel prices, will only make it more difficult for governments in developing countries to protect the poor. A new World Bank report prepared for the meetings warns that high food and fuel prices will increase the number of malnourished people around the world in 2008 by 44 million to over 960 million. The World Bank chief said the bank had identified around 28 countries that could face fiscal difficulties. He said he would release the details later on Thursday ahead of weekend meetings of finance leaders in Washington. "What we're now moving into is the phase where one has to look more broadly at the danger of developing country growth and there it depends on policies they take and the support we and others can give them," Zoellick told Reuters. "Over the medium and long term, I remain optimistic about the possibilities of sub-Saharan Africa being a pole of growth, but it won't happen automatically, it will require their actions and the right investments," he added. Zoellick said the World Bank was working with developing countries to make them aware of the services the bank could provide to help prepare contingency plans and support countries whose banking systems may come under strain. STAKES ARE HIGH The financial crisis threatens to undo much, or in some cases all, of the progress made in many developing countries over the past several years to lift growth and reduce poverty and disease. Between 1997 and 2007, 17 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa grew on average 6 percent, most of them non-oil producers. Another 8 countries, all oil producers, grew on average 8 percent over the same 10 years. Zoellick told a news conference earlier there was frustration, fear and anxiety at the difficulties economies may now encounter from a crisis that began in the United States. Better economic management, fewer conflicts, and prospects of high returns on investments have attracted more private sector interest into developing countries. Among those investors has been China, Brazil, India and Gulf countries, spurring so-called south-south investment where one emerging economy invests in another. Zoellick said that despite ripple effects from the financial crisis into emerging economies, he was confident China would continue to invest in natural resources in Africa, while Gulf states look to investments in agriculture. "While we're dealing with today's problems, you have to keep your eye on tomorrow (and) take the problem and turn it into an opportunity," he said. Just as Western central banks and China took unprecedented coordinated action to cut interest rates on Wednesday to restore calm to markets, he hoped they would do the same when it comes to helping the developing world deal with effects from the financial crisis, but also the "human crisis" of increasing malnourishment. The same countries could help by contributing to a World Bank fund to assist developing countries struggling with higher food and fuel prices and that would provide fertilizer to small farmers and energy to the poor. There would also be a need for developed countries to help the World Bank and International Monetary Fund support governments facing balance of payments needs and challenges to do with climate change and trade, he said. "We can play a role but we need the developed countries to also act in coordinated action to support that."

When the dry season sets in, cattle-keepers like Lobunei prepare to drive their herds across the region towards dams or other distant water bodies, negotiating access with communities they find along the way. The time-honoured practise helps local people - known to outsiders as the Karamojong - survive in a harsh environment where rainfall patterns were already volatile from one year to the next before climate change made them even more erratic. But nowadays it is becoming harder for herders to make their seasonal migration, as shrinking access to common land, resurgent insecurity and the deepening presence of the state have made negotiations over resources more formal. Some herders and activists say an overreaching government is undermining the viability of cattle-keeping and pushing them to rely on crop farming, which is vulnerable to drought and floods. In his home district of Nakapiripirit, Lobunei said he is increasingly hemmed in by large farms that are off-limits to his cows and has to skirt around a wildlife reserve that used to let herders through a few decades ago. He must also seek written permission from a growing number of government officials who regulate movement across the grasslands where his forefathers once grazed their cattle freely. "Are we the Karamojong - or is it the government which is the Karamojong?" he pondered. CHANGING SEASONS A 2017 report by the Ugandan government and partner agencies noted that since 1981 Karamoja has seen more extended dry spells and more frequent bursts of heavy rain. And in the future, it warned, a warming planet will make the area's rainfall "more unpredictable, unreliable and intense". Locals report the seasons have shifted, so that the names of the months no longer correspond to the natural events they describe. The month of "lomaruk", for example, is named after white mushrooms that used to sprout in March but now appear months later. Historically, the region's herders could adapt by moving their animals, negotiating access to water and pasture via a mechanism called etamam, or "sending a message", said Emmanuel Tebanyang, a policy analyst at the Karamoja Development Forum (KDF), a civil society group. Elders first hold a series of clan meetings to decide whether to migrate that season, after which scouts are dispatched to seek possible grazing areas. If a host community offers a welcome, a bull will be slaughtered as a sign of peace. But etamam is undergoing "rapid transformation", said Tebanyang, as discussions are increasingly conducted through local government officials, who must provide written permission before migration can begin. The state has sought to control and document movement in Karamoja since colonial times, but in recent decades pastoralists say its presence has become more entrenched. "This is a new culture where everything is done by the government," said Alex Lemu Longoria, who as a Karamojong elder and former mayor of Moroto town has worked in both traditional and official systems. There are now nine districts in Karamoja, up from four in 2005. The carving out of new districts and sub-counties means herders need authorisation from a larger array of officials before they can move across boundaries. "They don't even go now because of that problem," Longoria said. "There's lots of questions being asked (by officials): 'Why are you moving there?'" Another barrier is a new wave of armed cattle-raiding since 2019, as guns have flowed over the border from neighbouring Kenya and South Sudan, making herders more fearful and the authorities stricter. Karamoja police spokesperson Michael Longole said herders have "a free-range system of movement", but the authorities have slapped "a lot of restrictions" on traders transporting cattle across districts. "Our personnel have been moving around telling (traders) that we are tightening this because of the cattle raids," he said. POWER SHIFTS One attempt to bridge the gap between grassroots dialogue and formal processes is the creation of "peace" and "resource-sharing" committees made up of community representatives, said Denis Pius Lokiru, a programme manager at international aid agency Mercy Corps. The organisation has supported the signing of four agreements in Karamoja since 2019, which were witnessed by government officials and incorporated into local by-laws. "These agreements were clearly putting out the modalities on how best water and other natural resources can be shared peacefully without causing any conflict," Lokiru said. The new committees also include more youth and women, said Cecilia Dodoi, vice-chair of the Kotido Women's Peace Forum. "There is now a great change because our voices are listened to," she said, adding many of the women are widows who can testify to the consequences of conflict. But Tebanyang of the KDF wonders whether written agreements are aimed at herders on the grasslands or bureaucrats in offices. "(The herders) don't need these documents," he said. "They have killed bulls... Then we disregard all those symbols and only look for a thumbprint as conclusive evidence of an agreement." MORE CROPS, LESS CATTLE While pastoralism continues to evolve in Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni has promoted sedentary farming in Karamoja. On a 2019 visit, he insisted "everybody must be engaged in modern commercial agriculture", which he argues is more productive. Although many of Karamoja's 1.2 million people have long practiced agropastoralism - combining cattle-keeping with small-scale crop farming - research shows they have been leaning more heavily on agriculture over the past two decades. Analysis of satellite data by researchers at the University of Maryland showed a four-fold increase in the area under cultivation between 2000 and 2011. And a 2018 study by the Karamoja Resilience Support Unit, a research group, found that nearly 60% of households no longer own enough livestock to provide an adequate food supply. But local observers warn against an unbalanced focus on crops in an era of accelerating climate change impacts. "There is nobody who wants to completely abandon livestock," said Simon Peter Lomoe, executive director of the Dynamic Agro-Pastoralist Development Organisation, a Ugandan nonprofit. "If there is drought here, you can still move livestock to look for water. You cannot move crops."

Britain, which is co-hosting the virtual summit ahead of climate negotiations in Glasgow next year, has faced accusations of hypocrisy from campaigners for continuing to finance climate-warming oil and natural gas projects abroad. "By taking ambitious and decisive action today, we will create the jobs of the future, drive the recovery from coronavirus and protect our beautiful planet for generations to come," Johnson said in a statement. More than 70 world leaders from countries including China, India, Canada and Japan are due to unveil more ambitious climate commitments at the summit. Britain would be the first major economy to commit to ending public finance for overseas fossil fuel projects. "This policy shift sets a new gold standard for what serious climate action looks like," said Louise Burrows, policy adviser with consultancy E3G. "Britain now has a mandate to mobilise other countries to follow suit." The UK Export Finance agency has offered guarantees worth billions of dollars to help British oil and gas companies expand in countries such as Brazil, Iraq, Argentina and Russia, Burrows said. Johnson had faced particular criticism from campaigners for UKEF's role in backing French major Total's planned $20 billion liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique. The government said the new policy would come into effect "as soon as possible" and would mean no further state support for oil, natural gas or coal projects overseas, including via development aid, export finance and trade promotion. There would be "very limited exceptions" for gas-fired power plants within "strict parameters" in line with the Paris deal, the statement said.

Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) reappointed Pascal Lamy as director-general for a second four-year term, the WTO said Thursday. The 62-year-old Frenchman was the only candidate to head the body that referees world trade and was approved by consensus at a meeting of the WTO General Council. It was the first time in the WTO's 15-year history that the candidacy had not been contested. The first term of the marathon-running former trade chief of the European Union has been dominated by efforts to conclude the WTO's seven-year-old Doha round to liberalize world trade and help poor countries prosper through exports. Lamy argues that concluding the round, to boost business confidence and bolster bulwarks against protectionism in the economic crisis, is the WTO's top priority. "Beyond the trade-offs required to conclude the Doha round and also beyond the market access that it will bring, lies its hugely important systemic value," he told the council on Wednesday. "The biggest prize in the Doha round is the certainty, predictability and stability it will bring to global trade. It is in a moment of crisis, such as the one we are witnessing today, that the value of this insurance policy increases." Lamy, whose new term starts in September, told the council the 153-member state body had to address other issues such as climate change, food security, energy, labor and financial protectionism. But serious work on these questions should not start until the immediate task of reaching a Doha deal was in sight. He estimated 80 percent of a Doha agreement was in the bag. Lamy said the WTO's dispute settlement system, resolving trade rows between countries involving billions of dollars, was working well. But developing countries need to be given more help to make use of the complex and expensive dispute processes, and more needs to be done to ensure all countries comply promptly with decisions of WTO dispute panels that go against them. Besides bringing in ministers to clinch a Doha deal, the WTO should hold a regular ministerial conference this year to set strategy and review how the body is working, Lamy said. He noted it had not held a ministerial conference since 2005. WTO rules require one every two years. Lamy was widely credited with nursing French bank Credit Lyonnais -- now part of Credit Agricole -- back to health from near-bankruptcy. He became director-general of the WTO in September 2005.

US President Barack Obama will attend the end of the Copenhagen climate change summit, a late change of plan the White House attributed Friday to growing momentum towards a new global accord. Obama was originally scheduled to attend the December 7-18 summit in Denmark Wednesday before travelling to nearby Oslo to collect his Nobel Peace Prize. Some European officials and environmentalists had expressed surprise at the initial decision, pointing out most of the hard bargaining on cutting greenhouse gas emissions would likely take place at the climax of the summit, when dozens of other world leaders are also due to attend. "After months of diplomatic activity, there is progress being made towards a meaningful Copenhagen accord in which all countries pledge to take action against the global threat of climate change," the White House said in a statement. Danish officials say more than 100 world leaders have confirmed they will attend the conference, which Denmark hopes will help lay the foundation for a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on curbing global warming gases. "Based on his conversations with other leaders and the progress that has already been made to give momentum to negotiations, the president believes that continued US leadership can be most productive through his participation at the end of the Copenhagen conference on December 18th rather than on December 9th," the White House said. GROWING CONSENSUS The Obama administration has been encouraged by recent announcements by China and India, two other major carbon emitters, to set targets to rein in emissions and the growing consensus on raising cash to help poor nations cope with global warming, seen as a stumbling block to a new UN deal. Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen swiftly welcomed Obama's decision, saying his attendance was "an expression of the growing political momentum towards sealing an ambitious climate deal in Copenhagen." In London, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Obama's presence would give "huge impetus" to the negotiations. The United States will pledge in Copenhagen to cut its greenhouse gas emissions roughly 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. It was the last major industrialized country to offer a target for cutting greenhouse gases in a UN-led drive to slow rising world temperatures that could bring more heatwaves, expanding deserts, floods and rising sea levels. Experts expect the Copenhagen gathering to reach a political agreement that includes targets for cuts in greenhouse gases by rich nations by 2020. Agreement on a successor to Kyoto will be put off until 2010. The White House said Obama had discussed the status of negotiations with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Britain's Brown. There appeared to be a growing consensus that a "core element" of the Copenhagen accord should be to seek pledges totalling $10 billion (6 billion pounds) a year by 2012 to help developing countries cope with climate change, the White House said. "The United States will pay its fair share of that amount and other countries will make substantial commitments as well," it said. Environmentalists welcomed Obama's move and some called for him to shift his administration's target for cutting emissions at the same time. "After a global outcry, President Obama has listened to the people and other world leaders; he has come to his senses and accepted the importance of this potentially historic meeting," Martin Kaiser, Greenpeace International's political climate coordinator, said in a statement. "Now that he has moved the date, he needs to move his targets and his financial contribution to be in line with what climate science demands," he said.

They seemed helpful, but the women’s leader, Martha Agbani, sensed danger. “No, leave it!” she said sharply. “Let the women carry.” It was not the first time she had run into these men in Yaataah, perched on a small hill in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, and she knew their offer contained menace: If she did not pay them, there would be trouble. And one of her main goals was to create work for the women. All her life Agbani had watched as women from Ogoniland, a part of the oil-rich Niger Delta famous for standing up to polluting oil companies, struggled to get by and struggled to be heard over men. And she was determined that men would not disrupt or muscle in on her new project: establishing an enormous nursery to grow hundreds of thousands of mangrove plants to sell to the Nigerian subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, the dominant oil company in Ogoniland and the one responsible for wiping out many of them in the first place. Agbani, a hardy woman with a ready laugh and a kind but no-nonsense manner, was trying to turn her hand to a business that could put money in women’s pockets and go some way to restoring their devastated environment. Mangroves have prodigious natural powers, filtering brackish water, protecting against coastal erosion and providing a sheltered breeding ground for aquatic life, which in turn sustains humans. The Niger Delta is home to one of the largest mangrove ecosystems in the world, one that humans lived in harmony with for centuries. But with the advent of oil production — something that the Nigerian government has come to depend upon for most of its revenue — the mangrove forests suffered. In 2011, the United Nations Environment Program released a major report documenting pollution in Ogoniland, saying it could take 30 years to clean up. But the government agency set up to clean the land and water, the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, has been grindingly slow to act. After two oil spills in 2007 and 2008 killed off thousands of acres of mangrove forests near the village of Bodo, Shell agreed to compensate the community, clean up the oil and replant. Agbani spotted an opportunity. The company would need thousands upon thousands of mangroves, tropical trees that grow in the spaces between land and sea, protecting the coastline and providing vital habitat for baby fish and periwinkles, the sea snails that are a staple of Niger Delta cuisine. She started by growing mangroves in her yard, then started looking for a place to establish a nursery. That is how she came across Yaataah. Once, its creek was home to thick forests of mangroves, but now most were gone, the victims of past environmental disasters and encroachment of invasive nipa palms, brought there long ago by the British. She started planning the project’s rollout there and bused in more than 100 female mangrove planters to celebrate its launch in late 2019. But at the party, Agbani said, she had her first experience with the young men, who suddenly arrived and demanded money as well as the snacks she had brought for the women. When she remonstrated with them, pointing out that the women had come to help restore the land so that their mothers and sisters could once again harvest periwinkles, they physically attacked her. “They were dragging me from behind,” she said. “It all went bad.” Shaken, Agbani and her team left and did not return to Yaataah for months. She decided to base the nursery elsewhere; a local leader agreed to lend her land close to the polluted sites in Bodo. But she could not quite let go of Yaataah. It had a good creek where they could practice cultivating mangroves out in the wild, directly from seeds, rather than first establishing them in the plastic grow bags of the nursery in Bodo. And now, in May 2021, the women were back to plant. Hoisting the sacks onto their heads, and with their skirts above their knees, the women descended the little hill barefoot and slipped into the clear water of the creek. It did not stay clear for long, though, as dozens of feet stirred up the soft sediment. “Something’s sizzling round my legs,” said Agbani, 45, laughing, leaning on a stick and struggling to get a foothold in the mud. “Oh, my god, Martha is an old woman.” The spot was perfect. There was very little oil pollution. Birds, frogs and crickets still sang from their clumps of foliage. Like many a creek of the Niger Delta in southern Nigeria, it was choked by nipa palms. But Agbani had arranged for villagers to clear a large patch of the palms. The women squelched nimbly through the mud over to the patch and worked quickly, passing the seeds — technically, podlike “propagules” that germinate on the tree — from hand to hand and sticking them in the mud at foot-long intervals, directed by Agbani. “Carry me dey go-o,” one of the women, Jessy Nubani, sang, bobbing up and down as she worked, adapting a popular call-and-response song. The other women sang back in harmony: “Martha, carry me dey go, dey go, dey go.” The young men had shown up again and summoned their friends, who buzzed in on motorcycles to see what they could get. But they stayed on shore. Agbani had given them a round telling-off. Agbani learned activism partly from her mother, who in the 1990s was involved in the Ogoni people’s struggle against the Nigerian government and Shell. Like her mother, Agbani worked for years for the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, set up in 1990 in response to the environmental destruction of the ecologically delicate area by multinational oil companies. And like her mother, she was inspired by the work of activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, Ogoniland’s greatest hero, who was executed by the Nigerian government under military dictator Sani Abacha in 1995. She remembers clearly the day Ken Saro-Wiwa was arrested, when she was a teenage student in Bori, his birthplace. She hid in a drain and watched the city erupt. “People were running helter-skelter,” she said. “Soldiers got into the communities. In Bori, they were shooting. People were on the rampage.” That experience, and Saro-Wiwa’s insistence on rights for the oppressed, made her want to fight for her people. And, she said, while there were many organisations focused on the ravaged environment, few looked at the rights of women, who suffered disproportionately from the effects of oil pollution. “Women were always crying. Women were victims of so many things,” she said. “I need to help my women to stand.” In Ogoniland, men often go deep-sea fishing, but women traditionally stay close to shore, collecting crustaceans for their thick, fragrant soups or to sell. When there are no mangroves and thus no shellfish to harvest, Agbani said, “they now depend solely on men.” “That overdependence has been leading to a lot of violence, too,” she said. “You are there just to serve the man.” The way Agbani saw things, the Ogoni people were custodians of a borrowed environment — borrowed from their forefathers and from a generation not yet born. And it pained her to see local young men obstructing and trying to profit from the women’s efforts to rebuild it. “We have a lot of motivation,” she said. “We feel they’ve not really understood what it means, restoring the environment.” As a parting shot, the ringleader of the young men told Agbani that he would see her in court. “I think he was joking. If he wants to sue, that would be nice,” she said ironically, laughing with surprise. “That’ll be a good one.” As she headed out of Yaataah on a bumpy track, headed for the nursery in Bodo, the driver scooted out of the way of a bevy of motorbikes buzzing toward the village. More young men. They had heard that there was money to be had, but they had arrived too late. Agbani was on her way out.   © 2021 The New York Times Company

Bangladesh is the world's second biggest producer of jute after India, though the so-called "golden fibre" - named for its colour and its once-high price - has lost its sheen as demand has fallen. Now, however, a Bangladeshi scientist has found a way to turn the fibre into low-cost biodegradable cellulose sheets that can be made into greener throw-away bags that look and feel much like plastic ones. "The physical properties are quite similar," said Mubarak Ahmad Khan, a scientific adviser to the state-run Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) and leader of the team that developed the new 'sonali' - the Bengali word for golden - bags. He said the sacks are biodegradable after three months buried in soil, and can also be recycled. Bangladesh is now producing 2,000 of the bags a day on an experimental basis, but plans to scale up commercial production after signing an agreement last October with the British arm of a Japanese green packaging firm. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in March urged those working on the project "to help expedite the wider usage of the golden bags” for both economic and environmental gains. In April, the government approved about $900,000 in funding from Bangladesh's own climate change trust fund to help pave the way for large-scale production of the bags. “Once the project is in full swing, we hope to be able to produce the sonali bag commercially within six months,” Mamnur Rashid, the general manager of the BJMC, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. BIG DEMAND Bangladesh was one of the first countries to ban the use of plastic and polythene bags, in 2002, in an effort to stop them collecting in waterways and on land - though the ban has had little success. Today more than 60 countries - from China to France - have outlawed the bags in at least some regions or cities, Khan said. As the bans widen, more than 100 Bangladeshi and international firms are looking into using the new jute-based shopping sacks, Khan said. “Every day I am receiving emails or phone calls from buyers from different countries," he said, including Britain, Australia, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan and France. The bag is likely to have "huge demand around the world," said Sabuj Hossain, director of Dhaka-based export firm Eco Bangla Jute Limited. He said his company hopes eventually to export 10 million of the bags each month. Commercial production is expected to start near the end of the year, said Rashid of the BJMC. Khan said that if all the jute produced in Bangladesh went to make the sacks, the country was still likely to be able to meet just a third of expected demand. While Bangladesh's own plastic bag ban is now almost two decades old, million of the bags are still used each year in the South Asian country because of a lack of available alternatives and limited enforcement, officials said. About 410 million polythene bags are used in the capital Dhaka each month, the government estimates, and in some waterways such as the Buriganga River a three-metre-deep layer of discarded bags has built up. The new bags should help ease the problem, said Quazi Sarwar Imtiaz Hashmi, a former deputy director general of the Department of Environment. “As jute polymer bags are totally biodegradable and decomposable, it will help check pollution," he said.

Audrey Withers, the editor who commissioned it, made an appearance herself in the magazine’s November 1941 issue. Tidy and imperturbable in a plaid over-shirt and pillbox hat, she is seen huddled with her staff in the basement of the magazine’s makeshift headquarters on New Bond Street, putting the final touches on the issue against a backdrop of peeling walls and shattered glass. “Here is Vogue, in spite of it all,” she declares in the accompanying text. Her words had the force of a rallying cry, the assertion of a woman who, from the day she took the magazine’s helm in 1940, at age 35, was bent on serving readers coverage of country houses and city brogues alongside plain talk about coping with food shortages and clothes rationing, spliced with harrowing glimpses of a nation and world under siege. A self-effacing figure who climbed the masthead as a copy writer and administrator, Withers was by her own account an unlikely pick for the job. “I am very well aware,” she wrote in “Lifespan,” her 1994 autobiography, “that I would not have been an appropriate editor of Vogue at any other period of its history.” Yet her voice seems freshly resonant (and has been cited on social media) in a time of pandemic, widespread unemployment and unrest. “It is an old right-wing trick to sit tight and say nothing (because that’s the best way of keeping things as they are),” she once all but scolded her American employers at Condé Nast, and moreover “to accuse the left wing of ‘being political’ because it is forced to be vocal in advocating anything new.” Withers’ left-of-centre politics and visceral response to events beyond the hermetic world of style is the subject of “Dressed for War,” a biography by Julie Summers. Published in February by the British division of Simon and Schuster and recently optioned for television, the book is an appreciation of an editor coolly grappling with challenges of a chaotic time. Audrey Withers, photographed by Lord Snowdon, January 1960, was once called ‘the most powerful woman in London’. ©The Condé Nast Publications Ltd In a heated political climate, compounded in publishing by advertising declines, slashed budgets, staff cuts, and an audience largely diverted to rival social-media platforms, Withers, these days, is being invoked — in spirit at least — as a role model for a new generation. Audrey Withers, photographed by Lord Snowdon, January 1960, was once called ‘the most powerful woman in London’. ©The Condé Nast Publications Ltd The British Vogue editor, who died at 96 in 2001, has found a kindred spirit in Edward Enninful, the current editor of British Vogue. A champion of inclusivity and social progress, Enninful in his July issue gives star billing on the magazine’s cover to three essential workers — a train conductor, a midwife and a supermarket clerk — and a gallery of others inside. An Irving Penn series commissioned once by Withers similarly portrays men and women holding traditional blue-collar jobs: a chimney sweep, a cobbler, a fishmonger and what was then known as a rag-and-bone man, a sack slung over his shoulder. “Here at Vogue we are, perhaps, not most famous for chronicling the minutiae of everyday life,” Enninful acknowledges in his editor’s letter, adding, “I can’t think of a more appropriate trio of women to represent the millions of people in the UK who, at the height of the pandemic, in the face of dangers large and small, put on their uniforms and work clothes and went to help people.” His tribute arrives at a time of transition for fashion magazines. Harper’s Bazaar has announced that next month Samira Nasr, formerly the executive fashion director of Vanity Fair, will succeed Glenda Bailey, who stepped down as editor of Harper’s Bazaar in January. Nasr will be the first black editor of the venerable Hearst title. “I will work to give all voices a platform to tell stories that would never had been told,” Nasr said in a video announcing her move. Over at American Vogue. Anna Wintour, its editor in chief, and the artistic director of its parent company, Condé Nast, has faced calls for accountability on matters of race and class, amplified during an abrupt change of leadership at the food magazine Bon Appétit. In a new memoir, “The Chiffon Trenches,” former Vogue mainstay André Leon Talley portrays Wintour, his onetime friend and boss, as soulless and stone-faced, driven by nothing more urgent, as he writes, than “a sense of her own ability to survive as a power broker,” carrying on “with sheer brute force.” Long said to be approaching retirement, Wintour has cast herself as a progressive; she announced her support of Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, in Vogue’s May issue. A vocal champion of the fashion industry, if not of the consumer, in her June/July issue she introduced A Common Thread, a fundraising initiative to support designers. The magazine otherwise offers a somewhat tepid acknowledgment of the continuing coronavirus crisis, with uncaptioned portraits of masked health care workers and a portfolio of “creatives” — models, artist, designers and others — photographed chopping and cooking homegrown vegetables, painting, or bonding with their pets. High time, some argue, for change of the guard. “The industry needs a new mindset,” said Phillip Picardi, a former editor at Teen Vogue and Out magazine. The very concept of leadership needs reinvention, Picardi suggested. “When I think about the overall culture, how these insular people keep being built up or torn down,” he said, “it seems society is ready to move past the idea of one-above-all.” For others the matter is moot. “To have an expectation that an editor is going to lead in the conversation, whether in words or pictures, is to be disappointed,” said Ariel Foxman, a writer and brand consultant, and the former editor of InStyle. “To expect a magazine to become that voice or offer consistent and innovative context for the new world that we live in is anachronistic.” At a time of rising democratisation in media, authoritarian magazine editors may themselves be anachronisms. “The celebrity editor is a dead or dying breed,” said Samir Husni, the director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi. In a time of upheaval, he said, readers are increasingly inclined to place their faith in a brand, not an editorial diva. “The editor doesn’t have to be somebody sitting on the side of the runway,” said Michael Wolf, a media consultant and the chief executive of Activate, a consulting firm in New York. “I don’t think readers are looking for the editors themselves to be aspirational figures.” They may gravitate instead to a model cast in the image of Withers, a woman driven less by self-regard and a thirst for fame than by a fervid sense of mission. “It is simply not modern to be unaware of or uninterested in what is going on all around you,” she wrote to Edna Woolman Chase, her mentor, in a kind of manifesto. In a time of crisis, Withers argued, a fashion magazine would be remiss turning its back on politics. “One is being every whit as political,” she wrote to Woolman Chase, “in giving one’s tacit approval to things as they are than in pressing for change.” She buttressed that conviction, dispatching journalists including Beaton and Lee Miller, a model turned photographer, to the front lines. Who would have thought? Born in 1905 into a free-spirited, intellectual family, Withers was educated at in Oxford and worked in a bookshop and, briefly, at a publishing house, before taking a post at Vogue. “Austerity,” as she was affectionately known among staff, was bent from the outset on exhorting her readers to make more of less — and, at a time of shortages to plant and harvest their own vegetables, stock preserves and, rather than shop, to “mend and make do” with items already in their wardrobes. Sartorially she lead by example, her own fashion rotation consisting of three suits and some blouses for work, one wool dress for evenings, and trousers and sweater off-duty. When limits were placed on the amount of labor and material used in civilian clothing, she consulted the British Board of Trade on a range of utility fashions priced within reach of many of her readers and encouraged paring down. “Subtraction,” she told readers, “is the first of fashion rules.” She reacted with wit to London’s nightly blackouts, sprinkling her pages with luminescent hatpins and brooches and a selection of jaunty gas mask totes. Amid fears that female factory workers would tangle their hair in machinery, she promoted cropped styles. Most radically, she assigned Miller to write about and photograph the siege of Saint Malo in Brittany, the liberation of Paris and the death of Hitler. As Vogue’s war correspondent, Miller delivered, capturing scenes from a hospital in a bombed-out Normandy village, including a searing image of a dying man being treated by an emergency medical team. She documented the liberation of Buchenwald, with its piled skeletal bodies, although Withers chose to publish only a small photograph. Withers commissioned journalist Jane Stockwood to write about the depredations of Nazi occupation in France, the shortages of food, electricity and water, and most wrenchingly, the massacre at the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, where SS officers shot 190 men and burned 452 women and children alive in the church. “It might not have been what Vogue readers wanted to read,” Summers writes, “but it was what Audrey needed them to understand, and she did not let up. That kind of fierce commitment could go a long way toward restoring the vitality of fashion magazines. “When we divorce political and social justice coverage from a magazine’s fashion coverage, we are saying these things are separate,” Picardi said. “What I’ve learned is, they are not.”   c.2020 The New York Times Company

Lights went out at tourism landmarks and homes across the globe on Saturday for Earth Hour 2009, a global event designed to highlight the threat from climate change. From the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge to the Eiffel Tower in Paris and London's Houses of Parliament, lights were dimmed as part of a campaign to encourage people to cut energy use and curb greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. Organizers said the action showed millions of people wanted governments to work out a strong new U.N. deal to fight global warming by the end of 2009, even though the global economic crisis has raised worries about the costs. "We have been dreaming of a new climate deal for a long time," Kim Carstensen, head of a global climate initiative at the conservation group WWF, said in a candle-lit bar in the German city of Bonn, which hosts U.N. climate talks between March 29 and April 8. "Now we're no longer so alone with our dream. We're sharing it with all these people switching off their lights," he said as delegates and activists sipped bluish cocktails. The U.N. Climate Panel says greenhouse gas emissions are warming the planet and will lead to more floods, droughts, heatwaves, rising sea levels and animal and plant extinctions. World emissions have risen by about 70 percent since the 1970s. China has recently overtaken the United States as the top emitter, ahead of the European Union, Russia and India. BILLION PEOPLE TAKE PART The U.N. Climate Panel says rich nations will have to cut their emissions to a level between 25 and 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 to avoid the worst effects of warming. Developing nations will also have to slow the rise of their emissions by 2020, it says. Australia first held Earth Hour in 2007 and it went global in 2008, attracting 50 million people, organizers say. WWF, which started the event, is hoping one billion people from nearly 90 countries will take part. "The primary reason we do it is because we want people to think, even if it is for an hour, what they can do to lower their carbon footprint, and ideally take that beyond the hour," Earth Hour executive director Andy Ridley told reporters at Sydney's Bondi Beach. In Asia, lights at landmarks in China, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines were dimmed as people celebrated with candle-lit picnics and concerts. Buildings in Singapore's business district went dark along with major landmarks such as the Singapore Flyer, a giant observation wheel. Other global landmarks that switched off their lights included the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the Reserve Bank in Mumbai, the dome of St Peter's Basilica in Rome, Egypt's Great Pyramids and the Acropolis in Athens.

The conservative state is already one of the only EU members to bar marriage or civil partnerships for same sex couples. But supporters of the proposal, including the Orthodox Church and all but one parliamentary party, say they want to go further and change the constitutional definition of marriage from a union of "spouses", to one exclusively of a man and a woman to stop gay couples winning the right to marry in the future. Dozens of human rights groups, which are encouraging people to boycott the ballot, have warned that approval would embolden further attempts to chip away at the rights of minority groups and push Romania onto a populist, authoritarian track. A poll released on Friday by CURS estimated a turnout of 34 percent - above the needed 30 percent threshold - with 90 percent in favour of the change. A group called the Coalition for the Family collected 3 million signatures to enable the change. The lower house of parliament voted in favour last year and the senate followed in September, making the referendum the last needed stage. Some Coalition campaign posters urged people to vote "Yes" to defend family values or run the risk of gay couples stealing or adopting their children. A separate advert said a "No" vote would enable a man to marry a tree. "Many fear that what has happened in other countries, such as legalizing marriage between a man and an animal, could happen here," the leader of the ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD), Liviu Dragnea, told television station Romania TV. LOOSE CONTROLS Days before the vote, the government relaxed anti-fraud monitoring and limited options for challenging the result, while the country's broadcasting regulator eliminated a cut-off date for campaigning. "There are ... no efficient, applicable mechanisms to verify fraud for this referendum," independent think tank Expert Forum (EFOR) said, adding the conditions have created "a climate of distrust in the fairness of the process" Some opposition politicians and activists have accused the PSD of using the vote as a smokescreen to divert attention from its leader's legal problems, and its clashes with the European Commission over the rule of law. Dragnea's appeal against a conviction in an abuse of office case begins on Oct 8, one day after the vote. "The plan is clear: creating an anti-European sentiment in Romania that Liviu Dragnea can use when European officials ask him not to destroy the judicial system, rule of law and anti-corruption fight," former Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said. The government has dismissed the accusations and the Orthodox Church has said a "Yes" vote would be Christian, democratic and patriotic. Romania decriminalised homosexuality in 2001, decades after neighbouring countries and LGBT discrimination is widespread.       >>>>>>>>>>>>       Photo name: Romania 1+2       Caption 1: Romanian clergymen take part in a rally in support of a "Yes" vote on the upcoming referendum, proposing changes to the constitution to prevent future recognition of same-sex marriages, in Draganesti, Romania, Oct 4, 2018. REUTERS    

The business community has urged the government to frame a long-term and attainable policy to improve the investment climate, in its recommendations on forming a Better Business Forum. "We have requested the government to frame a long-term and achievable policy within a couple of months," FBCCI president Mir Nasir Hossain told bdnews24.com Wednesday. "We have requested they make the policy a final one so that the next government do not bring any changes," said Nasir. The recommendations came after the government sent a draft framework on its plan to form a 'Better Business Forum' to regain business confidence in a bid to improve the investment climate and accelerate the pace of the economy. The recommendations from the private sector were submitted to the chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed Wednesday, according to Nasir, coordinator of representatives from business and industry. The proposed forum is expected to have a central body, comprising senior advisers, top business leaders, representatives of government agencies like the Bangladesh Bank, National Board of Revenue and government secretaries. The government took the initiative to form the forum amid deterioration of business confidence, resulting in a steady decline in both domestic and foreign investment. Deterioration of business confidence also affected demands for credit from the banking sector holding over Tk 140 billion in excess liquidity by the end of July. FDI in Bangladesh had dropped 6 percent to $792 million in 2006, from $845 million the previous year, mainly due to political unrest, volatility and changes in governments, according to the World Investment Report 2007. Local investment proposals also dropped, according to Board of Investment figures. The proposed forum will be headed by chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, and finance adviser Mirza Azizul islam will act as executive chairman of the forum. The body is also expected to have sub-forums on different issues such as ports, export, import, banking and investment. Advisers of the concerned ministries are expected to chair the committees with leaders of the associations and government officials concerned to act as members. The forum will discuss the problems and grievances of the business community and suggest remedies and action plans, according to businessmen. Nasir said they urged the government to include private sector representatives and recommended selection of the working groups as early as possible. "We have also proposed bringing changes in amendments in laws to smooth business activities," he said.

NEW DELHI, Sun Jan 20, (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for greater cooperation with India on combating terrorism as he began a visit to New Delhi on Sunday. Brown wants India to become a member of an international body that counters terrorist financing -- the Financial Action Task Force -- and also wants to help it to acquire sophisticated equipment to detect people carrying weapons or explosives at ports and airports. "There's got to be greater cooperation between the major countries and Britain in the fight against terrorism," he told the BBC in an interview on Sunday. "I want not just China and Pakistan but also India to play their part in cooperating with us so we can root out those who are seeking to use terrorist finance," he said. "That means India should join what's called the Financial Action Task Force -- it's not yet a member -- so it can play its part in working to deal with terrorist structures," Brown said. He also called for a hearts and minds campaign to combat "extremist ideologies". Brown arrived in India from China where he focused on expanding trade and investment and on cooperation against climate change. In India he will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, meet business leaders and give a speech on Monday on reforming international institutions. Brown arrived armed with promises of hundreds of millions of dollars of development aid to combat poverty in India, where 400 million people live on less than $1 a day despite the country's rapid economic growth. Britain said that over the next three years it will give India 825 million pounds ($1.6 billion) in development aid, with more than half spent on health and education. The money will help provide 300,000 more teachers and enable four million more children to go to school by 2011, the British government said. In a sign of the growing economic ties between Britain and India and India's increasing financial clout, Tata Steel Ltd last year bought Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus for 6.2 billion pounds. Ford Motor Co this month chose a sister company, Tata Motors Ltd, as the front-runner to buy famous British vehicle makers Jaguar and Land Rover. Brown is also expected to discuss trade and his ideas for an international early warning system to prevent a recurrence of the U.S. sub-prime lending shock which has led to a global credit crunch and claimed a high-profile casualty in Britain in mortgage lender Northern Rock. Brown called on Saturday for a new drive to reach a global trade agreement. Years of talks on a new trade liberalization pact have made slow progress. (1 pound=$1.945)

Ukraine says it is investigating some 7,600 potential war crimes and at least 500 suspects following Russia's Feb 24 invasion of its neighbour. "Russia has brought barbarity to Ukraine and committed vile atrocities, including against women. British expertise will help uncover the truth and hold (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's regime to account for its actions," Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said. The announcement comes as Truss travels to The Hague to meet with International Criminal Court President, Judge Piotr Hofmanski, and her Dutch counterpart Wopke Hoekstra. "The specialist team will assist the Ukrainian government as they gather evidence and prosecute war crimes and will include experts in conflict-related sexual violence," said a foreign office statement. Moscow calls its actions a "special operation" aimed at degrading Kyiv's military power and protecting Russian-speakers living in the east of the country.

Britain - which hosted the COP26 UN climate conference and will lead work through to the 2022 gathering in Egypt - must now team up with activists and green-minded businesses to shift plans and maintain pressure on laggard countries, they said. That could include everything from expanding a pioneering funding programme to help South Africa break its coal dependency to other nations, to dialling up political pressure on less-climate-ambitious countries from Australia to Russia and Brazil. For now, efforts to keep global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius - a level scientists say gives the best chance of keeping people and nature safe - are "hanging by a thread", said Richard Black of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. "We don't need more pledges... That's not really credible anymore. We need actions, policies," Black, a senior associate with the UK nonprofit, said at a briefing on the COP26 outcome. The summit, which ended on Saturday, achieved some notable commitments, including to double financing for adaptation to climate impacts, "phase down" coal power, cut "inefficient" fossil fuel subsidies and end deforestation by 2030. But campaign groups lamented it was far from enough to keep the world on a safe path, with Asad Rehman of the COP26 Coalition, a UK-based group of climate justice organisations, saying it showed "utter disregard of science and justice". Nations' emissions-cutting pledges for 2030 put the world on track for 2.4C of temperature rise, with projected emissions double what is needed to hold onto 1.5C, according to Climate Action Tracker researchers. David King, a former British chief scientist, said in his view "there was no real understanding in the (Glasgow) agreement of the extreme nature of the crisis". But the government of Bangladesh, current head of the Climate Vulnerable Forum of 55 countries, said the talks had nonetheless delivered "substantial progress". "The world has recognised the urgency of the situation here in Glasgow - now the hard work begins back home," it said in a statement after the meeting ended. Mark Watts, executive director of the C40 Cities network of large metropolises pushing climate action, said the top priority should be "big breakthroughs" in action on the ground. "As world leaders depart Glasgow, it is now up to others to pick up the torch," he said in a statement. RATCHETING UP ACTION The Glasgow Climate Pact asks countries to come back by the end of 2022 with more ambitious plans to cut their emissions by 2030 in a bid to hold onto the fast-fading 1.5C goal. Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, nations were required to update their carbon-reducing plans only every five years. The new request for faster ratcheting - alongside pressure from climate activists and businesses eager for clearer market signals on how to drive green shifts - mean more leaders now feel "squeezed from both sides" to take action, said Chris Stark, head of Britain's independent Climate Change Committee. Emma Pinchbeck, chief executive of Energy UK, an industry trade association, said the Glasgow deal's first-ever references to phasing down coal and fossil fuel subsidies amounted to "a really strong market signal" for business. That could drive shifts in private investment that will ultimately have a bigger influence on emissions than smaller amounts of government climate finance, the analysts said. But long-overdue rules governing carbon markets, finally agreed in Glasgow, leave open the possibility that companies and countries making net-zero pledges could rely too heavily on offsetting emissions rather than cutting them, Pinchbeck said. Whether carbon trading systems actually reduce global emissions is "a wait and see", she said during the online discussion. One significant shift at the COP26 talks, she noted, is that more leaders have grasped not just that climate change presents a genuine risk in their own countries but that demands for action are coming from a broader spectrum of society. "Countries understand the threat of climate change now physically but also in terms of social pressure and the pressure from businesses," she said. Amber Rudd, a former UK secretary of state for energy and climate change, said that with politicians weighing up what swifter emissions cuts might mean for their re-election chances, keeping up public pressure for climate action was crucial. Leaders are too often interested only in future climate action that is NIMTOO, or "not in my term of office", she added. "Politicians know what they need to do. They just don't know how to get re-elected after they've done it," she said - a worry that clear public support for climate action could alleviate.

He was speaking at a leading CSR forum in Germany. “Politicians have to give the framework and enforce law, buyers need to be ethical and pay reasonable prices, factory owners need to strengthen their middle management and think about compliance, HR and environment, and finally customers in Germany need to be educated,” he said. BGCCI is the largest bilateral chamber in Bangladesh. The 11th German CSR Forum was held in Stuttgart on Apr 20 and Apr 21. It is the leading forum on Corporate Social Responsibility in Germany. The forum is themed “Without CSR no business success,” the BGCCI said. More than 800 participants from the private sector, governments, NGOs and universities took part in the conference. Prizes have been awarded in six categories for best practices. They include: CO2 avoidance as a contribution to climate protection, gender diversity, exemplary cooperation of a company with NGOs/NPOs, CSR in the supply chain, sustainable urban development and best video on the CSR commitment of a company. Germany is one of the leading destinations for Bangladeshi garments where all products manufactured in Bangladesh have duty-free market access.The conference also discussed the RGM (ready-made garment) supply chain in Bangladesh. It was suggested that, apart from the policy guidelines, the standards in the supply chain must also improve, BGCCI said. “Companies have their products often manufactured by independent firms abroad and you have no control over whether standards are met,” said sustainability consultant Jan Eggert, former CEO of BSCI.  The BGCCI Executive Director said: “At the moment, only the price counts, but this needs to change if we want to have sustainable business models”.

BANGKOK, Wed Oct 29,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Seven weeks before it hosts ASEAN's annual jamboree of regional leaders, Thailand has suddenly decided to switch the venue from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Officially, the reason for the 700 km (435 mile) move to the northern city is because of its pleasant climate in December and a desire to "show the delegates some other part of Thailand," according to foreign ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat. In private, however, officials admit it has nothing to do with tourism or the weather and everything to do with the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the protest movement that has occupied the Prime Minister's official compound in Bangkok since August. "They are just trying to avoid trouble with the PAD," one government official said, trying to play down suggestions that the last-minute change of venue represents a loss of face and makes the country look unstable. Thai media have speculated that the PAD, whose street protest has crippled government decision-making since it started in May, will target the summit venue to embarrass the elected administration in what should be one of its proudest moments. As well as government leaders from the 10 Association of South East Asian Nations countries -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines -- the meeting also includes China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Bangkok-based diplomats are fuming at the abrupt switch for the summit, which coincides with the height of the tourist season. Coming at such short notice, it is hard to see a city with a population of 200,000 finding enough beds to cope with the influx of thousands of government officials and foreign media. When neighbouring Laos hosted the meeting in its sleepy capital, Vientiane, four years ago it barred all foreign visitors from entry to the country for the duration of the summit to ensure enough space. "This is a massive pain in the backside," one Bangkok-based diplomat said. "None of this has been budgeted for and how are we going to get hotel rooms at this time of year? We're going to be sharing rooms and sleeping on the floor." The reservation department at the Shangri La hotel in Chiang Mai, which is hosting the meeting, said the entire hotel had been block-booked from Dec. 11-19 although tourists with existing reservations would not be booted out. News of the move appeared to have passed by the original venue for the meeting, Bangkok's swanky new Centara Grand hotel, where sales staff said the summit booking remained in place.

In all, there were at least 19 deaths in several states related to the storm. It ranked No. 3 in terms of snowfall accumulation in New York City history with at least 25.1 inches (63.7 cm), and was among Washington's biggest too, the National Weather Service said. Thirteen people were killed in weather-related car crashes in Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia. One person died in Maryland and three in New York City while shovelling snow. Two died of hypothermia in Virginia, officials said. After dumping nearly two feet (60 cm) of snow on the Washington area overnight, the storm unexpectedly gathered strength as it spun northward and headed into the New York metropolitan area, home to about 20 million people. With the storm persisting through the night, accumulations of between 24 and 28 inches (60 to 71 cm) of snow were expected in New York City, northern New Jersey and western Long Island, with winds gusting to 45 mph (72 kph), the NWS said. The statue of Pierre Charles L'Enfant is coated in snow during a winter storm in Washington January 23, 2016. Reuters Visibility was expected to be one-quarter of a mile (400 meters) or less. The statue of Pierre Charles L'Enfant is coated in snow during a winter storm in Washington January 23, 2016. Reuters New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency, as have 10 other state governors. He also imposed a ban on all travel on New York City area roads and on Long Island, except for emergency vehicles, from Saturday afternoon until 7am on Sunday, when all bridges and tunnels into the city from New Jersey would also be re-opened. Subways running above ground and trains operated by the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North halted service at 4pm because snow falling at a rate of 3 inches (8 cm) per hour proved too much for ploughs on roads and railways, Cuomo said. The impact of the travel ban on the New York's financial services industry was seen as minimal over the weekend, and it was too soon to tell how much the heavy snow would affect Wall Street's reopening on Monday. On Broadway, however, the impact was immediate. Theatres cancelled Saturday matinee and evening performances at the urging of the mayor. An otherworldly quiet descended on the usually bustling city of 8.5 million, the most populous in the United States. Tourists and residents took to the streets of Manhattan, with many venturing into the white expanses of Central Park, some on skis. Others built snowmen or had good-natured snowball fights. The grounds around the Washington Monument are covered in snow during a winter storm in Washington January 23, 2016. Reuters While authorities in New York and New Jersey halted public transportation, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority took the rare step of suspending operations through Sunday in the capital. The grounds around the Washington Monument are covered in snow during a winter storm in Washington January 23, 2016. Reuters "The forecasts suggest that the snow will wrap up late tonight or in the very early hours of the morning," Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a press conference. "But it doesn't make it any less dangerous. We expect continued high winds throughout the area which will continue to make the conditions and visibility very poor." More than 5,100 flights were cancelled on Saturday and over 3,300 more on Sunday, said FlightAware.com, the aviation data and tracking website. United Airlines said on Saturday that it would not operate at Washington-area airports on Saturday and Sunday, and would gradually resume service on Monday. The airline plans to start "very limited operations" on Sunday afternoon at its Newark, New Jersey, hub and other New York area airports. The brunt of the blizzard reached the New York City area after battering Washington, where snow had piled up outside the White House and the city's famous monuments were frosted with snow. "We haven't made snow angels yet, but we're looking forward to doing that in front of the White House," said Robert Bella Hernandez, 38. "We're just going to walk around, see some snow-covered DC landmarks. And then when it's unsafe, maybe go back in for a minute." The record high of 28 inches (71.1 cm) of snow in Washington was set in 1922 and the biggest recent snowfall was 17.8 inches (45.2) in 2010. Higher tides than during Sandy High winds battered the entire East Coast, from North Carolina to New York, reaching 70 mph (112.5 km) in Wallops Island, Virginia, late on Friday, whipping up the tides and causing coastal flooding, said National Weather Service meteorologist Greg Gallina. A man walks near the Washington Monument during a winter storm in Washington January 23, 2016. Reuters The snow also engulfed the Mid-Atlantic cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia while about 150,000 customers in North Carolina and 90,000 homes in New Jersey lost electricity in the storm on Saturday. A man walks near the Washington Monument during a winter storm in Washington January 23, 2016. Reuters Tides higher than those caused by Superstorm Sandy three years ago pushed water onto roads along the Jersey Shore and Delaware coast and set records in Cape May, New Jersey, and Lewes, Delaware, said NWS meteorologist Patrick O'Hara. Some evacuations were reported along the New Jersey Shore, where thousands of residents had to abandon their homes during the devastating 2012 storm. The barrier islands near Atlantic City were experiencing significant tidal flooding, said Linda Gilmore, the county's public information officer. The storm developed along the Gulf Coast, dropping snow over Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky on Friday. On the coast, warm, moist air from the Atlantic Ocean collided with cold air to form the massive winter system, meteorologists said.

Key developing states rallied to an EU roadmap for a binding pact to fight global warming on Friday, but draft agreements emerging at UN climate talks showed deep divisions remained and Europe said the negotiations could yet collapse. The EU plan sets a 2015 target date for a new deal that would impose binding cuts on the world's biggest emitters of heat-trapping gases, a pact that would come into force up to five years later. EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said Brazil and South Africa, whose growing economies are heavy polluters, now supported binding cuts to emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause rising sea-levels and increasingly extreme weather. But speaking to reporters in the South African port of Durban she said an agreement was far from certain before the talks' scheduled end on Friday. "The success or failure of Durban hangs on a small number of countries who have not yet committed to the (EU) roadmap and the meaningful content it must have," Hedegaard said. "If there is no further movement from what I have seen until 4 o'clock this morning, I don't think there will be a deal in Durban. That's what we are faced with." A draft text emerged that could legally bind more than 30 industrialised countries to cut emissions under a second phase of the Kyoto Protocol -- the only global pact that enforces carbon cuts. However, it would likely only be adopted if all emitters agreed to take on legal targets in a separate, broader agreement that would bind China, India and the United States. Climate experts doubted the wording of the second text would be acceptable, as it merely referred to a "legal framework," stopping short of a legally binding treaty that the European Union and many developing countries are demanding. "In the next years we will not have a legal regime, nothing will control the big emitters, the developed countries. without that framework everyone can do what they want," said Rene Orellana, chief negotiator for Bolivia and part of the ALBA group of Latin American nations, said if the proposed texts went through. "This is not just the death of Kyoto, it's the death of the planet. We need a regime to control emissions, to enforce compliance," he said. Critics also complain the texts are unclear about when emissions cuts must come into force and how deep the reductions will go. UNDER PRESSURE The EU strategy at the conference has been to forge a coalition of the willing designed to heap pressure on the world's top three carbon emitters -- China, the United States and India -- to sign up to binding cuts. None are bound by the Kyoto Protocol. Washington says it will only pledge binding cuts if all major polluters make comparable commitments. China and India say it would be unfair to demand they make the same level of cuts as the developed world, which caused most of the pollution responsible for global warming. Many envoys believe two weeks of climate talks in Durban will at best produce a weak political agreement, with states promising to start talks on a new regime of binding cuts in greenhouse gases. Anything less would be disastrous, they say. U.N. reports released in the last month show time is running out to achieve change. They show a warming planet will amplify droughts and floods, increase crop failures and raise sea levels to the point where several island states are threatened with extinction. The Durban talks are scheduled to wrap up on Friday but are widely expected to extend long into the night and even Saturday. The dragging talks frustrated delegates from small islands and African states, who joined a protest by green groups outside as they tried to enter the main negotiating room. "You need to save us, the islands can't sink. We have a right to live, you can't decide our destiny. We will have to be saved," Maldives' climate negotiator Mohamed Aslam said. Karl Hood, Grenada's foreign minister and chairman of the 43-nation Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) whose members are in the frontline of climate change, said the talks were going around in circles. "We are dealing with peripheral issues and not the real climate ones which is a big problem, like focusing on adaptation instead of mitigation," he said. "I feel Durban might end up being the undertaker of UN climate talks."

Take the October issue of GQ, which features Paul McCartney. For decades he has leaned on familiar Beatles anecdotes, presuming that decades-old chestnuts may still pass for warm. But in GQ, over the course of several long conversations, he revealed himself to be unstudied, slightly wishy-washy and much less preoccupied with the sanctity of his own image than you might think — he even offered a recollection about the Beatles’ teenage sexual adventures that led to a characteristically sweaty New York Post headline: “Beat the Meatles.” The story worked in two ways: For the reader and fan, it was appealingly revealing; for McCartney, who’s been famous so long he is more sculpture than human, it was a welcome softening. This took a willingness to answer questions, to submit to the give and take that comes with a profile of that scale. But not all big stories demand such transparency of their subjects: say, the September issue of Vogue with Beyoncé on the cover. The accompanying article is titled “Beyoncé in Her Own Words” — not a profile, but a collection of brief, only-occasionally-revealing commentaries on a range of topics: motherhood and family, body acceptance, touring. Anna Wintour refers to the story in her editor’s letter as a “powerful essay” that “Beyoncé herself writes,” as if that were an asset, not a liability. There was a journalist in the room at some point in the process — the piece has an “as told to” credit at the end — but outside perspectives have effectively been erased. For devotees of Beyoncé, this might not matter (though it should). But for devotees of celebrity journalism — the kind of work that aims to add context and depth to the fame economy, and which is predicated on the productive frisson between an interviewer and interviewee — this portends catastrophe. And it’s not an isolated event. In pop music especially, plenty of the most famous performers essentially eschew the press: Taylor Swift hasn’t given a substantive interview and access to a print publication for at least two years. For Drake, it’s been about a year (and a tumultuous one at that). Frank Ocean has all but disappeared (again). What’s replaced it isn’t satisfying: either outright silence, or more often, unidirectional narratives offered through social media. Monologue, not dialogue. It threatens to upend the role of the celebrity press. Since the 1960s, in-depth interviews have been a crucial part of the star-making process, but also a regular feature of high-level celebrity maintenance — artists didn’t abandon their obligations to the media just because they had reached the pinnacle of fame. Answering questions was part of the job. It was the way that the people making the most interesting culture explained themselves, whether it was John Lennon on the breakup of the Beatles, Tupac Shakur speaking out from jail, or Courtney Love in the wake of Kurt Cobain’s death. It was illuminating to fans, but also something of a badge of honour for the famous, especially when the conversations were adversarial. Stars like Ice Cube and Madonna used to thrive in those circumstances — the interviews revealed them to be thoughtful, unafraid of being challenged and alive to the creation of their image. But that was in a climate in which print publications had a disproportionate amount of leverage, and the internet and TMZ hadn’t wrested away narrative control. When stars’ comings and goings began to be documented on a minute-by-minute basis, those changes triggered celebrity reticence. On its own, that wouldn’t signal the death knell of celebrity journalism as it’s been practiced for decades. But the pressure being applied to celebrity journalism from the top might pale in comparison to the threat surging from below, where a new generation of celebrities — YouTube stars, SoundCloud rappers, and various other earnest young people — share extensively on social media on their own terms, moving quickly and decisively (and messily) with no need for the patience and pushback they might encounter in an interview setting. This generation is one of all-access hyper-documentation, making the promise of celebrity journalism — emphasising intimate perspective and behind-the-scenes access — largely irrelevant. An emblematic example is the rapper Lil Xan, who in recent months has played out several micro-dramas online: discussing his health struggles and how they put him at odds with his management (his phone was forcibly grabbed from his hand while he was live on Instagram discussing family drama); falling for and then breaking up with Noah Cyrus, Miley’s younger sister. Traditional media might catch up to his story someday, but he’s not waiting to be asked for a comment before providing one. (He recently announced on Instagram that he was filming a series for Netflix, again bypassing old platforms.) Sometimes, social media posts take the place of what was once the preserve of the tell-all interview: Ariana Grande mourned her ex-boyfriend, Mac Miller, in an Instagram post; the rapper XXXTentacion replied to allegations of sexual assault on his Instagram Story; the YouTube star Logan Paul used his usual platform to apologise for a video in which he filmed a dead body. These are one-sided stories, with no scrutiny beyond the comments section. And so they’ve become highly visible safe spaces for young celebrities, especially in an era when one’s direct social media audience — via Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and more — can far exceed the reach of even the most prestigious or popular publication, and in a way that’s laser-targeted to supporters. All of which leaves celebrity journalism in a likely unsolvable conundrum. The most famous have effectively dispensed with it, and the newly famous have grown up in an age where it was largely irrelevant. Over time, the middle space may well be squeezed into nothingness. What’s more, creation of content has been diversified — for the casual consumer, it can be difficult to tell the difference between original reporting and aggregation, content created by journalistic outlets and content created by brands. This blurriness incentivises the famous away from traditional media, where they don’t control the final product. And as old-media extinction looms, the new ecosystem is often used as a corrective — or loud distraction. Selena Gomez is on the cover of Elle this month, and the accompanying story is relatively innocuous. But when it appeared online, she replied with a long Instagram post expressing frustration. “Speaking from my heart for over an hour to someone who puts those thoughts into paid words can be hard for me,” she wrote. “The older I get the more I want my voice to be mine.” She then listed the specific things she sought to promote in the interview, and lamented that other things — namely, her personal life, and her church — were given too much attention. And so as the power dynamic tilts in favour of the famous over the press, publications — weakened, desperate, financially fragile — have been forced to find ever more contorted ways to trade, at minimum, the feeling of control in exchange for precious access. Celebrities guest edit — “edit” — special issues of magazines. And while Swift did appear on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar this year, in the accompanying article, she is the interviewer, asking questions of the rock muse Pattie Boyd. In 2015, Rihanna photographed herself for the cover of The Fader. (The shoot was executed in concert with a professional photographer.) It was, yes, a meta-commentary on panoptic fame, and also the cover star taking her own photograph. If those options aren’t available, magazines can simply assign a friend of the celebrity to conduct the interview. In Elle, Jennifer Lawrence interviewed Emma Stone. Blake Lively conducted Gigi Hadid’s Harper’s Bazaar May cover interview. Katy Perry’s March Glamour cover interview was by the Instagram affirmation specialist Cleo Wade. Interview, a magazine predicated on these sorts of intra-celebrity conversations, was recently resurrected; in the comeback issue, Raf Simons talks with George Condo (a journalist chimes in occasionally) and Jennifer Jason Leigh talks to Phoebe Cates. The friend doesn’t even have to be famous. In Rolling Stone’s current feature with the press-shy pop star Sia, the author announces himself as a longtime friend of hers. And New York magazine’s recent exclusive interview with Soon-Yi Previn, Woody Allen’s wife, was conducted by a longtime friend of Allen, to howls of dismay on Twitter. These stories trade on the perceived intimacy of friendships as a proxy for actual insight, abdicating the role of an objective press in the process. The covenant implicit in celebrity profiles is that the journalist is a proxy for the reader, not the subject. But in the thirst for exclusive access, the old rules get tossed by the wayside — ethics become inconvenient. Friendship should be a disqualifier, not a prerequisite. That is a disservice to fans, who miss out on what happens when someone in the room is pushing back, not merely taking dictation. Imagine how wildly illuminating probing conversations with Beyoncé about “Lemonade” or Swift about “Reputation” would have been, a boon to the curious as well as an opportunity for the interview subjects to be shown in their full complexity. But rather than engage on those terms, these stars have become hermetic. It’s a shame: We’ll never know the answers to the questions that aren’t asked.   © 2018 New York Times News Service

Dhaka, Nov 5 (bdnews24.com)—The incumbent British government is not focused enough on the issue of climate change, said Rushanara Ali, a Labour MP and junior shadow minister. "Unfortunately, the government [of Britain] is not talking about climate change as much as we would like them to," the Bangladesh-born UK MP told a press conference on Friday. Ali arrived in Dhaka on Thursday to observe the proceedings of climate change tribunal organised by Oxfam International. The tribunal, coordinated by an NGO alliance titled Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL), is scheduled to be held on Monday at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. The 'Shadow Climate Tribunal' aims to find ways to safeguard victims of climate change in a legal context, says a statement by the organisers. The opposition MP came down hard on the incumbent UK government, saying it decided not to increase aid for the next two years. "But, the government has committed aid up to 0.7 percent of the gross national income by 2013 and said it would increase aid in the third year," she added. The shadow minister for international development told that the previous Labour-run government was a lot keener on the issue of climate change. "Britain under Labour has passed the world's first Climate Change Act, which includes legally binding carbon emission targets," she said. Touching on her role as a member of the shadow cabinet, Ali said that they would work to keep building the profile of climate change. "It's very important that climate change doesn't go off the agenda." The Labour Party will continue to support climate change adaptation programmes and push to make the funds meaningful, said Ali. "I hope to use my position to promote steps to support countries, like Bangladesh, which are affected the most by climate change." Replying to a query, Ali admitted that the international community was not "doing enough". "Developed and wealthy nations have a better role to play and they need to be encouraged to do more," she said, apparently supporting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's recent comment on international community not being serious enough as regards climate change. She, however, disagreed on the matter of providing opportunities to people of the country affected by climate change to migrate to developed nations. Finance minister AMA Muhith, in an interview with the Guardian, had said that the developed nations should allow victims of climate change to migrate to their countries, as they are mostly responsible for climate change. "Migration can't be the answer to climate change," Ali said adding that the priority is to make sure that "preventive measures are adopted." In May 2010, Rushanara Ali was elected a Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow, where the British-Bangladeshi community constitutes one-third of the population. She is the first person of Bangladeshi origin to have been elected to the House of Commons and jointly one of the first three Muslim women MPs elected in 2010.

The issue of immigration is dominating political debate in the country five months before presidential elections, as candidates on the right as well as the left harden their positions. The drowning last week of 27 migrants off France’s northern coast has only added to the argument that migration must be checked. Despite the fierce words on the campaign trail, the reality is far different: Nearly all of France’s neighbours have a greater proportion of immigrants in their populations. In the past decade, immigration has grown less in France than in the rest of Europe or in other rich nations worldwide. The figures show that the migration situation in France is “rather ordinary, rather moderate,’’ said François Héran, a leading expert on migration who teaches at Collège de France. “We’re really not a country overrun by immigration.’’ That has not stopped pledges by politicians to impose a moratorium on immigration, hold a referendum on the issue or simply close the borders — in contrast to moves by other wealthy nations, like Germany and Australia, to attract migrant workers to fill labour shortages exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. As French restaurants, hotels, construction companies and other services face a shortage of workers, politicians across the ideological spectrum have proposed raising wages — but not the number of immigrants allowed into the country. “In France, we never talk about the economy when we talk about immigration,’’ said Emmanuelle Auriol, an economist at the Toulouse School of Economics and the co-author of a recent government-sponsored report that described how France’s growth has been hampered by its immigration policies. “All the talk is about national identity.’’ Fears that traditional French identity is threatened by Muslim immigrants from Africa — fanned for decades, either openly by the extreme right or with winks and dog whistles by others — have long consumed discussions about immigration. A series of terrorist attacks in recent years, some perpetrated by children of immigrants who grew up in France, have heightened those fears. These concerns have had a cumulative effect in France — making any embrace of immigration political suicide, obstructing badly needed reforms to attract qualified workers from abroad and pushing inward a country once known as a global crossroads. “We’re in a new phase,’’ said Philippe Corcuff, an expert on the far right who teaches at the Institute of Political Studies in Lyon. “What we’re seeing is the result of what has been happening in France for the past 15 years: the collapse of the left, which is now silent on immigration, and the rise of the extreme right, which ultimately may not win the elections but is setting the terms of the debate.” Candidates among the Republicans, the main party of the centre right, are agreed on the need to “retake control” of the borders and to tighten immigrants’ eligibility for social benefits. One candidate, Michel Barnier, who served as the European Union’s negotiator with Britain during the Brexit talks, even proposed changing France’s constitution to be able to impose a “moratorium on immigration” for three to five years. On the left, while most candidates have chosen to remain silent, a former economy minister pledged to block remittances sent home by migrants via Western Union to countries that he said refused to repatriate citizens who are in France illegally. The proposal followed President Emmanuel Macron’s recent announcement that he would tackle the problem by slashing the number of visas issued to citizens of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. On the far right, Éric Zemmour, the writer and TV personality who Tuesday announced a run for the presidency in next year’s elections, has said France’s very survival is at stake because immigration from Muslim nations threatens its Christian heritage. “We won’t allow ourselves to be dominated, turned into vassals, conquered, colonized,” Zemmour said in a video announcing his candidacy. “We won’t allow ourselves to be replaced.” With Zemmour’s candidacy, the previously taboo topic of the “great replacement” — a conspiracy theory accusing politicians like Macron of using immigration to replace white, Christian people — has become part of the election discourse. Zemmour accused successive French governments of hiding “the reality of our replacement’’ and has said that Macron “wants to dissolve France in Europe and Africa.’’ During a recent prime-time debate, while centre-right candidates hesitated to embrace the expression — which has been cited by white supremacists in mass shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, and El Paso, Texas — they indicated that the threat of replacement represented a real problem facing France. According to a recent poll, 61% of French respondents said they believed that Europe’s white and Christian population would be subjected to a “great replacement’’ by Muslim immigrants. The intensity of the election rhetoric stands in contrast to the recent elections in Germany, where immigration was not an issue — even though Germany has led Europe in accepting refugees in recent years. “Immigration was missing from the campaign in Germany,’’ said Jean-Christophe Dumont, the head of international migration research for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD. “There is a French obsession with immigration issues,’’ Dumont said. “In reality, France is not a major country for immigration.’’ In 2020, France’s share of immigrants in its population — 13% — was below the average of OECD nations. That proportion grew 16% between 2010 and 2020. By contrast, immigrants made up 16% of Germany’s population — a 30% increase during the same period. France stopped taking in huge numbers of workers from its former colonies in northern Africa as a long period of economic growth came to an end in the mid-1970s — a few years before the rise of the far-right, anti-immigrant National Front, now known as the National Rally, which helped make immigration a radioactive subject in French politics. Since then, migrant workers have accounted for only a small share of new immigration, which has been dominated by foreign students and family-linked arrivals. “We take in immigrants, not to work, but to join their spouses,’’ said Auriol, the economist. The result is that France’s immigration population is much less diversified than in other rich nations. In 2019, more than 40% of all arrivals came from Africa, especially Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, according to government data. That lack of diversity — coupled with the concentration of new immigrants in urban areas like Paris — fuels anxieties related to immigration, said Patrick Weil, a historian of immigration who teaches at Panthéon-Sorbonne University in Paris and at Yale. While anti-immigrant sentiments played a role in former President Donald Trump’s campaign in 2016, immigration in France — closely linked to its colonial history, especially in Algeria and other Muslim nations — makes it an even more combustible topic, Weil said. “In France, there is a link between immigration and religion, whereas in the United States, they are separate,” Weil said. Fanned by the right, the fears surrounding immigration and a supposed threat to France’s Christian heritage make it extremely difficult to hold any discussions about reforming to attract qualified foreign immigrants, said Auriol, the economist. Current immigration policies, she added, stifle economic growth and the economic recovery from the pandemic. Modest changes have been carried out in recent years. But they are insufficient to attract the kind of motivated, skilled immigrants that France desperately needs to bring innovation and fresh thinking, Auriol said. Given the anti-immigrant climate, France also attracts relatively few citizens of other European Union nations, who can move freely to France, and suffers from a low retention of foreign students after graduation, she said. “In the 20th century, all the world’s talented people came to Paris,’’ she added. “Immigrants who contributed to France’s economic greatness, its scientific greatness and its cultural greatness. We were an open country. What happened to us?” © 2021 The New York Times Company

HARARE, Sun Jun 22,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of a run-off election against President Robert Mugabe on Sunday, saying a free and fair poll was impossible in the current climate of violence. Speaking only hours after his opposition Movement for Democratic Change reported its rally had been broken up by pro-Mugabe youth militia, Tsvangirai called on the United Nations and the African Union to intervene to stop "genocide" in the former British colony. "We in the MDC have resolved that we will no longer participate in this violent, illegitimate sham of an election process," he told reporters in Harare. The MDC and Tsvangirai, who beat Mugabe in a March 29 vote but failed to win the absolute majority needed to avoid a second ballot, have repeatedly accused government security forces and militia of intimidation and strong-arm tactics to ensure a Mugabe victory in the June 27 poll. Tsvangirai repeated this on Sunday, saying there was a state-sponsored plot to keep the 84-year-old Mugabe in power. "We in the MDC cannot ask them (the voters) to cast their vote on June 27, when that vote could cost them their lives," he said. Tsvangirai, who himself had been detained by police five times while campaigning, said 86 MDC supporters had been killed and 200,000 displaced from their homes. Mugabe has repeatedly vowed never to turn over power to the opposition, which he brands a puppet of Britain and the United States. Mugabe, who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980, has blamed the political violence on the opposition and denies security forces have been responsible for brutal actions. The veteran leader has presided over a ruinous slide in a once prosperous economy. Millions have fled the political and economic crisis to neighboring states. The MDC earlier said that thousands of youth militia loyal to Mugabe poured into an MDC rally in Harare on Sunday armed with iron bars and sticks, beating journalists and forcing election observers to flee. Police had banned the rally, which was to be the highlight of Tsvangirai's stormy election campaign, but a high court in Harare overturned the police ban on Saturday. INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE Tsvangirai said he won the March vote outright and only reluctantly agreed to a run-off. The state-run media has refused to run the opposition's political ads and police have blocked some of its rallies. Tendai Biti, a top MDC official and lieutenant to Tsvangirai, is in custody on a treason charge and other offences that carry a possible death penalty. A magistrate has ordered him held until at least July 7. There is, however, pressure on Mugabe's government to put an end to the violence. A growing chorus of African leaders added their voices to concerns that the election will be illegitimate. Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, a longtime Mugabe ally, on Friday urged the Zimbabwean leader to allow the election to proceed in a spirit of tolerance and with respect to democratic norms.

Rafiq, a player of Pakistani descent and a former captain of the England Under-19s, said last year he was made to feel like an outsider at Yorkshire and contemplated taking his own life. "There has been constant unwillingness from the executive members of the (Yorkshire) board and senior management at the club to apologise and to accept racism and to look forward," Hutton wrote in his resignation letter. "For much of my time at the club, I experienced a culture that refuses to accept change or challenge." Hutton, who joined the board 18 months after Rafiq left the club, also took the opportunity to "apologise unreservedly" to the 30-year-old. "The club should have recognised at the time the serious allegations of racism," he said. "I am sorry that we could not persuade executive members of the board to recognise the gravity of the situation and show care and contrition." England's cricket board (ECB) on Thursday suspended Yorkshire EB from hosting international or major matches but Hutton said the ECB had also been reluctant to act when approached. "I want to be clear that when I was made aware of Azeem Rafiq's allegations, I immediately reached out to the ECB to ask for their help and intervention to support a robust inquiry," Hutton said. "I was saddened when they declined to help as I felt it was a matter of great importance for the game as a whole. It is a matter of record that I have continually expressed my frustration at the ECB's reluctance to act." The chief executive officer of the ECB, Tom Harrison, said the ECB was asked to join a Yorkshire panel of inquiry - something they could not do as the regulator. "We were asked to join the Yorkshire panel, to be part of the investigation, which clearly we cannot do. We are the regulator," Harrison told reporters. "A quasi kind of involvement, being regulator and part of the membership of an investigation is completely against the role that we play. I'm afraid that I disagree entirely with that characterisation of that statement," he said, referring to Hutton's suggestion the ECB had declined to help. The ECB had said it would hold Yorkshire to account over the handling of the matter and consider sanctions. Rafiq and senior Yorkshire executives have been called to give evidence before a parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) panel on Nov 16.

President Barack Obama vowed on Tuesday to compel BP Plc to pay the price for its "recklessness" in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and sought to harness public outrage over the disaster for a "national mission" to cut US dependence on fossil fuels. "We will fight this spill with everything we've got for as long as it takes. We will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused," Obama said in a televised address aimed at restoring confidence in his handling of the crisis before it further tarnishes his presidency. Obama's stern message for BP, delivered in a solemn tone, was a centerpiece of his high-stakes speech on the oil spill, which threatens to distract from his domestic agenda of reducing nearly double-digit US unemployment and reforming Wall Street. How forcefully Obama responds to America's worst ecological disaster will have implications not only for the British energy giant but for the future of US offshore drilling and for any hopes he has for rejuvenating climate change legislation stalled in Congress. While urging Americans to "seize the moment" to break their addiction to fossil fuels, Obama's appeal offered no detailed prescription for getting there and lacked a timetable for passing comprehensive energy legislation. "Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash American innovation and seize control of our own destiny." Obama has made clear he supports a comprehensive energy bill that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and a senior administration official said the president still believes that putting a price on carbon pollution is essential. But Obama stopped short of talking specifically about the climate change component in his speech, perhaps mindful of the steep political obstacles during a stuttering economic recovery. He said he was open to ideas from Democrats and Republicans alike for reducing America's addiction to oil, but insisted, "The one approach I will not accept is inaction." Obama's choice of the Oval Office setting underscored the gravity of the situation. Presidents in the past have used it to respond to national tragedies, as Ronald Reagan did after the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger and George W. Bush did after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. ELECTION YEAR Another crucial question is whether Obama can placate angry voters in a congressional election year when his Democratic party's grip on legislative power is at risk. Opinion polls show most Americans believe Obama has been too detached in dealing with the crisis and has not been tough enough in dealing with BP. Seeking to counter criticism that he has not shown enough leadership in the nearly two-month-old crisis, Obama took a hard line with BP but did not go as far as reiterating an earlier assertion that he was looking for "ass to kick." "Tomorrow, I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company's recklessness," he said. "And this fund will not be controlled by BP. In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent, third party." Ahead of the televised speech, major oil company executives told a US congressional hearing that BP had not adhered to industry standards in building its deep-sea well that blew out on April 20, unleashing a torrent of crude that has caused the biggest environmental disaster in US history. But their efforts to distance themselves from BP did not stop Democratic lawmakers from criticizing as "virtually worthless" industry plans to handle deepwater oil disasters. Investors were also looking for Obama to jump-start alternative energy initiatives such as solar, wind and geothermal that are now stalled in Congress. Shares in US solar companies rose ahead of the speech. In his first nationally televised address from the Oval Office, Obama sought to show he was on top of the oil spill crisis that has tested his presidency and overshadowed his efforts to reduce US unemployment and reform Wall Street. Public opinion polls show a majority of Americans believe Obama has been too detached in his handling of the spill, and he has come under intense pressure to show more leadership. Adding a fresh sense of urgency, a team of US scientists on Tuesday upped their high-end estimate of the amount of crude oil flowing from the well by 50 percent, to a range of 35,000 to 60,000 barrels (1.47 million to 2.52 million gallons/5.57 million to 9.54 million litres) per day.

“We are now facing a perfect storm that threatens to devastate the economies of many developing countries,” said Antonio Guterres, the secretary general of the UN. In its first official report on the war’s impact, the UN said the war in Ukraine was having “alarming cascading effects” on a global economy already “battered” by the COVID-19 crisis and climate change. The report said that up to 1.7 billion people — one-third of whom are already living in poverty — now face food, energy and finance disruptions. With energy prices rising by as much as 50% for natural gas in recent months, inflation growing and development stalled, many countries risk defaulting on their debts, according to the report. “These are countries where people struggle to afford healthy diets, where imports are essential to satisfy the food and energy needs of their populations, where debt burdens and tightening resources limit government’s ability to cope with the vagaries of global financial conditions,” the report said. It said that 107 countries have severe exposure to at least one of the three dimensions of the crisis, and that of those nations, 69 have severe exposure to all three dimensions. Ukraine and Russia provide about 30% of the world’s wheat and barley, according to the report. The war has sent commodity prices to record highs — with food prices 34% higher than this time last year, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and crude oil prices up by around 60%. “Vulnerable populations in developing countries are particularly exposed to these price swings,” the report said, adding that “the rise in food prices threatens knock-on effects of social unrest.” But the report said that swift action, coupled with political will and existing resources, could soften the blow — recommending that countries not hoard food supplies, offer help to small farmers, keep freight costs stable and lift restrictions on exports, among other things. The report called on governments to make strategic fuel reserves available to the global market and reduce the use of wheat for fuel. © The New York Times Company

But what if theatre owners and operators, mindful of this year’s roiling reconsideration of racial injustice, wanted to present more work by Black artists? Interviews with artists and producers suggest that there are more than a dozen plays and musicals with Black writers circling Broadway — meaning, in most cases, that the shows have been written, have had promising productions elsewhere, and have support from commercial producers or non-profit presenters. But bringing these shows to Broadway would mean making room for producers and artists who often have less experience in commercial theatre than the powerful industry regulars who most often get theatres. “My hope is that when theatre reopens, Broadway is going to look very different than it did when it closed in March,” said Lynn Nottage, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright whose own path to Broadway was difficult — her first Pulitzer winner, “Ruined,” famously never transferred despite several extensions off-Broadway; she finally arrived in 2017 with “Sweat,” and she is now working on three shows with Broadway aspirations. “It would be very exciting for me to return to a space that felt more like the world that I want to live in,” she said, “and less like the world that I’m living in now.” Three-quarters of the 41 Broadway theatres are controlled by the Shubert, Nederlander and Jujamcyn organisations. To present a show on Broadway, producers generally must rent a theatre and agree to share box office revenue with one of the landlords; over the past few years, availability has been limited because Broadway has been booming, but industry leaders expect that to change next year, given the uncertainty over the pandemic. The Shuberts, who have the most playhouses, plan to return with a diverse slate of shows. “We always have booked, and always will be booking, plays with Black writers and Black directors and Black subject matters,” said Robert E Wankel, the chairman and chief executive of the Shubert Organization. Among the shows seeking theatres when Broadway opens next spring: a well-received revival of Ntozake Shange’s classic choreopoem, “For Coloured Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf,” as well as a revival of Charles Randolph-Wright’s “Blue” and a new play, “Thoughts of a Coloured Man,” by Keenan Scott II. “I think it would kill on Broadway,” Stephanie Ybarra, the artistic director of Baltimore Centre Stage, said of “Thoughts of a Coloured Man,” which was co-commissioned by the Baltimore theatre and Syracuse Stage and follows seven Black men through a day in the Brooklyn neighbourhood Bedford-Stuyvesant. Several musicals are poised as well. The most obvious is “A Strange Loop,” by Michael R Jackson, which won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for drama after an off-Broadway run. But that show, which the Pulitzers called “a meditation on universal human fears and insecurities,” is not headed directly to Broadway. Its commercial producer, Barbara Whitman, tried unsuccessfully to get a Broadway house last year; when she was unable to land a theatre, she committed to a second non-profit run — delayed by the pandemic but now expected to take place next summer, at Woolly Mammoth in Washington — and is planning then to try again in New York. Two musicals with Black writers are hoping for theatres next spring: “Born for This,” about the life and career of gospel singer BeBe Winans, and “Paradise Square,” about Irish-Black relations in 19th-century New York. “Born for This,” which has already had productions in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles and Washington, is being produced by Ron Gillyard, a music executive; “Paradise Square,” which had a production at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, includes Marcus Gardley among its book writers, and is led by the storied Canadian producer Garth Drabinsky, who is seeking to make a comeback after serving time in prison for fraud. “The death of any industry is saying, ‘But we’ve done it this way,’” said Gillyard, who has brought on a longtime theatre industry player, Jenny Gersten, to help him navigate Broadway. “Give us a chance.” Nonprofit theatres control six of the 41 Broadway houses, and two of them have plays by Black writers planned for 2021-22. The Roundabout Theatre Company has announced that it will stage a production of “Trouble in Mind,” a 1955 play by Alice Childress that is in part about racism in theatre, that winter. The Roundabout artistic director, Todd Haimes, said the show is the result of a concerted effort to explore less well-known classics by artists of colour. “It’s an extraordinary play,” he said. “And it’s not an undiscovered masterpiece — it’s a semi-discovered masterpiece that never got its due because people were afraid of it.” Second Stage Theatre plans in the fall of 2021 to stage a new comedic play by Nottage about a sandwich shop that employs the formerly incarcerated; the play had a production last summer at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis with the title “Floyd’s,” but Nottage is planning to rename it so audiences don’t think it’s about George Floyd, the Minneapolis man killed in police custody earlier this year. A more diverse Broadway is a priority for theatre artists for very basic reasons — say what you will about Broadway, but it is the segment of the theatrical landscape where artists make the best salaries, and it not only boosts the careers of those who work there, but it also reliably increases the longevity and reach of their work. Playwright Jocelyn Bioh had an off-Broadway and regional hit with “School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play.” She is now writing the book for a new Afrobeat musical, “Goddess,” which is adapted from a Kenyan myth and slated to have an initial production at Berkeley Rep, supported by a commercial producer, Christine Schwarzman, who wants to bring it to Broadway. “I don’t know how to solve the diversity issue on Broadway,” Bioh said, “other than calling attention to it, and cultivating a generation of producers who are not afraid.” The three jukebox musicals with Black writers already expected next year include two that opened in 2019 and were paused by the pandemic: “Ain’t Too Proud,” about the Temptations, with a book by Dominique Morisseau, and “Tina,” about Tina Turner, with a book by Katori Hall. The newcomer is “MJ,” about Michael Jackson, which has a book by Nottage and is aiming to open next April. Each of those musicals is, to a degree, presold based on a popular song catalogue. But for plays in today’s Broadway economy, marquee casting often calls the shots. For example: Producer Robyn Goodman is looking to bring Cheryl L West’s “Jar the Floor,” a 1991 play about four generations of Black women, to Broadway, but said, “for Broadway you have to have a star or two, and we were close to that, but now nobody knows their schedule, and we just have to wait a couple months until people start planning.” “Blue,” a 2000 play by Charles Randolph-Wright about a successful family of funeral home operators, is being produced by Brian Moreland, who is also producing “Thoughts of a Coloured Man.” Moreland tried to get a Broadway theatre for “Blue,” directed by Phylicia Rashad, co-produced by John Legend, and starring Leslie Uggams and Lynn Whitfield, before the pandemic. When he couldn’t, he booked it into the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, which is not a Broadway venue (although there is discussion about reconsidering that). Sensing that the climate is shifting, he is again hopeful. “If they could shake loose a Broadway house,” he said, “we would take it.” Ron Simons, the lead producer of “For Coloured Girls,” has partnered with a veteran Broadway producer, Nelle Nugent, hoping that her experience will help the show win a theatre. The show, which first opened on Broadway in 1976, was revived at the Public Theatre last year. Camille A. Brown, the choreographer, will also direct on Broadway, succeeding Leah C Gardiner, who directed the production downtown. There are producers hoping for Broadway runs of several other shows with Black writers working their way through nonprofit theaters, including the plays “Pass Over,” a charged riff on “Waiting for Godot” by Antoinette Nwandu and “Toni Stone,” about a female Negro leagues baseball player, by Lydia Diamond, as well as the musical “Gun & Powder,” by Angelica Chéri and Ross Baum, about a pair of Black twin sisters who passed as white in the 19th century and became bank-robbing outlaws. Even earlier in the developmental process is “Dreaming Zenzile,” about Miriam Makeba, written and performed by Somi Kakoma with Mara Isaacs of “Hadestown” attached as a producer; the show is being developed in association with the National Black Theatre, and a first production is expected at the Repertory Theatre of St Louis. A few projects have powerhouse producers behind them. Disney Theatrical Productions, the biggest company producing on Broadway, is working on a musical adaptation of “Hidden Figures,” which it has been exploring since 2018 with film critic Elvis Mitchell as creative consultant. And Scott Rudin, the prolific independent producer, wants to revive August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson,” and is also considering a commercial production of “The Black Clown,” a musical adapted by Davóne Tines and Michael Schachter from a Langston Hughes poem. Some of the Broadway newcomers bring experience from other sectors of the entertainment industry. Film producer Lauren Shuler Donner (“X-Men”) is shepherding Nottage’s stage adaptation of “The Secret Life of Bees,” which is likely to have a second nonprofit production before attempting a commercial run. And film and television producer Lee Daniels (“Precious”) is ready to bring Jordan E Cooper’s “Ain’t No Mo’” to Broadway. “Resistance is an understatement,” Daniels said of the reaction when he began talking with Broadway producers about the show, a no-holds-barred comic fantasia, first staged at the Public Theatre, which imagines a moment in which the American government offers to relocate Black Americans to Africa. “They looked at me like I had four heads.” Daniels, collaborating with the British power producer Sonia Friedman, said he still hopes to bring it to Broadway after the pandemic eases. “It’s the epicentre of New York City,” he said, “and we should exist in the middle of New York City.” c.2020 The New York Times Company

Myanmar's government signed a cease-fire with ethnic Karen rebels Thursday to try to end one of the world's longest-running insurgencies, part of its efforts to resolve all conflicts with separatist groups. The government and the 19-member Karen National Union (KNU) delegation agreed in principle to 11 points and signed two broad agreements to end hostilities between the military and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and start dialogue toward a political settlement to a 62-year conflict. The cease-fire could be a small step toward the lifting of two decades of sanctions imposed on Myanmar by the European Union and the United States, which have made peace with ethnic militias a pre-requisite for a review of the embargoes. Peace talks have been held on six occasions since 1949, but no lasting agreement has been reached. The deputy leader of the KNU delegation, Saw David Htaw, said the climate of change in Myanmar under its new reform-minded government made dialogue inevitable. "We have never been more confident in our talks. According to the changing situation everywhere, peace talks are unavoidable now, this is something we have to pass through without fail," he told Reuters. "The people have experienced the horrors of war a long time. I'm sure they'll be very glad to hear this news. I hope they'll be able to fully enjoy the sweet taste of peace this time." Through the KNLA, its military wing, the KNU has fought successive governments for greater autonomy since 1949, a year after Myanmar gained independence from Britain. Saw David Htaw praised the government's peace negotiators as "honest and sincere." As well as the sanctions issue, peace with the KNU is vital for Myanmar's economic interests. SECURITY THREAT If the conflict resurfaces, it presents a security threat that could disrupt construction of the $50 billion Dawei Special Industrial Zone, which will be Southeast Asia's biggest industrial estate when completed and a major source of income for the impoverished country. Past offensives by government troops have driven hundreds of thousands of Karens from villages, many into camps in neighboring Thailand, which has struggled to cope with the flood of refugees. Myanmar's army has been accused of oppressing the Karens and other ethnic minorities by committing human rights abuses ranging from rape and forced labor to torture and murder. The West has responded by maintaining tight sanctions. According to the agreements reached in Pa-an in eastern Kayin State, all efforts would be made to resettle and rehabilitate the displaced. Arms would be permitted in certain areas, landmines cleared and liaison offices set up to facilitate dialogue. The talks were the latest in a series of dialogues between the government and rebel groups along Myanmar's borders with Thailand and China. An agreement has also been reached with Shan State Army (South), but initial talks with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) have been derailed by persistent fighting, despite an order last month by President Thein Sein for the military to end its operations. U.S. officials have said the peace process might prove the toughest challenge for civilian leaders who are eager to bring the nation in from the cold after five decades of army rule. The rebels hold deep distrust toward Thein Sein's government, which is comprised of the same people as the old military regime, but they are broadly behind Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's vision of federalism within Myanmar's republic, a plan supported by her late father, Aung San.

SINGAPORE, Aug 28,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Small changes in the energy output of the sun can have a major impact on global weather patterns, such as the intensity of the Indian monsoon, that could be predicted years in advance, a team of scientists said. The sun swings through an 11-year cycle measured in the number of sun spots on the surface that emit bursts of energy. The difference in energy is only about 0.1 percent between a solar maximum and minimum and determining just how that small variation affects the world's climate has been one of the great challenges facing meteorologists. Using a century of weather observations and complex computer models, the international team of scientists led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in the United States showed that even a small increase in the sun's energy can intensify wind and rainfall patterns. "Small changes in the sun's output over the 11-year solar cycle have long been known to have impacts on the global climate system," said Julie Arblaster, from the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, a co-author of the study published in the latest issue of the journal Science. "Here we reconcile for the first time the mechanisms by which these small variations get amplified, resulting in cooler sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific and enhancing off-equatorial rainfall." The researchers found that during periods of strong solar activity the air in the upper atmosphere, in a layer called the stratosphere, heats up. This occurs over the tropics, where sunlight is typically most intense. The extra warming alters wind patterns in the upper atmosphere, which in turn increases tropical rainfall. Increased sunlight at solar maximum also causes a slight warming of ocean surface waters across the subtropical Pacific, where clouds are normally scarce, says the study. This extra heat leads to more evaporation, producing additional water vapour. The extra moisture is carried by trade winds to the normally rainy areas of the western tropical Pacific, driving more rain. PREDICTIONS In the tropical eastern Pacific, sea surface temperatures cool a little, creating conditions similar to a La Nina event. La Nina is the opposite phenomenon to El Nino, producing wetter weather in the western Pacific and drier weather in parts of South America. The Indian monsoon and many other regional climate patterns are largely driven by rising and sinking air in the tropics and subtropics. Solar-cycle predictions could help meteorologists estimate how those circulation patterns, changes in sea surface temperatures and regional weather patterns might vary. "The sun, the stratosphere, and the oceans are connected in ways that can influence events such as winter rainfall in North America," says NCAR scientist Gerald Meehl, lead author of the study. "Understanding the role of the solar cycle can provide added insight as scientists work toward predicting regional weather patterns for the next couple of decades." The sun is presently in a calm period after reaching a solar minimum at the end of last year, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States. The next solar peak is expected in May 2013. (For more details, see: www.swpc.noaa.gov/SolarCycle/) "This paper represents a useful step forward in understanding how solar activity may lead to modest but detectable climatic effects," said Brad Carter, senior lecturer in physics at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. "It is a good reminder that solar activity is not an explanation of global warming over recent decades."

At least 14 people died as waters rose in basements. A tornado in southern New Jersey levelled a stretch of houses. Some drivers have reportedly been stranded since Wednesday night, more than 200,000 homes in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania remain without power, and states of emergency have been declared across the region. The rain Wednesday — more than half a foot in just a few hours — turned streets and subway platforms into rivers and sent emergency responders in boats rescuing people from the rooftops of cars and from flooded homes. Hundreds of people on trains and subways were evacuated. The rain broke records set just 11 days before by Tropical Storm Henri, underscoring warnings from climate scientists that the storms herald a new normal on a warmed planet where hotter air holds more water and allows storms to gather strength more quickly and grow ever larger. Though skies are clearing, more than a dozen of the city’s subway lines remain at least partly suspended, along with commuter rail service across the region. Airports were open, but hundreds of flights were cancelled. Rescues continued Thursday morning, and some rivers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania were still rising. In New York City, the dead ranged in age from a 2-year-old boy to an 86-year-old woman, police said. Some drowned in basement apartments in Queens, where a system of makeshift and mostly illegally converted living spaces has sprung up. Five people were found dead in an apartment complex in Elizabeth, New Jersey, city officials said Thursday. Another death occurred in Passaic, New Jersey, where the Passaic River breached its banks and fish flopped in the streets. The 3.15 inches of rain that fell in Central Park in one hour Wednesday eclipsed the record-breaking one-hour rainfall of 1.94 inches on Aug. 21. The National Weather Service, struggling to depict the level of danger, declared a flash flood emergency in New York City for the first time. In Bergen County, New Jersey’s most populous county, County Executive James Tedesco, a former firefighter, said Thursday, “We have not complete devastation but close to it. This is as bad as I’ve ever seen it.” The remnants of Ida swept across parts of southern New England on Thursday. As of 5 a.m. Thursday, the system was located near eastern Long Island, New York, moving northeast at 28 mph and accelerating toward Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with maximum sustained winds of 28 mph. After heavy rain overnight, more rain was expected across parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where flash flood warnings were in effect, the weather service said. “This will bring the potential for rare high impact type of flooding to southern New England,” the weather service said. The rain had already caused flash flooding of “small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses as well as other poor drainage and low-lying areas,” according to the weather service. Although the rainfall was beginning to move out of the area, there were still many flooded roads throughout southern New England. “It will take time for the water to recede in these areas,’’ the Weather Service in Boston said. “Do not attempt to cross any flooded roads this morning. Turn around don’t drown!” Rhode Island has already seen two tropical storms make landfall this hurricane season: Henri last month, and Elsa in July. © 2021 The New York Times Company

While the vaccines remain remarkably protective against COVID-19, especially against serious illness, headlines about breakthrough infections and new recommendations that vaccinated people should sometimes wear masks have left many people confused and worried. While new research shows vaccinated people can become infected and carry high levels of the coronavirus, it’s important to remember that those cases are rare, and it’s primarily the unvaccinated who get infected and spread the virus. “If you’re vaccinated, you’ve done the most important thing for you and your family and friends to keep everyone safe,” Gregg Gonsalves, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, said. “There’s substantially more freedom for people who are vaccinated, but the idea that everything is the same as the summer of 2019 is not the case.” If I’m vaccinated, why do I need to worry about Delta? No vaccine offers 100 percent protection. Think of vaccine antibodies like a sea wall designed to protect a town from a storm surge, says Erin Bromage, a comparative immunologist and biology professor at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Most of the time, the wall stands up to the pounding waves, but a hurricane might be forceful enough to allow some water to get through. Compared with earlier forms of the virus, Delta is like a viral hurricane; it’s far more infectious and presents a bigger challenge to even a vaccinated immune system. “Vaccinations give you that extra protection you wouldn’t normally have,” Bromage said. “But when you hit a big challenge, like getting near an unvaccinated person who has a high viral load, that wall is not always going to hold.” The good news is the current crop of vaccines available in the United States is doing a remarkable job of protecting people from serious illness, hospitalization and death. More than 97 percent of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated. And new data from Singapore shows that even when vaccinated patients are hospitalized with delta breakthrough infections, they are far less likely to need supplemental oxygen, and they clear the virus faster compared with unvaccinated patients. What’s the real risk of a breakthrough infection after vaccination? Breakthrough infections make headlines, but they remain uncommon. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped tracking all breakthrough cases in May, about half of all states report at least some data on breakthrough events. The Kaiser Family Foundation recently analyzed much of the state-reported data and found that breakthrough cases, hospitalizations and deaths are extremely rare events among those who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The rate of breakthrough cases reported among those fully vaccinated is “well below 1 percent in all reporting states, ranging from 0.01% in Connecticut to 0.29 percent in Alaska,” according to the Kaiser analysis. But many breakthrough infections are probably never reported because people who are infected don’t have symptoms or have mild symptoms that end before the person even thinks about being tested. “Breakthrough infections are pretty rare, but unless we have a population-based sample we don’t know the level of rarity,” said Dr. Asaf Bitton, executive director of Ariadne Labs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. “A lot of people with mild scratchy throat for a couple days may have had them, but we don’t know. It’s not a failure of the vaccine that we’re having breakthrough cases. It’s been estimated that we’ve staved off 100,000 to 200,000 deaths since the vaccine campaign started.” What is clear is that the risk of a breakthrough infection increases the more opportunities you give delta to challenge the wall of protection conferred by your vaccine. Big crowded events — like a July 4 celebration in Provincetown, Massachusetts, or the packed Lollapalooza concert in Chicago — pose a much greater risk that a vaccinated person will cross paths with an infected person carrying a high viral load. “The more people you put yourself in contact with, the more risk you have, but it also depends on the local climate of risk,” Gonsalves said. “Soon we’ll probably see a Lollapalooza outbreak. All these people crushed together is an ideal situation for the spread of delta.” When should I wear a mask? The CDC has a color-coded map of COVID-19 outbreaks in the United States. Blue and yellow zones show relatively low levels of infections, while orange and red zones indicate areas where cases in the past week were above 50 cases per 100,000 people. The agency advises people to wear masks if they live in an orange or red zone — which now accounts for about 80 percent of the counties in the United States. Infection numbers remain relatively low in much of the Northeast and Upper Midwest, while delta has caused huge spikes in cases in Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana and Florida. The problem with the map is that case counts are changing rapidly and may surge in your local community before the map has changed colors. Even if you’re certain you’re living in a highly vaccinated community with very low case counts, it makes sense to consider the case counts and vaccination rates in nearby communities as well, because people — and viruses — cross state and county boundaries all the time. Most experts agree that you don’t need to wear a mask outdoors if you’re not in a crowd and have plenty of distance (at least 6 feet) from people whose vaccination status isn’t known. It’s still risky to attend a packed outdoor concert, but if you do, wear a mask. “I would still suggest wearing a mask if you are indoors with people whose vaccination status you don’t know, especially if you will be within a few feet of them for any amount of time, or if you will be in the room for a long period of time with those people,” said J Alex Huffman, an aerosol scientist and associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Denver. “I don’t wear a mask indoors in all situations now, because I’m fully vaccinated, but I put my N95 mask on whenever I go into indoor public spaces.” Should I upgrade my mask? You will get the most protection from a high-quality medical mask like an N95 or a KN95, although you want to be sure you have the real thing. A KF94 is a high-quality medical mask made in Korea, where counterfeits are less likely. If you don’t have a medical mask, you still get strong protection from double masking with a simple surgical mask under a cloth mask. A mask with an exhale valve should never be worn, since it allows plumes of viral particles to escape, and counterfeit masks may have faulty valves that let germs in. You may want to pick your mask based on the setting. A cloth mask may be adequate for a quick trip into an empty convenience store in an area with high vaccination rates. But a higher-quality mask makes sense during air travel or in a crowded grocery store, especially in communities where vaccination rates are low and case counts are high. Masks with straps or ties around the back of the head seal more tightly than masks with ear loops. “All the mitigation efforts we used before need to be better to hold off the delta variant, and this includes masks,” Huffman said. “I strongly encourage people to upgrade their mask to something with high filter quality and something that fits tightly to their face. The No. 1 factor, in my opinion, is to make sure the mask is sealed well all around the edges — over the nose bridge, by the cheeks and under the chin. So any mask that fits tightly is better than almost any loosefitting mask.” What’s the risk of hanging out with my vaccinated friends and family? Vaccinated people are at very low risk when they spend time, unmasked, with their vaccinated friends and family members. “I don’t think mask-wearing is critical,” Huffman said. “If you are indoors with a small number of people you know are vaccinated, wearing a mask is low on my list of worries.” But some circumstances might require extra precautions. While it’s unusual for a vaccinated person to spread the virus to another vaccinated person, it’s theoretically possible. A vaccinated friend who is going to crowded bars, packed concerts or traveling to a COVID hot spot is a bigger risk than someone who avoids crowds and spends most of their time with vaccinated people. With the delta variant spreading, Bitton suggests an “outdoor first” strategy, particularly for families with unvaccinated children or family members at high risk. If you can take your event outside to a backyard or patio this summer and minimize your time indoors, you lower your risk. Spending time with smaller groups of vaccinated friends has less risk than attending a big party, even if you believe everyone at the party is vaccinated. If you’re indoors, open the windows to improve ventilation. If someone in the group is at very high risk because of age or because they are immunocompromised, it’s reasonable to ask even vaccinated people to be tested before a visit. A simple rapid home test can even be offered to guests to be sure everyone is COVID-free. Can I still dine at restaurants? The answer depends on local conditions, your tolerance for risk and the personal health of those around you. Risk is lowest in communities with high vaccination rates and very low case counts. A restaurant meal in Vermont, where two-thirds of the population is vaccinated, poses less risk than an indoor meal in Alabama or Mississippi, where just one-third of the residents are vaccinated. Parents of unvaccinated children and people with compromised immune systems, who studies show may get less protection from vaccines, may want to order takeout or dine outdoors as an added precaution. Is it safe to travel? Should I skip the peanuts and water and keep my mask on? Airplanes are typically well ventilated and not a major source of outbreaks, but taking precautions is still a good idea. The potential for exposure to an infected person may be even higher in the terminal, sitting in airport restaurants and bars, or going through the security line. In airplanes, air is refreshed roughly every two to three minutes — a higher rate than in grocery stores and other indoor spaces. While airlines still require passengers to wear masks, people are allowed to remove them to drink water or eat. To prevent air from circulating to everyone throughout the cabin, airplane ventilation systems keep airflow contained to a few rows. As a result, an infected passenger poses the most risk to those sitting in the seats in the immediate area. Most experts say that they use a high-quality medical mask, like an N95 or KF94, when they fly. If you don’t have one, double masking is advised. For a vaccinated person, the risk of removing a mask briefly to eat or drink during a flight is low, but it’s better to keep it on as much as possible. The CDC says it’s best for unvaccinated people, including children, to avoid flying. Bromage said he recently traveled by air and took his mask off briefly to drink a beverage, but kept it on for most of the flight. He said he would be more comfortable removing his mask to eat if he knew the people next to him were vaccinated. He said he would be more concerned if the person next to him didn’t seem to care about COVID precautions or wore the mask under the nose. “If you’ve got a random person next to you, especially a chatty person, I’d keep the mask on,” he said. How safe are buses, subways and trains for vaccinated people? Most buses, trains and subways still require everyone to wear a mask, which lowers risk. While vaccinated people are well protected, the risk of viral exposure increases the longer the ride and the more crowded the train car or bus. For many people, riding public transit is essential for getting to work or school, and wearing a well-fitted medical mask or double mask is recommended. When public transit is optional, the decision about whether to ride should factor in local vaccination rates and whether case counts are rising. Can I hug and visit older relatives? What about unvaccinated children? While it’s generally considered safe for vaccinated people to hug and spend time together unmasked, parents of unvaccinated children have more risks to consider, particularly when visiting older relatives. In communities with low case counts and high vaccination rates, it’s generally considered safe for unvaccinated children from a single household to spend time with vaccinated grandparents. But as the delta variant spreads and children return to school, the risks of close contact also increase for older or immune-compromised people who are more vulnerable to complications from COVID-19, even if they’re vaccinated. When families plan a visit to a high-risk relative, it’s a good idea to minimize other exposures, avoiding restaurant dining or working out at the gym in the week leading up to the visit. Even though the risk of a vaccinated person spreading COVID-19 remains low, vaccinated grandparents should also reduce their personal exposure when they spend time with unvaccinated children. “I have not been masking up indoors with my octogenarian parents at this point, because I am still very careful in the way I wear masks in public settings,” Huffman, the aerosol scientist, said. “But if I had more interactions that increased my overall risk of exposure, I would strongly consider masking up when indoors with vulnerable individuals.” Rapid home tests are an added precaution when visiting grandparents or an immune-compromised family member. Take a test a few days before the visit as well as the day of the visit. Home tests are “a wonderful option for people with a little more anxiety right now in regards to the virus,” Bromage said. “What we’re doing is buying those, and each and everyone tests before they come together — literally right before we’re together. When everyone is clear, you can enjoy that time together.” How do I know if I have the delta variant? If you’re diagnosed in the US with COVID-19, the odds are overwhelming that you have the delta variant. The CDC now estimates that delta accounts for more than 82 percent of cases in the United States. The delta variant has become dominant in other countries as well. In late July the World Health Organization said delta accounted for 75 percent or more of the cases in many countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Israel, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa and the UK. That said, standard COVID tests won’t tell you if your infection was caused by the delta variant or another variant of the virus. While health departments may use genomic sequencing to identify levels of different variants in a community, this information typically isn’t shared with individuals. You still need to isolate and seek medical advice if you have low blood oxygen levels, have trouble breathing or have other worrisome symptoms. © 2021 The New York Times Company

Japan's top business lobby could spark policy change on global warming by sending a strong message to its counterparts in the United States, former US Vice President Al Gore said in a speech in Tokyo on Monday. Gore was speaking to executives at the Keidanren (Japanese Business Federation) as part of a campaign to promote his award-winning documentary film 'An Inconvenient Truth,' which opens in Japan this week. "The Japanese business community, because of the respect with which you are regarded, can have a powerful influence on the shaping of opinions within the US business community," Gore said. "When that changes, then US policy will change," he said, urging the members of Keidanren to send the strongest possible message to big business in the United States. The United States withdrew from the Kyoto protocol, which mandates cuts in greenhouse gas emissions in the 2008-2012 period, saying the agreement would be harmful to the US economy. As host of the 1997 talks that forged the protocol, the Japanese government has urged major polluters including the United States, China and India to work harder to combat climate change, most recently during a visit by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Europe last week. Japan's own emissions of greenhouse gases amounted to 1.36 billion tonnes in the year to March 2006, up 0.6 percent on the previous year and 14.1 percent adrift of its objective to cut emissions to 6 percent below their 1990 level. But Gore said that corporate Japan had a special role to play. "The business leadership of Japan can lead the way and lead the business community of the world," Gore said. "Your determination to be a part of the solution can be the key to the world successfully solving this crisis." More than 330 US cities have endorsed the Kyoto protocol, in a sign of grass roots support for its aims, Gore said. The one-time presidential candidate did not answer questions from the media on Monday. None of the business executives at the event asked him about rumours that he might build on the higher profile created by his environmental campaign to stand for the presidency again.

She said all polls held in different tiers during the five years of her rule had been fair and neutral, and there would be no departure from the trend in the upcoming one either.The Prime Minister said this while visiting the Senior Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom, Sayeeda Warsi, at her office here on Thursday morning.The PM's Press Secretary, Abul Kalam Azad, briefed the press after the meeting.The two leaders had discussed matters of bilateral interests, he said. File Photo File Photo Sheikh Hasina expressed happiness over the historic and traditional links and the partnership between Bangladesh and the UK.She hoped the relationship between the two countries would deepen with time.Sheikh Hasina recalled the invaluable support the British people and the government of Prime Minister Edward Heath had extended during the War of Liberation in 1971.Earlier, a delegation led by Policy Advisor for Asian Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China, Ambassador Luo Zhaohui also met the Prime Minister at her office.During the meeting, the Prime Minister reiterated Bangladesh’s position on One China Policy, and sought more Chinese investment in various sectors, including infrastructure.Hasina said Bangladesh wanted greater transfer of Chinese technology as well as green technology to combat climate change.Stressing regional connectivity, the Prime minister said, it would enhance trade and commerce between the two countries.She also emphasized the need to cut the trade deficit between the two friendly nations.Ambassador-At-Large M Ziauddin, Principal Secretary Shaikh Md Wahid-Uz-Zaman and PMO secretary Mollah Waheeduzzaman, among others, were present.Later on the day, Warsi also met the Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury.

Former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi edged past Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Tuesday in results from Iraq's fragmented March 7 vote that may lead to months of political bargaining and create a risky power vacuum. The new initial results, reversing the lead that Maliki had taken in earlier counts over the past week, came on a day when twin bomb attacks in the town of Mussayab, 60 km (40 miles) south of the capital, killed eight people. The bombs went off within minutes of one another after attackers attached two bombs to passengers cars, underscoring Iraq's vulnerability as it confronts the possibility of major political change and US troops prepare to withdraw. The blasts, a day after seven people were killed by a car bomb in western Anbar province, raised doubts about how Iraq's fragile security will stand up during what likely will be long, divisive talks among leading politicians to form a government. Allawi's narrow lead in the national vote count over Maliki's mainly Shi'ite State of Law bloc, which is ahead in seven of 18 provinces but has barely made a dent in Sunni areas, underlines Iraq's polarisation after years of sectarian war. Allawi, a secular Shi'ite whose cross-sectarian, secularist Iraqiya list is now ahead in five provinces, has galvanised support among minority Sunnis eager to reclaim the influence they lost when Saddam Hussein's long rule ended in 2003. With about 80 percent of an estimated 12 million votes counted, only about 9,000 votes separate Maliki's and Allawi's coalitions. Definitive final results could take weeks. One or the other bloc is likely to ally with the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), a largely Shi'ite bloc made up of Maliki's estranged allies, running third, or with a partnership of Kurdish parties which dominated Iraq's Kurdish north. CONFIDENT While Maliki, who has built his reputation on pulling Iraq back from the brink of civil war, has wide support, allies of Allawi, an urbane physician and critic of the Shi'ite religious parties dominating Iraq since 2003, were feeling confident. Thaer al-Naqeeb, a close aide to Allawi, said he expected the final results would show Allawi ahead of Maliki, even though the prime minister is now ahead in Baghdad, the biggest electoral prize with 68 seats in Iraq's 325-member parliament. "The results are really close and positive (for us) ... How can Maliki beat us?" he asked. Joost Hiltermann, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, suggested that defeat may not be accepted gracefully in a post-election climate already marked by allegations of fraud. "This is not over till it's over, and I'm not just talking about the final tally but the attempts by the loser, whoever it may be, to leapfrog over the winner after the count," he said. How Iraq forms a government agreeable to mutually suspicious rivals like Maliki and Allawi, plus all the country's other rival factions, will be key to maintaining security as Washington looks towards an end-2011 deadline for withdrawal. An alliance of the country's two main Kurdish parties has the lead in three Kurdish provinces in northern Iraq. It trails close behind Allawi's bloc in Kirkuk, the oil-producing province at the heart of a bitter struggle between Arabs and Kurds. Allawi now leads the Kurd bloc there by a handful of votes. Toby Dodge, an Iraq expert at the University of London, said influence from Iraq's fellow Shi'ite-majority neighbour Iran could be instrumental in producing another government alliance between Maliki, the INA and the Kurds. "To some extent this would be a reconstitution of the coalition that governed Iraq so ineptly from 2006 to 2010," he said. The Iranian government, eager to see someone representing Shi'ite interests leading Iraq, praised the elections. "All international supervision has confirmed the soundness of the Iraqi elections. This is a success and we congratulate Iraqis," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.

That’s where the melting face emoji comes in. The face, fixed with a content half-smile even as it dissolves into a puddle, is one of 37 new emojis approved this year by the Unicode Consortium, the organization that maintains the standards for digital text. Other emojis that made the cut include saluting face, dotted line face and a disco ball. These new emojis will roll out over the course of the next year. But already the melting face has found fans on social media, who see it as a clear representation of the coronavirus pandemic’s vast psychological toll. “This melting smiley face is quite the pandemic mood,” one Twitter user said. Others viewed the new emoji as a visual proxy for climate anxiety. “Something tells me that in this climate change apocalypse era, we’re going to be using the new melting face emoji a lot,” another user wrote. The melting face was conceived in 2019 by Jennifer Daniel and Neil Cohn, who connected over their mutual appreciation for visual language. Daniel, who uses the pronouns they and them, is an emoji subcommittee chair for Unicode and a creative director at Google; Cohn, an associate professor of cognition and communication at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. Cohn had published some work on representations of emotion in Japanese Visual Language that caught the eye of Daniel. In Cohn’s research was “paperification,” which, according to him, is “what happens in a manga sometimes when people become embarrassed, they will turn into a piece of paper and flutter away.” He and Daniel realised there wasn’t an existing emoji that evoked that visual convention, so they decided to pursue one and eventually landed on the melting face, which Daniel described as “more visceral” than turning into paper. The same idea is also sometimes depicted as a solid becoming liquid, they added. Many of the best face emojis “rely on conventions that already exist in other places in visual culture, and one of the main drivers of this is comics or manga,” said Cohn. He also noted that many of the face emojis from the original emoji set use expressions from manga. In 1999, the first emojis were created by a Japanese artist named Shigetaka Kurita, who found inspiration in manga. They were designed to facilitate text-based communication; NTT Docomo, a Japanese mobile phone company, had a 250-character limit on messages sent through its mobile internet service, so shorthand was key to getting one’s point across. The original set of 176 emojis designed by Kurita is now part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Today, even without character restrictions, emojis can still communicate emotions with greater ease, speed and flexibility than words can. The melting face is no exception. On the more literal side, it can be a way of expressing, say, the sensation caused by a broken air conditioner. Figuratively, it can be used to convey how one feels after an embarrassing interaction with a crush, the exhaustion of living through a pandemic and, of course, sarcasm. “It evokes a metaphoric frame or metaphoric knowledge base that should be relatively accessible to people — the notion of melting,” Cohn said. That concept can then be applied to all kinds of emotions. All emojis “are usually designed with the intention that they can be used in flexible, multifaceted ways, in the same way that many words can be flexibly used,” Cohn added. And visual language, of course, can be even more elastic than words. “Illustration can do things that reality can’t,” Daniel said. Case in point: “melting face” and its myriad interpretations, many of them quite affecting. “Emojis aren’t inherently deep,” said Erik Carter, a graphic designer who created the sample image for the melting face. “It’s how people use them that makes them profound.” He offered a reading of his own. Many of us, Carter said, may feel hopeless because of things like climate change or “our government’s inaction.” “Sometimes,” he said, “it does feel as though the best we can do is smile as we melt away.” ©2021 The New York Times Company

But the sugary summer cooler Rooh Afza, with a poetic name that means “soul refresher” and evokes the narrow alleys of its birthplace of Old Delhi, has long reached across the heated borders of South Asia to quench the thirst of generations. In Pakistan, the thick, rose-coloured syrup — called a sharbat or sherbet and poured from a distinctive long-neck bottle — is mixed with milk and crushed almonds as an offering in religious processions. In Bangladesh, a new groom often takes a bottle or two as a gift to his in-laws. Movies even invoke it as a metaphor: In one film, the hero tells the heroine that she is beautiful like Rooh Afza. And in Delhi, where the summer temperatures often exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the city feels like a slow-burning oven, you can find it everywhere. The chilled drink is served in the plastic goblets of cold-drink vendors using new tricks to compete for customers: how high and how fast they can throw the concentrate from one glass to the next as they mix, how much of it they can drizzle onto the cup’s rim. In an undated image provided to The New York Times, Hakim Abdul Majid, who founded Rooh Afza in 1907 at his small herbal medicine shop in Old Delhi. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh alike enjoy the sweet and herbal taste of Rooh Afza, a beverage that has endured the region’s turbulent history — now it is aiming for the palates of a new generation. (via The New York Times) The same old taste is also there in new packaging to appeal to a new generation and to new drinkers: in the juice boxes in children’s school bags; in cheap one-time sachets hanging at tobacco stalls frequented by labourers; and in high-end restaurants, where it is whipped into the latest ice cream offering. In an undated image provided to The New York Times, Hakim Abdul Majid, who founded Rooh Afza in 1907 at his small herbal medicine shop in Old Delhi. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh alike enjoy the sweet and herbal taste of Rooh Afza, a beverage that has endured the region’s turbulent history — now it is aiming for the palates of a new generation. (via The New York Times) As summer heat waves worsen, the drink’s reputation as a natural, fruits-and-herbs cooler that lowers body temperature and boosts energy — four-fifths of it is sugar — means that even a brief interruption in manufacturing results in huge outcries over a shortage. Behind the drink’s survival, through decades of regional violence and turmoil since its invention, is the ambition of a young herbalist who died early and the foresight of his wife, the family’s matriarch, to help her young sons turn the beverage into a sustainable business. The drink brings about $45 million of profit a year in India alone, its manufacturer says, most of it going to a trust that funds schools, universities and clinics. “It might be that one ingredient or couple of ingredients have changed because of availability, but by and large the formula has remained the same,” said Hamid Ahmed, a member of the fourth generation of the family who runs the expanded food wing of Hamdard Laboratories, which produces the drink. In an undated image provided to The New York Times, an ad for Rooh Afza touting it as a drink for the elite: “For all kinds of complaints during the heat season, big big rajas and nawabs always use this.” India, Pakistan and Bangladesh alike enjoy the sweet and herbal taste of Rooh Afza, a beverage that has endured the region’s turbulent history — now it is aiming for the palates of a new generation. (via The New York Times) In the summer of 1907 in Old Delhi, still under British rule, the young herbalist, Hakim Abdul Majid, sought a potion that could help ease many of the complications that come with the country’s unbearable heat: heat strokes, dehydration, diarrhoea. In an undated image provided to The New York Times, an ad for Rooh Afza touting it as a drink for the elite: “For all kinds of complaints during the heat season, big big rajas and nawabs always use this.” India, Pakistan and Bangladesh alike enjoy the sweet and herbal taste of Rooh Afza, a beverage that has endured the region’s turbulent history — now it is aiming for the palates of a new generation. (via The New York Times) What he discovered, in mixing sugar and extracts from herbs and flowers, was less medicine and more a refreshing sherbet. It was a hit. The bottles, glass then and plastic now, would fly off the shelves of his small medicine store, which he named Hamdard. Majid died 15 years later at the age of 34. He was survived by his wife, Rabea Begum, and two sons; one was 14, and the other a toddler. Begum made a decision that turned Hamdard into an enduring force and set a blueprint for keeping it profitable for its welfare efforts at a time when politics would tear the country asunder. She declared Hamdard a trust, with her and her two young sons as the trustees. The profits would go not to the family but largely to public welfare. The company’s biggest test came with India’s bloody partition after independence from the British in 1947. The Muslim nation of Pakistan was broken out of India. Millions of people endured an arduous trek, on foot and in packed trains, to get on the right side of the border. Somewhere between 1 to 2 million people died, and families — including Begum’s — were split up. In an undated image provided to The New York Times, Rabea Begum, Hakim Abdul Majid’s wife, who decided after his death that profits from Rooh Afza would go to a trust to fund public welfare. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh alike enjoy the sweet and herbal taste of Rooh Afza, a beverage that has endured the region’s turbulent history — now it is aiming for the palates of a new generation. (via The New York Times) Hakim Abdul Hamid, the older son, stayed in India. He became a celebrated academic and oversaw Hamdard India. In an undated image provided to The New York Times, Rabea Begum, Hakim Abdul Majid’s wife, who decided after his death that profits from Rooh Afza would go to a trust to fund public welfare. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh alike enjoy the sweet and herbal taste of Rooh Afza, a beverage that has endured the region’s turbulent history — now it is aiming for the palates of a new generation. (via The New York Times) Hakim Mohamad Said, the younger son, moved to the newly formed Pakistan. He gave up his role in Hamdard India to start Hamdard Pakistan and produce Rooh Afza there. He rose to become the governor of Pakistan’s Sindh province but was assassinated in 1998. When in 1971 Pakistan was also split in half, with Bangladesh emerging as another country, the facilities producing Rooh Afza in those territories formed their own trust: Hamdard Bangladesh. All three businesses are independent, run by extended members or friends of the young herbalist’s family. But what they offer is largely the same taste, with slight variations if the climate in some regions affects the herbs differently. The drink sells well during summer, but there is particularly high demand in the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Around the dinner table or in the bazaars at the end of a day, a glass or two of chilled Rooh Afza — the smack of its sugar and flavours — can inject life. Employees check bottles of Rooh Afza at a factory in Gurgaon, India, April 14, 2021. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh alike enjoy the sweet and herbal taste of Rooh Afza, a beverage that has endured the region’s turbulent history. Now it is aiming for the palates of a new generation. (Rebecca Conway/The New York Times) “During the summer, after a long and hot day of fasting, one becomes more thirsty than hungry,” said Faqir Muhammad, 55, a porter in Karachi, Pakistan. “To break the fast, I directly drink a glass of Rooh Afza after eating a piece of date to gain some energy.” Employees check bottles of Rooh Afza at a factory in Gurgaon, India, April 14, 2021. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh alike enjoy the sweet and herbal taste of Rooh Afza, a beverage that has endured the region’s turbulent history. Now it is aiming for the palates of a new generation. (Rebecca Conway/The New York Times) In Bangladesh, the brand’s marketing goes beyond flavour and refreshments and into the realms of the unlikely and the metaphysical. “Our experts say Rooh Afza helps COVID-19-infected patients, helps remove their physical and mental weakness,” said Amirul Momenin Manik, deputy director of Hamdard Bangladesh, without offering any scientific evidence. “Many people in Bangladesh get heavenly feelings when they drink Rooh Afza, because we brand this as a halal drink.” During a visit to Rooh Afza’s India factory in April, which coincided with Ramadan, workers in full protective gowns churned out 270,000 bottles a day. The sugar, boiled inside huge tanks, was mixed with fruit juices and the distillation of more than a dozen herbs and flowers, including chicory, rose, white water lily, sandalwood and wild mint. In an undated image provided to The New York Times, workers at a Rooh Afza factory in India prepare the sugar syrup for the drink. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh alike enjoy the sweet and herbal taste of Rooh Afza, a beverage that has endured the region’s turbulent history — now it is aiming for the palates of a new generation. (via The New York Times) At the loading dock in the back, from dawn to dusk, two trucks at a time were loaded with more than 1,000 bottles each and sent off to warehouses and markets across India. In an undated image provided to The New York Times, workers at a Rooh Afza factory in India prepare the sugar syrup for the drink. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh alike enjoy the sweet and herbal taste of Rooh Afza, a beverage that has endured the region’s turbulent history — now it is aiming for the palates of a new generation. (via The New York Times) Ahmed — who runs Hamdard’s food division, for which Rooh Afza remains the central product — is trying to broaden a mature brand with offshoots to attract consumers who have moved away from the sherbet in their teenage and young adult years. New products include juice boxes that mix Rooh Afza with fruit juice, a Rooh Afza yogurt drink and a Rooh Afza milkshake. One survey the company conducted showed that half of Rooh Afza in Indian households was consumed as a flavour in milk, the rest in cold drinks. “We did our twist of milkshake,” Ahmed said, “which is Rooh Afza, milk and vanilla.” Muslims break their Ramadan fast with snacks and Rooh Afza in New Delhi, April 15, 2021. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh alike enjoy the sweet and herbal taste of Rooh Afza, a beverage that has endured the region’s turbulent history. Now it is aiming for the palates of a new generation. (Rebecca Conway/The New York Times) The milkshake “has done extremely well,” Ahmed said. But he is proud of two products in particular. One is a sugar-free version of the original Rooh Afza, 15 years in the making as the company looked for the right substitute for sugar. More than twice the price of the original, it caters to a more affluent segment. Muslims break their Ramadan fast with snacks and Rooh Afza in New Delhi, April 15, 2021. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh alike enjoy the sweet and herbal taste of Rooh Afza, a beverage that has endured the region’s turbulent history. Now it is aiming for the palates of a new generation. (Rebecca Conway/The New York Times) “There is growing market for runners, athletes, those who watch what they eat and drink,” said Ahmed, who is himself a runner. The other product comes from a realisation that the original Rooh Afza, with all its sugar and flavour, still has vast untapped potential in India’s huge market. He is targeting those who cannot afford the 750-millilitre bottle, which sells for $2, offering one-time sachets that sell for 15 cents — a strategy that revolutionised the reach of shampoo brands in India. In vast parts of India, the reality of malnutrition is such that sugar is welcome. “The people in India in fact want sugar,” Ahmed said. “It’s only the metros that knows what diabetes is.” ©2021 The New York Times Company

“Sun & Sea (Marina)” — presented by artists Lina Lapelyte, Vaiva Grainyte and Rugile Barzdziukaite — took the Golden Lion for best national participation at the Biennale, beating 89 other national pavilions. This was the second successive time the prize has gone to a performance piece: In 2017, the winner was the German pavilion, for Anne Imhof’s haunting “Faust.” Saturday’s other big prize, the Golden Lion for best participant in the Biennale’s central exhibition, was won by American artist and filmmaker Arthur Jafa. He showed a stirring 50-minute film, “The White Album,” in which he juxtaposes manifestations of white supremacy with portraits of white people he cares for and is close to. Jafa also showed a set of monumental sculptures of truck tires in chains. “If I could have picked a list, I would’ve picked the same list,” said Catherine Wood, a senior curator specialising in performance at the Tate in London. Wood said the Lithuanian pavilion had “this very clever way of framing people’s everyday activities and leisure” — lying on towels, playing board games, applying suntan lotion, chatting, reading — with a “quite powerful activist dimension” of warnings against ecological disaster and species extinction. “It’s pedestrian movement meeting this overarching framework of a story that was joyful and melancholic at the same time,” she said. The Lithuanian pavilion’s curator, Lucia Pietroiusti — who is curator of general ecology and live programmes at the Serpentine Galleries in London — encouraged museums to start thinking outside the box. “The exhibition format is begging for a certain kind of opening up of possibilities,” she said. “We specialise so much, create these niches of specialism. Then we encounter these huge catastrophic situations like climate change or species extinction, and we need to find more ways to connect.”   ©2019 New York Times News Service

Britain and France vowed to respond to financial market problems on Thursday and called on banks to declare the full extent of the damage to their operations caused by the credit crunch. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called his relationship with President Nicolas Sarkozy an "entente formidable" as the French leader wrapped up a two-day state visit to Britain that both men hailed as launching a new era of cooperation. They agreed to try to enlarge the U.N. Security Council by getting permanent seats for Germany, Brazil, India, Japan and representation for Africa. In sharp contrast to the mutual suspicion that has so often tainted Anglo-French relations, the body language between the two leaders could not have been warmer. Compliments flowed in a press conference staged at the futuristic stadium of Premier League soccer club Arsenal in north London. The club is managed by Frenchman Arsene Wenger and has several Francophone players in its squad. An emotional Sarkozy hailed the "well deserved" reception given to his new wife, model-turned-singer Carla Bruni who he married last month after a whirlwind romance that dented his popularity in opinion polls. Leaders around the world are trying to calm fears of a global economic downturn stemming from a credit squeeze sparked by a U.S. housing loan crisis. But rich nations have yet to agree a joint action plan. "We agreed the need for greater transparency in financial markets to ensure banks make full and prompt disclosure of the scale of write-offs," Brown and Sarkozy said in a statement. Banks have written down more than $125 billion of assets due to the credit squeeze. Some estimates put the scale of bad debts on banks' books as high as $600 billion. Central banks have pumped cash into the financial system to restore confidence among commercial banks wary of lending money to each other. The two leaders urged further discussion with the United States and other to address the crisis. EURO "TOO STRONG" In a speech in London's financial district on Thursday evening, Sarkozy complained that the euro was too strong while he said the value of the U.S., Japanese and Chinese currencies did not reflect the strength of their economies. He has repeatedly complained that the euro's rise, hitting a record high above $1.59 last week, damages French exporters. Sarkozy also voiced concern at the high price of oil and other commodities. Britain and France are permanent U.N. Security Council members, but moves to broaden its scope have been deadlocked. Brown and Sarkozy suggested some countries could be given longer, renewable terms on the council, perhaps leading to permanent seats. Sarkozy is seeking close ties with Britain to supplement the Franco-German alliance that has traditionally driven the 27-nation European Union. Analysts say that may be because of his difficulties with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Britain has often been criticised in Brussels for lingering on the fringes of the European Union and not joining the bloc's common currency -- with Brown a regular target for sniping. But he stood firmly with Sarkozy at a joint news conference. "We also agreed that we need Britain and France at the heart of Europe, a global Europe, that is reforming, open, flexible, outward-looking," Brown said. The two men agreed action on issues including opening up trade between poor and rich countries, clamping down on illegal immigration, tackling climate change and promoting dialogue between China and Tibet to solve the crisis there.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said on Sunday US President Barack Obama was not soft on China and said he hoped he would discuss Tibet with the Indian prime minister in Washington this week. "Obama is not soft on China, he just has a different style," the Dalai Lama told the NDTV news channel in an interview. Obama had called for a resumption of dialogue between the Dalai Lama's envoys and China to resolve the Tibet crisis during his just-concluded visit to Beijing. The Tibetan government-in-exile said last week it was willing to talk to China following Obama's comments. Chinese officials and envoys of the Dalai Lama have held eight rounds of talks, but little of substance has been achieved. The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet to India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, said he was not disappointed over failing to meet Obama during his U.S. visit in October. The Dalai Lama, dubbed a "splittist" by Beijing, says he is merely seeking autonomy for Tibet, which last year erupted in riots and protests against the Chinese presence. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits the United States this week to discuss regional issues, climate change and a nuclear deal.

In the throes of a historic drought in the United States, a government agency said on Wednesday that it broke a heat record in July that had stood since the devastating Dust Bowl summer of 1936. Reeling from widespread crop damage in July, Midwest farmers found some comfort on Wednesday in forecasts for rain over the next 10 days, a prospect that could take the edge off rising grain prices and concerns of food inflation worldwide. The scorching month of July turned out to be the hottest month in the continental United States on record, beating the hottest month recorded in July 1936, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said. The January-to-July period was also the warmest since modern record-keeping began in 1895, and the warmest 12-month period, eclipsing the last record set just a month ago. It was the fourth time in as many months that U.S. temperatures broke the hottest-12-months record, according to NOAA. Analysts expect the drought, the worst since 1956, will yield the smallest corn crop in six years, which has fed record-high prices and tight supplies. It would be the third year of declining corn production despite large plantings. Drought and heat fed each other in July, according to Jake Crouch, a scientist at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. "The hotter it gets, the drier it gets, the hotter it gets," Crouch said, explaining that dry soils in the summer tended to drive up daytime temperatures further. Weather forecasts on Wednesday for some rains and cooler temperatures in the drought-stricken US Midwest crop belt may provide relief for some late-season soybeans, but the change in the weather is arriving too late to help the already severely damaged corn crop, crop analysts said. "It's definitely better than what we've had but I'd be hesitant to call it a drought-buster. Longer-term outlooks still look like a return to warm and dry," Jason Nicholls, meteorologist for AccuWeather, said of the weather outlook. Nicholls said 0.25 inch to 0.75 inch of rain, with locally heavier amounts, was expected in roughly 75 percent of the Midwest from Wednesday through Friday morning, with a similar weather system expected next week. "No major changes from the theme. There might be a little less rain for southeast Iowa tonight and tomorrow but increased rain in Missouri. There is a little more rain for the weekend in the northwest," said Drew Lerner, a meteorologist for World Weather Inc. Temperatures in the 80s (degrees Fahrenheit) are expected in the Midwest for the next several days, rather than the 90s F and low 100s F that have been slashing corn and soybean production prospects in the world's largest grower of those key crops. DROUGHT POLITICS The crops provide the main rations for livestock from dairy cattle to chickens, so soaring grain prices will put upward pressure on consumer staples like milk and cheese, beef, fish and poultry. Many producers have already started culling the size of their herds to save money and avoid ruinous losses. Corn and soybeans also feed into dozens of products, from biofuels like ethanol to starch, edible oils and lubricants. US corn prices have soared more than 50 percent over the past two months, hitting a record high on July 20. Soybeans, planted later than corn, rose more than 20 percent over the same period and set a record high on the same day. Harvest-time delivery prices have slipped about 7 percent with light rains across parts of the Midwest over the last two weeks which analysts said could help the crop at a time when it was filling pods. The rains were seen as coming too late for the corn crop that has passed its key pollination stage of development when final yields are largely set. At the Chicago Board of Trade, grain prices initially eased on Wednesday and then bounced higher. The government will make its first estimate of the fall harvest on Friday. It already has cut projections for corn yields by 12 percent due to hot, dry weather in the Farm Belt. The drought has wended its way into election year politics. President Obama on Tuesday called on Congress to pass a farm bill that will send disaster aid to more farmers and ranchers. He said the administration will do all it can to alleviate the impact of the drought. "It is a historic drought and it is having a profound impact on farmers and ranchers all across many states," Obama said. With the US election three months away, Obama said Congress needed to complete work on a new five-year farm bill. Republican leaders in the House of Representatives, unable to pass a farm bill, proposed a $383 million disaster package for livestock producers before adjourning for the summer. The president said he hoped lawmakers get an earful from their constituents during the five-week recess away from Washington and that they reconvene on September 10 prepared to complete work on a farm bill "immediately."

YANGON, Wed Oct 3,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Myanmar's junta arrested more people on Wednesday hours after the departure of a UN envoy who came to the country to try to end a ruthless crackdown on protests which sparked international outrage. At least eight truckloads of prisoners were hauled out of downtown Yangon, the former Burma's biggest city and centre of last week's monk-led protests against decades of military rule and deepening economic hardship, witnesses said. In one house near the Shwedagon Pagoda, the holiest shrine in the devoutly Buddhist country and starting point for the rallies, only a 13-year-old girl remained. Her parents had been taken, she said. "They warned us not to run away as they might be back," she said after people from rows of shophouses were ordered onto the street in the middle of the night and many taken away. The crackdown continued despite some hopes of progress by UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari on his mission to persuade junta chief Than Shwe to relax his iron grip and open talks with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whom he met twice. Singapore, chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) of which Myanmar is a member, said it "was encouraged by the access and cooperation given by the Myanmar government to Mr Gambari". Gambari, in Singapore on his way back to New York but unlikely to say anything publicly before speaking to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, was expected to return to Myanmar in early November, UN sources said. But there were no indications of how his mission and international pressure might change the policies of a junta which seldom heeds outside pressure and rarely admits UN officials. "I don't expect much to come of this. I think the top leadership is so entrenched in their views that it's not going to help," said David Steinberg, a Georgetown University expert on Myanmar. "They will say they are on the road to democracy and so what do you want anyway?", he added, referring to the junta's "seven-step road to democracy". The first of the seven steps was completed in September with the end of an on-off, 14-year national convention which produced guidelines for a constitution that critics say will entrench military rule and exclude Suu Kyi from office. The protests, the biggest challenge to the junta's power in nearly 20 years, began with small marches against shock fuel price rises in August and swelled after troops fired over the heads of a group of monks. The junta says the monk-led protests -- which filled five city blocks -- were countered with "the least force possible" and Yangon and other cities had returned to normal. It says 10 people were killed and describes reports of much higher tolls and atrocities as a "skyful of lies", but Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer agreed with other Western governments the real figure was much higher. "It's hard to know, but it seems to me that the number of 30, which is the number we've officially been using, is likely to be an underestimate," he told Australian radio. Still, the junta appears to believe it has suppressed the uprising and lifted the barricades around the Shwedagon and Sule pagodas, the focal points of the protests, eased an overnight curfew by two hours and released some of the monks swept up in widespread raids on monasteries. One young monk said 80 of the 96 taken from his monastery were allowed to return during Wednesday night after being threatened verbally but not physically during interrogation. However, there was still a heavy armed presence on the streets of Yangon and Mandalay, the second city, witnesses said. The junta is also sending gangs through homes looking for monks in hiding, raids Western diplomats say are creating a climate of terror, and there was no let up in international anger at the harsh response to peaceful protests. In Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council, including China, the closest thing the regime has to an ally, condemned the junta's "violent repression". It called on the generals to allow Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the UN human rights envoy to Myanmar, to visit for the first time in four years. He said thousands of people had been detained. "Light must absolutely be shed on what happened," Pinheiro told the council, which adopted a resolution deploring beatings, killings and detentions. Myanmar said the hearing was being used by "powerful countries for political exploitation".

Pretoria, June 18, (bdnews24.com/AFP) - Cameroon coach Paul Le Guen declared a state of emergency on his team's World Cup campaign on Friday, a day before the Africans tackle Denmark in Group E at the Loftus Versfeld stadium here. Cameroon lost 1-0 to Japan in their opening game while Denmark were beaten 2-0 by the Netherlands, meaning both sides are in desperate need of a victory to keep alive their hopes of progressing to the knock-out stages. Le Guen was pulling no punches in his assessment of the situation his team have found themselves in since the Japan match. "We've experienced the climate of a group of African players who lost their first World Cup match," he said. "It wasn't a bad thing, but their reactions were different. I prefer people to be very mobilised and aware of the state of emergency." Cameroon's players are rumoured to have been involved in some in-fighting following that defeat but captain Samuel Eto'o went to great lengths to stress that it wasn't the case. "I want to say that there has never been any in-fighting in the group and there never will be," he offered at the end of Friday's press conference. "I'm the captain and as long as my team-mates, my coach and my country have faith in me, there never will be any in-fighting." Whatever the state of mind of the players one thing is for sure, Le Guen will ring the changes. Without giving details, he said he will replace three players for their next game. "Quite simply we didn't play well, we were well below par. I'm going to make some changes, three new players from the start and I'll change a few little things," he said. "I'll do my job as coach and the one who picks the team, I'm aware of my responsibilities. I'm not stubborn. When I see that things aren't working, I change them. "Against Japan I tried to put the players in the positions they play for their clubs, with the exception of Stephane Mbia. When that doesn't work, I change things." That last comment seemed a clear reference to his previous decision to play Eto'o wide right, where Jose Mourinho used him for Inter Milan last season. Le Guen has been much criticised for that choice, even by Eto'o who told French TV channel Canal Plus that his best position was through the middle. But Eto'o insisted that he was not trying to influence his coach and said he will do as he is told. "Paul Le Guen is paid to make these decisions, we're here to represent our country and I'll play wherever he asks me to," said Eto'o. While Le Guen spoke of his own responsibilities, he also called on his players to live up to their Indomitable Lions nickname. "I have to make them realise their responsibilities, I have mine, I pick the team, the tactics, but they need to rediscover a certain spirit," he said. "There's a lot of talk about the spirit of Lions, I've suggested to them that they rediscover that."

Computer simulations of the weather workings of the entire planet will be able to make forecasts to within a few kilometers accuracy, helping predict the effects of deadly weather systems. But the world may have to wait 20 to 40 years' for such accurate information on weather events like El Nino as computer capacity grows, a senior British scientist said Thursday. "If we step forward 20 to 40 years into the future of climate science, it is conceivable we can have climate models down to a scale of a few kilometers' resolution," Alan Thorpe, director general of the UK-based European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), told reporters. "That would add a huge amount of information to this variability question." A climate model is a computer-based version of the Earth's climate system, based on physics and complex equations. Such models can be used for weather forecasting, understanding the climate and projecting climate change. A model with a very fine resolution could produce more accurate results but this depends on computer capacity. Thorpe said some climate models are now nearing a resolution of 100 km, compared to around 300 km 10 to 15 years ago. "We are running global weather picture models at a 16 km resolution already so we have the science and the models to reduce the problem of high resolution but we need the computer power to do it," Thorpe said. It would cost up to 200 million pounds to buy a top-end super computer, he added, which is around 7 percent of the UK's yearly science budget of 3 billion pounds. "The impact of climate change needs to be seen as sufficiently important to society to devote this level of resource to it," Thorpe said. Some experts warn that some of the most devastating impacts of climate change could be felt before and during the period 2030 to 2050. Some climate models have been criticized for not being accurate enough or not predicting extreme events far enough into the future. Thorpe said ECMWF scientists are doing a lot of research into so-called tipping points, when there is a rapid change in the climate which is irreversible or which would take a long time to reverse. "Inevitably, those are the aspects of the system we have to worry about most because they are not linear behavior. How many of those there are is still an open question," he added. "If we devoted the whole of the science budget to these questions we could make more rapid progress but we are doing a lot of research on these areas." Some tipping points are seen happening in the coming decades, such as the loss of summer Arctic sea ice or the loss of the Amazon rainforest.

The risk came into sharp focus earlier this month when a research facility near Ukraine's national seed bank was damaged, according to Crop Trust, a non-profit organisation set up by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. The facility and Ukraine's seed bank are both based in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, which has come under intense bombing from Russian forces. Reuters could not determine the cause of the damage and Crop Trust said only that the research facility had been hit, but declined to give further detail, citing security reasons. It was a narrow escape. Only 4% of the seeds in Ukraine's store, the tenth largest of its kind in the world, has been backed up. "Seed banks are a kind of life insurance for mankind. They provide the raw materials for breeding new plant varieties resistant to drought, new pests, new diseases, and higher temperatures," Stefan Schmitz, the executive director of Crop Trust, told Reuters. "It would be a tragic loss if Ukraine's seed bank were destroyed." The director of the seed bank could not be reached, Ukraine's academy of science declined to comment and Russia's defence ministry did not immediately reply to request for comment on the damage. Researchers rely on the diverse genetic material that seed banks store to breed plants that can withstand climate change or disease. They have become increasingly vital to ensuring enough food is produced each season to feed 7.9 billion people as the world's weather becomes more extreme. At the same time, the war between Russia and Ukraine, the world's third and fourth largest grain exporters respectively, has added to food price inflation and the danger of food scarcity, with protests breaking out in developing countries that normally benefit from Ukraine's grain. SYRIA SAVED BY ARCTIC BACKUP The war in Syria has provided a lesson in the importance of backing up seeds using the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, the world's largest and most important seed backup or duplication facility. In 2015, the Svalbard vault was able to send replacement samples of wheat, barley and grasses suited to dry regions to researchers in Lebanon after a seed bank near the Syrian city of Aleppo was destroyed. In total, Svalbard preserves more than a million seed samples in a vault built in an Arctic mountainside. These include 4% of Ukraine's 150,000 seeds - representing more than 1,800 crops. The German-based Crop Trust, which is the only international organisation whose sole purpose is to safeguard crop diversity, has made funds available to Ukraine to copy seeds, but security and logistics issues linked to the war and natural cycles mean it is difficult to speed up the process. Schmitz estimated that at best, about 10% of Ukraine's seeds could be backed up within a year because they need to be planted, grown and harvested at the right time before the duplicates can be extracted and sent to Svalbard. An emergency measure would be to forgo duplication and just ship the collection to Svalbard, but Schmitz said this might not be feasible in wartime. The Syrian seeds were from the Fertile Crescent, the region where settled farming is believed to have emerged, and Ukraine also has a central place in agriculture. "Agriculture in Ukraine has roots back in prehistoric times," Grethe Helene Evjen, a senior adviser at the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, said, adding many of the country's seeds were unique. Evjen said the ministry is ready to help Ukraine duplicate and store all its seeds at Svalbard, but has yet to receive a request from Ukrainian authorities.

The 95-year-old queen, who has been fully vaccinated against coronavirus, quipped just four days ago to Palace staff that she could not move much, and she spent a night in hospital last October for an unspecified ailment. "The Queen has today tested positive for COVID," the Palace said. "Her Majesty is experiencing mild cold like symptoms but expects to continue light duties at Windsor over the coming week." "She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all appropriate guidelines," the Palace said. Charles, 73, the heir to the throne, earlier this month withdrew from an event after contracting COVID-19 for a second time. A Palace source said he had met the queen days before. Elizabeth, the world's oldest monarch, quietly marked the 70th anniversary of her accession to the British throne in early February. Elizabeth, became the queen of Britain and more than a dozen other realms including Australia, Canada and New Zealand on the death of her father King George VI on Feb. 6, 1952, while she was in Kenya on an international tour. She is the first British sovereign to spend seven decades on the throne in a dynasty that traces its origins back almost 1,000 years to Norman King William I and his 1066 conquest of England. DEVOTION TO DUTY In her record-breaking reign, Elizabeth's achievement has been to maintain the popularity of the British monarchy in the face of seismic political, social and cultural change that threatened to make royalty an anachronism. When she ascended the throne, Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong and Harry Truman were running the Soviet Union, China and the United States, respectively, while Winston Churchill was British prime minister. Including Churchill, she has been served by 14 prime ministers - a quarter of the number in Britain since Robert Walpole 300 years ago. During her reign, there have been 14 U.S. presidents, all of whom she has met bar Lyndon Johnson. Elizabeth's quiet devotion to duty has won her support and respect in the United Kingdom and the broader Commonwealth, in contrast to the scandals that have engulfed other members of the royal family. "Wishing Her Majesty The Queen good health and a speedy recovery," opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said. "Get well soon, Ma’am." While public affection for her remains strong, with about four in five Britons holding a favourable view, the monarchy itself has suffered a number of knocks, including a U.S. sex abuse court case against her second son Prince Andrew, raising questions about the long-term future of the monarchy. Andrew last week settled the lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre accusing him of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager. Andrew, a former associate of Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and sex offender, has denied accusations that he forced Giuffre, who lives in Australia, to have sex at age 17 more than two decades ago. British police said last week they had begun an investigation into allegations in media reports that honours were offered to a Saudi national in return for donations to one of Prince Charles's charities.

Russian police on Thursday raided a property company owned by the wife of Moscow's former mayor as part of a probe into suspected embezzlement and misuse of city funds linked to a $440 million land deal. The raid on the offices of property developer Inteko opens one of the first cracks in a multi-billion dollar business empire run by Yelena Baturina, the wife of ousted Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov. "OMON riot police and people in civilian clothes came to the office and left with the management," an Inteko employee, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. Police also raided Bank of Moscow and the homes of its directors of the bank as part of an embezzlement investigation, the Interior Ministry's investigative department said in a statement. Investigators said they suspect unidentified employees at Bank of Moscow and real estate developer Premiere Estate of using a 13 billion roubles ($444 million) loan to embezzle funds which finally ended up on Baturina's personal account. Luzhkov's removal last autumn and the appointment of Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, an ally of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, triggered a bout of capital outflows from Russia and weakness in the rouble currency. It also heralded ownership changes in assets controlled by the city, including Bank of Moscow, which state-controlled VTB, Russia's No.2 bank, is seeking to acquire. Baturina is the president of Inteko and has a controlling stake in Inteko. BATTLE FOR MOSCOW A probe was launched last December into a complex deal under which a 13 billion rouble loan was used to buy land from Baturina's debt-ridden Inteko. Neither Inteko nor Baturina were named as suspects by the investigators and there was no implication of wrongdoing by either as Baturina received the money through a land deal. Baturina criticized the raid: "It has just been ordered to put pressure on us," she told Interfax news agency. "There are no criminal cases in relation to Inteko or against the employees or leadership and there is no basis for any cases," said Inteko spokesman Gennady Terebkov. Baturina, whose fortune was valued by Russia's Finans magazine at about $1.1 billion this year, and Luzhkov have been assailed by accusations of corruption, though both have denied the allegations. Businessmen say corruption is worst in the construction sector which relies on decisions taken in the mayor's office, but Luzhkov has denied that his wife received preferential access to projects during his 18-year tenure as Moscow's boss. Sending riot police armed with automatic weapons to search Baturina's company is a signal her empire is under attack from powerful groups within the elite after Luzhkov openly challenged Kremlin chief Dmitry Medvedev. Falling foul of the Kremlin is the most dangerous move for any tycoon in Russia and those who dare to challenge the leadership often lose their assets, face prosecution and eventually flee abroad. President Medvedev has promised to improve the business climate and ensure property rights, though investors say one of the biggest barriers for business in Russia is the lack of a consistent rule of law.

WARSAW, Sep 28, (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Global financial turmoil should not hamper a new world climate deal because high energy prices remain an incentive to improve energy efficiency, the UN's top climate official said on Friday. Some analysts have said the current crisis sweeping financial markets may leave no money for investments in limiting greenhouse gas emissions amid UN-led talks aimed at clinching a new international deal to tackle global warming. "I have personally not seen an economic analysis that shows the current credit crisis is having a bigger impact on the global economy than current oil prices," Yvo de Boer, head of the Bonn-based UN Climate Change Secretariat, told Reuters. But he said the uncertainty generated by the credit crunch and the lack of trust in financial markets were obstacles to developing green energy projects despite the spur of oil prices around $100 a barrel. "In spite of what's happening at the moment, I don't have the impression that lack of capital is the issue. It's investment uncertainty that has created the nervousness out there. And I think, if governments are clear in terms of climate change, that could help reduce some level of this uncertainty." "Because if you are about to build a 500 million euro power plant and you don't know if your government will go for greenhouse gas emissions cuts of 5 percent or 50 percent, then that's a very risky decision to make," he said in an interview. INVOLVING U.S., DEVELOPING NATIONS Contrary to many analysts, De Boer expressed optimism on the chances of the United States joining a new global warming accord, which is due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December 2009 to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which runs to the end of 2012. "I think it is perfectly possible the United States will sign up to the Copenhagen agreement," said de Boer, who visited Poland to review preparations for December climate talks here. But de Boer added that the reasons Washington did not buy into Kyoto -- mainly its fears the protocol would damage the U.S. economy and the lack of targets for developing countries -- were "as relevant as they were in 1997 (when Kyoto was signed)." Kyoto binds 37 industrialized countries to limit greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5 percent below their 1990 levels by 2008-12. It sets no target for developing countries. To entice the United States, which is being overtaken by China as the world's top greenhouse gas emitter, the United Nations has to engage developing countries. De Boer said that was only possible by safeguarding their economic growth and cutting ambitious climate policy costs. One way to attract developing countries is the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which allows an industrialized country to boost its own emission quota if it invests in clean energy technology in a developing economy. U.N. talks have been split on whether the CDM should include coal power plants with the ability to store carbon dioxide. "That debate is still going on, but my personal view is that for coal-based economies, like China and India, carbon capture and storage would be critical," de Boer said. "And I believe that there are safe ways of storing CO2 underground, like for example storing it in empty gas fields." De Boer said the talks scheduled for December in the western Polish city of Poznan involving environment ministers of the 192 U.N. member states could pave the way for a deal in Copenhagen to replace Kyoto, despite widespread skepticism.

In a meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali at his office at The Hague on Wednesday, he said that King Willem-Alexander himself took “keen interest” in Bangladesh’s flood-control efforts and climate change adaptation.He also expressed his government’s continued interest in working with Bangladesh to address the growing challenges posed by climate change.Timmermans said Bangladesh and the Netherlands enjoy “the closest” of bilateral ties.Foreign Minister Mahmood Ali appreciated the Dutch development cooperation projects targeted at water management, agricultural productivity and income generation in hard-to-reach char areas.He also thanked the Dutch government for its contribution to the ‘ILO’s 'Better Work Programme’ being implemented to improve working conditions in Bangladesh’s ready-made garments sector.The minister is currently on a visit to the Hague to attend a “high-level segment” of the Global Oceans Action Summit for Food Security and Blue Growth, being jointly organised by the government of the Netherlands, FAO and the World Bank.During their discussions on a whole range of issues, the two ministers’ agreed to explore the possibility of finding a regular mechanism of bilateral foreign office consultations.Mahmood Ali thanked the Netherlands for offering training to young Bangladeshi diplomats and requested his counterpart to extend the current programme by another five years.The two sides also exchanged views on extending reciprocal facilities and services to each other’s missions in the two capitals.The Bangladesh Foreign Minister invited the Netherlands King to visit Bangladesh “at a mutually convenient time”.He also invited his counterpart to visit the country, an invitation he readily accepted.Bangladesh’s ambassador to the Netherlands Sheikh Mohammed Belal was also present during the meeting.

Scientists have been able to draw links between a warming planet and hurricanes, heat waves and droughts, attributing the likelihood that climate change played a role in individual isolated events. The same can’t be said for tornadoes yet. “This is the hardest phenomenon to connect to climate change,” said Michael Tippett, an associate professor of applied physics and mathematics at Columbia University who studies extreme weather and climate. Even as scientists are discovering trends around tornadoes and their behaviour, it remains unclear the role that climate change plays. “For a lot of our questions about climate change and tornadoes, the answer is we don’t know,” said Harold Brooks, a senior research scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Severe Storms Laboratory. WHAT CAUSES A TORNADO? Tornadoes form inside large rotating thunderstorms. They occur when there is a perfect mix of temperature, moisture profile and wind profile. When the air is unstable, cold air is pushed over warmer humid air, creating an updraft as the warm air rises. When a wind’s speed or direction changes over a short distance, the air inside the clouds can start to spin. If the air column begins spinning vertically and rotates near the ground, it can intensify the friction on Earth’s surface, accelerating the air inward, forming a tornado. HOW ARE THEY MEASURED? Like hurricanes and earthquakes, tornadoes are rated on a scale. The Enhanced Fujita, or EF, scale, runs from 0 to 5. The tornado that travelled across northeast Arkansas, Tennessee and western Kentucky over the weekend was estimated to be three-quarters of a mile wide with wind speeds that peaked between 158 and 206 mph, giving it a EF rank of at least 3. Because it’s challenging to measure the winds in a tornado directly, surveyors usually evaluate tornadoes by their level of damage to different structures. For instance, they may look to see if the damage is limited to missing roof shingles or whether entire sections of roofs or walls are missing. Based on the level of damage, scientists then reverse-engineer the wind speeds and assign a tornado a rating. HAVE TORNADOES CHANGED? Researchers say that in recent years tornadoes seem to be occurring in greater “clusters,” and that the region known as tornado alley in the Great Plains, where most tornadoes occur, appears to be shifting eastward. The overall number of tornadoes annually is holding steady around 1,200. Tornadoes in the United States in December are unusual. They typically occur in the spring. Friday’s tornadoes may have occurred because the wind shear was high (it tends to peak in the winter) and the weather was warmer than normal. IS CLIMATE CHANGE THE CAUSE? The ingredients that give rise to tornadoes include warm, moist air at ground level; cool dry air higher up; and wind shear, which is the change in wind speed or direction. Each of these factors may be affected differently by climate change. As the planet warms and the climate changes, “we don’t think they are all going to go in the same direction,” said Brooks of NOAA. For instance, overall temperature and humidity, which provide energy in the air, may rise with a warming climate, but wind shear may not. “If there is not enough shear to make something rotate, it doesn’t matter how strong the energy is,” he said. SCALE IS EVERYTHING A tornado’s relatively small size also makes it harder to model, the primary tool that scientists use when attributing extreme weather events to climate change. “We are working at such small scales that the model you would use to do the attribution studies just can’t capture the phenomenon,” Brooks said. A SHORTER, SPOTTIER, RECORD The tornado record is still sparse compared with other types of events. One possible reason is that tornadoes are relatively local weather events. Tornado records have largely been based on someone seeing a tornado and reporting it to the National Weather Service. This means that smaller or unseen tornadoes may not be reported. ©2021 The New York Times Company

COPENHAGEN, Dec 18,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - World leaders tried to rescue a global climate agreement on Friday but the failure of leading greenhouse gas emitters China and the United States to come up with new proposals blocked chances of an ambitious deal. US President Barack Obama and other leaders are trying to reach consensus on carbon emissions cuts, financial aid to poor nations, temperature caps and international scrutiny of emissions curbs. There has been progress in some areas, but gaps remain over emissions targets and monitoring, delegates said. "We are ready to get this done today but there has to be movement on all sides, to recognise that it is better for us to act than talk," Obama told the conference. "These international discussions have essentially taken place now for almost two decades and we have very little to show for it other than an increase, an acceleration of the climate change phenomenon. The time for talk is over." At stake is an agreement for coordinated global action to avert climate change including more floods and droughts. Two weeks of talks in Copenhagen have battled suspicion between rich and poor countries over how to share out emissions cuts. Developing countries, among them some of the most vulnerable to climate change, say rich nations have a historic responsibility to take the lead. The environment minister of EU president Sweden, Andreas Carlgren, said the United States and China held the key to a deal. The United States had come late to the table with commitments to tackle climate change, he said. China's resistance to monitoring was a serious obstacle. "And the great victims of this is the big group of developing countries. The EU really wanted to reach out to the big group of developing countries. That was made impossible because of the great powers," Carlgren said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Copenhagen on Thursday with a promise that the United States would join efforts to mobilise $100 billion (61 billion pounds) a year to help poor nations cope with climate change, provided there was a deal. But there were no such new gestures from Obama. He stuck to the target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels. That works out at 3-4 percent versus 1990, compared with an EU target of 20 percent. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also reiterated existing targets, although he said the world's top carbon emitter may exceed them. "We will honour our word with real action," Wen said. "Whatever outcome this conference may produce, we will be fully committed to achieving and even exceeding the target." Obama and Wen then met for nearly an hour in what a White House official described as a "step forward." "They had a constructive discussion that touched upon ... all of the key issues," the official told reporters. "They've now directed their negotiators to work on a bilateral basis as well as with other countries to see if an agreement can be reached." Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, urged China and the United States, which together account for 40 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, to act. "The U.S. and China account for almost half the world's emissions. They simply must do their part. If they don't, we will not be able to meet the 2 degree target," he told the conference. 'NOT GREAT' Speaking after Obama's speech a British official said: "The prospects for a deal are not great. A number of key countries are holding out against the overall package and time is now running short." Negotiators failed in overnight talks to agree on carbon cuts. Obama and other leaders failed to achieve a breakthrough in talks on Friday morning. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Chinese resistance to monitoring of emissions was a sticking point. "The good news is that the talks are continuing, the bad news is they haven't reached a conclusion," he said. A draft text seen by Reuters called for a "goal" of $100 billion a year by 2020 to help poor nations cope with climate change. It also supported $30 billion for the least developed countries from 2010-2012, and said the world "ought to" limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius versus pre-industrial levels. Scientists say a 2 degrees limit is the minimum to avoid some of the worst impacts of climate change including several metres sea level rise, extinctions and crop failures. The aim of the two weeks of talks in Copenhagen is to agree a climate deal which countries will convert into a full legally binding treaty next year, to succeed the Kyoto Protocol whose present round ends in 2012. The United States never ratified Kyoto, and the pact doesn't bind developing nations. Friday's draft text foresees "continuing negotiations" to agree one or more new legal treaties no later than end 2010.

The moment of collective grief and anger swiftly gave way to a yearlong, nationwide deliberation on what it means to be Black in America. First came protests, growing every day, until they turned into the largest mass protest movement in U.S. history. Nearly 170 Confederate symbols were renamed or removed from public spaces. The Black Lives Matter slogan was claimed by a nation grappling with Floyd’s death. Over the next 11 months, calls for racial justice would touch seemingly every aspect of American life on a scale that historians say had not happened since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. On Tuesday, Derek Chauvin, the white police officer who knelt on Floyd, was convicted of two counts of murder as well as manslaughter. The verdict brought some solace to activists for racial justice who had been riveted to the courtroom drama for the past several weeks. But for many Black Americans, real change feels elusive, particularly given how relentlessly the killing of Black men by the police has continued on, most recently the shooting death of Daunte Wright just over a week ago. There are also signs of backlash: Legislation that would reduce voting access, protect the police and effectively criminalise public protests have sprung up in Republican-controlled state legislatures. Otis Moss III, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, said to call what had transpired over the past year a racial reckoning was not right. “Reckoning suggests that we are truly struggling with how to re-imagine everything from criminal justice to food deserts to health disparities — we are not doing that,” he said. Tuesday’s guilty verdict, he said, “is addressing a symptom, but we have not yet dealt with the disease.” Moments before the verdict was announced, Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, called Floyd’s death “a Selma, Alabama, moment for America.” What happened in Selma in 1965 “with the world watching demonstrated the need for the passage of the 1965 Voting Right Act,” he said. “What we witnessed last year with the killing of George Floyd should be the catalyst for broad reform in policing in this nation.” The entire arc of the Floyd case — from his death and the protests through the trial and conviction of Chauvin — played out against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, which further focused attention on the nation’s racial inequities: People of colour were among those hardest hit by the virus and by the economic dislocation that followed. And for many, Floyd’s death carried the weight of many racial episodes over the past decade, a list that includes the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor. In the months after Floyd’s death, some change has been concrete. Scores of policing reform laws were introduced at the state level. Corporations pledged billions to racial equity causes, and the NFL apologised for its failure to support protests against police violence by its Black players. Even the backlash was different. Racist statements by dozens of public officials, from mayors to fire chiefs, related to Floyd’s death — perhaps tolerated before — cost them their jobs and sent others to anti-racism training. And, at least at first, American views on a range of questions related to racial inequality and policing shifted to a degree rarely seen in opinion polling. Americans, and white Americans in particular, became much more likely than in recent years to support the Black Lives Matter movement, to say that racial discrimination is a big problem and to agree that excessive police force disproportionately harms African Americans. Floyd’s death, most Americans agreed early last summer, was part of a broader pattern — not an isolated incident. A New York Times poll of registered voters in June showed that more than 1 in 10 had attended protests. And at the time, even Republican politicians in Washington were voicing support for police reform. But the shift proved fleeting for Republicans — both elected leaders and voters. As some protests turned destructive and as Donald Trump’s reelection campaign began using those scenes in political ads, polls showed white Republicans retreating in their views that discrimination is a problem. Increasingly in the campaign, voters were given a choice: They could stand for racial equity or with law-and-order. Republican officials once vocal about Floyd fell silent. “If you were on the Republican side, which is really the Trump side of this equation, then the message became, ‘No we can’t acknowledge that that was appalling because we will lose ground,’” said Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. “‘Our worldview is it’s us against them. And those protesters are going to be part of the them.’” Floyd’s death did, however, drive some changes, at least for now, among non-Republican white Americans in their awareness of racial inequality and support for reforms. And it helped cement the movement of college-educated suburban voters, already dismayed by what they saw as Trump’s race-baiting, toward the Democratic Party. “The year 2020 is going to go down in our history books as a very significant, very catalytic time,” said David Bailey, whose Richmond, Virginia-based nonprofit, Arrabon, helps churches around the country do racial reconciliation work. “People’s attitudes have changed at some level. We don’t know fully all of what that means. But I am hopeful I am seeing something different.” But even among Democratic leaders, including local mayors and recently President Joe Biden, dismay over police violence has often been paired with warnings that protesters avoid violence too. That association — linking Black political anger and violence — is deeply rooted in America and has not been broken in the past year, said Davin Phoenix, a political scientist at the University of California, Irvine. “Before Black people even get a chance to process their feelings of trauma and grief, they’re being told by people they elected to the White House — that they put into power — ‘don’t do this, don’t do that,’” Phoenix said. “I would love if more politicians, at least those that claim to be allied, turn to the police and say, ‘don’t do this, don’t do that.’” The protests that followed Floyd’s death became part of the increasingly acrimonious American conversation over politics. Most were peaceful, but there was looting and property damage in some cities, and those images circulated frequently on television and social media. Republicans cited the protests as an example of the left losing control. Blue Lives Matter flags hung from houses last fall. When support for Trump boiled over into violence at the US Capitol on Jan 6, conservatives expressed anger at what they said was a double standard for how the two movements had been treated. Biden took office in January vowing to make racial equity central to every element of his agenda — to how vaccines are distributed, where federal infrastructure is built, how climate policies are crafted. He quickly made changes any Democratic administration likely would have, restoring police consent decrees and fair housing rules. But, in a sign of the unique moment in which Biden was elected — and his debt to Black voters in elevating him — his administration has also made more novel moves, like declaring racism a serious threat to public health and singling out Black unemployment as a gauge of the economy’s health. What opinion polling has not captured well is whether white liberals will change the behaviours — like opting for segregated schools and neighbourhoods — that reinforce racial inequality. Even as the outcry over Floyd’s death has raised awareness of it, other trends tied to the pandemic have only exacerbated that inequality. That has been true not just as Black families and workers have been disproportionately hurt by the pandemic, but as white students have fared better amid remote education and as white homeowners have gained wealth in a frenzied housing market. In a national sample of white Americans earlier this year, Jennifer Chudy, a political scientist at Wellesley College, found that even the most racially sympathetic were more likely to endorse limited, private actions, like educating oneself about racism or listening to people of colour than, for example, choosing to live in a racially diverse community or bringing racial issues to the attention of elected officials and policymakers. Still, historians say it is hard to overstate the galvanising effect of Floyd’s death on public discourse, not just on policing but on how racism is embedded in the policies of public and private institutions. Some Black business leaders have spoken in unusually personal terms about their own experiences with racism, with some calling out the business world for doing far too little over the years — “Corporate America has failed Black America,” said Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation and a board member at PepsiCo, Ralph Lauren and Square — and dozens of brands made commitments to diversify their workforces. Public outcries over racism in the United States erupted across the world, spurring protest in the streets of Berlin, London, Paris and Vancouver, British Columbia, and in capitals in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. White Americans unfamiliar with the concept of structural racism drove books on the topic to the top of bestseller lists. “My mother still says things like, ‘Why do we have to say ‘defund?’” said Erin Lunsford, 29, a musician in Richmond, Virginia, referring to the “Defund the police” movement that evolved after Floyd’s death. “But they understand the concept, and I think they’d vote for it if they could.” The protests against police violence over the last year were more racially diverse than those that followed other police shootings of Black men, women and children over the past decade, said Robin DG Kelley, a historian of protest movements at the University of California, Los Angeles. And unlike in the past, they propelled defunding the police — the most far-reaching demand to transform policing — to the mainstream. “We had more organising, more people in the streets, more people saying, ‘It’s not enough to fix the system, it needs to be taken down and replaced,’” Kelley said. “That has not happened in the United States since the 19th century.” Organizers worked to turn the energy of the protests into real political power by pushing massive voter registrations. By the fall, racial justice was a campaign issue too. Mostly Democratic candidates addressed racial disparities in their campaigns, including calling for police reform, the dismantling of cash bail systems and the creation of civilian review boards. “We will forever look back at this moment in American history. George Floyd’s death created a new energy around making changes, though it’s not clear how lasting they will be,” said Rashad Robinson, president of Colour for Change. “His death pushed racial justice to the forefront and brought a multiracial response like never before, but we must remember this is about making Chauvin accountable and the work of making systemic changes.” One clear policy outcome has been changes to policing. More than 30 states have passed new police oversight and reform laws since Floyd’s killing, giving states more authority and putting long-powerful police unions on the defensive. The changes include restricting the use of force, overhauling disciplinary systems, installing more civilian oversight and requiring transparency around misconduct cases. Still, systems of policing are complex and entrenched and it remains to be seen how much the legislation will change the way things work on the ground. “America is a deeply racist place, and it’s also progressively getting better — both are true,” said Bailey, the racial reconciliation worker in Richmond. “You are talking about a 350-year problem that’s only a little more than 50 years toward correction.”   ©2021 The New York Times Company

With his hand on a 5-inch-thick Bible that has been in his family for 128 years, Biden recited the 35-word oath of office swearing to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” in a ceremony administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, completing the process at 11:49 a.m., 11 minutes before the authority of the presidency formally changes hands. The ritual transfer of power came shortly after Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, her hand on a Bible that once belonged to Thurgood Marshall, the civil rights icon and Supreme Court justice. Harris’ ascension made her the highest-ranking woman in US history and the first Black American and first person of South Asian descent to hold the nation’s second-highest office. In his Inaugural Address, Biden declared that “democracy has prevailed” after a test of the system by a defeated president, Donald Trump, who sought to overturn the results of an election and then encouraged a mob that stormed the Capitol two weeks ago to block the final count. But he called for Americans to put aside their deep and dark divisions to come together to confront the coronavirus pandemic, economic troubles and the scourge of racism. “We must end this uncivil war — red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal,” Biden said in the 21-minute address that blended soaring themes with folksy touches. “We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts, if we show a little tolerance and humility, and if we’re willing to stand in the other person’s shoes, as my mom would say, just for a moment.” US President Joe Biden speaks during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington January 20, 2021. Patrick Semansky/Pool via REUTERS Biden used the word “unity” repeatedly, saying that he knew it “can sound to some like a foolish fantasy” but insisting that Americans had emerged from previous moments of polarisation and can do so again. US President Joe Biden speaks during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington January 20, 2021. Patrick Semansky/Pool via REUTERS “We can join forces, stop the shouting and lower the temperature,” he said. “For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury. No progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state of chaos. This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward.” The ceremony on a chilly, breezy but sunny day with a brief smattering of snowflakes brought to a close the stormy and divisive four-year Trump presidency. In characteristic fashion, Trump once again defied tradition by leaving Washington hours before the swearing in of his successor rather than face the reality of his own election defeat, although Mike Pence, his vice president, did attend. President Joe Biden was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., completing the process 11 minutes before the authority of the presidency formally changed hands. https://t.co/VowTHgFSoz pic.twitter.com/bp3okHMO4D— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 20, 2021   President Joe Biden was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., completing the process 11 minutes before the authority of the presidency formally changed hands. https://t.co/VowTHgFSoz pic.twitter.com/bp3okHMO4D Trump flew to Florida, where he plans to live at his Mar-a-Lago estate. But within days, the Senate will open the former president’s impeachment trial on the charge that he incited an insurrection by encouraging the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 in an attempt to stop the formal counting of the Electoral College votes ratifying his defeat. The sight of the nation’s newly installed president and vice president on the same West Front of the Capitol occupied just two weeks ago by the marauding pro-Trump crowd underscored how surreal the day was. Unlike most inaugurals suffused with joy and a sense of fresh beginning, the festivities on the nation’s 59th Inauguration Day served to illustrate America’s troubles. A supporter of outgoing President Donald Trump walks by a Black Lives Matter and George Floyd mural during US President Joe Biden's inauguration, in Washington D.C., US January 20, 2021. Reuters Amid fear of further violence, Washington has been transformed into an armed camp, with some 25,000 National Guard troops joining thousands of police officers and a wide swath of downtown blocked off. With the coronavirus pandemic still raging, Americans were told to stay away, leading to the eerie spectacle of a new president addressing a largely empty National Mall, filled not with people but with flags meant to represent the absent crowd. A supporter of outgoing President Donald Trump walks by a Black Lives Matter and George Floyd mural during US President Joe Biden's inauguration, in Washington D.C., US January 20, 2021. Reuters Many of the usual inaugural customs were scrapped because of the virus, including a lunch with congressional leaders in Statuary Hall, the boisterous parade down Pennsylvania Avenue and the gala evening balls where the new president and his wife are typically expected to dance. Instead, Biden will review military units on the East Front of the Capitol and later proceed to the White House escorted by marching bands from all branches of the military as well as university drum lines from the University of Delaware and Howard University, the alma maters of the new president and vice president, respectively. After that, a virtual “Parade Across America” will feature performances livestreamed from 56 states and territories. To symbolise the theme of national unity that Biden sought to project, he will be joined by three former presidents — Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery before the parade. Instead of the formal dances, the new first and second couples will take part in a 90-minute televised evening program hosted by actor Tom Hanks. If the pomp and circumstance were constrained by the challenges of the day, Biden’s determination to get off to a fast start unravelling the Trump presidency was not. He planned to sign 17 executive orders, memorandums and proclamations in the late afternoon aimed at reversing many of the major elements of the last administration, a dramatic repudiation of his predecessor and a more expansive set of Inauguration Day actions than any in modern history. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris participate in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (Doug Mills/The New York Times) Among other moves, he planned to issue a national mask mandate for federal workers and federal property, seek the extension of an eviction pause and student loan relief, rejoin the Paris climate accord, suspend construction of Trump’s border wall, lift the travel ban on certain predominantly Muslim countries, bolster the program allowing young immigrants brought into the country illegally as children to stay, bar discrimination by the federal government based on sexual orientation or gender identity and impose a moratorium on oil and natural gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris participate in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (Doug Mills/The New York Times) Rarely if ever has a new president moved to reverse so much of his predecessor’s work on his first day in office, but Biden was intent on signalling a clean break from Trump. Some of the orders were more symbolic than substantive, and enduring change will still require legislation. To that end, Biden planned to unveil on Wednesday an immigration overhaul providing a path to citizenship for 11 million people living in the country illegally that will have to be approved by Congress in what is sure to be a contentious debate. "Democracy has prevailed." Watch President Joe Biden's Inaugural Address. https://t.co/EPzTya587f pic.twitter.com/BotK2BwfBN— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 20, 2021   "Democracy has prevailed." Watch President Joe Biden's Inaugural Address. https://t.co/EPzTya587f pic.twitter.com/BotK2BwfBN Commanding attention in Congress will be a challenge, with Trump’s trial likely consuming the Senate for days or weeks. As it stands, the Senate appeared unlikely to confirm any of Biden’s Cabinet choices on Inauguration Day, another breach of custom. Trump had two of his Cabinet secretaries confirmed on the day he took office, while Obama and Bush each had seven. With Harris’ inauguration, the Senate, evenly divided with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, now flips to the Democrats thanks to her tiebreaking vote as the chamber’s president. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York becomes the Democratic majority leader and hopes to create two parallel tracks so it can consider both nominations and legislation even as it conducts the Trump trial. Biden hoped to use his Inaugural Address to strike a sharply different tone from his predecessor, who favored provocation over conciliation. Biden began working on it before Thanksgiving in a process run by his longtime adviser, Mike Donilon. He received help from Jon Meacham, the historian who is serving as an outside informal adviser, as well as from Vinay Reddy, his speechwriter, while relying on his sister, Valerie Biden Owens, who has long been an important sounding board. Flags representing people unable to attend the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden on the National Mall in Washington on Wednesday morning, Jan. 20, 2021. (Jason Andrew/The New York Times) But even as the new president called for unity, he wanted to use the speech to call out racism in the wake of the George Floyd killing and the siege of the Capitol by extremists. And while he did not want to cite Trump by name, he talked about the need for truth and the consequences of lies after four years in which the president made tens of thousands of false or misleading statements. Flags representing people unable to attend the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden on the National Mall in Washington on Wednesday morning, Jan. 20, 2021. (Jason Andrew/The New York Times) Beyond age, gender and race, Biden could hardly be more of a contrast to the president he succeeded. A longtime senator, former vice president and consummate Washington insider, Biden prides himself on his experience working across the aisle and hopes to forge a partnership with Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, and other Republicans. Garrulous and loquacious, known for an incandescent smile, a sometimes overly familiar shoulder rub and a proclivity for gaffes, Biden practices the sort of feel-your-pain politics of empathy mastered by Clinton and the call-me-anytime politics of relationships exemplified by the first President George Bush. At 78, Biden is the oldest president in American history — older on his first day in office than Ronald Reagan was on his last — and even allies quietly acknowledge that he is no longer at his prime, meaning he will be constantly watched by friends and foes alike for signs of decline. But he overcame the doubts and the obstacles to claim the prize of his lifetime nearly 34 years after kicking off the first of his three presidential campaigns. While he has strong centre-left beliefs at his core, he is not ideologically driven, willing and even eager to move with the political centre of gravity. The progressive wing of his party remains sceptical and he may find it daunting to hold together his electoral coalition, whose main point of agreement was shared antipathy for Trump. Biden arrives at the pinnacle of power with a tail wind of public support. Fifty-seven percent of Americans view him favourably, according to Gallup, a higher rating than Trump ever saw in office, and 68% approve of Biden’s handling of the transition. But the vast majority of the public believes the country is on the wrong track and, in a measure of the impact of Trump’s drumbeat of false allegations of election fraud, 32% told CNN pollsters that they did not believe Biden won the election legitimately. Biden and Harris bring new diversity to the top echelon of government. Biden is only the second Catholic president after John F. Kennedy and Harris broke multiple gender and racial barriers in winning the vice presidency. The Cabinet that Biden assembled has record numbers of women and people of colour as well as the first gay person to lead one of the statutory Cabinet departments. A member of the National Guard uses his smartphone to record the scene at the US Capitol during the inauguration of President Joe Biden on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (Jason Andrew/The New York Times) Biden, who spent Tuesday night at Blair House, the presidential guest quarters across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, began his public day at 8:50 a.m. when he departed for a service at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle with his wife, Jill Biden, along with Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff. Joining them were congressional leaders of both parties, including McConnell. A member of the National Guard uses his smartphone to record the scene at the US Capitol during the inauguration of President Joe Biden on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (Jason Andrew/The New York Times) That too was a change in tradition, as most new presidents before taking the oath worship at St. John’s Church, the Episcopal parish across Lafayette Square from the White House. But St. Matthew has its own presidential history as the site of Kennedy’s funeral. Among those attending the swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol were the three former presidents and their wives, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama, as well as former Vice President Dan Quayle. In addition to Roberts and Sotomayor, four other members of the Supreme Court were present: Justice Elena Kagan and all three of Trump’s appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, received bipartisan applause when they arrived at the Capitol in appreciation for their show of respect for the transition of power despite Trump’s snub. It was Pence’s first visit since he was rushed out of the Senate chamber two weeks ago to escape the pro-Trump mob, some of whom chanted “Hang Mike Pence” because he refused to try to block the counting of the Electoral College votes as Trump had demanded. Performing at the ceremony were Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Garth Brooks. Set to join Hanks for the evening performance dubbed “Celebrating America” at 8:30 p.m. were stars including Kerry Washington, Bruce Springsteen, Eva Longoria, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Demi Lovato. Celebrity celebration will bracket demonstrations of getting down to business. Biden will sign his orders and memorandums in the Oval Office at 5:15 p.m. to be followed a half-hour later by a virtual swearing-in of his staff. At 7 p.m., Jen Psaki, the new White House press secretary, will hold her first daily briefing, reestablishing a regular opportunity for reporters to question the White House that had all but disappeared under Trump. The Bidens will then spend their first night in the White House, completing a journey that officially began in 1987 and unofficially much earlier. These were not the circumstances the new president might have imagined arriving at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. when he set out on this path, but history always has its surprises. ©2021 The New York Times Company

In his first address to the nation as premier, Khan set out his vision for a “New Pakistan” and spoke at length about the need to reshape the country by introducing an Islamic welfare system, reducing poverty and slashing high debt levels. “We have formed a bad habit of living on loans and aid from other countries,” said Khan, speaking under a portrait of his hero and Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah “No country can prosper like this. A country must stand on its own feet.” Khan, 65, a former cricket legend, was sworn in as prime minister on Saturday after his party swept to power in last month’s election. A firebrand populist, Khan’s appeal has soared in recent years on the back of his anti-corruption drive, which has resonated with young voters and the expanding middle class in the mainly-Muslim nation of 208 million people. But Khan has inherited a host of problems at home and abroad, including a brewing currency crisis and fraying relations with Pakistan’s historic ally, the United States. Khan did not shed any light on policy plans to deal with the currency woes that analysts expect will force Pakistan to seek another International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout. Instead, Khan focused on debt and said former central bank governor Ishrat Husain would lead a task-force to drive austerity. Criticizing what he called the colonial-era mindset and lavish lifestyles of Pakistan’s ruling elite, Khan announced he would live in a small three-bedroom house instead of the palatial prime minister’s residence. “A SIMPLE LIFE” Khan plans to have only two servants instead of 524 reserved for a sitting premier. He also announced plans to sell a fleet of bullet-proof vehicles to help Treasury shortfalls, a bold move in a country where Islamist militants still pose a threat. “I want to tell my people, I will live a simple life, I will save your money,” he said. Khan appealed to overseas Pakistanis to invest in the country and urged the wealthy to start paying taxes, a perennial problem in a nation famous for tax dodging and where less than 1 percent of the population files income tax. “It is your responsibility to pay taxes,” said Khan. “Think of this as a struggle, that you need to pay tax for the betterment of your country.” Khan said Pakistan was in grave danger from the effects of climate change and promised to reduce some of the world’s highest maternal death rates and infant mortality rates. He also spoke passionately about the need to help 22.8 million out-of-school Pakistani children in a nation where the literacy rate hovers above 40 percent. Khan, who has never held a government position, named his 21-person cabinet over the weekend, opting mostly for experienced politicians. Opponents criticized the choices, saying about half of the cabinet had served under the former military dictator Pervez Musharraf and were part of the old guard. On Sunday, Khan announced he will oversee the interior ministry. A former playboy of the London social scene who has since adopted a pious persona, Khan said he wants Pakistan to build a welfare state akin to some found in the West, which he said are modeled on the ideas first voiced by Prophet Mohammad in the holy city of Medina. “I will spend money on those who God has not given enough to,” he said.

She was greeted by Myanmar Labour Minister Aye Myint and Bangladesh ambassador to Naypyidaw Anup Kumar Chakma at 10.15am local time Monday.Hasina received a red carpet reception at the airport and was taken to the Royal Naypyidaw Hotel in a motorcade. Myanmarese children wearing traditional clothes stood on both sides of the road and waved flags of the two nations as her motorcade passed.The Prime Minister and her entourage will stay in this hotel during her two-day tour.She would hold bilateral meetings with the Prime Ministers of India, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan on the sidelines of the summit, the foreign ministry has said.The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional grouping of seven members from South Asia - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka - and South East Asia -Thailand and Myanmar.It began in June 1997 from Bangkok with the name BIST-EC –Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic Cooperation – to promote economic cooperation.Later Myanmar joined and the group’s name was changed to BIMST-EC. In 2003 Nepal and Bhutan joined, but the nomenclature of the group remained unchanged.The grouping is currently focused on promoting 14 priority sectors of development and common concerns. File Photo Bangladesh is the lead country in the area of trade and investment, and climate change.On Monday, the Prime Minister will meet Myanmar President Thein Sein at the presidential palace. She will then visit the country’s parliament and hold a meeting with the Speaker Thura Shwe Mann.In the afternoon, Hasina is scheduled to have a 30-minute meeting with Nobel laureate Aung Sang Suu Kyi.At night, the Prime Minister will attend the dinner hosted by the Myanmar President.On the second day of her visit, she will attend the inauguration of the BIMSTEC summit and attend a joint press briefing.The third summit is also going to be held two years behind the schedule. The last one was held in 2008 in New Delhi and the first in 2004 in Bangkok.Three agreements are expected to be signed in the summit.A memorandum of association (MoA) on establishing climate change centre in India, and a memorandum of understanding on setting up a Cultural Industries Observatory in Bhutan would be signed.A MoA would also be inked for setting up a permanent secretariat in Bangladesh which was endorsed more than two years back.Dhaka has already allotted a premise at Gulshan for the Secretariat.Rohingya issue has strained ties between Bangladesh and Myanmar. The bilateral trade volume between the two neighbours stands at a meagre $100 million.Bangladesh has sheltered thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees who had fled Myanmar during waves of sectarian violence.Officials say there are several hundred thousand unregistered Rohingyas in Bangladesh.The Prime Minister will return to Dhaka on Mar 4, officials said. File Photo

Rio de Janeiro's successful bid to host the Olympics in 2016 culminates Brazil's remarkable rise over the past decade from a near basket case to an economic and diplomatic heavyweight. Just as the Beijing Olympics of 2008 marked China's revival as a world power, Rio 2016 may be seen as a stamp of approval on the South American giant's coming of age. After decades of underachievement, Latin America's largest country in recent years has finally made good on the immense promise of its abundant natural resources, vibrant democracy and vast consumer market of 190 million people. Rio's Olympics victory may be the most spectacular sign of Brazil's surging profile under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the country's first working-class leader who nurtured an economic boom that has lifted millions of people out of poverty and made him one of the world's most popular leaders. Even the global economic crisis was unable to knock Brazil off its stride for long as the economy swiftly emerged from recession and returned to growth this year. "The financial crisis hit us last and we got out of it first," Lula told the International Olympic Committee meeting in Copenhagen this week ahead of Friday's decision. "We do not have that complex of being second-rate citizens any more." Brazil's seeming inability to live up to its promise was long summed up by the joke that "Brazil is the country of the future -- and always will be." That largely held true during the dark days of the 1965-1984 military dictatorship and the years of runaway inflation and economic crises in the 1980s and 1990s. The country was still struggling in 2002 when, as Lula was poised for the presidency, financial markets crumbled on fears Brazil would go the same way as crisis-hit Argentina. Since then, years of robust growth and Lula's earthy charm, which plays as well at world summits as in Rio slums, have lifted Brazil to economic and diplomatic respectability. By 2006, Brazil had paid off its International Monetary Fund loans early and this year pledged to lend the IMF $10 billion. It has won three coveted investment-grade ratings in the past 18 months and has increasingly taken its place as an equal among major diplomatic powers on issues ranging from world trade talks to climate-change negotiations. World-class companies like oil firm Petrobras and mining company Vale have flourished in recent years, helping spread Brazilian investments and influence throughout Latin America and beyond. NEW PLAYER ON GLOBAL STAGE In the wake of the financial crisis, Brazil has been at the forefront in pushing for more clout for developing nations in international decision-making, raising the profile of the G20 as well as the BRIC group of big emerging markets, made up of Brazil, Russia, India and China. Lula's appeal for South America's first Olympics followed a similar line -- that rich countries have enjoyed more than their fair share of the Games' spectacle and prestige. Brazil's revival has translated into a path out of poverty for about 20 million people, many of whom have benefited from Lula's generous welfare programs. A run of luck also has worked in Brazil's favor, from the commodities price boom that boosted its exports of raw materials such as iron ore and soybeans to one of the world's largest recent oil finds off Rio's coast in 2007. The discovery, which the government hopes will help lift Brazil to developed-nation status, prompted Lula and others to revive the old saying that "God is Brazilian." Yet Brazil still has plenty of challenges to tackle before it joins the elite club of developed nations. The education system suffers from chronic underinvestment and Brazil has no world-class universities, leaving business leaders worried about a lack of qualified labor. Its creaking infrastructure also threatens to cramp its growth. Despite its multiracial identity, racism remains a severe but widely ignored barrier to education and jobs for blacks and indigenous Indians. And for all its economic progress, Brazil remains one of the world's most unequal countries with widespread poverty, lawlessness and illiteracy in its northeast region and the vast Amazon rain forest area.

Ambassador Tran Van Khoa made the statement when he called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka on Thursday. After the meeting, the prime minister's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters. The envoy expressed satisfaction over the extension of the memorandum of understanding on rice trade between Bangladesh and Vietnam and informed that the first consignment of rice from Vietnam is scheduled to reach Chittagong within 15 days. In this context, the prime minister said: "We want to preserve extra food to meet any eventuality." Pointing out Vietnam's socioeconomic development, the prime minister said the Southeast Asian nation achieved remarkable success after the war. "Vietnam is an example to us and we follow it," she said, adding: "We had to fight for independence like Vietnam." The prime minister put emphasis on strengthening connectivity and economic cooperation between Bangladesh and Southeast Asian nations. "Bangladesh and Vietnam could share their experiences in different fields like trade and culture," she said. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina meets with the new Vietnam Ambassador to Bangladesh Tran Van Khoa at her office in the parliament. Photo: PID Describing poverty as the common problem for the developing countries, Hasina called for working together to eliminate the ‘curse’. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina meets with the new Vietnam Ambassador to Bangladesh Tran Van Khoa at her office in the parliament. Photo: PID "If we work together we can achieve success in this regard," she said. Appreciating the continuous efforts of Bangladesh in combating terrorism and the adverse impacts of climate change, the Vietnamese ambassador said, "We've many commonalities and we can learn from each other." Tran Van Khoa praised Bangladesh’s achievement of 7.24 percent GDP growth in the outgoing fiscal year. The ambassador conveyed the best wishes of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to the Bangladesh premier. He also handed Hasina a book depicting the life of Vietnamese communist revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh which also carried ‘unforgettable memories’ of the War of Liberation. Khoa said both countries had recognised their respective Wars of Liberation and emphasised the exchange of visits by high-level delegations. The newly appointed envoy said that his task would be to further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries alongside continuing cooperation in various sectors. PM's Principal Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury and Senior PMO Secretary Suraiya Begum were present on the occasion. Bangladesh is to import a quarter million tonnes of rice from Vietnam in order to refill after unseasonal downpours inundated Boro rice crops in April. Official estimates show the lost crops would have yielded about 600,000 tonnes of rice. Unofficial estimates put the number at 2.2 million tonnes of rice. The government has also slashed import duties and floated new tenders in efforts to bring down local prices.

The occasion, also featuring a bi-national fly-past of fighter jets symbolizing military cooperation in the Middle East and elsewhere, followed a day of talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, a first ladies' tour of Paris, and a dinner for the four at a restaurant in the Eiffel Tower. "Great evening with President @EmmanuelMacron & Mrs. Macron. Went to Eiffel Tower for dinner. Relationship with France stronger than ever," Trump wrote in a tweet. The ceremonies bring to an end a visit Macron needs as a boost to France's standing on the world stage - one which could also help a US leader left short of international friends by his stance on free trade and climate change. Trump, also dogged at home by an investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election, appeared on Thursday to leave open the door for more talks on the Paris accord which he pulled the United States out of earlier this year. Macron arrived standing in a military jeep and surrounded by cavalry - repeating a scene from his inauguration two months ago and reinforcing the message that he heads an important military power. The scene also serves as a reminder of a fierce row that erupted this week between Macron and his armed forces chief, General Pierre de Villers, over proposed budget cuts for the defense ministry. At the parade, the two heads of state sat together in a stand applauding, pointing and touching each other on the arm as military aircraft flew overhead. Trump saluted as military personnel - some in World War One battledress - filed past with the Arc de Triomphe in the background. For France, this year's Bastille Day has an additional poignancy as the first anniversary of one of the deadliest Islamist militant attacks of the past few years. After the parade, his first as President, Macron will head for the Mediterranean city of Nice, where he will join a commemoration for the 86 people who died when a Tunisian man drove a truck at a crowd on the waterfront a year ago.

The United Nations's annual World Day to Combat Desertification.will be observed Sunday as 'World Desertification Day'. The theme is ''desertification and climate change—one global challenge'' to focus the world's attention on dangers of desertification and its prevention. Of six billion humans, nearly a fifth are threatened directly or indirectly by desertification, experts warned ahead of the day. China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Central Asia, the Middle East, as well as a major part of Africa and swathes of Argentina, Brazil and Chile are in the front line of unacknowledged crisis. In Bangladesh, some non-governmental organisations are scheduled to observe the day, which has yet to get attention due to lack of proper government initiatives. Abu Sumon, director of Wetland and Costal Biodiversity Project under the Department of Environment, said this year global warming has been focused for its alarming impact. Terming desertification another side-effect of global warming, Sumon said, "Recently we have found some plants which grows in harsh environment naturally. We have taken it as an evidence of desertification in northern region of the country." He said Barindra land as the most hard soil in the country. "Another latest phenomenon directly related to the problem is decreasing underground water level." The United Nations has warned that global warming is helping to drive the onward march of parched land and, in years to come, millions of people could be driven from their homes. In April, the UN's top scientific authority on global warming warned that higher global temperatures could have brutal effects on rainfall patterns, runoff from snowmelt and river flows in scores of countries that already battle water stress. Between 80 and 200 million more people could be at risk of hunger by 2080, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated. Some 70 percent of Earth's 5.2 billion hectares (13 billion acres) of agricultural drylands "are already degraded and threatened by desertification," says the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which hosts Sunday's commemorative day. These vulnerable lands are progressively at risk of overgrazing, deforestation and other forms of exploitation, to which climate change is now a powerful addition. Desertification is increasing at an alarming rate, and although serious environmental and social consequences have been recognised for sometime, this issue has not received the level of national, regional and international attention that it deserves, the UN body said.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will not hold hearings or vote on any nominee to replace long-serving conservative Justice Antonin Scalia until after the next president takes office next January. Scalia died on Feb 13. McConnell, a Republican nemesis of Obama during the president's seven years in office, said he even would refuse the standard courtesy of meeting with whomever Obama chooses. Under the US Constitution, the Senate has the power to confirm or reject a president's Supreme Court selection. With the US presidential election looming on Nov 8, Republicans were aiming to allow the next president to fill Scalia's vacancy, hoping a Republican will be elected. "This nomination will be determined by whoever wins the presidency in the fall," McConnell said, adding that the overwhelming view of Senate Republicans was that "this vacancy should not be filled by this lame-duck president." Obama's nominee could tip the court to the left for the first time in decades. Scalia's death left the court with four liberal and four conservatives. Not since the contentious nominations by Republican presidents of Robert Bork in 1987 and Clarence Thomas in 1991 has there been such an intense fight over a Supreme Court vacancy - and Obama has yet to announce his pick. Mitch McConnell. The White House and Senate Democrats condemned McConnell's stance. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid called it "obstruction on steroids," adding: "Gone are the days of levelheadedness and compromise." Mitch McConnell. McConnell and other congressional Republicans have sought to block numerous Obama initiatives, including his signature healthcare law, the Iran nuclear deal, immigration policy and efforts to battle climate change. McConnell invoked a past statement by Obama's vice president, Joe Biden, to help justify Supreme Court inaction. McConnell noted that Biden, as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman in 1992, argued for postponing action on Supreme Court nominees during an election year. Biden has since said he was speaking hypothetically because there was no Supreme Court vacancy at the time. McConnell made his announcement after Chairman Chuck Grassley and the other Republican members of the Judiciary Committee sent him a letter saying the panel would not hold confirmation hearings. Grassley had previously left open the possibility of convening hearings. 'Full and robust debate' Alluding to the Nov 8 presidential election, Republican senators told McConnell in the letter they wanted "to ensure the American people are not deprived of the opportunity to engage in a full and robust debate over the type of jurist they wish to decide some of the most critical issues of our time." If the Senate does not consider a nominee until after a new president takes office, it would be unlikely that the Supreme Court would have its full complement of nine justices any sooner than early 2017. That would mean the court would be shorthanded for more than a year, hampering its ability to decide cases. In cases that end in 4-4 rulings, lower-court decisions stand and no national precedent is set. Reid said the Republican strategy was driven by the Republican party’s right wing. "It’s what Donald Trump and Ted Cruz want,” Reid said, referring to two of the Republican presidential candidates. But Reid said Senate Democrats would not become "the obstruct caucus" and block legislation such as appropriations bills in retaliation for the Republican inaction. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said blocking a hearing for Obama’s nominee would be unprecedented and would “subject the Supreme Court to the kind of politics that they've been insulated from for more than two centuries.” “Since 1875, a president's nominee has never been denied a hearing unless that president later withdrew that nomination,” Earnest said. In remarks on the Senate floor, McConnell said, "Presidents have a right to nominate, just as the Senate has its constitutional right to provide or withhold consent. In this case, the Senate will withhold it." Chuck Schumer, a member of the Senate Democratic leadership, predicted that the Republican position would crumble as voters put pressure on vulnerable Republican Senate incumbents seeking re-election to consider Obama's nominee. "It’s not just a risky strategy, it's the wrong strategy and it's going to fail," Schumer said of the Senate Republicans. But Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican Judiciary Committee member, countered, "I’m not concerned about that (public pressure). We’re standing for a principle that the next president ought to resolve this problem." Democrats are badly outnumbered in the 100-member Senate, falling far short of the 60 votes needed to advance controversial legislation much less a Supreme Court nomination. Counting the two independents who caucus with them, Democrats control 46 seats, with the remaining 54 held by Republicans.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which a year ago refused to cut supply to retain market share against higher-cost rivals, in its 2015 World Oil Outlook raised its global supply forecasts for tight oil, which includes shale, despite a collapse in prices. Demand for OPEC crude will reach 30.70 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2020, OPEC said, lower than 30.90 million bpd next year. The expected demand from OPEC in 2020 is about 1 million bpd less than it is currently producing. Oil has more than halved its price in 18 months and sank to an 11-year low of $36.04 a barrel this week. The drop has helped to boost oil's medium-term use, although OPEC said the demand stimulus of low crude prices will fade over time. "The impact of the recent oil price decline on demand is most visible in the short term," OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri wrote in the foreword to the report. "It then drops away over the medium term." OPEC is increasingly divided over the merits of the 2014 shift to a market-share strategy, which was led by Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies, and at a Dec 4 meeting failed to agree a production ceiling for the first time in decades. Nonetheless, the report shows that the medium-term outlook - from OPEC's point of view as the supplier of a third of the world's oil - has improved. In the 2014 edition, demand for OPEC crude was expected to fall to 29.0 million bpd by 2020. OPEC said it stopped modelling work on the report in mid-year, since when it has updated its forecast of 2016 non-OPEC supply to a decline. OPEC figures in the report do not include Indonesia, which rejoined in December. The main figures in the report showing OPEC medium-term market share under pressure are unchanged from those in a confidential OPEC report Reuters obtained in November. Resilient shale OPEC initially downplayed the impact of shale oil, although its annual outlook in 2012 acknowledged for the first time that the effect could be "significant". Years of high prices - supported by OPEC's former policy of cutting supply – helped make non-conventional oil such as shale viable. In a change of tack from previous reports, OPEC now says many projects work at lower prices too. "The most prolific zones within some plays can break even at levels below the prices observed in 2015, and are thus likely to see continued production growth," the report said. Global tight oil output will reach 5.19 million bpd by 2020, peak at 5.61 million bpd in 2030 and ease to 5.18 million bpd in 2040, the report said, as Argentina and Russia join North America as producers. Last year's estimates were 4.50 million bpd by 2020 and 4 million bpd by 2040. Under another, upside supply scenario, tight oil production could spread to Mexico and China and bring supply to almost 8 million bpd by 2040, OPEC said. As recently as 2013, OPEC assumed tight oil would have no impact outside North America. The report supports the view that OPEC's market share will rise in the long run as rival supply growth fades. OPEC crude demand is expected to reach 40.70 million bpd in 2040, amounting to 37 percent of world supply, up from 33 percent in 2015. OPEC nudged up its medium-term world oil demand forecast, expecting oil use to reach 97.40 million bpd by 2020, 500,000 bpd more than in last year's report. But factors including slower economic growth, the limited share of the crude cost in pump prices and the falling value of some domestic currencies against the dollar will limit the demand response to lower crude prices, OPEC said. By 2040, OPEC expects demand to reach 109.80 million bpd, 1.3 million bpd lower than a year ago, reduced by energy efficiency and climate-change mitigation efforts. Only a gentle recovery in oil prices is seen. OPEC's basket of crude oils is assumed in the report at $55 in 2015 and to rise by $5 a year to reach $80 by 2020.

Finance leaders of the world's top industrialised nations put on a show of solidarity on Saturday in the face of an economic slowdown and conceded that things could get even worse because of the crumbling US housing market. In a communique released after meetings in Tokyo, the Group of Seven said prospects for economic growth had worsened since they last met in October, although fundamentals remained solid and the US economy was likely to escape a recession. "There was a climate of much greater pessimism and worry than in October," said Italian Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa. Finance ministers and central bankers from Japan, the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, Italy and France said that growth in their countries was expected to slow by "varying degrees" in the short term. They pointed to serious risks from the US property market slump and subsequent tightening of credit conditions, which has slowed the flow of money to the consumers and companies that drive the world's economy. Debt-laden banks have curbed lending as their losses, tied primarily to souring U.S. home loans, rise above $100 billion. That has raised the spectre of a vicious cycle as consumer spending slows, prompting businesses to retrench and cut jobs. Glenn Maguire, Asia Pacific chief economist with Societe Generale in Hong Kong, noted that the G7 offered little in the way of detail on coordination action to support the economy. "This economic shock and the economic downturn is largely driven by domestic problems in the US and it really can't be remedied by a globally coordinated action plan," he said. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said global markets may face a prolonged period of unrest. "The current financial turmoil is serious and persisting," Paulson said in prepared remarks issued after the meeting. "As the financial markets recover from this period of stress, as of course they will, we should expect continued volatility as risk is repriced." ALL TOGETHER NOW The G7 leaders urged banks to fully disclose their losses and shore up their balance sheets to help restore the normal functioning of markets. German finance minister Peer Steinbrueck said writeoffs could reach $400 billion. "Going forward, we will continue to watch developments closely and continue to take appropriate actions, individually and collectively, in order to secure stability and growth in our economies," the communique said. Pledges to work together to restore the financial system to health contrasted with divisions over fiscal and monetary policy ahead of the G7 gathering. Before Saturday's meetings, many in Europe had privately expressed alarm over the U.S. Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate-cutting stance after it slashed 1.25 percentage points off of the benchmark federal funds rate in less than 10 days in January. The monetary easing, along with a $152 billion U.S. fiscal stimulus package, threatened to open a rift between the United States and its allies over how to prevent the credit crisis from pushing the world into a downturn. But tensions eased after the European Central Bank stressed the risk to euro zone economic growth, alongside its long-held worry about inflation, signalling that the ECB may soon join the Fed, Bank of England and Bank of Canada in cutting rates. French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said she welcomed that change by the ECB, but wanted more: "It's like the overture of a symphony: you are always waiting for what comes next." European leaders were particularly concerned about the strength of the euro which hit a record high against the dollar after the Fed began its cutting rates in September. However, the currency retreated after the ECB's change of heart. CURRENCY ON BACK BURNER With more pressing economic matters to discuss, foreign exchange issues were relegated to the back burner at Saturday's meeting. The communique contained similar wording as in the October statement, with a focus on encouraging China to allow its yuan currency to appreciate more quickly. Many G7 leaders think the weak yuan gives China an unfair trade advantage, and have called on Beijing to step up domestic investment to help rebalance the world economy. The statement also urged oil exporters to step up production after oil prices briefly topped $100 per barrel last month. It has since retreated, though it spiked up 4 percent to $91.77 on Friday -- its biggest gain in nearly two months -- amid supply snags and a looming U.S. cold spell.

At the end of three weeks of mid-year climate talks, held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Patricia Espinosa called on countries to overcome their differences and work together in the remaining months before the key COP26 negotiations in Glasgow. She said governments had "engaged effectively", despite the challenges of virtual working, and made advances in several areas, including common time-frames for emissions-cutting goals and transparency in how countries report their climate action. There are still divisions on the rules governing how global carbon markets will work, the UN climate body noted - and higher-level political guidance will be needed, Espinosa said. Efforts would continue to "ensure maximum progress before COP26", she added. "So much is at stake," said the top UN official. "I urge us to rise to the challenge of our time, to get the job done, to overcome our differences, to fulfill our promises." The June talks were the first official UN climate negotiations to be held since the end of 2019, due to delays caused by the pandemic. The COP26 summit is tasked with finalising rules for the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change so that the pact can be fully implemented, UN officials have said. "We must achieve success at COP26," Espinosa told journalists on Thursday. "It is a credibility test for our fight against the climate emergency - it is central to a green recovery and it is an affirmation of multilateralism when the world needs it most." STUMBLING BLOCKS Many nations have yet to submit stronger climate action plans that were due last year under the Paris accord but thrown off course due to the pandemic. Emissions reductions promised by governments are still a long way from what is needed to meet the Paris goals of limiting global warming to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius and ideally to 1.5C above preindustrial times, the United Nations has said. But a failure by wealthy nations to deliver on longstanding climate finance pledges to help poorer, vulnerable countries shift to renewable energy and adapt to climate change impacts are casting a shadow over the UN-led process. The pandemic has also thrown another spanner in the works with many developing nations struggling to secure access to vaccines, after supplies were mostly bought up by rich countries. That means many delegates do not know whether they will be able to attend the COP26 summit in person. As the conference host, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this month his government was exploring with the United Nations how to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to accredited delegations who would be unable to get them otherwise. "The road to COP 26 remains nebulous - COVID-19 remains a serious concern for many of us," Diann Black-Layne of Antigua and Barbuda, representing the 44-member Alliance of Small Island States, told the closing session of the June talks. The group is also still waiting for major progress on climate finance, she added, calling for a "new, scaled-up finance goal" at COP26 for climate-vulnerable nations. Sonam P Wangdi of Bhutan, who chairs the 46-member group of least developed countries at the UN talks, agreed that delivering on climate finance is "critical" to ensure success. Rich nations have come under fire for not yet meeting a promise to raise $100 billion a year from 2020 to help poorer countries tackle climate change. G7 leaders were criticised for not offering a clear roadmap on how that pledge would be met at a summit last weekend, although Germany and Canada committed fresh money. This month's UN climate talks did not produce formal decisions because of their virtual nature, with some delegates struggling with technical difficulties. To push the work forward faster, Alok Sharma, the UK official who will preside over COP26, plans to bring ministers from more than 40 countries together in London in late July. Archie Young, Britain's lead climate negotiator, said he had heard "very clearly the desire for more clarity" on issues around vaccinations and logistical arrangements for COP26. Sharma said London was working with partners on a plan to offer vaccines to all accredited COP26 delegates - including government officials, representatives of green groups and media - and he hoped to set out the details "shortly".

The European Union is unlikely to raise its commitment to cut carbon emissions by 30 percent from 20 percent until other countries show greater willingness to follow suit, ministers said on Saturday. The EU has set a target of cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) by 20 percent from 1990 levels over the next decade. It promised ahead of climate talks in Copenhagen in December that it would deepen those cuts to 30 percent if other countries did likewise. The United Nations has fixed a Jan. 31 deadline for countries to commit to emissions cuts and the EU sees no sign that major economies will set comparable targets that soon. "The final evaluation is that it probably cannot be done," Spanish Secretary of State for Climate Change Teresa Ribera told journalists after a meeting of EU environment ministers in Seville, Spain. The decision had been widely expected. The EU, which accounts for about 14 percent of the world's CO2 emissions, is keen to lead climate talks despite its marginalisation at last year's meeting in Copenhagen. Environmentalists had pushed it to adopt a more aggressive target in order to show the way. It has not ruled out adopting a 30-percent cut at a later stage if it can gain concessions from other countries. The nominee for European climate commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, told a European Parliament hearing on Friday that she hoped the EU's conditions for moving to 30 percent would be met before a meeting set for Mexico later this year. Prior to the Copenhagen talks, the United Nations had called for wealthy countries to cut emissions by 25-40 percent by 2020 in order to keep the average rise in global temperatures to within 2 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial levels.

The cause was complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer, the Supreme Court said. By the time two small tumours were found in one of her lungs in December 2018, during a follow-up scan for broken ribs suffered in a recent fall, Ginsburg had beaten colon cancer in 1999 and early-stage pancreatic cancer 10 years later. She received a coronary stent to clear a blocked artery in 2014. Barely 5 feet tall and weighing 100 pounds, Ginsburg drew comments for years on her fragile appearance. But she was tough, working out regularly with a trainer, who published a book about his famous client’s challenging exercise regime. As Ginsburg passed her 80th birthday and 20th anniversary on the Supreme Court bench during President Barack Obama’s second term, she shrugged off a chorus of calls for her to retire in order to give a Democratic president the chance to name her replacement. She planned to stay “as long as I can do the job full steam,” she would say, sometimes adding, “There will be a president after this one, and I’m hopeful that that president will be a fine president.” When Justice Sandra Day O’Connor retired in January 2006, Ginsburg was for a time the only woman on the Supreme Court — hardly a testament to the revolution in the legal status of women that she had helped bring about in her career as a litigator and strategist. Her years as the solitary female justice were “the worst times,” she recalled in a 2014 interview. “The image to the public entering the courtroom was eight men, of a certain size, and then this little woman sitting to the side. That was not a good image for the public to see.” Eventually she was joined by two other women, both named by Obama: Sonia Sotomayor in 2009 and Elena Kagan in 2010. After the 2010 retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens, whom Kagan succeeded, Ginsburg became the senior member and de facto leader of a four-justice liberal bloc, consisting of the three female justices and Justice Stephen Breyer. Unless they could attract a fifth vote, which Justice Anthony Kennedy provided on increasingly rare occasions before his retirement in 2018, the four were often in dissent on the ideologically polarized court. Ruth Bader Ginsburg at her Supreme Court confirmation hearings in Washington, Jul 21, 1993. Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Ginsburg’s pointed and powerful dissenting opinions, usually speaking for all four, attracted growing attention as the court turned further to the right. A law student, Shana Knizhnik, anointed her the Notorious RBG — a play on the name of the Notorious BIG, a famous rapper who was Brooklyn-born, like the justice. Soon the name, and Ginsburg’s image — her expression serene yet severe, a frilly lace collar adorning her black judicial robe, her eyes framed by oversize glasses and a gold crown perched at a rakish angle on her head — became an internet sensation. Ruth Bader Ginsburg at her Supreme Court confirmation hearings in Washington, Jul 21, 1993. Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Young women had the image tattooed on their arms; daughters were dressed in RBG costumes for Halloween. “You Can’t Spell Truth Without Ruth” appeared on bumper stickers and T-shirts. A biography, “Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” by Irin Carmon and Knizhnik, reached the bestseller list the day after its publication in 2015, and the next year Simon & Schuster brought out a Ginsburg biography for children with the title “I Dissent.” A documentary film of her life was a surprise box office hit in the summer of 2018, and a Hollywood biopic centred on her first sex discrimination court case opened on Christmas Day that year. The adulation accelerated after the election of Donald Trump, whom Ginsburg had had the indiscretion to call “a faker” in an interview during the 2016 presidential campaign. (She later said her comment had been “ill advised.”) Scholars of the culture searched for an explanation for the phenomenon. Dahlia Lithwick, writing in The Atlantic in early 2019, offered this observation: “Today, more than ever, women starved for models of female influence, authenticity, dignity, and voice hold up an octogenarian justice as the embodiment of hope for an empowered future.” Her late-life rock stardom could not remotely have been predicted in June 1993, when President Bill Clinton nominated the soft-spoken, 60-year-old judge, who prized collegiality and whose friendship with conservative colleagues on the federal appeals court where she had served for 13 years left some feminist leaders fretting privately that the president was making a mistake. Clinton chose her to succeed Justice Byron White, an appointee of President John F. Kennedy, who was retiring after 31 years. Her Senate confirmation seven weeks later, by a vote of 96-3, ended a drought in Democratic appointments to the Supreme Court that extended back to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s nomination of Thurgood Marshall 26 years earlier. There was something fitting about that sequence, because Ruth Ginsburg was occasionally described as the Thurgood Marshall of the women’s rights movement by those who remembered her days as a litigator and director of the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union during the 1970s. The analogy was based on her sense of strategy and careful selection of cases as she persuaded the all-male Supreme Court, one case at a time, to start recognising the constitutional barrier against discrimination on the basis of sex. The young Thurgood Marshall had done much the same as the civil rights movement’s chief legal strategist in building the case against racial segregation. Early Legal Landmarks When Ruth Ginsburg arrived to take her junior justice’s seat at the far end of the Supreme Court’s bench on the first Monday of October 1993, the setting was familiar even if the view was different. She had previously stood on the other side of that bench, arguing cases that were to become legal landmarks. She presented six cases to the court from 1973 to 1978, winning five. Her goal — to persuade the Supreme Court that the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection applied not only to racial discrimination but to sex discrimination as well — was a daunting one. The Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren, famous for its liberal rulings across a variety of constitutional fronts, had never recognised sex discrimination as a matter of constitutional concern. The Supreme Court under Chief Justice Warren Burger, who was appointed by President Richard Nixon in 1969, figured to be no more hospitable. Ruth Bader Ginsburg presides over a mock trial of Shylock after a performance of "The Merchant of Venice," at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice, Italy, July 27, 2016. The New York Times Ginsburg started from the premise that she needed to provide some basic education for an audience that was not so much hostile as uncomprehending. She took aim at laws that were ostensibly intended to protect women — laws based on stereotyped notions of male and female abilities and needs. Ruth Bader Ginsburg presides over a mock trial of Shylock after a performance of "The Merchant of Venice," at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice, Italy, July 27, 2016. The New York Times “The justices did not comprehend the differential treatment of men and women in jury selection and other legal contexts as in any sense burdensome to women,” she said in a 1988 speech. She added: “From a justice’s own situation in life and attendant perspective, his immediate reaction to a gender discrimination challenge would likely be: But I treat my wife and daughters so well, with such indulgence. To turn in a new direction, the court first had to gain an understanding that legislation apparently designed to benefit or protect women could have the opposite effect.” So there was a successful challenge to an Idaho law that gave men preference over women to be chosen to administer estates, a practice the state had defended as being based on men’s greater familiarity with the world of business (Reed v. Reed, 1971). There was a case challenging a military regulation that denied husbands of women in the military some of the benefits to which wives of male soldiers were entitled, on the assumption that a man was not likely to be the dependent spouse (Frontiero v Richardson, 1973). Another case challenged a Social Security provision that assumed wives were secondary breadwinners whose incomes were unimportant to the family and therefore deprived widowers of survivor benefits (Weinberger v Wiesenfeld, 1975). In that case, as in several others, the plaintiff was a man. Stephen Wiesenfeld’s wife, Paula, had died in childbirth, and he sought the benefits so he could stay home and raise their child, Jason. After the Supreme Court victory, Ginsburg stayed in touch with the father and child, and in 1998 she traveled to Florida to help officiate at Jason’s wedding. In 2014, in a ceremony at the Supreme Court 42 years after Paula Wiesenfeld’s death, Ginsburg presided over her one-time client’s second marriage. In a 1976 case, Craig v. Boren, which Ginsburg worked on but did not personally argue, the Supreme Court for the first time formally adopted the rule that official distinctions based on sex were subject to “heightened scrutiny” from the courts. In that case, the court struck down an Oklahoma law that permitted girls to buy beer at age 18 but required boys to wait until they were 21. The precise question the court addressed in Craig v Boren may not have been profound, but the constitutional consequences of the answer certainly were. Although the court never adopted the rule of “strict scrutiny” that Ginsburg argued for in her early cases, instead reserving that most burdensome judicial test essentially for race discrimination, the initially reluctant justices had clearly embraced the conclusion that the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection included equality of the sexes. It was a moment of personal triumph, therefore, when nearly 20 years after making her last argument before the Supreme Court, Ginsburg announced the court’s majority opinion in a 1996 discrimination case involving the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. By a lopsided 7-1, the court had found that the all-male admissions policy of a state-supported military college was unconstitutional. Virginia had argued that its “adversative” method of educating young men to be citizen-soldiers through a physically challenging curriculum was unsuited for young women. Under legal pressure, the state had set up an alternative military college for women — less rigorous and notably lacking the powerful alumni network that conferred substantial advantages on VMI graduates. That was not good enough, Ginsburg wrote for the majority in United States v. Virginia. She explained that the state had failed to provide the “exceedingly persuasive justification” that the Constitution required for treating men and women differently. “Women seeking and fit for a VMI-quality education cannot be offered anything less under the state’s obligation to afford them genuinely equal protection,” she wrote, adding: “Generalisations about ‘the way women are,’ estimates of what is appropriate for most women, no longer justify denying opportunity to women whose talent and capacity place them outside the average description.” In this majority opinion, the most important of her tenure, Ginsburg took pains to make clear that the Constitution did not require ignoring all differences between the sexes. “Inherent differences between men and women, we have come to appreciate, remain cause for celebration,” she wrote, “but not for denigration of the members of either sex or for artificial constraints on an individual’s opportunity.” Any differential treatment, she emphasised, must not “create or perpetuate the legal, social, and economic inferiority of women.” In August 2018, Ginsburg visited the Virginia Military Institute for the first time and addressed the corps of cadets, which included nearly 200 women among the student body of 1,700. She knew that her decision “would make VMI a better place,” she told cadets. On June 26, 1996, as Ginsburg delivered her opinion in the VMI case, there was a subtext, not necessarily apparent to the courtroom audience. She described the moment in a speech the following year to the Women’s Bar Association in Washington, DC: how she had glanced across the bench to her colleague, O’Connor, who herself had helped weave the legal fabric that supported the VMI decision. O’Connor, early in her tenure as the first woman on the Supreme Court, had written a majority opinion that ordered an all-female state nursing school in Mississippi to admit men, warning against using “archaic and stereotypic notions” about the proper roles for men and women. O’Connor’s opinion in that 1982 case relied on the Supreme Court precedents that Ruth Ginsburg’s cases had set. And Ginsburg’s opinion in the VMI case in turn cited O’Connor’s 1982 opinion, Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan. The constitutional circle was closed. From right, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her fellow justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Sandra Day O'Connor and John Paul Stevens leave the Supreme Court building for the casket procession of the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, in Washington, Sept 6, 2005. The New York Times The two justices, three years apart in age, with O’Connor the elder, were among the first generation of women to make their way into the highest levels of a legal profession that was hardly waiting to welcome them. O’Connor was offered nothing but secretarial jobs after graduating among the top students in her class at Stanford University’s law school. Ginsburg, one of nine women in her Harvard Law School class of 552, was a law review editor and outstanding student who was recommended by one of her professors for a position as a law clerk to Justice Felix Frankfurter. The professor, Albert Sacks, who later became dean of the law school, wrote to Frankfurter, a former Harvard law professor, that “the lady has extraordinary self-possession” and that “her qualities of mind and person would make her most attractive to you as a law clerk.” The justice, who had never hired a woman, declined to invite the star student for an interview. From right, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her fellow justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Sandra Day O'Connor and John Paul Stevens leave the Supreme Court building for the casket procession of the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, in Washington, Sept 6, 2005. The New York Times Their common life experience gave the two women a bond that appeared to grow in intensity despite their opposing views on such important areas of the court’s docket as affirmative action and federalism, and despite their very different origins: one the daughter of Southwestern ranchers and the other the Brooklyn-born daughter of Russian Jews. Shopkeepers Ruth Bader’s father, Nathan Bader, immigrated to New York with his family when he was 13. Her mother, the former Celia Amster, was born four months after her family’s own arrival. Ruth, who was named Joan Ruth at birth and whose childhood nickname was Kiki, was born on March 15, 1933. She grew up in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighbourhood essentially as an only child; an older sister died of meningitis at the age of 6 when Ruth was 14 months old. The family owned small retail stores, including a fur store and a hat shop. Money was never plentiful. Celia Bader was an intellectually ambitious woman who graduated from high school at 15 but had not been able to go to college; her family sent her to work in Manhattan’s garment district so her brother could attend Cornell University. She had high ambitions for her daughter but did not live to see them fulfilled. She was found to have cervical cancer when Ruth was a freshman at James Madison High School, and she died at the age of 47 in 1950, on the day before her daughter’s high school graduation. After the graduation ceremony that Ruth was unable to attend, her teachers brought her many medals and awards to the house. On June 14, 1993, when Ginsburg stood with Clinton in the Rose Garden for the announcement of her Supreme Court nomination, she brought tears to the president’s eyes with a tribute to her mother. “I pray that I may be all that she would have been had she lived in an age when women could aspire and achieve and daughters are cherished as much as sons,” she said. Ruth Bader attended Cornell on a scholarship. During her freshman year, she met a sophomore, Martin Ginsburg. For the 17-year-old Ruth, the attraction was immediate. “He was the only boy I ever met who cared that I had a brain,” she said frequently in later years. By her junior year, they were engaged, and they married after her graduation in 1954. Theirs was a lifelong romantic and intellectual partnership. In outward respects, they were opposites. While she was reserved, choosing her words carefully, with long pauses between sentences that left some conversation partners unnerved, he was an ebullient raconteur, quick with a joke of which he himself was often the butt. The depth of their bond, and their mutual commitment to treating their family and careers as a shared enterprise, were nonetheless apparent to all who knew them as a couple. Martin Ginsburg, a highly successful tax lawyer, would become his wife’s biggest booster, happily giving up his lucrative New York law practice to move with her to Washington in 1980, when President Jimmy Carter named her to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Thirteen years later, he lobbied vigorously behind the scenes for her appointment to the Supreme Court. Settling in Washington, Martin Ginsburg taught tax law at Georgetown University’s law school. He occupied a chair that a longtime client, Ross Perot, had endowed for him in gratitude for years of tax advice that had saved the Texas entrepreneur untold millions of dollars. He was also a gourmet cook who did the family’s cooking and, later, baked delicacies for his wife to share with colleagues at the court. (Ruth Ginsburg was, by her own description, a terrible cook whose children forbade her from entering the kitchen.) The Ginsburgs lived in a duplex apartment at the Watergate, next to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where they frequently attended the opera and ballet. Their 56-year marriage ended with his death from cancer in 2010 at the age of 78. In his final days, he left a note, handwritten on a yellow pad, for his wife to find by his bedside. “My dearest Ruth,” it began. “You are the only person I have loved in my life, setting aside, a bit, parents and kids and their kids, and I have admired and loved you almost since the day we first met at Cornell.” He added: “What a treat it has been to watch you progress to the very top of the legal world!!” Their two children, Jane, a professor of intellectual property law at Columbia Law School, and James, a producer of classical music recordings in Chicago, survive, along with four grandchildren. Following their marriage, the couple settled in Lawton, Oklahoma, where Martin Ginsburg, having served in the ROTC during college, was due to spend two years as an Army officer at nearby Fort Sill. Ruth Ginsburg applied for a government job at the local Social Security office. She was offered a position as a claims examiner at the Civil Service rank of GS-5, but when she informed the personnel office that she was pregnant — with Jane, her first child — the offer was withdrawn. A pregnant woman could not travel for the necessary training, she was told. She accepted a clerk-typist job at the lowly rank of GS-2. As one of her biographers, Jane Sherron De Hart, wrote in “Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life” (2018), the young wife, soon-to-be mother, and future feminist icon “rationalised the incident as ‘just the way things are.’” It would be years before Ruth Ginsburg made it her life’s work to challenge the web of assumptions and the assignment of roles that limited women’s opportunities. Early in their marriage, with both enrolled at Harvard Law School (Martin Ginsburg had completed his first year before entering the Army), the couple faced a daunting crisis. During his third year of law school, Martin Ginsburg learned he had an aggressive testicular cancer, which was treated with radiation. The prognosis was poor, and he was rarely able to attend class. Other students took notes for him, and Ruth Ginsburg, while attending class herself and caring for their young daughter, typed up the notes and helped him study. He recovered and graduated on time. Harvard Law School was a challenge for women even in the best of times. There were no women on the faculty. During Ruth Ginsburg’s first year, the dean, Erwin Griswold, invited the nine women in the class to dinner and interrogated each one, asking why she felt entitled to be in the class, taking the place of a man. Ruth stammered her answer: that because her husband was going to be a lawyer, she wanted to be able to understand his work. When her husband received a job offer in New York, Ruth Ginsburg asked Harvard officials if she could spend her final year at Columbia and still receive a Harvard degree. The request was denied, so she transferred and received a Columbia degree, tying for first place in the class. In 1972, she became the first woman to receive tenure on the Columbia law faculty. The experience evidently continued to rankle, and some years later, after Harvard announced that it was changing its policy and would now award a Harvard degree to students in similar predicaments, Martin Ginsburg wrote the Harvard Law Record an ironic letter recalling that the incident had left his wife’s “career blighted at an early age.” “I asked Ruth if she planned to trade in her Columbia degree for a Harvard degree,” Martin Ginsburg wrote. “She just smiled.” Harvard gave her an honorary degree in 2011 at a ceremony during which Plácido Domingo, another honorary degree recipient that year, addressed her in song. Ruth Ginsburg, an opera devotee, called it one of the greatest experiences of her life. The Swedish Influence After her graduation from Columbia, Ruth Ginsburg received no job offers from New York law firms. She spent two years clerking for a federal district judge, Edmund L Palmieri, who agreed to hire her only after one of her mentors, Professor Gerald Gunther, threatened never to send the judge another law clerk if he did not. After the clerkship, Ruth Ginsburg returned to Columbia to work on a comparative law project on civil procedure. The project required her to learn Swedish and to spend time in Sweden. The experience proved formative. Feminism was flourishing in Sweden, and there was nothing unusual about women combining work and family obligations. Childcare was readily available. An article by the editor of a feminist magazine caught Ruth Ginsburg’s attention. “We ought to stop harping on the concept of women’s two roles,” the editor, Eva Moberg, wrote. “Both men and women have one principal role, that of being people.” Between 1963 and 1970, Ruth Ginsburg produced a treatise on Swedish civil law, which remains a leading work in the field, along with a dozen other articles and books. But more than this impressive academic output, the most important product of her Swedish interval may have been the effect on the young lawyer of directly observing a different way to organise society. After more prestigious law schools, including Columbia and New York University, would not hire her, she took a job teaching at Rutgers Law School, where she was the second woman on the faculty. In fact, fewer than two dozen women were teaching at all American law schools combined. Her second child, James, nine years younger than his sister, was born during this period. In addition to teaching, she began volunteering to handle discrimination cases for the New Jersey affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought her such cases as complaints by public-school teachers who had lost their jobs when they became pregnant. A childhood friend from summer camp, Melvin Wulf, who had become national legal director for the ACLU, heard about her work and brought more cases her way. Among them was the Idaho case on estate administrators that eventually became her first Supreme Court victory, Reed v. Reed. The 88-page brief she filed in that case, an inventory of all the ways in which law served to reinforce society’s oppression of women, became famous in legal history as the “grandmother brief,” on which feminist lawyers drew for many years. In 1972, the ACLU created a Women’s Rights Project and hired Ruth Ginsburg as its first director. At the same time, she left Rutgers and began teaching at Columbia. It was under the ACLU project’s auspices that she carried out her Supreme Court litigation strategy to persuade the justices that official discrimination on the basis of sex was a harm of constitutional dimension. The implications of this strategy were not immediately apparent, even to those who watched closely as it unfolded. Clearly, Ruth Ginsburg was doing something different in selecting cases in which the victims of disparate government treatment were men. On one level, it was obvious that she was trying to feed the justices a diet of cases they could easily digest: Why should men be treated less generously than women simply because they were men? What the government owed to one sex, it owed to the other, full stop. But for Ruth Ginsburg, something deeper and more radical was at stake. Her project was to free both sexes, men as well as women, from the roles that society had assigned them and to harness the Constitution to break down the structures by which the state maintained and enforced those separate spheres. That was why a widowed father seeking social welfare to enable him to be his baby’s caregiver was the perfect plaintiff: not only because his claim to the benefits that would go automatically to a widow might strike sympathetic justices as reasonable, but because his very goal could open the court’s eyes to the fact that childcare was not a sex-determined role to be performed only by women. Wendy W Williams, an emeritus professor of law at Georgetown University Law Centre and Ginsburg’s authorised biographer, wrote in a 2013 article that Ginsburg’s litigation campaign succeeded in “targeting, laserlike, the complex and pervasive legal framework that treated women as yin and men as yang, and either rewarded them for their compliance with sex-appropriate role behaviour or penalised them for deviation from it.” Williams continued: “She saw that male and female were viewed in law and beyond as a natural duality — polar opposites interconnected and interdependent by nature or divine design — and she understood that you couldn’t untie one half of that knot.” Male plaintiffs were thus essential to the project of dismantling what Ginsburg referred to as “sex-role pigeonholing.” Sex discrimination hurt both men and women, and both stood to be liberated by Ruth Ginsburg’s vision of sex equality. Professor Neil S Siegel of Duke Law School described that vision as one of “equal citizenship stature.” A former Ginsburg law clerk, he described in a 2009 article a moment when “an adoring female visitor to chambers once remarked to Ginsburg that her ‘feminist’ girlfriends just loved the justice for what she had done for American women.” According to Siegel, “the justice replied to the effect that she hoped the visitor’s male friends loved her as well.” ‘A Force for Consensus-Building’ Many who had followed Ginsburg’s litigating career expressed surprise as she began compiling a moderate rather than liberal voting record on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which she joined in 1980. She sometimes appeared more comfortable with the court’s conservative members, who included such judges as Antonin Scalia and Robert H Bork, than with liberal colleagues including Judge Patricia M Wald, another appointee of President Carter’s who was the first woman to serve on that important court. In fact, Ginsburg’s anomalous role as what might be called a judicial-restraint liberal sprang from deep convictions that in a healthy democracy, the judicial branch should work in partnership with the other branches, rather than seek to impose a last word that left no room for further discussion. This was the basis for her criticism of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion. In a speech at New York University Law School in 1993, several months before her nomination to the Supreme Court, she criticised the ruling as having “halted a political process that was moving in a reform direction and thereby, I believe, prolonged divisiveness and deferred stable settlement of the issue.” While leaving no doubt about her own support for abortion rights, she said the court would have done better to issue a narrow rather than sweeping ruling, one that left states with some ability to regulate abortions without prohibiting them. “The framers of the Constitution allowed to rest in the court’s hands large authority to rule on the Constitution’s meaning,” but “armed the court with no swords to carry out its pronouncements,” she said, adding that the court had to be wary of “taking giant strides and thereby risking a backlash too forceful to contain.” In contrast to Ginsburg’s underlying assumption, there was in fact ample evidence that what had once appeared a steady legislative march toward revision or repeal of the old criminal abortion laws had stalled by 1973 in the face of powerful lobbying by the Roman Catholic Church. And there was also evidence that the backlash against the decision was not a spontaneous response — in fact, polling in the decision’s immediate aftermath demonstrated widespread and growing public approval — but rather was elicited by Republican strategists hunting for Catholic voters, who had traditionally been Democrats. In later years, Ginsburg acknowledged questions about the historical accuracy of her narrative, but she maintained her criticism of the decision. The New York University speech alarmed the leaders of some women’s groups and abortion rights organisations, some of whom lobbied quietly against her when White announced in March 1993 that he would soon be leaving the court. Clinton, making his first nomination to the court, conducted an almost painfully public search among judges and political figures, with contenders including Mario Cuomo, then governor of New York, who turned him down, and Bruce Babbitt, the incumbent secretary of the interior. As the search wound down, it appeared the president had chosen Stephen G. Breyer, chief judge of the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, who had come to Washington at the president’s invitation for an interview. Breyer was in pain from broken ribs suffered in a recent bicycle accident, and the interview did not go well. Martin Ginsburg, meanwhile, had been urging New York’s senior senator, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, to press his wife’s case with the president. Clinton was at first reluctant, grumbling to Moynihan that “the women are against her.” But after a 90-minute private meeting with Ruth Ginsburg on Sunday, June 13, the president made up his mind. He called her at 11:33 that night to tell her that she was his choice. “I believe that in the years ahead she will be able to be a force for consensus-building on the Supreme Court, just as she has been on the Court of Appeals,” Clinton said at the announcement ceremony the next day. The appointment proved highly popular with the public, and she was confirmed on Aug. 3, 1993, over the dissenting votes of three of the Senate’s most conservative Republicans: Jesse Helms of North Carolina, Don Nickles of Oklahoma and Robert C Smith of New Hampshire. Addressing the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ginsburg said her approach to judging was “neither ‘liberal’ nor ‘conservative.’” She did, however, make clear that her support for the right to abortion, despite her criticism of Roe v. Wade, was unequivocal. In answer to a question from Sen. Hank Brown, R-Colo., she said: “This is something central to a woman’s life, to her dignity. It’s a decision that she must make for herself. And when government controls that decision for her, she’s being treated as less than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices.” Fourteen years later, on a Supreme Court that had turned notably more conservative with the departures of Marshall and O’Connor and their replacement by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr, Ginsburg expressed herself on the subject of abortion in one of her most stinging and widely noticed dissenting opinions. In Gonzales v Carhart, the court by a 5-4 vote upheld a federal law criminalising a particular procedure that doctors used infrequently to terminate pregnancies during the second trimester. In his majority opinion, Kennedy said the law was justified in part to protect women from the regret they might feel after undergoing the procedure. That rationale, Ginsburg objected in dissent, relied on “an anti-abortion shibboleth” — the notion that women regret their abortions — for which the court “concededly has no reliable evidence.” The majority’s “way of thinking,” she wrote, “reflects ancient notions about women’s place in the family and under the Constitution — ideas that have long since been discredited.” It was during that 2006-07 Supreme Court term that Ginsburg’s powerful dissenting voice emerged. Another decision that term provoked another strong dissent. The court voted 5-4 in the case of Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co to reject a woman’s pay discrimination claim on the grounds that the woman, Lilly Ledbetter, had not filed her complaint within the statutory 180-day deadline. Alito’s majority opinion held that the 180-day clock had started running with Ledbetter’s first paycheck reflecting the management’s decision to pay her less than it paid the men doing the same job. Ginsburg objected that, properly interpreted, the 180-period began only when an employee actually learned about the discrimination. Congress should make this clear, she wrote, declaring: “The ball is in Congress’s court.” The impact of her unusually direct call to Congress was magnified because she took the unusual step of announcing her dissent from the bench. What might have been seen as a technical dispute over a statute of limitations became a very public call to arms. It worked. Congress voted to overturn what Ginsburg called the court’s “parsimonious reading” of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. On Jan. 29, 2009, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was the first bill that Obama signed into law. “Justice Ginsburg was courting the people,” Professor Lani Guinier of Harvard Law School wrote in a 2013 essay. Guinier called the oral dissent “a democratising form of judicial speech” that “could be easily understood by those outside the courtroom.” Donning the ‘Dissenting Collar’ Ginsburg took care with her opinions, those for the majority as well as those in dissent. Her opinions were tightly composed, with straightforward declarative sentences and a minimum of jargon. She sometimes said she was inspired to pay attention to writing by studying literature under Vladimir Nabokov at Cornell. Still, it was her dissents, particularly those she announced from the bench, that received the most attention. Playing along with her crowd, she took to switching the decorative collars she wore with her judicial robe on days when she would be announcing a dissent. She even wore her “dissenting collar,” which one observer described as “resembling a piece of medieval armour,” the day after Trump’s election. One of her best-known dissents came in 2013 in Shelby County v. Holder, in which the 5-4 majority eviscerated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by invalidating the provision that required Southern jurisdictions, along with some others, to receive federal permission — “preclearance” — before making a change in voting procedures. “What has become of the court’s usual restraint?” Ginsburg demanded in an ironic reference to conservative calls for “judicial restraint.” And she ended her announcement with these words: “The great man who led the march from Selma to Montgomery and there called for the passage of the Voting Rights Act foresaw progress, even in Alabama. ‘The arc of the moral universe is long,’ he said, but ‘it bends toward justice,’ if there is a steadfast commitment to see the task through to completion. That commitment has been disserved by today’s decision.” Among Ginsburg’s roughly 200 majority opinions — seven or eight per term — one of her favourites came in a relatively obscure decision in 1996 called MLB v. SLJ The question was whether a parent whose parental rights had been terminated by a court decree had a right to appeal even if unable to pay the cost of having the official court record prepared. The Supreme Court of Mississippi had ruled that the state had no obligation to pay for the required record, without which the appeal could not proceed. Constitutional doctrine offered no clear path to ruling for the mother, MLB With few exceptions, most notably the right to a lawyer for an indigent criminal defendant, the Constitution does not grant affirmative rights, and Supreme Court precedent rejects the notion that poverty is a condition deserving of special judicial consideration as a matter of equal protection. So Ginsburg anchored her 6-3 decision in a separate line of cases in which the court had treated protection for family relationships as fundamental. “The state may not bolt the door to equal justice” when it came to parental rights, she wrote in an opinion that delicately threaded the needle between unfavourable Supreme Court precedents and those from which favourable legal authority could be extrapolated. “In this context,” Professor Martha Minow, a dean of Harvard Law School, wrote in an admiring essay on the opinion, “Justice Ginsburg’s opinion for the court in MLB v SLJ is truly extraordinary.” A decision in 2017 addressed the differential treatment imposed by federal immigration law on unwed mothers and unwed fathers who seek to transmit their American citizenship to their children born overseas. Under the law, the mother could transmit her American citizenship as long as she had lived in the United States for at least one year. For fathers, the requirement was five years. The assumption built into the law was that while the mother’s identity was obvious, it was less so for fathers, who were less likely to assume the responsibility of parenthood on behalf of their out-of-wedlock offspring. Writing for a 6-2 majority in Sessions v. Morales-Santana, Ginsburg found the law to violate the constitutional guarantee of equal protection. The sex-based distinction, she wrote, was “stunningly anachronistic,” reflecting “an era when the law books of our nation were rife with overbroad generalisations about the way men and women are.” Invoking language she had used for many decades, first as an advocate and now as a justice, she continued: “Overbroad generalisations of that order, the court has come to comprehend, have a constraining impact, descriptive though they may be of the way many people still order their lives.” No Fear on the Bench Asked often to explain the success of her 1970s litigation campaign, Ginsburg usually offered some version of having been in the right place with the right arguments at the right time. “How fortunate I was to be alive and a lawyer,” she wrote in the preface to “My Own Words,” a compilation of her writing published in 2016, “when, for the first time in U.S. history, it became possible to urge, successfully, before legislatures and courts, the equal-citizenship stature of women and men as a fundamental constitutional principle.” Still, she could not fully deny that she had played more than a walk-on role. “What caused the court’s understanding to dawn and grow?” she asked in an article published in the Hofstra Law Review in 1997. “Judges do read the newspapers and are affected, not by the weather of the day, as distinguished constitutional law professor Paul Freund once said, but by the climate of the era. “Supreme Court justices, and lower court judges as well, were becoming aware of a sea change in United States society. Their enlightenment was advanced publicly by the briefs filed in court and privately, I suspect, by the aspirations of the women, particularly the daughters and granddaughters, in their own families and communities.” Ginsburg was as precise in her appearance as in her approach to her work. She wore her dark hair pulled back and favoured finely tailored suits by designer Giorgio Armani, interspersed occasionally with flamboyantly patterned jackets acquired on distant travels. She appeared on several lists of best-dressed women. Although on the bench she was an active and persistent questioner, in social settings she tended to say little. She often let her more outgoing and jovial husband speak for her, and she struck those who did not know her well as shy and even withdrawn — although in talking about her great love, opera, she could become almost lyrical. Still, there was so little wasted motion that it was nearly impossible to imagine her as the high school cheerleader and twirler she had once been. It was not so much that there were two sides to her personality, as it might have appeared, as that her innate shyness simply disappeared when she had a job to do. She once recalled that before her first Supreme Court argument, she was so nervous that she did not eat lunch “for fear I might throw up.” But about two minutes into the argument, “the fear dissolved,” she said. She realised that she had a “captive audience” of the most powerful judges in America, and “I felt a surge of power that carried me through.”   © 2020 New York Times News Service