World
Asia bears biggest climate-change brunt amid extreme weather: WMO
World Meteorological Organization says floods and storms were leading cause of casualties and economic losses as impact of heatwaves becomes more severe.
Asia was the region most affected by climate change, weather and water-related hazards globally last year, the United Nations weather agency has said.
In a report published on Tuesday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said floods and storms were the main cause of casualties and economic damage in 2023, while the impact of heatwaves became more severe.
It found that Asia has been warming faster than the global average, with temperature rises in 2023 averaging nearly 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1961-90 average.
“Many countries in the region experienced their hottest year on record in 2023, along with a barrage of extreme conditions, from droughts and heatwaves to floods and storms,” WMO chief Celeste Saulo said in a statement.
She added that climate change “exacerbated the frequency and severity of such events”, calling the report’s conclusions “sobering”.
The agency said 79 disasters associated with water-related weather hazards were reported in Asia last year. Of those, some 80 percent were floods and storms, with more than 2,000 deaths and nine million people directly affected.
The State of the Climate in Asia 2023 report also found that floods were the leading cause of death in reported events in 2023 “by a substantial margin”.
Hong Kong recorded 158.1mm (6.2 inches) of rainfall in one hour on September 7 – the highest since records began in 1884 – as a result of a typhoon.
The report also highlighted that most glaciers in the high mountain region in Asia had lost significant mass because of record-breaking high temperatures and dry conditions.
Precipitation was below normal in the Himalayas and in the Hindu Kush mountain ranges in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2023, while southwest China suffered from a drought, with below-normal precipitation levels in nearly every month of the year.
Particularly high average temperatures were recorded from western Siberia to Central Asia, and from eastern China to Japan, the report said, with Japan having its hottest summer on record.
‘Urgency’ for action
The report comes as a number of Asian countries have been hit by severe floods in recent weeks.
In southern China, more than 100,000 people were evacuated on Tuesday due to heavy rain and floods that have killed at least four people. Meanwhile, authorities in Afghanistan and Pakistan last week declared a state of emergency in some regions after heavy rains and flash floods killed at least 100 people.
The WMO said there was an urgent need for national weather services across Asia to improve tailored information to officials working on reducing disaster risks.
“It is imperative that our actions and strategies mirror the urgency of these times,” said Saulo.
“Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the evolving climate is not merely an option, but a fundamental necessity.”
Russia and Ukraine failed to agree on a range of critical issues when they held peace talks in the spring of 2022. Documents from those talks obtained by The New York Times shed new light on what those issues were — and what are likely to be the main sticking points in any future negotiations to end Europe’s biggest land war in generations.
President Vladimir V. Putin had referred to the 2022 talks as a foundation for any future deal, but shifted to a harder line on Friday, demanding Ukraine cede territory that is not even under Russian control. Ukrainian and Western officials have long suspected that Russia would not be willing to settle for anything less than the full subjugation of Ukraine.
1. Ukrainian neutrality:
Will it join NATO?
Ukraine’s efforts to join the Western military alliance were at the core of Mr. Putin’s justifications for invading the country in February 2022.
Russia’s Position
Russia demanded that Ukraine never join NATO or other alliances; host foreign military bases or weapons; or conduct military exercises with other countries without its consent. In the 2022 talks, Russia pledged not to stand in the way of Ukraine’s possible membership in the European Union.
Ukraine’s Position
Ukraine offered to become a “permanently neutral state” and to “terminate international treaties and agreements that are incompatible with permanent neutrality.” But in the two years since, Ukraine’s leaders have become more vocal about seeking to join the Western military alliance as Russia’s war has continued.
2. Security guarantees:
What happens if Ukraine is attacked again?
Pledges from other countries to protect Ukraine if Russia mounts another invasion are bound to be at the center of any durable peace, some experts say.
Ukraine’s Position
Ukraine proposed a security mechanism that would be triggered “in the event of an armed attack on Ukraine.” The “guarantor” countries that signed on to the treaty would hold “urgent and immediate consultations” for no more than three days. Then, they would take “individual or joint action as may be necessary” to protect Ukraine, including establishing a no-fly zone, providing weapons and using military force.
Russia’s Position
Russia agreed to much of Ukraine’s security guarantees proposal but with key exceptions. It balked at the idea of other countries establishing a no-fly zone or providing Ukraine with weapons. Most important, Russia sought to insert a clause that would require all guarantor countries — including Russia itself — to agree on military intervention. The idea stands as perhaps the most intractable sticking point in the draft, rendering the security guarantees moot by allowing Russia to veto any international response if it invaded Ukraine again.
There was also a question: What countries would actually be willing to guarantee Ukraine’s security? The United States, the U.K., France, China and Russia itself were all listed in the draft of the treaty as guarantors. Russia also wanted to include Belarus, while Ukraine wanted to add Turkey; it’s unclear whether the countries had given their assent. If Ukraine eventually joins NATO, the Western alliance will have to deal with similarly thorny issues about how to respond if Ukraine is attacked again.
3. Territory:
How much of Ukraine would remain under Russian occupation?
For Ukraine, a peace deal would be likely to come at the expense of accepting Russian control over some part of its territory.
Ukraine’s Position
In the 2022 talks, Ukraine refused to recognize Russian control over any of the country, including Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. But Ukraine did offer a deal in which the two countries would agree to “resolve issues related to Crimea” through 10 or 15 years of diplomacy, and would pledge to avoid doing so by “military means.”
Ukraine appeared ready to accept some swath of the country’s east also remaining under Russian occupation, with the precise contours to be hashed out in a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Mr. Putin that never came.
Mr. Zelensky’s position has since hardened. He says Ukraine is fighting to liberate all internationally recognized territory, including Crimea, under Russian control.
Russia’s Position
Russia’s stance has also fluctuated. At the outset of the 2022 negotiations, Russia demanded that Ukraine give up its entire eastern Donbas region and recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea. By April, Russia had accepted a model in which Crimea and some other parts of Ukraine would remain under Russian occupation that Ukraine would not recognize as being legal.
Now, however, Russia’s territorial demands appear more extreme. In September 2022, Mr. Putin declared four Ukrainian regions, in addition to Crimea, to be part of Russia, even though Ukraine still controlled much of that territory. On Friday, Mr. Putin went further than in the past, declaring that any ceasefire would be contingent on Ukraine ceding all four regions to Russia, none of which Russia fully controls.
4. How would a cease-fire work?
The logistics of how to put a truce into effect are likely to pose one of the most difficult challenges of any negotiations.
Russia’s Position
An annex to the April 2022 draft added by Russia’s negotiators spelled out how Moscow saw a cease-fire taking hold. They said it would begin when the treaty was “provisionally applied” — defined as the day it was signed by Ukraine and most of the guarantor countries, including Russia. Both sides would not “carry out actions that could lead to the expansion of the territory controlled by them or cause a resumption of hostilities.”
Under Russia’s proposed terms, Moscow’s troops would have more flexibility in withdrawing from the battlefield. While Ukraine would be required to withdraw immediately, Russia’s withdrawal would be the subject of separate “consultations.”
International organizations could also be involved. Russia proposed that the United Nations monitor the cease-fire and that the Red Cross participate in the exchange of prisoners of war, interned civilians and the remains of the dead.
Ukraine’s Position
The April 2022 draft shows that Ukraine rejected Russia’s proposal but does not show a Ukrainian counteroffer. Instead, Ukrainian officials pointed out that Russia could stop fighting at any time. A note inserted by Ukrainian officials into the March 2022 treaty draft says: “The Russian side has ignored Ukraine’s numerous requests for a ceasefire.”
5. Ukrainian national identity
When Mr. Putin announced his invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, he described one of his goals as the “denazification” of Ukraine. The term was widely interpreted as referring to the Kremlin’s goal of toppling Mr. Zelensky’s government and replacing it with a puppet regime.
Russia’s Position
But Russia’s definition of “denazification” shifted quickly after its initial invasion failed. Negotiators for Moscow wanted Russian to be declared an official language and laws promoting Ukrainian language and identity to be repealed. They inserted two annexes into the draft treaty listing the articles of the legal code and Ukrainian Constitution that they wanted repealed, referring to some of them as laws on “nazification and heroization of Nazism.”
Ukraine’s Position
Ukraine balked at including any of Russia’s demands in a deal to end the war, arguing that they were “not related to the subject matter of the treaty.”
6. Limits on Ukraine’s military
Mr. Putin also called for Ukraine’s “demilitarization” when he announced his invasion, like “denazification” an ill-defined term.
Russia’s Position
Russia sought caps on the size of Ukraine’s military, including its total strength (up to 100,000 people), and the quantity of different types of weapons it would have — 147 mortars and 10 combat helicopters, for example. It also wanted the firing range of Ukraine’s missiles to be restricted to just 25 miles.
Ukraine’s Position
In the 2022 talks, Ukraine was willing to accept caps on the size of its military, but much higher ones. It sought an army of up to 250,000 people, 1,080 mortars and 60 combat helicopters. And it offered to restrict the range of its missiles to 174 miles. But that was before Ukraine began to receive significant amounts of arms, equipment and training from the West. Ukrainian officials point out that Ukraine’s military is now one of the most powerful in Europe, and it is unlikely that they would accept limits on the country’s ability to defend itself.
Original documents
To omit identifying markings, these documents have been retyped to resemble the originals. Typographical errors in the original documents have been retained.
March 17, 2022, treaty draft An early draft of a Ukraine-Russia treaty. The document is an English translation that Ukraine provided to Western governments at the time. [English]
March 29, 2022, Istanbul Communiqué The proposed agreement that was discussed at in-person talks in Istanbul, as summarized by Ukrainian negotiators. [English translation] [Russian original]
April 15, 2022, treaty draft A later draft of a Ukraine-Russia treaty. The document’s header shows this was a version that landed on President Vladimir Putin’s desk. The map referred to as Annex 6 is not included. [English translation] [Russian original]
A video has gone viral showing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni looking not too thrilled about shaking the hand of French President Emmanuel Macron during the G-7 summit in Italy.
The video clip from Friday shows Macron going down a line, shaking the hands of Italian President Sergio Mattarella and his daughter, First Lady of Italy Laura Mattarella, before arriving at Meloni.
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, listens to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in a working session with world leaders during a G-7 summit at Borgo Egnazia, Italy, on Thursday. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
As Macron makes his way down the line, Meloni can be seen giving a frosty “death stare” at Macron. When the French leader arrives, she appears to force a smile as the two shake hands.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stares at French President Emmanuel Macron after shaking hands at the G-7 summit. (Fox News Digital)
The exchange came after the two leaders clashed over the use of the word “abortion” in the G-7 statement. Meloni’s government had sought to water down references to abortion in the final statement issued by all the G-7 nations at the end of the summit.
SPOTLIGHT ON ITALY’S MELONI AS SHE HOSTS BIDEN, G-7 LEADERS AMID ONGOING GLOBAL CRISIS
The final statement, released Friday, omits the word “abortion” but does reference the need to promote “reproductive health and rights.”
Macron said that he regretted the decision, telling an Italian reporter on Thursday, “It’s not a vision that’s shared across all the political spectrum.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni speaks during a final media conference at the G-7 in Borgo Egnazia, near Bari in southern Italy, on Saturday. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
“I regret it, but I respect it because it was the sovereign choice of your people,” Macron said.
Meloni told reporters Saturday that a suspected row with Macron had been blown out of proportion.
Meloni, who in 2022 became Italy’s first female Prime Minister, campaigned with the slogan of “God, fatherland, and family.” She has prioritized encouraging women to have babies to reverse Italy’s demographic crisis.
Italy legalized abortion in 1978, and Meloni has promised she won’t roll back the law.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Meloni’s office for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Maintaining security for more than 50 heads of state and government is not an easy matter, and Switzerland has deployed up to 4,000 soldiers to do so.
The security arrangements at the luxury Bürgenstock resort near Lucerne for the Summit for Peace in Ukraine are colossal.
Soldiers have taken position at the multiple checkpoints set up on the winding roads leading up to the resort.
Around 6.5 kilometres of fencing and eight kilometres of barbed wire have been installed around the perimeter.
To protect the more than 50 heads of state including French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and US Vice President Kamala Harris, up to 4,000 soldiers have been deployed, said Viola Amherd, the president of the Swiss confederation during a press conference held on Monday.
“An event on this scale requires comprehensive protective measures,” Swiss President Viola Amherd said ahead of the summit.
In addition, a temporary military heliport has been set up in the middle of a field to allow take-offs and landings of the different delegations.
The Bürgenstock Hotel has a long history of high-level political meetings and its isolated mountaintop location provides an extra layer of security.
The swanky resort had hosted previous peace talks on Sudan in 2002 and Cyprus in 2004.
Threats of cyberattacks and disinformation
The threats are not only physical but also include cyberattacks and disinformation surrounding the event.
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said there was “an obvious interest in disturbing the smooth running of the conference.”
The first wave of distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS) on government websites began on Thursday.
DDoS attacks aim to overload websites with a large number of requests. The data volume usually cannot be handled by a single organisation causing the website and computer system to crash.
More attacks are expected during the weekend, according to the Swiss National Cyber Security Centre.
How have locals been impacted?
More than 400 residents with homes and farms beyond the checkpoints need a special pass to access the zone.
According to the Swiss news website Watson, some residents have expressed their frustration with the organisation of the conference.
“No one has asked us our opinion,” said a woman. “That damn noise all the time”, also exclaimed another resident, after the passage of a helicopter.
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