February breaks global temperature records by 'shocking' amount
Warnings of climate emergency after surface temperatures 1.35C warmer than average temperature for the month
Global temperatures in February smashed previous monthly records by an unprecedented amount, according to Nasa data, sparking warnings of a climate emergency.
The result was “a true shocker, and yet another reminder of the incessant long-term rise in global temperature resulting from human-produced greenhouse gases”, wrote Jeff Masters and Bob Henson in a blog on the Weather Underground, which analysed the data released on Saturday.
It confirms preliminary analysis from earlier in March, indicating the record-breaking temperatures.
The global surface temperatures across land and ocean in February were 1.35C warmer than the average temperature for the month, from the baseline period of 1951-1980.
Syrian civil war: West failed to factor in Bashar al-Assad's Iranian backers as the conflict developed
Five years ago, we were high on Arab revolutions, and journalists were growing used to 'liberating' Arab capitals
Just before I left Syria last month, a tall and eloquent Franco-Lebanese man walked up to me in a Damascus coffee shop and introduced himself as President Bashar al-Assad’s architect. It was his task, he led me to understand, to design the reconstructed cities of Syria.
Who would have believed it? Five years after the start of Syria’s tragedy – and within six months of this, remember, the regime itself trembled and the Western powers, flush with dangerous pride after destroying Gaddafi, predicted the imminent fall of the Assad dynasty – the Syrian government is preparing to rebuild its towns and cities.
It’s worth taking that embarrassing trip down memory lane to the early spring and summer of 2011. The US and French ambassadors visited Homs to sit amid tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators calling for the overthrow of the Assad government. EU diplomats were telling the political opposition not to negotiate with Assad – a fatal mistake, since the advice was based on the false assumption that he was about to be overthrown – and journalists were gathering with rebels in eastern Aleppo for the inevitable march of liberation on Damascus.
Unrest as Chinese workers unpaid at vast and failing state-owned Longmay coal mine
March 14, 2016 - 12:56PMChris Buckley
Beijing: Protests by angry workers that broke out at a vast failing state coal mine in the rust belt of north-east China forced a senior official to admit that he had understated their problems and indicates how President Xi Jinping's plans to shake up slumping state-owned industries could run into resistance.
The demonstrators had denounced Lu Hao, the governor of Heilongjiang province, after he said that miners working down shafts there had been paid on time even as the government was trying to cut costs and jobs at the mine.
"We must live, we must eat", said some banners displayed by protesters, according to images on a website that monitors social unrest across China. "Lu Hao tells lies while his eyes are wide open", said another.
Mr Lu made the rare and abrupt public reversal on Saturday in Beijing, where officials had gathered for the annual meeting of the legislature, the National People's Congress. Their discussion this year has focused on planned cutbacks at mines and sectors of heavy industry that are producing far more than China's slowing economy can consume.
Dalit youth killed for marrying caste Hindu girl
The gruesome daylight attack was reportedly captured on a surveillance camera installed in the locality.
In a suspected case of honour killing, a Dalit student, who had recently married a caste Hindu girl, was brutally murdered in public view in front of a shop at Udumalpet in Tirupur district on Sunday.
A three-member gang that came on a motorcycle attacked V. Sankar (22) and his wife S. Kausalya (19), with lethal weapons.
While Sankar died on the way to the hospital, his wife who suffered a head injury was admitted to the Coimbatore Government Hospital.
Relatives of the girl who had opposed her marriage with the Dalit youth are suspected to be involved in the incident.
The gruesome daylight attack was reportedly captured on a surveillance camera installed in the locality. Local people even took pictures (on mobile phones) of the suspects escaping on the motorcycle leaving the victims in a pool of blood, police sources said.
Sankar, a native of Kumaralingam near Udumalpet, and Kausalya, a native of Palani in Dindigul district, were students of a private engineering college in Pollachi where they met and fell in love. The couple got married a few months ago against the wishes of the girl’s family.
Brazilians turn out in protests against embattled president
The street protests are seen as a symptom of President Dilma Rousseff's declining approval.
Brazilians took to the streets on Sunday for a day of nationwide protests against embattled President Dilma Rousseff that are widely seen as a key test of her ability to weather the political and economic crises lashing the country.
The president faces impeachment proceedings over alleged fiscal mismanagement with the country in the throes of the worst recession in decades and amid a sprawling investigation into corruption at the state-run oil giant Petrobras.
Observers say a big turnout at Sunday's protests could further hamper Rousseff's ability to fight for her political survival amid record-low approval ratings. But anemic turnout could breathe new life into her administration by suggesting that the majority of the population opposes her ouster.
Ankara bombing: President Erdogan vows to bring terror 'to its knees'
- 14 March 2016
- Europe
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to bring terrorism "to its knees" after an attack in the capital Ankara that killed at least 36 people.
Mr Erdogan said the suicide car bomb would serve only to strengthen the resolve of Turkey's security forces.
The blast in the key transport hub of Guven Park injured more than 100. At least one suspected bomber also died.
Turkish planes bombed targets in Iraq of the Kurdish rebel PKK, which officials suspect is behind the attack.
Eleven warplanes carried out air strikes on 18 targets including ammunition dumps and shelters, the army said.
Meanwhile there are reports of curfews being imposed in areas of south-eastern Turkey as security operations are carried out against Kurdish militants.
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