Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Six In The Morning Tuesday 20 July 2021

 

Scientists are worried by how fast the climate crisis has amplified extreme weather


Updated 1200 GMT (2000 HKT) July 20, 2021


Until recentlyclimate change had been talked about as a future threat. Its frontlines were portrayed as remote places like the Arctic, where polar bears are running out of sea ice to hunt from. Sea level rise and extreme drought was a problem for the developing world.

But in the past month, it's been the developed world on the frontline.
In the past four weeks, floods in Germany engulfed streets and swallowed homes that had stood for more than a century in the quiet village of Schuld. A Canadian town of just 250 -- known more for its cool, mountain air -- burned to the ground in a wildfire that followed unprecedented heat.


Oregon’s enormous Bootleg fire expands to cover 564 square miles


One of the largest fires in modern Oregon history has burned an area half the size of Rhode Island


 and agencies

Fulled by erratic winds and dry lightning, the enormous Bootleg fire in southern Oregon burned through another 47,000-plus acres on Monday to reach an estimated total of 364,000 acres (564 sq miles) – an area more than half the size of Rhode Island.

The challenging weather conditions have added to the dangers for the crews in parched Oregon forests who are battling the fire, currently the largest in the US.

Personnel had managed to carve containment lines around 30% of the perimeter by late Monday, up from 22% the day before, the Oregon Forestry Department reported.


Why is Pakistan seeing a surge in Taliban support?

Pakistani citizen Abdul Rasheed died in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province earlier this month. Hundreds of people attended the 22-year-old's funeral near Peshawar and chanted pro-Taliban slogans.

Videos of Pakistani citizens holding Taliban flags and chanting Islamist slogans at rallies to show support for the Afghan insurgents have been circulating on social media. This comes amid rapid Taliban advances in Afghanistan ahead of the complete withdrawal of US troops by September. 

Islamic clerics in various parts of the country are also soliciting support for the Afghan Taliban and calling for donations.


French prosecutors open probe into alleged use of Pegasus malware to spy on journalists

Prosecutors in Paris said Tuesday they had opened a probe into allegations that Moroccan intelligence services used the Israeli-made malware Pegasus to spy on several French journalists.

The investigation will examine 10 different charges, including whether there was a breach of personal privacy, fraudulent access to personal electronic devices and criminal association.

French investigative website Mediapart filed a legal complaint on Monday and satirical weekly newspaper Le Canard enchaîné is set to follow suit over the spying claims, which Morocco has denied. 

Suga says world needs to see Japan can stage safe Olympics

By GRAHAM DUNBAR

The world needs to see that Japan can stage a safe Olympics, the country’s prime minister told sports officials Tuesday ahead of the Tokyo Games.

Tens of thousands of athletes, officials, games staff and media are arriving in Japan amid a local state of emergency and widespread opposition from the general public.

Events start Wednesday — in softball and women’s soccer — two days ahead of the formal opening ceremony of an Olympics already postponed a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The world is faced with great difficulties,” Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told International Olympic Committee members in a closed-door meeting at a five-star hotel in Tokyo, adding “we can bring success to the delivery of the Games.”

Knife attack against Mali interim President Assimi Goita

Goita says he is doing ‘very well’ after the attempted stabbing attack at the Grand Mosque in Bamako.

Mali’s interim President Assimi Goita has been targeted in an attempted stabbing attack after Eid al-Adha prayers at the Grand Mosque in the capital, Bamako, his office said.

“The attacker was immediately overpowered by security. Investigations are ongoing,” the presidency said in a Twitter post on Tuesday.

The interim leader was whisked away, according to an AFP news agency journalist, who also said he saw blood at the scene, though it was not clear who had been wounded.









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