Climate change: IPCC report is 'code red for humanity'
By Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent
Human activity is changing the climate in unprecedented and sometimes irreversible ways, a major UN scientific report has said.
The landmark study warns of increasingly extreme heatwaves, droughts and flooding, and a key temperature limit being broken in just over a decade.
The report "is a code red for humanity", says the UN chief.
But scientists say a catastrophe can be avoided if the world acts fast.
There is hope that deep cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases could stabilise rising temperatures.
Thousands flee Greek island as wildfires raze forest and homes
Firefighters tackle blazes on two fronts on Evia as heatwave-driven devastation across southern Europe continues
Jon Henley, Bethan McKernan, and Helena Smith in Athens
Thousands of people have fled wildfires that are destroying vast swathes of pine forest and razing homes on Greece’s second-largest island, Evia, as devastating summer blazes rage from southern Europe to Siberia.
“We have ahead of us another difficult evening, another difficult night,” Greece’s deputy civil protection minister, Nikos Hardalias, said on Sunday, adding that nearly a week after the blazes started, strong winds were driving two major fire fronts in the north and south of the island.
Seventeen firefighting planes and helicopters were in action on the island, just north-east of the capital, Athens, where fires in a northern suburb and the nearby Peloponnese region were stable, although the risk of rekindling remained high.
Taliban seize sixth provincial capital after blitz across northern Afghanistan
The Taliban seized a sixth Afghan provincial capital on Monday following a weekend blitz across the north that saw urban centres fall in quick succession and the government struggle to keep the militants at bay.
Insurgents entered Aibak without a fight after community elders pleaded with officials to spare the city from more violence following weeks of clashes on the outskirts, said Sefatullah Samangani, deputy governor of Samangan province.
"The governor accepted and withdrew all the forces from the city," Samangani added, saying the Taliban were now in "full control".
Tokyo counts cost of $15 billion pandemic Olympics
By Sara HUSSEIN
Tokyo awoke to a huge bill and soaring coronavirus cases on Monday after pulling off a mid-pandemic Olympics that at times looked impossible and had a mixed reception to the end.
Olympic officials have been predictably bullish, saying the Games offered hope and uplifting moments, and went off without any major coronavirus outbreaks.
"These Olympic Games have been a powerful demonstration of the unifying power of sport," International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach said at his closing press conference.
Australian PM approves use of Moderna COVID vaccine
Australia has a shortage of the Pfizer vaccine and a glut of locally manufactured AstraZeneca, which many are refusing to take because of the slight risk of blood clotting.
The Australian government has announced that Moderna will become the third COVID-19 vaccine to be rolled out in the country next month.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday that the Australian vaccine regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, approved Moderna for use by adults 18 years and older.
The first million doses will arrive in late September and will be part of a total of 10 million Moderna shots scheduled to be delivered to Australia by the end of this year, Morrison said.
New revelations expose future threat Trump poses
Updated 0836 GMT (1636 HKT) August 9, 2021
A burst of new disclosures exposing the extraordinary efforts by ex-President Donald Trump to steal power after his election defeat constitute a grave warning about the future and his potential bid to recapture the White House.
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