Six In The Morning Friday 29 October 2021

 

US vs. China: How the world's two biggest emitters stack up on climate

By Helen Regan and Carlotta Dotto, CNN
Graphics by Natalie Croker, Marco Chacon and Henrik Pettersson, CNN

Updated 1208 GMT (2008 HKT) October 29, 2021

China and the United States are the world's two biggest greenhouse gas emitters, so any attempt to address the climate crisis will need to involve deep emissions cuts from these two powerhouse nations.

China's emissions are more than double those of the US, but historically, the US has emitted more than any other country in the world.

There are many factors to consider when judging a country's climate credentials, and as leaders gather in Glasgow, Scotland for COP26 from Sunday, the US' and China's plans will be in the spotlight. 

Capitol attack panel faces pivotal moment as Trump allies stonewall

Questions about Trump’s role in 6 January may go unanswered unless House investigators can secure a breakthrough to obtain documents and testimony

Hugo Lowell in Washington

Fri 29 Oct 2021 11.00 BST

The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack is confronting a pivotal moment as resistance from top Trump administration aides threatens to undermine their efforts to uncover the extent of the former president’s involvement in the 6 January insurrection.

The select committee remains in the evidence-gathering phase of the investigation that now encompasses at least five different lines of inquiry from whether Donald Trump abused the presidency to reinstall himself in office or coordinated with far-right rally organizers.

But unless House investigators can secure a breakthrough to obtain documents and testimony from Trump’s White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and others in the next few weeks, the most pressing questions about Trump’s role in 6 January may go unanswered, two sources said.

Living and working on Georgia's largest garbage dump

Environmentalists fear pollution from the Gonio landfill is seeping into the air, soil and waters of the Black Sea. But government plans to close it have left many waste pickers worrying about an uncertain future.

"Look at what we have done to our Earth," said Gocha Dumbadze, walking across the mountain of household and industrial rubbish known as the Gonio landfill. Seagulls screech overhead as a truck dumps bags of food scraps, cans, engine oil and broken glass. The stench of burning waste fills the air. A herd of cows chew on plastic bags. 

The dump lies 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Batumi, Georgia's second-largest city, sometimes referred to as Las Vegas on the Black Sea for its casinos. What began in the mid-1960s under the Soviet occupation as an unofficial dumpsite has now grown to cover roughly 300,000 square meters (74 acres) and tower 12-15 meters (nearly 50 feet) into the air.

Six years on, is the Paris climate deal working?

Remember the cheers, the hugging, the tears? On December 12, 2015, after two weeks of gruelling talks, delegates from almost every country on the planet signed up to a landmark climate accord at the COP21 summit in the outskirts of Paris, sparking euphoric celebrations in the bleak conference hall where the deal was finally hammered out.

Bucking a depressing trend of failed climate talks, the Paris Agreement marked the first time rich and poor countries united in support of a legally binding treaty aimed at curbing global warming. More than 190 parties pledged to limit the planet’s heating to “well below” 2°C (3.6°Fahrenheit) compared with pre-industrial levels while aiming for an even more ambitious goal of 1.5°C (2.7°Fahrenheit).

Six years on, as negotiators gather for another “last chance” summit in Glasgow, the euphoria that greeted the Paris accord has largely faded. Under the deal hammered out in 2015, all signatories were given five years to submit their roadmaps to slash greenhouse gas emissions – officially known as their “Nationally Determined Contributions” (NDCs). But despite a 12-month extension due to the Covid-19 pandemic, most countries are still struggling to translate the promises of the COP21 into concrete measures.

Slavery is alive in Mali and continues to wreak havoc on lives

While slavery was abolished during colonial rule, local communities still place their descendants at society’s margins.

By Mucahid Durmaz

Published On 29 Oct 2021

It was supposed to be a joyful occasion. Young men and women gathered in a circle, displaying their dance moves as they celebrated Mali’s independence day in the country’s western region of Kayes.

But things took a dark turn when a group of people carrying thick wooden sticks and machetes appeared all of sudden.

The celebrating crowd – people from the so-called “slave” class – were brutally attacked and publicly humiliated by the descendants of slaveholder families who consider themselves “nobles”.

Stoke Mandeville: Roman sculptures HS2 find astounding, expert says

Archaeologists have uncovered an "astounding" set of Roman sculptures on the HS2 rail link route.

Two complete sculptures of what appear to be a man and a woman, plus the head of a child, were found at an abandoned medieval church in Buckinghamshire.

The discoveries at the old St Mary's Church in Stoke Mandeville have been sent for specialist analysis.

Dr Rachel Wood, lead archaeologist for HS2 contractor Fusion JV, said they were "really rare finds in the UK".