Six In The Morning Wednesday 3 November 2021

 Cop26 emission pledges may limit global heating to below 2C

University of Melbourne research suggests India’s plans could make sizeable difference to projections

Fiona Harvey, Adam Morton and Jonathan Watts

Wed 3 Nov 2021 13.35 GMT

The pledges on greenhouse gas emissions on the table at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow would limit global temperature rises to below 2C, the first time the world has been on such a trajectory, according to research.

Plans by India, the world’s third biggest emitter, have made a sizeable difference to the global temperature estimate, research by the University of Melbourne has found.

If its commitments and those of other nations at the talks are fulfilled, temperatures would probably rise by about 1.9C above pre-industrial levels. That would be lower than the 2C upper limit but higher than the 1.5C lower limit set out in the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

Captain of fishing boat held in France told court will rule by ‘midnight’ on releasing vessel

The court hearing is taking place in Rouen

Peter Allen

In Paris

The skipper of the British vessel held in Le Havre amid the row over post-Brexit fishing licences between the UK and France arrived at a court on Wednesday, seeking the release of his boat.

Jondy Ward, the captain of the Scottish-registered scallop dredger Cornelis Gert Jan, entered the Court of Appeal in Rouen at around 10.45am local time.

Mr Ward, who was wearing a light blue shirt, smiled and replied “hope so” when asked by reporters if he was going home today.

Ethiopia's Tigray conflict marked by 'extreme brutality,' possible 'war crimes'

The UN-led report on human rights violations in Ethiopia's Tigray holds all parties — government troops and Tigrayan forces — responsible for committing gross abuses. It even warned of possible "crimes against humanity."

A long-awaited report on human rights abuses during the civil conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region has revealed that all sides fighting in the conflict committed violations that may amount to war crimes. 

The investigation, led by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and published Wednesday morning, is among the first investigations into human rights violations and violence that has killed thousands of people in the country over the past year. 

Uncertainty for Syrians in Turkey as opposition warms to Assad

Growing anti-Syrian refugee sentiment has led many to question the fate of Syrians should the AKP party be voted out.

 Taha Elgazi says he is on a mission to meet anyone who hates refugees.

The 37-year-old fled the war in Syria in 2013 for Turkey, leaving behind his home in Deir Az Zor and a dream of obtaining a doctorate in cosmology. He has made important strides over the years in Istanbul, teaching physics for a time in schools for Syrian children, and being chosen as a skilled enough professional to obtain Turkish nationality, something fewer than 200,000 of 3.7 million Syrians like him in the country have been able to gain.

Nigeria is oil rich and energy poor. It can't wait around for cheaper batteries

By Hanna Ziady, CNN Business

Updated 0949 GMT (1749 HKT) November 3, 2021

Should Nigeria's natural riches remain in the ground?

Africa's biggest economy has 206 million people, endemic poverty and vast energy reserves that could be harnessed to fuel development. But it's coming under huge pressure from developed countries to abandon fossil fuels and shift to renewable energy in order to help save the climate.

Nigeria is not the only country confronting this dilemma. At the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, developing economies across Africa, Asia and Latin America are facing increasing pressure to cut carbon emissions at the very moment they are industrializing, a process that powered the advance of the West and lifted billions of people out of poverty.

Feds seek tougher sentences for veterans who stormed Capitol

MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

During his 27 years in the U.S. Army, Leonard Gruppo joined the Special Forces, served in four war zones and led a team of combat medics in Iraq before retiring in 2013 as a lieutenant colonel.

During his six minutes inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Gruppo joined a slew of other military veterans as a mob of pro-Trump rioters carried out an unparalleled assault on the bastion of American democracy. He's among dozens of veterans and active-service members charged in connection with the insurrection.

Now, cases like his are presenting a thorny question for federal judges to consider when they sentence veterans who stormed the Capitol: Do they deserve leniency because they served their country or tougher punishment because they swore an oath to defend it?