Six In The Morning Sunday 6 November 2022

Climate crisis: past eight years were the eight hottest ever, says UN

Report at Cop27 shows the world is now deep into the climate emergency, with the 1.5C heating limit ‘barely within reach’

Damian Carrington Environment editor

@dpcarrington

Sun 6 Nov 2022 12.00 GMT

The past eight years were the eight hottest ever recorded, a new UN report has found, indicating the world is now deep into the climate crisis. The internationally agreed 1.5C limit for global heating is now “barely within reach”, it said.

The report, by the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO), sets out how record high greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are driving sea level and ice melting to new highs and supercharging extreme weather from Pakistan to Puerto Rico.

The stark assessment was published on the opening day of the UN’s Cop27 climate summit in Egypt and as the UN secretary-general warned that “our planet is on course to reach tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible”.

Syria: 9 killed in shelling of Idlib tent settlements

At least nine people were killed when Syrian government forces shelled makeshift camps for displaced people in rebel-held Idlib province, a war monitor said. Rebels retaliated by targeting government positions.

Syrian government forces on Sunday shelled tent settlements housing displaced families in the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib, a war monitor and first responders said.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, government forces fired about 30 rockets at rebel-held areas including the Maram camp, killing at least nine people and wounding dozens. Among the dead were three children and a woman.

The opposition Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, reported that the shelling of at least six camps killed nine and wounded 70.

Beijing’s Long ArmChina’s Secret Police Stations in Europe

China has allegedly established dozens of police stations abroad, including many in Europe. Beijing has sought to play down the reports, but one dissident in Europe recounts how he has been constantly harassed by staff members of one such office.

By Francesco Collini, Christoph Giesen, Tobias Großekemper, Roman Lehberger, Nadia Pantel, Maik Baumgärtner und Ann-Katrin Müller

The man who has been a thorn in the side of the Chinese government for the past several weeks quickly makes another coffee and lights a cigarette. Peter Dahlin is sitting in his loft apartment in Lisbon – in the calm eye of the storm that he has triggered himself.

Originally from Sweden, Dahlin is head of the human rights organization Safeguard Defenders, and together with his colleagues, he has managed to uncover a global network of Chinese police stations that has been built up more or less in secrecy: with locations in Britain, Spain, Italy, Austria, Ireland and the Netherlands, but also in Canada and the United States. The organization lists more than 30 presumed offices in its report, complete with telephone numbers and addresses. "We expected that agencies and secret services would be interested in our findings," Dahlin says. But he wasn’t expecting a public debate in so many countries at the same time.

Tanzania plane crash death toll jumps to 19: PM

At least 19 killed and 26 rescued after the Precision Air flight plunged into Lake Victoria while attempting to land during stormy weather.

The death toll from Sunday’s plane crash in Lake Victoria in Tanzania has jumped to 19, according to the country’s Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa.

The plane, which departed from the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, crashed while attempting to land during stormy weather.

Twitter users jump to Mastodon - but what is it?

By Zoe Kleinman

Technology editor

In the wake of Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, some users have been seeking alternative platforms. One of the biggest beneficiaries has been Mastodon. But what is it?

The social network says it now has over 655,000 users - with over 230,000 having joined in the last week. 

On the surface Mastodon looks like Twitter - account users write posts (called "toots"), which can be replied to, liked and re-posted, and they can follow each other.

Under the bonnet, though, it works in a different way.

Britain’s asylum system is broken after years of political neglect. Thousands are caught in the middle

Analysis by Rob Picheta, CNN

Published 12:01 AM EDT, Sun November 6, 2022

 

On a chilly Tuesday night at London’s busy Victoria Station, a bus dropped off a group of 11 people – some wearing flip flops and without coats – and drove away.

“They were cold, hungry, stressed and disorientated,” according to homelessness charity Under One Sky, whose team spotted the group and provided assistance. The individuals had “nowhere to go” until a Home Office employee was alerted, and found the group emergency hotel accommodation.

The group was made up of asylum-seekers who had been staying at Manston migrant processing center in Kent, southern England, a facility that charities and lawmakers say has become overcrowded and descended into dire and inhumane living conditions.