Saturday, July 8, 2023

Six In The Morning Saturday 8 July 2023

 

Cluster bombs: Biden defends decision to send Ukraine controversial weapons


US President Joe Biden has defended his "very difficult decision" to give Ukraine cluster bombs, which have a record of killing civilians.

The president said it had taken him "a while to be convinced to do it", but he had acted because "the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition".

Ukraine's leader hailed the "timely" move.

But the UK's PM suggested the country "discourages" the use of cluster bombs, while Spain criticised the decision.



South Koreans confront IAEA chief over Fukushima water release

Rafael Grossi met with protests in Seoul during visit to try to calm fears over radioactive water discharge

Protesters have confronted the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog during a visit to South Korea in an attempt to calm fears over Japan’s plan to discharge treated radioactive water from its Fukushima plant.

Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, arrived in Seoul on Friday to meet the foreign minister and a top nuclear safety official during a three-day visit after his trip to Japan.

Earlier in the week, the IAEA said a two-year review showed Japan’s plans for the water release from the tsunami-hit plant would have a negligible effect on the environment.


How the Taliban are violating women's rights in Afghanistan


By shutting down thousands of beauty salons across Afghanistan, the Taliban have taken another great stride toward erasing women from public life. Here are some of the other restrictions faced by Afghan women.


Thousands of beauty salons will be forced to shut down in Afghanistan this month following a decree by the Taliban. For many women, these salons were their last remaining opportunity to earn money legally. Not only were they the sole source of income for many families, but they also provided safe spaces for women to meet, exchange thoughts and feel welcome.

Hardly any other country restricts women's rights as much as Afghanistan. Here, women report living in prison-like conditions that widely forbid them from taking part in public life.

"Over the past 22 months, every aspect of women's and girls' lives has been restricted. They are discriminated against in every way," the United Nations (UN) Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif said in a statement on June 19.


Police violence: Hundreds defy Paris protest ban a week after riots


Dozens of marches against police violence in France kicked off on Saturday after authorities banned a memorial rally in Paris, fearful of reigniting the recent unrest that engulfed the country.


More than 1,000 people rallied in Paris's Place de la République to honour Adama Traoré, a young black man who died in police custody in July 2016, after authorities banned a commemorative march north of Paris in Persan and Beaumont-sur-Oise.

Assa Traoré, Adama's older sister and a leading figure in the fight against police violence, on Friday announced that she would instead rally in central Paris to “tell the whole world that our dead have the right to exist, even in death”.

French authorities also banned the Paris rally but Traoré and her fellow protesters chose to defy them. 

"We're marching for young people, to denounce police violence. They want to hide our dead," she told the crowd on Saturday. 

"Neo-Nazis are allowed to march, but we're not allowed to march. France can't give lessons in morality. Its police are racist, its police are violent," Traoré added. 


Iran publicly executes two over deadly Shiraz shrine attack

Five people were arrested over the attack last year, two of whom were executed and three received prison terms.



Iran has publicly executed two people over a deadly attack on a shrine in southern Shiraz last year that was claimed by the ISIL (ISIS) armed group.

The two men, identified as Mohammed Ramez Rashidi and Naeem Hashem Qatali, were hanged in the early hours of Saturday after the Supreme Court confirmed their sentences, according to the official news outlet of the judiciary.

The Shah Cheragh Shrine in the province of Fars, one of the most important shrines in Shia Islam, was attacked on October 26, 2022.


Global heat in ‘uncharted territory’ as scientists warn 2023 could be the hottest year on record

Published 4:05 AM EDT, Sat July 8, 2023


 

The world is blasting through climate records as scientists sound the alarm: The likelihood is growing that 2023 could be the hottest year on record, and the climate crisis could be altering our weather in ways they don’t yet understand.

And they are not holding back – “extraordinary,” “terrifying” and “uncharted territory” are just a few of the ways they have described the recent spike in global temperature.

This week, the planet’s average daily temperature soared to highs unseen in modern records kept by two climate agencies in the US and Europe.

While the records are based on data that only goes back to the mid-20th century, they are “almost certainly” the warmest the planet has seen over a much longer time period – “probably going back at least 100,000 years,” according to Jennifer Francis, a senior scientist at Woodwell Climate Research Center.











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