AUSTRALIA
Progress slips on emissions
The government yesterday admitted that it is off track to meet the 2030 emissions targets agreed under the Paris Agreement. The Department of the Environment and Energy said that the country is on course to meet the more modest 2020 targets, but would struggle to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 percent by the end of the following decade. The nation was last month the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas and is one of the world’s top coal producers. The conservative government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been tepid in its drive to tackle climate change and has prioritized the economy over reduction targets. He has claimed that investments in renewable energy sources mean that Australia would meet the targets “at a canter.” Although emissions forecasts have improved slightly, the government admitted that it is still a long way from the desired trajectory. The government has estimated that it would need to cut the equivalent of 695 to 762 megatonnes of carbon dioxide between 2021 and 2030. At the moment, it is forecast to miss that target by almost 20 percent. “The Morrison government has no policies to address Australia’s climate pollution problem,” the Australian Conservation Foundation said in a statement.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Coal mine blast toll up to 13
The death toll from an explosion at a coal mine has risen to 13, the Czech News Agency reported yesterday, citing company sources. State-run firm OKD said that a methane blast more than 800m underground on Thursday devastated areas of the CSM hard coal mine near the town of Karvina. An OKD spokesman was not immediately available for comment. The previously reported death toll was five and eight unaccounted for. The company said that most of the victims and injured were Polish miners provided by the firm ALPEX.
ISRAEL
Boycott fundraising halted
A US firm that makes fundraising software said that it has suspended the account of a Palestinian-led boycott movement against Israel following a complaint by a pro-Israel group that the campaign has links to militant groups. Donorbox early yesterday confirmed that the BDS campaign’s account was temporarily blocked while it investigates the allegations. The decision came in response to a complaint from Shurat HaDin, an Israeli advocacy group that files lawsuits around the world against the nation’s foes, submitted in coordination with the Ministry of Strategic Affairs. San Francisco-based Donorbox said its decision does not mean that it considers BDS to be a “nefarious” organization, adding that it has merely suspended the account while it conducts a review. The BDS movement called the Shurat HaDin’s move “McCarthyite.”
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
‘BARBAROUS ACTS’: The captain of the fishing vessel said that people in checkered clothes beat them with iron bars and that he fell unconscious for about an hour Ten Vietnamese fishers were violently robbed in the South China Sea, state media reported yesterday, with an official saying the attackers came from Chinese-flagged vessels. The men were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which Taiwan claims, as do Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnamese media did not identify the nationalities of the attackers, but Phung Ba Vuong, an official in central Quang Ngai province, told reporters: “They were Chinese, [the boats had] Chinese flags.” Four of the 10-man Vietnamese crew were rushed
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in
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