WASHINGTON: Hurricane Humberto strengthened to a major Category 3 storm on Tuesday and was expected to pass near Bermuda, threatening it with dangerous waves and heavy rain, the US National Hurricane Center said."Hurricane conditions are expected to reach Bermuda by Wednesday night and continue into early Thursday morning," the Miami-based NHC said."Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or so, but Humberto should remain a powerful hurricane through Thursday," it said.As of 8:00 pm (0000 GMT), the storm had maximum sustained winds of 115 miles per hour (185 kilometers per hour) and was moving east-northeast at 12 miles per hour.
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Tuesday, 17 September 2019
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WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will leave Tuesday for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to "counter Iranian aggression" after an attack on oil infrastructure, officials said.The State Department said Pompeo would meet Wednesday in Jeddah with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and then go to Abu Dhabi to see Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.With the powerful Saudi prince, Pompeo will discuss "the recent attack on the kingdom´s oil facilities and coordinate efforts to counter Iranian aggression in the region," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said.The talks come after an attack in Saudi Arabia on Abqaiq, one of the world´s largest oil facilities.Pompeo´s trip was earlier announced by Vice President Mike Pence who, reiterating the tone set by President Donald Trump, said it was "certainly looking like Iran was behind these attacks.""As the president said, we don´t want war with anybody but the United States is prepared," Pence said at the Heritage Foundation."We´re locked and loaded and we´re ready to defend our interests and allies in the region, make no mistake about it," he said.A US official earlier said on condition of anonymity that Washington was certain that the missiles came from Iranian soil.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the attack was carried out in self-defense by Yemen´s Huthi rebels, who enjoy backing from Tehran and have borne the brunt of a Saudi-led air campaign that has contributed to a humanitarian crisis.
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WASHINGTON: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday the world was "losing the race" to avert climate disaster, but that greenhouse gas reduction targets were not out of reach yet.He was speaking during an interview with the Covering Climate Now coalition of media, which includes AFP, days before a UN youth climate summit that will be followed by a meeting with world leaders, where he will urge countries to raise their commitments set under the Paris agreement.The landmark accord saw countries pledge to limit the long-term rise in the average temperature of the Earth to two degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels, and if possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius."What I want is to have the whole of society putting pressure on governments to make governments understand they need to run faster, because we are losing the race," he said, adding: "What the science tells us today is that these targets are still reachable."Guterres said that inaction by some key countries, including the US, could be at least partly offset by action at the sub-national level, for example in the carbon neutral pledges made by the states of California and New York."I think one of the best things of the US society is the fact that it is a federal country... that decisions are decentralized, so I will be always very strongly in favor of keeping decisions on climate change as decentralized as possible," he said.He noted that major cities, regions and businesses were taking over, and that banks and investment funds were pulling out of the coal and fossil fuel sectors.Guterres also cited the example of the European Union, where only three countries now oppose the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, and said that he felt a "new wind" in the push for renewable energy, especially with the growth of solar in India and China.Failure to meet the goals laid out under the Paris agreement could lead to the crossing of so-called "tipping points" such as the thawing of the Earth´s permafrost that further accelerate warming, creating a situation where extreme weather events become the norm.Guterres said he was heartened by growing societal awareness, which meant that hope was not yet lost, "but that requires profound changes in the way we produce food, in the way we power our economies, in the way we organize our cities, in the way we produce energy.""I feel that more and more people, companies, cities, and governments, are understanding that needs to be done," he said.
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WASHINGTON: Barack Obama met with teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg in Washington, the former US president said Tuesday.Obama announced the Monday meeting via Twitter, hailing the 16-year-old as "one of our planet´s greatest advocates."The Obama Foundation released a video of the former president´s meeting with Thunberg -- who is visiting the United States after crossing the Atlantic in an emissions-free boat."No one is too small to have an impact and change the world, so just do everything you can. Be creative," Thunberg said during the meeting."You and me, we´re a team," said Obama, before asking the young activist if she believed in fist bumping, to which she responded in the affirmative."Recognizing that her generation will bear the brunt of climate change, she´s unafraid to push for real action," Obama wrote on Twitter.On Friday, Thunberg took part in a climate demonstration in front of the White House in Washington, and on September 20 will participate in a "global climate strike" in New York along with other protests around the world.
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Monday, 16 September 2019
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