News in Brief-(2023-11-11)

Last 12 months on Earth were the hottest
ever recorded, analysis finds
NEW YORK, Nov 10: The last 12 months were the hottest Earth has ever recorded, according to a new report by Climate Central, a nonprofit science research group. The peer-reviewed report says burning gasoline, coal, natural gas and other fossil fuels that release planet-warming gases like carbon dioxide, and other human activities, caused the unnatural warming from November 2022 to October 2023. Over the course of the year, 7.3 billion people, or 90% of humanity, endured at least 10 days of high temperatures that were made at least three times more likely because of climate change. "People know that things are weird, but they don't they don't necessarily know why it's weird. They don't connect back to the fact that we're still burning coal, oil and natural gas," said Andrew Pershing, a climate scientist at Climate Central. — AP
Biden to register for S Carolina primary
NEW YORK, Nov 10: US President Joe Biden's re-election campaign on Friday will register for the South Carolina Democratic primary, the party's first official clash and an early enthusiasm test for a president dogged by a rash of recent polls that show declining support among Black voters. The state's Feb 3 primary will represent the first time Biden faces a contested election since 2020, squaring off against long shots Dean Phillips, a Minnesota congressman, and self-help guru Marianne Williamson. It will mark a return to a state that Biden credits with catapulting him to the White House. While Biden is unlikely to face serious competition, a strong primary turnout in a state where the majority of Democratic voters are Black would calm fears about Biden's 2024 electability. — Reuters
No ‘casualties’ from Iran-linked site strike
WASHINGTON, Nov 10: The US does not currently believe its strike on an Iran-linked weapons storage site in Syria resulted in casualties, the Pentagon said on Thursday. Two American warplanes hit the site in Syria's Deir Ezzor province the day before in an operation that US officials said was in response to attacks on the country's troops in the Middle East. "As of right now, we are not assessing that there were any casualties," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists.That assessment contradicts a report the previous day from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, which said the strike killed nine people affiliated with Iran-backed groups. The US military also hit two facilities in Syria on October 26 that it said were used by Iran and affiliated organizations, and likewise assessed that those strikes did not cause casualties. — AFP
Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon down 22pc
BRASILIA, Nov 10: Brazilian Amazon deforestation fell 22.3 percent in the year through July, hitting a five-year low, officials said Thursday, as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government fights to curb destruction of the world's biggest rainforest. Satellite monitoring found 9,001 square kilometers (3,475 square miles) of forest cover was destroyed in the Brazilian Amazon from August 2022 to July 2023, according to national space agency INPE's annual deforestation tracking program, PRODES. It was the first time the figure came in at less than 10,000 square kilometers since 2018, before the presidency of far-right ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), who presided over a sharp increase in clear-cutting in the Amazon. Since taking office on January 1, the Lula administration has dramatically increased anti-deforestation operations and fines for environmental crimes. — AFP
Myanmar fighting displaces 50,000 civilians
YANGON, Nov 10: Almost 50,000 people have been displaced by fighting in northern Myanmar after an alliance of ethnic armed groups launched an offensive against the military two weeks ago, the United Nations said Friday. "As of 9 November, almost 50,000 people in northern Shan were forced into displacement," the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an update. — AFP