Elderly Hong Kong cardinal in court over protest defence fund



Hong Kong cardinal arrives in court over protest defence fund

 (AFP/Daniel SUEN)

Xinqi SU
Mon, May 23, 2022

Ninety-year-old retired Catholic cardinal Joseph Zen appeared in a Hong Kong court Tuesday charged with failing to properly register a protest defence fund, after he was initially arrested under the city's national security law.

Zen, one of Asia's highest-ranking Catholic clerics, was among five prominent democracy advocates -- including activist and singer Denise Ho and veteran human rights barrister Margaret Ng -- who were detained earlier this month.

The group acted as trustees of a now-defunct fund that helped pay legal and medical costs for those arrested during huge and sometimes violent democracy protests three years ago.

They were arrested for "conspiracy to collude with foreign forces" but have not yet been charged with that offence, which can carry a life sentence under the sweeping security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.


Instead, all five of the fund's former trustees and its secretary were charged Tuesday with failing to register the fund as a "society" with police -- a non-national security offence that can incur a fine of up to HK$10,000 (US$1,274) for a first conviction.

Each of the defendants, apart from activist Cyd Ho, who is already serving a jail sentence for unauthorised assembly, was present in court on Tuesday.

All entered a plea of not guilty. The trial will begin September 19.

The investigation into the "612 Humanitarian Relief Fund" was triggered when one of the group, cultural studies scholar Hui Po-keung, was intercepted at Hong Kong's airport on May 10 as he tried to leave to take up an academic post in Europe.

The investigation of the fund has also led to the first complaint made by the city's national security police about "professional misconduct" by the lawyers and barristers hired by the fund's beneficiaries.

- 'Classic smearing campaign' -

Diplomats from multiple European countries including Germany, France, Sweden and Italy attended Tuesday's hearing.

Zen's arrest in particular has triggered outrage from Western nations, who have accused China of eviscerating the freedoms it once promised Hong Kong.

But on Monday, the city's security minister told local media the criticism was a "classic smearing campaign".

"To my understanding, the Vatican is a place to pursue justice and peace. If we did not act in accordance with the law because of one's role in the Holy See, then I think it would actually breach the Vatican’s principle of justice," said Chris Tang in an interview with the South China Morning Post.

China's foreign affairs commissioner in Hong Kong said the criticism proved Western nations were concerned about the "agents they deliberately cultivated".

Hong Kong's vicar general, Joseph Chan, was present in court but said he was not there as a representative of the Diocese.

"He (Zen) was my teacher, so I came," he told AFP.

Chan said he is mainly worried about Zen’s health but that he has so far appeared in good spirits.

The cardinal has arranged a nighttime mass to pray for China on Tuesday night.

su/reb/cwl

Sole survivor relives terror of Yemenia Airways crash at French trial


Bahia Bakari was just 12 when Yemenia Flight 626 crashed when trying to land in the Comoros in 2009 (AFP/Thomas SAMSON) 

Anne LEC'HVIEN
Mon, May 23, 2022, 

A woman who was just 12 when she survived the 2009 Yemenia Airways crash in the Comoros islands that killed all 152 others onboard described Monday the terrifying moments leading up to her plunge into the ocean and subsequent miraculous rescue, in the French trial against the airline.

Bahia Bakari, now 25, has sat through several hearings with her father but had not testified or spoken to journalists attending the trial that opened this month.

"I didn't see how I was going to get through this," Bakari told the court of her hours spent in the water holding on to a piece of debris, with "the taste of jet fuel" in her mouth.

Bakari and her mother left Paris on June 29, 2009, for her grandfather's wedding in the Comoros, changing planes in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa for the final leg of the trip.

"It was a smaller plane, there were flies inside and it smelled strongly like a bathroom," she said, but "the flight went normally" -- until the beginning of the landing descent.

During the night-time approach of Yemenia Flight 626 to Moroni, the capital of the Comoros islands that lie between Mozambique and Madagascar, the Airbus A310 jet plunged into the Indian Ocean with its engines running at full throttle.

"I started to feel the turbulence, but nobody was reacting much, so I told myself it must be normal," Bakari said as over 100 family members or friends of the victims listened in silence.

Suddenly "I felt something like an electric shock go through my body", she told the court.

- 'Couldn't see anyone' -

"There's a black hole between the moment when I was seated in the plane and the moment I found myself in the water."

France's overseas territory of Mayotte is part of the Comoros archipelago, and 66 French citizens were among the 142 passengers and 11 crew members aboard.

Investigators and experts found there was nothing wrong with the aircraft, blaming instead "inappropriate actions by the crew during the approach to Moroni airport, leading to them losing control".

No one from Yemenia Airlines has appeared at the trial, where prosecutors have accused the company of pilot training programmes "riddled with gaps" and of continuing to fly to Moroni at night despite its non-functioning landing lights.

Yemenia is charged with involuntary homicide and injuries. The company's lawyers have denied any wrongdoing.

Bakari, regaining consciousness in choppy waters, recalled waiting for hours in the water, trying to climb atop the largest piece of debris she could reach, but without the strength to succeed.

"I realised that voices were calling for help in Comorian, and I cried out a bit but without much hope, because there's was nothing but water around me and I couldn't see anyone," she said.

"I ended up falling asleep while holding onto the plane debris," and while she could see the coast when she woke up, "the water was really choppy."

- 'Hardest thing' -

It was thinking of her "incredibly protective" mother that helped her to hold on until she was rescued by a boat after a dozen hours in the water.

Initially she was convinced "that I was the only one who fell" and that the other passengers had arrived safely, before a psychologist at the hospital told her she was the only survivor.

"The hardest thing for me has been dealing with the grief for my mother, I was very close to her," Bakari said, her voice breaking and tears flowing for the first time during her testimony.

The Yemeni national airline, whose representatives said they could not attend the trial amid the long-running civil war in their country, faces a maximum fine of 225,000 euros ($240,000).

"It's really a shame. Even if the current management wasn't in charge at the time, it's still their company. And I and these families would have liked them to listen to us," Bakari told reporters after leaving the courtroom.

"Because often we talk about the little girl who survived, but this was first and foremost a tragedy."

alv/js/sjw/jj

AN ACOLYTE OF TRUMP
Kim Jong Un carries coffin at N. Korean military officer's funeral


North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (L) carried the coffin at the state funeral for a top military officer (AFP/STR) (STR)


Mon, May 23, 2022

A maskless Kim Jong Un was one of the pallbearers at the state funeral for a top military officer, North Korean state media reported Monday, days after Pyongyang claimed the country's Covid-19 outbreak was now under control.

Kim on Sunday attended the funeral of Hyon Chol Hae, a Korean People's Army marshal who reportedly mentored the North Korean leader to take over from his father Kim Jong Il.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released photos of Kim, not wearing a face mask, hoisting up Hyon's casket along with other regime officials, who were masked.

Hyon died of multiple organ failure at the age of 87, according to KCNA.

The North Korean leader has put himself front and centre of his country's Covid response, blaming lazy state officials for worsening the Omicron variant-fuelled outbreak.

Over the weekend, KCNA said the epidemic was now "being stably controlled", and reported the death toll "sharply decreased day by day".

Experts question the official claim and tally, given that the impoverished country has one of the world's worst healthcare systems and no Covid-19 drugs or mass testing ability.

It has not vaccinated any of its roughly 25 million people, having rejected jabs offered by the World Health Organization.

North Korea announced its first coronavirus case on May 12, despite a two-year blockade maintained since the start of the pandemic.

Pyongyang reported 167,650 "fever" cases on Monday via KCNA, a notable drop from the peak of around 390,000 reported about a week before.

It reported one more death and claimed the fatality rate for the "fever" was 0.002 percent.

State media reports do not specify how many of the cases and deaths have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Pyongyang has so far not responded to an offer of help from Seoul, according to South Korea's unification ministry.

During his visit to Seoul at the weekend, US President Joe Biden said Washington had also offered Covid-19 vaccines to Pyongyang but "got no response".

Despite the virus outbreak, new satellite imagery has indicated North Korea has resumed construction at a long-dormant nuclear reactor.

The United States and South Korea have both warned that Kim is poised to conduct another nuclear test, which would be the country's seventh.

cdl/lb

WORLD TURTLE DAY

Hundreds of endangered baby giant turtles released into Cambodian river

Hundreds of critically endangered baby giant turtles were released into Cambodia's Mekong

 River to mark World Turtle Day.

Hundreds of critically endangered baby giant turtles were released into Cambodia's Mekong River to mark World Turtle Day on Monday.

Cantor's giant softshell turtles have all but vanished across their former territory in Vietnam and Thailand thanks to poaching and illegal trade, and were only rediscovered in the Southeast Asian country in 2007.

The Wildlife Conservation Society coordinated the release of 580 hatchlings, which can grow to a length of up to 200cm (78 inches) and mainly live buried in the sand and the water, surfacing only twice a day to breathe.

Monks blessed the baby reptiles—also known as "frog-faced turtles" for their distinctive appearance—before helping conservationists and eager children send the stout-nosed snappers into the Mekong's muddy waters.

The creatures are among a batch of 982 turtles rescued as eggs—to protect them from the dangers which threaten the species' numbers—carefully incubated, hatched, and then released.

Ken Sereyrotha, country program director for WCS Cambodia, said significant progress had been made in protecting the animal in the country but more work was needed.

"This species is being threatened by illegal hunting and trafficking," he said.

Monks blessed the baby 'frog-faced turtles' before helping conservationists and eager 

children send them into the Mekong.

The WCS and Cambodia's department of fisheries conservation of fisheries administration has found and rescued more than 2,000 eggs this year—with the teams hopeful the remainder will eventually hatch.

Ouk Vibol, director of the fisheries department, urged local stakeholders to continue the conversation work, and promised that "those who still trade protected species will face legal action."

Last year, the teams managed to nurture and then release around 1,300 hatchlings into the wild.Nest of endangered giant softshell turtle found in Cambodia

© 2022 AFP

Fly me to the Moon: US, Japan aim for lunar landing

No non-American astronaut has ever landed on the lunar surface 

(AFP/Philip FONG)

Mon, May 23, 2022, 3:28 AM·1 min read

Japan and the United States said Monday they want to put the first Japanese astronaut on the Moon as the allies deepen cooperation on space projects.

No non-American has ever touched down on the lunar surface, and Japan has previously said it hopes to achieve a Moon landing by the end of this decade.

President Joe Biden, after his first face-to-face meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, said the nations will work together in the US-led Artemis programme to send humans to the Moon, and later to Mars.

Biden said he was "excited" about the collaboration, including on the Gateway facility, which will orbit the Moon and provide support for future missions.

"I'm excited (about) the work we'll do together on the Gateway Station around the Moon, and look forward to the first Japanese astronaut joining us on the mission to the lunar surface under the Artemis programme," he said at a joint press conference.

Japan's domestic space programme focuses on satellites and probes, so Japanese astronauts have turned to the US and Russia to travel to the International Space Station.

But space agency JAXA is looking to revitalise its ranks, last year launching its first recruitment of new astronauts in 13 years.

It lifted the requirement that applicants have a science degree and urged women to apply, because all seven of the nation's current astronauts are men.

hih/sah/kaf/smw/ssy

Philippines' Marcos in nuclear plant revival talks with S.Korea


The 620-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was left dormant after the elder Marcos was toppled in 1986

 (AFP/Ted ALJIBE) (Ted ALJIBE)


Mon, May 23, 2022

Philippine president-elect Ferdinand Marcos signalled his determination to adopt nuclear power Monday, holding talks with South Korea's envoy on possibly reviving a mothballed $2.2 billion plant built during his father's dictatorship.

The 620-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was left dormant after the elder Marcos was toppled in 1986.

In the run-up to the May 9 presidential election, Marcos Junior spoke about the need for nuclear power to address exorbitant electricity costs in the country.

He left open the possibility of resuscitating his father's failed venture -- an idea he is now pushing ahead of his June 30 inauguration.

Marcos said he met South Korean Ambassador to Manila Kim Inchul on Monday to discuss a proposal on reviving the Bataan plant.

"Can we continue with it or do we need to build a new one? What are the things that we will have to do?" Marcos told a news conference after the meeting.

"So we revived the discussions on it, although they have come before. We will now study their recommendations and their findings, and we will see if we can still apply," he added.

Studies by South Korean and Russian experts showed it was possible to get the plant working again, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi told a Senate hearing in 2020.

But upgrading an ageing facility fitted with outdated analogue technology could take at least four years and cost another $1 billion.

There are also question marks on its design and location.

A monument to the greed and graft of the elder Marcos's era, the plant sits 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Manila, near several volcanoes in a part of the Philippines regularly shaken by earthquakes.

"If we are going to industrialise post-pandemic, we are going to go through rapid industrialisation, then the power sector must be ready for that," Marcos said.

Building a new power plant from scratch would take three to seven years, he added.

Outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte issued an executive order earlier this year making nuclear power part of the country's planned energy mix.

The Philippines -- regularly affected by electricity outages -- relies on imported carbon-belching coal for more than half of its power generation.

Supporters of nuclear power say the technology offers a cleaner option to help meet demand.

But critics argue that renewable sources, such as wind and solar, are cheaper and safer to produce in a country hit by earthquakes, typhoons and volcanic eruptions.

cgm-mff/amj/lb

Getting away with murder in Pakistan





Khadija Siddiqi, who was stabbed 23 times and left for dead, says a culture of victim-blaming left survivors feeling like they 'deserved' what happened to them (AFP/Arif ALI)

Emma Clark with Kaneez Fatima in Lahore
Mon, May 23, 2022

When social media star Qandeel Baloch was strangled by her brother for unapologetically challenging Pakistan's attitudes towards women, activists fought for her murder to trigger a new era of justice over so-called "honour" killings.

Her killer's release in February, less than three years into a life sentence, has instead underlined how the country's legal system still allows for men to abuse, rape and murder women with impunity.

In Pakistan, overlapping legal systems riddled with loopholes and a deeply patriarchal society combine to ensure women survivors of violence are unlikely to get justice, activists, lawyers and survivors told AFP.

"The whole process from the moment a crime is committed against a woman to registering it with the police -- and then the court procedure -- is structured in such a way that justice remains elusive," said Nayab Gohar Jan, a prominent rights activist.

"Add to that societal pressures and stigmas, and you can see the odds are clearly stacked against them."

Much of Pakistani society operates under an "honour" code where women can be killed for bringing "shame" on their families by acts such as interacting with men or marrying someone they choose themselves.

More than 470 cases of "honour" killings were reported to police in 2021, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), though many cases go unreported by families who collude with the killers -- often male relatives.

Pakistan ranked 153 out 156 countries on the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap index in 2021, which noted stark disparities in access to justice, education and employment.

- Biased courts -

Baloch both captivated and scandalised Pakistan with her short skirts and provocative dancing on Facebook.

Her murder in 2016 was arguably Pakistan's most high-profile case of an "honour" killing.

Days after killing her, Muhammad Waseem defiantly told journalists that he strangled his sister because of her "intolerable" behaviour.

The government responded to public outrage with new laws against such crimes, including -- crucially -- a ban on victims' families being allowed to pardon relatives or reach out-of-court "blood money" settlements.

Waseem was convicted and sentenced to life in jail, but his lawyers found a loophole.

They successfully argued on appeal that the murder could not be classed as an "honour" killing –- rendering the legal changes inapplicable, and allowing for his mother to pardon him.

That decision is being challenged by the state.

Lawyers and activists blamed patriarchal mindsets within the justice system and a lack of women lawyers and judges for allowing "honour" killing verdicts to be overturned.

Pakistani courts are dominated by men, with less than a fifth of judges and only 12 percent of prosecutors being women, the HRCP says.

Lawyer Nida Usman Chaudhary, who founded a collective for women jurists, said male judges often show bias in their interpretation of the honour killing laws.

"You've had the Supreme Court literally coming up with case law after case law where they developed an entire defence... to give impunity to the person who is accused," she told AFP.

- Victim-blaming -

Khadija Siddiqi, who was stabbed 23 times and left for dead by her ex-boyfriend, said her legal case was "delayed so much that we were actually on the verge of giving up".

Her attacker was convicted of attempted murder, acquitted on appeal, reconvicted, and then freed early for good behaviour.

Like many instances of violence against women, Siddiqi's case was dominated by a culture of victim-blaming, pervasive throughout the police, the courts and the wider community, she told AFP.

Allegations of domestic abuse are often viewed as a family matter, and victims of gender-based crimes are treated with suspicion.

Victim-blaming attitudes go to the very top.

Last year, former prime minister Imran Khan repeatedly linked a rise in sexual assaults to women wearing "very few clothes".

In 2020, a provincial police chief publicly admonished a gang-rape victim for driving at night without a male companion.

"I was made to feel I had done something wrong and I got what I deserved," said Siddiqi.

Social media's power to challenge the indolence of the justice system is growing, but often limited to high-profile cases.

Last year, Noor Mukadam, the daughter of a former ambassador, was kidnapped, raped and beheaded by her boyfriend in Islamabad.

In February, a court sentenced Zahir Jaffer to death, in a trial that was exceptional for its pace, concluding just eight months after his arrest.

The case garnered huge attention, in part because of the brutal nature of the murder and the pair's elite status, but also because her friends were able to mobilise without fear of a backlash.

"We built the pressure... and used (social media) as a tactic," said Shafaq Zaidi, a friend of Mukadam who helped lead the campaign.

Days before Mukadam was killed, at the other end of the country Quratulain Baloch was tortured and murdered, but her case garnered little attention.

Her husband, who denies killing her, was only formally charged in March.

"As the verdict in the Noor Mukadam case was read out, Quratulain's murder trial hadn't even begun. Why has there not been the same urgency here?" bristled Sanaullah Buledi, her brother.

- Local retribution -

In Muslim-majority Pakistan, a British common law-based system uses interpretations of Islamic law, particularly in cases dealing with gender-based violence and family disputes.

In rural areas, women victims often do not get the opportunity for a trial at all.

Justice can be meted out through village councils comprising local elders –- always men –- that operate extrajudicially and often order abuse against women as a means of upholding "honour".

Although supported by many Pakistanis for their swiftness, these tribunals offer no means of appeal.

The country's powerful religious clergy has also been responsible for quashing reform.

Last year, the Council of Islamic Ideology –- a body that previously proposed legislation allowing husbands to "lightly" beat their wives -- struck down a tough new law against gender-based violence.

The appointment of the first female justice to the 17-member Supreme Court earlier this was welcomed as important step in improving the quality of justice for women.

Ayesha Malik was a Lahore High Court judge when she banned an invasive "two-finger virginity test" for rape survivors last year.

Tough new anti-rape laws have also been introduced, though their impact has yet to be seen.

For those who have gone through the system, however, the toll remains high.

"There were times when I would wish the ground would just open up and I'd hide myself there, away from the gaze of the men in court," said Siddiqi, the survivor.

kf-ecl/aha/ser/smw

Airports, public buildings forced to close in Iraq as sandstorms continue

Iraq is witnessing its ninth sandstorm since mid-April, which has forces the closure of airports and public buildings in the country.

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
23 May, 2022

Iraqi authorities have also ordered all work in public institutions to temporarily cease, with the exception of health institutions, as the country is faced with more sandstorms [Getty]

Iraq closed airports and public buildings on Monday as another sandstorm - the ninth since mid-April - hit the country, authorities said.

The capital Baghdad was enveloped in a giant dust cloud that left usually traffic-choked streets largely deserted, an AFP correspondent said.

Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhemi ordered all work to cease temporarily in public institutions, with the exception of health facilities and security agencies.

He cited "poor climatic conditions and the arrival of violent sandstorms" in a statement issued by his office.

Iraq is ranked as one of the five most vulnerable nations to climate change and desertification.

The environment ministry has warned that over the next two decades, Iraq could endure an average of 272 days of sandstorms per year, rising to above 300 by 2050

.

RELATED

Climate change poses water security risks for MENA countries

Environment and Climate

Sabena Siddiqui

Air traffic was suspended Monday at international airports in Baghdad, Erbil and Najaf, according to statements issued by each airport.

The previous two sandstorms killed one person and sent nearly 10,000 people to hospital with respiratory problems.

The Middle East has always been battered by sandstorms, but they have become more frequent and intense in recent years.

The trend has been associated with rising water scarcity, overuse of river water, more dams, overgrazing and deforestation.

Oil-rich Iraq is known in Arabic as the land of the two rivers, in reference to the Tigris and Euphrates.

Iraq's environment ministry has said the weather phenomenon could be addressed by increasing vegetation cover and planting trees that act as windbreaks.

Amnesty: Executions rise after COVID restrictions end

The application of the death penalty rose in 2021, Amnesty International has reported. However, there were signs of a move away from capital punishment in many countries.



Nations executed more people in 2021 than they did in 2022

Executions worldwide rose in 2021 compared to the previous year, Amnesty International revealed Tuesday in its annual report on the death penalty.

The human rights NGO said some states had increased capital punishment in light of relaxed COVID restrictions. However, it also noted that there were signs of continuing moves away from state-sanctioned killing on the whole.

Amnesty's report said moves to end capital punishment had been successful in several countries

Which countries carried out the most executions in 2021?

A total of 579 people were executed in 2021, according to the report. That represents a 20% increase on the previous year, but the figures do not include every execution in every country.

Amnesty cautioned that China, Vietnam and North Korea are known to conduct thousands of executions, but little is known about official numbers in those countries because of state censorship.

"China, North Korea and Vietnam continued to shroud their use of the death penalty behind layers of secrecy, but, as ever, the little we saw is cause for great alarm," said Agnes Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International, in a statement.

Of those countries that do report their executions, there were some clear standouts.

Iran executed at least 314 people, up from 246 in 2020, while Saudi Arabia is known to have executed 65 people, more than double its total for 2020.

"After the drop in their execution totals in 2020, Iran and Saudi Arabia once again ramped up their use of the death penalty last year, including by shamelessly violating prohibitions put in place under international human rights law. Their appetite for putting the executioner to work has also shown no sign of abating in the early months of 2022," said Callamard.

Some 42% of Iran's executions were for drug offenses, which Amnesty said was a violation of international law.

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has passed a resolution that says countries should reserve capital punishment for the "most serious crimes," meaning intentional killing.

Watch video 01:48 Iran sentences demonstrators to death, triggers online protest

There were also significant increases in executions in Somalia, South Sudan, Yemen, Belarus, Japan and the United Arab Emirates.
Death penalty targets minorities

Amnesty criticized several countries for apparently using capital punishment as a tool of state repression. In Myanmar, nearly 90 people were sentenced to death in what Amnesty described as a targeted campaign against protesters and journalists.

In Iran, 19% of those executed belonged to the Baluch minority, who make up just 5% of the population.

Despite the uptick in executions, Amnesty said the trend away from capital punishment continued in much of the world.

The number executed worldwide, excluding China and other secretive countries, was the second-lowest total since 2010.

Eighteen countries executed people in 2021, the lowest number since Amnesty started keeping records. Sierra Leone and Kazakhstan both passed laws getting rid of capital punishment and in the United States, Virginia became the 23rd state to abolish the death penalty.

Edited by: Rob Turner

DOWNLOADS
Amnesty Death Sentences and Executions 2021 (PDF)

ENVIRONMENT
Climate change made deadly South Asian heat wave '30 times more likely'

The burning of fossil fuels like coal and gas supercharged the heat wave that has scorched India and Pakistan in recent weeks, two separate attribution studies have found.

People have sought refuge in the shade to escape the stifling, and in some cases life-threatening, heat

Climate change has strengthened a heat wave that for several weeks has been scorching the homes of more than 1 billion people.

The blistering heat — reported to have killed at least 90 people across India and Pakistan — would have been 1 degree Celsius cooler and 30 times less likely if people hadn't warmed the planet, according to a study published Monday by scientists from the World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international group of climate scientists. Last week, an estimate from the UK Meteorological Office said human influence had increased the likelihood of extreme heat a hundredfold.

The analyses underscore the extent to which carbon pollution is already wreaking havoc on society. The heat has sparked forest fires in India, melted glaciers that triggered flash floods in Pakistan and caused blackouts in both countries that have made it even harder for citizens who can afford air conditioning to stay safe. Crop yields have suffered at a time when global hunger is creeping up and wheat supplies have been rocked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Watch video 02:48 Pakistan struggles amid heat wave

"With future global warming, of course, heat waves like this will become more common and hotter," said Krishna Achutarao, an atmospheric scientist at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and co-author of the WWA study.

Crop losses threaten rising hunger

Experts have warned that the effect on crops is particularly worrying.

By last year, a series of crises — conflict, climate, COVID and economy — had already "undermined decades of progress" toward food security, according to a report published last Wednesday by the World Meteorological Organization, a United Nations agency that deals with weather. The number of undernourished people had plateaued in the 2010s after having fallen for decades, but is estimated to have risen sharply in 2020.

In addition, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has now disrupted grain exports from two of the world's biggest wheat exporters. Earlier this month, India, the second-largest wheat producer after China, banned exports after heat scorched farms and ravaged crops. An estimated 10% to 30% of its wheat was hit at a time when crops were supposed to ripen the most, said Aditi Kapoor, a risk management expert at the International Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Center and co-author of the WWA study. "[First] the farmers are affected, and then when the prices go up, it's the poor people buying the food who are affected," she said.

India's ban of wheat exports could worsen food security around the world

Burning fossil fuels has made heat waves hotter

When storms and heat waves strike, WWA scientists across the world work at breakneck speeds to model the chance of extreme weather occurring in today's climate. They then compare that data with that of an imaginary world without human influence. The results are published as pre-print studies before they have undergone peer-review, so policymakers and the public can understand the role climate change played while it's still fresh in their minds.

For most weather extremes, the guiding question is whether global warming played a role or not. But with heat waves — all of which have already been made hotter and more likely by climate change — the question is simply by how much.

Since the start of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century, humanity has released vast quantities of sunlight-trapping gases that act like a greenhouse around the Earth. This has raised average temperatures, which brings with it a dramatic intensification of hot extremes. The biggest source of greenhouse gas pollution is burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas, as well as razing forests and farming animals that belch methane.

Getting enough water has become a greater struggle for residents, particularly in informal settlements

A study published in the journal Energy Research & Social Science last year found 20 companies were responsible for more than a third of the emissions from fossil fuels and cement production that heated the planet between 1965 and 2018, including the pollution from burning fuels they sold to third parties. The four biggest investor-owned fossil fuel companies — Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP and Shell — were responsible for 11% of the emissions.

The companies did not immediately respond to a DW request for comment.

Governments need plans to adapt to heat

People working outdoors during the daytime — like farmers and builders — are the most vulnerable to heat waves, along with elderly people and those with underlying health problems. In 2010, a heat wave in India killed 1,344 people in the western city of Ahmedabad alone. In 2015, a heat wave in Pakistan killed more than 1,000 in the capital, Islamabad.

Since the current heat wave began, an estimated 90 people have died across the two countries, according to WWA. But that figure is likely an undercount. Doctors can calculate the rise in excess mortality months after a disaster, but official statistics rarely capture the full extent of heat-related deaths.

Heat waves can have knock-on effects across the global climate. They can melt glaciers, leading to flash floods like the ones that tore Pakistan and washed away bridges in May. Hotter air also holds more moisture, resulting in heavier rainfall — though other climatic factors can work in the other direction. In the last week, northern Indian states like Assam and Arunachal Pradesh were struck by twin catastrophes of heavy rain and heat.

Construction workers are among the most vulnerable to deadly heat waves

To save lives during heat waves, governments can warn residents ahead of the danger, coordinate health care workers to protect the most vulnerable groups and set up cooling centers to provide people with shade and water. In the last five years, 130 cities in India have rolled out heat action plans, according to the WWA. "Definitely, there's a need to scale it up much more," said Kapoorof the International Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Center.

Still, such solutions cannot help indefinitely. Many of those working on farms or building sites cannot afford to stay at home, where it may be cooler. A recent report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change summarizing the academic literature on the effects of climate change found that "hard limits to adaptation" have already been reached in some places. More limits will be met as the planet heats up.

People have already heated the planet by about 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since the start of the Industrial Revolution. World leaders signed an agreement in 2015 to try to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Instead, most are pursuing policies that are set to nearly double that upper limit.

If global warming reaches 2 degrees Celsius, the WWA report found, a heat wave such as the recent one to hit India and Pakistan would become between two and 20 times more likely than it is today — and an extra 0.5 to 1.5 Celsius hotter.

"The human body can only get rid of heat up to a certain point," said Achutarao.

RECORD TEMPERATURES HIT INDIA'S FARMERS

Air conditioners and blocks of ice

India is currently experiencing an exceptional heat wave. Rajgarh, a city of 1.5 million people in central India topped out at 46.5 degrees C (116 degrees F) while thermometers in nine other cities also climbed above the 45 degree mark. No wonder that anything to fight the heat is an easy sell on the streets of New Delhi.

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Edited by: Tamsin Walker