'I'm forcing you to talk about it!' Bernie Sanders yells at Anderson Coop​er and slams CNN

Daniel Hampton
April 9, 2025 

RAW STORY


(Screenrab via CNN)

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took a shot at CNN during a Wednesday night televised town hall on the same network, blasting news networks for failing to cover what he called "critical issues" and leading to people "losing faith in the American system."

During the hour-long town hall, Sanders was asked by a civil rights attorney about why people are turning away from the Democratic party.

The senator replied that the "failure of the Democratic Party, in my view, is that they have not been aggressive in standing up to powerful corporate interests in laying out and implementing an agenda that speaks to the needs of the working class."

The one-time presidential hopeful then posed a question to the audience.

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"Raise your hand if you think the American health care system is working," he said. Several hands raised.


"Raise your hand if you think the American health care system is not working," the senator said, and more hands raised.

"All right, let me rephrase the question — raise your hand if you think the American health care system is working well," he said.

"Anderson, how many people are raising hands?" he asked of moderator Anderson Cooper.

"None," Cooper replied.

"Now, raise your hand if you think the American health care system is broken," the senator said.

"The majority. Everyone," Cooper began to say, as Sanders interjected. "Not a majority. Virtually everyone in the room," he added, to laughter.

Sanders said the United States is the only wealthy nation in the world that doesn't guarantee health care to all people as a human right.

And the senator slammed journalists for failing to cover that simple fact.

"You’re not going to hear much about that on corporate television. You're not going to hear much about that in the United States Congress," he railed.

As Cooper tried to get more audience questions in, Sanders refused to move on.

"I know you do, but I want to talk about —" said Sanders, as Cooper quipped, "I know you do!"

Sanders then laid into what he called "corporate media" as well as his colleagues.

"Sometimes these issues about health care, about income and wealth inequality are not get talked about in the corporate media. And it’s time we did talk about them. That’s why — the question a moment ago — 'Why are people losing faith in the American system?' We don’t talk about it on CNN. We don’t talk about it in Congress."

Sanders raged that a handful of billionaires exert "enormous influence" over America's system.

"And that has got to change," he said.

Sanders then took a shot at CNN.

"We need CNN to talk about these issues. We need members of Congress to talk about these issues," he railed.

"We're literally talking about it right now," Anderson retorted with a smile, defending his network.

"Yeah — but I’m forcing you to talk about it, Anderson!" Sanders shouted, pointing a finger at the CNN host.


"We invited you!" Cooper insisted.

Watch the exchange below or at this link.

Japan’s World Expo touts unity, and algae, in turbulent times

By AFP
April 10, 2025


Visitors watch a water and light display during a media preview day for the 2025 Osaka Expo in Osaka on April 9, 2025 - Copyright AFP Richard A. Brooks

Katie Forster

World Expo opens on Sunday with host Japan aiming to bring humanity together, despite global turmoil and tepid public enthusiasm for the six-month event showcasing innovation as well as Hello Kitty in algae form.

A Mars meteorite the size of a sourdough loaf and a beating heart grown from stem cells are among the myriad futuristic attractions crammed into a vast waterfront site in Osaka hosting more than 160 countries, regions and organisations.

Most pavilions — each more outlandishly designed than the last — are encircled by the world’s largest wooden architectural structure, a towering latticed “Grand Ring” meant as a symbol of unity.

But with conflicts raging and US tariffs threatening economic chaos, that goal may be optimistic.

“Not for sale” states a yellow and blue sign over Ukraine’s booth — echoing defiant comments from leader Volodymyr Zelensky about the war with Russia, which chose not to mount a display at Expo 2025.

Yahel Vilan, head of Israel’s equally compact pavilion, which features a stone from Jerusalem’s ancient Western Wall, told AFP that “we came with a message of peace”.

Israel is not at Expo “to deal with politics”, he said. There is also a Palestinian pavilion, but it was not open at a Wednesday press preview.

At the imposing US exhibit, absent was any mention of President Donald Trump’s hefty levies on trade partners, most of which he has now paused.

Instead, the pavilion focuses on the world’s largest economy’s diverse landscapes, AI tech and space — including a simulated rocket launch where dry-ice blasters appear to ignite above visitors’ heads.

– Human washing machine –

After enjoying the view and sea breeze atop the Grand Ring’s “skywalk”, visitors can stop by the world’s longest sushi conveyor belt or meet many-eyed Expo 2025 mascot Myaku-Myaku.

Among the more bizarre displays are 32 sculptures of Hello Kitty dressed as different types of algae — to symbolise the slimy plant’s many uses — and a “human washing machine” that shows imagery based on the bather’s heart rate.

Elsewhere are demonstrations of drone-like flying vehicles, and the tiny artificial heart made from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) shown in public for the first time.

“It has an actual pulse,” Byron Russel of Pasona Group, which runs the exhibit, told AFP.

Human stem cells were modified to become like “cardiac muscle cells” and “grown into the shape of the heart”, he explained.

It will not beat continuously for six months but will be replaced every week or so.

Themes of sustainability run through the Expo, including at the bauble-like Swiss pavilion, which aims to have the smallest ecological footprint.

But Expos have been criticised for their temporary nature, and after October Osaka’s man-made island will be cleared to make way for a casino resort.

According to Japanese media, only 12.5 percent of the Grand Ring will be reused.

– Slow ticket sales –

Expo is also known as a World’s Fair, and the phenomenon, which brought the Eiffel Tower to Paris, began with London’s 1851 Crystal Palace exhibition and is held every five years.

The 2020 edition in Dubai was postponed by the Covid-19 pandemic, so Osaka Expo organisers say it will “restore much-needed connections” and “provide the opportunity to create a better tomorrow”.

Osaka last hosed the Expo in 1970 when Japan was booming and its technology the envy of the world. It attracted 64 million people, a record until Shanghai in 2010.

But 55 years on Japan is less of a trendsetter and opinion polls show low levels of enthusiasm for the Expo among the public.

So far 8.7 million advance tickets have been shifted, below the pre-sales target of 14 million.

This time around “inflation is causing a lot of anxiety, especially among younger generations”, Yani Karavasilev of the APIR think-tank told AFP.

Japan is also experiencing a record tourism boom, meaning accommodation in Osaka — near hotspot Kyoto, and home to the Universal Studios Japan theme park — is often fully booked with prices sky-high.

A lack of viral online posts about the Expo is another reason for low excitement levels, according to Karavasilev.

“I think as long as sharing on social media picks up, ticket sales will pick up as well,” he said.

Starmer unveils support for tariff-hit auto sector


By AFP
April 7, 2025


Starmer visited a Jaguar Land Rover car factory in Birmingham, central England, in a show of industry support

 - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File MARK WILSON

Peter HUTCHISON

UK leader Keir Starmer vowed Monday to “shelter British business from the storm” of global economic disruption as he loosened electric vehicle targets for carmakers impacted by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The world’s auto sector has been hit hard by Washington’s sweeping new levies, which impose a 25 percent tariff on vehicles imported into the United States.

Starmer unveiled plans to give manufacturers more flexibility in transitioning to electric vehicles in a bid to boost the sector as it battles the higher costs of the levies.

He told staff and journalists at a car factory in England’s West Midlands region that the measures were a “downpayment” and not “the extent of the turbocharging” to help businesses deal with tariffs.

“In the coming days and weeks, we’re going to use industrial policy to shelter British business from the storm,” the prime minister added.

He called the levies “a huge challenge” for the future, warning that the “global economic consequences could be profound”.

In an early sign of the fallout, UK luxury car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover announced over the weekend that it would “pause” shipments to the US in April as it addressed “the new trading terms”.

Starmer said on Sunday that he was prepared to directly intervene to support affected sectors, before later unveiling his plans to help the auto industry.

These included confirmation that all sales of new petrol and diesel cars will be outlawed by 2030, with hybrids to be sold until 2035 and small manufacturers exempt.

The government has already announced £2.3 billion ($3.0 billion) to boost the production of electric vehicles, and on Sunday said that it would ease rules on how manufacturers can achieve the 2030 target.

Under the new plans, carmakers can fall below the annual target for producing electric vehicles manufactured until 2026, if they make up for that shortfall before 2030.

– ‘Weakens incentives’ –

The package of measures will exempt small and micro-volume manufacturers, including supercar brands such as McLaren and Aston Martin, from the targets.

Vans with an internal combustion engine will be allowed to be sold until 2035.

Support for the UK car industry, which employs 152,000 people and adds £19 billion annually to the economy, “will be kept under review as the impact of new tariffs becomes clear”, the government said.

“These are challenging times, but we have chosen to come here because we are going to back you to the hilt,” Starmer added during Monday’s visit.

Vehicle manufacturers welcome the announcement but warned that the government would likely have to do more.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said the government had “rightly listened to industry” and “recognised the intense pressure manufacturers are under”.

“Given the potentially severe headwinds facing manufacturers following the introduction of US tariffs, greater action will almost certainly be needed to safeguard our industry’s competitiveness,” he added.

But Doug Parr of environmental group Greenpeace said Starmer’s announcement “weakens the incentives driving the shift” and “risks consolidating Chinese leadership in the sector”.

The government is believed to have been considering relaxing the electric vehicle mandate for a while but the announcement was brought forward because of Trump’s tariffs.

It is the latest example of his actions influencing British policy after Starmer announced in February plans to increase defence spending.

200 firefighters battle major Paris inferno


By AFP
April 7, 2025


A 'major fire' in northern Paris sent smoke billowing across part of the French capital - Copyright GETTY IMAGES/AFP WIN MCNAMEE

A major fire broke out in Paris on Monday close to a new court complex designed by Renzo Piano, sending smoke across the city and prompting authorities to urge the public to stay away from the zone.

A thick black cloud could be seen across the French capital as firefighters battled the blaze that ripped through one of the city’s biggest recycling plants.

Around 60 fire trucks and 200 firefighters were at the scene, the fire brigade said, adding that there were no victims.

Flames lit up the night sky and authorities closed part of the main ring road around Paris to allow access to the burning building for fire-fighting vehicles.

“The building is completely gutted and destroyed,” Geoffrey Boulard, mayor for the affected 17th arrondissement, told BFM television, but all staff inside had been evacuated.

“Fire fighters arrived very quickly, but the fire happened underground and then spread through the building,” Boulard said.Geoffrey Boulard, mayor for the affected 17th arrondissement, told BFM television

The fire at the Syctom recycling plant was right next to Paris’s main court complex, whose centrepiece is a glass skyscraper designed by Italian architect Piano and inaugurated in 2018.

The plant, which started operations in 2019, was designed to handle household waste for nearly a million Paris residents, according to city authorities.

“The most important thing tonight is that a disaster on this scale did not have any human damage,” the site’s president Corentin Duprey told BFM.

Geoffrey Boulard, mayor for the affected 17th arrondissement, told BFM televisionHe said 31 employees were present when the blaze started in a recycling zone in a basement “where there was the most combustible material”.

German police earn their stripes with zebra-loaded van stop


By AFP
April 7, 2025


Two zebras were among the animals that German police discovered in the van - Copyright GETTY IMAGES/AFP WIN MCNAMEE

German police officers found themselves face-to-face with two zebras, six monkeys and several other exotic animals after stopping a van on the Dutch border, the force said on Monday.

Also on board were an antelope, a swan, a buzzard and a serval — a small wildcat native to Africa — federal police said in a statement.

Police carried out the check on the Polish-registered vehicle as it tried to enter on Friday via Bunde in northwestern Germany on the Dutch border.

The two Polish occupants, aged 23 and 31, could not provide any proof of where the animals came from nor the required documentation.

Police also said the animals were not safely loaded in the van, adding that they were investigating suspected violations of animal protection and wildlife conservation rules.

The van was stopped from entering Germany while the animals were handed over to authorities in the Netherlands, where they are being cared for at a shelter, police said.

US giant to buy stake in cash-short Australian casino group


By AFP
April 7, 2025


US-based casino giant Bally's Corporation has agreed to inject Aus$300 million in troubled Australian operator Star Entertainment - Copyright AFP DAVID GRAY

Troubled Australian casino operator Star Entertainment says it has been thrown an 11th hour multi-million dollar lifeline by US-based casino giant Bally’s Corporation.

Star’s business — including casinos, bars, restaurants and hotels at resorts in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast — has been hovering close to entering administration for months.

Bally’s has agreed to inject Aus$300 million (US$187 million) for a 56.7-percent stake in Star, the two firms said in separate statements late Monday.

The US group is to make an initial payment of Aus$100 million on Wednesday, with the rest due after the approval of shareholders and regulators.

“This transaction provides Bally’s the opportunity to infuse The Star with what it needs to regain its position as Australia’s preeminent gaming destination,” Bally’s chairman Soo Kim said.

Star said it was also talking to its biggest shareholder, Investment Holding, about joining the deal with an Aus$100 million injection.

If that deal went ahead, Bally’s participation would drop to Aus$200 million.

Shares in Star, which employs more than 8,000 people, have been suspended from trading since March 3 after it failed to post half-year financial results citing liquidity woes.

The casino said in a statement late Monday it intended to “unanimously recommend” the deal to shareholders in the absence of a better offer.

Bally’s manages 19 casinos across the United States, a golf course in New York and a horse racing track in Colorado.

Star Entertainment last traded at Aus$0.11 a share with a market capitalisation of Aus$316 million — a far cry from its Aus$5 billion-plus value of seven years ago.

Its finances were squeezed by the cost of developing its Brisbane resort, the threat of an anti-money laundering fine, and stricter regulation in the industry, according to the Australian Financial Review.

The company has previously been accused of not adequately policing criminal infiltration and doing little to vet the sources of money coming into the business.

‘Major brain drain’: Researchers eye exit from Trump’s America


By AFP
April 7, 2025


Many researchers are worried about the future of academic freedom in the United States - Copyright AFP/File Richard A. Brooks

Charlotte CAUSIT

In the halls of US universities and research labs, one question has become increasingly common as President Donald Trump tightens his grip on the field: whether to move abroad.

“Everybody is talking about it,” JP Flores, a doctoral student in genetics at the University of North Carolina, told AFP.

The discussion was thrust into the spotlight after Yale philosophy professor Jason Stanley, a specialist in fascism, announced he was taking a new post in Canada over the Trump administration’s “authoritarian” bent.

“I made the decision when Columbia folded,” he told CBS News. “I made it in a split second.”

Columbia University, which the Trump administration has threatened with major funding cuts, said it agreed to take steps to rein in pro-Palestinian protests, among other actions.

“It is not the time to cower and fear,” said Stanley, who added there was “absolutely no doubt that the United States is an authoritarian country.”

With similar threats lodged by Trump against other universities, many researchers are worried about the future of academic freedom in the United States.

Coupled with the administration’s broad cuts to federal funding, some fear the country’s research field, once viewed as the envy of the world, may be losing its luster.

More than 75 percent of scientists are now considering departing the country over Trump’s policies, according to a survey of over 1,600 people published in late March by the journal Nature.

“The trend was particularly pronounced among early-career researchers,” the journal said.



– ‘Surreal’ –



“People are just so scared,” Daniella Fodera, a Columbia PhD student whose research grant was cancelled, told AFP.

Amid the uncertainty, several academic institutions in recent weeks have announced a hiring freeze and a reduction in the number of graduate student positions.

“That’s definitely messing up the academic pipeline,” said Fodera, a biomechanics student.

Karen Sfanos, head of a research lab at Johns Hopkins University, said: “It’s kind of a surreal time for scientists because we just don’t know what’s going to happen with funding.”

“There’s not a lot of clarity, and things are changing day by day,” she said, noting it is hitting the “youngest generation” relatively hard.

Fodera, who studies uterine fibroids — benign tumors affecting many women — said she has begun to “actively look at positions in Europe and abroad for continuing my post-doctoral training.”



– ‘Generational loss’ –



With mounting concerns among US researchers, several European and Canadian universities have launched initiatives to attract some of the talent, though they may not need to try too hard.

“I know researchers already that have dual citizenship, or who have family in Canada, in France, in Germany, are saying, ‘I think I’m going to go live in Germany for the next, you know, five years and do research there,'” said Gwen Nichols.

The physician, a senior leader at a blood cancer research group, warned the possible exodus could make the United States “lose our dominance as the biopharmaceutical innovation leader of the world.”

“We’ll see the problem 10 years from now, when we don’t have the innovation we need,” she added.

Genetics researcher Flores agreed, saying “it has become quite clear that there’s gonna be a major brain drain here in American research.”

One young climate researcher, who requested to remain anonymous, said she had started the process of attaining EU citizenship and that colleagues in Europe “have all been extremely sympathetic to the situation.”

But she noted that those with limited resources, like many recent graduates, would be the least likely to be taken on by European institutions and may decide to drop out of science altogether.

“This is a generational loss for science across all disciplines,” she warned.

Nippon Steel shares soar as Trump reviews US Steel takeover

By AFP
April 7, 2025


US Steel and Nippon Steel announced the proposed $14.9 billion merger in December 2023 - Copyright AFP/File Richard A. Brooks

Nippon Steel shares soared Tuesday after US President Donald Trump launched a review of the company’s proposed takeover of US Steel that was blocked by his predecessor Joe Biden.

Trump said Monday he had directed a government panel, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), to conduct a review of the acquisition.

This will “assist me in determining whether further action in this matter may be appropriate”, the president said in a White House memo to his Cabinet.

US Steel shares closed up 16 percent Monday, and Nippon Steel gained as much as 11 percent in Tokyo on Tuesday.

CFIUS, tasked with analysing the national security implications of foreign takeover of US companies, has 45 days to submit its recommendations to Trump.

US Steel and Nippon Steel announced the proposed $14.9 billion merger in December 2023. It was originally meant to close by the end of 2024’s third financial quarter.

However, months of scrutiny by US antitrust authorities and CFIUS — which failed to reach a consensus for its recommendation — forced then-president Biden to make a decision on the deal himself.

Biden had criticised the deal for months, while holding off on a move that could hurt ties with Tokyo, but he blocked it in his last weeks in office on national security grounds.

The two companies then filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration’s “illegal interference” in the transaction.



– ‘Urgent threat’ –



The review Trump ordered on Monday involves “identifying potential national security risks associated with the proposed transaction and providing adequate opportunity to the parties to respond to such concerns”, his memo said.

US Steel said in a statement that the move by Trump “validates our Board’s bold decision to challenge President Biden’s unlawful order”.

“Today’s decision by President Trump is pivotal as we work to deliver on new and historic levels of investment in American steelmaking,” US Steel added.

But David McCall, president of the United Steelworkers union, criticised Trump’s move.

“Regardless of how much scrutiny the proposed USS-Nippon deal receives, it does not alter the urgent threat it poses to our national and economic security, the long-term future of the steel industry or our members’ jobs,” he said.

Trump said during his 2024 campaign he wanted US Steel ownership to remain in the United States.

In February, after meeting Japan’s prime minister, Trump said Nippon Steel would make a major investment in US Steel, but no longer attempt to take over the troubled company.

Todd Tucker, director of industrial policy and trade at the Roosevelt Institute, said unions were concerned that the two companies would not invest enough to ensure the long-term sustainability of the US steel industry.

Unless the companies commit to long-term competitiveness, “they and the Trump administration should be worrying about whether they’ll have the social license to operate,” he said.

Two Nepalis swept away by Annapurna avalanche


By AFP
April 8, 2025


The 8,091-metre (26,545-foot) Annapurna is a dangerous and difficult climb, and the avalanche-prone Himalayan peak has a higher death rate than Everest 

- Copyright AFP PRAKASH MATHEMA

Nepali mountaineers on Tuesday searched for two people swept away by a powerful avalanche on the world’s 10th highest mountain Annapurna, officials said.

The 8,091-metre (26,545-foot) Annapurna is a dangerous and difficult climb, and the avalanche-prone Himalayan peak has a higher death rate than Everest.

Three men were climbing the mountain as part of the first ascent of this spring season when a “huge avalanche swept down” around midday Monday, said expedition company Seven Summit Treks.

The trio were ferrying oxygen cylinders used for the summit push for later climbers, when they were hit by huge blocks of snow. It swept away two climbers — Ngima Tashi and Rima Rinje — who work with Seven Summit Treks.

“Our focus is on search and rescue… helicopters have also been deployed,” Thaneswar Guragai from the company said Tuesday.

One of them managed to keep hold, the company said in a post.

“We’ll do our best to locate and rescue our men,” the company said.

Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring, when temperatures are warm and winds typically calm.

Avalanches and landslides are common in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, especially during the winter season.

Scientists have said that climate change spurred by humans burning fossil fuels is making weather events more severe, super-charged by warmer oceans.

World’s ‘exceptional’ heat streak lengthens into March

Scientists say the current period is likely to be the warmest the Earth has been for the last 125,000 years.

By AFP
April 8, 2025


Parts of Europe had extreme rainfall while others experienced record dry conditions - Copyright AFP STRINGER

Global temperatures hovered at historic highs in March, Europe’s climate monitor said on Tuesday, prolonging an unprecedented heat streak that has pushed the bounds of scientific explanation.

In Europe, it was the hottest March ever recorded by a significant margin, said the Copernicus Climate Change Service, driving rainfall extremes across a continent warming faster than any other.

The world meanwhile saw the second-hottest March in the Copernicus dataset, sustaining a near-unbroken spell of record or near-record-breaking temperatures that has persisted since July 2023.

Since then, virtually every month has been at least 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than it was before the industrial revolution, when humans began burning massive amounts of coal, oil and gas.

March was 1.6C above pre-industrial times, extending an anomaly so unusual that scientists are still trying to fully explain it.

“That we’re still at 1.6C above preindustrial is indeed remarkable,” said Friederike Otto of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London.

“We’re very firmly in the grip of human-caused climate change,” she told AFP.

Scientists had predicted the extreme run of global temperatures would subside after a warming El Nino event peaked in early 2024, but they have stubbornly lingered well into 2025.

“We are still experiencing extremely high temperatures worldwide. This is an exceptional situation,” Robert Vautard, a leading scientist with the United Nations’ climate expert panel IPCC, told AFP.



– ‘Climate breakdown’ –



Scientists warn that every fraction of a degree of global warming increases the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall and droughts.

Climate change is not just about rising temperatures but the knock-on effect of all that extra heat being trapped in the atmosphere and seas by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane.

Warmer seas mean higher evaporation and greater moisture in the atmosphere, causing heavier deluges and feeding energy into storms.

This also affects global rainfall patterns.

March in Europe was 0.26C above the previous hottest record for the month set in 2014, Copernicus said.

Some parts of the continent experienced the “driest March on record and others their wettest” for about half a century, said Samantha Burgess of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which runs the Copernicus climate monitor.

Bill McGuire, a climate scientist from University College London, said the contrasting extremes “shows clearly how a destabilised climate means more and bigger weather extremes”.

“As climate breakdown progresses, more broken records are only to be expected,” he told AFP.

Elsewhere in March, scientists said that climate change intensified a blistering heatwave across Central Asia and fuelled conditions for extreme rainfall which killed 16 people in Argentina.

– Puzzling heat –



The spectacular surge in global heat pushed 2023 and then 2024 to become the hottest years on record.

Last year was also the first full calendar year to exceed 1.5C — the safer warming limit agreed by most nations under the Paris climate accord.

This single year breach does not represent a permanent crossing of the 1.5C threshold, which is measured over decades, but scientists have warned the goal is slipping out of reach.

According to Copernicus, global warming reached an estimated 1.36C above pre-industrial levels in October last year.

If the 30-year trend leading up to then continued, the world would hit 1.5C by June 2030.

Scientists are unanimous that burning fossil fuels has largely driven long-term global warming, and that natural climate variability can also influence temperatures from one year to the next.

But they are less certain about what else might have contributed to this record heat spike, or how this impacts our understanding about how climate might behave in future.

Vautard said there were “phenomena that remain to be explained” but the exceptional temperatures still fell within the upper range of scientific projections of climate change.

Experts think changes in global cloud patterns, airborne pollution and Earth’s ability to store carbon in natural sinks like forests and oceans could be among factors contributing to the planet overheating.

Copernicus uses billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations to aid its climate calculations.

Its records go back to 1940 but other sources of climate data — such as ice cores, tree rings and coral skeletons — allow scientists to expand their conclusions using evidence from much further in the past.

Scientists say the current period is likely to be the warmest the Earth has been for the last 125,000 years.