China, the world’s worst polluter, has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2060. President Xi Jinping, in a virtual speech at the United Nations General Assembly, made the announcement after insisting it would hit a peak in carbon dioxide emissions before 2030. It marks the first time China has said it will end its net
World
A speedboat skims across the waters of the Piquiri river in central Brazil; on board are a group of vets and animal trackers. The river, the forest and the wetlands are shrouded in a dense fog of smoke. Wildfires have been burning here for months. Image: Vets and animal trackers travel around the area on
Rescuers in Australia say conditions are in their favour as they try to save around 180 whales stranded in one of the country’s worst beaching events. An estimated 270 pilot whales became stuck in shallow water on a sandbar off the remote west coast of the Australian island of Tasmania. Twenty-five have been returned to
A well-known paraglider has been found dead in the mountains of Nevada in the US, nearly a month after he went missing. The body of James “Kiwi” Johnston – who disappeared on 23 August – was found under a tree in the Fish Creek mountains of Eureka County after a passerby noticed a parachute on
Go to any hospital in the southern French city of Marseille and you will see the impact a second wave of COVID-19 is having. Intensive care units are either full or about to reach saturation. More bed capacity is desperately needed but staffing is an issue. Hospitals here have issued an urgent appeal for doctors,
Tens of thousands of people marched through the Belarusian capital Minsk on Sunday, calling for the resignation of president Alexander Lukashenko in the sixth straight weekend of protests. It comes as hackers leaked the personal details of more than 2,000 senior police officers in two batches, pledging that “no one will remain anonymous, even under
Three people have been killed in Greece after a rare “medicane” storm flooded areas in the centre of the country. A man’s body was found under a collapsed roof near Karditsa, said the Athens News Agency, a day after Storm Ianos flooded houses and swamped fields and roads. On Saturday, an elderly woman was also
Police in Belarus have cracked down on a women’s protest march in Minsk demanding the resignation of the country’s president Alexander Lukashenko. More than 200 women demonstrating on the streets of the country’s capital were arrested on Saturday, including an elderly woman who has become a symbol of the protests which have continued for the
Putin critic Alexei Navalny has been pictured walking down stairs in hospital as he continues to recover after being poisoned with novichok. He said in a post on Instagram that he still has difficulties climbing stairs because his legs tremble but his path to recovery is now “clear, although long”. Mr Navalny is being treated
Several countries across Europe have announced new coronavirus restrictions in some of their largest cities after recent surges in infections. Spain, Greece, Denmark and France imposed further measures in virus hotspots, while health authorities in Italy have warned the average age of coronavirus patients is creeping up – risking more hospital admissions and deaths. Infections
Yemen is in a “desperate situation” as it stands on the brink of famine and hundreds of thousands of people face starvation, the UN secretary general has warned. António Guterres told Sky News he was “extremely worried” by the situation in the war-torn country, and urged nation’s across the world to show international solidarity with
Alexei Navalny was poisoned via a water bottle in his Siberian hotel room, according to the Kremlin critic’s entourage. The claim was made via an Instagram post on the politician’s account on Thursday morning. The politician’s team say they found traces of the novichok nerve agent on a bottle in his room in Tomsk. Image:
US presidential candidate Joe Biden has weighed into the controversy over the UK’s new Brexit bill, warning of its implications for a future UK-US trade deal. The Democrat challenger added to concerns among senior US politicians that changes associated with the Internal Market Bill will undermine the Good Friday Agreement. Mr Biden tweeted: “We can’t
Warning: This report contains distressing images of seriously malnourished children. If there is a hell, it could well be in a small hospital in north Yemen. There is misery and desperation in every corner you look. They thought in Yemen, it couldn’t get any worse after six years of civil war. They were wrong. A
Barbados has announced its intention to remove the Queen as its head of state and become a republic next year. The Caribbean island said it wants “full sovereignty” by the time it celebrates its 55th anniversary of independence from the UK in November 2021. A speech written by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley quoted its
Ireland’s entire cabinet has to self-isolate and the country’s parliament is closing for a week after the health minister felt unwell and was tested for coronavirus, it has been reported. Stephen Donnelly began to feel unwell this afternoon and contacted his doctor for a coronavirus test, according to broadcaster RTE. The speaker of house told