Author: Press Room

Low-lying Bangladesh is considered among the most climate-vulnerable countries, with the impact of rising waters compounded by storms, floods and erosion. The climate impact is being compounded by natural factors, such as tectonic shifts that are causing the land beneath to sink, and upstream dams holding back silt that would replenish the eroding delta. Between 2000 and 2019, Bangladesh was ranked seventh in a list of countries hit hardest by climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index 2021 produced by non-profit Germanwatch. “Because it is the largest delta in the world … a huge portion of Bangladesh’s land…

Political chaos in the U.K. continues, including a high-profile resignation and questions over how long Liz Truss has in office.House of Commons – PA Images / Contributor / Getty ImagesLONDON — An extraordinary few days in British politics plunged embattled Prime Minister Liz Truss into turmoil, ultimately leading to her resignation on Thursday afternoon.Truss has stepped down following a failed tax-cutting budget that rocked financial markets and which led to a revolt within her own Conservative Party.Wednesday and Thursday saw high-profile resignations, reports of parliamentarians being bullied and one member of the Conservative Party publicly expressing his anger with the…

A Texas couple experienced an amazing moment when they were given the opportunity to meet the children who were born from their donated frozen embryos 20 years ago.Brooke and Chris Martin explained their story in an exclusive interview with Fox 26 Houston on Wednesday.Brooke said she and Chris faced infertility struggles in her late 20s and eventually resorted to in vitro fertilization (IVF) to get pregnant. The couple, who lived in Tennessee at the time, went to a fertility clinic in Nashville to start the process.The Martins ended up with two implanted embryos, and their twin boys Matthew and Christopher…

The grand mosque, located inside an Islamic centre complex, was undergoing renovation. “We have discussed the possibility of continuing the renovation… the most important (thing) is we can use it (the mosque) again soon,” Jakarta’s acting governor Heru Budi Hartono told Metro TV Thursday. The cause of the fire, which took hours to extinguish, is under investigation but police said they suspect it started from the sparks created when workers tried to cut waterproofing membranes for the dome. Four construction workers have been questioned in connection with the fire, police added. Source: CNA

EU leaders are meeting in Brussels for a two-day summit with one item topping the agenda: the energy crisis.The 27 heads of government and state will debate a new package of emergency measures unveiled earlier this week by the European Commission, the second of its kind in two months.For the first time, the package includes the layout of an EU-wide cap to bring high gas prices under control, but the measure, which is still under development, would only be triggered in cases of extreme volatility and speculation in the market.The price cap would be dynamic and act as a maximum…

Former deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth believes Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was dominated by fear for “far too long” after health experts knew who the virus affected and how to protect from it.The comments follow the release of an independent review into governments’ response to the pandemic which found they veered into overreach by overusing lockdowns and failed large swathes of the community with inadequate economic support packages.Dr Coatsworth was part of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee which comprises all state and territory Chief Health Officers and is chaired by the Australian Chief Medical Officer…

Queensland’s ambulance ramping is the “worst in the nation,” says Qld Opposition Leader David Crisafulli. “There’s three things the government could do immediately that would help heal the health crisis – better triaging, sharing data in real time, but above all putting doctors and nurses back in charge,” Mr Crisafulli told Sky News host Peter Gleeson. “There are solutions on the table, you just got to get the frontline people to have their say.” Source: Sky News

Hong Kong CNN  —  A Chinese diplomat who was filmed pulling the hair of a Hong Kong pro-democracy protester on the grounds of his consulate in Manchester, England, has defended his actions – saying it was his “duty” to maintain China’s dignity. “Any diplomat” would have done the same, Chinese Consul-General Zheng Xiyuan said on Wednesday when asked about video footage that has emerged of a group of men assaulting the protester. The confrontation took place on Sunday, when a group of pro-democracy protesters turned up to the consulate with banners featuring satirical images of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The…

ISLAMABAD: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money laundering and terrorism financing watchdog, starts a two-day meeting in Paris on Thursday (Oct 20), and is expected to take up the removal of Pakistan from a list of countries under “increased monitoring”. In a meeting in June, the FATF said it was keeping Pakistan on the list – also known as the “grey list” – but said that it might be removed after an on-site visit to verify progress. Last month, Pakistan’s foreign office said that a FATF technical team had conducted a “successful” visit and Islamabad was expecting…

We need accountability from politicians and public health bureaucrats who “needlessly destroyed so many lives” by playing politics and “choosing to ignore the full impact of their policies”, says Sky News host Rita Panahi. Ms Panahi labelled the new review into Australia’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic a “captain obvious report”. The report was funded by Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation, the Paul Ramsay Foundation and the John and Miriam Wylie Foundation and argued governments were making decisions in a “fog of uncertainty” and that “significant mistakes were made”. “Now, to be clear, I’m not disputing any of the conclusions reached…