Pro-democracy politicians defied a police ban to lead a march through downtown Hong Kong on Tuesday, China’s National Day, calling for greater political freedom.
Thousands of black-clad protesters began gathering in the early afternoon at the Causeway Bay retail and entertainment district. Chanting “Fight for freedom!”—and the democracy movement’s slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time!”—they set off for the city center. At the head of the march, politicians, including veteran campaigners Albert Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan, carried a banner that read “End dictatorship, return power to the people.”
National Day is a festive occasion in mainland China, but a source of tension and resentment in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, where most people, according to surveys, do not define themselves as Chinese but as “Hongkongers.”
Although the raising of the Chinese flag took place without incident at 8:00 a.m. local time, the public were not invited and VIPs attending the ceremony were asked, for security reasons, to gather at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center to watch the event on closed circuit television.
Much of the city has been on lockdown, with more than two dozen shopping malls closed, some 14 subway stations shuttered and thousands of police on the streets.
Early in the day, protesters unveiled a banner reading “Oct. 1 national day of mourning—liberate Hong Kong” from the summit of Lion Rock, a 495-meter hill overlooking the Kowloon peninsula that many in the former British colony regard as symbolic of the city.
Other protesters hung a banner reading “#NotMyNationalDay, Proud to be British since 1841” at the entrance of the British consulate.
Jeffrey Wasserstrom, professor of history at the University of California, Irvine and the author of the forthcoming book Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink, told TIME that the Hong Kong protests were “a thorn in Xi Jinping’s side.”
He said: “If this were to go the way Beijing would like it to, it would be a large military parade and spectacle that people would watch and think, ‘Look how far China has come. Look how far China has come since 1949. But also, look how far it’s gone since the period of Mao or even just a couple decades ago with how high-tech it is now.’”
However, the protests, he explained “implicitly question whether China has really changed all that much since 70 years ago when China was under the control of a dictatorial one-party state that the communists claimed needed to be overthrown for a new China to be born.”
In the run-up to National Day, which this year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic, the Chinese flag has been burned and bunting and banners promoting the Oct. 1 celebrations destroyed by protesters seeking greater freedom for Hong Kong if not self-determination or independence.
Over the weekend, protesters also lobbed petrol bombs at government offices and fought running battles with police, who responded with tear gas, water cannon, and live rounds fired in warning.
Hong Kong has endured four months of unrest, sparked by a now withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed rendition of fugitive suspects to China for the first time. The initial protests quickly expanded into a democratic rebellion and repudiation of Beijing’s sovereignty.
The longtime British possession was retroceded to China in 1997 after 156 years of colonial rule, but its 7.2 million inhabitants remain culturally and linguistically distinct from mainland Chinese.
—With reporting by Laignee Barron, Aria Chen, Amy Gunia, Abhishyant Kidangoor and Hillary Leung
(BEIJING) — China’s Communist Party celebrated its 70th anniversary in power with a military parade Tuesday that showcased its growing might and strategic ambitions.
An honor guard carrying the Chinese flag through Tiananmen Square, the country’s symbolic political heart, before thousands of spectators who waved flags. Artillery guns fired a salute.
President Xi Jinping, wearing a gray Mao jacket, and other Chinese leaders, including former Presidents Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin, watched from atop the Gate of Heavenly Peace at the square’s north end.
“No force can shake the status of our great motherland, and no force can stop the progress of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation,” Xi said in a nationally televised speech.
Xi rode in an open-topped limousine past dozens of rows of truck-mounted missiles, armored personnel carriers and other military gear. Soldiers in helmets and combat gear shouted, “Hello, leader!” and “Serve the people!” Xi replied, “Hello, comrades.”
The event marks the anniversary of the Oct. 1, 1949, announcement of the founding of the People’s Republic of China by then-leader Mao Zedong following a civil war.
The parade follows Xi’s promise in a speech Monday to allow Hong Kong to manage its own affairs despite anti-government protests that have embarrassed the ruling party ahead of the year’s highest-profile propaganda event.
The parade through central Beijing is due to include 15,000 troops and more than 160 aircraft.
Chinese news reports say it might include a new long-range nuclear-armed missile and a supersonic drone aircraft. Military spokespeople have declined to give details.
(BANGKOK) — Their story gripped the world: determined divers racing against time and water to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped for more than two weeks in a flooded cave deep inside a northern Thai mountain.
The ordeal in late June and early July 2018 had barely ended when filmmakers began their own race to get the nail-biting drama onto cinema screens. The first of those projects will premiere this weekend, when director Tom Waller’s “The Cave” shows at the Busan Film Festival in South Korea.
The film was shot over three months earlier this year and has been in post-production since then. The 45-year-old Thai-born, British-raised filmmaker said the epic tale of the Wild Boars football team was a story he simply had to tell.
The boys and their coach entered the Tham Luang cave complex after soccer practice and were quickly trapped inside by rising floodwater. Despite a massive search, the boys spent nine nights lost in the cave before they were spotted by an expert diver. It would take another eight days before they were all safe.
Waller was visiting his father in Ireland when he saw television news accounts of the drama.
“I thought this would be an amazing story to tell on screen,” he said.
But putting the parts together after their dramatic rescue proved to be a challenge. Thailand’s government, at the time led by a military junta, became very protective of the story, barring unauthorized access to the Wild Boars or their parents. Waller often feared his production might be shut down.
His good fortune was that the events at the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai province had multiple angles and interesting characters. Especially compelling were the stories of the rescuers, particularly the expert divers who rallied from around the world. He decided to make a film “about the volunteer spirit of the rescue.”
Other people proposed telling the story from the point of view of the boys, and Netflix nailed down those rights in a deal brokered by the Thai government.
“I took the view that this was going to be a story about the people we didn’t know about, about the cave divers who came all the way from across the planet,” Waller said. “They literally dropped everything to go and help, and I just felt that that was more of an exciting story to tell, to find out how these boys were brought out and what they did to get them out.”
Waller even had more than a dozen key rescue personnel play themselves.
Waller said they were natural actors, blending in almost seamlessly with the professionals around them, and helped by the accuracy of the settings and the production’s close attention to detail.
“What you are really doing is asking them to remember what they did and to show us what they were doing and what they were feeling like at the time,” he said. “That was really very emotional for some of them because it was absolutely real.”
Waller said his film is likely to have a visceral effect on some viewers, evoking a measure of claustrophobia.
“It’s a sort of immersive experience with the sound of the environment, you know, the fact that is very dark and murky, that the water is not clear,” he said.
“In Hollywood films, when they do underwater scenes, everything is crystal clear. But in this film it’s murky and I think that’s the big difference. This film lends itself to being more of a realistic portrayal of what happened.”
Some scenes were filmed on location at the entrance to the actual Tham Luang cave, but most of the action was shot elsewhere, Waller said.
“We filmed in real water caves that were flooded, all year-round,” he said. “It is very authentic in terms of real caves, real flooded tunnels, real divers and real creepy-crawlies in there. So it was no mean feat trying to get a crew to go and film in these caves.”
“The Cave” goes on general release in Thailand on Nov. 28.
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra dissolved congress Monday, exercising seldom used executive powers to shut down the opposition-controlled legislature that he accuses of stonewalling attempts to curb widespread corruption.
In a televised address, Vizcarra told the South American nation that he had decided to call new legislative elections after lawmakers proceeded with holding a controversial vote to replace almost all the members of the Constitutional Tribunal.
“We are making history that will be remembered by future generations,” he said. “And when they do, I hope they understand the magnitude of this fight that we are in today against an endemic evil that has caused much harm to our country.”
The stunning turn could spell new instability as Peru grapples with the fallout of the Odebrecht corruption scandal, plummeting faith in public institutions and an inexperienced president struggling to govern.
Nonetheless, Vizcarra’s decision is likely to be widely welcomed by Peruvians who have been clamoring for new congressional elections to replace the majority party, led by a former first daughter and presidential candidate who is now behind bars.
“Peruvians will not shed many tears,” said Steven Levitsky, a Harvard University political scientist who has extensively studied the nation.
Opposition leaders denounced the move as the work of a “dictator” and proceeded with pushing an impeachment vote against him, though it would carry only symbolic weight since their positions in congress are now considered vacated.
“This was the plan from the start,” said Milagros Salazar, a spokeswoman for Fuerza Popular, the party of Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori who was once a commanding force herself in the country’s politics but is now jailed. “They think this is a monarchy, that’s what they want to impose.”
Vizcarra, then the vice president, rose to the presidency last year after President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned following revelations that his private consulting firm had received undisclosed payments from Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction giant that has admitted to dolling out millions of dollars to politicians around Latin America in exchange for lucrative public works contracts.
Though with little political expertise on his resume, Vizcarra rose in popularity as he championed anti-corruption initiatives. But he struggled to push legislation through congress, instead repeatedly utilizing a “vote of confidence” through which he could threaten to dissolve the legislature if lawmakers didn’t approve his proposals.
The mechanism is aimed at resolving conflicts between the executive and legislative branch and allows the president to shut down congress if lawmakers reject two such votes. Congress rejected a previous vote of confidence during Kuczynski’s administration.
Most recently, Vizcarra chastised lawmakers for rushing to a vote on replacing six of the seven magistrates on the Constitutional Tribunal. The court is expected to decide several important cases in the months ahead, including a habeas corpus request to free Fujimori, who is being held as prosecutors investigate her for allegedly laundering money from Odebrecht.
Though the terms for all six magistrates had expired, Vizcarra, legal observers and human rights organizations criticized the congressional action for its speed and lack of transparency. The newspaper El Comercio reported Monday that six of the candidates up for consideration are facing potential criminal or civil charges for offenses including kidnapping, extortion and sex abuse.
Peru’s judicial system is notoriously corrupt, with judges caught on wiretaps negotiating deals on sentences for serious crimes.
Vizcarra warned he would dissolve congress if legislators went ahead with the magistrate votes before weighing his own proposal for reforming how magistrates are selected.
But lawmakers pushed forward in defiance Monday, accusing Vizcarra of blocking what should be a “simple procedure” conducted in accordance with the law.
“The political crisis we’re in is only Vizcarra’s fault,” legislator Mauricio Mulder said.
It is not the first time in Peru’s history that a president has dissolved congress. In 1992, Alberto Fujimori shut down congress, assumed legislative powers and suspended the constitution in what was regarded as an auto-coup.
In contrast, Vizcarra’s shutdown is likely to be considered a legitimate use of constitutional powers celebrated by Peruvians who have little faith in elected leaders, Levitsky said.
Nonetheless, he added, dissolving the congress is likely to do relatively little to resolve deeper, structural issues. The Fujimorista bloc will likely lose its majority in a new election, but Levitsky said what could emerge is a fractious congress full of inexperienced legislators.
“For now democracy is probably safe because everyone is weak,” he said. “That guarantees a certain pluralism, but that leaves Peru vulnerable to a demagogic politician.”
___
Associated Press writer Franklin Briceño reported this story in Lima and AP writer Christine Armario reported from Bogota, Colombia.
Hong Kong braced for widespread protests Tuesday as activists announced plans to use China’s National Day to continue their push for democratic reform.
The raising of the Chinese flag took place without incident at 8:00 a.m. local time, but in subdued fashion. The public were not invited and VIPs attending the ceremony were asked for security reasons to gather at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center to watch the event on closed circuit television.
The surrounding streets were on lockdown. However, a small procession by the League of Social Democrats political party was able to approach within a few hundred meters of the venue carrying banners that read “No national celebration, only national tragedy” and “End authoritarianism.”
Addressing the small gathering, longtime dissident and former legislator Leung Kwok-hung, said: “With no democracy, Hong Kong will not have a future.” Afterward, he told TIME: “If there [is no] right to choose our leaders, to have self-governance, and if there is one-party rule, what is there for us to celebrate?”
Earlier, chairman Avery Ng said that the party’s warehouse had been broken into and vandalized by a dozen men and that party members were being followed.
Local media meanwhile reported that 6,000 police had been deployed in anticipation of citywide unrest. The city’s subway operator, which has come under sustained attacked by protesters who accuse it of colluding with police, shut several key stations. Many shopping malls also brought down their shutters and major office buildings took precautions against vandalism and criminal damage.
Police are fearing widespread violence—even acts of terrorism. At a press conference, Monday, chief superintendent Tse Chun-chung said: “We have intelligence suggesting that some hardcore violent protesters are inciting others, including those with suicidal tendencies, to commit extreme acts like murdering the police, disguising as police officers to kill others, and setting fires in petrol stations … All acts are one step closer to terrorism.”
However, his remarks were immediately derided by protesters, who said that the sources of the intelligence were bogus.
Several protests took place over the weekend in the run up to National Day, which commemorates the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic. Demonstrators lobbed petrol bombs at government offices, set fires in the streets, burned the Chinese flag and tore down banners advertising National Day celebrations, while police responded with tear gas and water cannon.
Semi-autonomous Hong Kong has endured four months of unrest, sparked by a now withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed rendition of fugitive suspects to China for the first time. The protests quickly expanded into a push for greater political freedom and, more recently, calls for self-determination.
The former British possession was retroceded to China in 1997 after 156 years of colonial rule, but its 7.2 million inhabitants remain culturally and linguistically distinct from mainland Chinese. Surveys have found that the majority of people in Hong Kong identify as “Hongkongers” and not as Chinese.
As tensions over an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump continue to heat up on Capitol Hill, both Democrats and Republicans are focused on a single man: Rep. Adam Schiff.
Many Democratic lawmakers see Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, as the natural choice to head up the impeachment inquiry. A group of moderate, first-term Democraticmembers met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday to urge her to elevate Schiff as the public face of the inquiry, according to four Congressional officials.
This group of lawmakers, who were mostly from swing districts and therefore in danger of losing their re-election bids next year, told the Speaker they see Schiff as a better choice than Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, another top Democrat. Nadler is seen as more partisan, the sources said.
But as Schiff’s star rises among Democrats, he is increasingly the target of Republicans’ ire.
On Monday morning, Trump attacked on the representative from California on Twitter. “Rep. Adam Schiff illegally made up a FAKE & terrible statement,” the President wrote. “It bore NO relationship to what I said on the call. Arrest for Treason?”
Rep. Adam Schiff illegally made up a FAKE & terrible statement, pretended it to be mine as the most important part of my call to the Ukrainian President, and read it aloud to Congress and the American people. It bore NO relationship to what I said on the call. Arrest for Treason?
Trump’s tweet was in reference to Schiff’s flippant comments during a Sept. 26 hearingwith Joseph Maguire, who became the acting spy chief in August. During the hearing, Schiff characterized Trump’sJuly 25 phone callwith Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “classic organized crime shakedown.”
“Shorn of its rambling character and in not so many words, this is the essence of what the President communicates,” Schiff said in prepared remarks. He then proceeded to imitate the President’s recognizable cadence of speech: “I’m going to say this only seven times, so you better listen good,” Schiff said, speaking as Trump. “I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent, understand? Lots of dirt, on this and on that.”
Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Elise Stefanik, argued that Schiff’s comments were inappropriate.
“It is disturbing and outrageous that Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff opens up a hearing of this importance with improvised fake dialogue,” Stefanik, a New York Republican, wrote on Twitter.
It is disturbing and outrageous that Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff opens up a hearing of this importance with improvised fake dialogue between President Trump and President Zelenskyy. We should focus on the facts.
Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee reached for comment defended Schiff’s characterization of the call. One argued in a message on background that Republicans were “grasping for straws” by criticizing Schiff over the comments, saying “they have nothing else.”
“Anyone else who thinks Schiff was ‘wrong’ is merely pearl-clutching and underestimating the intelligence of the typical person who would even know who Adam Schiff is, let alone had listened to his opening statement at a committee hearing,” says T.J. Helmstetter, a former Democratic National Committee spokesman who now advises progressive organizations. “Schiff’s rhetorical device was perhaps slightly clumsy, but it was also clear to the intended audience of highly engaged people.”
Schiff also defended his own characterization of Trump’s phone call, arguing that while he did not quote the transcript of the phone call verbatim, he correctly relayed “the message” of the call.
“My summary of the President’s call was meant to be at least, part, in parody,” he said. “Of course, the President never said, ‘If you don’t understand me, I’m going to say it seven more times.’ My point is, that’s the message.”
Trump’s Monday attacks on Schiff came after a similar outburst on Friday, when the President tweeted that Schiff had “fraudulently read to Congress” a version of the July 25 phone call. Trump said that Schiff “was supposedly reading the exact transcribed version of the call, but he completely changed the words.” Schiff did not say he was reading from the transcript.
Trump’s suggestion that Schiff’s comments amounted to treason came just days after the President described the sources of the whistleblower’s complaint in similar terms. The whistleblower submitted a complaint flagging Trump’s possible abuse of power during the phone call with Zelensky. Trump said the whistleblower’s actions made them “almost a spy.”
“We used to handle” spies and treason “a little differently than we do now,” Trump told a private group, to appreciative laughter.
According to the rough transcript of the call released by the White House, Trump underscored the United States’ generosity towards Ukraine before asking Zelensky “to do us a favor.” He goes on to say he would like the Ukrainian government to investigate three issues involving the U.S., including investigating Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s involvement in a case involving Biden’s son.
“I will say that we do a lot for Ukraine. We spend a lot of effort and a lot of time,” Trump told Zelensky, according to the White House’s rough transcript. A little while later, Trump says, “I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it.” The conversation between the two leaders occurred soon after the Trump administration withheld nearly $400 million in congressionally approved aid for the country.
Trump also told Zelensky that his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and Attorney General William Barr should be involved.
The transactional nature of the call alarmed Democrats and prompted Schiff’s description of the call as a “shakedown.”
“You know what I’m asking, so I’m only going to say this a few more times, in a few more ways,” Schiff said during the hearing, imitating the President’s speech patterns. “And by the way, don’t call me again. I’ll call you when you’ve done what I asked.”
Climate change is expected to affect every country in the world, but its impact will not be felt equally across all regions and some will be worse hit than others because of a range of different threats.
Developing countries, places with widespread poverty, and countries with ineffective governments sometimes face the gravest risks from the changing climate, and are usually poorly equipped to find ways to prepare for and prevent environmental threats.
Measuring the future impact of climate change is very challenging, because scientists’ climate change projections cannot be completely exact and because there are many different factors that come into play such as the risk of extreme weather events and rising temperatures. There are other non-climatic factors that also determine how severely a city or country will be impacted by climate change.Niall Smith, who analyzes regions’ climate change vulnerability for the global risk consulting firm Maplecroft, tells TIME that it’s also necessary to weigh in what’s happening politically and socially in a region to figure out if the country can prepare.
“The places with the least level of economic development are certainly in line to feel the impacts with the greatest degree, partially just due to their geographic fate — or their location — but more so based on the socio-economic and governance factors,” says Smith.
Many developing countries are also uniquely vulnerable, says Kelly Levin of the World Resources Institute, “their livelihoods are dependent on natural resources. And if those natural resources are affected by climate change, their ability to feed their families and make a living is significantly impacted.”
To get a sense of the challenges different regions are facing, TIME spoke to experts about six countries and cities will be be particularly affected by climate change.
Lagos, Nigeria
PIUS UTOMI EKPEI—AFP/Getty ImagesA girl carries smoked fish at Makoko shanty town in Lagos on Aug. 30, 2012.
Lagos is at “extreme” risk on Maplecroft’s Climate Change Vulnerability Index. This is especially concerning because its population is expanding rapidly, and it is considered to be a major economic engine for the region.
The governor boasted that Lagos had reached a GDP of $136 billion in 2017, which is about a third of the entire country’s GDP. The city is also a major transportation hub, with multiple ports and a major internationalairport and is a regional hub for high tech industry. Lagos has “transformed” over the last 18 years, Lamido Sanusi, a former central bank governor, told the Financial Times last year. “In terms of roads, in terms of infrastructure, in terms of a general investment environment, in terms of security, the government has given people a greater opportunity to thrive.”
Lagos is also at a disadvantage because it’s considered to be one of the fastest growing cities in the world, which will put a “strain on infrastructure and resources,” according to Smith. Its population is projected to nearly double over the next 15 years, growing from its current population of 13,463,420 to 23,418,770.
In the future, Smith warns that Lagos residents will also experience more hot days and droughts.
Climate change could threaten the city’s economy. The city is especially vulnerable because it’s located on the Gulf of Guinea, says Levin. As sea levels rise, it’s likely to affect cause coastal erosion and contaminate potable water. This could harm local agriculture in the countryside and damage the country’s fishing industry, which could be dire in a country with “tremendous” poverty, Levin says.
“You could see more and more people moving in from the countryside because of loss of economic opportunity into a city like Lagos, which could make the whole situation more challenging,” Levin says.
If Lagos struggles, it could seriously reduce economic opportunity in the region.
Haiti
AFP Contributor—AFP/Getty ImagesA man walks in street that was flooded in Malfeti, in the city of Fort Liberte, in the city of Fort Liverte, in the north east of Haiti, on Sept. 8, 2017, during the passage of Hurricane Irma.
Climate change can be a “threat multiplier,” says Christina Chan, the director of the World Resources Institute’s climate resilience practice. This is especially true for Haiti. The island nation is located in the “Atlantic Hurricane Basin,” which means that it is vulnerable to hurricanes. In comparison to other projections on climate change, scientists areless certainabout the link between climate change and hurricane frequency and intensity, but studies have suggested that hurricanes are likely gettingwetter and more intensedue to climate change.
Since Haiti is a very poor country, recovering from natural disasters and preparing for future storms is especially challenging. The devastation in Haiti after the2010 earthquakeand 2016’sHurricane Matthew was compounded by the country’s lack of disaster preparedness. The disasters were major setbacks for the country’s economic development; the $8 billion price tag of recovering from the earthquake surpassed the country’s GDP, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
The landscape is also heavily deforested and mountainous, which means it will be more susceptible to landslides.
According to Levin, Haiti will also struggle because the population is dependent on agriculture, and rising sea levels mean that salt water may contaminate freshwater. The United Nations warns that rising sea levels may cause saltwater to permeate farmland and freshwater supplies.
“There’s certainly a large portion of Haitians that are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods and income. And if you have overall patterns of rainfall declines as temperatures rise, certainly that would impact farmers,” Levin says.
Yemen
ESSA AHMED—AFP/Getty ImagesMoaz Ali Mohammed, a two-year-old Yemeni boy from an impoverished family in the Bani Amer region, who suffers from acute malnutrition and weighing eight kilograms, sits on his mother’s lap at their house in the Aslam district in the northern Hajjah province on July 28, 2019.
Countries with weak institutions and governments are likely to find it especially difficult to adapt to climate change, says Smith. Since civil war broke out in Yemen in 2015, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed directly as a result of the conflict, but also due to the subsequent famine, poor sanitation and a lack of clean water, according to theUnited Nations. About 1.6 million children in Yemen are living with malnutrition in 2019, according to the UN.
Both war and climate change will make watershortagesand famine more likely. According to a Untied Nations report, most contemporary famines result from armed conflict and are worsened by natural disasters.
As the report explains, “Parties to the conflict may use food as a weapon, cutting off food supplies, destroying systems of food production and distribution, and stealing food aid. Agricultural production falls, which both limits the availability of food and cuts off many rural houses from their livelihoods. And with higher levels of poverty, many families cannot afford the food they need, especially at inflated prices.”
Malaria is also becomingmore commonin Yemen, and may be exacerbated by rising temperatures. As Yemen has a long coast, it’s also vulnerable to rising sea levels, according to Levin.
An area to watch, says Levin, “Whenever you’re thinking about a country in that region… [is] the issue of rising temperatures impacting water scarcity, especially when it’s exacerbated by water management challenges and expanding population.”
As other countries work to curb their oil consumption, it may be a mixed blessing for Yemen, according to Levin. While lower emissions are believed to be necessary to limit climate change, it could also reduce demands for one of Yemen’s major imports — oil — which could impact Yemen’s economy, Levin says.
Manila
NurPhoto—Corbis via Getty ImagesFlood victims are evacuated in a rescue boat after their homes were swamped by heavy flooding in Quezon city, suburban Manila, Philippines, Sept. 19, 2014.
The Philippines faces a high risk of natural disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and especiallyhurricanes. Manila, which is located along the coast, is also densely populated, which makes it more difficult to evacuate, requires more social services and makes it more challenging to rebuild after a disaster. Poor infrastructure, including ineffective drainage and sanitation systems, has been blamed for the toll of floods in the city, including a 2009 flood that submerged 80% of the city.
However, Chan says that the Philippines is in fact on the “forefront of adaptation” to climate change, and have designated part of their budget to making their country’s agricultural sector and infrastructure more resilient, and preparing to respond to future disasters. For instance, the government launched a Flood Management Master Plan for Metro Manila in 2012, which aims to manage future floods by modernizing and building new pumping stations and investing in other infrastructure along waterways, according to the Asian Infrastructure investment Bank.
The Philippines have created a Climate Change Commission, which implements programs such as theNational Climate Change Action Plan, a long-term strategy for prioritizing “food security, water sufficiency, ecosystem and environmental stability, human security, climate smart industries and services, sustainable energy, knowledge and capacity development.”
Kiribati
Jonas Gratzer—LightRocket via Getty ImagesDamaged roads due to the flooding in Kirbati – Tarawa’s single paved road has collapsed because of the flooding from the sea. The people of Kiribati are under pressure to relocate due to sea level rise. Each year, the sea level rises by about half an inch. Though this may not sound like much, it is a big deal considering the islands are only a few feet above sea level, which puts them at risk of flooding and sea swells.
Rising sea levels mean that Kiribati may be wiped off the map entirely in the coming decades. The islands have even purchased5,000 acresof land in Fiji in case they need to relocate.
While Kitribati, like many other countries, is taking steps to prepare for climate change, the Pacific island nation must also reckon with the fact that “for their island, adaptation will have its limits,” says Chan. The islands are only six feet above sea level and sit upon a system of atolls and reef islands, which means that rising sea levels are a threat to the nation’s existence.
Meanwhile, Levin says, rising sea levels are likely to contaminate the island’s freshwater and harm its soil, which is not especially fertile for agriculture to begin with. The island’s vital fishing industry is also more vulnerable, as climate changes leads toshifts in the ocean, including coral bleaching; damage to the structure of reefs; marine “heat waves”; and other conditions that force marine life to move north.
United Arab Emirates
STRINGER—AFP/Getty ImagesEmployees walk past solar panels at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Solar Park on March 20, 2017, in Dubai.
Like many of the other places on this list, the United Arab Emirates is facing many risks due to its location. Like Yemen and other neighboring states, the UAE is facing an “extreme risk” of water stress, according to Smith, and will need to spend a lot more energy on cooling.
Unlike many other countries facing these threats, however, the UAE is wealthier and is able to make sophisticated investments to blunt the impact of climate change. For instance, the UAE is working to produce its ownfresh water, buildtemperature-controlledspaces, investments ingreen energy, and developing crops that can withstand hotter temperatures.
However, according to Levin, it remains to be seen whether these adaptations will reach Yemen’s entire population, because the country faces rampantinequality.
“The question is, will adequate investments be made in time, and will the poorest be able to enjoy the same kind of comforts as the rest of the population,” Levin says. “You can look at the face of a GDP of a given country. But that really masks tremendous inequality. It’s hard to necessarily say that one country’s in such a better position to withstand climate impacts.”
Climate change is expected to affect every country in the world, but its impact will not be felt equally across all regions and some will be worse hit than others because of a range of different threats.
Developing countries, places with widespread poverty, and countries with ineffective governments sometimes face the gravest risks from the changing climate, and are usually poorly equipped to find ways to prepare for and prevent environmental threats.
Measuring the future impact of climate change is very challenging, because scientists’ climate change projections cannot be completely exact and because there are many different factors that come into play such as the risk of extreme weather events and rising temperatures. There are other non-climatic factors that also determine how severely a city or country will be impacted by climate change.Niall Smith, who analyzes regions’ climate change vulnerability for the global risk consulting firm Maplecroft, tells TIME that it’s also necessary to weigh in what’s happening politically and socially in a region to figure out if the country can prepare.
“The places with the least level of economic development are certainly in line to feel the impacts with the greatest degree, partially just due to their geographic fate — or their location — but more so based on the socio-economic and governance factors,” says Smith.
Many developing countries are also uniquely vulnerable, says Kelly Levin of the World Resources Institute, “their livelihoods are dependent on natural resources. And if those natural resources are affected by climate change, their ability to feed their families and make a living is significantly impacted.”
To get a sense of the challenges different regions are facing, TIME spoke to experts about six countries and cities will be be particularly affected by climate change.
Lagos, Nigeria
PIUS UTOMI EKPEI—AFP/Getty ImagesA girl carries smoked fish at Makoko shanty town in Lagos on Aug. 30, 2012.
Lagos is at “extreme” risk on Maplecroft’s Climate Change Vulnerability Index. This is especially concerning because its population is expanding rapidly, and it is considered to be a major economic engine for the region.
The governor boasted that Lagos had reached a GDP of $136 billion in 2017, which is about a third of the entire country’s GDP. The city is also a major transportation hub, with multiple ports and a major internationalairport and is a regional hub for high tech industry. Lagos has “transformed” over the last 18 years, Lamido Sanusi, a former central bank governor, told the Financial Times last year. “In terms of roads, in terms of infrastructure, in terms of a general investment environment, in terms of security, the government has given people a greater opportunity to thrive.”
Lagos is also at a disadvantage because it’s considered to be one of the fastest growing cities in the world, which will put a “strain on infrastructure and resources,” according to Smith. Its population is projected to nearly double over the next 15 years, growing from its current population of 13,463,420 to 23,418,770.
In the future, Smith warns that Lagos residents will also experience more hot days and droughts.
Climate change could threaten the city’s economy. The city is especially vulnerable because it’s located on the Gulf of Guinea, says Levin. As sea levels rise, it’s likely to affect cause coastal erosion and contaminate potable water. This could harm local agriculture in the countryside and damage the country’s fishing industry, which could be dire in a country with “tremendous” poverty, Levin says.
“You could see more and more people moving in from the countryside because of loss of economic opportunity into a city like Lagos, which could make the whole situation more challenging,” Levin says.
If Lagos struggles, it could seriously reduce economic opportunity in the region.
Haiti
AFP Contributor—AFP/Getty ImagesA man walks in street that was flooded in Malfeti, in the city of Fort Liberte, in the city of Fort Liverte, in the north east of Haiti, on Sept. 8, 2017, during the passage of Hurricane Irma.
Climate change can be a “threat multiplier,” says Christina Chan, the director of the World Resources Institute’s climate resilience practice. This is especially true for Haiti. The island nation is located in the “Atlantic Hurricane Basin,” which means that it is vulnerable to hurricanes. In comparison to other projections on climate change, scientists areless certainabout the link between climate change and hurricane frequency and intensity, but studies have suggested that hurricanes are likely gettingwetter and more intensedue to climate change.
Since Haiti is a very poor country, recovering from natural disasters and preparing for future storms is especially challenging. The devastation in Haiti after the2010 earthquakeand 2016’sHurricane Matthew was compounded by the country’s lack of disaster preparedness. The disasters were major setbacks for the country’s economic development; the $8 billion price tag of recovering from the earthquake surpassed the country’s GDP, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
The landscape is also heavily deforested and mountainous, which means it will be more susceptible to landslides.
According to Levin, Haiti will also struggle because the population is dependent on agriculture, and rising sea levels mean that salt water may contaminate freshwater. The United Nations warns that rising sea levels may cause saltwater to permeate farmland and freshwater supplies.
“There’s certainly a large portion of Haitians that are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods and income. And if you have overall patterns of rainfall declines as temperatures rise, certainly that would impact farmers,” Levin says.
Yemen
ESSA AHMED—AFP/Getty ImagesMoaz Ali Mohammed, a two-year-old Yemeni boy from an impoverished family in the Bani Amer region, who suffers from acute malnutrition and weighing eight kilograms, sits on his mother’s lap at their house in the Aslam district in the northern Hajjah province on July 28, 2019.
Countries with weak institutions and governments are likely to find it especially difficult to adapt to climate change, says Smith. Since civil war broke out in Yemen in 2015, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed directly as a result of the conflict, but also due to the subsequent famine, poor sanitation and a lack of clean water, according to theUnited Nations. About 1.6 million children in Yemen are living with malnutrition in 2019, according to the UN.
Both war and climate change will make watershortagesand famine more likely. According to a Untied Nations report, most contemporary famines result from armed conflict and are worsened by natural disasters.
As the report explains, “Parties to the conflict may use food as a weapon, cutting off food supplies, destroying systems of food production and distribution, and stealing food aid. Agricultural production falls, which both limits the availability of food and cuts off many rural houses from their livelihoods. And with higher levels of poverty, many families cannot afford the food they need, especially at inflated prices.”
Malaria is also becomingmore commonin Yemen, and may be exacerbated by rising temperatures. As Yemen has a long coast, it’s also vulnerable to rising sea levels, according to Levin.
An area to watch, says Levin, “Whenever you’re thinking about a country in that region… [is] the issue of rising temperatures impacting water scarcity, especially when it’s exacerbated by water management challenges and expanding population.”
As other countries work to curb their oil consumption, it may be a mixed blessing for Yemen, according to Levin. While lower emissions are believed to be necessary to limit climate change, it could also reduce demands for one of Yemen’s major imports — oil — which could impact Yemen’s economy, Levin says.
Manila
NurPhoto—Corbis via Getty ImagesFlood victims are evacuated in a rescue boat after their homes were swamped by heavy flooding in Quezon city, suburban Manila, Philippines, Sept. 19, 2014.
The Philippines faces a high risk of natural disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and especiallyhurricanes. Manila, which is located along the coast, is also densely populated, which makes it more difficult to evacuate, requires more social services and makes it more challenging to rebuild after a disaster. Poor infrastructure, including ineffective drainage and sanitation systems, has been blamed for the toll of floods in the city, including a 2009 flood that submerged 80% of the city.
However, Chan says that the Philippines is in fact on the “forefront of adaptation” to climate change, and have designated part of their budget to making their country’s agricultural sector and infrastructure more resilient, and preparing to respond to future disasters. For instance, the government launched a Flood Management Master Plan for Metro Manila in 2012, which aims to manage future floods by modernizing and building new pumping stations and investing in other infrastructure along waterways, according to the Asian Infrastructure investment Bank.
The Philippines have created a Climate Change Commission, which implements programs such as theNational Climate Change Action Plan, a long-term strategy for prioritizing “food security, water sufficiency, ecosystem and environmental stability, human security, climate smart industries and services, sustainable energy, knowledge and capacity development.”
Kiribati
Jonas Gratzer—LightRocket via Getty ImagesDamaged roads due to the flooding in Kirbati – Tarawa’s single paved road has collapsed because of the flooding from the sea. The people of Kiribati are under pressure to relocate due to sea level rise. Each year, the sea level rises by about half an inch. Though this may not sound like much, it is a big deal considering the islands are only a few feet above sea level, which puts them at risk of flooding and sea swells.
Rising sea levels mean that Kiribati may be wiped off the map entirely in the coming decades. The islands have even purchased5,000 acresof land in Fiji in case they need to relocate.
While Kitribati, like many other countries, is taking steps to prepare for climate change, the Pacific island nation must also reckon with the fact that “for their island, adaptation will have its limits,” says Chan. The islands are only six feet above sea level and sit upon a system of atolls and reef islands, which means that rising sea levels are a threat to the nation’s existence.
Meanwhile, Levin says, rising sea levels are likely to contaminate the island’s freshwater and harm its soil, which is not especially fertile for agriculture to begin with. The island’s vital fishing industry is also more vulnerable, as climate changes leads toshifts in the ocean, including coral bleaching; damage to the structure of reefs; marine “heat waves”; and other conditions that force marine life to move north.
United Arab Emirates
STRINGER—AFP/Getty ImagesEmployees walk past solar panels at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Solar Park on March 20, 2017, in Dubai.
Like many of the other places on this list, the United Arab Emirates is facing many risks due to its location. Like Yemen and other neighboring states, the UAE is facing an “extreme risk” of water stress, according to Smith, and will need to spend a lot more energy on cooling.
Unlike many other countries facing these threats, however, the UAE is wealthier and is able to make sophisticated investments to blunt the impact of climate change. For instance, the UAE is working to produce its ownfresh water, buildtemperature-controlledspaces, investments ingreen energy, and developing crops that can withstand hotter temperatures.
However, according to Levin, it remains to be seen whether these adaptations will reach Yemen’s entire population, because the country faces rampantinequality.
“The question is, will adequate investments be made in time, and will the poorest be able to enjoy the same kind of comforts as the rest of the population,” Levin says. “You can look at the face of a GDP of a given country. But that really masks tremendous inequality. It’s hard to necessarily say that one country’s in such a better position to withstand climate impacts.”
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump asked the Australian prime minister and other foreign leaders to help Attorney General William Barr with an investigation into the origins of the Russia probe.
A Justice Department official says Trump initiated the calls at Barr’s request. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and insisted on anonymity.
The official says the recent call with Australia was one of a “number of times” the president has made similar introductory phone calls for the attorney general as part of U.S. Attorney John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the special counsel’s Russia probe.
The official says Trump told Prime Minister Scott Morrison that the attorney general would be contacting his Australian counterpart.
The revelation comes after the House has opened impeachment inquiry against Trump.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump asked the Australian prime minister and other foreign leaders to help Attorney General William Barr with an investigation into the origins of the Russia probe.
A Justice Department official says Trump initiated the calls at Barr’s request. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and insisted on anonymity.
The official says the recent call with Australia was one of a “number of times” the president has made similar introductory phone calls for the attorney general as part of U.S. Attorney John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the special counsel’s Russia probe.
The official says Trump told Prime Minister Scott Morrison that the attorney general would be contacting his Australian counterpart.
The revelation comes after the House has opened impeachment inquiry against Trump.
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — An actress known for appearing in the 1990s comedy, “Clueless,” is facing a domestic battery charge in Florida.
A Pasco County Sheriff’s Office report says 52-year-old Stacey Dash was arrested Sunday night.
The report says Dash got into a verbal argument with a man at a New Port Richey apartment. Deputies say she pushed the man and slapped his face. Investigators noted that the man sustained red scratch marks on his left arm.
The reports say no alcohol or drugs were involved.
Dash was released on bail Monday morning. Jail records didn’t list an attorney.
Besides portraying Dionne Davenport in “Clueless,” Dash has film and television credits beginning in the 1980s. She also worked as a Fox News commentator from 2014 to 2017.
CVS has halted sales of popular heartburn treatment Zantac and its generic store brand after warnings by U.S. health regulators.
It’s the latest precautionary move by retailers and manufacturers after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently warned consumers about a potentially dangerous contaminant in prescription and over-the-counter versions of Zantac.
In its announcement this weekend, CVS said customers who bought Zantac products can return them for a refund. The retailer will continue to sell other heartburn medications.
What’s the issue?
In September, the FDA said it detected low levels of a probable cancer-causing chemical known as NDMA in Zantac and related generic drugs to treat ulcers and reflux disease. The same chemical has been linked to dozens of recalls of prescription blood pressure drugs in the past year.
The agency said the amount found in Zantac products barely exceeds levels found in common foods such as meats, dairy products and chemicals. Even so, the warning has led some pharmacies and manufacturers to stop selling drugs containing Zantac’s active ingredient, ranitidine.
What’s the reaction?
CVS Health said Saturday it has pulled Zantac and its generic store brand, saying the move “is being taken out of an abundance of caution.” On Monday, Rite Aid said it’s removing Zantac and related drugs sold under its name from its shelves. Walgreens earlier said it’s removing Zantac products from shelves while the FDA continues its investigation.
Last week, two generic makers voluntarily recalled their products: Apotex and Sandoz, the generic unit of drug giant Novartis AG. Both companies said they haven’t received any reports of patient harm. Some other manufacturers have stopped shipping their product to pharmacies.
The recalled Apotex products are sold at and labeled by Walgreens, Walmart and Rite-Aid, according to the FDA.
Sanofi, which makes brand name Zantac, said Monday it’s working with the FDA and doing its own investigation. But it has not stopped selling Zantac in the U.S.
The FDA has asked makers of ranitidine medications to test levels of NDMA in their products and to send samples to the agency.
What’s the advice for patients?
Currently, the FDA isn’t advising patients to stop taking Zantac and related drugs. The agency said not all ranitidine medicines sold in the U.S. are being recalled. Concerned patients should contact their doctor.
Are there alternatives?
Several drugs also treat heartburn and other stomach conditions. They include Pepcid, Nexium, Prilosec, Prevacid and Protonix. Some are available only with a prescription, while others also have less-potent nonprescription versions. For people taking over-the-counter Zantac and related medications, the FDA recommends they consider another heartburn medicine.
