Documentary-maker and naturalist Sir David Attenborough has told of two reasons for hope going into the Cop26 environmental summit.
Attenborough said that for the first time in history, all nations should be on the same side to fight climate change and modern communications meant anyone, anywhere could see the problems and take part in solving them.
He was speaking at Chatham House, in London, where he was presented with the Centenary Lifetime Award, one of three honours being issued for the institution's 100th anniversary.
“Until now international relations have been dominated by argument, by disagreement over points of view," Attenborough said.
"Right now, the major problems that face the nations of the world are the same for all countries.
“The world is being destroyed. We are doing it, there is no doubt about that, so for the first time, the issues of the world should not be argued.
“On the contrary, they should be standing shoulder to shoulder, identifying and solving the problems. It is for all the nations’ advantage that we should agree to take action. That is an extraordinary change.”
He said his second reason for hope was how “humanity communicates with itself”, allowing the world to see the problems and inspiring young people to demand action.
“For the first time it is possible for people to speak today and be heard, within minutes, across the world," Attenborough said.
“This is not just television. It about the whole change of communications between the people of the world.
“For the first time it is possible to see the dimensions of the problem, to see the pictures of devastation or of hope.
“For the first time people around the world can hear the arguments and the solutions. Those two things give me some hope.”
He called November's Cop26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, a meeting “of the haves and the have nots”.
Rising global temperatures can increase the risk of diseases such as malaria, which flourishes in hot countries.
Scientists also believe climate change will lead to more frequent natural disasters such as heatwaves, droughts and floods.
A target to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial times was set in the Paris Agreement six years ago.
The Glasgow summit is aimed at implementing that goal with more ambitious steps for nations trying to reach net-zero emissions, and for financing the projects.
Chatham House has also named its two other Centenary award winners, who will pick up the honours in the coming weeks.
Greta Thunberg has been given the Centenary Change-makers Award and Melina Abdullah, co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement, will be presented with the Centenary Diversity Champion Award.
UAE v Zimbabwe A
Results
Match 1 – UAE won by 4 wickets
Match 2 – UAE won by 5 wickets
Match 3 – UAE won by 25 runs
Match 4 – UAE won by 77 runs
Fixture
Match 5, Saturday, 9.30am start, ICC Academy, Dubai
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
In%20the%20Land%20of%20Saints%20and%20Sinners
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Company%20profile
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Why are you, you?
Why are you, you?
From this question, a new beginning.
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For you are a world, and a meeting of worlds.
Our dream is to unite that which has been
separated by history.
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A great story unites us all,
beyond colour and creed and gender.
The lightning flash of art
And the music of the heart.
We reflect all cultures, all ways.
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Universal ideals, visions of art and truth.
Now is the turning point of cultures and hopes.
Come with questions, leave with visions.
We are the link between the past and the future.
Here, through art, new possibilities are born. And
new answers are given wings.
Why are you, you?
Because we are mirrors of each other.
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Together we are more powerful than we know.
We connect, we inspire, we multiply illuminations
with the unique light of art.
Ben Okri,
US households add $601bn of debt in 2019
American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.
Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.
In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.
The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.
"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
