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09/01/2023 ---- 10/01/2023

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10.01.2023
THEME: POLITICS

Thousands arrested in Brazil as violent riots attempted to overthrow Lula's government

On October 30, more than 156 million Brazilians were called to elect the new president. The elections, which saw two candidates - Lula and Bolsonaro - radically opposite in almost every aspect of their politics, were characterized by an extreme climate of violence. In such a controversial climate, the Brazilians chose Lula - who was elected president with 50.9% of the total valid votes. Since then, however, Bolsonaro made clear that he would not readily accept a defeat. Until today he never explicitly accepted the results of the elections. During vote counting, Bolsonaro had cast doubts on the trustworthiness of Brazil's electronic voting system. After the elections, movements of supporters of former president Bolsonaro organized manifestations that included violent practices, such as blocking highways using burning vehicles. In the last week, these tensions catalyzed violent riots in Brasilia, Brazil's capital.

A supporter of Bolsonaro - George Washington de Oliveira Sousa - was arrested on December 26, a few days before Lula's inauguration as the new president, accused of placing explosive devices targeting the airport. Later, during interrogation, he admitted that his actions were part of a plan to trigger a large-scale intervention of the armed forces in the capital. Mr Bolsonaro flew to the US before the presidential handover ceremony on January 1, which he did not attend. In the meantime, his supporters organized a gathering in the capital through social networks. Last Sunday, January 8, hundreds of rioters broke through the police barriers. They stormed the Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Presidential Palace, deliberately devastating these key institutional symbols. President Lula has declared a federal intervention, with thousands of troops on standby in Brasilia. After hours of chaos, Brazilian police have retaken control of the stormed premises. The count of arrested amounts to above 1'500 people and growing.

On Monday evening, president Lula visited the damaged buildings of Congress, the Presidential Palace and the Supreme Court with the country's governors, condemning the "terrorist acts" and vowing to punish the perpetrators. The reactions from world leaders have been unanimous in condemning these acts of violence. A spontaneous response also came from the population. On Monday, street rallies were held in many cities and towns to support the institutions. Thousands could be heard singing and chanting for justice. As authorities in Brazil launched an investigation into the incidents to identify the responsible, more attention was drawn to Bolsonaro. On Monday, he was admitted to a Florida hospital with abdominal pain. From the US, Bolsonaro condemned the "pillaging and invasion of public buildings" and denied responsibility for encouraging the rioters in a post on Twitter some six hours after violence broke out. He rejected what he defined as Lula's "baseless" accusations that he had incited the unrest.

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09.01.2023
THEME: ENVIRONMENT

More than half of glaciers will be gone by 2100 if global warming continues at the current rate

The Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) is where the United Nations come together to act towards achieving the world's collective climate goals agreed upon in the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris on December 12 2015. Its goal is to limit global warming to below 2C (Celsius degrees), preferably to 1.5C, compared to pre-industrial levels. Earlier this year, at COP 27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, leaders recognized that more effort would be needed to achieve the objective of 1.5C. Unfortunately, scientists are finding out that even this best-case scenario may not be enough to avoid dramatic and profound changes in the Earth's climate.

A recent study published in Science shows that 49% of glaciers would disappear under the most optimistic scenario of 1.5C warming within 2100 AD. However, if global heating continues under the current scenario (reaching 2.7C of warming), losses would be more significant, with 68% of glaciers disappearing. If this happened, almost no glaciers would be left in central Europe, western Canada and the US by the end of the next century. The research team of scientists led by Dr Robert W. McNabb (UK) used two decades of satellite data to map the planet's glaciers with greater precision than ever before. Previous models relied on measurements of specific glaciers. Scientists would then extrapolate that information, but now they can get precise data points on each of the planet's 200,000 glaciers. These data gave insight into how many would be lost under different climate change scenarios. In particular, it was possible to observe mountain glaciers. Mountain glacier melt is believed to contribute to more than a third of sea level rise. A lot of this loss is unavoidable, but the magnitude of loss is directly related to temperature increases, so acting on the climate crisis is vital to contain this phenomenon. The result of the study indicates that mountain glacier melt would significantly raise the sea level. Moreover, it threatens the water supply to 2 billion people and increases the risk of natural hazards such as flooding.

After the alarming temperatures registered at the beginning of the year in central Europe, and the recent and worrisome observations from the Alps' glaciers, science is now getting more accurate in indicating the extent of the effects of global warming. While rising sea levels were initially the primary concern, water droughts may be a more imminent issue involving largely populated areas. According to the latest observations, this a problem that may become critical in just a few decades.

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