Ukraine fears increased Russian aggression after US halt of weapons supply

1 hour agoShareSaveLaura Gozzi & James ChaterBBC NewsShareSaveEPA

Kyiv has warned that an interruption of US weapons shipments will encourage Russia to prolong the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.

On Tuesday the White House said it had cut off some weapons deliveries to Ukraine.

The decision was taken "to put America's interests first" following a defence department review of US "military support and assistance to other countries", White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the two countries were now "clarifying all the details on supplies", while the foreign ministry warned any delays "would only encourage the aggressor to continue war and terror, rather than seek peace".

The ministry particularly emphasised the need for Kyiv to strengthen its air defences – as Russia continues to pummel the country with missiles and drones on a near-nightly basis.

A Kyiv-based US diplomat was invited to the foreign ministry for talks on Wednesday.

However, Ukraine's defence ministry said it had not received any official notification from the US about the "suspension or revision" of the weapons deliveries, and urged people not to speculate on the basis of partial information.

But in a statement the defence ministry also said the path to ending the war was "through consistent and joint pressure on the aggressor".

At the weekend Ukraine endured its biggest aerial attack since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, with more than 500 drones and ballistic and cruise missiles launched at its cities.

US officials did not immediately say which shipments were being halted.

According to American broadcaster NBC, the weapons being delayed could include Patriot interceptors, Howitzer munitions, missiles and grenade launchers.

The US has sent tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, leading some in the Trump administration to voice concerns that US stockpiles are too low.

The Kremlin, for its part, welcomed news of the reduction in weapons shipments, saying reducing the flow of weapons to Kyiv will help end the conflict faster.

"The fewer the number of weapons that are delivered to Ukraine, the closer the end of the special military operation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Fedir Venislavskyi, an MP for Ukraine's ruling party, said the decision was "painful, and against the background of the terrorist attacks which Russia commits against Ukraine… it's a very unpleasant situation".

A Ukrainian military source quoted by the AFP news agency said Kyiv was "seriously dependent on American arms supplies, although Europe is doing its best, but it will be difficult for us without American ammunition".

Ukraine's European allies have spent billions in military aid over the last three-and-a-half years.

However, military support for Kyiv is not endorsed by everyone on the political spectrum.

Czech President and former top Nato official, Petr Pavel, has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine – but he told BBC Russian he could "not guarantee" continued ammunition support for Kyiv, as that was dependent on the result of forthcoming Czech elections.

"I don't know what will be the priorities of a new government," he said.

The Pentagon's move is based on concerns that US military stockpiles are falling too low, a source told CBS News, although Anna Kelly stressed "the strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned – just ask Iran".

Separately, the US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Elbridge Colby, said in a statement the Pentagon "continues to provide the President with robust options to continue military aid to Ukraine".

However, he added "the department is rigorously examining and adapting its approach to achieving this objective while also preserving US forces' readiness for Administration defence priorities".

ReutersUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met US President Donald Trump at last month's Nato summit

The pause comes less than a week after President Donald Trump discussed air defences with Volodymyr Zelensky at the Nato summit in the Netherlands.

Trump said US officials "are going to see if we can make some of them available" when asked by the BBC about providing extra Patriot anti-missile systems to Ukraine.

Referring to his conversation with Zelensky, Trump said: "We had a little rough times sometimes, but he couldn't have been nicer."

The two had a heated confrontation in the Oval Office in February. Afterwards, Trump said he was pausing military aid to Ukraine that had been earmarked by the previous Biden administration. Intelligence sharing with Ukraine was also suspended.

But both pauses were subsequently lifted.

In late April, the US and Ukraine signed a deal that would give the US access to Ukraine's mineral reserves in exchange for military assistance.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday – the first time in over two-and-a-half years.

They spoke on the phone for more than two hours, Macron's office said, adding the French president had urged a ceasefire in Ukraine and for talks to start on a "solid and lasting settlement of the conflict".

The Kremlin said Putin had "reminded Macron" that the West's policy was to blame for the war, because it had "for many years ignored Russia's security interests".

Last month, Russia's long-time leader told a forum in St Petersburg that he saw Russians and Ukrainians as one people and "in that sense the whole of Ukraine is ours".

Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory, including the Crimea peninsula annexed in 2014.

Despite heavy losses, Russia has made slow, grinding advances in Ukraine in recent months and announced full control of the eastern Luhansk region this week – this has not been independently verified.

Moscow also says it has seized territory in the south-eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk – a claim denied by the Ukrainian military.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday a Ukrainian attack killed three people at a Russian arms production factory making drones and radars in Izhevsk, more than 1,000km (620 miles) from the border with Ukraine.

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War in UkraineUnited StatesUkraine

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Sursa: BBC News

Valul de căldură european dogoritor devine mortal în Spania, Italia și Franța

acum 14 minuteDistribuieSalveazăMalu CursinoBBC NewsDistribuieSalveazăGetty ImagesOamenii se hidratează în Piazza di Spagna din Roma

Un incendiu de vegetație din Spania și temperaturile ridicate din alte părți ale Europei au făcut alte șase victime, în timp ce continentul atinge temperaturi care depășesc 40°C.

Doi fermieri au murit când au rămas prinși în flăcări în apropierea orașului Coscó din regiunea Catalonia din Spania. Autoritățile au declarat că un muncitor agricol a cerut ajutor șefului său, dar nu au reușit să scape, deoarece incendiul s-a răspândit pe o suprafață extinsă.

În Italia, doi bărbați au murit după ce s-au îmbolnăvit pe plajele de pe insula Sardinia, iar un bărbat de peste 80 de ani a murit din cauza insuficienței cardiace, după ce a intrat într-un spital din Genova.

O fetiță americană în vârstă de 10 ani s-a prăbușit și a murit în timp ce vizita Palatul Versailles, la sud-vest de Paris, au relatat știrile.

Potrivit postului de televiziune francez TF1, ea s-a prăbușit în curtea proprietății regale, în fața părinților ei, în jurul orei 18:00, ora locală, marți. În ciuda eforturilor depuse de echipa de securitate a castelului și de serviciile de urgență, ea a fost declarată decedată o oră mai târziu.

Ministrul francez pentru tranziția ecologică, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, a declarat anterior că în Franța au fost înregistrate două decese legate de căldură și că peste 300 de persoane au primit îngrijiri de urgență.

Continentul european se confruntă cu temperaturi extrem de ridicate, un fenomen despre care agenția ONU pentru climă a declarat că devine din ce în ce mai frecvent din cauza „schimbărilor climatice induse de om”.

Atât Spania, cât și Anglia au avut cea mai fierbinte lună iunie de când au început înregistrările. Serviciul meteorologic spaniol, Aemet, a anunțat că temperatura medie de luna trecută de 23,6°C (74,5°F) a fost „recorduri pulverizate”, depășind media normală pentru iulie și august.

Cei doi bărbați care au murit în incendiul din Catalonia au fost identificați ulterior ca fiind fermierul proprietar și un muncitor în vârstă de 32 și 45 de ani.

Serviciile de urgență au declarat că incendiul s-a extins pe o suprafață de până la 6.500 de hectare.

Aemet a prognozat miercuri temperaturi de 41°C în orașul Córdoba din sudul țării și a anunțat că temperaturile peste noapte au ajuns la 28°C în orașul apropiat Osuna cu o noapte înainte.

Franța a înregistrat al doilea cel mai fierbinte iunie de când au început înregistrările în 1900. Iunie 2023 a fost mai fierbinte.

Patru departamente din Franța au rămas miercuri în alertă roșie pentru căldură, cel mai ridicat nivel. Printre acestea se numără Aube, Cher, Loiret și Yonne, potrivit Météo-France.

Getty ImagesOamenii se răcoresc în Parcul Montsouris din Paris, Franța

În Sardinia, unde temperaturile au depășit 40°C în ultimele zile, un bărbat în vârstă de 75 de ani a murit după ce s-a îmbolnăvit pe o plajă din Budoni. Un alt bărbat, în vârstă de 60 de ani, s-a îmbolnăvit în timp ce se afla pe plaja Lu Impostu din San Teodoro.

Doi muncitori în construcții din provincia italiană Vicenza au fost transportați de urgență la spital marți, la ora 15:30, ora locală, deoarece s-au îmbolnăvit din cauza căldurii în timp ce lucrau într-o groapă. Unul dintre muncitori este în comă, potrivit agenției de știri Ansa.

Între timp, două incendii de vegetație au determinat evacuări de urgență în Grecia, deoarece autoritățile avertizează asupra unui risc foarte ridicat de incendiu în multe regiuni, inclusiv Attica, Creta și părți din Peloponez și insulele din Marea Egee.

În regiunea nordică Halkidiki, un incendiu rapid din apropierea satului de coastă Vourvourou a mistuit o pădure de pini extrem de inflamabilă, forțând locuitorii și persoanele în tabără să fugă. În zonă au fost raportate întreruperi de curent, în timp ce 65 de pompieri, echipe terestre și unități aeriene se luptă cu flăcările pe teren abrupt.

Pe insula Creta, un incendiu mare scăpa de sub control în apropierea satului de coastă Achlia, amenințând locuințe, unități de cazare turistică și infrastructură critică. Locuitorii locali și turiștii au primit ordin să plece. Peste 100 de pompieri au fost trimiși pentru a stinge incendiul.

Dimple Rana, specialistă în căldură și microclimat la firma de consultanță pentru dezvoltare durabilă Arup, a declarat pentru BBC că există „o legătură importantă între impactul căldurii și vârstă”.

În Marea Britanie, de exemplu, majoritatea deceselor legate de căldură au fost în rândul adulților în vârstă, a spus dna Rana. Copiii mai mici, în special cei sub cinci ani, au fost, de asemenea, expuși riscului.

Un alt factor de luat în considerare este faptul că adesea persoanele cu venituri mici desfășoară mai multe munci manuale, a spus dna Rana, ceea ce înseamnă că sunt mai expuse la temperaturi mai ridicate.

Valurile de căldură devin din ce în ce mai frecvente din cauza schimbărilor climatice cauzate de om, potrivit Grupului interguvernamental de experți privind schimbările climatice al ONU.

Vremea extrem de caldă se va întâmpla mai des – și va deveni și mai intensă – pe măsură ce planeta continuă să se încălzească, a declarat acesta.

Organizația Meteorologică Mondială (OMM), care este agenția ONU pentru vreme și climă, a declarat marți că schimbările climatice induse de om înseamnă că „căldura extremă devine mai frecventă și „intensă”.

Într-o declarație, OMM a adăugat: „Efectul căldurii asupra sănătății umane este mai pronunțat în orașe ca urmare a efectului de insulă termică urbană.

„Aici mediile urbane sunt semnificativ mai calde decât zonele rurale înconjurătoare, în special în perioadele caniculare, datorită abundenței de suprafețe pavate, clădiri, vehicule și surse de căldură.”

„Această căldură suplimentară din orașe exacerbează stresul termic și poate crește mortalitatea în perioadele caniculare.” Agenția a declarat.

Cât de neobișnuită este această căldură în Regatul Unit și sunt schimbările climatice de vină?

Patru moduri în care schimbările climatice agravează vremea extremă

Un ghid simplu despre schimbările climatice

EuropaValuri de căldură europeneValuri de căldură

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Sursa: BBC News

Colaboratoarea politică CNN Maggie Haberman explică raționamentul din spatele atacurilor lui Donald Trump asupra judecătorului și a familiei sale în timpul unui discurs la stațiunea sa din Mar-a-Lago, după ce a fost pus sub acuzare pentru infracțiuni grave.

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Sursa: CNN

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Sursa: CNN

CNN  — 

The escalating climate crisis is shifting many people’s purchasing patterns and this extends to the Delay means death': We're running out of ways to adapt to the climate crisis, new report shows. Here are the key takeaways

Strategy and consulting firm Simon Kucher’s Global Sustainability Study 2021 found 60% of consumers around the world rated sustainability as an important purchase criterion, and 35% were willing to pay more for sustainable products or services.

This shift in consumer preferences has propelled many beauty brands to set environmental goals: to move away from single-use and virgin plastics, provide recyclable, reusable and refillable packaging and offer more transparency around products’ ingredients so customers can ascertain how “green” their purchase is.

However, consumers still struggle to understand the sustainability credentials of many products, according to the British Beauty Council. This is because the industry’s clean-up efforts have been inconsistent, and fall short of making a recognizable impact in the absence of collective goal-setting, global strategy and standardized regulations.

Ingredient and branding transparency

There is no international standard for the beauty industry on how much product ingredient information to share with customers — or how to do so. Brands can set their own rules and goals, giving rise to confusion and “greenwashing,” where sustainability claims are often touted but not substantiated.

Companies often use marketing language like “clean beauty” to make it seem like their products are natural, for example, when they may not actually be organic, sustainable or ethically made.

Related article After rebranding in the West, many beauty companies are still offering to 'whiten' skin elsewhere

“The term ‘clean beauty’ has become quite dangerous. It’s used to sell more products,” according to British Beauty Council CEO Millie Kendall, who added that such buzzwords are losing traction in the UK as British customers wise up to their shortcomings. “Customers need better marketing information and certification information.”

In a 2021 report calling on the industry to have “the courage to change” their business practices, the British Beauty Council wrote that, all too often, even natural ingredients involved in manufacturing products give way to “over-consumption, non-regenerative farming practices, pollution, waste and neglect.”

“The only way out of this is transparency,” Kendall told CNN.

Jen Lee, chief impact officer at US-based brand Beautycounter, said she continues to see confusion over ingredients among consumers. (In 2013, the company launched and published “The Never List,” which currently cites more than 2,800 chemicals — including heavy metals, parabens and formaldehyde — it claims to never use in its products.)

“Natural vs. synthetic ingredients has been a conversation. People think natural is safer, but it’s not always the case,” Lee explained. “Natural ingredients formulated in the industry can have toxic load. Heavy metals can occur in natural components of the earth.”

Related article Mother loses peripheral vision from apparent exposure to mercury in beauty creams. Toxic levels in her home put family at risk, say experts

“We used to be more natural and organic,” added Sasha Plavsic, founder of makeup brand ILIA Beauty. “What was challenging is (that) raw materials were difficult to source or would come in inconsistently or products wouldn’t perform.”

Most makeup is created and molded at high temperatures, Plavsic explained. Purely organic materials often fall apart in this heat, leading to inconsistent results and subpar product performance. “Not every synthetic is bad,” Plavsic said. “Sometimes, it helps create the best in class formula.”

Unpacking plastics

The industry’s plastic packaging is a particular sustainability challenge — 95% is thrown away and the vast majority is not recycled, according to the British Beauty Council.

The cosmetics business is the fourth biggest plastic packaging user globally — after food and beverage, industrial packaging and pharmaceuticals — and plastic is about 67% of the industry’s packaging volume, according to Vantage Market Research. Beauty giant L’Oreal used 144,430 metric tons of plastic in its packaging material in 2021, for example, according to the Ellen Macarthur Foundation (EMF). Estee Lauder Companies reported its brands produced 71,600 metric tons of plastic in product packaging that same year.

And only 9% of the global plastic waste is recycled, according to a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The United States only recycles 4% of its plastic waste.

Related article Single-use plastic is wreaking havoc on the planet. Here's what you can do to minimize your impact

Many brands are trying to phase out harmful plastics from their operations and adopt post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic. (L’Oreal has set a target of 50% PCR plastic usage by 2025, while Estee Lauder is targeting 25% “or more” PCR plastic — but both are far from achieving their targets.)

“Between 60-70 major global brands have made unprecedented progress” in PCR plastic usage across industries, EMF’s Plastic Initiative Lead Sander DeFruyt told CNN. But DeFruyt stressed that PCR plastic must be adopted in conjunction with brands removing single and virgin plastics from their usage cycles to truly make a difference.

However, PCR plastic is not easy to find — low recycling rates around the world mean there is limited supply. Meanwhile, demand for it is growing demand across industries, DeFruyt said. This competition hikes up its price, which is already higher than virgin plastic.

Hair care brand FEKKAI claims that it used up to 95% PCR content in its packaging, but pricing and supply issues posed a challenge, forcing it to currently aim for containers and packaging that feature at least 50% PCR in its packaging.

“PCR plastic is more expensive than stock plastic. The cost is hard and then sourcing it is too,” founder Frédéric Fekkai told CNN. “PCR is close to our heart, but there is a massive demand, so finding recycled plastic is difficult.”

The weight of retail

Beauty retailers plays a pivotal — and under-utilized — role, with control over stocking decisions and supply chains. But many vary when it comes to the standards they set for brands they sell.

“Smaller businesses do more, full stop,” said Jessi Baker, founder of the technology platform Provenance, which helps brands display their sustainability credentials for customers. “They move more nimbly. Some of them are born-good brands — climate friendliness was part of their setup. They don’t need to restructure their entire supply chain. Their culture already has it compared to the larger brands who need to work hard to change.”

Related article A history of beauty trends — and the standards that shaped them

Sephora launched its “Clean + Planet Positive” initiative in 2021, which labeled products that met its set criteria. (This is separate from the French retailer’s “Clean at Sephora” program, which is currently facing a consumer lawsuit alleging it carries a significant percentage of products understood by customers to be harmful.) Target launched a similar program in 2022, featuring a “Target Zero” icon for both online and in-store offerings that either have reusable, recyclable, compostable or reduced plastic packaging, or feature waterless or concentrated products.

Still, many steps taken by brands and retailers do not even begin to touch on the waste and pollution generated throughout supply chains, manufacturing and shipping, all huge problems for the industry to grapple with.

The missing player

The gaps in standardization in the beauty ecosystem can, to some extent, be filled by certifications such as the US-born B Corporation, or B Corp. This accreditation, one of the most well-known in the beauty space, is issued by the non-profit B Lab, which scores a company on a variety of criteria around ethics and sustainability. However beneficial it may be among eco-conscious consumers, though, it is currently completely voluntary for brands to apply for.

Governments and multinationals enforcing regulations and setting a base line for brands to operate from when making sustainability claims would go a long way to making change, many experts and business leaders believe.

Susanne Kaufmann, founder of her namesake beauty brand, says her efforts in Austria would reap better results if more countries around the world had stricter, more uniform garbage disposal laws.

Related article A trash heap 62 meters high shows the scale of India's climate challenge

“I package our product in a recyclable material,” Kaufmann said. (Her products’ packaging, which is refillable and reusable, is made from 75% recycled plastic — and is 100% recyclable.) If I send this to the US, the garbage is not separated… and it’s not recyclable,” she explained, referring to inconsistencies in recycling laws across the United States.

And when it comes to ingredients, the European Chemicals Agency lists 2,495 substances banned from use in cosmetic products marketed for sale or use in the bloc. But the US Food and Drug administration only lists 11, making it more challenging for American consumers to find safer, greener options. The Environmental Working Group, a non-profit watchdog, studied lab tests of 51 sunscreen products in 2021 and found that only 35% of products met the EU standard, compared with 94% that passed the US standard.

However, while government can set minimum requirements, Mia Davis, vice president of sustainability and impact at beauty retailer Credo Beauty, says the needle will move in the private sector.

Related article Sustainable ships: The world's most eco-conscious cruises

“Regulation can raise the floor a bit. A person who doesn’t know about any (sustainability issues) should still be able to walk into a bodega and get clean products… But that’s never going to be what the market can do,” she said. “Market leadership is key.”

In the absence of bold regulations or global standards on sustainability practices, this “leadership” — undertaken both by brands and customers in the beauty marketplace — is likely to be the most immediately impactful vector for addressing the industry’s climate shortcomings. It will take continued collective advocacy and initiative to see meaningful climate-conscious change.

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Sursa: CNN