UN, United States: Nearly half a billion children are facing twice as many days of extreme heat each year — or more — than their grandparents did, the UN said Tuesday, warning of deadly consequences.
As climate change continues to push up temperatures globally, one in five children — some 466 million kids — live in areas that are registering “at least double the number of extremely hot days every year” compared to 60 years ago, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said.
“The bodies of young children are not like little adults, they have much more vulnerability to extreme heat,” UNICEF advocacy chief Lily Caprani told AFP, also warning of dangers for pregnant women.
Additionally, children lose out from education when schools are forced to close due to high temperatures — which has affected at least 80 million children in 2024 so far.
UNICEF used days reaching 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) as its benchmark, comparing average temperatures in the 2020-2024 period to the 1960s.
Such hot days — as well as the means to cope with high temperatures, such as air conditioning — affect the entire world, it noted.
Children in West and Central Africa are the most exposed, with 123 million children — 39 percent of the kids in the region — facing a third of each year with 95-degree days or higher.
At the higher end, in Mali, for example — where air conditioning is out of reach for millions and blackouts can leave fans idled — more than 200 days a year can reach 95 degrees or higher.
In Latin America, meanwhile, 48 million children are facing double the number of 95-degree or higher days than 60 years ago.
Worldwide, the “trajectory is getting worse and worse for these children,” Caprani said.
Children “are fragile and they breathe very quickly. They can’t even sweat like an adult does. They are much more vulnerable to heat stress and it can be literally deadly,” she added.
High temperatures can contribute to child malnutrition and leave kids more vulnerable to disease, especially malaria and dengue, which spread in warm climates, UNICEF warned.
Excessive heat can also negatively impact neurodevelopment and mental health.
UNICEF is calling for increased education for parents to know the signs of heat stroke, better training for medical personnel, and investing in air conditioning in schools — where, even when classes aren’t canceled, learning can be made difficult by hot conditions.
Yet the bigger push remains in reining in climate change, caused by humanity’s use of fossil fuels.
“As governments are currently drafting their national climate action plans, they can do so with the ambition and knowledge that today’s children and future generations will have to live in the world they leave behind,” UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said in a statement.
Extreme heat exposure on the rise for millions of kids: UN
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Extreme heat exposure on the rise for millions of kids: UN
Austin expressed ‘grave concern’ to Israel over death of US citizen, Pentagon says
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday that he had “grave concern for the Israel Defense Force’s responsibility for the unprovoked and unjustified death” of American citizen Aysenur Eygi in the West Bank, the Pentagon said.
“The Secretary urged Minister Gallant to reexamine the IDF’s rules of engagement while operating in the West Bank,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
Modi’s top rival Rahul Gandhi denounces ‘ideological war’ in India
- In Washington, Gandhi said India had a problem with participation of weaker castes, pointing in particular to Dalits — the once so-called “untouchables” in India’s caste system
WASHINGTON: Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday denounced an “ideological war” in the South Asian country, ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party.
Rahul Gandhi said there were “two completely different visions” between his Congress party and Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as he spoke to the National Press Club in the US capital Washington.
“We believe in a plural vision, a vision where everybody has a right to thrive... an India where you’re not persecuted because of what religion you believe in, or what community you come from, or which language you speak,” he said.
Gandhi, 54, was appointed in June to lead India’s opposition in parliament, a key post that had been vacant for a decade.
He is the scion of a dynasty that dominated Indian politics for decades and is the son, grandson and great-grandson of former prime ministers, beginning with independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru.
His party’s result in the 2024 election — nearly doubling its parliamentary numbers — defied analyst expectations and forced Modi’s BJP to form a coalition to govern.
In Washington, Gandhi said India had a problem with participation of weaker castes, pointing in particular to Dalits — the once so-called “untouchables” in India’s caste system.
“So there is a very small percentage of India which is controlling the entire infrastructure,” Gandhi said.
He also criticized Modi’s handling of relations with China, with which India shares a 2,100 mile (3,500 kilometer) border that is a constant source of tension and occasional confrontation between the two nations.
“We’ve got Chinese troops occupying land the size of Delhi. I think that’s a disaster. I don’t think Mr.Modi’s handled China well at all,” he said.
Gandhi, on a multi-day visit to the United States mainly to engage with its large Indian diaspora, has also met with US lawmakers.
Internet suspended in parts of India’s Manipur as students clash with police
- Manipur’s government is led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
GUWAHATI, India: Internet and mobile data services were suspended for five days and an indefinite curfew imposed in some parts of India’s northeastern state of Manipur on Tuesday after student protests over continuing ethnic strife turned violent.
After a brief lull, fighting broke out between the majority Meitei and minority Kuki communities on Sept. 1 and some attacks involved the use of drones to drop explosive devices, killing civilians. Police say they suspect that the drones were used by Kuki militants, a claim denied by Kuki groups.
Hundreds of Meitei students took to the streets on Monday to protest against the drone attacks, calling for a change in the leadership of the state’s “unified command” that oversees security.
Protesters threw stones and plastic bottles in front of the main gate of the state governor’s residence, police said in a statement. Police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowds and about 45 protesters suffered minor injuries, a police officer said.
As protests spilled over into Tuesday, the local government imposed a curfew in the Imphal Valley and surrounding districts and suspended Internet services in five valley districts.
Government and private colleges in the state, which borders Myanmar, will also be shut on Wednesday and Thursday, according to an order issued by the government.
Authorities shut down the Internet in Manipur last year, in one of India’s longest enforced outages.
In the Thoubal district on Monday, police said a large mob “overpowered personnel on duty,” snatched arms and fired at the police.
“We are using minimum force as a preventive measure to control the crowd,” a police official said, and added that the situation had been brought under control.
At least 225 people have died and some 60,000 have been displaced since fighting broke out last year between the Meitei and Kuki communities over the sharing of economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education that are given to the tribal Kukis.
Manipur’s government is led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Modi or the BJP have not commented on the latest violence in the state.
Biden says ending ban on Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons being worked out
- The US has been reluctant to supply or sanction the use of weapons that could strike targets deep inside in Russia for fear it would escalate the conflict.
US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that his administration was “working that out now” when asked if the US would lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long range weapons in its war against Russia.
The US has been reluctant to supply or sanction the use of weapons that could strike targets deep inside in Russia for fear it would escalate the conflict.
Kyiv’s other allies have been supplying weapons, but with restrictions on how and when they can be used inside Russia, out of concern such strikes could prompt retaliation that draws NATO countries into the war or provokes a nuclear conflict.
Sources told Reuters last week that the US was close to an agreement to give Ukraine such weapons, but that Kyiv would need to wait several months as the US works through technical issues ahead of any shipment.
Ukraine braces for hardest winter due to intensified Russian attacks on energy infrastructure
- “Energy resilience is one of our greatest challenges this year,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told a news conference in Kyiv
KYIV, Ukraine: Ukraine’s prime minister warned Tuesday that the country could be facing its toughest winter since the full-scale Russian invasion began, as airstrikes against the country’s beleaguered energy infrastructure intensify.
Russian attacks continue to hammer Ukraine’s energy generation capacity, leaving the country heavily reliant on its three functioning nuclear power stations and electricity imports from European Union countries.
“Energy resilience is one of our greatest challenges this year,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told a news conference in Kyiv.
“We successfully got through what was essentially two and a half winters. We will get through three, with this upcoming heating season likely being just as difficult, if not the hardest,” he said.
Shmyhal said Ukraine’s government, helped by European countries, was urgently developing initiatives to decentralize its power generation, to make it less vulnerable to attacks. That includes expanding renewable power capacity — a development applauded by environmental groups.
Greenpeace has argued that a decentralized solar power network — which would be harder to damage with Russian missile and drone strikes — could rapidly help repair domestic capacity, and is urging the government to make a bolder expansion into green energy.
The group is calling for internationally backed investments worth nearly 4.5 billion euros ($4.9 billion) through 2030, focusing on renewable projects dominated by the solar photovoltaic sector.
“(Our) research says that the current targets, which the Ukrainian government set for reaching solar energy by 2027, could be increased at least fivefold. This is a very conservative evaluation,” Natalia Gozak, head of Greenpeace in Ukraine, told The Associated Press after the group opened an office in Kyiv on Tuesday.
According to the United Nations and the World Bank, Ukraine lost more than half of its power-generating capacity in the first 14 months of the war, with the situation continuing to deteriorate. Much of the country’s solar power generation was also lost because areas in the south of the country with more abundant sunlight came under Russian occupation.
The pre-war power mix in Ukraine was heavily dominated by traditional sources of energy, with coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear making up nearly 95 percent of the total, according to the two bodies.
Alexander Egit, an executive director at Greenpeace for Central and Eastern Europe, urged Western donor nations to back projects focused on renewable energy during and after the war.
“We expect billions of euros to be invested in Ukraine’s reconstruction by the European Union and beyond,” he said. “Greenpeace’s role is to advocate for decentralized renewable energy to ensure Ukraine is rebuilt as a modern, green, and independent nation.”
