Tropical Cyclone Ana: Fiji suffers second deadly storm in a month

Three-year-old boy among those missing in floodwaters in the country’s northern and western islands

One person has died, and five, including a three-year-old boy, are still missing after Cyclone Ana pummelled Fiji on Sunday, just over a month after category 5 Cyclone Yasa tore through the country’s northern islands.

Two more cyclones are already forming off Fiji’s coastline, and cyclone season still has three months left to run.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/01/tropical-cyclone-ana-fiji-suffers-second-deadly-storm-in-a-month

Dreams dashed: Trump’s Muslim ban damage may never be undone

from Qerro Media Service - QMS https://ift.tt/3pCuo4e Xenophobic ban ended up hurting those around the world who cherished American democracy.

In Pictures: Greece’s only zoo approaches extinction

from Qerro Media Service - QMS https://ift.tt/36rYwre After almost three months of closure because of COVID-19, zoo faces huge bills to keep 2,000 animals fed and healthy.

ExxonMobil and Chevron held merger talks in 2020

Preliminary meetings could have created world’s second biggest oil company amid crude price crisis during pandemic

The chief executives of American oil companies ExxonMobil and Chevron held preliminary talks in early 2020 to explore combining the two largest US oil producers in what would have been the biggest merger of all time, according to people familiar with the matter.

The discussions, which are no longer ongoing, are being seen as having tested the waters for the huge corporate marriage after the coronavirus pandemic shook the world last year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/01/exxonmobil-and-chevron-held-merger-talks-in-2020

Jacinda Ardern faces Waitangi Day reckoning with Māori as progress stalls

Three years after the prime minister asked Māori to hold her to account, many are disillusioned with her government

In an oft-repeated story New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has recalled how growing up in the small, largely Māori town of Murupara, she would see children going to school hungry, and with no shoes on their feet.

It was these scenes of entrenched inequality and poverty, often along racial lines, that drove a teenage Ardern into the Labour party, where she has dedicated herself to combating child poverty.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/01/jacinda-ardern-faces-waitangi-day-reckoning-with-maori-as-progress-stalls

New Zealand climate commission proposals will need a revolution in policy | Robert McLachlan

Changes called for will require rapid and sweeping regulation in all areas of society from transport to forestry

The New Zealand Climate Change Commission has released their first package of advice for public consultation. The advice covers the first three carbon budgets (out to 2035) and provides a detailed plan on how to achieve them.

As many aspects of the country’s climate policies have been criticised as weak – from the “split gas” approach in which not all gases need to reach net zero emissions by 2050, to an over-reliance on commercial forestry, to a past failure to cut emissions and future projections that miss targets – the commission’s first major report has been keenly anticipated on all sides.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2021/feb/01/new-zealand-will-need-a-policy-revolution-to-meet-climate-commissions-brief

US: Protesters disrupt COVID vaccination site in Los Angeles

from Qerro Media Service - QMS https://ift.tt/3cAyjdU Dozens of people promote anti-vaccination conspiracy theories and demand the end of COVID-19 lockdowns.