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Is the global public tuning out the climate change debate?

Is the global public tuning out the climate change debate?

Divisions mark the last days of the UN climate summit in the Brazilian city of Belem. Division marked the COP30 climate summit in Brazil as countries struggled to reach a consensus on several sticking points, including a push to phase out fossil fuels. As the world seeks to address the climate crisis, experts say scientists, politicians, media and business all have a role to play in keeping the public engaged. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list But are they succeeding? Presenter: Neave Barker Guests: Professor John Sweeney – Contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Nobel Peace Prize-winning assessment report Professor Allam Ahmed – Leading scholar in sustainable development and the knowledge economy Michael Shank – Climate communication expert and former director of media strategy at Climate Nexus Published On 22 Nov 202522 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,368

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,368

Here are the key events from day 1,368 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Published On 23 Nov 202523 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Here’s where things stand on Sunday, November 23. Trump’s plan Officials from Ukraine, the United States, and the European Union are set to hold talks in Geneva to discuss US President Donald Trump’s proposed 28-point plan for ending the war with Russia. Trump, who initially demanded Ukraine accept his plan by Thursday, told reporters on Saturday that the proposal was not his final offer. “We’d like to get to peace. One way or another, we’ll get it ended,” he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that he has signed a decree approving the composition of Kyiv’s delegation to the talks. “Our representatives know how to defend Ukraine’s national interests and exactly what must be done to prevent Russia from launching a third invasion,” he wrote in a social media post, adding that Russia’s “crimes” should not be “rewarded”. European and Western leaders welcomed Trump’s plan in a statement on Saturday, but said the draft requires “additional work”. They also pushed back against some of its elements, including the ceding of territory to Russia and limits on the size of the Ukrainian military. “We are clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force,” they said. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stressed the need for Ukraine to be involved in any resolution of the conflict and to decide its own fate. “Wars cannot be ended by major powers over the heads of the countries affected,” he told reporters. The leaders of eight Nordic-Baltic countries released a separate statement, reaffirming their commitment to support Ukraine, including by continuing to arm its military. “We have, from the outset of Russia’s war of aggression, stood by Ukraine’s side, and we will continue to do so,” they said. In Washington, DC, Trump’s proposal continued to face opposition from Democrats and some Republican hawks in Congress. Senator Angus King called it one of the worst “geopolitical mistakes” he has ever seen. Advertisement Fighting Russian forces launched more than 60 strikes on the Nikopol district of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, killing at least one person and wounding five others, according to local officials. Another Russian strike on a store in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia wounded five people, while Russian shelling killed three people, including two women in Kherson, officials said. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said it ended its search and rescue operation following the deadly Russian missile attack in Ternopil in the west of the country on November 19. The final death toll of that attack was 33, including six children, according to the agency. Ninety-four others were also wounded. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces captured two villages in eastern Ukraine – Zvanivka in Donetsk and Nove Zaporizhzhia in the Zaporizhia region. The claim came as Ukraine’s Kyiv Independent reported that Russian forces appear to have captured more than 15 villages in Zaporizhia. It cited the Finnish open-intelligence collective, the Black Bird Group. The months-long battle for the town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk also continued, with Russia’s TASS news agency reporting that Russian troops have “encircled Ukrainian units” in several neighbourhoods there. For its part, the Ukrainian military said Russian attempts to reach the town’s centre were unsuccessful and that its forces were holding designed lines in northern Pokrovsk. Adblock test (Why?)

Airlines cancel Venezuela flights amid US warnings and military buildup

Airlines cancel Venezuela flights amid US warnings and military buildup

Six international airlines have suspended flights to Venezuela after the United States warned major carriers about a “potentially hazardous situation” due to “heightened military activity” around the South American country. Spain’s Iberia, Portugal’s TAP, Chile’s LATAM, Colombia’s Avianca, Brazil’s GOL and Trinidad and Tobago’s Caribbean all halted flights to the country on Saturday, the AFP news agency reported, citing Marisela de Loaiza, the president of the Venezuelan Airlines Association. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list TAP said it was cancelling its flights scheduled for Saturday and next Tuesday, while Iberia said it was suspending flights to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, until further notice. TAP told the Reuters news agency that its decision was linked to the US notice, which it said “indicates that safety conditions in Venezuelan airspace are not guaranteed”. According to the AFP news agency, Panama’s Copa Airlines, Spain’s Air Europa and PlusUltra, Turkish Airlines, and Venezuela’s LASER are continuing to operate flights for now. The flight suspensions come as tensions between the US and Venezuela soar, with Washington deploying troops as well as the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean, as part of what it calls an anti-narcotics operation. Caracas, however, describes the operation as a bid to force Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro out of power. The US military has also carried out at least 21 attacks on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, killing at least 83 people. The campaign – which critics say violates both international and US domestic law – began after the administration of President Donald Trump increased its reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Maduro to $50m, describing him as the “global terrorist leader of the Cartel de los Soles”. President Trump, meanwhile, has sent mixed signals about the possibility of intervention in Venezuela, saying in a CBS interview earlier this month that he doesn’t think his country was going to war against Caracas. Advertisement But when asked if Maduro’s days as president were numbered, he replied, saying, “I would say yeah.” Then, on Sunday, he said the US may open talks with Maduro, and on Monday, when asked about the possibility of deploying US troops to the country, he replied: “I don’t rule out that. I don’t rule out anything. We just have to take care of Venezuela.” Days later, on Friday, the US Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) urged all flights in the area to “exercise caution” due to the threats “at all altitudes, including during overflight, the arrival and departure phases of flight, and/or airports and aircraft on the ground”. Ties between Washington and Caracas have been dominated by tensions since the rise of Maduro’s left-wing predecessor, Hugo Chavez, in the early 2000s. The relationship deteriorated further after Maduro came to power following Chavez’s death in 2013. Successive US administrations have rejected Maduro’s legitimacy and imposed heavy sanctions on the Venezuelan economy, accusing the president of corruption, authoritarianism and election fraud. The Trump administration has hardened the US stance. Last week, it labelled the Venezuelan drug organisation, dubbed Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), a “terrorist” group, and it accused Maduro of leading it, without providing evidence. In recent weeks, conservative foreign policy hawks in the US have been increasingly calling on Trump to topple the Maduro government. Maduro has accused the US of inventing “pretexts” for war, repeatedly expressing willingness to engage in dialogue with Washington. But he has warned that his country would push to defend itself. “No foreign power will impose its will on our sovereign homeland,” he was quoted as saying by the Venezuelan outlet Telesur. “But if they break peace and persist in their neocolonial intentions, they will face a huge surprise. I pray that does not occur, because – I repeat – they will receive a truly monumental surprise.” Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who recently won a Nobel Peace Prize, suggested that overthrowing Maduro would not amount to regime change, arguing the president lost the election last year and rigged the results. “We’re not asking for regime change. We’re asking for respect of the will of the people and the people will be the one that will take care and protect this transition so that it is orderly, peaceful and irreversible,” she told The Washington Post on Friday. Machado, 58, has called for privatising Venezuela’s oil sector and opening the country to foreign investments. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)