Old is gold: Why Bollywood is turning to re-releases amid string of flops
New Delhi, India – When Raghav Bikhchandani found out on social media that Gangs of Wasseypur, the acclaimed Indian blockbuster released in 2012, was all set to hit the theatres in New Delhi again, he knew he could not miss it this time and even alerted several film clubs and WhatsApp groups he was part of. For the 27-year-old copy editor, getting to watch the two-part film felt like “finally being introduced to the most memed movie in Indian pop culture” as he found himself commuting for three hours on an August afternoon to a seedy theatre in the city’s Subhash Nagar neighbourhood to catch the movie on the big screen. “I came into Hindi cinema much later in life, and I had missed out on seeing this on the big screen. When I was studying abroad in Chicago, even NRIs in my university would quote dialogues from this movie but I had never gotten a chance to see it. So I knew I couldn’t miss this opportunity,” he told Al Jazeera. Based in a mining town in eastern India on a decades-long feud between rival gangs mainly dealing in coal, “the black diamond”, the Anurag Kashyap-directed duology attained popularity and critical acclaim following its full-house premier at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival in France. With an inventive cast, sharp dialogues, pitch-black comedy and gritty setting, the five-hour epic crime and political drama cemented its status as one of the most memorable Indian films of the past decade. Actress Reema Sen poses during a Gangs of Wasseypur success party in Mumbai [File: Strdel/AFP] But it isn’t just Gangs of Wasseypur. Bollywood, India’s much-vaunted Hindi film industry based in Mumbai, as well as regional film studios spread across the world’s most populous nation, are witnessing an unprecedented surge in re-releases of films celebrated in the past, some going as far back as the 1950s. Dozens of such films have hit theatres in many cities this year – far more than ever before – as the country’s nearly $200bn film industry looks to revive its fortunes after taking multiple hits in recent years. In a country like India, which produces more films a year than Hollywood, cinema is essentially a mass medium, most enjoyed in the dark and dreamy confines of a film theatre showing its latest offering on a 70mm screen. But the coronavirus pandemic hurt Indian films – as it did with movies globally. Since 2022, theatres across the world have been struggling to get people back, a crisis compounded by the rise of online streaming and OTT platforms. India reeled under two deadly COVID-19 waves in 2020 and 2021, forcing the closure of nearly 1,500 to 2,000 theatres – a majority of them single-screen cinemas, which could not stand up to the corporate franchise-driven multiplexes mostly seen in shopping malls mushrooming across the country. Then there is the rising cost of making a full-length film. Stars, mainly men, are now paid an unprecedented fee, some amounting to nearly half of a film’s budget. Moreover, the expense of their entourage – makeup and publicity crew, vanity vans, hotels and travel – puts further financial strain on producers and studios. Recently, prominent producer and director Karan Johar told journalists the star fees in Bollywood were “not in touch with reality”. Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor promoting his 2011 film Rockstar at a college in Mumbai. The film returned to Indian theatres this year [File: Yogen Shah/The India Today Group via Getty Images] To make matters worse, Bollywood in recent years has been witness to a string of flops, with even big multiplex chains such as PVR INOX incurring heavy losses – and therefore forced to be more imaginative in their offerings. It was against such a backdrop that theatre owners and filmmakers decided to re-release old films. Many of films that have returned to theatres were runaway successes the first time around, while others weren’t – until now. PVR INOX’s lead strategist Niharika Bijli was quoted in a report in September this year as saying the chain re-released a whopping 47 films between April and August this year. While the average occupancy for a new release during this period stood at 25 percent, re-releases enjoyed a higher average of 31 percent, according to the reports. Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, whose 2002 hit Tum Bin was released again this year to much fanfare, told Al Jazeera nostalgia has “a large role to play here”. “There are usually two kinds of viewers going in for the re-releases. The first is the people who missed these films in theatres. Maybe they saw it on OTT and felt like having a theatrical experience of it. Or there’s people who have memories, nostalgia attached to a film, and want to revisit it,” he said. Tum Bin’s actors: Sandali Sinha, right, Priyanshu, centre, and Himanshu [File: JSG/CP] Indian film trade analyst Taran Adarsh agreed, saying the success of Tumbbad, a 113-minute mythological horror initially released in 2018, was proof that the formula of reruns was working. “It’s also about nostalgia, some people might want to experience the magic of a film on the big screen again,” he said. Tumbbad did not do well when it first came out. But with rising popularity and critical acclaim, the film was re-released in September this year and went on to perform significantly better than the year it hit the big screen. “When it re-released, Tumbbad actually collected over 125 percent more revenue in its opening weekend than it did back in 2018. People will watch things if there is word-of-mouth publicity and theatre owners and distributors are aware of it. Superstars like Shah Rukh Khan and Salman [Khan] are coming back to theatres, thanks to Karan Arjun getting a re-release,” said Adarsh, referring to the actors, who, despite being in their late 50s, continue to be the top two reigning stars in Bollywood. First released in 1995, Karan Arjun, a rebirth-themed action drama directed by actor-turned-director Rakesh Roshan, is set to
Mapping the impact of climate change on global displacement
As the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) concludes in Baku, Azerbaijan, global commitments to address climate change are once again being confronted with the stark realities on the ground of widespread weather-related displacement. According to the 2024 Global Report on Internal Displacement, at least 6.6 million people worldwide were displaced by weather-related disasters by the end of 2023. However, many were displaced multiple times primarily due to floods, storms, droughts and wildfires, resulting in a total of at least 20.3 million forced movements throughout the year. An additional 1.1 million people were displaced by natural disasters not directly attributed to climate change such as earthquakes and volcanic activity. “It is expected that the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance will grow exponentially in countries vulnerable to climate change,” the Norwegian Refugee Council’s global lead on climate and environment, Julie Gassien, told Al Jazeera. “Climate change will contribute to much larger numbers of people being displaced and will lead to more, larger and more intense hazardous events”, she added. Where did climate change cause the most displacement? The countries with the highest number of weather-related displacements in 2023 were China (4.6 million) and the Philippines (2.1 million). There, Typhoon Doksuri, one of the most powerful storms of the season, displaced more than a million people and killed dozens. In Africa, Somalia experienced the continent’s highest number of displacements with 2 million, largely due to the “worst floods in decades” forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. Weather-related events also increase risks for already vulnerable communities, including those affected by conflict, said Ezekiel Simperingham, global manager for migration and displacement at the International Federation of the Red Cross. “The compounding impacts affect people’s lives, health and livelihoods,” he told Al Jazeera, noting that these communities also struggle to receive the support they need. (Al Jazeera) Floods and storms accounted for the vast majority of displacements with 9.8 million and 9.5 million respectively, followed by droughts (491,000) and wildfires (435,000). Wet mass movements, such as landslides, led to at least 119,000 displacements, while erosion and extreme temperatures caused 7,000 and 4,700 displacements, respectively. The number of weather-related displacement incidents has risen sharply over the past 16 years, since the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) began tracking them in 2008. Floods, in particular, have seen a clear upward trend despite some fluctuations, rising from 272 weather-related incidents in 2015 to a peak of 1,710 incidents in 2023 – an increase of more than six times. Similarly, storm events, including hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons, have experienced a significant surge, growing more than seven times from 163 recorded incidents in 2015 to 1,186 in 2023. Combined, floods and storms were responsible for 77 percent of all weather-related incidents globally from 2008 to 2023. (Al Jazeera) Pushker Kharecha, deputy director of the Climate Science, Awareness, and Solutions programme at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, says human-induced climate change “has certainly played a significant role” in worsening temperature-related extremes. “It has also worsened floods, droughts, storms and extreme sea levels in most inhabited regions,” Kharecha told Al Jazeera. He warned that the “worsening of extremes” is expected to persist if we “miraculously achieve the 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100 temperature target” – which aims to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century to reduce severe climate impacts. Displacements occurring worldwide Out of the 359 million weather-related global displacements recorded since 2008, nearly 80 percent were from the Asia and Asia Pacific regions, accounting for about 106 and 171 million respectively. China, the Philippines, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan were the top five countries with the most recorded internal displacements over the 16-year period, accounting for 67 percent of global displacements. According to the World Bank, over the past two decades, more than half of South Asia’s population – about 750 million people – have been affected by at least one natural disaster such as floods, droughts or cyclones. The region is projected to experience annual losses averaging $160bn by 2030 if current trends continue. (Al Jazeera) Overall, countries in the Global South, including large parts of Africa, Asia, Asia Pacific, MENA and Latin America, experienced five times (5.13) more displacements relative to their populations compared with countries in the Global North in 2023. Columbia University’s Kharecha called this phenomenon one of the major ”global injustices” – where the Global South has contributed the least to the problem but is suffering the most severe impacts, and will continue to bear the brunt of its effects. According to a New York Times analysis, 23 industrialised nations, overwhelmingly in Western Europe and North America, contributed to 50 percent of all the greenhouse gases that have contributed to global warming, released by fossil fuels and industry over the past 170 years. Kharecha explained that the Global South already contains the warmest regions on Earth, and hence even the relatively small increase in global temperature affected those regions more than colder regions. “Also, these countries are the most vulnerable to climate impacts as they generally have the fewest financial and/or technological resources to mitigate the problem,” he added. (Al Jazeera) Are COP members doing enough to tackle displacement? Alice Baillit, policy adviser at the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, says addressing disaster displacement requires addressing “both its root causes, including vulnerabilities created by climate change, as well as the losses and damages it creates”. “Current pledges [at COP] are woefully inadequate, in part because they do not fully consider the true costs of displacement,” Baillit told Al Jazeera. Last week, more than 200 former leaders and climate experts in a letter said the UN-led COP summit was “no longer fit for purpose”, and requires a “fundamental overhaul”. Kharecha at Columbia University also expressed scepticism about what summits like COP can achieve. “Just look at any graph of CO2 emissions over time. They continue to grow unabated after decades of these meetings,” he said. “As long as the agreements are not legally binding, ‘commitments’
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,002
These were the key developments on the 1,002nd day of the Russia-Ukraine war. Here is the situation on Friday, November 22: Ballistic missile attack President Vladimir Putin confirmed that Russia fired a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in response to the United States and United Kingdom allowing Kyiv to strike Russian territory with advanced Western weapons, in a further escalation of the 33-month-old war. Putin said civilians would be warned in advance of further strikes with such weapons, and he said the conflict has “acquired elements of a global character”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said use of the new missile amounted to “a clear and severe escalation” and called for strong worldwide condemnation, lamenting that “right now, there is no strong reaction from the world”. Kyiv initially suggested Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile – a weapon designed for long-distance nuclear strikes and never before used in war – but US officials and NATO echoed Putin’s description of the weapon as an intermediate-range ballistic missile, which has a shorter range of 3,000–5,500km (1,860-3,415 miles). An anonymous US official told the Reuters news agency that Russia notified Washington shortly before the missile strike, while another official said the US had briefed Kyiv and allies to prepare for the possible use of such weapons. Russia’s Defence Ministry said air defence forces had shot down two British Storm Shadow cruise missiles fired by Ukraine, while Russia’s ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin has warned that Britain “is now directly involved in this war”. Russia said a new US ballistic missile defence base in northern Poland will lead to an increase in the overall level of nuclear danger. Warsaw has said “threats” from Moscow only strengthen the argument for NATO defences. Fighting Russia’s Defence Ministry has said its forces captured the eastern Ukrainian village of Dalne in the Donetsk region. Ukraine’s General Staff made no acknowledgement of Dalne being in Russian hands, but mentioned the village as one of seven in an area where Russian forces had tried to pierce Ukrainian defences 26 times over the past 24 hours. Ukraine’s parliament has postponed a sitting due to have taken place on Friday out of “potential security issues”. Russia’s weekend missile strikes hit three of the five working thermal plants owned by Ukrainian power giant DTEK and one of them is still offline, an industry source has said, illustrating the severity of the latest blow to the national grid. A car drives along a road during a power outage in Kyiv, Ukraine on November 20, 2024 [Gleb Garanich/Reuters] North Korea President Joe Biden dropped his opposition to Ukraine firing US missiles at targets inside Russia in response to North Korea’s entry to the war, two sources familiar with the decision have told Reuters. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has accused the US of ramping up tension and provocations, saying the Korean Peninsula has never faced such risks of nuclear war as now, state media said. The defence ministers of South Korea and Japan condemned North Korea’s dispatch of troops to Russia during talks, Seoul’s Defence Ministry said in a statement. Sanctions The US has issued new Russia-related sanctions, including on Russia’s Gazprombank, according to a notice posted on the Department of Treasury’s website. Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have submitted a letter to the European Commission calling for customs duty to be imposed on fertilisers from Russia and Belarus. Adblock test (Why?)
All set for vote counting in Jharkhand tomorrow; NDA, JMM-led alliances confident of winning
BJP leader and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi said NDA will win more than 51 seats.
Hochul spearheads plan to pay NYers to switch to green appliances amid state money woes
New York is rolling out a new incentive for residents who switch to green alternatives for their household appliances. In an announcement Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul revealed that her state will be the first to offer a rebate under a new Appliance Upgrade Program. The rebate, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), offers low-and moderate-income households up to $840 if they switch out their fossil fuel-powered clothes dryers with heat pump-powered alternatives. “New York is demonstrating its continued commitment to ensuring an equitable energy transition by leveraging all federal funds available to incentivize consumers to make energy-efficient appliance purchases a priority,” Hochul said in a statement. EXPERTS RIP ‘TRIPLE CROWN OF BAD REGS’ AS BIDEN ADMIN POSTS GAS STOVE RULE IT DENIED WAS A BAN “As a result of these new rebates, low- and moderate-income New Yorkers will save energy and money while doing their laundry with modern technology that will reduce emissions,” she added. 5 INSANE BIDEN-HARRIS APPLIANCE REGULATIONS HEADING YOUR WAY The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), also praised the new initiative. “NYSERDA is pleased to start distributing this IRA funding for home appliance rebates through a customer-centric approach that ensures low-and moderate-income New Yorkers can easily upgrade inefficient clothes drying equipment or purchase a dryer for the first time,” NYSERDA said. The handout comes as New York ranks as having the second-highest debt burden in the nation in 2021, according to the New York State Comptroller. The comptroller’s office released a report on the state’s financing plan, which projected New York would issue over 3.4 times more debt than it will retire over the next five years. New York has been pushing to phase out fossil fuels in the state but has been previously criticized for its initiatives. Officials announced in May 2023 that beginning in 2026, New York will prohibit gas stoves and heating systems for new construction of buildings seven stories or fewer, according to reports. “I think it’s ridiculous, and I think the danger is that it almost seems comedic and so people can take it, you know, maybe not as seriously as they should,” New York Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt told Fox News Digital in an interview before the ban. “It is going to increase people’s utility rates in the state of New York, it is going to decrease energy reliability in the state of New York, and it will do nothing to fight climate change.”
New York judge grants Trump request to file motion to dismiss charges, cancels sentencing indefinitely
Judge Juan Merchan on Friday granted President-elect Donald Trump’s request to file a motion to dismiss the charges in New York v. Trump and removed the sentencing date for the president-elect from the schedule. Merchan said Trump attorneys have until Dec. 2 to file their motion for dismissal. Merchan said Bragg has until Dec. 9 to respond. Merchan also confirmed the stay in sentencing for Trump, which was requested by both Trump’s and Bragg’s attorneys. The sentencing was scheduled for Nov. 26, but on Friday, Merchan said that date “is adjourned.” Trump spokesman and incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung reacted to Merchan’s ruling Friday, telling Fox News Digital it is a “decisive win” for the president. “In a decisive win for President Trump, the hoax Manhattan Case is now fully stayed and sentencing is adjourned,” Cheung told Fox News Digital. “President Trump won a landslide victory as the American People have issued a mandate to return him to office and dispose of all remnants of the Witch Hunt cases.” Cheung added, “All of the sham lawfare attacks against President Trump are now destroyed and we are focused on Making America Great Again.” In a letter to Merchan on Wednesday, Trump defense attorney and now-nominee for Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche demanded the case against Trump be tossed. “On November 5, 2024, the Nation’s People issued a mandate that supersedes the political motivations of DANY’s ‘People,’” Blanche wrote. “This case must be immediately dismissed.” Blanche said that “immediate dismissal of this case is mandated by the federal Constitution, the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, and the interests of justice, in order to facilitate the orderly transition of Executive power following President Trump’s overwhelming victory in the 2024 Presidential Election.” BRAGG CASE ‘EFFECTIVELY OVER’ IN ‘MAJOR VICTORY,’ TRUMP OFFICIALS SAY Blanche’s pre-motion letter on Wednesday was sent in order to request permission to file a motion to dismiss by Dec. 20 and to request a stay on all deadlines, which Bragg and New York prosecutors had agreed to. The letter came after Bragg sent a letter to Merchan on Tuesday requesting a stay on the case until 2029. Bragg said he would oppose Trump’s motion to dismiss but said he would be open to receiving the defense argument. Blanche argued that Bragg “appears to not yet be ready to dismiss this politically-motivated and fatally flawed case, which is what is mandated by the law and will happen as justice takes its course.” Blanche pointed to Bragg’s own election campaign for another term as Manhattan district attorney. Blanche argued that “continuing with this case would be ‘uniquely destabilizing’ and threatens to ‘hamstring the operation of the whole governmental apparatus, both in foreign and domestic affairs.’” “The Court must address these new issues and dismiss the case, prior to issuing a decision on the previously filed Presidential immunity motion,” Blanche explained. “Any other action would obviously violate the presidential immunity doctrine and the Supremacy Clause.” TRUMP LAWYERS DEMAND BRAGG CASE BE ‘IMMEDIATELY DISMISSED,’ SAY ELECTION ‘SUPERSEDES’ POLITICAL ‘MOTIVATIONS’ Blanche added that “even if the Court were to wrongly deny the new interests-of-justice motion, which it should not do, the appropriate forum for any additional proceedings must first be resolved in President Trump’s removal appeal.” Blanche said that if the court denies any aspect of relief, including by moving forward with any proceedings, Trump would request that the court stay the implementation of the ruling so that President-elect Trump has “adequate time to pursue appellate review.” Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree stemming from the yearslong investigation related to alleged hush money payments run by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance initiated the investigation, and Bragg prosecuted Trump. After an unprecedented six-week trial in New York City, a jury found the president guilty on all counts. PROSECUTORS REQUEST STAY IN TRUMP NY CASE UNTIL 2029 AS DEFENSE PLANS MOTION FOR DISMISSAL ‘ONCE AND FOR ALL’ Merchan last week granted a stay on all deadlines associated with conviction proceedings against Trump in the final weeks before he is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States — including the Nov. 26 sentencing date. Trump officials on Tuesday argued that Bragg’s request was a representation of “a total failure of the prosecution,” and interpreted the case as being “effectively over.” Meanwhile, Trump attorneys had requested that Merchan overturn the guilty verdict altogether, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that former presidents have substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts in office. The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on presidential immunity came from a question that stemmed from charges brought against Trump in a separate, federal case brought by special counsel Jack Smith related to the events on Jan. 6, 2021 and any alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in that case.
‘Great meeting’: Tim Scott reveals Trump’s ‘all in’ to help GOP protect majority in 2026 midterms
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the new chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, says President-elect Trump is on-board to help the senator in his mission to protect and expand the newly won GOP majority in the Senate. Scott, who last week was elected by his Republican colleagues as chair of the Senate GOP campaign committee, met with the former and future president at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. “Just had a great meeting with President @realDonaldTrump! He’s all in to help the @NRSC keep a Republican majority for his entire four years AND create a generation of opportunity!” Scott wrote in a social media post on Thursday night. TRUMP ALLY TIM SCOTT’S NEW MISSION TO TO HELP THE INCOMING PRESIDENT After losing the Senate majority in the 2020 elections, the GOP flipped four Democrat-held seats earlier this month, and will control the chamber 53-47 when the next Congress convenes at the beginning of the new year. In his first interview following his election as NRSC chair, Scott told Fox News Digital last week that “what we’re going to do is defend the seats that we have and expand the map so that we can increase the majority brought to us by the Trump victory.” In this month’s elections, unlike in 2016 and 2020, Trump outperformed many of the GOP’s Senate candidates. JD VANCE IS THE HEIR APPARENT TO TRUMP, BUT HERE ARE SOME OTHER REPUBLICANS WHO MAY RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2028 Scott told Fox News Digital that he wants Trump to participate as much as he can in the 2026 Senate contests. “Every day and every way, President Trump, I know you have a full-time job. I’m going to ask you to have two full-time jobs. Let’s expand this map,” Scott emphasized. He said “that means that every single day we need President Trump on the campaign trail, doing fundraisers, talking to folks, because this is President Donald J. Trump’s party, and we need to make sure we expand it, from the man to the movement. We need him to do it.” Scott last year unsuccessfully ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, before ending his bid and endorsing Trump. The senator was a high-profile surrogate for Trump on the campaign trail this year. While not as favorable as the 2024 Senate map, the 2026 electoral landscape does give the Republicans some opportunities to flip seats. Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Gary Peters of Michigan are up for re-election in two years in key battleground states Trump flipped last week. And Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire will be up for re-election in a perennial swing state that Trump lost but over-performed from his 2020 showing. In Virginia, where Trump lost by just five points last week, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner will be up for re-election. HERE ARE THE DEMOCRATS WHO MAY EVENTUALLY RUN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2028 “How do you expand the map?” Scott asked. “You look at Georgia and Michigan and New Hampshire and Virginia. And if you’re stretching – take a look at New Mexico and Minnesota. President Trump was very competitive in those states.” But Republicans will also have to play defense. GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is up for re-election in a reliably blue state. And Sen. Thom Tills of North Carolina is also up in 2026, in a battleground state that Trump narrowly won. Scott emphasized that “the good news is as long as Susan Collins is running, I think we have a shot to win. Last time, she won by several points. This time, she’ll win by several points. Thom Tillis staying in North Carolina is good for our party.” THIS DEMOCRATIC SENATOR MAY BE TAKING OVER THE PARTY’S SENATE CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE In the 2022 election cycle, when the Republicans blew a chance to win back the majority, NRSC chair Sen. Rick Scott of Florida was criticized for a hands-off approach in the GOP Senate primaries. This past cycle, now-former NRSC chair Sen. Steve Daines of Montana got involved in Senate Republican nomination battles. Asked whether the NRSC will take sides in competitive Republican Senate primaries during his tenure the next two years, Scott told Fox News, “I think the best thing for us to do is have a family conversation next year about what we’re looking at. How we’re going to defend that map and then make the best decisions we can as it relates to making sure that we end up with more seats than we currently have.” “Thank God we’re at 53. I’d like to see 55,” Scott added. Asked whether holding 55 seats was his goal, Scott joked, “if it were up to me, we’d have 100 seats.” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who easily won re-election earlier this month in blue-state New York, is expected to take over as chair of the rival Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Senate Democrats will hold their leadership elections later this year. David Bergstein, the DSCC communications director for the past couple of election cycles, told Fox News that “in a challenging political environment, Democrats made history. We won multiple races in states won by Trump. We dramatically over-performed the presidential results. And for the first time in over a decade, Senate Democrats have won multiple races in states won by the opposite party’s presidential nominee.” “The outcome of this cycle puts Senate Democrats in the strongest possible position to reclaim the majority in 2026,” Bergstein touted.
A strong treaty can end plastic pollution and save lives
Two years ago, global leaders promised to establish a treaty by the end of 2024 that would lay the groundwork to end plastic pollution. The words used then to describe the treaty, such as “international”, “legally binding” and “addresses the full plastics lifecycle”, suggested a strong global treaty with teeth, one that evoked hope that countries were ready and united to do the utmost. Since then, and after four divisive rounds of negotiations due to consistent opposition from a small minority of oil-producing countries, language governing the scope and mandate of this treaty has been pared down, with strong measures at risk of being replaced with weak alternatives such as “nationally-determined”, “voluntary”, and “waste management” (rather than the full plastics lifecycle). This week, as we head into the fifth and final round of negotiations, scepticism about whether negotiators will reach a strong global treaty is understandable. However, we must not give in to those who seek to continue with business as usual. Governments must stand strong and unite to prevent irreversible loss for all, knowing that they have the support of the rest of the world. We have done this before – the Montreal Protocol on ozone-depleting substances provides us with a shining example of how countries can come together to agree on common global rules that have brought us back from the brink. We must do this again and we must do it now as plastic pollution is rapidly escalating the threats to both nature and humanity. Failure is not an option when there’s ample proof of plastics’ pervasive danger. Two years ago, just after the world agreed to create the treaty, researchers detected, for the first time, microplastics in human breast milk, potentially poisoning our children. The more vulnerable among us need our support – not because they cannot help themselves, but because individual actions are insufficient to tackle the issue without the systemic changes needed to end plastic pollution. This is where our leaders need to step up and put in place a strong global treaty that the world not only wants but urgently needs. The reasons we must take action now are clear, and so are the solutions that an effective treaty must entail. One, a strong treaty will save lives. Research indicates that the current volume of plastic pollution is projected to increase exponentially, and it is already destroying ecosystems and wildlife populations, prompting climate change and infiltrating our bodies through the air we breathe and the food and water we consume. To protect human lives and nature from the worst effects of plastic pollution, we need a strong treaty that bans the most harmful plastic products and chemicals. Additionally, a strong treaty is one that establishes global product design requirements so we can ensure the plastics we use are safe and can be effectively recycled. Two, a strong treaty will help us address some of the current inequalities created and exacerbated by plastic pollution. The world is inundated with plastic pollution, yet its effects are not felt equally. In low-income countries, the lifetime cost of plastic is 10 times higher than in wealthier nations. Even in affluent countries, the plastic pollution toll can be severe and even deadly for some, as seen in Cancer Alley in the United States, an economically distressed area that accounts for a quarter of the country’s petrochemical production. Decades of plastic, petrochemical, and industrial pollution have led to this region having the highest cancer rate in the US. To counter the crippling inequities in the plastics value chain, a strong treaty must contain robust financial mechanisms to support a just transition, especially in the Global South. This means aligning both private and public financial flows with the treaty’s obligations, while also mobilizing and distributing additional financial resources – especially for implementation in developing countries – to reduce plastic pollution. Furthermore, a treaty like this, through the mechanisms we just discussed, will be capable of halting harmful financial flows that contribute to the crisis. Lastly, a strong treaty is the only approach that has the potential to deliver on the goal of ending plastic pollution. From scientists and governments to citizens and businesses, there is widespread agreement that the world urgently needs a treaty with global binding obligations. This type of treaty will raise the bar, create a level playing field for all, and mandate a shift away from destructive business-as-usual models towards meaningful systems change. Securing enduring and impactful global action requires courage and leadership in carving a path that breaks free from harmful and deeply ingrained practices. Our leaders must take responsibility and be accountable for the promise they made two years ago to deliver a strong treaty, one that we need to put our planet on a path to recovery. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Adblock test (Why?)
Will Israel’s Netanyahu and Gallant ever be arrested?
NewsFeed The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif. More than 120 countries that are part of the ICC are obliged to enforce the arrest warrants, but are they prepared to act? Al Jazeera’s Virginia Pietromachi explains. Published On 22 Nov 202422 Nov 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
What do we know about Russia’s new ballistic missile, Oreshnik?
President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that Russia tested a hypersonic intermediate-range missile in an assault on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, Ukraine. The Kremlin said the attack was in response to Ukraine’s recent use of US- and UK-supplied missiles to target Russian territory. Joe Biden, the outgoing US president, and his administration only recently gave the green light for Ukraine to launch long-range strikes into Russia, a move which has escalated tensions. The Pentagon said the US had been notified of the launch through nuclear risk reduction channels. Here is what you need to know: What is the Oreshnik, Russia’s new ballistic missile? The new intermediate-range ballistic missile, Oreshnik, which means hazel tree in Russian, is a nuclear-capable weapon that has not been previously mentioned publicly. The Pentagon said it is based on the “RS-26 Rubezh” intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Hypersonic missiles travel at speeds of at least Mach 5 – five times the speed of sound – and can manoeuvre mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept. The missile can have three to six warheads, military expert Viktor Baranets wrote in the Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid. Igor Korotchenko, editor of the Moscow-based National Defence journal, told the TASS state news agency that based on video footage of the strike, Oreshnik has multiple independently guided warheads. Why has Russia used this missile now? Russia is in retaliation mode. The launch came after Ukraine fired US- and UK-supplied missiles on Russian territory for the first time, escalating tensions in the nearly three-year-long conflict. This followed the reversal of a ban on Kyiv, which had been placed by Washington, on using high-precision Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to strike targets in Russia. Moscow says six US-made ATACMS missiles were launched at Russia on Tuesday, while British Storm Shadow cruise missiles and US-made HIMARS were fired at the country on Thursday. Moscow says this makes Western countries that authorise Ukraine to use their missiles to hit Russia direct participants in the conflict. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Moscow was in “no doubt” that Washington had understood that the strike on Dnipro was a warning. “The main message is that the reckless decisions and actions of Western countries, which produce missiles, supply them to Ukraine, and subsequently take part in carrying out strikes on Russian territory, cannot remain without a reaction from the Russian side,” Peskov said. What has Putin said about the attacks? In an unscheduled television appearance on Thursday, Putin said the strike on the city of Dnipro had tested in combat conditions “one of the newest Russian mid-range missile systems”. Putin said it had been deployed “in a non-nuclear hypersonic configuration” and said the “test” had been successful and had hit its target. Putin said air defences cannot intercept the Oreshnik. “Modern air defence systems… cannot intercept such missiles. That’s impossible,” Putin said. “As of today, there are no means of counteracting such a weapon,” the president boasted. Putin also stated that Russia will “address the question of further deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles based on the actions of the United States and its satellites”. What has Ukraine said about the strike? Kyiv claimed that Russia had used an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) along with a barrage of other missiles at Dnipro. Local authorities said the attack hit an infrastructure facility and injured two civilians. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of a “clear escalation”. An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) has a range of 1,000-5,500km (621 to 3,418 miles), a level below that of an intermediate-range ballistic missile. Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate said it was fired from the 4th Missile Test Range, Kapustin Yar, in Russia’s Astrakhan region and flew 15 minutes before striking Dnipro. The missile had six warheads, each carrying six submunitions. The peak speed the missile reached was 11 Mach. What happens next? NATO will hold an emergency meeting with Ukraine at the alliance headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss Moscow’s use of the missile, a NATO source said on Friday. The Western military alliance confirmed that the NATO Ukraine Council, grouping allies’ NATO ambassadors and their Ukrainian counterparts, will convene at Kyiv’s request, but did not give any detail on the topic of discussions. Adblock test (Why?)