Greta Thunberg says world leaders are running out of time to tackle climate emergency - CNBC

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks to participants at a climate change protest on January 17, 2020 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The protest is taking place ahead of the upcoming annual gathering of world leaders at the Davos World Economic Forum.

Ronald Patrick | Getty Images

DAVOS, Switzerland — Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg told policymakers at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday that time is running out to effectively tackle an intensifying climate crisis.

Speaking during a panel session entitled "Forging a Sustainable Path Towards a Common Future," the 17-year-old cited the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report from 2018 as she delivered prepared remarks to a packed audience.

The IPCC report states the remaining carbon budget would need to fall below 570 gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2) over the coming years if the world is to have a 67% chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

But, Thunberg said: "With today's emissions levels, the remaining budget is gone in less than eight years. These aren't anyone's views. This is the science."

"I've been repeating these numbers at nearly every speech I've given for the last 18 months."

"I know you don't want to talk about this," Thunberg continued, before adding that she intends to keep repeating herself until the appropriate action is taken.

Her comments come as policymakers and business leaders arrive in Switzerland for the start of the WEF's four-day annual conference, with those in attendance scheduled to focus on the intensifying climate crisis.

The event, which is often criticized for being out of touch with the real world, has said it aims to assist governments and international institutions in tracking progress toward the Paris Agreement and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

It follows the hottest year on record for the world's oceans, the second-hottest year for global average temperatures and wildfires from the U.S. to the Amazon to Australia.

'Pretty much nothing has been done'

Thunberg was catapulted to fame for skipping school every Friday to hold a weekly vigil outside the Swedish Parliament in 2018.

She was recently named Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2019 after sparking an international wave of school strikes — also known as "Fridays for Future." Last year, millions of children took part in rallies around the world to protest against political inaction over climate change.

When asked to reflect on what, if anything, had improved in recent years, Thunberg replied: "In one aspect, lots has happened that no one could have predicted."

"The climate and the environment is a hot topic right now and a lot of that is thanks to young people pushing," Thunberg said Tuesday.

"But, of course, if you see it from another perspective, pretty much nothing has been done since the global emissions of CO2 (have) not reduced. That, of course, is what we are trying to achieve among other things."

"It will require much more than this. This is just the very beginning," she added.

Speaking at the same event in late January 2019, Thunberg told those gathered in Davos that she wanted them to "panic" and to "act as you would in a crisis."

"I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is," Thunberg said at last year's forum.

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2020-01-21 09:00:00Z
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Fears of China’s Coronavirus Prompt Australia to Screen Flights - The New York Times

HONG KONG — Australian officials said Tuesday that the country would begin screening passengers on flights from Wuhan, the Chinese city where a new coronavirus has infected more than 200 people and killed at least four, as global concern has grown about the spread of the disease.

Adding to worries about the outbreak was confirmation by a prominent Chinese scientist on Monday night that the disease is capable of spreading from person to person. Dr. Zhong Nanshan, a scientist leading a group of experts in examining the outbreak in Wuhan, said the virus could be present in particles of saliva and that in one case, a patient appeared to have infected 14 medical workers.

The number of reported cases in China more than tripled earlier this week as the authorities expanded testing across the country. Most of the cases were found in Wuhan, where the disease was first reported last month.

China’s health commission said Tuesday that 291 cases had been reported nationwide, with 270 in Hubei, the province that includes Wuhan. Major Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen have also reported cases of infections.

Infections have been confirmed abroad in Japan, South Korea and Thailand, all in people who traveled from Wuhan. The World Health Organization said it would hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to determine whether the outbreak was an international public health emergency.

Confirmed Cases of Coronavirus

Note: Confirmed cases as of Jan. 21, 2020.

By The New York Times

“It is now very clear from the latest information that there is at least some human-to-human transmission,” said Dr. Takeshi Kasai, the Western Pacific regional director for the World Health Organization.

Dr. Kasai said that the infections among health care workers added to the evidence that the virus was spreading between humans, but more analysis of the data was necessary to understand the full extent of such transmission.

Worries that the outbreak could worsen and hit the Chinese economy sent financial markets down across Asia on Tuesday. The Chinese currency, the renminbi, weakened in value against the American dollar. Stock markets in Europe also opened generally lower.

On Monday, China’s health commission said it would respond with measures intended to manage outbreaks of the most virulent diseases, including mandatory reporting of cases, and classified the virus as a class B infectious disease — a category that includes diseases such as SARS.

The authorities in Wuhan will begin barring group tours from traveling outside of the city and carry out checks of vehicles to search for live animals, state media reported on Monday. The city has also installed infrared thermometers at airports, and bus and train stations.

The potential for the disease to spread across more countries has prompted health authorities to step up checks at their borders.

In Australia, border security and biosecurity staff will meet and screen passengers from three direct flights from Wuhan to Sydney, Brendan Murphy, the government’s chief medical officer, said Tuesday.

Professor Murphy warned, however, that such measures were not foolproof. Some people who are carrying the virus might not show symptoms, he added.

“You cannot absolutely prevent entry into the country of a disease like this,” he said.

Australia is also considering expanding the screening to cover more of the 160 flights that come from China each week.

In the Australian state of Queensland, health officials placed in quarantine a man who had traveled to Wuhan and returned with a respiratory illness.

“The man will remain in isolation until his symptoms have resolved,” the Queensland health department said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that the United States would begin screening passengers arriving from Wuhan at airports in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

In Hong Kong, the authorities have reported more than 100 potential infections. So far, none have tested positive for the new coronavirus, and most have been discharged. But the possibility of the illness emerging in the territory remained, Matthew Cheung, the city’s second-highest official, said Tuesday.

High-speed rail passengers will have their temperatures checked on arrival in Hong Kong. Air passengers from Wuhan will be required to declare their health status, and people suspected of having an infection will be “forcibly transferred to public hospital to be treated in isolation,” Mr. Cheung said.

Elaine Yu in Hong Kong and Javier C. Hernández in Wuhan, China, contributed reporting.

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2020-01-21 08:26:00Z
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Harry and Meghan are in “uncharted territory” after royal split - CBS This Morning

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2020-01-20 13:29:39Z
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Prince Harry, Meghan had “no other option” than to split from royal family - CBS This Morning

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2020-01-20 12:58:01Z
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What We Know About China’s New Coronavirus - The New York Times

HONG KONG — A mysterious new respiratory virus that emerged in central China has killed at least three people and sickened around 200 others, raising concerns about a deadly outbreak in the midst of the country’s busiest travel period of the year.

On Monday, the authorities reported that new cases had been detected for the first time in Beijing and the southern city of Shenzhen, both hundreds of miles from the city of Wuhan, where the virus first appeared. Cases have also been reported in Japan, South Korea and Thailand.

Here is what we know about the virus, where it has been found, how it is spreading and what precautions are being taken:

The virus emerged in the city of Wuhan.

The government of Wuhan, a city in central China, first confirmed on Dec. 31 that hospitals in the city were treating dozens of patients for pneumonia with an unknown cause.

Many of the cases were connected to the Huanan Seafood Market, which also sold live poultry and exotic animal meats. Considered a likely source of the virus, the market was closed and disinfected.

The health commission in Wuhan said on Sunday that the illness had also appeared in people who had not been exposed to the market, raising the possibility that the virus could be present elsewhere in the city.

Local officials have pledged to handle the outbreak with transparency. But the memory of how China initially covered up the extent of a deadly SARS outbreak that infected more than 8,000 people in 2002 and 2003 has not completely faded. Although flu experts have said the Chinese government is trying to be more transparent now, many in China remain skeptical.

Over the weekend, the number of reported cases more than tripled to about 200, mostly in Wuhan. One more person in the city died, bringing the total death toll to three, while nine others remained critically ill, the city’s health commission said. Twenty-five people have recovered.

On Monday, two new cases were reported in Beijing and one in Shenzhen, the first cases outside Wuhan.

The World Health Organization said the spike in reported cases was the result of increased searching and testing of respiratory illnesses.

Cases have been reported outside China.

The authorities in Thailand detected the new coronavirus last week in two Chinese women who had flown from Wuhan to Bangkok on separate trips. The government said the women, aged 74 and 61, were in good condition.

In Japan, a Chinese man who returned from Wuhan on Jan. 6 was also confirmed to have the disease. He was discharged after five days in a hospital.

South Korea confirmed its first case of the coronavirus on Monday in a 35-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan who arrived on Sunday at Incheon International Airport, which served Seoul.

The woman was found with a fever, muscle pain and other symptoms while going through customs and was immediately quarantined for tests, said Jung Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The woman was traveling with five other people intending to spend the Lunar New Year holidays in South Korea and Japan, Ms. Jung said. South Korean officials were running tests anyone who was believed to have come in contact with the woman in the plane, she said.

Officials have implemented precautionary measures.

In Hong Kong, the government initiated a disease response plan after the first cases were reported in Wuhan. Dozens of people were hospitalized after returning to Hong Kong from mainland China, but none were found to have been infected with the new virus.

Five people who traveled from Wuhan to Zhejiang, a coastal Chinese province south of Shanghai, are being treated for fever but have not been diagnosed with the new coronavirus, the health authorities there said.

The mayor of Shanghai said Monday that the city was monitoring cases of potential infections, but did not say that any had been confirmed.

In the southern city of Shenzhen, the authorities have started imposing temperature screening procedures at the airport and at train and bus stations. The city also said it would also crack down on the illegal trading of wild animals.

It doesn’t appear to spread easily between humans.

Researchers in China identified the mysterious pneumonialike illness in early January as a new coronavirus. Experts said it does not appear to be readily spread by humans, but cautioned that more research was necessary.

Coronaviruses are named after the spikes that protrude from their membranes, like the sun’s corona. Such viruses cause several illnesses of the respiratory tract, ranging from the common cold to severe diseases like SARS.

According to the World Health Organization, common signs of infection include fever, cough, and respiratory difficulties like shortness of breath. Serious cases can lead to pneumonia, kidney failure and even death.

Animals appear to be the most likely source.

The W.H.O. says animals appear to be the most likely primary source of the outbreak, though it is still not known which animals are responsible.

Past outbreaks of similar illnesses, like SARS, were believed to have emerged from markets where people and live animals were in regular contact.

The organization says it is possible that the virus could spread between people who are in close contact, but it was unclear whether the disease could spread easily between humans.

To prevent the spread of respiratory infections, the W.H.O. recommends that people wash their hands regularly, cover their mouths and noses when coughing and sneezing, and avoid direct contact with farm or wild animals.

The health authorities in Hong Kong have also advised residents traveling outside the city not to touch live animals, not to eat wild animals, and to avoid markets selling fresh meat and live poultry.

Choe Sang-Hun contributed reporting from Seoul, South Korea. Albee Zhang contributed research from Beijing.

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2020-01-20 10:59:00Z
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Prince Harry Reveals Heartbreaking Reason for Exit From Royal Family: There Was 'No Other Option' for a 'Peaceful Life' - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Prince Harry has a lot to get off his chest, setting the record straight about all of the rumors surrounding his and Meghan Markle’s exit from the royal family. In an emotional speech given at the dinner for supporters of Sentebale in London, Prince Harry opened up how he and his wife felt their decision was the only option for them to move forward to achieve a peaceful life.

Prince Harrry | Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

Prince Harry shares the heartbreaking reason for Megxit

During the dinner event, Prince Harry gave a speech that touched upon the reasons why he and Markle felt they had no other option but to leave their royal duties behind.

Prince Harry started his speech by noting, “I must say that I can only imagine what you may have heard, or perhaps read, over the past few weeks. So, I want you to hear the truth from me. As much as I can share, not as a prince or a duke, but as Harry, the same person that many of you have watched grow up over the past 35 years, but now with a clearer perspective.”

Prince Harry acknowledged that “the U.K. is my home and a place that I love,” something “that will never change.” He further shared that he’s “grown up feeling supported by so many of you, and I watched as you welcomed Meghan with open arms, as you saw the love and happiness that I had hoped for all my life.”

Prince Harry discussed the challenges they’ve faced

Prince Harry went on to share “the woman I chose as my wife upholds the same values as I do… And she’s the same woman I fell in love with. We both do everything we can to fly the flag and carry out our roles for this country with pride.”

He continued: “Once Meghan and I were married, we were excited, we were hopeful and we were here to serve… The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly. It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges. And I know I haven’t always gotten it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option.”

View this post on Instagram

“After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution. We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages. This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity. We look forward to sharing the full details of this exciting next step in due course, as we continue to collaborate with Her Majesty The Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge and all relevant parties. Until then, please accept our deepest thanks for your continued support.” – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex For more information, please visit sussexroyal.com (link in bio) Image © PA

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Jan 8, 2020 at 10:33am PST

The Sussexes can no longer support the queen

Prince Harry shared that he and Markle are “not walking away from you,” explaining that they had hoped to “continue serving the queen, the commonwealth and my military associations but without public funding.” That desire could not be fulfilled, Prince Harry noted, sharing, “I’ve accepted this knowing it doesn’t change who I am or how committed I am, but I hope it helps you understand what it had come to, that I would step my family back from all I have ever known to take a step forward into what I hope can be a more peaceful life.”

Prince Harry shared how “it is a great honor to serve my country and the queen,” and went on to express his gratitude for those who “took me under your wing” after his mother died.

He shared: “You looked after me for so long, but the media is a powerful force. And my hope is one day our collective support for each other can be more powerful, because this is so much bigger than just us.”

The Sussexes have a “life of service” ahead of them

Prince Harry further called it a “privilege to serve you” and explained, “we will continue to lead a life of service.” Prince Harry also shared his respect for the queen, noting: “I will always have the utmost respect for my grandmother, my commander in chief, and I’m incredibly grateful to her and the rest of my family for the support they have shown Meghan and I over the last few months.”

In closing, he shared: “We are taking a leap of faith, so thank you for giving me the courage to take this next step. “

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2020-01-20 09:55:39Z
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Coronavirus spreads to Beijing as China confirms 139 new cases over the weekend - CNN

Health authorities in Beijing confirmed two cases of the new coronavirus Monday, while Guangdong authorities reported one case in Shenzhen -- the first confirmation from authorities that the mysterious virus has spread domestically beyond the central city of Wuhan. All three patients are believed to have visited Wuhan, according to authorities.

The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission announced Monday that 136 new patients were diagnosed on Saturday and Sunday. Of those, one person died from the virus, two are in critical condition, and 33 are in serious condition, according to authorities.

The new cases have brought the total number of people in China diagnosed with the virus to 201, a significant jump from 62 reported on the weekend.

Local authorities have also begun to report suspected infections. On Monday morning, health authorities in Shenzhen, across the border of Hong Kong, said they are monitoring eight patients who have been quarantined for treatment. In coastal Zhejiang province, authorities reported five suspected cases who visited Wuhan.

The spread of the outbreak comes as the country gets ready for the Lunar New Year holiday later this week. On Sunday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that there was evidence of "limited human-to-human transmission" of the new virus raising fears of a wider regional outbreak. The holiday period typically sees hundreds of millions of Chinese travel throughout the country and overseas.

Last week, three cases were detected outside China -- two in Thailand and one in Japan. All cases have been linked to Wuhan. On Monday, South Korea also confirmed its first case of the virus.

According to the South Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a 35-year-old Chinese woman was detected by temperature screening upon arriving Sunday at Seoul's Incheon International Airport from Wuhan. She has been quarantined and is in a stable condition, the CDC said.

The woman, a Wuhan resident, had planned to go on holiday in South Korea and Japan with five others. She said she developed a fever and muscle pains on Saturday and was prescribed cold medicine by a doctor in Wuhan, according to the CDC.

Almost 7 million Chinese were estimated to have traveled overseas last year during the Lunar New Year holiday season. "I believe Chinese tourists will bring the virus to many other countries in Asia in the coming days, due to their overseas travels during the Lunar New Year holiday," Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, a respiratory expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told CNN Monday.

The pneumonia outbreak emerged last month in Wuhan, the largest city in central China and a major transportation hub. Officials in China have linked the viral infections to a Wuhan seafood and wildlife market, which has been closed since January 1 to prevent further spread of the illness.

Chinese scientists on January 8 identified the pathogen as a new strain of coronavirus, in the same family of the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

While the new virus has not shown death rates like SARS -- which infected more than 8,000 people and killed 774 in a pandemic that ripped through Asia in 2002 and 2003 -- a new study by Imperial College London suggests the number of infections in Wuhan is likely to have been grossly underestimated.

"The detection of three cases outside China is worrying. We calculate, based on flight and population data, that there is only a 1 in 574 chance that a person infected in Wuhan would travel overseas before they sought medical care. This implies there might have been over 1,700 cases in Wuhan so far," Imperial College London's Neil Ferguson, a disease outbreak scientist, told CNN.

On Friday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced three US airports -- in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles -- will start screening passengers arriving from Wuhan to check for signs of the new virus, following similar measures taken by governments in Asia.

In Wuhan, infrared thermometers have been installed at the airport, train stations, coach terminals and passenger piers to measure the temperature of passengers departing the city since January 14, Chen Xiexin, deputy mayor of Wuhan, was quoted as saying by state-media China Daily on Sunday.

The measures were only imposed five weeks after the onset of the outbreak, with countless passengers having left the city without screening.

CNN's Eric Cheung, Yoonjung Seo and Angela Dewan contributed to this report.

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2020-01-20 09:46:00Z
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