EU Copernicus Climate Change Service says start of June saw global surface air temper break heat records for the period.

Average global temperatures at the start of June were the warmest ever recorded for the period, trouncing previous records by a “substantial margin”, the European Union’s climate monitoring unit said.

“The world has just experienced its warmest early June on record,” Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), said in a statement on Thursday.

“Global-mean surface air temperatures for the first days of June 2023 were the highest in the ERA5 data record for early June by a substantial margin,” the Copernicus unit said, noting that some of the data go back as far as 1950.

Temperatures have since dipped, but experts say the short surge in early June marked a new global heat record for the month and indicates more extremes ahead as the planet enters an El Niño phase that could last years.

Researchers at the EU’s Copernicus unit reported that the start of June saw global surface air temperatures rise 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels for the first time.

That is the threshold governments said they would try to stay within at a 2015 summit in Paris.

According to the data, the daily global average temperature was at or above the 1.5 Celsius threshold between June 7-11, reaching a maximum of 1.69 Celsius above it on June 9.

The unit said that on June 8 and 9 this year, the global average daily temperature was about 0.4 Celsius warmer than previous records for the same days.

“As the global-mean temperature continues to rise and more frequently exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit, the cumulative effects of the exceedances will become increasingly serious and must be carefully monitored,” the unit said.

The days spent at the 1.5 Celsius threshold comes as a three-year La Niña phase – which tends to dampen the effects of global warming – has given way to the opposite, an El Niño period, which could add another half-degree or more to average temperatures.

Copernicus recently announced that global oceans were warmer last month than in any other May on record.

“The expectation is that 2024 will be even warmer than 2023 as this El Niño continues to develop,” Burgess said.

“We know as well the warmer the global climate is, the more likely we are to have extreme events and the more severe those extreme events may be,” she said.

“So there’s a direct correlation between the degree of global warming and the frequency and intensity of extreme events.”

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday the world is racing towards a climate change disaster, describing the global response as woefully inadequate.

Current climate policies will lead to average temperatures 2.8 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times by the end of the century, nearly twice the UN goal of a 1.5-degree Celsius rise, Guterres said.

“That spells catastrophe. Yet the collective response remains pitiful,” Guterres told a news conference.

#ClimateAction is being undermined.

There is a lack of ambition.

A lack of trust.

A lack of support.

A lack of cooperation.

And an abundance of problems around clarity and credibility.

It’s time to wake up and step up. pic.twitter.com/OWaklAoilc

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) June 15, 2023

“We are hurtling towards disaster, eyes wide open – with far too many willing to bet it all on wishful thinking, unproven technologies and silver bullet solutions. It’s time to wake up and step up,” said the UN chief.

He said the fossil fuel industry must undertake not just a transition but a full-blown transformation as it moves towards clean energy “and away from a product incompatible with human survival”.

“Countries are far off-track in meeting climate promises and commitments. I see a lack of ambition. A lack of trust. A lack of support. A lack of cooperation. And an abundance of problems around clarity and credibility,” he said.

 

Los Angeles, California, the US – Construction is under way at the Thacker Pass lithium mine in northern Nevada after a federal court denied opponents’ requests for an injunction.

Lithium Americas, a mining company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, said in a news release this month that workers were drilling at the site and building infrastructure, including water pipelines.

General Motors, which wants United States lithium for electric vehicle batteries, announced earlier this year that it would invest $650m in Lithium Americas if the mine cleared legal and regulatory hurdles.

Gary McKinney of the local Shoshone-Paiute Indigenous tribe said he was disappointed to learn that mine construction had already started.

“There was not any justice for the environment,” McKinney told Al Jazeera, noting that mineral extraction for the energy transition was an “absurd” prospect that would destroy ecosystems rather than preserve them for future generations.

“It’s not logical,” he said. “It’s going to leave contamination behind; the only question is how much.”

McKinney is part of an Indigenous group called People of Red Mountain that is resisting the mine at Thacker Pass. They call the crescent moon-shaped pass Peehee Mu’huh, which means “rotten moon”, in reference to the 19th-century massacre of Indigenous people in the area.

Thacker Pass, the largest-known lithium deposit in the US, is a key piece of the plan by the administration of President Joe Biden to secure domestic minerals to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles. As the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China, the US must transition away from fossil fuels to address global warming.

But the mine has faced court challenges from tribes, ranchers and conservation groups who say it could destroy delicate ecosystems and desecrate a site where at least 31 Paiute people were allegedly killed by soldiers in 1865.

A federal court in 2021 ruled that there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate the massacre had taken place “within the project area”, but tribes maintain it is sacred ground.

“There’s burial sites there. There’s medicines and roots there, there’s ecosystems – there is still life back there,” said McKinney, who is a descendant of a massacre survivor. “And it’s all being sacrificed supposedly to fix the climate crisis.”

Legal battle

Ever since the Thacker Pass mine was approved in the final days of former President Donald Trump’s administration, opponents have been fighting to stop it. Last month, a judge ruled mostly in favour of the mining company, clearing the way for construction. Opponents sought an emergency injunction while they appealed the decision, but that request was rejected.

Talasi Brooks, an attorney for the Western Watersheds Project, one of the groups that filed the motion for an injunction, told Al Jazeera the decision had left her organisation “devastated”.

She said construction would destroy wildlife habitat, including for the sage-grouse, a plump bird with a fanned tail that faces population decline. The timing couldn’t be worse, she added, as construction would strip away vegetation that provides a major food source for antelope, deer and sage-grouse “just as spring starts, when that habitat is the most important to wildlife”.

According to a federal environmental assessment, the Thacker Pass mining operation could also deplete groundwater, even as drought continues in Nevada.

In court filings, a lawyer for Lithium Americas said the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had required the company to take action to preserve sage-grouse habitat elsewhere in the state, “resulting in a net conservation gain”.

The firm’s lawyers said legal delays were thwarting the ability of the US to combat climate change and to reduce its dependence on lithium from China, noting: “The Project will produce lithium that will aid the country’s war on climate change, positively impact the global environment, and further our country’s energy usage, national security, and the economy within the community around the mine and in the State of Nevada.” The mine will create hundreds of jobs, the firm said.

Lawyers representing the BLM also argued in court filings that allowing construction was in the public interest: “The lithium from this mine is a critical component of electric vehicle batteries, and thus an important domestic resource for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

The BLM and Lithium Americas declined Al Jazeera’s requests for comment.

Antiquated mining law

Thacker Pass is just one of many similar mining projects across the US that could affect Indigenous communities, with nearly 80 percent of lithium resources in the country located within 56km (35 miles) of Native American reservations.

Legal flashpoints have been erupting across the US amid a new iteration of the gold rush, said Aaron Mintzes, senior policy counsel for the advocacy group Earthworks. “We are seeing them all over the country right now because we find ourselves on the precipice of our 21st-century minerals rush,” he told Al Jazeera.

Present-day mining law in the US has its roots in the violent colonisation of the west, Mintzes said, when the Americans used war, genocide and treaties to settle the region. Under the General Mining Act of 1872, which remains in force today, those aiming to mine land that is “open to mineral entry” are required only to place four stakes in the ground, report the claim to the BLM, prove they found valuable minerals, and pay a fee – “then you get the right to mine”, Mintzes said.

For other land uses in the US, such as pipelines or solar farms, the government has some discretion. But it has little discretion to deny a mine, because under the 1872 law, “if you do discover valuable minerals, that land becomes yours”, Mintzes said.

While the government is obligated to consult tribes, he added, this “is not a consent-driven process. It is a check-the-box process”.

The Biden administration is currently considering reforms to the 150-year-old mining law, citing a need to create “a modern legal framework for the socially and environmentally responsible and sustainable mining and production” of minerals needed to grow the clean-energy economy.

Mintzes said he believes the US needs to update its “systemically racist” mining regulations, while also building a circular economy to recycle minerals for batteries and reduce demand for new mining.

Meanwhile, the Western Watersheds Project is continuing to pursue an appeal in an effort to stop the Thacker Pass project, with arguments scheduled for June.

“We’re hoping that they’ll rule relatively soon, because the company will not have finished destroying all of that area yet,” Brooks said. “So there’s still a chance to stop some of the destruction.”

The Recording Academy, which organises the Grammy’s, has been trying to diversify its membership amid criticism.

Pop superstar Beyonce has broken the record for most career wins at the Grammy Awards even as she was pipped to the post for the night’s top prizes, including the coveted Best Album, which went to British singer Harry Styles.

Beyonce picked up four Grammys, including the Best Dance/Electronic Album for Renaissance, bringing her career total to 32, surpassing the 31 prizes won by the late classical conductor Georg Solti.

“I am trying not to be too emotional. I am trying just to receive this night,” Beyonce said at the ceremony on Sunday. “I want to thank God for protecting me. Thank you, God.”

The 41-year-old paid special tribute to the queer community, who she credited with inventing the genre she celebrated in her historically-layered record that pays homage to pioneers of funk, soul, rap, house and disco.

Styles, who made his name with boyband One Direction, won the Grammy for his third album Harry’s House which also secured him the Best Pop Vocal Album.

“This doesn’t happen to people like me very often, and this is so nice,” he said as he collected the Grammy. He performed his single As It Was during the ceremony, decked head to toe in silver lame.

Lizzo took home the Grammy for Record of the Year – the award honouring overall performance of a song – for her single About Damn Time, beating out a crowded field that included Beyonce and Adele.

“We are good inherently,” she said through tears in a speech that brought the audience to its feet. “And anybody at home who feels misunderstood or on the outside looking in, like I did, just stay true to yourself.”

“I promise you, you will find people, you will attract people in your life who believe in you and support you.”

The show was broadcast live on the CBS network and streaming service Paramount+.

Honourees were chosen by about 11,000 members of the Recording Academy, which has faced complaints that it has not given Black talent proper recognition.

The organisation has been working to diversify its membership in recent years.

McConnell has become the longest serving Senate leader in the chamber’s history as the 118th US Congress convenes.

As the 118th United States Congress convenes for the first time on Tuesday, its upper chamber is marking a record broken by Senator Mitch McConnell, who has become the longest-serving Senate leader in history.

McConnell, an 80-year-old Republican from Kentucky, has surpassed the late Democratic Senator Mike Mansfield’s record of 16 years. McConnell has served as Republican party leader in the Senate since 2007.

Tuesday’s milestone in the Senate comes in stark contrast to the drama unfolding in the House of Representatives, where McConnell’s counterpart — top Republican Kevin McCarthy — faces opposition within his own party to his bid to become House Speaker.

By the end of the Congressional session on Tuesday, McCarthy had failed to rally enough support in three separate votes, leaving the position of Speaker unclaimed.

McConnell, likewise, encountered opposition when he mounted a bid to be reelected to his leadership post in November. But he handily overcame a challenge from Florida Senator Rick Scott, scooping up 37 Republican votes, enough to trounce the 10 votes in favour of Scott.

In the 118th Congress, McConnell returns to his position as minority leader, after the Democrats thwarted a “red wave” in last November’s midterm elections. They retained a slender majority in the 100-seat Senate, thanks to wins in key states like Georgia, where Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock retained his seat in a December run-off.

Another incumbent fresh from a midterm victory was Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York, who had a record of his own to break. The Senate majority leader, Schumer became the longest-serving senator for his state on Tuesday, as Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the swearing-in ceremony.

The ceremony was also a chance to welcome seven new members to the Senate floor: two Democrats and five Republicans. One of those newcomers was Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, a Democrat and the only candidate to flip a Senate seat in the 2022 midterms.

The seat was left vacant after Republican Senator Pat Toomey announced his retirement, sparking a hotly anticipated race between Fetterman and Republican nominee Mehmet Oz, a TV personality backed by former President Donald Trump.

The other new Senators included Vermont’s Peter Welch, North Carolina’s Ted Budd, Oklahoma’s Markwayne Mullin, Missouri’s Eric Schmitt, Ohio’s JD Vance and Alabama’s Katie Britt, the first woman from her state elected to the chamber.

Washington Democrat Patty Murray made history as well, as she became the first woman ever to serve as Senate’s president pro tempore. The role allows Murray to preside over the Senate in the absence of the vice president and it also puts her third in line to the presidency, behind the vice president and House speaker.

With Arizona independent Kyrsten Sinema receiving committee assignments from the Democrats, the party retains a narrow 51-to-49 majority over the Senate.

The chamber holds the power to approve or reject presidential nominees to key executive and judicial posts. And already, President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has resubmitted 85 nominations that failed to pass the previous Senate.

They include Biden’s nominee for the ambassadorship to India, Eric Garcetti. While serving as mayor of Los Angeles, Garcetti faced accusations that he ignored complaints of sexual harassment against an aide. But his nomination has yet to receive a full vote before the Senate.

A fire erupted during birthday celebrations in a home in Jabalia, spreading quickly through a three-story building.

At least 21 people have been killed and dozens injured after a fire broke out in a residential building in the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, according to local sources.

Al Jazeera correspondent Youmna ElSayed, reporting from Gaza, said the fire was believed to be caused by a gas leak during a birthday celebration inside an apartment on Thursday. “When candles were lit up, a fire quickly erupted and an explosion took place,” she said.

The fire spread rapidly through the apartment and extended to the rest of the three-story building, ElSayed reported.

The blaze has now been contained, but the search continues for several people who are missing.

“At least 20 bodies arrived,” Salah Abu Laila, the head of the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia said, confirming that they had been “burned” in the blaze.

The building is located in a densely populated area of Jabalia, thereby increasing the chances of fire spreading quickly through the neighbourhood.

The civil defence services in the city are not adequately equipped to tackle such emergencies effectively, said Al Jazeera’s ElSayed.

The Syrian foreign ministry says its decision to break with Kyiv was in accordance to the ‘principle of reciprocity’.

Syria, a close ally of Russia, has announced it is formally breaking diplomatic ties with Ukraine in response to a similar move by Kyiv.

“The Syrian Arab Republic has decided to break diplomatic relations with Ukraine in conformity with the principle of reciprocity,” a Syrian foreign ministry statement said on Wednesday.

Late last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv would cut ties after Syria recognised the Russian-backed breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.

“There will no longer be relations between Ukraine and Syria,” Zelenskyy said at the time.

The Syrian foreign ministry said Ukraine had first ruptured relations in 2018 by refusing to revalidate the residencies of its diplomatic staff in Kyiv, making it impossible for them to carry out their duties.

It added that the Syrian embassy at that time suspended its duties “as a result of the hostile attitudes of the Ukrainian government.”

Wednesday’s announcement comes as Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad meets Iranian officials in Tehran, a day after a summit between the leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey in the Iranian capital.

In only his second trip abroad since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Russian President Putin discussed the conflict in Syria with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Russia-Syria ties

Moscow and Damascus grew closer after Putin intervened in Syria’s civil war to help tip the balance of power in favour of President Bashar al-Assad.

In turn, Assad’s government in 2018 sided with Russia to recognise two Russian-sponsored breakaway republics, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which are internationally recognised as part of Georgia.

Syria has also recognised the independence of the breakaway states in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, again in contrast to the international community.

In April, analysts told Al Jazeera that Russia was attempting to attract Syrian fighters to Ukraine to join its forces.