15.01.2024 – 19.01.2024 A Tate Papers
Taiwan said on January 14 that China must face the truth and respect the results of Taiwan’s election.
Taiwan’s comments came after Taiwanese voters defied China’s warnings and elected pro-independence Lai Mai as president.
China has repeatedly urged the Chinese Communist Party not to vote for Lai, who the Chinese Communist Party views as a dangerous separatist, but Taiwanese voters have rebuffed those urges.
China, which has declared Taiwan as its border and said it would use force to control it if necessary, responded to Lai’s election victory by saying it would not change its reunification plan with Taiwan.
Laik Mu, the candidate of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), vowed on January 14 to defend Taiwan from China’s threat, and Taiwan’s foreign ministry said it would accept the election results on China’s behalf.
The Chinese authorities should respect the election results. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a report urging Taiwan to face the truth and put an end to the pressure on cross-strait relations to get back on track.
After campaigning under Chinese military and diplomatic pressure, Lai won by more than 900,000 votes over his main rival, Kuomintang candidate Ho Yi.
In his election victory speech, Lai (64 years old) praised the voters for rejecting the activities of foreign forces that tried to influence the election.
To cooperate with China, Taiwan’s largest trading partner; Lai said he was willing to maintain peace and stability, but vowed not to give in under China’s military pressure.
“We are determined to protect Taiwan from China’s threats,” Lai said.
On January 13, when the election was held, four Chinese warships were found in the waters near Taiwan Island, and a hot air balloon flew over Taiwan Island, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense.
Lai will take over power on May 20 with his running mate Hsiao Pei Khin, a former Taiwanese ambassador to the United States.
The United Nations warned on January 12 that 2024 could be hotter than record temperatures in 2023 due to the El Nino weather phenomenon, and urged cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change.
The United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said monthly temperatures between last June and December hit record highs, and the trend could continue to warm due to the El Nino weather phenomenon.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted that 2024 has a one-third chance of being hotter than 2023, and that 2024 is 99 percent certain to be among the world’s five warmest years.
Gavin Schmidt, a climatologist at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), raised the possibility further.
“There is a 50-50 chance that this year will be warmer,” he told AFP, adding that more information was needed because of the strange changes in global climate systems.
The WMO said July and August 2023 were the hottest months on record, officially confirming 2023 as the hottest year ever.
Climate change is causing global heat waves, The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3 S) said the increase in droughts and wildfires has pushed the global thermometer up to 1.48 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
2023 was the hottest year on record, with global surface temperatures nearly exceeding the critical benchmark of 1.5 degrees Celsius, C3 S said.
“This is also the first year in which all days were more than one degree warmer than the pre-industrial period,” said C3 S deputy head Samantha Burgess.
“Temperatures in 2023 are likely to exceed any period in the past 100,000 million years,” he said.
“The year 2023 is a preview of the catastrophe to come, and if we do not take urgent action now, this catastrophe awaits us,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Nearly half of 2023 has exceeded the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit, which scientists say could be fueling a climate catastrophe.
Dengue cases are on the rise in Mali, authorities say.
The rise in dengue cases has become a new threat to Mali, a West African country facing extremist attacks and political crisis.
As of December 4, Mali has reported 600 dengue cases and 21 deaths, Mali’s director-general of public health, Dr. Chik Mmadoutidiani Traore, said in an interview with The Associated Press on December 6.
Dengue fever is an influenza disease spread by mosquitoes. Among those infected, those who experience severe illness, such as joint pain, swelling of tumors; Bleeding and death can occur.
There is no specific cure for dengue, but there are two vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) for countries where dengue is common.
The Malian government has not released any official figures on the dengue outbreak, nor has it announced whether it has requested assistance from the WHO.
In Mali, which is in a period of political transition and facing attacks by armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, the outbreak of dengue fever poses a risk of worsening the humanitarian situation among the large population who have long been fleeing their homes.
“Dengue is also happening in Bakke Nafso and Senegal. We need to raise public awareness,” Traore said.
The dengue virus, which normally occurs in tropical environments, was first identified in 2008 in arid Mali.
Then in 2017 and 2019, there were reports of the virus being found again. Long-term data on the spread of the virus are lacking.
In August, Chad’s government reported Mali’s first dengue outbreak, with dozens of confirmed cases.
On August 15th, there were 1,342 suspected dengue cases in Chad, 41 confirmed cases, and one of the confirmed cases died, according to the Chad Ministry of Health.
