BBC World Service – Newshour, Greenhouse gas levels reach new highs

BBC Newhour 25 November 2019 report:

The World Meteorological Organisation says greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere have reached another record high – fuelling ever more severe impacts of climate change.

Also on the programme: a report from Iraq, where some protesters have died after being shot in the head with military-grade tear-gas; and thieves in Germany make off with an irreplaceable horde of antique jewels.

(Picture: Steam billows from cooling towers of a power plant. Credit: European Photopress Agency)

See:

https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/greenhouse-gas-concentrations-atmosphere-reach-yet-another-high

https://library.wmo.int/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=21620#.Xd1BLtWQyBb

https://library.wmo.int/doc_num.php?explnum_id=10100

US Defense Secretary fires Navy chief over Iraq misconduct case

Al Jazeera English

Nov 25, 2019

United States Defense Secretary Mark Esper fired the US Navy’s top official on Sunday over his handling of the case of a Navy SEAL who was convicted of battlefield misconduct in Iraq but later won the support of President Donald Trump. Richard Spencer was sacked over his handling of a high-profile war crimes case in which Edward Gallagher was acquitted of murdering a captured and wounded ISIL fighter but was convicted of illegally posing with the man’s corpse. The controversy pitted the Navy commander against President Donald Trump. Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo reports from Washington, DC.

The President is a Domestic Enemy of the Constitution: Ellsberg Slams Trump For Pardoning War Crimes

Democracy Now!

Nov 25, 2019

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper demanded the resignation of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, one week after President Trump overruled military leaders and cleared three U.S. servicemembers accused or convicted of war crimes. The men included Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher, who has been accused of multiple war crimes, including shooting two Iraqi civilians and fatally stabbing a captive teenager in the neck. Gallagher was convicted of posing with the teenage corpse but was acquitted on premeditated murder. Trump criticized the Navy on Thursday for moving toward holding a review hearing to decide if Gallagher should be ousted. The New York Times reported Navy Secretary Spencer then threatened to resign after Trump’s backlash but there are also reports that Spencer attempted to reach a backroom deal with Trump that would have allowed Gallagher to keep his Trident Pin. In a statement on Sunday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he was “deeply troubled by this conduct.” We speak with Daniel Ellsberg, one of the world’s most famous whistleblowers. In 1971, he was a high-level defense analyst when he leaked a top-secret report on U.S. involvement in Vietnam to The New York Times and other publications that came to be known as the Pentagon Papers and played a key role in ending the Vietnam War.

Pope Francis Calls Nuclear Weapons Immoral as Catholic Activists Face Jail For U.S. Nuke Base Action

Democracy Now!

Nov 25, 2019

Over the weekend, Pope Francis visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the United States dropped the first atomic bombs in 1945, killing more than 200,000 people. Pope Francis said, “A world without nuclear weapons is possible and necessary.” The leader of the Cathoilc Church met with survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and declared the possession of nuclear weapons to be immoral. The Pope’s visit comes as a group of seven Catholic peace activists are awaiting sentencing for breaking into the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia on April 4, 2018. The activists, known as the Kings Bay Plowshares 7, were recently convicted of three felony counts and a misdemeanor charge for entering the base armed with hammers, crime scene tape and baby bottles containing their own blood.

We speak with Martha Hennessy, one of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7. She is the granddaughter of Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker movement. We are also joined by Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. His most recent book is titled, “The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner.” Daniel Ellsberg was blocked from testifying in the recent trial of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7.

Biomimicry: Innovating using Nature’s Toolbox

Published on Nov 22, 2019
(2:19 – Main Presentation) Over millions of years of evolution, organisms on earth have developed and perfected complex adaptations that allow them to survive and eventually thrive under specific environmental conditions. Dimitri Deheyn unveils how his laboratory is working to understand and replicate these highly refined biological properties for development of sustainable and economically valuable technologies. Recorded on 10/14/2019. [12/2019] [Show ID: 35177]

More from: Jeffrey B. Graham Perspectives on Ocean Science Lecture Series (https://www.uctv.tv/ocean-science)