Voting for Iran’s 14th presidential election ended at midnight after 16 straight hours, said the spokesman of Iran’s Election Headquarters, Mohsen Eslami.

He made the remarks in a live interview with Iran’s state-run IRIB TV, noting that although the polling stations’ doors were closed, people who had come before the end of the voting process and were waiting for their turn, could still cast their ballots.

The voting began at 8:00 a.m. Friday local time at about 58,640 polling stations across the country, with four candidates vying for the top position at the country’s executive branch.

The candidates were Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the parliamentary speaker; Saeed Jalili, the former top negotiator for nuclear talks; Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a former interior minister and justice minister; and Masoud Pezeshkian, a former health minister.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei cast the first ballot at a polling station and made a brief speech calling for the unity of the Iranian people during the election.

The voting was initially scheduled to end at 6:00 p.m. local time, but was extended three times, with each extension lasting for two hours.

Over 61 million people were eligible to vote in the election, according to Iranian authorities.

A total of 344 polling stations were set up in more than 95 countries around the world for Iranians to cast their votes, the official news agency IRNA reported.

Eslami said the counting process at the stations would begin upon making sure that the very last voter had cast his vote, adding the winner should collect an absolute majority of the votes, or at least 50 percent plus one vote, otherwise the run-off would be held next Friday between the two top candidates.

In remarks during a televised interview on Thursday, Mohammad-Taqi Shahcheraghi, head of Iran’s Election Headquarters, said efforts would be made to announce the election’s results before Saturday noon.

Iran’s 14th presidential election, initially set for 2025, was rescheduled following the unexpected death of President Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage in a helicopter crash on May 19.

Source(s): CGTN

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a video address marking World Environment Day on June 5 warned of “a climate hell.”

BEIJING, June 27 (Xinhua) — In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events worldwide, leading to significant repercussions for both human society and ecosystems.

WORLDWIDE HEATWAVES

Let’s first take a look at the occurrence of extreme heat events on a global scale. With scorching heatwaves and rampant wildfires, many regions around the world have recently been hit by sweltering temperatures, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people due to heat-related factors.

In Asia, India has experienced its longest-lasting heatwave on record this year. According to local meteorological authorities, since May 14, the capital city of New Delhi has seen temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius continuously for 38 days. In states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, temperatures have reached around 50 degrees Celsius. The Indian Ministry of Health reports a total of 110 heat-related deaths and over 40,000 suspected cases of heatstroke from March 1 to June 18.

In the Gaza Strip, the ongoing high temperatures have intensified the plight of displaced Palestinians and led to a severe public health crisis.

Richard Peacock, an official responsible for overseeing health affairs in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank of the Jordan River, stated on June 21 that due to intensifying heat, the problems of water source pollution, food spoilage, and mosquito breeding have become more severe in the region. As a result, the number of diarrhea cases has increased 25 times compared to previous years.

Several European countries have also been hit by high temperatures. According to local media reports, Rome, the capital of Italy, and eight other cities such as Perugia issued red alerts for high temperatures on June 21, with temperatures in some cities expected to surpass 40 degrees Celsius. Relevant authorities have warned that the heat can have a significant impact on human health, particularly posing a risk to the elderly, children, and individuals with chronic illnesses.

In North America, the prolonged heatwave has resulted in wildfires at multiple locations across the western United States. Currently, nearly 20 large wildfires are burning in states such as New Mexico, California, Arizona, Colorado, and Washington. According to statistics, on June 20, approximately 100 million people in the United States were under high-temperature warnings and alerts.

EXCESSIVE RAINFALL

In addition to extreme heatwaves, there also have been changes in international and regional precipitation patterns, resulting in frequent heavy rainfall and floods, causing severe damage and loss of life. According to data from the United Nations Environment Programme, the frequency of global flooding has more than doubled in the past forty years.

Bangladesh has been experiencing heavy rainfall for days in a row this June, leading to a rise in the water levels of rivers. As a result, large areas of land in the northeast region have been submerged by floods, causing extensive damage to residential buildings, crops, and roads. According to data released by the local government in Sylhet district, at least 136 towns and villages have been affected by the floods, leaving over a million people affected.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative in Bangladesh said in a statement that the floods in the northeastern part of the country have affected 772,000 children, more than 810 public schools in the Sylhet region have been submerged, and nearly 500 schools are being used as temporary shelters.

In recent days, several countries in Latin America have also experienced heavy rainfall, leading to floods and landslides, and causing significant loss of life and property damage. Experts have pointed out that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense, and the resulting natural disasters may have ripple effects.

EXTREME COLD WEATHER

Moreover, there is also a noticeable increase in global blizzards and extreme cold weather. According to data from the World Meteorological Organization, the rate of winter temperature increase in the Arctic region is more than twice the global average. This has led to a continuous reduction in Arctic sea ice, further exacerbating the deterioration of global climate warming. At the same time, blizzards and extreme cold weather have brought severe cold and heavy snowfall to regions such as North America, Europe, and Asia, causing significant impacts on transportation, power supply, and agricultural output.

GLOBAL WARMING, HUMAN ACTIVITIES BLAMED

So, why are global extreme weather events becoming more frequent and severe? Scientists widely believe that global warming is one of the main contributing factors. According to the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global temperatures have already risen by about one degree Celsius, and even if the goals of the Paris Agreement are achieved, global temperatures may still rise by more than two degrees Celsius. This global warming has led to instability in the climate system, making extreme weather events more frequent and intense.

Additionally, human activities are exacerbating the occurrence of global extreme weather events. Large-scale industrialization and excessive consumption of natural resources have resulted in the emission of large amounts of greenhouse gases, further intensifying the greenhouse effect on Earth. According to data from the International Energy Agency, global carbon dioxide emissions have continued to rise over the past decade, contributing to the occurrence of global warming and extreme weather events.

IMMEDIATE ACTIONS URGED

The weather and climate agency of the UN called for immediate actions to address climate change, pointing to the findings of a report which predicts a high likelihood of global temperatures surpassing a critical warming threshold. There is an 80-percent chance that annual average global temperatures will exceed the 1.5-degree Celsius warming mark in at least one of the next five years, according to the Global Annual to Decadal Update from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). It is 86 percent likely that at least one year by 2028 will set a new temperature record, smashing the records set in 2023, the report added.

In the face of the challenges posed by global extreme weather events, international cooperation is needed. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is key, and countries must enhance their endeavors in promoting sustainable development and the adoption of clean energy sources.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a video address marking World Environment Day on June 5 warned of “a climate hell.”

“It’s climate crunch time,” he said, emphasizing that “the need for action is unprecedented but so is the opportunity — not just to deliver on climate, but on economic prosperity and sustainable development.”

“We are way off track to meet the goals set in the Paris Agreement,” said WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett. “We must urgently do more to cut greenhouse gas emissions, or we will face increasingly high economic costs, millions of lives affected by extreme weather, and extensive damage to the environment and biodiversity.”

Source(s): Xinhua

The entire Gaza Strip is at “high risk” of famine, the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned, while the UN humanitarian chief cautioned that a spread of the Israel-Palestine conflict to Lebanon would be “potentially apocalyptic.”

The famine alarm was raised as a new report has shown that almost the entire population is facing “acute food insecurity, with 1 in 5 Gazans being on the verge of famine,” said FAO.

Around 459,000 people in Gaza (22 percent) are in a state of “catastrophic food insecurity,” while almost the entire population (96 percent) is facing “crisis levels of acute food insecurity or higher,” according to a paper published by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Global Initiative.

Commenting on the latest findings at a press conference in New York on Wednesday, FAO chief economist Maximo Torero said the agency had observed a high risk of famine over the last eight months. “The relentless hostilities as well as limited access to those in need of urgent humanitarian aid have had severe impacts on the entire population in Gaza,” he said.

“With some 96 percent of the population facing acute food insecurity, any deterioration may push more people into catastrophic levels of hunger,” the FAO chief economist stressed. “(This would happen) For example, if the level of permits and access of humanitarian trucks to Gaza declines and does not increase substantially.”

On the same day, UN humanitarian coordinator Martin Griffiths said that he saw Lebanon as “the flashpoint beyond all flashpoints,” pointing to southern Lebanon in particular.

“We are worried about the potential for further tragedy and deaths,” he said. “It’s potentially apocalyptic.”

Recently, both the U.S. and Israel have warned of the risk of a major conflict against Hezbollah, following an escalation in cross-border fire.

Israel’s military said last week that plans for an offensive in Lebanon were “approved and validated,” prompting fresh threats from Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Griffiths warned that a conflict involving Lebanon “will draw in Syria, (and) it will draw in others.”

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and other aid agencies were preparing for a broader crisis, Griffiths said, adding, “The problem is stopping this war from getting worse.”

However, Israeli strikes in Southern Lebanon continue. At least five Lebanese civilians were injured late Wednesday night in Israeli airstrikes that destroyed a residential building in the Al-Mashaa neighborhood of Nabatieh, a city in southern Lebanon, according to medical and military sources speaking anonymously to Xinhua.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said on Wednesday that its fighters launched a drone attack in the morning on a “vital site” in Israel’s southern port city of Eilat.

The militia claimed the attack was carried out “in solidarity with the people of Gaza,” pledging more targeting of “the enemy’s strongholds.”

Besides, Yemen’s Houthi group said on Wednesday they launched a joint drone attack with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq on an Israeli ship docked in the Israeli port of Haifa.

“We will continue these joint military operations with the Iraqi Islamic Resistance in support of the Palestinian people,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said, linking the attack to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He demanded an end to “Israeli aggression” and the lifting of the blockade on Gaza.

Source(s): CGTN