Da Silva in Brazil forests pledge at summit
Sharm-el-sheikh: Brazil’s president-elect Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva has vowed to fight deforestation as he made a series of public appearances and attended meetings at the UN climate summit in Egypt.
The speech by Mr da Silva, who in the past year has made an extraordinary political comeback after being convicted of corruption and jailed a few years ago, was one of the events that brought the most energy at the COP27 conference.
As president between 2003 and 2010, he oversaw a large reduction in the deforestation of the Brazilian rainforest, and has promised to do so again.
After meeting several Brazilian governors, including those from important rainforest states such as Amazonia and Para, he addressed a cheering crowd with a short speech, six weeks before he takes power.
He said he would recommend that the UN puts the 2025 climate conference in the Amazon, adding it was time that “people who defend the Amazon and defend the climate get to know the region close up”.
He took several swipes at President Jair Bolsonaro, who pushed development of the Amazon. Mr da Silva beat Mr Bolsonaro in October’s elections and will assume power on January 1.
“Brazil can’t remain isolated like it was these last four years. [Officials from Brazil] didn’t travel to any other countries, and no other countries travelled to Brazil,” said Mr da Silva.
Nairobi: At least three people died when a building collapsed in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, authorities said.
Six other people were rescued from the rubble and are being treated at a nearby hospital in the Kasarani suburb.
The multi-storey residential building was under construction and had shown signs of weakness including visible cracks before it collapsed, witnesses told local media.
Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja said the owner of the building should be arrested and charged with murder because construction permits had not been issued.
Local media reported the owner is on the run.
Government officials had inspected the construction site and asked employees to leave earlier on Tuesday, one worker told the local Daily Nation newspaper, but the site foreman told the employees to continue.
Building collapses are common in Nairobi, where housing is in high demand and unscrupulous developers often bypass regulations.
The National Construction Authority found that 58 per cent of buildings in Nairobi were unfit for habitation.
Athens: Two Greek tankers held by Iran since May are sailing away from the Islamic Republic, according to tracking data, and Greece says the ships’ crews have been freed.
The announcement from Athens yesterday was not immediately acknowledged by Tehran.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard seized the Delta Poseidon and the Prudent Warrior in May.
The seizure came after Iran said it planned to take “punitive action” over Greece assisting the US in seizing oil days earlier from the Iranianflagged tanker Lana.