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Vietnam seeks support for maritime freedom

2018-07-10T18:36:39Z

IslaFroude5:

France and other countries should help to keep the peace in the disputed South China Sea, Vietnam's president told AFP Wednesday, as unease grows over China's increasingly muscular approach in the key waterway. China claims most of the sea where it has built up reefs capable of hosting military equipment, sparking ire from competing claimants, including Vietnam, and raising fears of potential armed conflict. Speaking to AFP ahead of a visit by French leader Francois Hollande next month, Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang said he hopes France and others will help to diffuse regional tensions in the waterway, which it calls the East Sea. Vietnamese president Tran Dai Quang speaks during an interview with AFP at the presidential palace in Hanoi on August 24, 2016 �Hoang Dinh Nam (AFP) "We highly welcome the cooperation from France and other nations in the process of maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world and on the East Sea," he said, speaking from the presidential palace, the former residence of the Indochina governor during French colonial rule. Hanoi and Beijing have traded diplomatic barbs over disputed island chains and waters in the South China Sea and in 2014 China moved a controversial oil rig into contested territory, prompting riots in Vietnam. The strategic waterway, also claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan, is rich in energy reserves, fishery resources and is a busy shipping route. Quang's comments come after French Defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in June he would ask [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm từ Hà Nội] European countries to conduct coordinated patrols in the South China Sea. France and the United States have sent naval ships to the sea in recent months and have vowed to send more, angering Beijing. The Vietnamese president, whose role is mostly ceremonial, said [http://News.sky.com/search?term=Hollande%27s%20visit Hollande's visit] would help to boost military ties between the former colonial foes, as Hanoi has rapidly increased its defence budget in the last decade. "Several directions for cooperation will be strengthened and opened, like... ensuring security, safety and freedom of maritime and aviation," Quang said in a statement to AFP after the interview. He added that Vietnam wants more unity in the regional 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has failed to [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] forge a unified front against Beijing's militarisation in the sea. "We have been active together with countries in the ASEAN community to increase unity, considering this an important structure to contribute to maintaining regional peace," he said. Last month Manila won its case against Beijing at a UN-backed tribunal in the Hague which rejected China's claims to most of the sea. Beijing boycotted the hearing, and has refused to recognise the ruling, and ASEAN has sidestepped the issue, failing to comment directly on it at a meeting of ministers last month. Diplomats say Beijing has deftly courted Laos and Cambodia to split the bloc and blunt unified criticism. France and Vietnam signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2013, which included boosted defence cooperation. Filipino and Vietnamese protesters display anti-China placards during a call on China to respect their rights in the disputed South China Sea, in front of the Chinese consular office in Manila on August 6, 2016 �Ted Aljibe (AFP/File) Advertisement

April breaks heat records 12th month in a row for global heat

2018-06-19T03:37:39Z

IslaFroude5:

Last month was the hottest April in modern history, marking the 12th consecutive month that global heat records have been shattered, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday. "The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for April 2016 was the highest for the month of April in the NOAA global temperature dataset record, which dates back to 1880," the agency said in a statement. "This marks the 12th consecutive month the monthly global temperature record has been broken, the longest such streak in the 137-year record." A cow stands in a dried up pond in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, which is reeling from years of below-par monsoon rains �Money Sharma (AFP/File) The report, issued each month by NOAA, also pointed to a concerning spike in temperature last month, compared to the 20th century average. The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for April was 1.98 Fahrenheit (1.10 Celsius) above the 20th century average of 56. [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] 7 F (13.7 C). This marked "the highest temperature departure for April since global records began in 1880." Overall, 13 of 15 of these record spikes, or monthly temperature departures, have occurred since February 2015, signaling that global warming is accelerating. Unusually warm temperatures were seen across much of the world, but particularly in Russia and [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] Alaska, where [http://Www.Blogher.com/search/apachesolr_search/temperatures temperatures] were 5.4 F (3.0 C) or more above average, said NOAA. An "exceptional heat wave" swept across the Indochina peninsula, and Cambodia, Laos, Maldives, and Thailand also set new national maximum temperature records for April, the report said. Northern and central South America and parts of southern Europe, western and central Africa, eastern Australia, southern Alaska, and the Caribbean also saw temperatures climb. Cooler than average weather was seen last month in northeastern Canada and southern South America. - Records upon records - Experts say [http://sportsrants.com/?s=global%20warming global warming] is at least partially to blame for a number of environmental disasters around the world, from the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef to the wildfires raging across Canada. Last year marked the hottest on [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] record, beating 2014 which previously held the title. With 12 months in a row now setting records for heat, 2016 -- though not quite half over yet -- is on track to be another scorching year. The World Bank said earlier this week that the global community is not prepared for a swift increase in climate change related natural disasters -- such as floods and droughts -- which will by 2050 put 1.3 billion people at risk. - El Nino fading - The El Nino weather phenomenon, which tends to warm up equatorial waters in the Pacific, is on the decline but may have contributed to the record set over the last four months together. "A record warm January, February, March, and April resulted in the highest global land and ocean average temperature for January-April at 2.05 F (1.14 C) above the 20th century average," said the NOAA report. The last four months were hotter than the same period in 2015, and hotter than 1998, the last time a similar strength El Nino was observed, by 0.8 degrees Fahrenheit (0.45 C). "Sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean continued to decrease during April 2016, reflecting a weakened El Nino," added the NOAA report, predicting the cooling trend, known as La Nina, could begin in the second half of 2016. World temperature variation compared with the 20th century average, April 2016 �Alain Bommenel, Sabrina Blanchard (AFP) This undated photo released on April 20, 2016 by XL Catlin Seaview Survey shows a diver checking the bleached coral at Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef Advertisement

User:IslaFroude5

2018-06-19T03:37:34Z

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