INTERNATIONAL
In today’s global news:
Worldometer is tracking COVID-19 cases and fatalities.
The New York Times is tracking global vaccine distribution.
It seems that cement making is increasingly a major driver of global carbon emissions. Data from the CICERO Center for International Climate Research and the Global Carbon Project finds that carbon dioxide emissions from cement making have shot from some 1.4 billion tons in 2002 to 2.9 billion tons in 2021, accounting for more than 7 percent of global emissions last year. Making matters worse, the process of cement making is apparently getting dirtier, with emissions per ton rising by more than 9 percent between 2015 and 2020. Much of the growth on both fronts is coming from China, and because of the logistics required to switch to greener forms of manufacturing the industry is unlikely even to make it to the fantasy “net zero” standard anytime soon.
MIDDLE EAST
SYRIA
Islamic State fighters reportedly attacked a Syrian military outpost in the desert area on the border between Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces on Tuesday, killing at least three people and wounding four others. All the victims were either Syrian soldiers or pro-government paramilitaries. According to The New Arab the IS attackers were able to use a sandstorm as cover for their assault.
Damascus International Airport is scheduled to reopen to traffic on Thursday, almost two weeks after an Israeli missile attack damaged the facility seriously enough to force its closure. There is no question that if a Syrian missile strike were to damage Ben Gurion Airport the international fallout would be massive. That this incident, the inverse of that hypothetical scenario, has gone relatively unnoticed is unsurprising but should not be regarded as normal or just.