August 21, 2013

Syrian opposition activists have accused the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of launching rockets with toxic chemical weapons into suburbs east of Damascus this morning as part of a major bombardment on rebel forces. The main opposition alliance claims that more than 1,000 people were killed in the attacks. Amateur videos downloaded onto the Internet show people going into convulsions. Dozens of bodies, including those of small children, are shown laid out on the floor of a clinic with no visible signs of injuries.

While the claims have not been independently confirmed, a doctor treating the injured did inform a BBC correspondent that the cause of death appears to be suffocation, with signs of foaming at the mouth. “There are some kinds of symptoms that tell us that this is phosphorus, which is a chemical weapon. It may be sarin, most probably it’s sarin,” noted the doctor, Ghazwan Bwidany.

A Syrian army spokesperson denied the accusations. He accused the opposition of inventing the story in an attempt to divert attention from the huge losses rebel forces had suffered recently.

A United Nations weapons inspector. (Reuters/Getty Images)

British Foreign Secretary William Hague and French President Francois Hollande have asked that United Nations (UN) weapons inspectors be allowed access to the area. Both Hague and Hollande stated that their respective UN ambassadors would raise the issue of chemical weapon use in the Syrian Civil War in the Security Council. The Security Council responded by scheduling an emergency meeting today.

Additional World Book articles:

• Syria: The Roots of Rebellion (a special report)
• The Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• Syria 2012 (a Back in Time article)

November 20, 2012

Greenhouse gases have reached unprecedented levels, according to a report by the United Nations (UN) World Meteorological Organization. The report found that the global average of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere reached 390.9 parts per million (ppm) in 2011. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has grown by about 40 percent since the year 1750, at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

CO2 is released chiefly by burning such fossil fuels as coal and oil. China now produces more CO2 pollution than any other country, followed closely by the United States.

Climate scientists have found that increasing concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases are the chief cause of global warming. Rising concentrations of these gases trap more of the energy in sunlight at Earth’s surface. Thus, the gases act somewhat like the walls of a greenhouse, which allow in light but prevent heat from escaping. As levels of greenhouse gases rise, they cause a gradual increase in Earth’s average surface temperatures known as global warming.

High levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases are being released into the atmosphere by manufacturing and other human activities. (© age fotostock/SuperStock)

Global warming has already increased Earth’s average surface temperature by about 1.4 Fahrenheit degrees (0.76 Celsius degrees) since the mid-1800′s. Scientists predict that the average surface temperature will rise an additional 2.0 to 11.5 Fahrenheit degrees (1.1 to 6.4 Celsius degrees) by 2100. Climate scientists warn that severe global warming will do great damage to the natural environment and human society.

The UN report also found increases in greenhouse gases apart from CO2. The second most important greenhouse gas is methane, which is produced by natural gas extraction, agriculture, and landfills, among other human-made sources. Methane reached 1,813 parts per billion in 2011, an increase of about 259 percent above its level in 1750. Although the concentration of methane is much lower than that of CO2, methane is a more powerful greenhouse gas.

In May 2012, atmospheric concentrations of CO2 briefly surpassed 400 ppm in the Arctic, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. CO2 concentrations vary by latitude and season, mostly because growing plants take up significant amounts of CO2 through photosynthesis. Scientists expect average global CO2 concentrations to reach 400 ppm no later than 2016. The 400 ppm threshold has mostly symbolic significance, but many climate scientists warn that CO2 concentrations over 400 ppm will cause damaging levels of global warming.

Addtional World Book articles:

• Carbon footprint
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Kyoto Protocol
• Methane: Another Greenhouse Troublemaker (a Special Report)
• The Great Meltdown (a Special Report)

September 27, 2012

United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced yesterday that U.S. intelligence officials have uncovered an explicit link between al-Qa`ida terrorist groups in North Africa and the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012. That attack resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including the ambassador, Chris Stevens.

Secretary Clinton’s announcement was made at a special United Nations meeting on the current crisis in northern Mali, which has been overrun by Islamic extremists. According to the secretary, the extremists are allowing al-Qa’ida cells to operate out of Mali. “Now, with a larger safe haven and increased freedom to maneuver, terrorists are seeking to extend their reach and their networks in multiple directions,” she informed world leaders attending the meeting. “And they are working with other violent extremists to undermine the democratic transitions under way in North Africa, as we tragically saw in Benghazi.” Intelligence officials have reported that al-Qa’ida cells are also operating in Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, and possibly Pakistan.

Hillary Rodham Clinton became secretary of state of the United States in 2009. Prior to taking the post, Clinton, the wife of former President Bill Clinton, had represented New York in the United States Senate. (U.S. Department of State)

Sept. 11, 2012, was the 11th anniversary of the al-Qa’ida terrorist attacks on the United States that resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. At that time,  al-Qa`ida was an Afghanistan-based terrorist organization headed by Osama bin Laden. After hijacking four commercial airliners, the terrorists flew two jets into the World Trade Center twin towers, which subsequently collapsed. Terrorists crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon, the U.S. armed services headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. The attackers in the fourth airliner were overtaken by passengers, preventing them from crashing the plane into another Washington, D.C., landmark, possibly the White House or Capitol. The jet went down in an open field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all aboard. The September 11 terrorist attacks prompted the administration of President George W. Bush to send forces into Afghanistan in October 2001 to clean out terrorist camps. That war continues in 2012.

Additional World Book articles:

• Afghanistan War
• Arab Spring
• National September 11 Memorial and Museum
• Afghanistan 2001 (a Back in Time article)
• New York City 2001 (a Back in Time article)
• Washington, D.C. 2001 (a Back in Time article)
• The Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
• Terrorism: America’s New Enemy (a special report)
• Passport to Reform: The INS and Homeland Security (a special report)

September 26, 2012

United States President Barack Obama addressed the opening session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York City on September 25. He stated that the United States will “do what we must” to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Concerns over a nuclear-armed Iran have led the United States and many other countries to impose increasingly severe sanctions on Iran. The Iranian government has insisted that its nuclear program is intended for peaceful uses.

The president condemned the violence that erupted in predominantly Muslim nations over what he described as a “disgusting” anti-Islam video but defended U.S. freedom of speech and the spirit of tolerance that allowed the inflammatory anti-Muslim video to be made. “As president of our country, and commander in chief of our military, I accept that people are going to call me awful things every day,” noted the president. “And I will defend their right to do so.”

The United Nations (UN) General Assemblyis the only major organ of the United Nations in which all members are represented (© Mario Tama, Getty Images)

Speaking before President Obama, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon characterized the civil war in Syria as “a regional calamity with global ramifications.” President Obama was more forthright in his assessment of the situation in Syria, bluntly stating that the Bashar al-Assad regime must go. According to human rights activists, at least 21,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in March 2011. An estimated 1 million people have been displaced by the violence.

Additional World Book articles:

• Arab Spring
• Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a Special Report)
• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)

August 2|, 2012

Kofi Annan, the special United Nations (UN) and Arab League envoy (representative) who has worked for months to resolve the conflict in Syria, submitted his resignation today to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Annan will leave his position at the end of August. A former UN secretary-general and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Annan had grown increasingly frustrated with his inability to achieve even a short-term cease-fire. The conflict began in March 2011 as a peaceful uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It has now escalated into full-blown civil war.

Annan’s six-point proposal–which called for Assad to withdraw his forces from urban areas and for the rebels to put down their arms–never went into effect, despite Assad’s pledge to comply. Annan also failed to secure an enforceable Security Council resolution and tougher sanctions against the Assad regime. Russia and China, permanent members with veto power, opposed any resolution that might lead to UN-backed military intervention.

Kofi Annan (AP/Wide World and Kathy Willens)

In a statement announcing the resignation, Secretary Ban noted that the Security Council’s own divisions “have themselves become an obstacle to diplomacy, making the work of any mediator vastly more difficult.” Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Switzerland, Annan delivered a blistering criticism of the Security Council’s failure to unite to stop the escalating violence: “The bloodshed continues, most of all because of the Syrian government’s intransigence, and continuing refusal to implement the six-point plan, and also because of the escalating military campaign of the opposition–all of which is compounded by the disunity of the international community. . . . At a time when we need–when the Syrian people desperately need action–there continues to be finger-pointing and name-calling in the Security Council.”

Additional World Book articles:

• Arab Spring
• Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a Special Report)
• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)

June 8, 2012

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon informed the General Assembly yesterday that UN monitors were shot at trying to get to the scene of yet another massacre in Syria. According to opposition activists, at least 78 people in the village of Qubair, near Hama, were slaughtered on June 6 by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The victims included as many as 40 women and children. Condemning “this unspeakable barbarity,” Ban stated that for many months it had been evident that Assad and his government “have lost all legitimacy” as well as “its fundamental humanity.”

On May 29, major Western nations expelled Syrian diplomats in response to the May 25 massacre of 108 civilians in the Houla region of Syria. (Houla is an area northwest of the city of Homs, center of the 14-month uprising against the Assad regime.) Outrage over the killings–one of the gravest atrocities in the uprising–prompted the governments of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States to inform the various Syrian legations that top diplomats were to leave within the week.

Syria. World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.

Members of the UN Human Rights Council believe that the Syrian army and the feared shabiha militia may have carried out both massacres. It is widely believed that the shabiha, consisting mainly of Alawite Muslims, is the Assad regime’s hired death squad. (Alawites are a mystical Sunni religious group prominent in Syria. The Assad family and most Syrian government officials are members of the sect.)

The UN Security Council has condemned the Syrian government “in the strongest possible terms.” The council pronounced the “outrageous use of violence against civilians” a violation of international law. At least 10,000 people have died in Syria since protests against the Assad regime broke out in March 2011.

Additional World Book articles:

• Diplomacy
• Hafez al-Assad
• Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)

May 29, 2012

Major Western nations today expelled Syrian diplomats in response to the massacre of 108 civilians in the Houla region of Syria on May 25. (Houla is an area northwest of the city of Homs, center of the 14-month uprising against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.) Outrage over the killings–one of the gravest atrocities in the uprising–prompted the governments of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States to inform the various Syrian legations that top diplomats are to leave within the week.

(World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.)

In Syria’s capital, Damascus, United Nations (UN) special envoy Kofi Annan announced that he has warned Assad that time is running out. “We are at a tipping point,” he stated at a news conference. “The Syrian people do not want the future to be one of bloodshed and division. Yet the killings continue and the abuses are still with us today. As I reminded the president, the international community will soon be reviewing the situation.”

UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville announced earlier in the day that investigations suggest that most of those killed in the village of Taldou, near Houla–including 49 children and 34 women–were “summarily executed,” killed by close-range gunfire or knife attack. Survivors claimed that the army and the feared shabiha militia from nearby Alawite villages carried out the atrocities. (Alawites are a mystical Sunni Muslim religious group prominent in Syria. The Assad family and most Syrian government officials are members of the sect.) It is widely believed that the shabiha–Arabic for “thugs”–are the Assad regime’s hired goons.

Kofi Annan (AP/Wide World and Kathy Willens)

On May 27, the UN Security Council, meeting in emergency session, condemned the Syrian government “in the strongest possible terms” for “the killings . . . of dozens of men, women and children and the wounding of hundreds more.” The council pronounced the “outrageous use of violence against civilians” constituted a violation of international law. (Russia, for the first time, acted with other members of the council against Syria, a long-time ally.) According to UN monitors, before the atrocities took place, the area had been bombarded with artillery and tank shells, weapons available only to the Syrian army. The Syrian government has blamed the massacre on terrorists and Islamic extremists. At least 10,000 people have died in Syria since protests against the Assad regime broke out in March 2011.

Additional World Book articles:

• Diplomacy
• Hafez al-Assad
• Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, addressing the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, formally requested that the UN grant full membership to the Palestinian people of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. UN recognition would likely put the Palestinians on a path toward full statehood with pre-1967 borders. (At the conclusion of the 1967 Six Day War between Israel and Egypt [and Egyptian allies Syria, Jordan, and Iraq], Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Israel vowed not to withdraw from these territories until the four Arab nations recognized Israel’s right to exist. In June 1967, Israel officially made the eastern half of Jerusalem part of Israel.)

“I do not believe anyone with a shred of conscience can reject our application for full admission in the United Nations,” President Abbas declared before the General Assembly. He described statehood as “the realization of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people.” Reviewing the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Abbas stated that every previous peace effort had been “shattered on the rock” of Israeli settlements. He insisted that it was the UN’s “historical responsibility” to resolve the conflict. His bid must first be submitted to the UN Security Council. International affairs experts predict that the United States would veto it. They also suggest that such a veto will further wreck U.S. prestige in the Middle East.

Additional World Book articles:

• Arab-Israeli conflict
• Arafat, Yasir
• Hamas
• Oslo Accords
• Palestine
• Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
• Bank in Time (1948)
• Back in Time (1967)