BBC News Briefing

9 April, 2024

Jules Darmanin

Hello. Today climate scientists tell us why the next months could bring our climate into "uncharted territory", after another monthly heat record was broken in March. We're also hearing from our correspondent Lina Sinjab, who visited Syria for the first time after she left her Damascus home 11 years ago. And of course, I have more eclipse material for you, as well as night train recommendations.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

March heat record fuels concern of tipping point

Indian women are protecting themselves from the sunlight

Several parts of India have reported heatwave conditions in recent weeks. Credit: Getty Images

Last month was the world's warmest March ever measured, breaking the global temperature records for a tenth month in a row. March 2024 was 1.68C (3.02F) warmer than "pre-industrial" times. This all-time high was expected, partly because the El Niño weather system, which peaked in December, caused some of the extra warmth. But even El Niño can't explain why records were broken with such large margins over the past months. The climate phenomenon is waning, but scientists are worried that average temperatures might not cool down. "By the end of the summer, if we're still looking at record breaking temperatures in the North Atlantic or elsewhere, then we really have kind of moved into uncharted territory," said Gavin Schmidt, the director of Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The next few months will tell researchers if the past year was just out of the norm, or the sign of a sea change in our climate. But scientists are certain about one thing: the way to stop the world warming is to rapidly cut emissions of planet-warming gases.

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Breaking: A group of elderly Swiss women have won a partial victory in the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that Switzerland's government violated their human rights by failing to act quickly enough to address climate change.

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For the weather buffs: Here's a detailed explanation of how El Niño - and its opposite La Niña - affect global temperatures.

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The basics: If you only read one thing, our very simple guide on climate change is the best place to start - and our best piece to share.

WORLD HEADLINES

Israel-Gaza war: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel has set a date for its planned offensive in Rafah, without giving further details.

Panama Papers: The trial of 27 people charged in connection with the money laundering scandal has started in a Panamanian criminal court.

Good night, Moon: If you still can't get enough of Monday's eclipse, we have just the articles for you. Watch our gallery of the best shots, read interviews with transfixed sky-gazers, and commiserate with Britons who hoped to see a partial eclipse, and stared at a thick wall of clouds instead.

Florida detour: UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has met former President Donald Trump in the Sunshine State, before heading onto Washington DC for talks with his counterpart Antony Blinken.

Crypto platforms: A US executive from cryptocurrency firm Binance has pleaded not guilty to money laundering charges in a Nigerian court.

AT THE SCENE

Damascus, Syria

Returning home to a changed country

Women wearing headscarves are walking in a market, under a banner depicting Bashar al-Assad in front of a Syrian flag.

Posters of President Bashar al-Assad are everywhere in government-controlled parts of Syria. Credit: Getty Images

BBC Middle East correspondent Lina Sinjab left her home in the Syrian capital Damascus in 2013, soon after the start of the civil war. Recently she was able to travel back for the first time in years, finding a country both very familiar and utterly changed.

Lina Sinjab, Middle East correspondent

Arriving in Damascus at night, the city lies in darkness. Even the fanciest neighbourhoods are blacked out. This has been the case for years. Nearly everything is in short supply, forcing Syrians to stand in long queues to secure their basic needs. You need a smart card with your data on it to get your subsidised bread or allocation of fuel or gas - a text tells you when it's time to join the queue. The government seems determined to present Syria as a modern state just as everything collapses.

Read in full

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

A 'game of Jenga you don't want to lose'

Two workers on a crane platform are curring a beam of steel plunged into the river.

Workers plan to use specialised cutting tools and hydraulic shears to remove parts of the Key Bridge. Credit: Getty Images

As many as 15,000 jobs depend on the port of Baltimore, which can't operate since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed over a container ship. Now salvage crews are working to untangle thousands of tonnes of warped steel. Bernd Debusmann Jr reports on the risky - and costly - operation to reopen the channel by the end of May.

Read now

Two trains are crossing at dusk in a valley.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Night train through Europe

The Brussels-to-Berlin sleeper train has now been extended to Prague.

Why this matters

And finally...

Troops swapped places in Paris and London on Monday to mark 120 years since the Entente Cordiale, a series of four agreements aimed to end conflict and improve diplomatic ties between the UK and France, was signed. British troops from Number 7 Company took part in a changing of the guard ceremony at the Élysée Palace, while members of French Republican Guard did the same at Buckingham Palace. Take a look at the parallel ceremonies.

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– Jules

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