|
(Continued from page 27)
• "This is a choice of the Republican Party," said Dan Pfeiffer, White House communications director. "If they are willing to do higher rates on the wealthy, there's a lot we can talk about. And if they are not, then they'll push us over the cliff."
• But going over the cliff also would be full of risk for a president fresh off re-election and facing at least two more years of divided government.
• Ending the year without a deal could roil financial markets and dent consumer confidence just as the economy is strengthening. It could make it harder for Obama to get Republican help on his second-term priorities like overhauling the immigration system and the nation's tax code, or in getting potential Cabinet replacements confirmed.
• ___
World Bank: Climate change will hit Middle East and North Africa especially hard
• DOHA, Qatar (AP) -- The Middle East and North Africa will be especially hard hit by climate change in the coming decades, the World Bank said in a report Wednesday, saying the region will see less rainfall, more recording-breaking temperatures and rising sea levels.
• Should temperatures rise as expected, the hotter conditions are likely to hit the region's $50 billion (€38.2 billion) tourism industry and further worsen its food security since many countries in the region -- especially Gulf states -- depend heavily on imports to feed their populations. Crop failures will also increase while yields will decrease and household incomes will fall, the report said.
• The report was presented at the United Nations climate negotiations in Doha, Qatar, where nearly 200 delegates for the first time are in the Middle East to discuss cutting emissions in an attempt to ensure that global temperatures don't rise more than 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) over what they were in preindustrial times.
• Temperatures have already risen about 0.8 degrees C (1.4 degrees F), according to the latest report by the IPCC.
• "Climate change is a reality for people in Arab countries," Inger Andersen, World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa region, said in a statement.
• ___
(Continued on page 29)
|
|
