Negotiators told AFP that delegates from nearly 200 states were still far apart on several crunch issues — from how nations report reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, to the levels of help given to countries already hurting from climate change.

Ministers at the COP24 talks must agree on a common rule book to make good on promises they made in the landmark 2015 Paris accord, which vowed to limit global temperature rises to “well below” two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

But with the starkest warnings yet from scientists highlighting the need to drastically slash fossil fuel emissions within the coming decades, in order to meet the safer cap of 1.5C warming, delegates were urged to act now or condemn at-risk nations to disaster.

As negotiations entered the final stretch, several key areas of dispute emerged, often with different alignments of developed and developing nations straddling each divide.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made his third trip in two weeks to the COP24 in the Polish mining city of Katowice in a bid to push a deal over the line.

‘Cruel joke’

The draft text included no resolution on how the climate fight will be financed, and developed nations — responsible for the lion’s share of historic greenhouse gas emissions — were accused of seeking to shirk funding promises made in Paris.

Harjeet Singh, global climate lead at ActionAid, said rich countries were “playing a cruel joke” on developing nations.

As it stands, “there is no obligation on their part on finance, both in terms of how much money they are going to provide and how to count that money,” he said.

One veteran observer told AFP that the US, despite President Donald Trump’s intention to withdraw from Paris, was seeking to water down “differentiation”, a bedrock principle of the underlying UN climate Convention.

Washington wants countries to contribute to the climate fight based on their current emissions levels, rather than their historic pollution, meaning the US would be less bound to help developing nations green their economies.

Loss and damage

The draft text gave short shrift to another red-line issue for poor countries exposed to the ravages brought on by global warming: so-called “loss and damage”

This provision is designed to help nations cope with deadly heatwaves, drought and floods — amplified by climate change — happening today.

Another hot-button issue centres on how to avoid the double-counting of reductions in carbon pollution.

That can occur when one country takes actions to curb emissions — reforestation, for example — in another country and then both nations claim the credit as part of their pledges under the Paris Agreement.

“If you have buyers and sellers in a carbon trading scheme, you want to be sure that those emissions reductions don’t get counted twice,” said David Waskow, director of the World Resources Institute’s Climate Change Initiative.

The Environmental Defense Fund said Brazil had asked to insert language in the text muddying the date at which the rule book would compel countries to stop double counting emissions savings.

“If Brazil’s language is allowed to stay, it will embed the double counting of emissions reductions in the Paris Agreement… undermine the ability of carbon markets to drive emissions down,” said EDF’s Alex Hanafi.

‘We will die’

Talks were set to go deep into overtime with host Poland hoping to publish an updated text in the early hours of Saturday.

One potential breakthrough came in the form of tentative consensus over how to treat the latest UN scientific report.

Most nations wanted the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — which highlighted the need for greenhouse gas emissions to be slashed to nearly half by 2030 in order to hit the 1.5C target — to form a key part of future planning.

But the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait objected, leading to watered down language in the draft decision.

As well as the IPCC issue, nations are also under pressure to up their ambition in their contributions to the climate fight ahead of a 2020 stocktake.

“If we don’t do that, we will not survive,” said former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed. “We would die. I’m sure it wouldn’t be an appropriate outcome for anyone.”

The thunderous noise would cause roof tiles, metal grilles to vibrate and car alarms to go off, such daily torture is worse than a nightmare, as they cannot even sleep.

Lecturer Syazuan Abdul Latip, 35, who moved into Taman Saujana KLIA six months ago, said he had not had a good night’s sleep since.

Jolted out of slumber at 3am almost every day by the sound of screaming aircraft engines, Syazuan said the lack of sleep is taking a toll on him.

Syukri Osman, 36, who moved in four months ago said there could be as many as 20 take-offs within 30 minutes.

“We have to put up with the aircraft noise round the clock, just imagine having to live in such environment. There is no rest for us,” said Syukri.

Kota Warisan resident and retiree Rokeman Dahalan, 66, said he regretted buying a property here 10 years ago.

“The noise has been bothering me from day one. If I had known, I would never have chosen to live here,” said Rokeman.

Ricky Yeung, 47, an airline pilot who has lived here for 12 years, said the issue of aircraft noise worsened when KL International Airport 2 (KLIA2) started operations and traffic increased since 2014.

He said the noise is from aircraft taking off at runway 32R, one of the three runways in KLIA.

Aircraft departing from this runway is required to follow a flight path that turns right after take-off, which sees it flying over Taman Saujana KLIA, Kota Warisan among several residential areas.

Yeung suggested that aircraft taking off at this runway could maintain direction at 326 degrees North West instead of taking a right turn, or for all take-offs at runway 32R be shifted to runway 32L.

Another proposal is to impose a curfew for night takeoffs.

In reply to residents’ complaints, a Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) spokesman said the agency was sympathetic towards their plight as Kota Warisan and Saujana KLIA were located on the fringes of gazetted airport perimeters where residential development was not permitted.

In its email reply, CAAM said residents should have been fully aware when acquiring residential property close to any international airport, there was always the possibility of noise pollution.

On the operational suggestions put forward by Yeung, CAAM explained that the current mode of operation used for departures was the Simultaneous Independent Departures Operations (Sido), which required aircraft departing from adjacent runways to be on diverging tracks after getting airborne.

Therefore, requiring aircraft to avoid flying over the two housing estates would mean suspending Sido.

“This means only one aircraft would be able to depart at a time from any one of KLIA’s three runways, obliterating efficiency and causing delays in flight departure,” he said, adding that aircraft awaiting their turn to take off would result in additional fuel burn and carbon emission.

“It must be noted for all airlines, fuel represents the biggest operational expense. An average medium-sized jet (B737 or A320) burns between RM400 and RM500 worth of fuel per minute.

“As such, delaying an aircraft would cost any airline an additional RM1,000 per flight. If there are 300 flights involved, that would translate to RM300,000 in additional fuel cost per day,” said CAAM.

On suggestion that departures should only be limited to runway 32L, CAAM explained in the original airport design, runway 32L was for landings and runway 32R for departures.

Switching the landing and departure mode would result in departing aircraft having to taxi 6km from the terminal building to the holding point at runway 32L, taking anything between 15 to 30 minutes.

Aircraft landing on runway 32R would have to make a sharp left hand turn to join the main taxiway, bringing the aircraft to almost a standstill especially for the wide-bodied aircraft. This would cause a jam on the runway and in turn reduce airport capacity, he explained.

Currently, the airport’s capacity is 84 movements per hour. KLIA plans to raise this to 108 movements per hour with additional flights from midnight to 6am.

This means imposing a curfew at these hours would be a drawback to meeting the airport’s full capacity.

CAAM also noted that the combined capacity of KLIA and KLIA2 was now 75 million passengers per annum (mppa), while the target was 100 mppa. As such, the airport is considered to be still operating below capacity.

CAAM also advised residents that any changes to airport operation or curfews would require the decision of policy makers, referring to Transport Ministry or the Malaysian Aviation Commission.

The willowy beauty is making history since the pageant reversed a longstanding policy in 2012 that participants must be “naturally born” women.

Explaining her broad appeal the plain-speaking 27-year-old says “who hasn’t suffered from prejudice? Who hasn’t had to deal with bullying?”

Outside the walls of Miss Universe — whose finals will be held early Monday in Thailand’s capital Bangkok — the transgender community continues to be marginalised and misunderstood, with high rates of suicide.

A leaked White House report said President Trump’s administration is considering pushing changes to the law to define gender by biological traits at birth, while trying to block transgender people from military service.

Ponce is defiant about how to respond to Trump, a former owner of Miss Universe, and others who would try to box her in by physical traits.

“I always say: having a vagina didn’t transform me into a woman. I am a woman, already before birth, because my identity is here,” she told AFP, gesturing to her head.

She also took issue with the classification of trans people by large sections of society based on prejudice and narrow assessments of gender.

“Outsiders say what I can and cannot do, what I am and what I am not,'” Ponce said.

“No, I’m sorry. To be a woman is your identity. It doesn’t matter if you are white, black, if you have a vagina… if you have a penis.”

Ponce, who works with a foundation in Spain helping children struggling with stigma linked to being trans, is aware of the visibility she brings to the Miss Universe platform.

Her performance has so far drawn praise, from her portrayal of a flamenco dancer during the national costume portion of the competition to her strut down the runway in a shimmery mermaid-like gown in the evening dress category.

“You can empower yourself like I have and turn something negative into your biggest strength,” she said.

“Children are born without prejudices and I think that if we talk to them about diversity from a young age… we can create a new generation of human beings who are raised a lot better, more tolerant and respectful.”

This year’s event, which critics say is a throwback to stereotypes of the the pre #MeToo era, has largely preached a message of inclusivity.

It boasts an all-women panel of judges made up of business leaders and former Miss Universe titleholders.

But gaffes still abound — Miss USA Sarah Rose Summers got in hot water for appearing to mock the contestants from Vietnam and Cambodia on social media for not being able to speak English.

She has since posted an apology on instagram, saying she did not “intend to hurt” her fellow competitors.

Monday’s event will see last year’s winner Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters of South Africa crown her successor among 94 countries in a live televised event hosted by American comic turned TV host Steve Harvey and supermodel Ashley Graham.

The entrance of the Christmas Market in Strasbourg, France, 14 December 2018. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

Cherif Chekatt was killed late Thursday after a two-day manhunt when a police patrol spotted him on a street in the district where he was last seen after Tuesday night’s attack on Christmas shoppers.

The lights on the market’s towering Christmas tree were illuminated Friday for the first time since the attack ahead of the official re-opening of the market at 11:00 am (1000 GMT).

“I hope life will get back to normal but I’m not too sure,” said Franck Hoffmann as opened his wooden chalet offering Christmas candles and ornaments on Friday.

“Business isn’t going to be what it was,” he predicted.

Questions remained over how Chekatt was able to evade the tight security perimeter set up for an event long known to be a prime target for jihadist groups.

Around 500 police, security agents and soldiers control access at checkpoints on the bridges leading to the river island, a UN World Heritage site, that houses the market.

The goal is to “create a bubble with searches at the entry points,” Mayor Roland Ries said after the attack, while regional government representative Jean-Luc Marx said he had not determined “any flaws in the security measures”.

French municipal police officers patrol a Christmas market in Nice, France, 13 December 2018. Police are stepping up security measures at markets in France after three people were killed and several people were injured in attack at Christmas Market in Strasbourg. The gunman is reported to be at large and the motive for the attack is still unclear. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

Many residents, however, were not convinced after Chekatt managed to slip through the controls with a handgun and a knife.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” said Emeline, 38, who works in the city centre. “You wear a heavy coat, put something in the bottom of your bag. You can bring in what you want.”

– ‘It’s too painful’ –

France’s anti-terror prosecutor Remy Heitz is to hold a press conference in Strasbourg on Friday while Interior Minister Christophe Castaner will attend the reopening of the market, which usually draws two million people every year.

France has been on high alert since the start of a wave of jihadist attacks in 2015, which prompted a threefold surge in the security budget for the market, to one million euros.

Chekatt, a 29-year-old career criminal who lived in a rundown apartment block a short drive from the city centre, was flagged by French security forces in 2015 as a possible Islamic extremist.

 A view of a bullet hole in the door of the building in rue de Lazaret, in the Neudorf district, Strasbourg, France, 14 December 2018 where French police shot dead Cherif Chekatt, the perpetrator of the Christmas Market attack, on 13 December 2018. Three people died following the shooting at the market and several more were seriously injured during the incident of 111 December 2018. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

The propaganda wing of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack, calling Chekatt one of its “soldiers” who responded to its calls to target citizens of nations in the coalition fighting the jihadists in Iraq and Syria.

Among the 13 injured in the attack, three remain in critical condition while three others have been released from hospital, Castaner said Thursday.

Strasbourg’s deputy mayor Alain Fontanel admitted that despite patrols, plainclothes police, profilers and video surveillance, “the risks can be reduced, but not eliminated”.

“We can’t pat down and search everyone, only carry out random checks,” he said, adding that huge lines at checkpoints would only create a new potential target for terrorists.

“Someone who wants to get in an area this big with a weapon can do it,” he said.

Such reasoning was little comfort to the residents and tourists who flock to the Strasbourg market.

“We thought this would happen only in Nice or at the Bataclan, but here it is at home,” said Sylvain, who works at another market in the city centre.

He was referring to the truck attack which killed scores at Bastille Day festivities in Nice, southern France, in 2016, and the massacre at the capital’s Bataclan concert hall in November 2015.

“I’m not going to forget this anytime soon. It’s too painful. I’m not even sure I’m able to cry,” he said.

Summers, 24, has since apologized for what social media users called racism and bullying, saying that she “would never intend to hurt another”.

She made the comments alongside Miss Colombia Valeria Morales and Miss Australia Francesca Hung in an Instagram Live video on Morales’ account on Wednesday, Dec. 12.

The clip begins with Summers asking Morales and Hung: “What do you think about Miss Vietnam?”

She then goes on to say of her Vietnam counterpart H’Hen Nie: “She’s so cute and she pretends to know so much English, and then you ask her a question after having a whole conversation with her and she goes (nods and smiles).”

Summers then laughs and calls Nie “adorable”.

And when prompted by Morales, Summers again imitates Nie nodding and smiling.

The contestants then pointed out that Miss Cambodia Nat Rern also does not speak any English, and “not a single other person speaks her language”.

Summers describes it as isolating and confusing, and adds: “Poor Cambodia.”

Soon after the video surfaced, including on popular Instagram account diet _prada, Summers met with sharp criticism.

Instagram user potskzi said in a comment: “Miss USA and Australia just lost all of my respect… That’s NOT what real beauty is all about.”

On Thursday, Summers responded to the controversy with an apology on her Instagram account.

She wrote: “In a moment where I intended to admire the courage of a few of my sisters, I said something that I now realize can be perceived as not respectful, and I apologize.

“My life, friendships, and career revolve around me being a compassionate and empathetic woman. I would never intend to hurt another. I am grateful for opportunities to speak with Nat, Miss Cambodia, and H’Hen, Miss Vietnam, directly about this experience. These are the moments that matter most to me.”

Nat on Friday sought to soothe tensions online when she shared group photos taken with Summers, Morales, Hung and Nie, which show the five of them in smiles and hugging.

“I speak the language of love, respect and understanding. I love you, my sisters,” she said.

Many were angered by the murder, adding that no one had a right to harm or kill others, just because they are different.

The victim is believed to have been beaten by several men wielding blunt weapons in Bukit Tinggi, Klang, on Wednesday night (Dec 12).

According to the post-mortem report, she suffered a fractured skull and bleeding in the brain, and had 32 groups of injuries inflicted upon her.

There is no indication that it was a hate crime, but many suspect so.

Facebook user Erin WIlson said: “Everyone is entitled to their own life, as long as it does not harm others. Be kind if anything, everyone has their own struggle”.

Sze Tian Poh added: “You have no right to harm and kill others, even if they are different from you”.

Others said that the culprits should face harsh punishments, including the death penalty.

A comment by Kan W H read: “The culprits need to face the law…and harsh punishment,” while Wilfred Kj believed that the “culprits must be brought to jail immediately”.

Some strongly believe that there should be no mercy for such culprits.

Troy Choy said: “Death for a death I say. No mercy. Just justice”, and Yewah Yim added “death penalty is a must.”

Others said that Malaysia was not ready for the abolishment of the death penalty, especially in the light of cases like this.

Richie Nga commented that this was one of the many reasons why the death penalty “has to stay” as “Malaysia has no place for murderers”.

Echoing the same sentiment, Nageswary Parthiban says: “With the death penalty taken off, we might see more of these cases”.

The case is being investigated as murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

Dozens of emergency workers were pumping water out of a large trench that was flooded early Thursday near a river in mineral-rich Meghalaya state.

“We are doing our best to reach out to them. Our information is 13 people were inside at the time of flooding,” police official Lethindra Sangma told AFP.

An Indian court had banned coal mining in the area in 2014 after environmental activists complained it was responsible for severe water pollution.

    But the practice continues with locals illegally extracting coal using dangerous so-called rat hole mines.

This involves digging pits on the side of hills and then burrowing small horizontal tunnels into the hill to reach a coal seam.

At least 15 miners were killed after they were trapped inside a flooded rat-hole mine elsewhere in Meghalaya in 2012. Their bodies were never recovered.