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BERLIN — A group of small island states that include Antigua and Barbuda and the Bahamas secured a win on climate change in an international court Tuesday as they seek to combat rising sea levels. In its first climate-related judgment, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, or ITLOS, said that greenhouse gas emissions absorbed by the ocean are considered marine pollution and countries are obliged to protect marine environments by going further than required under the Paris climate agreement. The opinion was requested by a group of nine island nations facing climate-driven rises in sea levels. The opinion is not legally binding, but it can be used to help guide countries in their climate policy and, in other cases, as legal precedent. "The ITLOS opinion will inform our future legal and diplomatic work in putting an end to inaction that has brought us to the brink of an irreversible disaster," Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne said. The other nations in the group that brought the case were Tuvalu, Palau, Niue, Vanuatu, St.Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and St. Kitts and Nevis. The court said states are legally obligated to take all necessary measures to achieve the goal of keeping global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius above preindustrial levels according to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Seas. In the case hearings in September, China, the world's biggest carbon polluter, had challenged the islands' request, arguing that the tribunal does not have general authority to issue advisory opinions. Beijing said its position was taken to avoid the fragmentation of international law. "If ITLOS were to find that such an obligation exists, Beijing's response would most likely be to characterize this as falling outside of its proper scope of authority," said Ryan Martinez Mitchell, law professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Eselealofa Apinelu, a representative of the South Pacific island of Tuvalu, said the advisory opinion spells out the legally binding obligations of all states to protect the marine environment and the states against the existential threats posed by climate change. "This is a historic moment for small island developing nations in their request for climate justice, an important first step in holding the major polluters accountable, for the sake of all humankind," Apinelu said. Climate activists and lawyers said the decision could also influence two upcoming legal opinions by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights and the International Court of Justice, which are also considering states' climate obligations. Last month, the European Court of Human Rights issued a historic ruling in favor of plaintiffs who argued that Switzerland was violating their human rights by not doing enough to combat climate warming. "Now we have clarity on what states are obligated to do, which they have failed to do through 30 years ... but this is the opening chapter," Payam Akhavan, lead counsel for the nine island nations in the proceedings, said of the ITLOS opinion, adding that the next step was to ensure that major polluters would implement their obligations.

Wanted for war crimes, Putin relies on China to wage Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine and undermine the rules-based global order.

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LONDON — Countries raised a record $104 billion last year by charging firms for emitting carbon dioxide, but prices remain too low to drive changes needed to meet Paris climate accord targets, the World Bank said in a report on Tuesday.   Several countries are using a price on carbon emissions to help meet their climate goals by making polluters pay in the form of a tax, or under an emissions trading (ETS), or cap-and-trade, system. “Carbon pricing is a critical part of the policy mix needed to both meet the Paris Agreement goals and support low emissions growth,” the World Bank’s State and Trends of Carbon Markets report said.   There are 75 global carbon pricing instruments in operation, up two from a year ago, covering around 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The figure raised in 2023 in carbon revenues was up from around $95 billion raised in 2022.   However, the report said less than 1% of global greenhouse emissions are covered by a direct carbon price at or above the range recommended by the High-level Commission on Carbon Prices to meet the 2015 Paris agreement target of limiting temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius.   In 2017, a report by the High-Level Commission indicated carbon prices need to be in the $50-100 per ton range by 2030 to keep a rise in global temperatures below 2C. Adjusted for inflation those prices would now need to be in a $63-127 metric ton range, the World Bank report said.   The largest single contributor to global carbon revenue is the EU’s Emissions Trading System. “Recent price drops in the EU ETS... suggests global carbon pricing revenues may fall in 2024,” the report said.   The benchmark EU carbon contract CFI2Zc1 is currently trading around 73 euros/ton, down from around 80 euros/ton at the start of the year and having touched a record over 100 euros/ton in February 2023.

Lagos, Nigeria — Gunmen riding motorbikes killed around 40 people in a raid on a mining community in north-central Nigeria, opening fire on residents and torching homes, the local government said on Tuesday. The attack late Monday in Wase district in Plateau state was the latest violence in an area that has long been a flashpoint for disputes over resources and outbreaks of intercommunal clashes. Armed men invaded Zurak community, shooting sporadically and torching houses, Plateau’s state commissioner for information, Musa Ibrahim Ashoms, told AFP by telephone. "As we speak, about 40 people have been confirmed dead. Zurak is a popular mining community," he said. Local youth leader Shafi'i Sambo said at least 42 people had been killed in the raid. Wase has deposits of zinc and lead, while Plateau as a whole is known for its tin mining industry. Sitting on the dividing line between Nigeria's mostly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south, Plateau often sees outbreaks of violence sparked by disputes between nomadic herders and pastoral farmers. Climate change has escalated tensions over grazing land, water access and other resources, such as the state's metal reserves. Parts of northwest and north-central Nigeria have also been terrorized by heavily armed criminal gangs, who raid villages to loot and carry out mass kidnappings for ransom. In January, intercommunal clashes erupted in Plateau's Mangu town that left churches and mosques burned, more than 50 people dead and thousands displaced.

Cairo — At least 10 female farm workers died in Egypt when a minibus plunged off a river ferry and into the Nile northwest of Cairo on Tuesday, the health ministry said. "The toll is at 10 and could rise," ministry spokesman Hossam Abdelghaffar told AFP. The state's flagship Al-Ahram newspaper reported the accident earlier and said the driver, who had released the handbrake, was arrested while trying to flee. He had gotten into "a verbal argument" with one of the passengers before leaving the vehicle, it reported. The vehicle sank in the village of Abu Ghalib, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) northwest of the capital. Nine more passengers had been transported to nearby hospitals to receive treatment for their injuries, the health ministry said in a statement. Egypt's labor minister Hassan Shehata said the minibus was transporting "girls working on a farm," but did not specify whether they were minors. The ministry of social solidarity said it would disburse financial compensation "to the families of the deceased and injured." Following an initial investigation at the scene, the public prosecutor's office ordered a technical inspection of the vehicle to determine "the reasons it had plunged into the water," Al-Ahram reported. Commuter accidents are common in Egypt, especially in agricultural areas along the Nile and its streams, where small, overloaded boats ferry farmers and workers back and forth.

Historic floods swept through southern Brazil early this month, destroying everything in their path. The floods claimed over 150 lives and left more than 500,000 Brazilians displaced. Scientists attribute this unprecedented destruction to a confluence of weather conditions, all influenced by climate change. Yan Boechat reports.

A California startup says it can help de-carbonize industrial manufacturing by using batteries made of clay. Instead of storing electricity, these clay batteries store heat. Matt Dibble has more in this week’s episode of LogOn

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

The Biden administration last month announced $6.4 billion in direct funding to back South Korean tech giant Samsung’s new semiconductor cluster in central Texas. That means big changes for the town of Taylor. Deana Mitchell has our story

Frankfurt, Germany — A prince, a former MP and several ex-army officers went on trial on Tuesday, accused of masterminding a plot driven by conspiracy theories to attack the German parliament and topple the government. In one of the biggest cases heard by German courts in decades, prosecutors accuse the group of preparing a "treasonous undertaking" to storm the Bundestag and take MPs hostage. The defendants, including one who covered his face with a file, took their seats in a specially built high-security courtroom in Frankfurt. Eight suspected members of the coup plot will take the stand in Frankfurt, as well as one woman accused of supporting their efforts to overthrow Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government. The minor aristocrat and businessman Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss, one of the group's ringleaders on trial, was said to be in line to become the provisional head of state after the current government was overthrown. The sensational plan, foiled by authorities at the end of 2022, is the most high-profile example of a growing threat of violence from the political fringes in Germany. The alleged plotters are said to have taken inspiration from "conspiracy myths" including the global QAnon movement and drawn up "lists of enemies." They also belonged to the German Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich) — a political movement of extremists and gun enthusiasts who reject the legitimacy of the modern German republic. Alleged ringleaders According to prosecutors, the plotters believed Germany was run by a hidden "deep state" and were waiting for a signal from a fabricated international "Alliance" of governments to launch their coup. The proceedings in the highly complex case, in which a total of 26 people face trial, are being held across three different courts. Nine members of the group's "military arm" went on trial in Stuttgart at the end of April. A third set of proceedings is scheduled to begin in Munich in June. Among those in the Frankfurt dock next to Reuss are former soldiers Ruediger von Pescatore, Maximilian Eder and Peter Woerner, who are said to have founded the coup plotters' group in July 2021. The defendants also include several members of a "council" that prosecutors say was to replace the government after the coup — notably judge and far-right former MP Birgit Malsack-Winkemann. Malsack-Winkemann, a justice of the peace and ex-member of parliament for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, is said to have been lined up for the justice portfolio. Investigators believe the 59-year-old had passed on her inside knowledge of the German parliament to help the group plan an armed attack on the Bundestag building. Michael Fritsch, a former policeman from Hanover, was meanwhile allegedly in line to take over the interior ministry. Russian contacts The ninth defendant is Reuss's partner, a Russian citizen identified as Vitalia B. She is accused of "abetting" the alleged putsch plan and putting him in touch with a contact at the Russian consulate in Leipzig. Reuss and the other alleged ringleader of the group, von Pescatore, also sought a meeting with Russian officials in the Slovakian capital Bratislava in February 2022, prosecutors said. "How the Russian Federation responded, has not yet been clarified," prosecutors said. Reuss was allegedly tasked with negotiating an accord with Russia in the event of the coup succeeding. The threat from the far right has grown to become the biggest extremist menace to Germany, according to officials. In April, police charged a new suspect in relation to a separate coup plan, in which five others have already been indicted. The plotters, frustrated with Covid pandemic-era restrictions, planned to kidnap the German health minister, according to investigators. Germany has seen an increasing number of attacks against public figures in recent years, since the murder of conservative politician Walter Luebcke by neo-Nazis in 2019. This month, the former mayor of Berlin was attacked in a library, while a German member of the European Parliament was hospitalized after being jumped while putting up campaign posters.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

WASHINGTON — Ahead of a trilateral summit involving South Korea, Japan, and China this weekend in Seoul, Washington said it expects the event to be an opportunity for its two allies to manage their relations with Beijing. “The United States respects the ability of nations to make sovereign decisions in the best interests of their people,” said a spokesperson for the State Department. “Just as the United States takes steps to responsibly manage our relationship with the PRC, so do our partners and allies,” the spokesperson continued in an email to VOA’s Korean Service on May 15. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is China’s official name. The summit would come amid a heightened tension between Washington and Beijing over trade  and after China agreed with Russia to establish a “new era” partnership to create “a multipolar world order” during their summit last week. The three East Asian countries are expected to hold their summit from May 26 to 27, but the official dates have not been announced. Chinese Premier Li Qiang is expected to attend in place of Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The meeting would be their first trilateral summit since December 2019. Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told VOA on May 14 that Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul should be main drivers responsible for regional stability and security. Pointing out what Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said after a trilateral foreign ministers meeting in November, Pengyu said the three countries need to “address differences and disputes in peaceful ways” and “act as front runner of East Asia cooperation.” Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing are planning to discuss trade and investment, peace and security, and science and technology, among other items and include in a joint statement their cooperation on economic issues and infectious diseases, according to the Japan Times, citing Japanese government sources Sunday. Former U.S. officials said while it will be important for the three countries to meet and talk at the summit, differences that Seoul and Tokyo have with Beijing on North Korea are unlikely to be resolved. “With China determined to establish a new China-centric regional order and because of Beijing’s open-ended support for the DPRK, we should not expect progress on this issue,” said Evans Revere, a State Department official with extensive experience negotiating with North Korea. North Korea’s official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). “Nevertheless, it is important for South Korea and Japan to use this summit to convey their strong concerns,” Revere continued. At a bilateral summit last week, Beijing and Moscow criticized Washington and its allies for their “intimidation in the military sphere” against North Korea.   Zhao Leji, who ranks third in the Chinese Communist Party, visited Pyongyang in April and agreed with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to boost cooperation on mutual concerns. It was the highest-level talks the two countries had held in years. The upcoming summit comes after trilateral cooperation was agreed among Washington, Seoul and Tokyo at their Camp David summit in August 2023 to strengthen their deterrence against North Korean threats and to defend a free and open Indo-Pacific against Chinese aggressions. Joseph DeTrani, who served as the U.S. special envoy for six-party denuclearization talks with North Korea from 2003 to 2006, said, “China will ask that the ROK and Japan not to align with the U.S. against China, an issue that wasn’t on the table in 2019.” South Korea’s official name is the Republic of Korea (ROK). DeTrani said Seoul and Tokyo will “try to get China to convince North Korea to cease providing arms to Russia for its war in Ukraine” and “to use its leverage” with Pyongyang “to halt ballistic missile launches.” Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of Kim Jong Un, denied Pyongyang’s arms dealings with Moscow, according to state-run KCNA on Friday. The same day, North Korea launched a tactical ballistic missile, said KCNA.  Gary Samore, who served as the White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction during the Obama administration, said the summit will become “an opportunity for communication” among Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing to avoid conflict, but the differences that grew among them since 2019 will not be resolved as South Korea and Japan “leaned in the direction of cooperating with the U.S.” Eunjung Cho contributed to this report.