Ozone layer healing, hole will mend by 2066

Ozone layer healing, hole will mend by 2066, says UN

• Earth’s protective ozone layer is slowly but noticeably healing at a pace that would fully mend the hole over Antarctica in about 43 years.
• Antarctica, where it’s so thin there’s an annual giant gaping hole in the layer, won't be fully fixed until 2066.
• A once-every-four-years scientific assessment found recovery in progress, more than 35 years after every nation in the world agreed to stop producing chemicals that chomp on the layer of ozone in Earth’s atmosphere that shields the planet from harmful radiation linked to skin cancer, cataracts and crop damage.
• The progress is slow, according to the report presented Monday at the American Meteorological Society convention in Denver. The global average amount of ozone 18 miles (30 kilometers) high in the atmosphere won’t be back to 1980 pre-thinning levels until about 2040 and it won’t be back to normal in the Arctic until 2045.
• Scientists and environmental advocates across the world have long hailed the efforts to heal the ozone hole — springing out of a 1987 agreement called the Montreal Protocol that banned a class of chemicals often used in refrigerants and aerosols — as one of the biggest ecological victories for humanity.

Supporters of the far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro rioted in the capital city of Brasilia

• In scenes reminiscent of those at the United States Capitol in Washington DC almost exactly two years ago, thousands of supporters of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed the country’s Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential offices in the capital Brasilia.
• In a news conference, Lula da Silva described events in the capital Brasilia as "barbaric" and said "a lack of security" had allowed Bolsonaro's "fascist" supporters to breach barriers set up by the Armed Forces outside the congressional building, the Supreme Court and the Planalto Presidential Palace.
• They broke windows, set off fires, fought with the police, and raised slogans. They draped themselves in Brazilian flags, announced that the country and Congress belonged to them, and filmed their actions on cell phones.

India, Britain sign and exchange letters for Young Professionals Scheme

• The governments of India and the U.K. marked Pravasi Bharatiya Divas on January 9, 2023 by kicking off the Young Professionals Scheme, which will permit up to 3,000 of their degree-holding citizens aged between 18 and 30 to live and work in each other’s countries for a period of two years.
• The launch of the scheme, which was conceived as part of an India-U.K. Migration and Mobility MoU signed in May 2021, was announced in November at the G20 summit in Bali, where U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Young Indians and Britons would be able to travel to each other’s countries either for work or study, or visit, for two years. The scheme allows for exchange visas for up to 3,000 individuals per year.
• The signing of the agreement belies more complex issues around the movement of persons across borders. Part of the Migration and Mobility agreement of 2021 seeks to address the return of illegal migrants to their home countries.