2017 is set to be one of the hottest three years on record, provisional data suggests, confirming yet again a warming trend that scientists say bears the fingerprints of human actions. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said temperatures in the first nine months of this year were unlikely to have been higher than 2016, when there was a strong El Niño weather system, but higher than anything before 2015.

Petteri Taalas, secretary general of the WMO, said: “The past three years have all been in the top three years in terms of temperature records. This is part of a long term warming trend. We have witnessed extraordinary weather, including temperatures topping 50C in Asia, record-breaking hurricanes in rapid succession in the Caribbean and Atlantic reaching as far as Ireland, devastating monsoon flooding affecting many millions of people and a relentless drought in East Africa.”

He said further detailed scientific studies would be carried out, but that it was already possible to say many “bear the tell-tale sign of climate change” caused by increased greenhouse gas concentrations from human activities, such as burning fossil fuel and deforestation.(theguardian)…[+]

Donald Trump has blamed Sunday’s deadly mass shooting at a Baptist church in Texas on the mental health of the perpetrator and claimed that gun ownership was not a factor. Asked during a press conference in Tokyo what policies he would support to tackle mass shootings in the US, the president said: “I think that mental health is a problem here. Based on preliminary reports, this was a very deranged individual with a lot of problems over a very long period of time.

“We have a lot of mental health problems in our country, as do other countries, but this isn’t a guns situation … we could go into it but it’s a little bit soon to go into it. Fortunately somebody else had a gun that was shooting in the opposite direction, otherwise it wouldn’t have been as bad as it was, it would have been much worse. “This is a mental health problem at the highest level. It’s a very sad event … these are great people at a very, very sad event, but that’s the way I view it.”(theguardian)…[+]

The son of actor Richard Dreyfuss has accused Kevin Spacey of sexual misconduct, alleging that the House of Cards star molested him while his father was in the same room. Harry Dreyfuss, who was 18 at the time of the incident, made the claims in an essay published by Buzzfeed. In it he described Spacey as a “sexual predator”, who felt “safe” to abuse him, knowing that he “wouldn’t say a word”.

The claims contribute to a growing sexual abuse scandal against Spacey, who has been dropped by House of Cards producers Netflix and is currently the subject of an investigation by police in London. Dreyfuss claims that the alleged encounter happened in London in 2008 while his father was rehearsing for the play Complicit, which was being directed by Spacey during his tenure as artistic director of the Old Vic theatre.(theguardian)…[+]