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‘EL NIÑO is being supersized before our eyes,’ United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said last week.

“The science leaves no room for doubt: the planet is in uncharted waters, and those waters are heating up. The world is in the danger zone of extreme weather.”

He’s right — we are in even deeper trouble than we thought on the climate front.

Zeke Hausfather, a leading American climate scientist, warns that 2027 is almost certain to be the hottest year. It will be, he said, “a climate time-machine, temporarily driving global average temperatures to levels not normally expected until the late 2030s.” (Note the “temporarily.” We’ll get back to that.)

Bengaluru FC owner Parth Jindal has apologized for an “inexcusable” breach of COVID-19 protocols by two of his players and a coach that led to the Indian club being told to leave the Maldives before a scheduled AFC Cup playoff game against a local team.

The players and a member of the coaching staff were reported by local media to have left their hotel in the capital Male on Saturday, sparking criticism from the Maldives sports minister.

Jindal told the Associated Press on Monday that against a backdrop of a surging COVID-19 cases in India and rising local opposition to the game going ahead, he understood the reaction on the island.

“The optics and timing of the breach has led to the reaction and what the players did was inexcusable," Jindal said. "They were well aware of the protocols and they knew they couldn’t step out, however briefly”

MLAs have rejected a pitch to explore allowing permanent residents and students aged 16 and up to vote in municipal and school board elections.

Mark Wasyliw, a independent MLA, tabled voter-eligibility changes last week in Bill 211 (The Local Elections Voter Eligibility Act).

“Many young people and new­comers are already deeply involved in their communities,” Wasyliw told the house Tuesday. “They study here, work here and raise families here, yet they currently have no say in the local decisions that shape their everyday lives.”

Wasyliw, who began his political career as Winnipeg school trustee from 2011 to 2019, made a lengthy, passionate speech in support of his private member’s bill when the legislature resumed after the Thanksgiving long weekend.