Dear reader,

A flagship U.N. report on Monday showed no one is safe from the accelerating effects of climate change.

The report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said global warming has brought about changes from more severe droughts and storms to rising seas across the world, but that it is not too late to cut emissions which would help stop or slow down some of the impacts, reports Megan Rowling.

"The world listened but didn't hear; the world listened but it didn't act strongly enough - and as a result, climate change is a problem that is here now," said Inger Andersen, executive director of the U.N. Environment Programme.

"Nobody is safe and it's getting worse faster."

Meanwhile in Nigeria, a digital identity system to enable easier access to public and private services has been dogged by privacy concerns, with citizens and rights groups saying the country's lack of data protection leaves their personal information open to abuse, reports Kelechukwu Iruoma.

Only about 60 million citizens and legal residents have enrolled for the National Identification Number (NIN) out of a population of some 200 million people, despite a directive mandating citizens to link their mobile numbers to their identity numbers by October 31, 2021, or risk being blocked from accessing telecom services.

"If our digital identity system needs to be strong, we need a law that will protect our data. Our personal data has become life. It can make or break our lives," said Khadijah El-Usman, a program officer with Paradigm Initiative, a digital rights group in Lagos.

And finally, in Gaza - one of world's oldest cities - dozens of historic buildings that have shaped the city's character, are in danger of being knocked down to make way for high-rises amid a severe housing crunch.

The situation has been exacerbated by the impact of an Israeli blockade that restricts the passage of people and goods - including building materials - as well as the fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants earlier this year that destroyed several homes, reports Stefanie Glinski.

"Families keep growing. We now have 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip with an annual growth rate of 3.2%," Gaza City mayor Yahya al-Sarraj said.

See you next week!   

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