Climate change is “unequivocal” and rapidly intensifying, and some of the changes already in motion—such as continued sea level rise—are irreversible over hundreds to thousands of years, finds the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released… Read moreUN climate report: ‘Code Red for Humanity’
In Episode 83 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg notes signs of hope on the 76th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, with the city’s Mayor Kazumi Matsui calling on the world’s nations to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear… Read morePodcast: Hiroshima at 76
Satellite images have revealed that China is building two new nuclear missile silo fields. The Federation of American Scientists reports that the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) appears to be constructing new missile silos near Yumen, Gansu province, and… Read moreChina: rapid expansion of nuclear missile silo fields
The government of Greenland announced July 23 that it will suspend all oil exploration, saying the territory “wants to take co-responsibility for combating the global climate crisis… The future does not lie in oil. The future belongs to renewable energy, and… Read moreGreenland suspends oil exploration, citing climate crisis
In Episode 81 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes stock of the fast-mounting manifestations of devastating climate destabilization—from Oregon to Siberia, from Germany to Henan. In Angola, traditional pastoralists are joining the ranks of “climate refugees” as their communal lands… Read morePodcast: climate change and the global struggle
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urged states to dismantle systematic racism against African and African-descendent peoples, in a June 28 report focusing on law enforcement around the world. “The status quo is untenable,” Bachelet said. “Systemic racism needs a systemic response…. Read moreUN: end systemic racism in law enforcement
A bill by the Canadian Parliament recognizing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and establishing a framework for its implementation received Royal Assent on June 21. The legislation requires the government of Canada to take measures… Read moreCanada law recognizing UNDRIP gets royal assent
After six months of deliberation, a panel of 12 independent legal experts from across the globe on June 22 unveiled a working definition of “ecocide” that they hope will be adopted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The panel was… Read moreLegal experts present definition of ecocide to ICC
In Episode 75 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg examines distorted reportage on the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline by Russian hackers. The disaster illustrates the urgent need for a crash conversion from fossil fuels—but also from digital technology. Signs… Read morePodcast: lessons of the Colonial Pipeline disaster
Four months after being arrested while covering a May Day protest in Tehran, journalist Marzieh Amiri was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison and 148 lashes by the local Revolutionary Court. If her sentence is upheld upon appeal, Amiri, a reporter for the reformist Shargh newspaper, will have to serve at least six years in prison before becoming eligible for parole. Amiri, who is also a sociology student at the University of Tehran, was convicted of charges including "assembly and collusion against national security," "disturbing public order" and "propaganda against the state." She was arrested at the peaceful May Day rally in Baharestan Square, near Iran's Parliament building, along with several activists. One of the activists, Atefeh Rangriz, was sentenced to 11 years and six months in prison and 74 lashes. (Photo: Center for Human Rights in Iran)
President Joe Biden announced April 22 at the Leaders Summit on Climate that the US will aim to reduce carbon emissions by 50 to 52 percent by 2030. Climate experts have urgedworld leaders to cut carbon emissions in order to… Read moreBiden: cut US carbon emissions in half by 2030
In snap elections April 6, Greenland’s indigenous-led left-environmentalist party Inuit Ataqatigiit (Community of the People) won 37% of the vote, overtaking the longtime incumbents, the social-democratic Siumut (Forward) party. At the center of the race was a contentious mining project that Inuit Ataqatigiit aggressively campaigned against. The Kvanefjeld rare-earth mineral project,… Read moreMining project behind Greenland political upheaval
