More than half of vertebrates wiped out since 1970
The number of vertebrates (mammals, birds, fish and reptiles) declined by more than 60 percent between 1970 and 2014, according to a report released by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Zoological Society of London. Complex multi-cellular life has existed for around 500 million years....CONTINUE READING
Results and prospects from the US midterm elections: a discussion with Lance Selfa
The most striking immediate takeaways from the congressional midterms, held on 6 November, were, first, the entrenched, though uneven, partisan and geographical polarisation of US politics and, second, the far right radicalisation reflected in and encouraged by president Trump and the Repu...CONTINUE READING
Australia attempting to ward off Chinese influence among Pacific island nations
Australia’s rivalry with China in the south-west Pacific is intensifying. On 8 November, Scott Morrison declared it was time for Australia to “step up” in the region. He revealed a new aid package for Pacific island countries, featuring a $2 billion financing facility to help construct bas...CONTINUE READING
Sued for standing against apartheid
Why did you write to Lorde? Abu-Shanab: It was important to write to her because we rightly believed she was likely to change her mind. Sachs: Israel is sinking a lot of resources into getting artists to play in Israel. For them, it’s a frontier for fighting BDS and normalising apartheid....CONTINUE READING
‘An extraordinary week even in the age of Trump’. US government escalates war on refugees
The US government has dramatically escalated its war against refugees and undocumented migrants. In the week before the congressional midterm elections, president Trump deployed more than 5,000 military personnel to the country’s southern border as part of “Operation Faithful Patriot”. The...CONTINUE READING
From social democracy to fascism: how Bolsonaro took Brazil
The Workers’ Party, with its mass working class base and the largest political organisation in Brazil, bears some responsibility for the victory of a fascist, Jair Bolsonaro, in the presidential election on 28 October. The stagnation of the Brazilian economy and the collapse of the vote fo...CONTINUE READING
Australia, US facilitate Saudi war crimes in Yemen
The Saudi-led war on Yemen has devastated a country already crippled by widespread poverty and systematic neglect. In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its allies launched what has become a vicious, unrelenting assault on a defenceless population. Their goal is to defeat the Houthi rebels, who have r...CONTINUE READING
UN report: revolution needed to prevent climate disaster
Only a revolution can save us. That’s the take home message of the latest report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 8 October. Based on emissions reduction commitments made under the 2015 Paris agreement, the world is on track for an average temperatu...CONTINUE READING
The fight for abortion rights in Argentina
In Argentina, abortions are legal only if a pregnant person’s life is deemed to be in danger, or if a pregnancy can be proved to be the result of rape. As a result, between 350,000 and 500,000 women undergo illegal abortions each year. Between 45,000 and 65,000 are hospitalised annually du...CONTINUE READING