Month: October 2020

Germany’s parliament on Friday voted overwhelmingly to approve the terms of an agreement between Greece and the eurozone which will extend financial assistance to the Syriza-led government for four months as it embarks on a series of structural reforms designed to unhitch its economy from the destructive policies of austerity that have gripped the nationRead moreRead more

An overall hotter planet and a rapidly-changing climate are altering the range of pathogens and increasing the appearance of infectious diseases, warns a new research paper published this week. It may not come in the form of a global pandemic, but outbreaks of viruses like West Nile, and Ebola are signaling that global warming isRead moreRead more

As California approaches the end of a disappointing rainy season, officials are further narrowing restrictions on water usage to help stave off the effects of the state’s ravaging four-year drought crisis. Following record-low rainfall from December to April, with no extra precipitation expected for the rest of the year, the California State Water Resources ControlRead moreRead more

Based on evidence provided by a whistleblower, Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) is investigating pipeline giant TransCanada—the company behind both the Keystone XL and Energy East proposals—for safety-code violations, according to exclusive reporting by the Reuters news agency. The energy regulator, which just finished accepting close to 2,000 applications from people wishing to participate inRead moreRead more

Tens of thousands of students, workers, and families protested austerity in the streets of Montreal on Thursday, denouncing the Quebec government’s plans to reduce spending on education, health care, and other social services. There was a heavy police presence at the demonstration, which was spearheaded by the province-wide student union, Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale ÉtudianteRead moreRead more

Following the sentencing of four private security guards convicted in the notorious 2007 massacre of innocent Iraqi civilians, attention has shifted to the growing role such private mercenaries are having on battlefields throughout the world. On Monday, three former employees of Blackwater Worldwide were given thirty-year prison sentences while one guard, Nicholas Slatten, who firedRead moreRead more

Despite international outcry over a previous push to shut off water to its poorest citizens, the city of Detroit on Monday will begin to hand out notices to as many as 25,000 residents, threatening once again to turn off the taps. The warnings will be hung on the doors of households where water bills areRead moreRead more

The organization that spurred the south’s “Moral Mondays” movement announced this week it is launching a civil rights investigation into the disproportionate public health hazard that fracking and coal ash pollution pose to poor communities and people of color in one North Carolina county. The NAACP probe is specifically aimed at uncovering environmental racism inRead moreRead more

CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou, who exposed the treatment of al Qaeda suspects held in secret prisons, told the Bureau today it was now down to journalists to “tell the full story” about the intelligence agency’s torture programme because politicians did not have the will. In a video interview on the last day of his house arrestRead moreRead more

The U.S. sabotage last week of an international agreement aimed at eradicating nuclear weapons stockpiles has been met mostly with alarm and frustration around the world—but gratitude from one key U.S. ally: Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally called U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday to thank the White House for leadingRead moreRead more