Act before time runs out, urges UNICEF, as Yemen grapples with unprecedented cholera outbreak – Cholera cases in Yemen may reach 130,000 in two weeks

2 June 2017 (United Nations) – With about 70,000 cholera cases reported with nearly 600 fatalities in Yemen, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today warned that an already fire situation for children is turning into a disaster.“Cholera doesn’t need a permit to cross a checkpoint or a border, nor does it differentiate between areas […]

Vietnam makes a big push for coal, while pledging to curb emissions – “If the entire region implements the coal-based plans right now, I think we are finished”

By David Brown 26 May 2017(Mongabay) – Shaken by news that Vietnam had confirmed plans to build another 40 gigawatts worth of coal-fired power plants by 2030, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim ad libbed a few lines into a May 2016 speech to an audience of government and business leaders. “If Vietnam goes forward […]

Photo gallery: Life for displaced typhoon victims forced into the sex trade

By Hannah Reyes Morales 28 April 2017 (The Washington Post) – “We won’t survive if we don’t have each other,” Gemma said. When Gemma first started working in the red light district of Angeles City, Philippines, at 19, she was given a knife and pepper spray by her sisters. The eldest, Jojo, told her to […]

Global warming has created a new generation of sex-trafficking victims

By Justine Calma2 May 2017 (Quartz) – When Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines in November 2013, it was, at the time, the strongest storm in history ever to make landfall. A “super typhoon” with wind speeds that reached 196 miles per hour, Haiyan displaced more than 4 million people and nearly wiped out the coastal […]

Thousands of migrants rescued on Mediterranean in a single day – UN agency

19 May 2017 (United Nations) – Nearly 3,000 migrants were rescued trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, according to the United Nations migration agency, which also reported that more than a dozen rescue operations were under way in the area yesterday. Citing the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Rome, IOM spokesperson Joel Millman […]

Losing a jewel: Rapid declines in Myanmar’s intact forests from 2002-2014

18 May 2017 (SCBI) – The loss of intact forest cover in Myanmar has accelerated over the past decade, according to a study by Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) scientists and partners published May 17 in PLOS ONE. Due to its long political and economic isolation, Myanmar has retained much of its original forest cover, […]

Media freedom declines globally, especially in leading democratic countries – “The rate at which democracies are approaching the tipping point is alarming”

4 May 2017 (RSF) – The 2017 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reflects a world in which attacks on the media have become commonplace and strongmen are on the rise. We have reached the age of post-truth, propaganda, and suppression of freedoms – especially in democracies. Читать по-русски / Read […]

China’s severe winter haze tied to climate change – “The very rapid change in polar warming is really having a large impact on China”

By John Toon15 March 2017 ATLANTA, GA (Geirgia Tech) – China’s severe winter air pollution problems may be worsened by changes in atmospheric circulation prompted by Arctic sea ice loss and increased Eurasian snowfall – both caused by global climate change. Modeling and data analysis done by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology suggest […]

Worsening food insecurity forcing more people to migrate, finds new UN report

5 May 2017 (UN) – Highlighting the complex link between food insecurity and migration – where increase in one forces the other to rise and then spirals back to push the former even higher – the United Nations food relief agency has urged greater investments in food security and livelihoods at places of origin to […]

Choking dust storm engulfs Beijing, less than a week after hottest April day on record

By Kristina Pydynowski4 May 2017 (AccuWeather) – Less than a week after enduring the hottest April day on record, Beijing was struck by a choking dust storm on Thursday and may not experience relief through Friday. The dust storm has been sweeping from Mongolia and China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to northeastern China from Wednesday […]

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