As migrants flee for Canada, fears are rising over the perils of frigid illegal crossings – “They’re nice-dressed families — like they could be your neighbor — but they are scared and don’t know what else to do”

By Tim Craig 15 December 2017 NOYES, Minnesota (The Washington Post) – Chad Cosley tracks them as if they were deer. He looks for footprints and frequently checks his network of trail cameras, which had been documenting wildlife along the U.S.-Canada border but now also capture would-be refugees fleeing the United States under President Trump. […]

Hotter temperatures will accelerate migration of asylum-seekers to Europe, says study – “Europe will see increasing numbers of desperate people fleeing their home countries”

21 December 2017 (Columbia University) – New research predicts that migrants applying for asylum in the European Union will nearly triple over the average of the last 15 years by 2100 if carbon emissions continue on their current path. The study suggests that cutting emissions could partially stem the tide, but even under an optimistic […]

A record number of journalists worldwide are behind bars for doing their jobs

15 December 2017 (Los Angeles Times) – This last year has been a dangerous one for journalists around the globe — a record 262 men and women are imprisoned because of the nature of the work they do, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. It’s part of a disturbing trend of attacking and undermining […]

Far-right Freedom party enters Austrian government – Pro-Putin group takes defense, interior, and foreign posts in coalition deal

By Ralph Atkins and Mehreen Khan 17 December 2017 ZURICH (Financial Times) – Austria’s far-right nationalist Freedom party will control several powerful ministries when the country’s new government is sworn in on Monday, after it struck a coalition deal that will significantly toughen Vienna’s stance on immigration and asylum seekers. In a breakthrough for the […]

Researchers chart rising wealth inequality across millennia – “The U.S. has probably the highest wealth inequality for any developed country right now”

By Eric Sørensen 15 November 2017PULLMAN, Washington (WSU News) – The arc of prehistory bends towards economic inequality. In the largest study of its kind, researchers from Washington State University, the Santa Fe Institute, and 12 other institutions saw disparities in wealth mount with the rise of agriculture, specifically the domestication of plants and large […]

UN: Situation on Australia “offshore processing” facility deteriorates by the day – “Australia must take responsibility for the protection, assistance, and solutions for the refugees here on Manus Island”

21 November 2017 (United Nations) – Three weeks following the closure of the Manus Island regional processing centre, the situation on the ground is very serious and deteriorates by the day, a senior United Nations official on protection of refugees has said.“Without distribution of food and clean water over the last three weeks [and] significant […]

Photo of baby elephant on fire after being attacked by mob wins international award – “The calf screams in confusion and fear as the fire licks at her feet”

By May Bulman 8 November 2017 (The Independent) – An image of a baby elephant fleeing a mob that has just set it on fire has won top entry in a pan-Asian wildlife photography competition, the Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards 2017. It shows the calf and its mother running across a road close to a […]

Trump does not publicly rebuke Duterte for death squads, calls press “spies” – “Trump seems very comfortable with strongmen. It’s not just that he won’t criticize Duterte. I wouldn’t be surprised if he patted him on the back.”

13 November 2017 (AP) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has sanctioned a bloody drug war that features extrajudicial killing. He called Barack Obama a “son of a whore.” This week, he boasted that he murdered a man with his own hands. All that went unmentioned in public by President Donald Trump when the leaders held […]

Global warming costs a lot more than we recognize, and most estimates ignore the sociopolitical repercussions

By Mark Buchanan 7 November 2017 (Bloomberg) – The latest U.S. government report on climate change illustrates how expensive the phenomenon can be: It estimates that more frequent flooding, more violent hurricanes and more intense wildfires, among other things, have cost the country $1.1 trillion since 1980.What’s particularly striking, though, is how much the report […]

Australia is responsible for Manus Island refugees, U.N. says

By Nick Cumming-Bruce and Megan Specia 9 November 2017GENEVA (The New York Times) – The authorities in Papua New Guinea have vowed to use force, if necessary, to remove hundreds of migrants and refugees protesting at a closed detention center on the remote Manus Island if the men have not left of their own accord […]

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