New study warns against risks of ‘time-traveling pathogens’

As the climate warms, scientists have suggested that “time-traveling pathogens” unleashed by thawing Arctic permafrost may pose a risk to modern ecosystems. Permafrost is a hard layer of frozen ground made of soil, sand and rocks in high-latitude or high-altitude areas such as Greenland, Alaska, Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and northern Canada. This icy layer traps microbes that… Read More New study warns against risks of ‘time-traveling pathogens’

Driving out the rainforest invaders: crackdown on illegal mining brings hope after Bolsonaro

 Jonathan Watts in Altamira Like mechanised Valkyries, nine helicopters filled with armed men and women in camouflage uniforms swoop over dense forests and remote rivers – but this is not a scene from Apocalypse Now, it is a Brazilian government mission to forestall catastrophe in the Amazon rainforest. The aircraft from the country’s two main environmental agencies,… Read More Driving out the rainforest invaders: crackdown on illegal mining brings hope after Bolsonaro

Famed Iranian director sentenced to prison over Cannes Film Festival screening

Famed Iranian director Saeed Roustaee has been sentenced to six months in prison, according to local reports, after presenting his most-recent film at the Cannes International Film Festival last year. Roustaee screened the film “Leila’s Brothers,” a movie about a family in Tehran trying to make ends meet, in competition for the Palme d’Or, the… Read More Famed Iranian director sentenced to prison over Cannes Film Festival screening

Modi Administration attempts shutting down Peoples’ Summit on G20

Modi Administration attempts shutting down We20 Public Statement People refuse to bow down, We20 continues as scheduled. New Delhi, 19.08.23: Jairam Ramesh, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) termed “extraordinary” that “Delhi Police is stopping people from attending the We20 meeting”. Nikhil Dey of MKSS wondered if this is the message Narendra Modi wants to send… Read More Modi Administration attempts shutting down Peoples’ Summit on G20

A daughter’s fight, a son lost to drugs: families in J&K battle death and despair

Bashaarat Masood , Naveed Iqbal In district after district in the Valley, as The Indian Express found travelling to Srinagar, Anantnag, Kupwara and Baramulla, such stories are playing out in homes, hospital wards and deaddiction centres. Jammu and Kashmir’s drug pandemic which, as the first of this investigative series reported Friday, has seen a record seizure of heroin, an unprecedented… Read More A daughter’s fight, a son lost to drugs: families in J&K battle death and despair

Jadavpur University ragging row: A failure to safeguard higher education institutions

Despite official campaigns against the practice, ragging has never been an issue in campus politics. Far less does it figure in the larger political arena, where ideological debates are similarly oblivious to gender discrimination, hate crimes, all generated by the same psychopathology of violence linked to the exercise of power Supriya Chaudhuri On the night… Read More Jadavpur University ragging row: A failure to safeguard higher education institutions

Manipur to Mewat: Empowering the mob, disempowering the State

The shift in nomenclature from Amrit Kaal to Kartavya Kaal has been marked by a complete dereliction of duty by the country’s top political leadership Sushant Singh From Manipur to Mewat, Narendra Modi’s new India doesn’t portray a pretty picture. It is a holy mess. The shift in nomenclature from Amrit Kaal (auspicious period) to… Read More Manipur to Mewat: Empowering the mob, disempowering the State

Judge rules in favor of young activists in US climate trial

The judge who heard the US’s first constitutional climate trial earlier this year has ruled in favor of a group of young plaintiffs who had accused state officials in Montana of violating their right to a healthy environment. “I’m so speechless right now,” Eva, a plaintiff who was 14 when the suit was filed, said in a statement. “I’m… Read More Judge rules in favor of young activists in US climate trial

70 Years ago, the CIA overthrew the government of Mosaddegh in Iran. Washington has been Complaining about Iran ever Since

(Special to Informed Comment: Feature) – On August 19, seventy years ago, the legitimate government of Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh was toppled in a coup jointly orchestrated by U.S. and British intelligence agencies and their Iranian collaborators.  This article was first published in Persian in Iran in the journal Iran-e-Farda in February 1981.  Every year, on the… Read More 70 Years ago, the CIA overthrew the government of Mosaddegh in Iran. Washington has been Complaining about Iran ever Since

Growing and burying algae in the Sahara is the latest solution for the climate crisis

Out in the Sahara Desert, in one of the most inhospitable environments imaginable, a natural solution to the climate crisis is growing ­– and at a rapid rate. London-based startup Brilliant Planet has leased 6,100 hectares of land outside the remote coastal town of Akhfenir in southern Morocco, wedged between the Atlantic Ocean to the… Read More Growing and burying algae in the Sahara is the latest solution for the climate crisis