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In countries facing scorching heat, shade trees and cheap cooling strategies gain traction

In countries facing scorching heat, shade trees and cheap cooling strategies gain traction

E&E News reports: When the capital of Sierra Leone launched a major campaign to provide shade amid sweltering heat, officials came up with a catchy slogan of what they hoped the city would become: Freetown the Treetown. The West African city had been denuded by rapid population growth, conflict and unregulated development, increasing its vulnerability to rising temperatures. The tree planting plan uses an app to generate jobs and is helping a fast-urbanizing city fend off the dangers of climate…

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Bees can’t find food in dirty air

Bees can’t find food in dirty air

Lina Zeldovich writes: When foraging for flowers, bees search for the familiar scents that blooms puff out into the air to attract them. Scientists call these little fragrant air pockets “odor plumes.” Once bees detect an odor plume, they start following it, flying from side to side to navigate to wherever the odor is strongest—scientists call this “casting”—until they land on a flower. “If you think of a flower, it’s basically acting as a message beacon,” says Ben Langford, an…

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UK government lawyers say Israel is breaking international law, claims top Tory in leaked recording

UK government lawyers say Israel is breaking international law, claims top Tory in leaked recording

The Observer reports: The British government has received advice from its own lawyers stating that Israel has breached international humanitarian law in Gaza but has failed to make it public, according to a leaked recording obtained by the Observer. The comments, made by the Conservative chair of the House of Commons select committee on foreign affairs, Alicia Kearns, at a Tory fundraising event on 13 March are at odds with repeated ministerial denials and evasion on the issue. On Saturday…

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Supporting genocide: U.S. signs off on more bombs, warplanes for Israel

Supporting genocide: U.S. signs off on more bombs, warplanes for Israel

The Washington Post reports: The Biden administration in recent days quietly authorized the transfer of billions of dollars in bombs and fighter jets to Israel despite Washington’s concerns about an anticipated military offensive in southern Gaza that could threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians. The new arms packages include more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, according to Pentagon and State Department officials familiar with the matter. The 2,000-pound bombs have been…

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Cracks in the U.S.-Israel relationship are beginning to show

Cracks in the U.S.-Israel relationship are beginning to show

  Six months into Israel’s devastating war on Gaza, the United Nations Security Council has finally passed a resolution demanding a ceasefire. The United States’s abstention marks a pivotal moment in Israel’s increasing international isolation. In the Israeli media, the opposition to the UN vote is near-unanimous and unsurprising. More striking is the lack of interest from American news outlets. The implications this story raises are perhaps a little uncomfortable for them – they hit too close to home.

Trump’s weaknesses with GOP voters go beyond the suburbs

Trump’s weaknesses with GOP voters go beyond the suburbs

Politico reports: The battle for Trump-skeptical Republican voters isn’t just about the suburbs. It’s true that the hundreds of thousands of GOP primary voters who voted against former President Donald Trump this year were concentrated in highly educated, suburban areas that have swung blue over the past decade. But a POLITICO analysis shows there’s also a significant bloc of voters who did not want Trump in more exurban, red-leaning counties — the kinds of places that were skeptical of Trump…

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The unhinged arguments the Supreme Court is fielding on Trump immunity

The unhinged arguments the Supreme Court is fielding on Trump immunity

The Daily Beast reports: Retired American generals vehemently say that no, Donald Trump cannot deploy SEAL Team 6 to kill a political rival. Gun groups howl that the United States is turning into Communist China. And a convicted Jan. 6 rioter warns that President Joe Biden could someday get sued over the death of a jogger in Georgia. These are among the 18 various groups that shared their wisdom with the Supreme Court earlier this month, filing amicus briefs on…

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Half of senior staffers in Congress are so fed up that they may quit

Half of senior staffers in Congress are so fed up that they may quit

The Washington Post reports: When it comes to job satisfaction, members of Congress aren’t the only ones considering calling it quits. Only about one in five senior aides on Capitol Hill believe that Congress is “functioning as a democratic legislature should,” and about the same margin believe that it is “an effective forum for debate” on key issues. Given those assessments by the people who live and breathe these issues, this particularly glum finding should not come as a surprise:…

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The social benefits of getting our brains in sync

The social benefits of getting our brains in sync

Marta Zaraska writes: The renowned Polish piano duo Marek and Wacek didn’t use sheet music when playing live concerts. And yet onstage the pair appeared perfectly in sync. On adjacent pianos, they playfully picked up various musical themes, blended classical music with jazz and improvised in real time. “We went with the flow,” said Marek Tomaszewski, who performed with Wacek Kisielewski until Wacek’s death in 1986. “It was pure fun.” The pianists seemed to read each other’s minds by exchanging…

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Gaza’s famine is underway

Gaza’s famine is underway

Jeremy Konyndyk writes: Three months ago the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) process (the official process for assessing famine risk) issued an urgent warning: the entire population of Gaza was “at risk” of famine, and over half a million people were already experiencing famine-level food shortages. Last week, the IPC upgraded that warning, projecting that famine in Gaza is now “imminent.” 1.1 million people, half the territory’s population, are in IPC Phase V, the highest level of risk. Yet…

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Boiling weeds, eating animal feed: People in Gaza stave off hunger any way they can

Boiling weeds, eating animal feed: People in Gaza stave off hunger any way they can

NPR reports: In northern Gaza’s shattered streets, people buy and sell canned food, small amounts of flour and grain and a few household items in makeshift markets. Nermeen Tafesh and her five children scour the stalls every day for something affordable to eat, but everything is expensive. With no jobs, most people don’t have an income. Tafesh is shocked that 2 pounds of rotten-looking potatoes now sells for 40 shekels, more than $10. Two pounds of rice, costing less than…

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Israel is a strategic liability for the United States

Israel is a strategic liability for the United States

Jon Hoffman writes: Symbolic acts—such as the recent U.S. executive order sanctioning two Israeli settler outposts in the West Bank or Biden’s decision to reestablish the position that Israeli settlement expansion is “inconsistent with international law”—is not going to stop the carnage in Gaza, absolve Washington of complicity, or contribute to future stability. Likely in direct response to these actions, Israel just authorized the construction of 3,400 new houses in West Bank settlements amid historic levels of violence against Palestinians;…

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Marwan Bishara: ‘How dare European nations sell arms to Israel?’

Marwan Bishara: ‘How dare European nations sell arms to Israel?’

  Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara analyses Ireland’s support for South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. Ireland’s backing signifies a universalised call for justice in Palestine, joining nations with histories of oppression. Bishara criticizes the US and Israel’s dismissive response to allegations of genocide, highlighting a growing global momentum for Palestinian justice. He questions Europe’s stance on selling arms to Israel amid accusations of weaponising hunger, urging consistency with universal values.

‘We cannot be silent’: A statement from the Jesuits on Gaza

‘We cannot be silent’: A statement from the Jesuits on Gaza

The Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) has issued the following statement in Rome: Almost six months of war in Gaza, and the guns have not fallen silent. We, the members of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), like so many other Catholics, Christians, men and women of all faiths and non-believers, refuse to be silent. Our voices continue to be lifted up in prayer, in lament, in protest at the death and destruction that continue to reign in Gaza and other…

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