Are we living through climate change’s worst-case scenario?

Are we living through climate change’s worst-case scenario?

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Robinson Meyer writes: The year 2018 was not an easy one for planet Earth. Sure, wind and solar energy kept getting cheaper, and an electric car became America’s best-selling luxury vehicle. But the most important metric of climatic health—the amount of heat-trapping gas entering the atmosphere—got suddenly and shockingly worse. In the United States, carbon emissions leapt back up, making their largest year-over-year increase since the end of the Great Recession. This matched the trend across the globe. According to…

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New plant-focused diet would ‘transform’ planet’s future

New plant-focused diet would ‘transform’ planet’s future

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The Guardian reports: The first science-based diet that tackles both the poor food eaten by billions of people and averts global environmental catastrophe has been devised. It requires huge cuts in red meat-eating in western countries and radical changes across the world. The “planetary health diet” was created by an international commission seeking to draw up guidelines that provide nutritious food to the world’s fast-growing population. At the same time, the diet addresses the major role of farming – especially…

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Trump is either a Russian agent or the world’s most famous ‘useful idiot’

Trump is either a Russian agent or the world’s most famous ‘useful idiot’

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Garrett M Graff writes: It would be rather embarrassing for Donald Trump at this point if Robert Mueller were to declare that the president isn’t an agent of Russian intelligence. The pattern of his pro-Putin, pro-Russia, anti-FBI, anti-intelligence community actions are so one-sided, and the lies and obfuscation surrounding every single Russian meeting and conversation are so consistent, that if this president isn’t actually hiding a massive conspiracy, it means the alternative is worse: America elected a chief executive so…

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Federal agency ‘improperly’ ignored constitutional concerns before allowing Trump to keep lease to his hotel

Federal agency ‘improperly’ ignored constitutional concerns before allowing Trump to keep lease to his hotel

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The Washington Post reports: The General Services Administration “ignored” concerns that President Trump’s lease on a government-owned building — the one that houses his Trump International Hotel in Washington — might violate the Constitution when it allowed Trump to keep the lease after he took office, according to a new report from the agency’s inspector general. Trump’s company won the lease several years before he became president. After Trump was elected, the agency had to decide whether his company would…

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Trump’s two business offices on Pennsylvania Ave

Trump’s two business offices on Pennsylvania Ave

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The Washington Post reports: Last April, telecom giant T-Mobile announced a megadeal: a $26 billion merger with rival Sprint, which would more than double T-Mobile’s value and give it a huge new chunk of the cellphone market. But for T-Mobile, one hurdle remained: Its deal needed approval from the Trump administration. The next day, in Washington, staffers at the Trump International Hotel were handed a list of incoming “VIP Arrivals.” That day’s list included nine of T-Mobile’s top executives —…

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As May’s Brexit plan is defeated, Corbyn offers little hope for ‘people’s vote’ campaigners

As May’s Brexit plan is defeated, Corbyn offers little hope for ‘people’s vote’ campaigners

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The Guardian reports: Jeremy Corbyn has offered no encouragement to supporters of a second EU referendum after he called for a vote of no confidence in Theresa May’s government and an immediate general election. The Labour leader did not refer to a second referendum in his two Brexit speeches on Tuesday evening, and risked antagonising the party’s pro-remain wing, some of whom want him to back another poll by the end of the week. In his first, longer speech at…

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Trump discussed pulling U.S. out of NATO, aides say amid new concerns over Russia

Trump discussed pulling U.S. out of NATO, aides say amid new concerns over Russia

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The New York Times reports: There are few things that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia desires more than the weakening of NATO, the military alliance among the United States, Europe and Canada that has deterred Soviet and Russian aggression for 70 years. Last year, President Trump suggested a move tantamount to destroying NATO: the withdrawal of the United States. Senior administration officials told The New York Times that several times over the course of 2018, Mr. Trump privately said…

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Brutal order prevails in the Arab world

Brutal order prevails in the Arab world

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Gilbert Achcar writes: The beginning of this new year in the Arab region looks remarkably like that of past year. 2018 started with social turmoil and protests in Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, and Sudan — even Iran seemed to catch up with the Arab upheaval. One year later, in this beginning of 2019, the social earthquake is still shaking an Arab region characterized by its high density of volcanoes, whether active exploding ones or dormant ones ready to erupt at any…

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Attorney general nominee asserts independence from Trump

Attorney general nominee asserts independence from Trump

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Politico reports: Attorney general nominee William Barr professed his independence from President Donald Trump on Tuesday, saying that Robert Mueller isn’t involved in a “witch hunt” and that he wouldn’t fire the special counsel without a good reason. In his testimony, Barr told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he didn’t think Mueller “would be involved in a witch hunt,” a term Trump has used repeatedly to deride the special counsel’s investigation into the president’s 2016 election campaign. Barr also told…

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Luxembourg makes all public transport free

Luxembourg makes all public transport free

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CNN reports: With a population of 602,000, Luxembourg is one of Europe’s smallest countries — yet it suffers from major traffic jams. But that could be about to change. Last month, it announced plans to make all public transport — trains, trams and buses — free from March 2020. The government hopes the move will alleviate heavy congestion and bring environmental benefits, according to Dany Frank, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Mobility and Public Works. Landlocked Luxembourg is one…

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The brain maps out ideas and memories on spacial form of representation

The brain maps out ideas and memories on spacial form of representation

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Jordana Cepelewicz writes: We humans have always experienced an odd — and oddly deep — connection between the mental worlds and physical worlds we inhabit, especially when it comes to memory. We’re good at remembering landmarks and settings, and if we give our memories a location for context, hanging on to them becomes easier. To remember long speeches, ancient Greek and Roman orators imagined wandering through “memory palaces” full of reminders. Modern memory contest champions still use that technique to…

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What’s the difference between Steve King’s racism and Donald Trump’s racism?

What’s the difference between Steve King’s racism and Donald Trump’s racism?

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Adam Serwer writes: The Republican Party is doing a little soul searching. Last week, Representative Steve King of Iowa drew harsh rebukes from some members of his party for his defenses of white nationalism and white supremacy. “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization—how did that language become offensive?” King told the New York Times. “Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?” This was the most explicit expression of something that…

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Trump administration expands oil drilling despite shutdown

Trump administration expands oil drilling despite shutdown

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The Guardian reports: Three weeks into the longest US government shutdown in history, many important government services have been paused – but the Trump administration has continued efforts to expand oil drilling. Despite the shutdown directive, which has seen national park staff furloughed and the parks suffering from neglect, the interior department has continued processing oil drilling permits and applications. It has also moved forward with a controversial plan to increase drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the…

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Why women are fleeing Mohammed bin Salman’s Saudi Arabia

Why women are fleeing Mohammed bin Salman’s Saudi Arabia

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Madawi al-Rasheed writes: Saudi Arabia is facing a social problem that requires an urgent political solution. Women runaways, estimated to be over 1,000 cases, are now regular news. Rahaf al-Qunun, the 18-year-old who was stranded at Bangkok airport on her way to Australia, was put under UN custody to be accepted as an asylum seeker. After blockading herself in a hotel room and broadcasting her plight and fears of being forcibly returned to Saudi Arabia, she finally reached Canada where…

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