Organizations fighting climate change

Climate change projections in Kerala will henceforth be broken down up to the level of local self-government institutions to aid in planning ahead to tackle future climate challenges. Launching the project being implemented by the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) and the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) here on Wednesday, Minister for Local Self-Governments M.V. Govindan said that it is a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country. "This project, being implemented as part of the State government's 100-day action plan programme, provides information on the intensity of rain and rise in temperatures in the years ahead to the local bodies. Training will also be imparted on the kind of interventions and projects which have to be implemented to tackle these future changes. The local bodies will thus be able to formulate their plans as well as disaster management measures according to these considerations. This would scientifically empower the local … [Read more...] about Project to make local bodies part of climate change fight launched

As children growing up in Miami in the 1970s and 1980s, my brother and I often had skirmishes, typically brought about by frustrations from living with economic struggles and instability. Over the years, we grew closer as we both matured and had families of our own, and shared holidays and family gatherings. Admittedly we both have strong personalities and there were times we didn't see eye to eye, but our differences never got in the way of our respect and love for one another. Now in our fifties and both with stable lives and incomes, I was stunned at how much had changed between us, and in such a short amount of time. Just three years younger than me, my brother and I were raised in a close-knit Cuban immigrant family, and have always remained close as adults, sharing holidays and gathering regularly for family meals at his home, which had become the family gathering spot. Yet beginning in 2016, he seemed to be transformed from a sweet man with a passing interest in politics to … [Read more...] about “Trump changed my brother, I want him back”

BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A number of foreign dignitaries and heads of international organizations on Wednesday congratulated the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) on its 70th anniversary. Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who attended a video summit marking the anniversary, said Indonesia and China have a lot in common as trade cooperation has developed rapidly, and investment in various sectors, particularly in mining and metallurgy, electricity and infrastructure, manufacture, agriculture, and fishery, reflects common interests. Today, the world needs greater collective actions and inclusive collaborations between developed countries and developing economies, he said. Indonesia will optimize its G20 presidency for the matters, the president said. Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso said that looking to Asia is looking to the future of the world, and that is why Ecuador has made joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for … [Read more...] about Foreign dignitaries, heads of int’l organizations congratulate CCPIT on 70th anniversary

This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Every Monday, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here. Question of the Week Caitlin Flanagan’s masterful “ Chasing Joan Didion ” has me thinking about travel. What have you learned while away from home? Paint a picture of where you went and share your insights. Conversations of Note Top of the mind: the mass shooting Saturday in Buffalo, New York, in which a white-supremacist terrorist killed 10 people. My colleague Graeme Wood, an expert on murderous extremists , read the killer’s apparent manifesto and grappled with whether it ought to be shared or suppressed. The Los Angeles Times editorial board argued that “Americans have ignored the insidious creep of white supremacy into the public discourse to the point that it has become normalized.” … [Read more...] about Tucker Carlson Deserves Blame—But Not for Buffalo

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 17 OVID, Colo. (AP) — Shortly after daybreak on the high plains of northeastern Colorado, Don Schneider tinkers with seed-dispensing gear on a mammoth corn planter. The day’s task: Carefully sowing hundreds of acres of seed between long rows of last year’s desiccated stalks to ensure the irrigation water he's collected over the winter will last until harvest time. A two-hour’s drive eastward, Steve Hanson, a fifth-generation Nebraska cattle breeder who also produces corn and other crops, is preparing to seed, having stored winter water to help ensure his products make it to market. Like Schneider and countless others in this semi-arid region, he wants his children and grandchildren to be able to work the rich soil homesteaded by their ancestors in the 1800s. Schneider and Hanson find themselves on … [Read more...] about Colorado, Nebraska jostle over water rights amid drought

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Four European Union countries plan to build North Sea wind farms capable of producing at least 150 gigawatts of energy by 2050 to help cut carbon emissions that cause climate change, Danish media reported Wednesday. Under the plan, wind turbines would be raised off the coasts of Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, daily Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten said. The project would mean a tenfold increase in the EU's current offshore wind capacity. “The North Sea can do a lot," Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen told the newspaper, adding the close cooperation between the four EU nations "must start now.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo are scheduled to attend a North Sea Summit on Wednesday in Esbjerg, 260 … [Read more...] about Reports: 4 European nations to build North Sea wind farms

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The Department of Justice has given the green light to National Guard members on active duty for their states to join labor unions, despite a U.S. law that makes it a felony for military personnel on active federal duty to unionize. The agreement, finalized Tuesday, settles a lawsuit filed in federal court in Connecticut by labor unions against Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Justice Department, seeking collective bargaining rights for Connecticut National Guard members on state duty ordered by the governor. Already, the case has prompted some National Guard members in Texas to unionize. A 1978 federal law makes it a criminal felony for members of the armed forces, including the National Guard, to join or attempt to form a labor organization. But the statute only applies to service members when they are on active federal duty ordered by U.S. military officials, according to the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School, which … [Read more...] about Feds: National Guard members on state duty can join unions

After inflation hit a 40-year high of 9 per cent today, Conservative MPs, including some ministers, are again pointing the finger of blame at the Bank of England and its governor Andrew Bailey for raising interest rates too slowly. Worryingly, some senior Tories are even raising the question of whether the Bank should lose its operational independence on monetary policy,  threatening the 25-year consensus since Gordon Brown ceded the politicians’ control of interest rates to the Bank. Liam Fox, the former cabinet minister, argues the Bank should stick to its “day job” of hitting the government’s 2 per cent inflation target, rather than worrying about political matters such as climate change (though Rishi Sunak added that to the Bank’s mandate last year). Fox said : “There is a distinct feeling that those who should be protecting us from the debasement of our currency, the erosion of our earnings and the devaluation of our savings, have had their minds too much … [Read more...] about Giving the government control over interest rates would be a disaster

Click here to read the full article. Dick Wolf does not take anything for granted. Not even his prowess as one of Hollywood’s most prolific producers. The lord of “ Law & Order ” has taken his television operations to new heights during the 2021-22 television season, which is about to conclude with no less than six Wolf-produced series in primetime’s top 10 rankings. More from Variety Broadcast Rankings: Most and Least-Watched Scripted TV Series of 2021-2022 Season 'Law & Order' and 'Law & Order: Organized Crime' Renewed for New Seasons at NBC 'FBI,' 'FBI: International' and 'FBI: Most Wanted' Renewed for Two New Seasons Each at CBS . Over a long conversation on a deck overlooking the ocean near his home in Montecito, Calif., last month, the 75-year-old writerproducer speaks at length about the changes in television and the revitalization of his Wolf Entertainment banner over the past half-dozen years. Wolf and his loyal team of … [Read more...] about TV at Unprecedented Scale: How Dick Wolf Rebounded to 198 Hours of Drama a Season

The massacre in El Paso, Texas, has, for the moment, reminded Americans of the danger posed by far-right terrorists. Former national-security officials have demanded that the U.S. government “make addressing this form of terrorism as high a priority as countering international terrorism has become since 9/11.” Retired Marine General John Allen and the former senior U.S. diplomat Brett McGurk have argued that far-right extremism poses “an equal threat” as jihadist groups such as ISIS. This is incorrect. White nationalism is a far greater threat to American democracy than jihadism, and always has been. But there are actually two challenges posed by white nationalism: One is the threat posed to American communities by attacks like the one in El Paso, which law enforcement can and should prevent. The other is the threat the ideology the attackers support poses to American democracy, which can be defeated only through politics, and only by the American people themselves. “There’s an … [Read more...] about Only the Right Can Defeat White Nationalism