Saturday, December 21

Tag: fight

Protecting half of the planet is the best way to fight climate change and biodiversity loss – we’ve mapped the key places to do it
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VIDEO REELS

Protecting half of the planet is the best way to fight climate change and biodiversity loss – we’ve mapped the key places to do it

Humans are dismantling and disrupting natural ecosystems around the globe and changing Earth’s climate. Over the past 50 years, actions like farming, logging, hunting, development and global commerce have caused record losses of species on land and at sea. Animals, birds and reptiles are disappearing tens to hundreds of times faster than the natural rate of extinction over the past 10 million years. Now the world is also contending with a global pandemic. In geographically remote regions such as the Brazilian Amazon, COVID-19 is devastating Indigenous populations, with tragic consequences for both Indigenous peoples and the lands they steward. My research focuses on ecosystems and climate change from regional to global scales. In 2019, I worked with conservation biologist and strategist ...
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To fight US racism, research prescribes a nationwide healing process
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IN OTHER NEWS

To fight US racism, research prescribes a nationwide healing process

As the U.S. prepares to celebrate another year of its independence, the country is paying renewed attention to the founders, and how their legacy of slavery is linked to systemic racism. Calls for reform to policing across the nation can help to directly reduce police violence against civilians but don’t address the centuries-old underlying problems in American society. Our research indicates that the country is not likely to escape its historic cycles of violence and racial oppression without addressing this painful and troubled history. Sparked by the killing of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police, protests have emerged across the United States demanding police and criminal justice reform. Reform efforts abound – including Minneapolis city councilors declaring they will...
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How the US military could help fight the coronavirus outbreak
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IN OTHER NEWS

How the US military could help fight the coronavirus outbreak

As China and some European countries slowly begin to reopen schools and shops that were closed because of the pandemic, the situation across the U.S. is still dire. Governors are seeking medical equipment and supplies from all corners – including private assistance and other countries. As many as 10,000 National Guard members have also been activated by governors to help state efforts against the coronavirus pandemic. As scholars of military efforts in humanitarian and disaster responses around the world, we believe that the federal military could offer additional help. Already, two U.S. Navy hospital ships have joined the coronavirus response. USNS Mercy went to Los Angeles, where some patients are being treated on board and 40 sailors are expected to help on shore at a local nursing ho...
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Terrorists, militants and criminal gangs join the fight against the coronavirus
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COVID-19

Terrorists, militants and criminal gangs join the fight against the coronavirus

The favelas of Rio de Janeiro are a toxic mix of tight quarters, few if any health services and little clean water for residents to wash their hands. In these conditions ripe for the spread of the coronavirus, the Brazilian national government has yet to impose a curfew – but the criminal gangs who rule the favelas have. Gang members have been driving around their communities announcing to residents: “We’re imposing a curfew because nobody is taking this seriously. Whoever is in the street screwing around or going for a walk will receive a corrective and serve as an example.” This curfew is part of a growing phenomenon across the globe, where criminal gangs, insurgents and terrorist groups are mounting efforts against the pandemic. What are they doing? In Lebanon, the militant group Hez...
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Video: Why social distancing is one of the best tools we have to fight the coronavirus
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COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

Video: Why social distancing is one of the best tools we have to fight the coronavirus

Social distancing is a tool public health officials recommend to slow the spread of a disease that is being passed from person to person. Social distancing is a tool public health officials recommend to slow the spread of a disease that is being passed from person to person. The Conversation US, CC BY This video is based on an article written by Thomas Perls, professor of Medicine at Boston University. Simply put, it means that people stay far enough away from each other so that the coronavirus – or any pathogen – cannot spread from one person to another. It helps us reduce the rate of new infections, so that new cases are spread over time and the medical care system does not get overwhelmed. Watch the video to find out more about what social distancing is, and why it’s one of the best ...
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COVID-19

Trump’s right: Congress should give Americans $1,000 right now to fight the coronavirus recession

Much of the U.S. economy has effectively shut down as America increasingly takes the coronavirus pandemic seriously. Retail stores and restaurants across the country are vacant. The entertainment and hospitality industries are on hiatus. While necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19, this will have grave consequences for the economy as well as for the tens of millions of workers who depend on hourly wages to buy food, medicine and put a roof over their heads. The Trump administration is finally taking it seriously too and asking Congress to pass an US$850 billion stimulus package, including sending $1,000 checks directly to all adult Americans. Some lawmakers are pushing for larger payments and over several months. This is welcome news. As a macroeconomist specializing in income inequa...
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The 2020 Election And The Fight Against Voter Disenfranchisement
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SOCIAL JUSTICE

The 2020 Election And The Fight Against Voter Disenfranchisement

As the 2020 election season gets under way, activists are beginning to push back against voter disenfranchisement across the country. Voting rights advocates are battling on multiple fronts this presidential election year to fend off a proliferation of voter suppression maneuvers that largely restrict people of color and younger Americans from casting their ballots. “Heading into the 2020 election, voters in half the states face more obstacles to the ballot box and will find it harder to vote than they did a decade ago,” says Wendy Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. These new obstacles have energized a counter-campaign to restore and expand voting rights. Often the newer restrictions focus on bureaucratic details, but their intent and impact tar...
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TECHNOLOGY

China’s tech firms fight for survival under Trump’s blacklist

Despite warning of lower profits after the US blacklisting, firms like SenseTime and Megvii are pressing ahead. The co-founder of China's SenseTime Group Ltd. was visiting New York to encourage more collaboration with the U.S. on artificial intelligence when he heard the news: The Trump administration had blacklisted his company. So much for more cooperation. Xu Bing, the 29-year-old co-founder, knew SenseTime was at risk given rising tensions between China and the U.S., but the timing took him by surprise. He was spending a few days showing off his latest products and meeting other AI researchers earlier this month when the Commerce Dept. put his company and seven others on its "Entity List," prohibiting American companies from providing crucial supplies like s...
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CULTURE

Fifty Years After Stonewall, the Real Fight for LBGTQ Rights Is Local

As legislation has languished in Congress, many cities and states are moving forward with their own non-discrimination bills. The U.S. House of Representatives last month passed the Equality Act—more than four decades after it was first introduced—extending civil rights protections to LGBTQ+ people. This vote should give us some hope. Its passage—236-173—was bipartisan, a rare feat these days; its provisions are expansive, granting protection in the areas of employment, housing and public accommodations; and its language includes both sexual orientation as well as gender identity, allowing for explicit inclusion of transgender individuals. Yet to each hopeful sign, there’s a caveat. Only eight Republicans supported the Equality Act, and it’s unlikely to ever be brought to vote ...
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