Indonesia is currently in the throes of an environmental emergency. Thousands of hectares of forest are burning across the vast country, causing toxic smoke to be released into the atmosphere. This has led to eerie apocalyptic scenes of deep red skies, deserted streets and people with their faces covered with masks. Such fires send huge amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. The last massive outbreak, in 2015, saw the fires emitting more greenhouse gases than the entire US. They’re also a disaster for the orangutans and other wildlife in the forest. But what about the impact on affected humans? Who is at…

If you’ve read anything about climate change over the past year, you’ve probably heard about the IPCC report that gives a 12-year deadline for limiting climate change catastrophe. But for many parts of the world, climate change already is a catastrophe. Recently in Bihar, one of the poorest states in India, more than 40 people were killed by a severe heat wave in just one day. A study by UNICEF suggests that “in the next decade, 175 million children will be hit by climate-related disasters in South Asia and Africa alone.” Closer to home, Miami’s steady sinking is depleting useable drinking waterat an alarming rate. The truth is, vulnerable communities have been…

On March 3, Trump and Putin held a telephone conversation. They spoke for an hour and a half. The discussions were described by Trump as “positive”. Trump “unofficially” discussed “The Russian Hoax” with Vladimir Putin. “Very Productive Talk”. “Getting along with Russia and China, getting along with all of them is a very good thing, not a bad thing, it a good thing, it’s a positive thing,” (to reporters on May 3) https://www.globalresearch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Screen-Shot-2019-05-05-at-01.47.48-300x207.png 300w, https://www.globalresearch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Screen-Shot-2019-05-05-at-01.47.48-400x276.png 400w" sizes="(max-width: 483px) 100vw, 483px" style="margin:0px auto 10px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;max-width:635px;display:block"> https://www.globalresearch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Screen-Shot-2019-05-05-at-05.17.32-300x163.png 300w, https://www.globalresearch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Screen-Shot-2019-05-05-at-05.17.32-400x218.png 400w" sizes="(max-width: 483px) 100vw, 483px" style="margin:0px auto 10px;padding:0px;border:0px none;font:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;max-width:635px;display:block">Trump confirmed that he was…

For most of the opinion-making class in America today, war is the default position. Representatives of establishment newspapers and TV news operations are not likely to grill someone who favors U.S. military intervention somewhere – anywhere. He or she will have no burden of proof to sustain. But those who oppose a new war or call for an end to an existing one are sure to be treated like oddballs if not traitors. They’d better have an extraordinarily strong defense of their position because the burden of proof will be squarely on them; even a strong defense, however, won’t get…

Sixteen years ago this week, the United States invaded Iraq. We went in on an unconvincing excuse, articulated by George W. Bush in a speech days before invasion: “Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. This regime has already used weapons of mass destruction against Iraq’s neighbors and against Iraq’s people.” To the lie about the possession of WMDs, Bush added a few more: that Hussein “trained and harbored terrorists, including operatives of al-Qaeda.” Moreover, left unchecked, those Saddam-supplied terrorists could “kill hundreds…