CPJ's 2018 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free

Impunity is entrenched in 14 nations, according to CPJ's 2018 Global Impunity Index, which ranks states with the worst records of prosecuting the killers of journalists.

There were 251 journalists jailed for doing their jobs as of Dec. 1, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in an annual study. For the third consecutive year, more than half are in Turkey, China and Egypt, where authorities have accused reporters of anti-governmental activities. 

[The total does not take into account journalists who have disappeared or are being held by non-state actors. The CPJ said there are dozens of reporters missing or kidnapped in the Middle East and North Africa, including several held by Houthi rebels in Yemen.]

Murdered in Europe: Daphne Galizia (Malta), Kuciak and Kusnirova (Slovakia), Viktoria Marinova (Bulgaria).

Life in Deep Earth Totals 15 to 23 Billion Tonnes of Carbon—Hundreds of Times More than Humans

Barely living “zombie” bacteria and other forms of life constitute an immense amount of carbon deep within Earth’s subsurface—245 to 385 times greater than the carbon mass of all humans on the surface, according to scientists nearing the end of a 10-year international collaboration to reveal Earth’s innermost secrets.

“Depravity toward one is a sure sign of willingness to do much more harm”

whenever people feel stripped of freedom and opportunity, they instinctively challenge their government in order to reclaim control over their lives. “And if a government doesn’t value human life,” she said, “then they will do something to their people that the whole world will have to pay attention to.”

[The secret of Saudi is that they rely almost entirely on our governments -- to sell them weapons, buy their oil, and give them legitimacy. But the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi -- and the tragic death of Amal, a starving 7-year-old Yemeni girl whose picture appeared in the New York Times -- have those same governments wavering in their devoted support.]

We’re Asleep to Technology’s March & That’s Dangerous

the big tech companies are cornering the market that is humanity.

Google has been working on a top secret project that will aid China’s oppression in Tibet

Named ‘Dragonfly’, the search engine will comply with Beijing’s notoriously repressive censorship regime. It will restrict or completely block searches for “human rights”, “democracy”, “Dalai Lama” and “Tibet”. 

"A very particular kind of people, with expensive perfumes and makeup, looking really expensive and unapproachable"

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided

to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2018 to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.

Allison Zuckerman: Jilted Lover

Warm ice in Mount Everest’s glaciers makes them more sensitive to climate change

Often when the topic of glaciers and climate change is discussed, focus shifts to those in Greenland and Antarctica. But there are glaciers elsewhere too, such as in the Himalayas, which play a vital part in supplying water to people who live downstream. Now, our research has found that these glaciers may react more sensitively to predicted future climate change than previously thought, which could lead to them melting at a faster rate.

Aide to Mohammed bin Salman 'supervised torture of female prisoner'

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said last month at least three of the activists -- most of whom had agitated for the right to drive and an end to a male guardianship system -- were tortured. 

Russian Weapons Maker To Build AI-Directed Guns

Russia’s willingness to embrace lethal autonomy stands in stark contrast to U.S. policy. In 2012, then-Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter (later defense secretary) signed a directive forbidding the U.S. to allow any robot or machine to take lethal action without the supervision of a human operator.

The Russian repeatedly proposed a meeting between Trump and Putin, according to Mueller, and told Cohen the meeting “could have a ‘phenomenal’ impact ‘not only in political but in a business dimension as well’”, because there was “no bigger warranty in any project than consent of Putin”.

“What does the (m)Other want?”

The infant’s gradual formation of an ego as per the temporally elongated processes delineated in Lacan’s account of the mirror stage (see 2.2 above) is, in part, a response to this riddle (albeit in a broader sense, with the child constructing an ego-level identity informed by the perceived wants of Others in addition to the mother, such as the father).

Over 30 Journalists Murdered by Organized Crime Since 2017

“From Beijing to Moscow, from Tijuana to Bogotá, from Malta to Slovakia *, investigative journalists who shed light on the deals that involve organized crime unleash the wrath of gangsters, whose common feature is an aversion to any publicity unless they control it.”

* and Bulgaria

Global carbon emissions jump to all-time high in 2018

The rise is due to the growing number of cars on the roads and a renaissance of coal use and means the world remains on the track to catastrophic global warming. 

Run-off from this vast northern ice sheet – currently the biggest single source of meltwater adding to the volume of the world’s oceans – is 50% higher than pre-industrial levels and increasing exponentially as a result of manmade global warming

Ezra Pound's Cantos

Froula noted that the Cantos was "a verbal war against economic corruption, against literal wars, against materialism, against habits of mind that permit the perpetuation of political domination. It advocates economic reform as the basis of social and cultural reform, and it could not have held aloof from political reality."

Mythes

A year on, Catalonia's political prisoners go unnoticed by the rest of the world

Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont remains in exile in Belgium. Another six pro-independence leaders remain in exile, including Clara Ponsati, former education minister in the Catalan government... Two activists and seven politicians remain in custody. 

Mary Beale: “Mary Wither of Andwell” (circa 1670)

Midori Takada (performance)

Midori Takada (rearshal)

Nine Variations On Alexandra Pirici's Parthenon Marbles

A New Illustrated Database for Women Artists Spans the 15th to 19th Centuries

Take, for example, Italian Renaissance painter Sofonisba Anguissola. During her day she was praised by Michelangelo, hired as court painter to Spanish king Phillip II, and admired by Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck. Anguissola made it, supporting herself entirely with her art. But today, awareness of her work is limited to an esoteric bunch of Renaissance enthusiasts; she definitely isn’t a household name.

How Christie’s So-Called ‘AI-Generated’ Art Sale Proves That Records Can Distort History

we’ve tacitly come to accept that market-leading gatekeepers are the sources that matter most in charting the history of the art market. And as the market becomes an increasingly powerful force in shaping public understanding, they also become (like it or not) the sources that matter most in charting the history of art itself.

Europe Should Protect Independent Media in Copyright Reform

Search engines provide a crucial tool for journalists, who rely on disparate sources of information to do their job. If search engines are required to pay licensing fees for every bit of text, some results will inevitably be removed when a certain publisher proves untraceable, links or outlets are not considered viable enough to contend with, or a publisher refuses to license their content for any reason. Less popular content – often the underlying details essential to proving a story – will be disproportionately affected.

Although Adrienne Rich (1929–2012) never considered herself an epic poet

it’s hard to think of a more apposite definition of her vast and varied oeuvre than the phrase with which Ezra Pound summed up his concept of the modernist epic (speaking, in his case, of The Cantos): “a poem containing history.” 

"Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future"

Born in Sweden in 1862 and descended from a distinguished clan of naval heroes and maritime cartographers, she trained formally as a painter at Stockholm’s official academy. 

af Klint kept her groundbreaking paintings largely private. She rarely exhibited them and, convinced the world was not yet ready to understand her work, stipulated that it not be shown for twenty years following her death.

Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov wins 2018 Sakharov Prize

The European Parliament's President Antonio Tajani announced the winner. The €50,000 prize was created in memory of the late exiled Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov.

‘The Ladies of the Baroque’

Sofonisba Anguissola (1532-1625), Fede Galizia (1578-1630), Giovanna Garzoni (1600-1670), as well as Orsola Maddalena Caccia (1596-1676), Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614), Virginia da Vezzo (1601-1638) and Elisabetta Sirani (1638-1665): according to the mores of the times, all these women had to make do with portraiture and allegorical paintings featuring fruit and flowers. However, they were quick to flout these restrictions, using the themes that were forced on them as powerful instruments: they displayed remarkable freedom in the face of the strict gender rules.

“Gender-based violence” is a perverted and biased concept

US diplomats have been pushing for the rewriting of general assembly policy statements to remove what the administration argues is vague and politically correct language, 

[Convicted paedophile Karen White, who was born Stephen Wood, was undergoing gender reassignment, but had not undergone full surgery, when she was accused of repeatedly raping a woman in 2016.]

How Europe's taxpayers have been swindled of €55 billion

The vast so-called cum ex tax scandal which has rocked Germany in the past decade has already cost the country an estimated €30 billion. It was assumed that a change in the law in 2016 definitively outlawed such trades. But as a cross-border and undercover investigation now reveals, the trade is still flourishing and has targeted far more countries and has cost far more than was previously thought, affecting nearly all of the biggest economies in Europe.

Knock knock! Who’s there?

“Knock knock! Who’s there? More than half the Church!” several dozen Catholic women chanted outside the Vatican on Oct. 3, the first day of this year’s synod of bishops from around the world.

The squadron of ex-military men behind Bolsonaro's rise in Brazil

appalling levels of street crime and entrenched government graft have emboldened former military leaders to get involved in the electoral process. While some Brazilians are wary about what they see as encroachment by the military on sacred civilian space, others welcome the change.

Nearly 64,000 murders were registered last year, but less than 10 percent of homicide cases result in charges, according to government data.

African elephants could be extinct 'within a decade'

The Africa Elephant Summit, attended by delegates from around 20 countries including China – which is accused of fuelling the poaching trade – heard new figures from the International Union for Conservation of Nature that showed the African elephant population fell from 550,000 to 470,000 between 2006 and 2013.

The American conductor tells us (*) about an early career that’s seen her gravitate from playing under Bernard Haitink to taking over his dressing room

Late on a Friday night, just weeks after starting her new role as Assistant Conductor at Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Karina Canellakis

(*) www.limelightmagazine.com.au

EU: lack of freedom of speech

In the US, freedom of speech doesn't require it to be factual. That is the major difference between freedom of speech in the US and in several countries in Europe: if you say something that is offensive, it does not necessarily have to be true.

[Pick any conspiracy theory under the sun, and threads often lead back to Soros.]

U.S. to exit nuclear treaty

Washington believes Moscow is developing and has deployed a ground-launched system in breach of the INF treaty that could allow Moscow to launch a nuclear strike on Europe at short notice.

New type of noise found lurking in nanoscale devices

A new type of electronic noise has been discovered by a team of physicists and chemists in Israel and Canada. Dubbed “delta-T noise”, the effect occurs when two sides of a tiny electrical junction are at held at different temperatures.

EPA on U.N. Climate-Change Report: ‘What Report? Haven’t Heard of It’

A spokesperson from the New York headquarters of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told The Daily Beast that she was unaware of the recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “What report?” she asked. “I haven’t heard of it.”

Danske Bank Scandal Whistleblower Allegedly Killed

In 2006, the first deputy chairman of the Russian Central Bank, Andrei Kozlov, attempted to tell authorities in Estonia about a money-laundering scheme that had been created in the Baltic financial system. Three months later he was dead, age 44, and the scheme would later be revealed as the US$200 billion Danske Bank scandal, according to the Daily Beast.

European politicians call for clampdown on tax trade trick

European politicians have called for action to tackle dividend stripping after Reuters and other media revealed how large banks were involved in trading schemes that cost taxpayers billions of euros.

Mediterranean UNESCO World Heritage at risk from coastal flooding and erosion due to sea-level rise

of 49 cultural WHS located in low-lying coastal areas of the Mediterranean, 37 are at risk from a 100-year flood and 42 from coastal erosion, already today

Children’s brains develop faster with music training

Five-year USC study finds significant differences between kids who learned to play instruments and those who didn’t

Golden visa abuse warning

The report, titled European Getaway – Inside the Murky World of Golden Visas, says while huge volumes of money are involved, checks for money laundering and corrupt and illegal origins of the investment are not especially rigorous.

Portugal is specifically identified as an area that poses “high risks”. 

{figures also show that getting on for half of all people in employment in Portugal, at 43.3 percent, did not attend school after ninth grade (the EU average is 16.7 percent). Poland is at the opposite end, with only 1 percent of employees having failed to graduate from secondary education, and Lithuania with 3.5 percent.}

'Golden passports' threaten European security

The investigation is being published under the banner of The Daphne Project, a collaboration of 18 news organisations from 15 countries, formed to continue investigations begun by Caruana Galizia.

The journalist had raised concerns in her reporting, among other matters, about Henley and its relationship with the government led by Malta’s Labour prime minister, Joseph Muscat.

In the Caribbean, they call Kalin, 46, the passport king – he has transformed a small firm of wealth advisers into the leading player in a US$3 bn global industry. His company, Henley & Partners, tells small countries how to transform passports into cash – a legitimate and legal business.

Mary Beatrice Midgley (née Scrutton; 13 September 1919 – 10 October 2018)

She wrote her first book, Beast And Man (1978), when she was in her fifties. She has since written over 15 other books, including Animals and Why They Matter (1983), Wickedness (1984), The Ethical Primate (1994), Evolution as a Religion (1985), and Science as Salvation (1992).

It is the story of the worst episode in the life of the fiercely talented Artemisia Gentileschi, one of the masters of the Italian Baroque

She was able to be strong when the world called her weak and virtuous when the world decried her a sinner. She shared the truth she knew when she was surrounded by liars.

Viktoria Marinova, a 30-year-old, who leaves a small child, died from blows to the head and suffocation and had also been raped

Marinova -- who presented a current affairs talk programme on the local TVN television channel -- is the third journalist to be murdered in Europe in the past 12 months after Jan Kuciak in Slovakia in February and Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta in October 2017.

Note: who believes that that assassination was unrelated to her investigations on the huge State corruption in Bulgaria and Romania (as in Malta and Slovakia where journalists have been murdered), even if now there's a disgusting junkie telling that killed her by chance? 

Majority of people living in democracies don’t believe governments work in their interests

Four of the five nations in which the largest majority of respondents said their governments were not acting in the interest of the public feature free societies (Austria, Portugal, Sweden and Denmark), while just one is labelled “partly free” (Kenya). 

Rather than welcoming refugees for re-settlement in Europe, governments should be investing in the long-term future of countries like Syria and Iraq

The more refugees become settled down far from their homelands, the less likely they will go back to join that vital reconstruction effort. Before the war, Syria had 31,000 doctors. Now more than half are believed to have fled, many treating patients in Europe. Iraq complains of a serious brain drain as its skilled young professionals form the vanguard of those seeking a new life in the West. Rather than welcoming refugees for re-settlement in Europe, governments should be investing in the long-term future of countries like Syria and Iraq by working for peace and security there, and increasing support for refugees camped in neighbouring countries. 

The Autocracy App

What would the world look like if Facebook succeeded in becoming the Operating System of Our Lives? That status has arguably been achieved only by Tencent in China. Tencent runs WeChat, which combines aspects of Facebook, Messenger, Google, Twitter, and Instagram. People use its payment system to make purchases from vending machines, shop online, bank, and schedule appointments. Tencent also connects to the Chinese government’s Social Credit System, which gives users a score, based on data mining and surveillance of their online and offline activity. You gain points for obeying the law and lose them for such behavior as traffic violations or “spreading rumors online.”

Five Eyes intelligence alliance builds coalition to counter China

The five nations in the world’s leading intelligence-sharing network have been exchanging classified information on China’s foreign activities with other like-minded countries since the start of the year, 

How Ronaldo's Legal Team Dealt with Disaster

While Mayorga hired a lawyer in July 2009 who specialized in securing damages after auto accidents, Ronaldo's people operated like an international crisis management team.

This most recent story is actually the second time that Ronaldo has been accused of assaulting a woman in a hotel room. The first time was in London in 2005. He was arrested and questioned but there were no criminal charges.

Viktoria Marinova: Bulgarian TV journalist raped and murdered

Marinova launched a TV show called “Detektor” in September and in the first and only aired episode she interviewed Attila Biro and Dimitar Stoyanov—two journalists of OCCRP partners and investigative outlets Rise Project and Bivol—who were detained in September while probing alleged fraud involving EU funds linked to Bulgarian businessmen and politicians.

Vietnam's children and the fear of climate change

One little girl draws a nightmarish picture of people calling for rescue as they drown in rising water.

The IPCC says that even the most optimistic scenario for climate change is dire.

Nadia Murad has been jointly awarded the 2018 Nobel peace prize for her efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war

she recounts the harrowing experience of being abducted with other Yazidi women by Islamic State militants in northern Iraq in August 2014. The gynaecologist Denis Mukwege is the other winner of the prize, for his work helping the victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Environmental Crime is Largest Source of Income for Militias

Environmental crimes are now the biggest source of funding for non-state militias and terrorist organizations, bringing in 38 percent of their revenue, according to a new study released by Interpol and researchers on global organized crime.

Vivaldi - C minor recorder concerto (RV441) - Bolette Roed & Arte dei Suonatori

Canada’s Donna Strickland, of the University of Waterloo, becomes the third woman to win a Nobel for physics

Arthur Ashkin of Bell Laboratories in the United States won half of the 2018 prize for inventing “optical tweezers” while Strickland shares the remainder with Frenchman Gerard Mourou, who also has U.S. citizenship, for work on high-intensity lasers.

Das Bad, Häutung Bellevue (1988) - Heidi Bucher (Adelheid Hildegard Müller)

Heidi Bucher’s artistic legacy, is concurrently a visionary and aesthetic testimonial, as well as a conceptional liberation from an old, patriarchal affected world.

The FCC in December handed ISPs sweeping new powers to recast how Americans use the internet

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said on Sunday the Trump Administration was ignoring “millions of Americans who voiced strong support for net neutrality rules” while California, which is “home to countless start-ups, tech giants and nearly 40 million consumers - will not allow a handful of power brokers to dictate sources for information or the speed at which websites load.”

China’s provinces are secretly building coal plants in defiance of the national government

In 2017, plans to cancel or slow construction on 151 planned or underway coal projects were announced. But in many cases, the rules were ignored entirely, and in others, construction plans were simply “delayed” until after 2017. 

Cool polymer paint saves on air conditioning

Air conditioning accounts for 10% of global energy consumption. Now researchers at Columbia University and Argonne National Laboratory in the US have produced a polymer “paint” capable of cooling surfaces to around 6 °C below ambient temperatures without using any energy at all. 

#DearCatalonia

Write letters to the Catalan politicians and civic movement activists who have been imprisoned for their political beliefs or actions.

The possibility of faster than light travel

We see them all the time in the best science fiction stories — ships with warp drives that make it possible for the characters to explore new planets and new galaxies. These crafts would go even faster than the speed of light except, if general relativity taught us anything, it’s that nothing can exceed the speed of light. Right? After all, light has no mass and thus it can move at 299,792,458 meters per second.

Christine Blasey Ford’s use of the word “sequela” wasn’t accidental

In Blasey Ford’s case, the originating trauma she’s referring to is what she saw as Kavanaugh’s attempt to rape her, while drunk, with his friend Mark Judge watching and jumping in to participate. She describes making eye contact with Judge in the hopes he’d help her while, she said, Kavanaugh groped at her clothes and was deterred only by her one-piece bathing suit and his inebriation.

Artist Candice Breitz Called Out a Düsseldorf Museum for Its Male-Dominated Show. More Than 1,000 People Agreed With Her *

The letter sharply criticizes the exhibition, organized by curators Florian Waldvogel and Alain Bieber, for including work by 12 male artists, three collectives (one of which is all male), and two women. Originally, there was only one female artist on the list, but British artist Suzanne Treister was added after an initial outcry on social media about the gender disparity. 

* Surely much more dozens of thousands will agree with her.

The decline in Facebook usage is a symbol of a corrupt internet

Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon now have employee camps and internal discontent to worry about. We went from over-sharing to over-consuming to not caring at all. 

Helena Almeida (1934 – 25 September 2018)

Almeida used shutters or blinds which transformed into paintings. Her goal is to break down the ideas of a painting. 

Geta Brătescu, Romanian multidisciplinary artist, has died, aged 92

Brătescu’s artistic practice included performances, drawings, textiles, films, installations, photography and printmaking. 

Is contemporary art the kale of the art world?

In fact, if one truly wishes to understand many diverse cultures, the place to start is with their respective histories, not the contemporary art of an ever more homogenous world. 

European Court: Parliamentarian Allowances Are ‘Personal’

The European Parliament has no obligation to tell the public what its 751 members do with their tens of millions of Euros annually in tax-free allowances, according to a verdict released Tuesday by the European Court of Justice (EC).

Japan developing supersonic glide bombs to defend Senkaku Islands

The ministry is promoting the deployment of surface-to-ship guided missile units on Okinawa’s Miyako and Ishigaki islands in response to the Chinese military, which has stepped up its activities in the East China Sea, including waters around the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands.

China unilaterally declared the ADIZ over the waters in 2013, a declaration that stoked concern at the time but which has largely been ignored by Japan and the United States.

“GAN-ism”

“Because they create instant gratification even if you have no deeper knowledge of how they work and how to control them, they currently attract charlatans and attention seekers who ride on that novelty wave,” 

Planet Earth Wobbles As It Spins, and Now Scientists Know Why

The melting of the Greenland ice sheet was a particularly important contributor, the researchers found. That's because Greenland has released a large amount of water that was once locked up on land into the oceans, where its mass has been redistributed, 

Jorge Peixinho - "Deux Pièces Meublées"

Over half of Dutch bishops shielded priest-abusers

A sensational new report on sexual abuse in the Netherlands claims over half of the bishops in the country from 1945-2010 were involved in either covering up abuse or abusing children themselves.

Pussy Riot activist in hospital after being poisoned

Over a period of two hours “he got worse exponentially”, Veronika Nikulshina, a member of Pussy Riot who is in a relationship with Verzilov, told Meduza. “First his sight, then his ability to speak, then even his ability to walk.”

"Lama" Ogyen Kunzang Dorje/Ogyen Kunzang Choling Community: kidnapping of children, torture, sexual abuse, fraud, falsification of documents, money laundering, and tax evasion

Litigation has been pending against Robert S. in Belgium since Livia and others filed suit in 1997. However, the wheels of the Belgian court system grind slowly, and the group of accusers have been almost helpless against Robert S.’s team of lawyers. Though new accusations have been added to the file over the years, the proceedings only began to really move again in 2015, when Ben took over the reins and began mobilising the various participants. The file contains accusations of over 170 crimes, including kidnapping of children, torture, sexual abuse, fraud, falsification of documents, money laundering, and tax evasion.

In September 2016, Robert S. was convicted in abstentia by a Brussels court in the first instance, and given a four-year suspended sentence. Now 76 years old, he did not appear in court, citing health reasons. He stayed in his villa in Spain and sent eight lawyers in his place, recalls Ben. The accusers were able to pay their lawyer twelve thousand euros thanks to a crowdfunding campaign. Despite the meagre sentence, Robert S. appealed. Almost twenty years have passed since the first claims were filed, and no end is in sight. There is still no news as to when the appeal will be heard.

Ben has had to undergo a long and painful process. He had to break out of the mental prison that he grew up in, and had no opportunities, no money, no social insurance and no basic education. Many former members are in the same position. Any money that they had was donated to the OKC, leaving them with no savings

The collapse of the European Union

The European Parliament just endorsed the article 11 (or the "Link Tax"). "Union" is just a word that, in the present situation, is no more than a joke: UE is divised as it was never before. As the US is no longer the "security umbrella" of Europe, we start to realise the the enemy is now inside doors. Never mind whats the "eurocrates" do vote - even if they may be  sometimes allright: the European Union is fatted to collapse and the European Parliament to disappear. We saw the powerful lobbies pushing many european regulations; we saw huge fines for ones (Google) and blind eyes for others (Facebook's unremovable "apps" inside the system of the devices); we realised that, even with the elected European Parliament and despite all the rhetorics,  the "real" citizens were the very last concern for the "eurocrates". "Eurocrates" that still bullying the british, because they voted to abandon the wreck called European Union (where the real "union" literally lacks). Today you voted against the link. Even if there are three links (*) in this article, it is my own writing, basically to tell you that your vote was completely wrong and may prevert the internet, and, if it happens, perhaps the European Union  will disappear for good of our internet. (anyway, some day it will collapse for any or many different reasons, not least because European Union is allowing Spain to continue holding Catalonia's political prisoners. In the other side, UK, that is now leaving this "club" of totalitarians and corrupts, did allow Scotland's referendum - what a difference of civilizations!)

(* actually four more one)

How Russia is Tormenting Political Prisoners Sentsov and Kolchenko

Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg  Sentsov and activist Sasha Kolchenko were both detained in occupied Crimea on May 10, 2014. They were accused of plotting terrorist acts, taken to Russia and convicted. Kolchenko was sentenced to 10 years in prison and Sentsov – 20 on fabricated charges and based on testimonies given under tortures.

Two other Ukrainians – Gennadiy Afanasiev and Oleksiy Chirniy – were arrested with Sentsov and Kolchenko. Afanasiev was released in a 2016 prisoner exchange, and Chirniy is still in a penal colony in Magadan.

"I no longer believe that I will soon walk free and that we will all live happily in Kyiv,” Kaplan quoted Sentsov as writing in a letter he sent her from prison.

Trump Administration Wants to Make It Easier to Release Methane Into Air

The Trump administration, taking its third major step this year to roll back federal efforts to fight climate change, is preparing to make it significantly easier for energy companies to release methane into the atmosphere.

Constança Capdeville - Momento I

Air pollution causes ‘huge’ reduction in intelligence

It found that high pollution levels led to significant drops in test scores in language and arithmetic, with the average impact equivalent to having lost a year of the person’s education.

“Aggregation: One Thousand Boats Show” - Yayoi Kusama

At Kusama’s 1963 “Aggregation: One Thousand Boats Show” at New York’s Gertrude Stein Gallery, Warhol allegedly told her how impressed he was with the work, which covered the floor, walls, and ceiling with a repeated photograph of the exhibition’s only sculpture. Fast-forward three years later, and the Pop art legend installed Cow wallpaper at Leo Castelli. “Andy picked up what I did and copied it for a show!” Kusama said.

Russia joins forces with China in largest war games since Soviet era

With 300,000 soldiers, 36,000 vehicles, 1,000 aircraft and 80 ships, the Vostok exercises in eastern Russia will be even bigger than the USSR's 1981 Zapad training, according to defence ministry claims. They will last a week and take place across nine training grounds as well as in the Sea of Japan and near the Bering Strait.

New study raises red flags on tax haven role in environmental destruction

Tax havens – and the financial secrecy they provide – may bolster industries tied to Amazon deforestation and the unsustainable management of natural resources, a new study has found.

Ocean Cleanup project sails out to sweep Pacific plastic

A supply ship towing a long floating boom designed to corral ocean plastic has set sail from San Francisco for a test run ahead of a trip to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Alien Life Could Exist on Worlds Overflowing with Water

Red dwarfs are dimmer than our own sun, but if planets are close enough to the star, they could, theoretically, have water on their surfaces and meet the conditions for habitability. 

The dark side of creativity: Depression + anxiety x madness = genius?

"The sun began to set - suddenly the sky turned blood red," he wrote. "I stood there trembling with anxiety - and I sensed an endless scream passing through nature."

Can the EU actually protect itself against Russia?

The EU itself is becoming weaker rather than stronger amid rising nationalism and populism, and even those countries that favor a stronger, more united Europe — namely France and Germany — disagree over who should lead it. Europe’s more realistic politicians — including Merkel — understand this, which is why they have emphasized the need for continuing trans-Atlantic cooperation on security and other issues, and cautioned against precipitating a decisive break.

Atlanticism has long been a convenient myth

“Atlantic” designates not a real set of values so much as an empty form that can be filled with whatever meaning its organisers want: liberal democracy, the diplomatic partnership between the US and Europe, or the simple continuation of structures set up after the second world war and not redefined since.

Why is glyphosate all over our food?

Because according to current EU rules, Monsanto & Co. can keep their industry studies secret – studies which independent experts could potentially use to show the substance is carcinogenic, if they had access to them. If there is proof a substance could cause cancer, the EU wouldn't allow it on the European market. Now the Commission wants to increase transparency in our food system. It’s proposing new rules which could force industry to disclose its secret studies. But industry is pushing back hard, and as a result, the new rules could be rendered meaningless, or worse: they could leave us with even less information than we have access to now. 

Hidden but not forgotten: Int’l Day of the Disappeared shines light on Tibet’s dark prison secrets

Tibetans and Uyghurs who defend their culture, Chinese dissidents and activists in Hong Kong are all at risk under Chinese Communist Party rule. Official state figures reveal a conviction rate of 99.93 percent; of the 1.16 million people placed on trial last year, Chinese courts returned a guilty verdict for all but 825 of them.

Like Tashi Wangchuk, many of these people will have never have committed a recognisable crime. His charge, “inciting separatism”, is one of a number of catch-all “state security crimes” contained in the Chinese penal code.

...

a Tibetan monk named Thardhod Gyaltsen was sentenced to 18 years in prison after a police raid allegedly found him to be in possession of images and recordings of the Dalai Lama.

Händel: sonata HWV 367 | D. Castello: Sonata seconda | Vivaldi: from concerto for 2 violins RV 522 -- Lucie Horsch, recorders / Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya, harpsichord

Arctic Wintertime Sea Ice Extent Is Among Lowest On Record

The Arctic has gone through repeated warm episodes this winter, with temperatures climbing more than 40 degrees above average in some regions. The North Pole even experienced temperatures above the freezing point for a few days in February.