3 d. ago Trump and his ilk imagine a world without international law – but they will not achieve it | Philippe Sands

History shows us that the creation of international rules and institutions is followed by their partial destruction, and a reconstruction that builds on what came beforeNineteen forty-five was a pivotal moment in international law, marking the founding of the United Nations and the International Military Tribunal to investigate war crimes committed during the second world war. Eighty years on, it is increasingly being said that we are living through a moment of great change, towards a world that is without such law.In September, the Financial Times published an editorial headlined A world without rules. That view was premised on two incidents: Israel’s launch of a missile strike on a building that hosted Hamas officials in Qatar; and the flight of 19 Russian drones into Polish airspace. This flouting of the previous “rules-based order”, the FT said, was now producing “a kind of anarchy and a proliferation of violence”.Philippe Sands is professor of law at University College LondonTh...

Politics

4 d. ago ‘Without our expertise, mistakes get made’: the Cop30 campaign to give workers a voice

In this week’s newsletter: The green transition’s effect on workers is a hot topic, as advocates push for those working at the frontlines to have a say in climate policy• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereWe know that to avert the worst effects of the climate crisis, the world must reshape fundamental aspects of society – from how we eat and move around to how we turn on the lights and build homes. The transformation of energy, manufacturing, construction, agriculture and transport is creating millions of new jobs. But it’s also disrupting old roles in polluting industries.The green transition’s effect on workers around the world is a hot topic at this year’s Cop30 climate conference here in Belém, Brazil. More on what labour and climate justice advocates are demanding, after today’s headlines.$170,000 a minute: why Saudi Arabia is the biggest blocker of climate actionClimate crisis or a warning from God? Iranians desperate for answers as water dries upFlo...

Politics

4 d. ago The Congo basin may be the world’s most important rainforest – why is it the least researched?

It is the second-largest tropical forest on Earth, and one of the most vital carbon sinks, but is losing out when it comes to climate policy and fundingIn October 2023, leaders, scientists and policymakers from three of the world’s great rainforest regions – the Amazon, the Congo, and the Borneo-Mekong basins – assembled in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. They were there to discuss one urgent question: how to save the planet’s last great tropical forests from accelerating destruction.For those present, the question was existential. But to their dismay, almost no one noticed. “There was very little acknowledgment that this was happening, outside of the Congo basin region,” says Prof Simon Lewis, a lecturer at the University of Leeds and University College London, and co-chair of the Congo Basin Science Initiative (CBSI). Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago The rainforest the world forgot: the Congo basin is the second largest on Earth, so why is it being neglected?

It is one of the world’s most vital carbon sinks, but this tropical rainforest is losing out when it comes to climate policy and fundingIn October 2023, leaders, scientists and policymakers from three of the world’s great rainforest regions – the Amazon, the Congo, and the Borneo-Mekong basins – assembled in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. They were there to discuss one urgent question: how to save the planet’s last great tropical forests from accelerating destruction.For those present, the question was existential. But to their dismay, almost no one noticed. “There was very little acknowledgment that this was happening, outside of the Congo basin region,” says Prof Simon Lewis, a lecturer at the University of Leeds and University College London, and co-chair of the Congo Basin Science Initiative (CBSI). Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Trump backer and financier partner accused over Bond Street Tube 'racist assault' no longer in UK, say police

British Transport Police issue update on investigation after family were racially abused and assaulted in central London

Events

5 d. ago Trump backer and financier partner accused of Bond Street Tube racist assault no longer in UK, say police

British Transport Police issue update on investigation after family were racially abused and assaulted in central London

Events

5 d. ago Couple accused over Bond Street Tube 'racist assault' no longer in UK, say police

British Transport Police issue update on investigation after family were racially abused and assaulted in central London

Events

7 d. ago Indigenous lands must be recognised as part of climate policy, says Brazilian minister

Sonia Guajajara tells Cop30 the rights of traditional communities must be maintained in the face of exploitation by the mining industryCountries must recognise the demarcation of Indigenous lands as a key component of tackling the climate crisis, and civil society must help in the defence of such lands against mining interests, Brazil’s minister for Indigenous peoples has said.Sonia Guajajara, a longtime Indigenous activist before being appointed a minister by President Lula da Silva, said: “[Among the goals of the Cop30 summit is] a request that countries recognise the demarcation of Indigenous lands as climate policy.” Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Trump's wannabe spokesman seen for first time since 'racist' assault

Trump's wannabe spokesman seen for first time since 'racist' assault  Daily Mail

Politics

8 d. ago What time is Six Days and Seven Nights on TV? Where to watch classic Harrison Ford castaway film this week

The classic adventure-comedy is back on the box this week 📺

Culture

1 week ago Maga influencer once eyed as Trump’s press secretary wanted for racist assault

Maga influencer once eyed as Trump’s press secretary wanted for racist assault  The Independent

Politics

1 week ago Trump supporter and financier named as couple in Bond Street Tube ‘assault and racist abuse’ police appeal

Philip Ostermann and Melissa Rein Lively have been named as the subjects of the British Transport Police appeal

Events

1 week ago With his threat of a $1bn lawsuit against BBC, Trump’s assault on the media goes global

US president’s latest media target comes from across the pond as he continues to scrutinize coverage he does not likeDonald Trump has, for years, used legal threats and lawsuits to pressure news companies who put out coverage he does not like. After his return to power, a string of US broadcasters and tech firms have paid tens of millions of dollars to settle such cases.The president has now gone global with this campaign, crossing the pond to threaten the BBC with a $1bn lawsuit over an episode of the Panorama documentary program that aired more than a year ago. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Trump’s assault on BBC a ‘threat to national interest’, warns Lib Dem leader – latest updates

Nigel Farage says that US president complained ‘is this how you treat your best ally’ in reference to broadcasterWe have heard from Culture, Media and Sport committee chair Caroline Dinenage, who has suggested that the outgoing BBC director Tim Davie ignored an internal dossier into bias at the BBC (see post at 09.06 for more detail on the dossier).She said Davie “ignored” concerns raised in Michael Prescott’s report over the way the speech by Donald Trump was edited for Panorama.I’m very sad about Tim Davie stepping down. I think he was an effective leader at the BBC.I think he was a great champion for public service media, but there is no escaping the fact that he was very slow to act on this particular issue. But this isn’t the first time and on this particular issue, Michael Prescott’s report, he just didn’t take it seriously until it was too late.I would like to say it has been the privilege of my career to serve as the CEO of BBC News and to work with our brilliant team of jou...

Events

1 week ago Growth in global demand for ‘green’ office buildings slows amid Trump policies

Fall reported by Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors as UN calls for accelerated action in buildings sector to meet global climate goalsThe growth in global demand for “green” office buildings has slowed after Donald Trump’s assault on environmental protection policies caused a slump in interest in the US, according to a survey of construction industry professionals.Building occupiers and investors across North America and South America expressed significantly lower growth in demand for green commercial buildings, a shift that “seems to be in response to a change in US policy focus”, according to a survey of members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). Reported demand across the rest of the world also fell, albeit not as sharply. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Trump’s assault on voting intensifies as midterms loom:‘a wholesale attack on free and fair elections’

White House is manipulating voting system, from redistricting to rule changes, to affect midtermsA year out from the 2026 midterms, with Republicans feeling the blows from a string of losses in this week’s elections, Donald Trump and his allies are mounting a multipronged attack on almost every aspect of voting in the United States and raising what experts say are troubling questions about the future of one of the world’s oldest democracies.While Democratic leaders continue to invest their hopes in a “blue wave” to overturn Republican majorities in the House and Senate next year, Trump and some prominent supporters have sought to discredit the possibility that Republicans could lose in a fair fight and are using that premise to justify demands for a drastically different kind of electoral system. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Trump’s assault on voting intensifies as midterms loom: ‘a wholesale attack on free and fair elections’

White House is manipulating voting system, from redistricting to rule changes, to affect midtermsA year out from the 2026 midterms, with Republicans feeling the blows from a string of losses in this week’s elections, Donald Trump and his allies are mounting a multipronged attack on almost every aspect of voting in the United States and raising what experts say are troubling questions about the future of one of the world’s oldest democracies.While Democratic leaders continue to invest their hopes in a “blue wave” to overturn Republican majorities in the House and Senate next year, Trump and some prominent supporters have sought to discredit the possibility that Republicans could lose in a fair fight and are using that premise to justify demands for a drastically different kind of electoral system. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Students and faculty at over 100 US universities protest against Trump’s attacks

Student, national and local groups across US organized day of action to condemn Trump’s assault on academic freedomStudents, faculty and staff at more than 100 campuses across the US rallied against the Trump administration’s assault on higher education on Friday – the first in a planned series of nationwide, coordinated protests that organizers hope will culminate in large-scale students and workers’ strikes next May Day and a nationwide general strike in May 2028.The day of action was organized under the banner of Students Rise Up, a network of students including both local groups and national organizations like Sunrise Movement and Campus Climate Network. Students were joined by faculty and educational workers’ unions like the American Association of University Professors and Higher Education Labor United. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Harrison Ford says Trump’s assault on climate policy ‘scares the shit out of me’

Indiana Jones star calls US president one of history’s greatest criminals for attacks on science and boosting of fossil fuelsHarrison Ford has said that Donald Trump’s assault upon measures to address the climate crisis “scares the shit out of me” and makes the US president among the worst criminals in history.In a blistering attack upon the president, Ford told the Guardian that Trump “doesn’t have any policies, he has whims. It scares the shit out of me. The ignorance, the hubris, the lies, the perfidy. [Trump] knows better, but he’s an instrument of the status quo and he’s making money, hand over fist, while the world goes to hell in a handbasket.” Continue reading...

Events