Category Archives: World

08Aug/22

Kenya election: four ways to better safeguard and defend democracy

Nic Cheeseman, University of Birmingham and Petra Alderman, University of Birmingham

More elections are being held than ever – but the number of questionable polls being held around the world is fuelling fears of a “global democratic recession”, whereby the will of the people is not reflected in the results being announced. Two countries with elections coming up in the next few days and months, where opposition parties or international bodies are worried the process will not be fair, are Kenya, which goes to the polls on August 8, and Brazil, which votes on October 2.

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03Aug/22

Killing prisoners for transplants: Forced organ harvesting in China

Ali Iqbal, McMaster University and Aliya Khan, McMaster University

Organ transplantation is a life-saving therapy for millions of patients and one of the greatest successes of modern medicine. However, a limited supply of donor organs, paired with a massive demand for transplants, has fuelled the global organ trafficking industry which exploits poor, underprivileged and persecuted members of society as a source of organs to be purchased by wealthy transplant tourists.

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31Jul/22

Every Briton should plant 650 trees to offset their yearly CO2 emissions, estimated at 8 tonnes

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are the main cause of climate change, evidenced these days in record high temperatures, forest fires and persistent drought across Europe. Reducing these emissions is imperative to stop this progress, and this is what the UN’s Net Zero strategy pursues. According to estimates by Tribaldata, each UK citizen emits, on average, 8 tonnes of CO2e per year, so the commitment to reducing carbon footprint should not only come from governments and companies, but also from citizens, where each should plant 650 trees to fully offset their environmental impact. Continue reading

28Jul/22

Revealed: untold story of the CIA/Stasi double agent abandoned after 22 years of service

Eleni Braat, Utrecht University and Ben de Jong, Leiden University

I was naked, tied to a hard chair with handcuffs. Three or four burly fellows in uniform are standing around me, one of them behind me with a truncheon… ‘Sie sind ein Verräter! [You are a traitor!],’ they snap.

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25Jul/22

Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss? Polling shows party members want her – but the wider voting public would choose him

Paul Whiteley, University of Essex

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are the final two candidates chosen to go head-to-head in the battle to become the next leader of the Conservative party and, therefore, the next prime minister of the UK.

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22Jul/22

Debunking the myth of the ‘evil people smuggler’

Yvonne Su, York University, Canada and Corey Robinson, Durham University

In 2022, the number of forcibly displaced people surpassed 100 million worldwide. Nearly 1.5 million refugees will need resettlement in 2022, but less than one per cent of refugees will be resettled.

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18Jul/22

OPINION: Why is it so hot? Climate change is here

Bob Ward is policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science

Heatwaves are growing in frequency and intensity around the world due to climate change.

Scientists have been warning for some time that the rise in global average temperature, as greenhouse gas levels mount in the atmosphere, is causing an increase in the risks of hot weather.
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18Jul/22

Too hot to sleep? Nights are warming faster than days as Earth heats up

Stephen Burt, University of Reading

Sleeping at the height of summer can sometimes feel impossible. And with gruelling heatwaves becoming more common, the nights can be sweltering, with no cooling breeze to relieve the discomfort. At least you can trust your senses – nights really are getting hotter

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08Jul/22

OPINION: Europe classifying gas and nuclear power as green is greenwashing

Esther Bollendorff and Olivier Vardakoulias are policy experts with Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe.

Earlier this week, the European Parliament adopted the Delegated Act on Taxonomy classifying fossil gas and nuclear as “green” activities for private investors.

This highly controversial act developed by the European Commission, pushed by French President Emmanuel Macron, and supported in early stages by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz illustrates how politics can overrule science.
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