As concentrations of carbon dioxide reach record levels, climate change experts warn that hundreds of millions of people will find themselves displaced in the next century due to desertification, floods, and rising seas. [The Guardian] The geopolitics behind the Syrian conflict and the instability in the Arab world. [The Guardian] After severe conflict in northern [...]
About Rebecca Silus
Rebecca Silus was born in Minneapolis and received her MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2008. She lives in Berlin, where she works as an artist, editor, and author.Press Review: Labor laws changed in Bangladesh & Genocide in Guatemala
Bangladesh’s government votes to allow garment workers to form trade unions without approval from their bosses. [The Guardian] Rios Montt is found guilty of genocide in Guatemala and sentenced to 80 years in prison. [Huffington Post] Over 5,000 refugees displaced by violence in Myanmar have been evacuated to higher ground in preparation for Cyclone Mahasen. [...]
Press Review: Malaria in the UK & Preventing Landgrabs with Mobile Technology
Despite a statistical decrease in global poverty, the numbers aren’t as positive when China is removed from the picture. [CNN] Sexual violence in Syria is widespread, but international aid for the survivors of rape is non-existent. [Huffington Post] As the UK’s climate warms, health experts urge the British government to take immediate public health precautions [...]
Press Review: Arctic Ocean rapidly acidifying & Fighting desertification in the Sahel
Combating desertification in the Sahel is seen as a solution to the eradication poverty, hunger, and terrorism. [BBC] An Israeli airstrike near Damascus heightens fears that Syria’s civil war will expand outside its borders. [Washington Post] A former garment factory worker turn labor rights lawyer talks about the positive influence that multinational corporations and retailers [...]
Press Review: Mali faces food shortages & EU votes to ban pesticides linked to bee deaths
Instability, displacement, and rising food prices threaten Mali with severe food shortages. [The Guardian] By forcing the government to uphold indigenous land rights, Canada’s First Nations leaders hope to protect the country’s rich natural resources from industry. [The Guardian] Improved healthcare and education in northern Ghana help end the ritualized killings of children born with disabilities. [...]
Press Review: 6.5 million displaced in 2012 & Drug-resistant malaria spreads from Cambodia
A new report by the Norwegian Refugee Council finds that 29 million people were living in internal displacement in 2012. [BBC] Somalia’s road to recovery emphasizes the need for creative solutions to help return internally displaced people to their homes. [The Guardian] More than 1.4 million people are currently displaced and reliant on food aid [...]
Press Review: Afghan schoolgirls poisoned by gas & Genocide trial suspended in Guatemala
Brazilian authorities fail to protect one of the Amazon’s most endangered tribes after refusing to evict illegal loggers and settlers from tribal land. [BBC] The successful fight against polio stands as an example of the power of global initiatives. More than 10 million people are thought to have been benefitted from mass vaccination campaigns. [The [...]
Press Review: Burma Police allow violent riots against minorities & Executions on the rise in Taiwan
A video of riots in Burma shows police standing by as Buddhist rioters violently attack minority Muslims. [BBC] Human rights activists in Taiwan express horror at the government’s increasing use of the death penalty in recent months. [BBC] At least 185 people are dead after fighting between the Nigerian government and Islamist extremists in the [...]
Press Review: Appalling conditions in Mali refugee camps & Genocide trials begin in Guatemala
Doctors Without Borders call conditions in Mali refugee camps “appalling.” Seventy-thousand refugees are currently living in the camps. [CNN] Genocide trials in Guatemala investigate killings and massive human rights violations during the 1980s as well as the involvement of the United States. [CNN] A four-year clean up project hopes to undo the devastating effects of [...]
Press Review: EU human trafficking on the rise & Deforestation in Ethiopia
A new report from the EU finds that human trafficking in the European Union is on the rise, with 23,600 known victims in the past three years. [NPR] Ethiopia turns to its forest communities to help reverse the deforestation that has claimed almost all of the country’s tree cover. [The Guardian] Tributes are paid to [...]
Press Review: UNICEF forced to abandon Syrian refugee camps & Extreme weather harder to predict
The president of Refugees International assesses the situation at refugee camps on the Turkish border to Syria. [Huffington Post] Simple geolocation technology helps nonprofits reduce infant and maternal mortality. [The Guardian] Extreme weather caused by global warming is getting harder to predict. [The Guardian] After receiving less than 20% of the funds it requested, UNICEF [...]
Press Review: First international arms treaty passed & Ecuador auctions rainforest to big oil companies
The U.N. General Assembly had voted to create the first international arms treaty, which will make it more difficult to sell weapons to governments and groups that engage in war crimes and genocide. [Washington Post] Three million hectares of untouched Amazonian rainforest in Ecuador are set to be auction off to Chinese oil companies. Indigenous [...]
