By Julio Godoy* | IDN-InDepth NewsInterview BERLIN (IDN) - Robert Jacobs was born 53 years ago, at the height of the cold war, amidst the then reigning paranoia of nuclear annihilation of humankind. In school, he was eight years old. “We learned about how to survive a nuclear attack. We were told that the key to survival was to always be vigilant in detecting the first signs of a nuclear attack.” 45 years l ...

WARSAW, Poland—The United Nations is holding this year’s climate conference in Warsaw, a city steeped in history. Nicolaus Copernicus, the famous Polish astronomer who first posited that the Earth revolves around the sun and not vice versa, is celebrated here. The Frederic Chopin Airport is named for the brilliant composer who lived here. The pioneer in the science of radiation, Marie Curie, the first woman ...

By Wambi Michael for IPS WARSAW, Nov 21 2013 (IPS) - Hundreds of representatives from various NGOs walked out of the negotiating rooms at the United Nations climate talks in Poland on Thursday in protest against the reluctance by developed nations to commit towards achieving a global climate treaty. Donning white T-shirts with the slogan: “polluters talk, we walk”, the protestors, which included representat ...

According to a study published today in The Guardian by US environment correspondent Suzanne Goldenberg, "Between them, the 90 companies on the list of top emitters produced 63% of the cumulative global emissions of industrial carbon dioxide and methane between 1751 to 2010, amounting to about 914 gigatonne CO2 emissions, according to the research. All but seven of the 90 were energy companies producing oil ...

By Democracy Now! After the Philippines lead climate negotiator, Naderev "Yeb" Saño, delivered an emotional speech to delegates at the U.N. climate summit, he was greeted by youth activists who held up a banner that read, "2012 Bopha 1,067; 2013 Haiyan 10,000+?" As a result, they were banned from the climate conference for their action. We speak with one of of the activists, 23-year-old Clémence Hutin from ...

Meteorologists are calling the typhoon that slammed into the Philippines with 195-mile-an-hour winds on November 8, 2013, the most powerful tropical storm to make landfall on record. Super Typhoon Haiyan had gusts reaching 235 miles per hour and a storm surge swelling as high as 20 feet, so the destruction it left behind matched that of a tornado combined with a tsunami. Three days later, at the opening of ...

WASHINGTON, Nov 15 2013 (IPS) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov revealed a crucial detail Thursday about last week’s nuclear talks with Iran in Geneva that explains much more clearly than previous reports why the meeting broke up without agreement. Lavrov said the United States circulated a draft that had been amended in response to French demands to other members of the six-power P5+1 for approval “ ...

On November 27th & 28th, 2013, the International Uranium Film Festival (IUFF) will make its premiere screening in the United States, starting in the Southwest with Albuquerque, New Mexico (Guild Cinema) highlighting over 40 films from 15 countries which explore not only this radioactive element called “uranium”, but nuclear practices as well. These are documentary films, experimental and animated films, ...

Laureates of the Right Livelihood Award and members of the World Future Council from more than 30 countries hail Greenpeace protests against Gazprom’s Arctic oil drilling as a “service to humanity” Hamburg/Stockholm – 10 November 2013: Today more than 75 laureates of the Right Livelihood Award – often called the “Alternative Nobel Prize“ – and members of the World Future Council called upon the Russian auth ...

By Pierre Klochendler for IPS News - BATTIR, Occupied West Bank, Nov 3 2013 (IPS) - “O green Battir, mother of the air,” Mariam Ma’mmar sings in praise of her village. As the hot season draws to a close, the land – her people’s strength – dries up. Not here in her Battir, where a peaceful form of resistance against the Israeli occupation is taking root. The 5,000 people of Battir pride themselves on their c ...