By Ali Asgary, York University, Canada | – The strong and disastrous earthquake that shook southern Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6 drew attention to search-and-rescue (SAR) operations. The media’s attention raised familiar questions around SAR, including who conducts SAR, what formal and informal SAR teams are available, and how long trapped people are able […]
Israel enters a dangerous period – public protests swell over Netanyahu’s plan to limit the power of the Israeli Supreme Court
By Dov Waxman, University of California, Los Angeles | – (The Conversation) – Proposals by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government to radically diminish the power and independence of Israel’s judiciary sparked demonstrations across the country starting in January 2023. An estimated 200,000 Israelis took part in protests on Feb. 11 and another 100,000 in […]
Big Oil’s trade group allies outspent Clean Energy Groups by a Whopping 27x, with Billions in Ads and Lobbying to keep Fossil Fuels Flowing
By Christian Downie, Australian National University and Robert Brulle, Brown University | – (The Conversation) – You’ve probably seen ads promoting gas and oil companies as the solutions to climate change. They’re meant to be inspiring and hopeful, with scenes of a green, clean future. But shiny ads are not all these companies do to […]
Earthquake in Turkey and Syria: how Satellites can help rescue Efforts
By Emilie Bronner, Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES) | – In disasters like the 7.8 magnitude earthquake and 7.5-magnitude aftershock that struck Syria and Turkey on February 6, 2023, international cooperation on satellite imaging plays a crucial role in the rescue and recovery efforts. Such data enables humanitarian aid to better deliver water and food […]
Has the Era of Low-Cost Food Ended? Further Food Price Rises could cause up to 1 Million additional Deaths in 2023
By Peter Alexander, The University of Edinburgh | – (The Conversation) – Food prices in the UK are at their highest for 15 years and something similar is happening in almost every country around the world. The situation is set to get worse as high fertiliser prices, and resulting lower yields from reduced use, may […]
Turkey-Syria earthquake: Assad blames west as agencies struggle to get aid to his desperate people
By Scott Lucas, University College Dublin | – (The Conversation) – It didn’t take long for Syria’s Assad regime to seek political and economic benefit from the devastation of an earthquake. As emergency services were reaching victims of the 7.8-magnitude tremor on February 6, regime-linked organisations demanded governments “immediately end the siege and unilateral coercive […]
Twitter Blackout in Turkey amid Earthquake Rescue Operations: The Dangers of Microblogging Outages during Disasters
By Anjana Susarla, Michigan State University | – (The Conversation) – Twitter was blocked in Turkey on Feb. 8, 2023, according to internet monitoring service NetBlocks. The outage came amid the massive rescue operation and humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of the earthquakes in southern Turkey and northern Syria two days earlier. Access to Twitter […]
Iranian Protesters turn to TikTok to get their Message past government Censors
By Whitney Shylee May, The University of Texas at Austin | – Images of the protests that followed the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Zhina Amini on Sept. 16, 2022, in Iran and reports of the government’s brutal crackdown have circulated widely on social media. This flow of information comes despite efforts by the Iranian regime […]
In Devastating Earthquake, Many Turkish Buildings Tragically Pancaked – But Why?
By Mark Quigley, The University of Melbourne | – (The Conversation) – A pair of huge earthquakes have struck in Turkey, leaving more than 3,000 people dead and unknown numbers injured or displaced. The first quake, near Gaziantep close to the Syrian border, measured 7.8 in magnitude and was felt as far away as the […]