Stop the Monsanto frankenseed factory

Monsanto's extending its power over the globe, with a massive new frankenseed factory in Argentina. Sofía Gatica and local neighbours have spoken out, and she has received death threats and a brutal beating. The threat is urgent -- let's stand with them and stop the plant.

Monsanto manufactures the genetically modified seeds that, when combined with toxic pesticides, create the devastating 'monocultures' -- where nothing grows but a single plant -- that increasingly cover our planet. Now they plan to build one of the world's largest GM seed factories in Malvinas.

Volgograd rocked by suicide bombing

Russian media reports, quoting law-enforcement sources, said that the explosion happened after a police officer tried to stop a suspicious young woman near security gates installed to prevent guns and explosives being taken inside the station. Security officials expressed hope that the bomber would be soon identified.

Soldiers found an unexploded grenade at the scene, Vladimir Markin, an investigative committee spokesman, told the news agency RIA. He said the metal frames installed at the entrances of all Russian railway stations and airports – a security measure often ridiculed in the Russian media – had prevented more casualties. A train from Moscow was due to arrive half an hour after the explosion took place.

Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, is a railway hub on the route connecting European Russia with central Asia. It acts as a gateway to the Caucasus, and is 600 miles from Sochi, the Black Sea city where the Olympics are scheduled to start on 7 February. Russian authorities have insisted there will be no security threats to the event, despite the city lying just west of the restive North Caucasus region. In July Doku Umarov, leader of the remaining Chechen jihadist groups, warned that militants would try sabotage the Games.

VW Camper

The last ever Volkswagen "Type 2" - more commonly known as the VW Camper, kombi or bus - rolls off the production line on December 31.

It is being retired after 64 years in continuous production because it cannot be adapted to meet modern safety regulations.

Kepler

Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion

Are biofuels worse than fossil fuels?

environmentalists say biofuels made from some food crops contribute more greenhouse gases than the fossil fuels they are designed to replace

Jailed Pussy Riot members could be freed

Legislation set to be passed by Duma could also grant amnesty to Greenpeace activists awaiting trial on hooliganism charges

Protestors Block Fracking Site

With Giant Wind Turbine Blade

3 Countries That Are Bailing on Climate Action

Japan isn't the only industrialized country at Warsaw walking away from previously stated climate goals and attracting criticism for throwing a spanner in the works, an issue also explored here in Grist. Australia and Canada are emerging as strong opponents of more aggressive climate action and are likely to come up short on their commitments to reduce their emissions.

'Lawrence of Arabia' Star Dies

O'Toole was one of the most gifted performers of his generation, rising to fame almost with his starring role in "Lawrence of Arabia" and appearing in a variety of screen classics like, "Beckett," "The Lion in Winter," "My Favorite Year," "The Last Emperor" — and cult favorites like, "What's New Pussycat," "The Ruling Class," and "The Stunt Man."

Pope defends criticism of capitalism

Pope Francis says trickle-down economics do not help the poor

("Trickle-down economics" and the "trickle-down theory" are terms in United States politics to refer to the idea that tax breaks or other economic benefits provided by government to businesses and upper income levels will benefit poorer members of society by improving the economy as a whole)

Stories to move people

I want my stories to move people — I don’t care if they’re men or women or children. I want my stories to be something about life that causes people not to say, “Oh, isn’t that the truth,” but to feel some kind of reward from the writing. And that doesn’t mean that it was to have a happy ending or anything — but just that everything the story tells moves [you] in such a way that you feel you’re a different person when you finish.

Nadir Afonso (December 4, 1920 – December 11, 2013)

Nadir Afonso, (December 4, 1920 – December 11, 2013) was a geometric abstractionist painter. Formally trained in architecture, which he practiced early in his career with Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer, Nadir Afonso later studied painting in Paris and became one of the pioneers in Kinetic art, working alongside Victor Vasarely, Fernand Léger, Auguste Herbin, and André Bloc.

As a theorist of his own geometry-based aesthetics, published in several books, Nadir Afonso defends that art is purely objective and ruled by laws that treat art not as an act of imagination but of observation, perception, and form manipulation.

Stop The Trans-Pacific Partnership

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a huge, ultra-secret deal among twelve major countries that would give corporations unprecedented power — allowing them to use new global tribunals to sue our governments for passing laws that protect us, but reduce their profits! 

11.12.13

Ukraine Famine-Genocide

The Ukrainian Famine was dreadful famine premeditated by the Soviet Union, headed by Joseph Stalin during 1932-1933, as a means to undermine the nationalistic pride of the Ukrainian people. It served to control and further oppress the Ukrainian people by denying them the basic vital essentials they needed to survive. The Ukrainian Famine is also known as Holodomor, meaning “death by hunger.”

Nelson Mandela dies aged 95

Nelson Mandela, the towering figure of Africa's struggle for freedom and a hero to millions around the world, has died at the age of 95.

The TPP is a threat to democracy

The TPP is a threat to democracy, undermining national sovereignty, workers' rights, environmental protections and Internet freedom.