Head of education, campaigns and organising for the General Federation of Trade Unions HENRY FOWLER explains why it is launching a fund to support trades councils and give them access to a new range of courses and resources
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LA fires show the human cost of climate-driven ‘whiplash’ between wet and dry extremes
Addressing new climate challenges will require co-ordinated efforts by governments and local authorities for both drought and flood risks — and it’s people power that will be key to getting policy implemented, writes DOUG SPECHT
Los Angeles Fire Department's Dylan Casey and Mike Alvarez work on extinguishing a hot spot in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Calif., January 12, 2025
While working people face austerity, arms companies enjoy massive government contracts, writes ARTHUR WEST, exposing how politicians exaggerate the Russian threat to justify spending on a sector that has the lowest employment multiplier
ANYA COOK reports from the Newcastle citizens’ assembly, where over 240 people gathered to create a people’s manifesto ahead of next year’s local elections – part of former mayor Jamie Driscoll’s Majority movement
While claiming to target fraud, Labour’s snooping Bill strips benefit recipients of privacy rights and presumption of innocence, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE, warning that algorithms with up to 25 per cent error rates could wrongfully investigate and harass millions of vulnerable people
Real security comes from having a secure base at home — Keir Starmer’s reckless and renegade decision to get Britain deeper into the proxy war against Russia is as dangerous as it is wasteful, writes SALLY SPIERS
The plan is to stigmatise and destabilise South Africa in preparation for breaking it up while creating a confused and highly racialised atmosphere around immigration in the US to aid in denying rights to non-white refugees, explains EMILE SCHEPERS
ALAN SIMPSON warns that Starmer’s triangulation strategy will fail just as New Labour’s did, with each rightward move by Labour pushing Tories further right
OCTOBER to April is normally considered to be the wet season in California, yet this January, the region is experiencing some of the most devastating fires it’s ever seen.
As of January 10, five major fires in and around Los Angeles have burned over 29,053 acres, leading to the evacuation of more than 180,000 people, the destruction of over 2,000 buildings (mainly homes), and an estimated damage cost of at least $52 billion (£42.5bn). Ten lives have been lost, and these numbers are expected to rise as the fires continue to burn.
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The biodiversity summit in Colombia showed national governments are struggling to address the complexity of challenges that need to be overcome if we’re to preserve the natural world, writes HARRIET BULKELEY
The government’s reliance on unproven and short-termist technology won’t deliver answers to today’s energy crisis, warns MARK MASLIN
This much-maligned insect’s numbers are dramatically down this summer. SEIRIAN SUMNER explains what’s happened to them, and why ecologists are calling for assistance from the public
A new study has found that forests destroyed by wildfires emit carbon long after the flames die, with implications for post-fire management, write NATASCHA KLJUN and JULIA KELLY