Emmanuel Valax

Map from the Climate Shift Index of Europe, showing that the current heat wave over much of Western Europe is 4-5 times more likely due to climate change.

A lot of media are covering Europe’s heatwave 🔥 but few are connecting it to the climate crisis.

Tools like the Climate Shift Index show this heatwave is up to 5x 😱 more likely because of climate change. That context matters.

csi.climatecentral.org/climate-shif...

American Democracy Might Not Survive a War With Iran The United States is well down the road to dictatorship. Imagine what Trump would do with a state of war.

U.S. presidents rushing to war seeking the rally ‘round the flag effect is nothing new. What’s different now is who’s running this clown show. Trump and his sycophants may actually see this as a chance to finish wrecking the (inter)national order.

Armed conflict is the most reliable and brutal distraction. Gulf War III would divert attention from the genocide in Palestine, the dismantling of the climate agenda, mass deportations, and tax cuts for the ultra-rich — while justifying the silencing of dissent.

Decolonising Science

Heading to the Netherlands 🇳🇱 next month to wrap up the Young Water Diplomats programme, then join an exciting Decolonising Science PhD course at IHE Delft with @amitangshu.bsky.social and a fantastic teaching team. Any suggestions for things to do are most welcome!

A Cutting French Senator Becomes Trump’s European Nemesis

“The American people are facing one of the great challenges of the 21st century, as great as that confronting the French in 1940, when they had to decide whether to join the Resistance or not.”

You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who is coming to save you?

Groundwater is rapidly declining in the Colorado River Basin, satellite data show As the Colorado River’s reservoirs have declined, even larger amounts of groundwater have been drained from aquifers. Using satellite data, scientists have estimated the vast water losses.

New research shows the depletion of groundwater in the Colorado River Basin far exceeds losses from the river’s reservoirs. Scientists say overpumping is leading to alarmingly rapid declines at a time when climate change is putting growing strains on water supplies. www.latimes.com/environment/...

Cartes sur table : pourquoi l’eau est au cœur de la crise indo-pakistanaise

🇮🇳🇵🇰💧Après quatre jours d’une confrontation militaire qui a fait quelque 70 morts dans les deux pays, l’Inde et le Pakistan ont convenu d’un cessez-le-feu. Derrière cette confrontation se joue un autre conflit encore non résolu : celui de l’accès aux eaux de l’Indus. Explications en vidéo.

Déclaration des villes de Genève et Lausanne sur la situation humanitaire à Gaza Le 7 octobre 2023, nous avons été sidérés et bouleversés par l’horreur de l’attaque terroriste du Hamas. Des massacres qui ont fait plus de 1200 morts et 250 otages, dont une cinquantaine ne sont touj...

🇨🇭 The cities of Geneva and Lausanne have issued a joint declaration condemning the campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people 🇵🇸 and calling on the Swiss Federal Council to take immediate action following months of silence and contradictory positions ⬇️

Looking at what's happening in Palestine and what's happening at the White House and remembering all those commentators and scholars who dismissed settler colonialism as a category of analysis...

Le problème de la transition en France est que c'est un cerveau sans mains.

Des tonnes d'analyses, de prospective, d'observatoires... et aucune attention prêtée au coût réel que cela représente pour les gens qui vont effectivement construire l'écologie de leurs mains.

The #Indus River Treaty of 1960 has long been held up as an exemplar of transboundary #water cooperation, but twice in recent years India has manipulated river flows as a weapon to punish Pakistan in their ongoing conflicts.

Easily distracted? How to improve your attention span Attention spans are shrinking, with research showing the average person's has declined from 2.5 minutes in 2004 to 47 seconds now.

Attention spans are shrinking, with research showing the average person's has declined from 2.5 minutes in 2004 to 47 seconds now.

How are we still prioritising climate issues while fascism and genocide stage the comeback of the century? Do we seriously think science will sway the “great leaders” who are lighting torches under our ivory towers? Isn’t that beyond absurd?

U.S. developing plan to move 1 million Palestinians to Libya, NBC News reports The Trump administration is working on a plan to permanently relocate as much as one million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya, NBC News reported on Friday, citing five people with knowledge of the matter.

A plan to commit crimes against humanity on a mass scale? Apparently not front-page material for either @reuters.com or @apnews.com. Luckily their coverage of Cannes is on point.

NYU denies diploma to student who criticized Israel in commencement speech New York University said it would withhold the diploma of a student who used a graduation speech to condemn Israel’s attacks on Palestinians.

New York University said it would withhold the diploma of a student who used a graduation speech to condemn Israel's attacks on Palestinians.

Palestinians mark Nakba day as fears of displacement grow Palestinians marked Nakba day on Thursday, commemorating the loss of their land after the 1948 war at the birth of the state of Israel, as Israeli military operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank have again displaced hundreds of thousands.

By carrying on with our business as usual, we embody Arendt’s banality of evil. Western governments are not mere bystanders—they are actively aiding and abetting the extreme violence and crimes against humanity unfolding in Palestine. 🇵🇸

Never thought I’d live to see the day the United States became a rogue power trying to subvert international criminal justice. I’m at a loss for words.

Heartening to see more European scholars breaking their silence as millions of civilians in Palestine suffer unspeakable atrocities. What else needs to happen for academia everywhere to take a stance? 🇵🇸

Food security experts warn Gaza at ‘critical risk of famine’ amid Israeli blockade Report by UN-backed consortium of specialists tells of ‘major deterioration’ since its last assessment in October

Intentionally starving a population is a war crime, one we are seeing Israel commit in clear view, now into the 10 week.

I keep calling it "the administration" but it's time to call it "the regime."

« François Mitterrand, le dernier empereur » : les ambivalences d’un président face à la « Françafrique » L’ouvrage dirigé par les historiens Pascal Blanchard et Nicolas Bancel revient sur le passé colonial de cet homme politique majeur du XXᵉ siècle, partisan de l’empire lorsqu’il était ministre de la IVᵉ République et défenseur du pré carré africain de la France en tant que président.

« François Mitterrand, le dernier empereur » : les ambivalences d’un président face à la « Françafrique »

India and Pakistan already sweltering in ‘new normal’ heatwave conditions Temperatures south Asians dread each year arrive early as experts talk of ever shorter transition to summer-like heat

Meanwhile, India has suspended the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan in response to the recent attacks in Kashmir, and the risk of military conflict between the two countries remains high.

L’Afrique à la peine pour défendre ses intérêts face à Donald Trump Le continent n’est pas une priorité pour le président américain, et la politique de Washington, entre guerre commerciale et réduction des aides, risque d’affecter durablement les économies africaines.

L’Afrique à la peine pour défendre ses intérêts face à Donald Trump

🌍 | A sharp piece with a sobering reminder that the real struggle isn’t over aid budgets—it’s against the entire neocolonial development complex that made these cuts feel like an earthquake for the billions that depend on this system… ⬇️

The Peace Corps, under review by DOGE, is said to plan ‘significant’ staff cuts. (Gift Article) The head of a Peace Corps alumni group said he was told the cuts would affect full-time employees, not the volunteers working overseas.

Nothing is sacred anymore.

Panic in Pakistan as India vows to cut off water supply over Kashmir For the first time, India on Wednesday suspended the World Bank-mediated Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, which ensures water for 80% of Pakistani farms.

🇮🇳 🇵🇰 | Since the suspension of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, tensions are escalating quickly. Indian officials now signal that their country may start diverting water via canals in the coming months, while also planning hydroelectric dams that could take 4-7 years to complete. #WaterSky

🇺🇸 🇲🇽 | Looks like there may be reason for cautious optimism that the 1944 US-Mexico water treaty might survive past the October deadline. If successful, this could offer a compelling case study in water diplomacy amid political turbulence. #WaterSky

Le Burkina Faso octroie un nouveau permis d’exploitation d’or à la société russe Nordgold - Jeune Afrique.com Ce permis couvre une superficie de 52,8 km2, pour une production totale attendue estimée à plus de 20,2 tonnes d’or en huit ans.

Burkina Faso has granted a new permit for gold mining to the Russian firm Nordgold for 8 years: www.jeuneafrique.com/1683287/econ...

American Panopticon The Trump administration is pooling data on Americans. Experts fear what comes next.

After finishing The Engineers of Chaos by Giuliano da Empoli last night, reading this piece sent literal chills down my spine.