Today's Liberal News

Inside the CDC whiplash

Workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told POLITICO that they’re grappling with lack of communication from the top, leadership vacancies and stalled progress – and the worry that they’ll soon again be fired. HHS disputes their concerns.

“Inviting the Arsonists”: Indian Climate Activist Slams Fossil Fuel Lobbyists at U.N. Climate Summit

Nations are struggling to reach a final text agreement at the COP30 U.N. climate summit in Belém, Brazil. Decisions are made by consensus at COPs, requiring consent among 192 countries, and the biggest fight over the draft text is the exclusion of a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels. Reportedly Saudi Arabia, China, Russia and India are among those that rejected the roadmap. But more than 30 countries are saying they will not accept a final deal without one.

“We Need to Be Heard”: Indigenous Amazon Defender Alessandra Korap Munduruku on COP30 Protest

Thousands of Amazonian land defenders, both Indigenous peoples and their allies, have traveled to the COP30 U.N. climate conference in Belém, Brazil. On Friday night, an Indigenous-led march arrived at the perimeter of the COP’s “Blue Zone,” a secure area accessible only to those bearing official summit credentials. The group stormed security, kicking down a door before the United Nations police contained the protest.

No Fossil Fuel Phaseout, No Deal! At COP30, Vanuatu Climate Minister Joins 30+ Dissenting Nations

As negotiations draw close to a conclusion at the COP30 U.N. climate summit, nations are still sharply divided over the future of fossil fuels. Delegates representing dozens of countries have rejected a draft agreement that does not include a roadmap to transition away from oil, coal and gas. Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s minister for climate change, says a number of nations refused to “entertain any mention of fossil fuels” in the outcome statement from COP30.

The Race to Save the Amazon: Top Brazilian Scientist Says Rainforest Is at “Tipping Point”

As we broadcast from the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, we are joined by one of Brazil’s most prominent scientists, Carlos Nobre, who says the Amazon now produces more carbon emissions than it removes from the atmosphere, moving closer to a “tipping point” after which it will be impossible to save the world’s largest rainforest. “We need urgently to get to zero deforestation in all Brazilian biomes, especially the Amazon,” he argues.

The Atlantic’s January Cover: Michael Scherer Profiles Robert F. Kennedy Jr., ‘The Most Powerful Man in Science’

For The Atlantic’s January cover story, “The Most Powerful Man in Science,” staff writer Michael Scherer profiles Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health and human services, as he crusades against what he perceives as the corruption of the scientific establishment. Scherer asks what it means when the country can’t agree on common facts—even those once considered validated by the scientific method––and examines why RFK Jr. is so convinced that he’s right in his beliefs.

Why Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So Convinced He’s Right?

Photographs by Elinor Carucci
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. somehow knew, even as a little boy, that fate can lead a person to terrible places. “I always had the feeling that we were all involved in some great crusade,” Kennedy once wrote, “that the world was a battleground for good and evil, and that our lives would be consumed in that conflict.” He was 9 years old when his uncle was assassinated and 14 when his father suffered the same fate.

What the Deported Venezuelans Went Through in El Salvador

Earlier this year, the United States deported 252 Venezuelans to El Salvador and paid its government to imprison them, despite clear evidence of human-rights abuses in the country’s prison system and forceful warnings that the men would suffer cruel and unusual treatment. Now two human-rights organizations, Human Rights Watch and the Central America–based Cristosal, have found that all of those men were physically abused.

This Beautiful Confusion

Yes, I know my mind is a fickle little bee
doting on a thousand thoughts, but I’m getting
better at chasing my mind back to the moment
so I can see the spiderwebs making hammocks
the color of the moon. My son tries to photograph
a rainbow outside the car window. It’s impossible,
of course, this wonder, the trying to hold it.
But I do what I can. I’ve stopped waiting to enjoy
the cinnamon tea. I take deeper breaths and listen
to the flutter of strings floating down from café
speakers.

Our Almost-Apocalyptic Climate Future

This year’s Conference of the Parties, the annual United Nations meeting meant to avert catastrophic climate change, was subject to a ham-fisted metaphor. On Thursday, the Brazilian venue hosting the conference burst into flames from what was likely an electrical fire.