Author: Injusticeto Team
RALEIGH. N.C. (AP) — Base rates for North Carolina homeowners’ insurance premiums will increase on average by about 15% by mid-2026 as part of a settlement reached by the state Insurance Department and the industry. The agreement announced Friday by Commissioner Mike Causey contrasts with the January 2024 request by the North Carolina Rate Bureau, which represents insurance companies, seeking a 42.2% overall average increase. Causey, an elected official who began his third term earlier this month, formally rejected the bureau’s request last year. That led to a formal hearing that began in October and included multiple weeks of witnesses,…
Average temperatures across the world’s oceans reached an all-time high in 2024, according to a multi-team study published Jan. 10.The temperatures surpassed even those of 2023, which themselves represented a marked uptick over any previous years on record.Each of the two main metrics for ocean temperature hit a record high in 2024, while a commonly cited overall metric that accounts for both land and sea temperatures also reached a new high.The findings fit with a decades-long trend of ocean heating. The long-term rise is both a result of climate change and a cause of climate change effects like sea-level…
A contingent of 150 Guatemalan soldiers has arrived in Haiti, tasked with helping to restore order amid the chaos wrought by armed gangs.A first group of 75 soldiers arrived on Friday and another 75 on Saturday, all drafted from the military police, according to Guatemala’s government. A state of emergency has been in place across the Caribbean nation for months as the government battles violent gangs that have taken control of much of the capital Port-au-Prince.The forces are in Haiti to boost a United Nations-backed security mission led by Kenya that has so far failed to prevent violence from escalating.…
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The young boy wore a suit and bow tie to his stepfather’s funeral on Saturday, where he demanded a handkerchief and wiped tears off his mother’s face as they buried Marckendy Natoux, one of two journalists killed by gangs in Haiti.Natoux was fatally shot on Christmas Eve in one of the worst attacks on the press in the troubled Caribbean country, with gangs opening fire during what was supposed to be the reopening of Haiti’s largest public hospital.The 42-year-old father of two children spoke four languages and worked for several local and U.S. media outlets. He…
Nepal’s highest court has scrapped a controversial new law that allowed infrastructure development, such as hotels and cable cars, inside protected areas.The law, passed in July, threatened to rezone protected areas to facilitate development projects, and its scrapping has been hailed by opponents as a significant victory for conservation efforts.A group of lawyers mounted a legal challenge to the law after its issuance, leading to an interim stay until the ruling.The court decision, issued Jan. 15, aligns with the court’s strong track record of prioritizing conservation and human rights, activists note.See All Key Ideas KATHMANDU — In a…
Getty ImagesA ceasefire deal to bring an end to the 15-month long conflict between Israel and Hamas has been finalised in Qatar.Israel has long said it would not agree to any ceasefire until it completed military operations in the territory, which were sparked by Hamas’s shock October 2023 attack which killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 more taken hostage.Gaza has suffered vast destruction with a colossal humanitarian impact. More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s military action, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and much infrastructure across the strip has been levelled by air strikes.The Israeli military…
What’s new: Some bats, like birds, migrate long distances. But these long-distance bat migrations have been somewhat of a mystery to researchers, especially since only a few species embark on them. Now, in a new study, researchers have mapped the odyssey of common noctule bats (Nyctalus noctula) using innovative tiny trackers. And the results have surprised them: the trackers reveal that the noctule travels far across Europe by “surfing” warm winds that precede storms. What the study says: For long, bat migration has been “poorly understood” because researchers lacked the tools to follow multiple bats over long periods…
(Beirut) – The government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Egypt entered its second decade with wholesale repression, systematically detaining and punishing peaceful critics and activists, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. Egypt’s severe economic crisis had devastating effects on people’s access to economic, social, and cultural rights while authorities thrived on a lack of accountability and public scrutiny.For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists,…
The Republic of Congo set up a REDD+ program in the Sangha and Likouala regions, aiming to reduce deforestation and store carbon from 2020 through to 2024.However, in the Sangha region alone, the country’s mining minister has issued at least 79 semi-industrial gold mining and exploration permits since the project began.Scientists reviewing images of these mining activities condemn the “reckless” destruction of biodiversity.The government says the program stored more than 1.5 million metric tons of carbon in 2020, for which it expects to be paid more than $8 million from the World Bank.See All Key Ideas This article…
The curtains had barely closed on the global United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP29, in Baku when Azerbaijani authorities resumed their crackdown on government critics. On December 6, they detained seven independent journalists on bogus charges, in keep with a well-documented pattern of arrests aimed at silencing critics.This time, the prime target was Meydan TV, Azerbaijan’s largest exile-based independent media outlet. Among those arrested were Meydan TV’s editor-in-chief, Aynur Ganbarova (Elgunesh), and five reporters, Aytaj Ahmadova (Tapdig), Khayala Agayeva, Natig Javadli, Aysel Umudova, and Ramin Jabrayilzade (Deko). The same day, police arrested Ulvi Tahirov, a journalist and deputy director of the Baku…