New Report Unpacks Dangers of Emerging Military Tech, From AI Nukes to Killer Robots

Emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, lethal autonomous weapons systems, and hypersonic missiles pose a potentially existential threat that underscores the imperative of arms control measures to slow the pace of weaponization. The Arms Control Association notes that the world's military powers "have sought to exploit advanced technologies to gain battlefield advantages" but warns too little has been said about the dangers these weapons represent. MORE

What Determines the Success of Movements Today?

In their book, Why Civil Resistance Works, Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan cite a “3.5 percent rule” which says that once movements actively involve at least 3.5 percent of the population they will inevitably succeed. However, another of the book’s major takeaways is the idea that nonviolence brings a higher success rate. Over the last century, in general, they found that nonviolent campaigns were more than twice as likely to succeed as violent ones. MORE

No Justice Is Possible Without Studying the Injustices of Nuclear Weapons

Mari Faines, a partner with Global Zero, calls upon nuclear security scholars to engage in an injustice framework to better understand the full extent of the impacts of the global nuclear complex. A serious examination of nuclear weapons policy, she states, should specifically address the effects of colonialism, White supremacy, and racial justice. Many Black, indigenous, and communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by the global nuclear order.   MORE

The Persistent Threat of Nuclear Crises Among China, India, and Pakistan

Southern Asia — India, Pakistan, and China — is the only place on earth where three nuclear-armed states have recently engaged in violent confrontations along their contested borders. The problem of nuclear stability in Southern Asia is getting harder to manage because of geopolitical changes, such as rising India-China border tensions, as well as evolving military technologies, including growing nuclear arsenals and more capable delivery systems. Unfortunately, little has happened to prevent a nuclearized crisis in Southern Asia. MORE 

N. Korea Warns of ‘Overwhelming Nuclear Force’ to Counter US

North Korea said it’s prepared to counter U.S. military moves with the “most overwhelming nuclear force” as it warned that the expansion of the United States’ military exercises with rival South Korea is pushing tensions to an “extreme red line.” The statement by Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry came in response to an announcement that the United States would increase its deployment of advanced military assets to the Korean Peninsula. MORE

Harris Announces Funding to Address Root Causes of Migration Crisis

Vice President Kamala Harris has announced almost $1 billion in new pledges by private companies to support communities in Central America, part of the Biden administration’s effort to keep migrants from fleeing toward the U.S. border. Ten companies, including Nestle, Target, and Columbia Sportswear, said they would collectively spend $950 million on projects in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador to support farmers, create textile jobs and invest in telecommunications and other industries. MORE

Who is in ICE Detention Right Now? New Data Provides a Snapshot of Sprawling Detention System

Recently published data from ICE provides insight into who the agency is detaining and for how long. The results show that the majority of non-citizens are being held in the rural South, and many are subject to fast-track removal proceedings. But still, many people remain locked up for months, if not years. MORE

US Reunites Nearly 700 Kids Taken from Parents Under Trump

A Biden administration task force designed to reunite children separated from their families during President Trump’s presidency has reconnected nearly 700 children with their families. According to figures released by the Department of Homeland Security, 3,881 children were separated from their families from 2017 to 2021. About 74% of those have been reunited with their families: 2,176 before the task force was created and 689 afterward. Just over 1000 are yet to be reunited.  MORE

TAKE ACTION: Tell Iowa Legislators to Ban Eminent Domain for Carbon Pipelines

There is only one real policy solution to the problem of carbon capture pipelines in Iowa: banning the use of eminent domain for them. Senators and representatives across Iowa have committed to taking up legislation regarding carbon pipelines. But some are balking at the only legitimate policy solution to permanently stop these hazardous proposals, despite 80% of Iowans opposing the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines. Food and Water Watch asks us to tell our elected officials to ban the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines. TAKE ACTION

Greenpeace Activists Scale Shell Oil Platform in the Atlantic Ocean as Company Announces Record Profits

Activists from the campaign group Greenpeace have boarded a ship in the Atlantic Ocean and scaled a Shell oil platform that is currently being transported to the North Sea. “Stop drilling. Start paying,” the activists’ banners say. The protest comes as the oil giant announced record annual profits of almost $40 billion for 2022, more than doubling what it posted in 2021. The company has benefited from very high oil and gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. MORE

Oil Wells Guzzle Precious California Water. Next Door, Residents Can’t Use the Tap

The energy fields in Kern County, California are some of the most productive in the US, generating millions of barrels of oil annually and more than two-thirds of the state’s natural gas. And in a drought-stricken state, they’re also some of the thirstiest, consuming vast quantities of fresh water to extract stubborn oil. But in the industry’s shadow, nearby communities can’t drink from the tap. MORE

Stronger Labor Laws Could Reduce Human Trafficking

Our economic system depends on exploited labor and forced work that often meets the definition of human trafficking, asserts Melissa Hope Ditmore, sociologist and consultant on sex work, migration, and trafficking. In her new book, Unbroken Chains: The Hidden Role of Human Trafficking in the American Economy, Ditmore shows how people are “being trafficked into major sectors across the American economy: agriculture, manufacturing, sales, the sex trades, and domestic work.” MORE

How Modern-Day Slavery in the Congo Powers the Rechargeable Battery Economy

Smartphones, computers, and electric vehicles may be emblems of the modern world, but their rechargeable batteries are frequently powered by cobalt mined by workers laboring in slave-like conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Although the DRC has more cobalt reserves than the rest of the planet combined, much of it is being extracted by so-called "artisanal" miners — freelance workers who do extremely dangerous labor for the equivalent of just a few dollars a day. MORE

Indian Police Arrest 1,800 Men in Crackdown on Underage Marriage

Police in Assam, India have arrested more than 1,800 men for marrying or arranging marriages to underage girls, launching what the eastern Indian state's chief minister said was the start of a sustained crackdown on the practice. Marriage under 18 is illegal in India, but the law is openly flouted. The United Nations estimates that the country is home to the largest number of child brides in the world at around 223 million. MORE

Iraqis Protest Gender Violence After YouTube Star Killed

Rights groups in Iraq and around the world have condemned the so-called "honor killing" of a 22-year-old woman by her father, who has confessed to strangling the YouTube star while visiting Iraq from Turkey, where she planned to marry her Syrian-born boyfriend. Officials with the UN, Amnesty International, and other rights organizations are urging authorities in Iraq, where men can legally discipline their wives with beatings, to pass legislation protecting women and girls from gender-based violence. MORE

People Under Domestic Violence Orders Can Own Guns -U.S. Appeals Court Rules

A U.S. appeals court has declared unconstitutional a federal law making it a crime for people under domestic violence restraining orders to own firearms. The decision is the latest victory for gun rights advocates since a Supreme Court ruling last June granting a broad right for people to carry firearms outside the home. MORE

TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to Invest in Affordable Housing and Protect Renters

The US has a national shortage of 7 million affordable homes for low-income renters. This severe shortage of homes is a structural feature of America’s housing system that builds upon almost a century of discriminatory housing policies and practices that exist to this day. The Coalition on Human Needs urges us to tell Congress to pass legislation that invests in affordable housing and protects renters’ rights. TAKE ACTION

How Private Equity Amplifies the Abuse of Predatory Lending

Private equity firms own more than 5,000 payday lending stores in America and provided capital for several startups’ online payday loans. Black borrowers are especially vulnerable to predatory lending. While Black Americans make up roughly 13 percent of the total American population, they end up with 23 percent of all storefront payday loans. About 18 states across the country have a 36 percent cap on consumer interest rates, but many lenders operate nationwide. MORE

Donald Dillbeck is scheduled to be executed on February 23 by the state of Florida for the murder of Faye Vann. Please hold Donald, Faye, their families, and the people of Florida in prayer. TAKE ACTION

Gary Green is scheduled to be executed on March 7 by the state of Texas for the murders of Lovetta Armstead and Jazzmen Montgomery. Please hold Gary, Lovetta, Jazzmen, and the people of Texas in prayer. TAKE ACTION

Arthur Brown, Jr. is scheduled to be executed on March 9 by the state of Texas for the murders of Jose Tovar, Jessica Quinones, Audrey Brown, and Frank Farias. Please hold Arthur, Jose, Jessica, Audrey, Frank, their families, and the people of Texas in prayer. TAKE ACTION