position:tackle

‘Prejudiced’ Home Office refusing visas to African researchers

Academics invited to the UK are refused entry on arbitrary and ‘insulting’ grounds.

The Home Office is being accused of institutional racism and damaging British research projects through increasingly arbitrary and “insulting” visa refusals for academics.

In April, a team of six Ebola researchers from Sierra Leone were unable to attend vital training in the UK, funded by the Wellcome Trust as part of a £1.5m flagship pandemic preparedness programme. At the LSE Africa summit, also in April, 24 out of 25 researchers were missing from a single workshop. Shortly afterwards, the Save the Children centenary events were marred by multiple visa refusals of key guests.

There are echoes of the wider #hostile_environment across the Home Office, with MPs on a parliamentary inquiry into visa refusals hearing evidence that there is “an element of systemic prejudice against applicants”. In a letter in today’s Observer 70 senior leaders from universities and research institutes across the UK warn that “visa refusals for African cultural, development and academic leaders … [are] undermining ‘Global Britain’s’ reputation as well as efforts to tackle global challenges”.

▻https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/08/home-office-racist-refusing-research-visas-africans
#visas #UK #Angleterre #université #conférences #racisme

Une sorte de #censure... je vais ajouter à cette métaliste :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/784716

Top oil firms spending millions lobbying to block climate change policies, says report

Ad campaigns hide investment in a huge expansion of oil and gas extraction, says InfluenceMap.

The largest five stock market listed oil and gas companies spend nearly $200m (£153m) a year lobbying to delay, control or block policies to tackle climate change, according to a new report.

#Chevron, #BP and #ExxonMobil were the main companies leading the field in direct lobbying to push against a climate policy to tackle global warming, the report said.

https://i.imgur.com/1t0Lm4j.png

Increasingly they are using social media to successfully push their agenda to weaken and oppose any meaningful legislation to tackle global warming.

In the run-up to the US midterm elections last year $2m was spent on targeted Facebook and Instagram ads by global oil giants and their industry bodies, promoting the benefits of increased fossil fuel production, according to the report published on Friday by InfluenceMap (▻https://influencemap.org/report/How-Big-Oil-Continues-to-Oppose-the-Paris-Agreement-38212275958aa21196).

https://i.imgur.com/aub6db8.png

Separately, BP donated $13m to a campaign, also supported by Chevron, that successfully stopped a carbon tax in Washington state – $1m of which was spent on social media ads, the research shows.
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Edward Collins, the report’s author, analysed corporate spending on lobbying, briefing and advertising, and assessed what proportion was dedicated to climate issues.

He said: “Oil majors’ climate branding sounds increasingly hollow and their credibility is on the line. They publicly support climate action while lobbying against binding policy. They advocate low-carbon solutions but such investments are dwarfed by spending on expanding their fossil fuel business.”

After the Paris climate agreement in 2015 the large integrated oil and gas companies said they supported a price on carbon and formed groups like the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative which promote voluntary measures.

But, the report states, there is a glaring gap between their words and their actions.

The five publicly listed oil majors – ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP and Total – now spend about $195m a year on branding campaigns suggesting they support action against climate change.

https://i.imgur.com/xNZ6jUo.png

But the report said these campaigns were misleading the public about the extent of the oil companies’ actions because while publicly endorsing the need to act, they are massively increasing investment in a huge expansion of oil and gas extraction. In 2019 their spending will increase to $115bn, with just 3% of that directed at low carbon projects.

Shell said in a statement: “We firmly reject the premise of this report. We are very clear about our support for the Paris agreement, and the steps that we are taking to help meet society’s needs for more and cleaner energy.

“We make no apology for talking to policymakers and regulators around the world to make our voice heard on crucial topics such as climate change and how to address it.”

Chevron said it disagreed with the report’s findings. “Chevron is taking prudent, cost-effective actions and is committed to working with policymakers to design balanced and transparent greenhouse gas emissions reductions policies that address environmental goals and ensure consumers have access to affordable, reliable and ever cleaner energy.”

The successful lobbying and direct opposition to policy measures to tackle global warming have hindered governments globally in their efforts to implement policies after the Paris agreement to meet climate targets and keep warming below 1.5C.

▻https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/mar/22/top-oil-firms-spending-millions-lobbying-to-block-climate-change-polici
#lobby #climat #changement_climatique #pétrole #industrie_du_pétrole #rapport

Tackle #bias and Other Problems/Solutions in Machine Learning Models
▻https://hackernoon.com/tackle-bias-and-other-problems-solutions-in-machine-learning-models-f427

Predictive Analytics models rely heavily on Regression, Classification and Clustering methods. When analysing the effectiveness of a predictive model, the closer the predictions are to the actual data, the better it is. This article hopes to be a one-stop reference to the major problems and their most popular/effective solutions, without diving into details for execution.A Linear Regression PlotA clustering algorithm plotPrimarily, data selection and pruning happens during the Data Preparation phase, where you take care to get rid of bad data in the first place. Then again, there are issues with the data, and their relevance to the ML model’s objectives during training, troubles with usage of #algorithms, and errors in the data that occur throughout. Effectively, the model is tested for (...)

#machine-learning #machine-learning-models #predictive-analytics

U.S. Coast Guard to Tackle MC20 Oil Spill Containment Fourteen Years After the Leak Likely Began – gCaptain
▻https://gcaptain.com/u-s-coast-guard-to-tackle-mc20-oil-spill-containment-fourteen-years-after-

https://gcaptain.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/oilonwatertaylorenergy2.jpg

The U.S. Coast Guard has partially assumed federal control over the operation to contain an oil dishcarge from the site of MC20 platform in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico that has likely been leaking since the platform toppled back in 2004.

The platform, owned by Taylor Energy, LLC, was located in Mississippi Canyon Block 20, approximately 11 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River. It toppled in September 2004 during Hurricane Ivan after storm surge triggered an underwater mudslide. The incident left the platform well conductor pipes buried in more than 100 feet of mud and sediment, impacting 25 of 28 connected wells. The spill went unnoticed for years until 2008 when it was identified as the source of daily sheen reports.

Now more fourteen years after the hurricane, crude oil continues to discharge from the site and surface on the Gulf waters.

IN 2015, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement estimated that oil continues to leak at a rate of approximately 1 to 55 barrels of oil per day. Satellite imagery and overflights have shown oil slicks on the surface varying in size, sometimes ranging up to 30 miles in length.

Even still, the specific source, or sources of the discharge at the MC20 site are not fully known.

Federal officials have directed Taylor Energy, as the Responsible Party, to remove the platform deck, remove sub-sea debris, decommission the oil pipeline, attempt to contain the leaking oil, and plug nine of the 25 impacted wells that were deemed highest risk.

Following several scientific studies conducted over several years by federal and industrial experts, the Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) issued Taylor Energy an administrative order back in October requiring it to propose a final viable plan to install a containment system. Last month, however, the FOSC ultimately issued Taylor Energy a Notice of Federal Assumption, and assumed authority for containing the oil.
[…]
As the Responsible Party, Taylor Energy, which is now defunct, is required to pay for oil spill recovery and response costs under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA). It also has a continuing legal obligation to respond to the ongoing oil discharge and also must comply with the Coast Guard Administrative Orders.

Scirocco : A Case Against Deportations

EU governments are implementing security-oriented policies to govern migration. Higher walls, more controls, detention, expulsion. Deporting migrants to their country of origin will not tackle nor change people’s needs to migrate. Tunisians re-migrate to Italy short after being deported, as the uncertainty of travel is preferred to the certainty of unemployment and poverty.

This animation tells the story of one to show the movement of many.
Deportation is no deterrent to migration.

▻https://vimeo.com/278007474

Négociations à l’ONU pour protéger la haute mer
▻https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2018/08/30/negociations-a-l-onu-pour-proteger-la-haute-mer_5348084_3244.html

https://img.lemde.fr/2018/08/30/786/0/4928/2464/644/322/60/0/f971d66_s2rcd8dGmjY9lYWZXFBs5gqI.jpg

Elle n’appartient – encore – à personne, mais suscite bien des convoitises. La haute mer recouvre près de la moitié de la planète, constitue près des deux tiers de l’océan mondial, qui lui-même produit une bonne partie de notre oxygène et l’essentiel des protéines de populations entières, et recèle des ressources biologiques ignorées. Et pourtant, la haute mer ne bénéficie jusqu’à présent d’aucune protection ou presque.

Voilà dix ans qu’est débattue l’idée de doter d’un cadre juridique les eaux internationales – c’est-à-dire l’immensité située au-delà des zones économiques exclusives (ZEE) régies par les pays côtiers. Ce dossier, très sensible, aurait pu se perdre dans les méandres de l’actualité diplomatique mondiale ; il a pourtant fini par aboutir à l’ouverture officielle de négociations sous l’égide des Nations unies.

Une première session de discussion est programmée du 4 au 17 septembre. L’objectif est de parvenir d’ici à 2020 à établir « un instrument juridiquement contraignant sur la conservation et l’utilisation durables de la biodiversité marine dans les zones situées au-delà des juridictions nationales ». Au ministère des affaires étrangères, on fait remarquer que le seul grand accord international actuellement en gestation à l’ONU a donc trait à l’océan.

Brevets à foison
Une autre façon de présenter la haute mer consiste à rappeler qu’elle représente 95 % de l’espace habité par des formes de vie sur cette planète. Et il serait étonnant que l’homme n’y trouve pas quelques ressources à puiser en plus des richesses halieutiques qu’il y prélève déjà sans ménagement.

suite derrière #paywall

Adieu #Statoil, bonjour #Equinor …

Statoil Name Change Scrubs ‘Oil’ to Tackle Energy Transition - Bloomberg
▻https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-15/statoil-changes-name-to-remove-oil-in-renewable-energy-push

Statoil ASA, Norway’s biggest petroleum company, will change its name to Equinor as it seeks to broaden its energy reach beyond oil and gas production.

“The world is changing, and so is Statoil,” said Chairman Jon Erik Reinhardsen in a statement. “The biggest transition our modern-day energy systems have ever seen is underway, and we aim to be at the forefront of this development.”

The name reflects the starting point for equal, equality and equilibrium, and “nor,” to signal the company’s Norwegian origin, according to Statoil, which is 67 percent controlled by the government.

#MeToo strikes aid sector as sexual exploitation allegations proliferate | Global development | The Guardian

▻https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/feb/12/metoo-strikes-aid-sector-as-sexual-exploitation-allegations-proliferate

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b8ce5f7a19702cf2160c2c12b0fce025d98a5b69/0_148_5616_3370/master/5616.jpg?w=1200&h=630&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Centropy&bm=normal&ba=bottom%2Cleft&blend64=aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxvYWRzLmd1aW0uY28udWsvMjAxOC8wMS8zMS9mYWNlYm9va19kZWZhdWx0LnBuZw&s=2d5b775433f3affc633cd59d2147f7ff

Senior figures in the humanitarian world have described the allegations of sexual exploitation that have embroiled Oxfam as the tip of the iceberg and the aid sector’s #MeToo moment.

In interviews with the Guardian, humanitarian officials with experience working across the globe have told largely similar stories of colleagues’ use of sex workers, suspicions of the exploitation of vulnerable women for sex – including minors – and a unwillingness of their organisations to properly tackle the issue.

#humanitaire #oxfam #harcèlement_sexuel #viol

Peatland mappers win $1m to help tackle Indonesian haze ...
▻http://news.trust.org/item/20180202095105-978cz

An award-winning method for mapping Indonesia’s vast peatlands, developed by Dutch, German and Indonesian scientists, will help the Southeast Asian nation tackle annual fires that harm health in the region, the organisers of the prize said on Friday.

The International Peat Mapping Team (IPMT) will receive $1 million for winning the two-year competition, funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and managed by the U.S.-based World Resources Institute (WRI).

“To be able to manage peat well, we needed to have a map, and the map we had before was not that comprehensive,” said Nirarta Samadhi, director of WRI Indonesia.

Indonesian government agencies, which helped organise the competition, will start using the new methodology as soon as possible, said Supiandi Sabiham, co-chair of the judges.

The IPMT’s approach, which combines satellite imagery, LiDAR technologies and on-the-ground measurement, won for its accuracy, speed and affordability, added Sabiham.

Peat soils contain huge quantities of carbon in the form of organic matter, which accumulates over thousands of years and provides nutrients for plant growth.

▻http://www.indonesianpeatprize.net

#tourbières #Indonésie #cartographie

ANALYSIS-Nicaragua climate politics in hot water over canal plan
▻http://af.reuters.com/article/africaTech/idAFL5N1NC4S4

Shaking off its climate change “pariah” status alongside the United States and war-torn Syria, Central American nation Nicaragua took the plunge and joined the Paris Agreement to tackle global warming before U.N. climate talks began on Monday.

But environmentalists say Nicaragua’s lecturing of big polluters and ambitious renewable energy goals contrast with its slack environmental protection and a controversial plan to carve out a $50 billion Chinese-backed shipping canal from coast to coast with potentially severe impacts.

“The government talks a lot about respect for ‘Mother Earth’ and care of the environment. But that is just political rhetoric - in practice, the government is too lenient on environmental contamination,” said Jorge Huete-Pérez, University of Central America professor and vice president of Nicaragua’s Academy of Sciences.

In 2015, Nicaragua was the only one of about 195 countries to reject outright the Paris deal, which it deemed too weak to keep global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, as well as unfair for holding poorer nations to account in the same way as developed countries.
[…]
The decision by President Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla leader, to join the Paris Agreement could help funnel more cash into green energy and other development projects in Nicaragua which once received subsidised Venezuelan oil.

Lauded by the World Bank as a “renewable energy paradise”, Nicaragua generates over 50 percent of its power from geothermal, wind and other clean sources, with plans to reach 90 percent.

Raul Delgado, lead climate change specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank, said joining the Paris accord could open the door for Nicaragua to access money from the Green Climate Fund and other international pots. “It’s a good time for them to join,” he added.

Some said the timing fits with the expected appointment next year of Nicaragua’s chief climate negotiator Paul Oquist to the influential co-chair position at the multi-billion-dollar Green Climate Fund, where he is now an alternate board member.

Je ne me prononce pas sur le bien-fondé des contestations écologiques, mais une chose est sûre, les opposants écologistes à un canal chinois en Amérique centrale ne devraient pas avoir trop de mal à trouver des financements…

Work, capital and the ’administration of punishment’ | MR Online
▻https://mronline.org/2017/09/19/work-capital-and-the-administration-of-punishment

https://mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Two-men-sentenced-to-perform-unpaid-community-work-wearing-tabards-emblazoned-with-Community-Payback-to-make-their-punishment-visible-e1505853202256.jpg

Earlier this summer, the British Prime Minister Theresa May launched the report of the ‘Taylor Review of Modern Employment Practices’: the outcome of a ten-month fact-finding exercise taking in evidence from a range of bodies and organisations across the UK, as well as a series of regional public meetings and ‘innumerable’ roundtables and discussions. Billed by the government as an ‘independent review’ considering ‘the implications of new forms of work on worker rights and responsibilities, as well as on employer freedoms and obligations,’ the report culminated in a ‘national strategy for work’ claiming to ‘enable a significant shift in the quality of work in the UK economy.’

At the heart of the Taylor Review was the notion of a ‘good work economy’: one building ‘on the distinctive strengths of our existing labour market and framework of regulation; the British way.’ And from the outset it bombastically championed a labour market which it described as ‘rightly seen internationally as largely successful,’ as well as lauding the ‘flexibility’ that ‘is a key contributor to [its] positive performance.’ Despite stating that its measures would ‘tackle exploitation in the labour market’ then, it actually appeared more interested in strengthening this labour market model’s dominant trajectory. And this was as unremarkable as it was unsurprising. The review was led by a former policy advisor to Tony Blair; and as one among many of its critics pointed out, given that the four-strong panel also included a solicitor whose firm advises employers on industrial relations and a Deliveroo investor who ‘didn’t sell his stake in the company until four months after the review began,’ many had low expectations from the start. Indeed, as one expert in industrial relations succinctly put it, one of the main outcomes of the entire process was to encourage the government ‘to merely carry on doing what it is already doing – coaxing, encouraging, cajoling and exhorting employers to be nicer and better to their employees for their own sake as well as those of the employees – but all without the force of law.’

How #Norway is selling #out-of-date #food to help tackle #waste | #...
▻https://diasp.eu/p/5919220

How #Norway is selling #out-of-date #food to help tackle #waste | #Environment | The Guardian

▻https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/17/how-norway-is-selling-out-of-date-food-to-help-tackle-waste

Norway’s push for Arctic oil and gas threatens Paris climate goals – study | Environment | The Guardian

▻https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/10/norways-push-for-arctic-oil-and-gas-threatens-paris-climate-goals-study

[...]

They focussed on Norway because it has long been a supporter of ambitious global reduction targets and has used part of its oil revenues to develop renewable technologies and tackle deforestation. If it cannot leave fossil fuels in the ground and make the transition to a carbon-free economy, the authors ask, then how can any of its rivals in less developed nations be expected to do so?

“This is uncharacteristically irrational behaviour for Norway,” said Hannah McKinnon of Oil Change International. “The Paris climate goals mean the world has to stay within a finite carbon budget. Norway’s current plans for fossil fuel production, expansion, and exploration are dangerously out of line with these budgets. Norway can’t be a climate leader at the same time as depending on new oil and gas production.”

The government says such accusations are unfair because they run against the convention at international climate talks for the responsibility for emissions to lie with consumers rather than producers. In this regard – of purely domestic carbon use – it is doing better than most nations because it gets 97% of its electricity from renewable sources, has a high carbon tax, is a leader in promotion of electric vehicles, and is pioneering carbon capture and storage at waste plants and cement factories.

It also notes that oil and gas output is flat, it is unrealistic to assume that all exploration will be successful and the trend for overall production is away from carbon-heavy oil and towards cleaner gas, which is important as a “transition fuel” for countries that are trying to move away from coal. Officials point out that without Norway’s gas the UK would be far further behind in meeting its climate goals.

“We are part of the solution, not the problem,” the deputy minister for petroleum and energy, Ingvil Smines Tybring-Gjedde, told the Guardian. “This government is investing more in renewables and energy efficiency than any other. But renewables are not yet at a level where we can switch off oil and gas. We need a bridge.”

The government argues that its oil and gas reserves are the most efficiently extracted in the world and that, so as long as there is demand for these fuels, it is better that they come from Norway. It also puts the number of newly offered exploration blocks closer to 50.

[...]

#Norway #climate #Arctic #oil and #gas #Paris #climate goals – #study #Environment

#GreenhouseGases #GlobalWarming #ClimateChange #ParisClimateAgreement

via ▻http://02mydafsoup-01.soup.io/post/629307817/Norways-push-for-Arctic-oil-and-gas
trouvé ici: ▻https://diasp.eu/posts/5891834

#Norvège #environnement #pétrole #gaz

The ’creepy Facebook AI’ story that captivated the media - BBC News
▻http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-40790258

Where did the story come from?

Way back in June, Facebook published a blog post about interesting research on chatbot programs - which have short, text-based conversations with humans or other bots. The story was covered by New Scientist and others at the time.

Facebook had been experimenting with bots that negotiated with each other over the ownership of virtual items.

It was an effort to understand how linguistics played a role in the way such discussions played out for negotiating parties, and crucially the bots were programmed to experiment with language in order to see how that affected their dominance in the discussion.

A few days later, some coverage picked up on the fact that in a few cases the exchanges had become - at first glance - nonsensical:

Bob: “I can can I I everything else”
Alice: “Balls have zero to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to”

Although some reports insinuate that the bots had at this point invented a new language in order to elude their human masters, a better explanation is that the neural networks were simply trying to modify human language for the purposes of more successful interactions - whether their approach worked or not was another matter.

As technology news site Gizmodo said: “In their attempts to learn from each other, the bots thus began chatting back and forth in a derived shorthand - but while it might look creepy, that’s all it was.”

AIs that rework English as we know it in order to better compute a task are not new.

Google reported that its translation software had done this during development. “The network must be encoding something about the semantics of the sentence” Google said in a blog.

And earlier this year, Wired reported on a researcher at OpenAI who is working on a system in which AIs invent their own language, improving their ability to process information quickly and therefore tackle difficult problems more effectively.

The story seems to have had a second wind in recent days, perhaps because of a verbal scrap over the potential dangers of AI between Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and technology entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Robo-fear

But the way the story has been reported says more about cultural fears and representations of machines than it does about the facts of this particular case.

Plus, let’s face it, robots just make for great villains on the big screen.

In the real world, though, AI is a huge area of research at the moment and the systems currently being designed and tested are increasingly complicated.

What Did You Do? Short Film with Poetry About Climate Change
▻http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/what-did-you-do

 

 

Decade ZERO

Definition: n. The last few years in which we can still tackle dangerous climate change if we take the necessary drastic action now.

What did y

Monitoring is key to cutting emissions
▻http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=6e13c74c17ec527c4be72d64f&id=d54215474b&e=08052803c8

Monitoring is key
to cutting emissions

Pledges to reduce emissions and tackle climate change are important, but a new study says making sure they are actually carried through is vital.

By Kieran Cooke

LONDON, 17 November, 2016 − The big achievement of the Paris Agreement on climate change last December was getting more than 190 countries around the world to agree to a significant programme of lowering carbon emissions. But the reality is that promises are no good if not followed up by action.

Nations also pledged to pursue various other policies aimed at meeting the goal of limiting the rise in average global temperature to 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

But a new study published in Climate Policy journal warns that laudable as these pledges and policies are, they mean very little without strong, transparent monitoring systems capable of building trust between the various nations involved.

#climat #statistiques #données #data #représentation_visuelle #visualisation

A Decade of Immigration in the British Press

Immigration has become one of the most salient topics in the UK public debate. Over the past decade, policymakers and politicians have directed a lot of energy and attention to migration policies, often citing public demand for stronger action to reduce immigration levels or tackle related issues.

Where do the public get their ideas about immigration? One frequently cited source – besides day-to-day contact with immigrants themselves, or what friends and work colleagues might say – is the media. UK media coverage of migration has evolved over the last decade to accommodate an array of profound changes: changing trends in the movement of people; changing governments; changing policies; changing geopolitics; and changing commentators in the debate.

This analysis looks at trends in the language used in newspaper reporting through that period, and considers how these developments relate to the current UK political context. In particular the report identifies six key trends:

A tendency for journalists themselves to play the role of framing problems in the migration debate, rather than simply reporting on others’ (such as politicians,’ think-tanks,’ or academics’) analysis. This highlights the key role played by journalists and media organisations in shaping the UK migration debate.
A tendency to blame politicians for the scale of EU migration, while in discourse about ‘illegal’ immigrants, migrants themselves are often blamed. Economic arguments dominated the discussion of problems related to both EU and illegality.
A sharp increase in the volume of newspaper coverage relating to migration since the election of the Conservative-led coalition government in 2010, particularly after the introduction of measures to reduce net migration in 2011 and 2012.
An apparent change in how immigration is discussed, with a significant decline in discussion of the legal status of migrants and an increase in the focus on the scale of migration from 2009 onwards. This was accompanied by a rise in the relative importance of discussion relating to ‘limiting’ or ‘controlling’ migration since 2010.
A sharp increase in the frequency of discussion of migrants from the EU/Europe after 2013, with a particular spike in 2014 when migrants from Romania and Bulgaria achieved full access to the UK labour market.
A notable change in depictions of refugees between 2006 and 2015, with a sharp increase in references to Syrians coinciding with the escalating Syrian refugee crisis.

The report suggests that press depictions of migrants have focused on concern about high levels of net migration, and particularly EU migration. This numerical focus has eclipsed a waning focus on ‘illegal’ migration and become the leading migration frame in UK national newspapers.

The role of media in shaping public opinion is not clear-cut. It has often been observed that the press is good at setting the agenda – telling readers what to think about – although there is an ongoing debate about the extent to which media coverage either causes or simply reflects the views of its audiences on the topics it discusses.

Immigration, and specifically EU immigration, has clearly emerged as a key factor in the decisions of many people to vote for the UK to leave the European Union. But the significant increase in the profile of EU migration within recent UK media coverage—which has been dominated by a focus on high levels of net migration, and challenges in controlling migration flows – predates the EU referendum debate (the analysis runs until May 2015) and shows that the media was already playing an important role in discussions of the EU and migration in the years leading up to 2016.

▻http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/reports/decade-immigration-british-press

#médias #couverture_médiatique #asile #migrations #réfugiés #UK #Angleterre #presse #journalisme #rapport #graphique #visualisation

Facebook and Israel Agree to Tackle Terrorist Media Together - Bloomberg
▻https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-12/facebook-and-israel-agree-to-tackle-terrorist-media-together

At a meeting Monday in Tel Aviv, Facebook Inc.’s Joel Kaplan and Monika Bickert heard Israeli ministers loud and clear: the social network must do more to eliminate the incitement of terrorism on its pages.

“The internet can’t be allowed to become an incubator for terrorism,” said Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who participated in a meeting with Kaplan, Facebook’s vice president of U.S. public policy, and Bickert, its head of global policy management and counter-terrorism.

Many of the Palestinians arrested after attacking Israelis in the past year said they were influenced by content on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other online platforms, according to a statement from Erdan and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked.

BDS, c’est valable aussi pour les réseaux sociaux, quittez Facebook !
Au passage, cela fait des années que les pages (pro)palestiniennes ou celles de la résistance sont fermées.

#neutralité_du_net

Editorial : How do we make our voices heard ?

This week, Lacuna revisits the issue of protest. The protests we showcase tackle serious issues; climate change, nuclear weapons, detention of prisoners without trial, crises of government, and the future of our universities.

▻http://lacuna.org.uk/protest/editorial-how-do-we-make-our-voices-heard

#résistance #protestation

Facility for Refugees in Turkey : €47 million to strengthen migration management and to support education of Syrian refugees

The Commission delivers on its commitment to speed up the implementation of the Facility announcing €20 million to increase the capacity of the Turkish Coast Guard and €27 million to facilitate refugees’ access to education. The total amount contracted under the Facility is now close to €240 million

▻http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-1908_en.htm

#externalisation #asile #migrations #réfugiés #Turquie #UE #EU #Union_européenne #contrôles_frontaliers #fermeture_des_frontières

Commentaire reçu via la liste Migreurop :

The EU will provide Turkish coastguards with more capacity to both save lives and tackle irregular migration.
Let’s see which of these missions will be the priority at sea, given that in the same circumstances it has been seen that arresting people travelling to Europe has always been prioritised, and not search and rescue operations (Frontex and Triton operation in Western Mediterranean, for example).
Many deaths could be avoided if search and rescue operations were the priority, given that people avoid the ones who arrest them. Strenghtening capacity for controlling will lead to more dangerous roads, again.

Mapping the world’s biomass to better tackle deforestation | CIFOR Forests News Blog
▻http://blog.cifor.org/41009/mapping-the-worlds-biomass-to-better-tackle-deforestation?fnl=en

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“The existing maps use satellite images to cover large areas, but the satellite images don’t actually see how much biomass there is,” said Valerio Avitabile, a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Geo-Information at Wageningen University. Avitabile is currently working on a global comparative study on REDD+ being conducted by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

“They only see if there are forests and the characteristics of the forests. Biomass is indirectly related to the satellite images, so it requires a model to relate the ground data to the satellite data,” he said. “The satellites only see what is on top of the canopy, so that is why different models exist to estimate biomass from the satellite images.”

#cartographie #data #déforestation #biomasse

Data Journalism Without Borders — Shorthand Social

▻https://social.shorthand.com/Maid_Marianne/n2Fb5QaOUc/data-journalism-without-borders

https://shorthand-social.imgix.net/prod/story/n2Fb5QaOUc/media/e0c02260f03111e58172cfb1db5e8826/original.jpg?w=1500&h=1500&fit=clip&fm=jpg&q=75

Simon Rogers, Data Editor at Google News Lab, director of the DJA 2016

How is the field of data journalism doing today? Can we still talk of a buzz in newsrooms globally or has a certain fatigue started to kick in?

The same enthusiasm is still there; it’s just that the market has matured. Instead of it being a new thing, it’s become part of the fabric of newsrooms everywhere. It’s become the norm - and some of the work we’re seeing now is incredibly exciting. And that’s just in Europe and the US - around the world, data journalism is still new and developing.​

What trends and techniques do you think will shape the future of data journalism? Which organisations do you see as trend setters?

Increasingly, we are seeing specialisation within data journalism. There are still generalists out there (like me) but now we are seeing the rise of visual reporters who make graphics, developer reporters who build things, designers who work to make things beautiful. This is such an exciting time - we just don’t know what’s coming next.

#data-journalisme #journalisme_de_données

Post-Paris Activism: How to Build an Effective Global Struggle to Tackle Climate Change

AT 2pm on Friday 11th December, as the COP 21 Climate Change Summit in Paris drew to a close, 400 young people from the youth climate justice movement and youth groups representing thousands of climate justice campaigners from around the world came together to reject what they saw as the false solutions presented by the COP. Forming a human chain and singing, activists left the Green and Blue zones and headed towards their rallying point, where they would hear speakers including Xiutezcatl Martinez, 15 year old indigenous activist and musician, and Ryan Camero, California – based artist and activist and award winning environmental justice organizer.

▻http://climatejusticeproject.com/2016/02/17/post-paris-activism-how-to-build-an-effective-global-struggle
#climat #changement_climatique

Ethiopia: UN warns of deepening food insecurity, allocates emergency funds to tackle severe drought
▻http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52569
/News/dh/photos/large/2012/October/10-15-ifad-rural-women.jpg

With Ethiopia experiencing its worst drought in decades the United Nations is reporting deepening food insecurity and “severe emaciation and unusual livestock deaths” as the Organization’s humanitarian wing has allocated $17 million in emergency funding to help the Government tackle climate challenges and ensure timely food relief.

A recent report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that severe drought, driven by the #El_Niño phenomenon, has not only caused livestock deaths especially in pastoral areas, but it has also deteriorated food security conditions in recent months, as food insecure people have almost doubled from August to October this year.

While cereal prices dropped last month thanks to the carryover stocks from previous year, the report also indicated the soaring prices of dairy and vegetables, as a result of food inflation.

#Éthiopie #sécheresse #agriculture #alimentation

EU: Five Steps to Tackle Refugee Crisis

(Brussels) – The European Union and its 28 member states should act immediately to address the human rights crisis resulting from years of mismanaging migration and asylum, Human Rights Watch said today. With a humanitarian crisis on the Greek islands, a dysfunctional asylum system in Hungary, thousands of new arrivals in need of protection, and many deaths at EU borders, bold steps are needed at an EU summit on September 14, 2105.

voici les premiers 5 pas tels que formulés par HRW:

More safe and legal channels for people to seek asylum or find refuge in the EU without resorting to dangerous routes and unscrupulous smugglers. This includes significantly increasing refugee resettlement from other regions of the world and greater avenues for family reunification. Current EU resettlement pledges of 22,000 are insufficient. Expanding the use of humanitarian visas to allow people to travel to the EU for a temporary period or to apply for asylum could help.

Fixing the EU’s broken asylum system. Despite common rules and standards, wide disparities exist among EU member states with respect to reception conditions, recognition rates, and integration measures. The European Commission should step up efforts to monitor and enforce standards, including through infringement proceedings. The European Asylum Support Office, the European Refugee Fund, and others should assist underperforming member states and states currently receiving the vast majority of new arrivals, to ensure proper reception conditions, correct, speedy, and transparent processing, and that the rights of asylum seekers and migrants are fully respected.

Robust search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean. Stepped up efforts since May 2015 have made a difference – these efforts should be sustained over the long-term.

A permanent relocation scheme to share asylum seekers across member states. This would help address fundamental distortions created by the Dublin Regulations that place the onus for processing asylum claims on the first EU country of entry. This puts an unfair burden on countries at the EU’s external borders, such as Greece, where the current influx and poor management have created a humanitarian crisis. Dublin reform is vital so that responsibility is based on capacity and other relevant criteria rather than location, and takes into account the asylum seeker’s individual circumstances.

Develop a list of “unsafe” countries whose nationals are presumed to need international protection. Applications could then be processed under streamlined procedures, which could help reduce growing backlogs in asylum systems, and harmonize EU governments’ approach to national groups at risk. At present the EU is focused on agreeing a common list of “safe” countries, with a presumption to deny asylum applications by their nationals.

▻https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/09/04/eu-five-steps-tackle-refugee-crisis
#solutions #asile #migrations #réfugiés