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Slash-and-burn agriculture is a contributor to the rapid deforestation of the Amazon. Deforestation and fires are increasingly hampering the rainforest’s ability to act as a crucial carbon sink, a critical link in the global water cycle. (Photo by Matt Zimmerman) Photo used under CC BY

Amazon rainforest has hit tipping point, scientists say

The Amazon has reached a “tipping point” where the rainforest has begun to self-destruct — and a “major reforestation project” is required to save it, according to the editors of a leading scientific journal.

Newsweek

Special section:

Ability of regrown forest to combat climate change vastly overestimated, study finds

The Independent

Palestinians paying thousands to leave Gaza

Palestinians in Gaza say it could cost up to $4,000 to expedite travel from the blockaded territory to Egypt.

Al Jazeera

Aussie church leaders call for climate action

Church leaders are using their Christmas messages and sermons to intensify pressure on Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to take greater action on climate change.

Sydney Morning Herald

Really, the worst is yet to come?

Agence France-Presse

Southern Africa drought leaves millions hungry

The United Nations says Southern Africa is experiencing the worst drought in a century, with 45 million people in 14 countries in need of urgent assistance. Zimbabwe is one of the countries most affected.

Al Jazeera

Women at the front lines of India’s protests

Having battled everyday sexism, female students come out in full force against India’s citizenship bill excluding Muslims.

Al Jazeera

Hundreds detained as Indians defy ban on protests

Al Jazeera

Alleged ringleaders freed in Khashoggi killing

Five people have been sentenced to death over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but two top figures investigated over the killing have been exonerated, Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor has announced.

Asia Times Online

Holocaust survivors recollect at Hanukkah

Holocaust survivors in cities around the world are lighting candles for Hanukkah together, as Jewish community leaders try to keep first-hand memories of the Nazi horrors alive.

Associated Press

Boris Johnson delivers Hanukkah message amid rise of anti-Semitism

New York Post

Christmas card ‘a plea for help’ from prison

China has denied using forced prison labor after reports that a 6-year-old girl in England had discovered a cry for help inside a holiday card allegedly made by inmates.

Guardian

HUMAN RIGHTS

Indian states propose land rights amid fear

Authorities in the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal have vowed to protect the land rights of indigenous people and refugees amidst protests against a new citizenship law that critics say discriminates against Muslims.

Place

Turkey can’t handle a fresh wave of Syrian migrants

CNN

Rights activist calls bitcoin vital to his work

Alex Gladstein, the Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation, explains why he sees Bitcoin as an essential tool in his fight for human rights all around the world.

Bloomberg

HK protesters rally in support of Uighurs

Riot police in Hong Kong broke up a rally in support of China’s Uighurs — with one officer drawing a pistol — after the initially peaceful protest descended into chaos when a small group of protesters tried to burn a Chinese flag.

Reuters

DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE

Cuba appoints first prime minister in 43 years

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel named Manuel Marrero Cruz as the country’s prime minister, a nonexistent role within Cuban politics for more than four decades.

CNN

Turkey, Russia talk as thousands flee bombing

A Turkish delegation was in Russia for talks on Syria, following reports that Russian-backed attacks there were forcing tens of thousands more Syrians to flee towards Turkey.

Reuters

Turkey can’t handle a fresh wave of Syrian migrants, Erdogan warns

CNN

NZ collects 56,000 guns in buyback program

New Zealand officials collected about 56,000 firearms as part of a sixth-month gun buyback program. The New Zealand government instituted the program after the Christchurch massacre in March 2019.

CNN

Politically handicapped Israel faces Iran

Israeli military leaders have had to temporarily shelve a multiyear plan to counter Iran, as Israel remains without a government for the longest stretch in its history.

Asia Times Online

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

7 uses of facial recognition that sparked debate

From identifying voters in Afghanistan to speeding up service for tea lovers in India, facial recognition surged in 2019 with expectations that it will become even more widespread fueling concerns over misuse.

Place

Startup fights fake Indian news on WhatsApp

MetaFact is hoping that AI might help mitigate misinformation spread in multiple languages and through text, photo and video on the encrypted messaging service.

Fast Company

GLOBAL HEALTH

1 in 7 Indians suffers from mental disorder

A study published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry finds that roughly one in seven Indians, or 197 million persons, suffered from mental disorders of varying severity in 2017.

The Hindu

Exposure to dogs lessens risk of schizophrenia

ScienceDaily

Children allergic to cow’s milk smaller, lighter

Children allergic to cow’s milk are smaller and weigh less, according to a study of growth trajectories from early childhood to adolescence in children with persistent food allergies.

ScienceDaily

Columns And Op-Ed

The opinions in the items below are not necessarily those of DailySource or our editors. Read more.

Column (Rachel Bunyan and Sanya Mansoor):

7 years after a gang rape that shocked India, brutal attacks against women continue

TIME

Column (Alaa Elassar):

5-year-old paid off the lunch balances for 123 students by selling cocoa and cookies

CNN

Video (ITN Productions):

A refugee’s guide to being a refugee

BBC

Site edited by: Eliza Villanueva, Catherine Lux, Rashmila Maiti, Jameson O'Neal and Ashley Nawn.

GOOD NEWS

8-year-old launches sock drive for the needy

Instead of asking for toys this Christmas, a third-grader from Humble, Texas is asking for socks — for people in need. For the last few weeks, her family and friends have donated over a thousand pairs of socks.

ABC 13

Plane passenger gives first-class seat to 88-year-old woman, makes her ‘dream’ come true

FOX News

Diner offers a free Christmas dinner to anyone

On Christmas day, anyone who walks in the door of O’Brien’s Southern Diner in Ashland City, Tennessee, eats for free.

MSN

Hundreds of families receive holiday meals, presents

NBC San Diego

NONPROFITS AND PHILANTHROPY

Teenage activists take after Greta Thunberg

These three teenagers are passionate about issues they see around them. They are learning what it takes to be activists at a youth organization called The Advocacy Academy in Brixton, London.

BBC

Virginia pastors pay off school lunch debt

The holidays came early for some Virginia families struggling to pay school lunch debt. Three Virginia pastors used more than $17k from their church’s budget to pay off meal debt at two local school systems.

TIME

ENVIRONMENT

Thousands of volunteers fight Aussie fires

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service calls itself “the world’s largest volunteer firefighting organization.” Its 70k members are extensively trained and, except for a few senior staff, mostly unpaid.

BBC

Wales builds net zero carbon neighborhood

Residents who live in Wales net zero carbon neighborhood will pay no energy bills. The development will use a mixture of renewable energy technologies to generate clean electricity to power its homes over the year.

Guardian

Tehran smog forces weeklong school closure

Schools in Iran’s Tehran province have been ordered shut all week due to severe air pollution, authorities announced.

Times of India

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INEQUALITY

Living in Africa’s most expensive city

Chad is one of the world’s poorest countries, but in N’Djamena, the capital city, rents rival those of New York or London at upwards of $2k per month for a two-bedroom apartment in the city center.

Place

The grim reality of job hunting in the age of AI

The automation revolution has hit recruitment, with everything from facial expressions to vocal tone now analysed by algorithms and artificial intelligence. But what’s the cost to workforce diversity – and workers themselves?

Guardian

Move to $15 minimum gains momentum in US

Just years ago, a $15-an-hour minimum wage was the pipe dream of a national coalition of striking fast-food workers. Now, it’s increasingly becoming a reality across the country, with significant gains coming in 2020.

USA TODAY

Businesses facing new overtime rules in new year

Associated Press

Photo of the Day

A homeless person sleeps on the sidewalk in front of a Christmas retail display window in Hanover, Germany, in December 2015. (Photo by Thomas Quine) Photo used under CC BY

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