This mine would be located where I do my research in Brazil—a region already impacted by the massive Belo Monte Dam. “Belo Sun says it plans to extract 6.3 metric tons of gold every year for roughly 17 years, and build a dam to hold…enough [mine waste] to fill 14,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.”

This is in rarefied company of historic sports moments

Sabastian Sawe of Kenya has become the first person to run a marathon in under 2 hours.

“It was the most harebrained operation I’d seen in my 38 years with the U.S. government,” one career diplomat said about the second Trump administration's wholesale slashing of foreign aid. “Who knows how much damage was done.” (Published Dec. 2025)

By the way, there are two ICE charters headed to Africa right now. The Afghans in the NYT story aren’t onboard since they are in Qatar. But hundreds of immigrants who had been living in the US, sometimes for decades, have already been sent to 8 African “third-countries,” most of which are unstable.

it is important to emphasize that this was *the point*. this was *intentional*. elon musk is a vicious white supremacist who thinks poor african children ought to die, so that the world can be whiter

I unlocked a career goal reporting this one: freediving for a story 🤿

Whatever you do,

A U.S. firm now holds major Democratic Republic of Congo mining assets under a new partnership. While the deal aims to secure minerals for EVs and tech, advocates warn of "devastating pollution" and past violence at these sites. @shokes.bsky.social reports for #Mongabay.

The bulk of the 20th century was a series of events that proved, in fact hard power is severely limited in what it can accomplish. Above all else this crowd is (fairly) good at building things and atrocious at thinking about them

The death toll in Lebanon is now 2,020 with 6,436 injured

Strategery

man morale at the AP is real bad huh

had a long term friend (younger) pull a "you can't really trust anyone anymore" type of argument over *whether the moon actually exists* the other day. took me a minute to clock what she was trying to get at. the world is getting very very weird.

While Kenyan authorities say a new luxury camp hasn't affected wildlife yet, Maasai leaders and scientists worry the project threatens the Great Migration and traditional livelihoods. Experts are calling for long-term data to track the impact on wildlife. Elodie Toto reports for #Mongabay.

Meanwhile

No matter how long it takes, US political and military operatives will have to face trial for war crimes they commit this week. It took years to get Pinochet, Karadzic, and Taylor in front of a judge. If the same is true for this bunch, so be it, but that day must eventually come.

I know it's not in vogue but I still believe that making moral arguments is good.

Love this!

A WIRED analysis of DHS records identified dozens of specialized federal agents who used force against US civilians during the largest known deployment of its kind in US history. www.wired.com/story/border...

So what this describes is ethnic cleansing www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/w...

Interesting, now let me crack this book about the history of the world over the last 50 years and see how the economists did

The Knesset passed a bill today mandating the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of terror - but not for Jews. There is a word for a legal system where different legal standards apply to different categories of people. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

"The way some of these other immigrants are getting treated in our country right now is a travesty and a disgrace... I think what’s going on in our country — what we’re doing to some of these amazing immigrants, is really unfortunate and it’s really sad." - Charles Barkley on CBS

A study of 38,000 people across 75 countries found that feeling connected to nature consistently predicts higher well-being, hope and resilience – regardless of wealth or national culture. theconversation.com/a-connection...

"Mr. Buria [Hegseth's chief of staff] told Mr. Driscoll [Secretary of the Army] that President Trump would not want to stand next to a Black female officer at military events, the officials said." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/u...

[Commentary ] Slow-moving and peaceful, manatees are vital to the health of our oceans. This Manatee Appreciation Day, we honor the dedicated people working to save them. As a new op-ed by conservationist Omar Vidal argues, whether these giants survive the next 100 years is up to us.

at some point in the future i think that social media overuse is going to be seen the same way as chain smoking or alcoholism www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/t...

absolutely incredible. Trump might have done more damage to American imperial power than anyone ... ever?

Why are Chinese state-owned deep-sea mining vessels outside research zones? #Mongabay and @cnn.com analyzed the routes these ships took for the past five years and found them navigating close to key U.S. military territory. Experts believed they might be serving a dual-purpose.

A few weeks ago the headquarters of southeastern DRC's Upemba National Park was attacked by a separatist militia, leaving 7 people dead. It's the worst conflict-related incident in conservation since 2020. I talked to some of the survivors for @mongabay.com news.mongabay.com/2026/03/upem...

Is China's deep sea mining exploration a front to surveil the US military & even Russia? Terrific investigative reporting by @elizabethalberts.bsky.social for @mongabay.com & @cnn.com Chinese vessels spent only 6% of their time in designated mining zones, vs sensitive waters like Guam and Taiwan:

Foreign investors are suing Latin American and Caribbean nations for $36.6 billion, often targeting environmental policies. These legal battles undermine government efforts to protect ecosystems, transition to clean energy, and human rights. Story by @aimeegabay.bsky.social for #Mongabay.

On Friday, 13th of June, 1980, Walter Anthony Rodney was assassinated by a bomb in Georgetown, Guyana. He was 38 years old.

PORCUPINE LOOK AT HIM LIVIN HIS BEST LIFE

"The US-Israel war on Iran is draining the global carbon budget faster than 84 countries combined." www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

All of this happened in January in MN. We’re in March. ICE is still in MN but not close to the way they were 2 months ago. People change things. I think we’d all do well to remind ourselves of this daily. People change things. We can change things.

must be nice

I don't really feel like the press coverage of the metaverse implosion honestly captures the access tech press' role in propping up Mark Zuckerberg's fake innovation mythology if you go back and read "journalism" from this era, 97% was indistinguishable from advertorial

They put $77 billion dollars into this.

Imagining anything other than death, destruction and degradation as ways of existing in the world.

The UAE is still sending weapons to the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group that is credibly accused of committing genocide in Sudan.

The EU’s plan to ban products linked to deforestation is in jeopardy. After hard-fought wins by environmentalists, the #EUDR has been delayed for a second time. This delay is part of a bigger backlash against environmental policy in the EU. By @shokes.bsky.social for #Mongabay. mongabay.cc/hsukgf

New Interview: www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

Genuinely just bonkers to watch the USA do this to one of the most successful and innovative hubs of scientific research the world has ever seen. All those years of Free Speech On Campus debates and it turns out they actually wanted less cancer research. Absurd.

a few small cheers

In short: everyone is hedging like a mofo.

Buzzfeed used to publish *a lot* of good journalism. It's really incredible how much the rich have mismanaged the media, which is a public necessity and good.

The EU keeps postponing a law it passed in 2023 to block products linked to deforestation from its market. I sat down with an MEP from parliament’s Socialists and Democrats bloc to find out why. For @mongabay.com news.mongabay.com/2026/03/we-d...

I led the archival & shoe leather investigation of John Mays as a member of Rocky Myers' team. Here is what I know: 1. My research put Mays at 9 Klan rallies & cross burnings 2. There is an artifact in the courthouse basement connecting Mays to the Klan. The court denied his team's request to see it