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Dam destruction major victory for Mohawk tribe

After decades of industrial pollution, the Mohawk nation has succeeded in knocking down the Hogansburg Dam in New York.

A century after the first commercial dam was built on the St Regis River, blocking the spawning runs of salmon and sturgeon, the stream once central to the traditional culture of New York's Mohawk Tribe is flowing freely once again.

Seven uncomfortably resonant foreign films about politics

Other countries have seen this movie before.

Ned Resnikoff

Senior editor at @thinkprogress

The holiday season is right around the corner, which means now is a perfect time to snuggle up indoors and watch a few movies. And the Trump era also happens to be right around the corner, which makes now an excellent time to prepare oneself for what’s coming.

'We are failing the elephants'

Story by David McKenzie, CNN
Video by David McKenzie, Ingrid Formanek, Peter Rudden and Frank Fenimore, CNN

Updated 1246 GMT (2046 HKT) December 12, 2016

The female elephant charges through shrub, ears pinned back, silent.

At least that's how I remember it. I was 7.

I'm wedged between a cousin and my father, my grandmother perched behind. We are in the back of an open pickup near the banks of the Olifants River in South Africa.

Okinawa set to lose in suit filed by state over U.S. base relocation

December 12, 2016 (Mainichi Japan)

Japan's top court will not hold a hearing to review a lower court ruling that backed the central government's move to relocate a U.S. air base within Okinawa Prefecture, making it certain that Okinawa will lose in the case, informed sources said Monday.

Instead, the Supreme Court will hand down its ruling at 3 p.m. on Dec. 20, the sources said. The lawsuit was filed by the central government in July as Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga sought to block the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from a crowded residential area in Ginowan to the less populated Henoko coastal area of Nago.

Air quality in holy city of Varanasi 'most toxic in India'

Levels of airborne pollution across north Indian plains routinely higher than in the capital, Delhi, researchers warn

Michael Safi in Delhi

@safimichael

Monday 12 December 

Air quality in the Indian holy city of Varanasi is “the most toxic in the country” according to research that reveals the extent of the pollution crisis across northern India.