Truthout
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Disarmament proponents have called the B61 bomb upgrade “an irresponsible escalation of the new nuclear arms race.”
Jon Letman
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environment, asia pacific, conservation, plants, biodiversity, hawaii, food security, militarization, climate change
Hawaii-based independent journalist covering human rights, the environment, and the impact of US foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
Jon Letman’s Journalist Portfolio
View as a gridAustralia's support to Pacific surges as China focuses on 'friendly' states, aid map shows
The Guardian Australia
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Lowy Institute report finds Canberra has become leading source of loans to region while Beijing's financing is 'strategically targeted'
Back to Bikini
Inkstick Media
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Lessons from Marshallese canoe culture on navigating beyond colonization, nuclear weapons, and climate change.
ICAN's new leader stresses the humanitarian and environmental costs of nuclear weapons
outrider.org
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A conversation with Melissa Parke, the newly appointed executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Cook Islands PM 'proceeds with caution' on deep-sea mining as critics warn over risks
The Guardian
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Deadline tied to the regulation of controversial plans to extract seabed minerals looms amid division over the practice
How Japanese Civilians Are Supporting Ukraine
The Diplomat Magazine
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As the need for humanitarian aid grew, Japanese citizens continued to send Bogdan Parkhomenko - a Ukrainian with strong ties to Japan - goods and money, asking him to share with those in need.
75 Years After Jeju 4.3 Massacre, Koreans Want a US Apology
Ink Stick Media
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The US military stood by while one of Korea's bloodiest incidents erupted around them, and Koreans haven't forgotten.
Monitoring the Environmental Consequences of the War in Ukraine
Inkstick Media
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Even though their countries are at war, activists are working together to document the impact on the environment.
Scientists Warn Nuclear War Would Make the World Colder, Darker and Hungrier
Truthout
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A "nuclear winter" caused by a nuclear war could cause 5.3 billion people to die of starvation within two years.
How Kazakhstan gave up nuclear weapons
outrider.org
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A conversation with Togzhan Kassenova about how Kazakhstan became a world leader in nuclear disarmament
The house that can withstand a cyclone: how traditional dwellings are making a comeback in Vanuat...
The Guardian
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Since Cyclone Pam devastated Vanuatu, locals are returning to the saeklon haos, made from vines, palm fronds and grasses
Covering the Bomb
Inkstick Media
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An interview with John Hersey biographer Lesley M.M. Blume on how reporters cover nuclear weapons
Micronesian scientist becomes first Pacific Islander to reach ocean's deepest point
The Guardian
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Nicole Yamase is second-youngest person and third woman to visit Challenger Deep, a place fewer people have visited than have flown to the moon
Intensified US Sanctions Bolster Iran's Hardliners and Fuel Angry Protests
Truthout
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At least 12 Iranian protesters have been killed while demonstrating in response to rising gasoline prices.
Rising seas give island nation a stark choice: relocate or elevate
National Geographic
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Climate change-driven sea level rise is forcing people in the Marshall Islands to consider the need to build a new island or raise existing ones.
Indigenous poets read urgent climate message on a melting glacier
Grist
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As Greenland's glaciers melt and flow into the sea, Pacific island nations are on the receiving end of some of that water. It's a familiar story about climate change: One nation crumbles into the ocean; others risk drowning under rising sea levels.
The Race Is On to Mine the Deep Ocean
National Geographic
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Some of the biggest deposits of iron, copper, and rare-earth elements are in the middle of the Pacific. They come at a cost.
Travel Ban and Sanctions Obstruct Humanitarian Efforts in North Korea
truthout.org
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International sanctions and a U.S. travel ban to North Korea are making humanitarian aid work all but impossible.
As the US "Enhances" Military Cooperation in the Philippines, a Complicated Relationship Is Chall...
truth-out.org
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Help save Truthout from needing to make any cuts in 2015. Donate now to ensure we start the new year strong! Six months into a new defense agreement designed to "enhance" military ties between the United States and the Philippines, the case of Jennifer Laude is putting strain on a long and complicated alliance. Laude, a transgender Filipina, was found dead on October 11 in a motel room in Olangapo City near the former US naval base at Subic Bay while US forces were on a "liberty" (recreational shore leave) visit. Witnesses say Laude was seen entering the motel with US Marine Pfc.
Hawaii: Blue skies, sandy beaches and a rising tide of homelessness | Al Jazeera America
Al Jazeera America
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LIHUE, Hawaii - On a tropical island known for its clean, blue waters and sandy beaches, the last thing business owners want is an image tarnished by homeless camps and sidewalks cluttered with squatters. In the 2014 " State of Homelessness in America" report, Hawaii ranked highest among the 50 states for homeless people per capita. A recent state-sponsored tally found there were more than 4,700 homeless on Oahu, with at least 2,200 on neighboring islands - figures that most advocates agree underreport the true total. With Honolulu's business interests and residents frustrated by Oahu's growing homeless population, the city has introduced three laws aimed at clearing city streets and parks.
Indigenous leaders prevented from leaving Russia | Al Jazeera America
Al Jazeera
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Earlier this week, as indigenous leaders from around the globe gathered for the United Nations World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, at least four delegates from Russia were blocked from leaving the country. The delegates - representing indigenous people from the vast Arctic, Siberia, Russia's Far East and the recently annexed territory of Crimea - all faced attempts to prevent them from attending the high-level meeting in New York on Sept. 22 and 23. Valentina Sovkina, chairwoman of the Sami Parliament in the extreme northwest of Russia, was temporarily blocked from departing the Murmansk region when her car's tires were punctured and later when police stopped her taxi three times as she attempted to drive to Norway.
The Cost of Teaching an Old Nuclear Weapon New Tricks
www.truth-out.org
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When the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan 69 years ago, the shadows of charred silhouettes etched against the ruins of shattered cities indelibly marked nuclear weapons as forbidden tools of war. The indiscriminate carnage wrought in Hiroshima by "Little Boy" (est. 15 kilotons) and Nagasaki by "Fat Man" (est. 20 kt) has, so far, not been repeated. But seven decades later, the United States continues to pursue more accurate, "lower-yield" nuclear bombs.
PMRF: Kaua'i's biggest bang is out of sight
hawaiiindependent.net
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A look at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kaua'i and what the increasing military presence in the Pacific means for Hawai'i and the world. When you think of Kaua'i perhaps you envision lush tropical foliage, hiking in Waimea Canyon or kayaking the Wailua River. What you probably don't think of are Advanced Hypersonic Weapons, Ballistic Missile Defense testing, Predator drones, low-earth orbit intercepts and sophisticated tracking systems that monitor activities around the globe. Whale watching tourists sailing along Kaua'i's famed N? Pali Coast have no idea they are sharing the scenic waters with defense contractors Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and General Atomics, among others.
The Militarized Pacific: An Anniversary Without End
www.truth-out.org
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March 1, the 60th anniversary of the Castle Bravo test - a nuclear detonation over a thousand times more powerful than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima - has come and gone. Predictably, major decadal events, like a 15-megaton explosion over a Micronesian atoll, garner fleeting attention, but it's all the days between the anniversaries that tell the real story of those who live with the impacts. For the people of the Marshall Islands, where Enewetak, Bikini and neighboring atolls were irradiated and rendered uninhabitable by 67 nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958, the brief anniversary recognition only underscores what little attention the Marshallese and, in a broader sense, millions of peoples of the Asia-Pacific are given by the US government and public.