PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.
Carbon Emissions From Rich Countries Rose Rapidly in 2021: Study (Maria)
The author writes, “Carbon emissions are rebounding strongly and are rising across the world’s 20 richest nations, according to a new study. The Climate Transparency Report says that CO2 will go up by 4% across the G20 group this year, after falling 6% in 2020 due to the pandemic. China, India, and Argentina are set to exceed their 2019 emissions levels. The authors say that the continued use of fossil fuels is undermining efforts to rein in temperatures.”
Texas Boogaloo Boy Admits in Court He Traveled to Minneapolis After George Floyd Died, Fired 13 Shots in Police Precinct Building to Sow Chaos (DonkeyHotey)
From Atlanta Black Star: “A Texas man pleaded guilty on Sept. 30 to a federal riot charge, and admitted he traveled to Minneapolis after George Floyd died to sow mayhem. Ivan Harrison Hunter, 24, admitted he traveled from the San Antonio area to Minneapolis after Floyd’s death and fired 13 shots from an AK-47 style semiautomatic rifle into the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct building on May 28, 2020.”
Indian Health Service ‘Willfully Ignored’ Sexual Abuse by Doctor, Report Finds (Dan)
The author writes, “An independent report commissioned by the Indian Health Service found that officials at the federal agency silenced and punished whistle-blowers in an effort to protect a doctor who sexually abused boys on several Native American reservations for decades. At the same time, the report, written early last year but kept private until now, found that members of I.H.S. management ‘willfully ignored or actively suppressed any efforts to address the dangers themselves.’”
Russia Labels Bellingcat, Other Independent Outlets and Journalists as ‘Foreign Agents’ (Sean)
The author writes, “Russian authorities should stop labeling journalists and media outlets as “foreign agents” and should allow the press to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said [Tuesday]. On October 8, following the announcement that Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov would be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Russian Ministry of Justice added eight journalists as well as the Netherlands-based investigative outlet Bellingcat; MEMO, the publisher of the Caucasus-focused independent news website Kavkazsky Uzel; and the U.S.-based Mason GES Anonymous Foundation, which owns the news website MNews, to its list of foreign agents, according to news reports and the list of agents published by the ministry.”
New Treatment Destroys Head and Neck Cancer Tumours in Trial (Inez)
The author writes, “A new cancer treatment can wipe out tumours in terminally ill head and neck cancer patients, scientists have discovered. In a landmark trial, a cocktail of immunotherapy medications harnessed patients’ immune systems to kill their own cancer cells and prompted ‘a positive trend in survival,’ according to researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, and the Royal Marsden NHS foundation trust.”
Stealing Africa: How Britain Looted the Continent’s Art (Mili)
From Al Jazeera: “In November 1906, around 170 British soldiers launched what that country’s parliament called a ‘punitive expedition’ against [Chibok, Nigeria] for carrying out annual raids along British trade routes in Borno state. In defence, during an 11-day siege, Chibok townsmen shot poisoned arrows at the soldiers from hideouts in the hills. … The arrows and spears the Chibok townsmen had used against the British were then collected and sent to London where they are held in storage today. But curator labels available online about the background of the items at the British Museum — which holds around 73,000 African objects — make no mention of how the spears got there, nor of the town’s resistance against ‘punitive’ colonisation.”
Scientists Discover Massive ‘Swimming Head’ Dating Back 500 Million Years (Dana)
The author writes, “Scientists have discovered a huge, bizarre animal species that lived in primordial seas half a billion years ago during a period when most early aquatic creatures were about the size of a pea pod. The newly named Titanokorys gainesi, however, was a predatory arthropod that dwarfed smaller swimmers, measuring in at 19.7 inches (almost half a meter).”
