Drought is affecting large areas of the planet. Zimbabwe is suffering so much that it is thinking about selling some of its wild animal stock to raise money. Cambodia is witnessing the deaths of many of its farm and wild animals due to lack of water. Canada is facing a catastrophic fire as large forested areas of Alberta and Saskatchewan have completely dried up. One can never say that any particular event is “caused” by climate change, but the confluence of these events provides a strong case.
Several countries in the south of the European Union have labored under austerity programs imposed by the European Central Bank, the EU, and the IMF. These programs are designed to make the ailing economies more competitive, and the incentive for these countries to accept these cutbacks to human services is the prospect of receiving additional loans to service their sovereign debt. A new study, however, indicates that virtually all the bail-out money goes to private banks which hold the debt: only 5% of the bail-out money is used to stimulate the economy. The rest goes out of the country to large banks that hold the sovereign debt.
Sadiq Khan has been elected the mayor of London, becoming the first Muslim to hold that high office, bucking the anti-Muslim sentiment that seems to be growing in Europe. Khan is the son of immigrants to Great Britain and campaigned on a platform of police reform, opposition to a British exit from the European Union, and on a strong environmental effort to make London a “green” city. London is one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse cities in Europe, and this election is testimony to the growing power of the Labour Party after years of Tory rule.
Sadiq Khan
World Politics News 
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