The Xylom

Happy Valentine's Day from The Xylom!

Looking for something to read with your loved ones? We just launched our bookshop, filled with staff picks and featured reads, to provide you with an Amazon-free alternative that gives back to local bookstores!

Grab your favorite books and e-books:
https://bookshop.org/shop/thexylom

Broaden your news diet and gain a fuller understanding of how Trump and friends are making our communities poorer, sicker, and dirtier.

Get the free Climate News Task Force newsletter bundle:
https://trustfnd.com/thexylom/c/get-the-climate-news-task-force-newsletter-bundle--IGlM92tpL2WfLuqxxWLt

#climate #newsletter #journalism #news

According to Africa24 TV, federal health authorities in Nigeria report a 17 % drop in maternal deaths in the 172 most affected local governments.

In September 2024, we investigated the reasons behind Nigeria’s maternal death crisis: are low numbers of qualified midwives and limited access to transportation the crucial reasons?

A family medicine doctor says the government’s willingness to participate in health interventions is very low.

https://www.thexylom.com/post/maternal-deaths-keep-increasing-in-nigeria-but-healthcare-services-still-remain-underfunded

“We want [Americans] to see that there is still a glimmer of hope, despite all the difficulties that we are having right now,” said political activist Myrla Baldonado, who was forcibly disappeared by the Marcos regime in 1983. “History has shown that dictators don't remain forever.”

#philippines #democracy #healthcare #trump #news

https://www.thexylom.com/post/filipino-american-health-care-workers-trump-marcos-dictatorship-authoritarianism

NEW: Nurses, labor organizers, and survivors of a brutal dictatorship are banding together to apply lessons learned from anti-authoritarian organizing in the Philippines to the present-day United States.

This story is published in partnership with the 19th.

#philippines #health #democracy #trump #news

https://www.thexylom.com/post/filipino-american-health-care-workers-trump-marcos-dictatorship-authoritarianism

Today, voters across Washington states will decide on dozens of school bonds and or tax measures worth billions of dollars to fund their school systems.

In August, high school physics teacher Nick Watkins wrote an op-ed for us about the dire straits of his district under the Trump administration:

https://www.thexylom.com/post/tacoma-washington-physics-science-education-trump-funding-ai

Today, Britain announced that it will invest up to 1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) in community energy projects, such as installing solar panels on libraries and other public buildings, to help meet climate targets and cut local energy costs.

Last year, we reported how a similar scheme played out in Hong Kong, a wealthy former British colony that has struggled to adopt renewable energy, with the support of Earth Journalism Network:

#energy #climate #news

https://www.thexylom.com/post/hong-kong-solar-power-tariff-renewable-energy-carbon-neutral-goal

In the latest edition of our newsletter, Editor-at-Large Kang-Chun Cheng attempts to process The Washington Post's mass layoffs of international reporters and photojournalists, as she wraps up a tumultuous assignment to Mauritania:

https://buttondown.com/thexylom/archive/reporting-from-mauritania-where-the-system-is/

Canada has a repository of rare plants that helps immigration authorities track biopiracy traffickers.

“Any border police, researcher, or tourism operator can quickly scan the Canadian database and determine which plant is on the red list. It empowers the immigration officers to investigate further, quicker when presented with images of plant specimens," a forest department officer says.

Would Canada’s model be worthy of study for South Africa?

https://www.thexylom.com/post/south-africa-rare-plant-biopiracy-organized-crime-china-dubai

ICYMI: Almost 9 years after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico still doesn't have a functioning power grid.

In late 2024, Angely Mercado wrote a review for us on Bad Bunny's “Una Velita”, a song which discusses this exact topic:

#badbunny #superbowl #puertorico #energy #hurricane

https://www.thexylom.com/post/perspective-in-new-song-bad-bunny-lights-up-puerto-rico-s-political-corruption-climate-inaction

Thailand was recently in the news for administering a contraceptive vaccine to wild elephants to control their population. This is not the first time such measures have been proposed as a way to mitigate human–wildlife conflict.

In 2024, the Indian government proposed sterilising leopards to control their population—an initiative that was seen as bizarre even by communities affected by human–leopard conflict. Read our report from November 2024.

https://shorturl.at/0kMJ1

Psychosis affects 3% of people in the U.S.; yet a study shows that 20% of affected individuals and their families who were surveyed say they felt like no one helped them. This number grows higher within minority groups; Asian American families are the least likely among all racial groups to use or fully benefit from mental health services.

https://www.thexylom.com/post/psychosis-mental-health-crisis-hospitalization-holistic-healthcare-federal-funding

As political and financial pressures on independent news outlets continue to ratchet up, The Xylom relies on a stable source of reader revenue to keep investigating how regimes and industrial polluters are making our communities less clean and less safe.

Our target of $7,500/month provides a living wage for our staff and open-source hosting. Make a tax-deductible donation now:

https://fundrazr.com/sustain-the-xylom?ref=cr_5EHOt0