Thanks to the import policy and labeling, the number of dolphin deaths related to tuna fishing has gone down 97% since the ban went into effect in 1990. But that successful effort is now being threatened by the WTO, which has ruled for the fourth time in four years that the labeling program is unfair to Mexico. The Mexican government fought the labeling since 2008, resulting in WTO decisions against the U.S. in 2011, 2012 and twice this year.   read more

The demand has created business for companies such as Enviva, the so-called pellet giant of the U.S., according to the NRDC report. Other industry leaders include Franklin Pellets, Wood Fuel Developers and Georgia Biomass, which operates the world’s largest pellet factory. “Wood pellet manufacturing in the region is expected to continue skyrocketing, with production estimates as high as 70 million metric tons by 2020,” the report states.   read more

U.S. ranking in the report was 28th, down eight spots from last year, due to slightly “less perceived wage equality for similar work,” the report states. In some areas, the U.S. fell even further in the rankings. Measured for political equality, it dropped 18 spots to No. 72. “The number of American women in cabinet-level positions dropped to just 26 percent from 32 percent last year, and only 19 percent of congressional positions are held by women,” ThinkProgress noted.   read more

The former drone operatives see a link between recent terrorist attacks and the program for which they had worked. “We cannot sit silently by and witness tragedies like the attacks in Paris, knowing the devastating effects the drone program has overseas and at home,” they wrote. The killing of innocents in drone strikes has, they say, served as one of the most “devastating driving forces for terrorism and destabilization around the world.”   read more

The Great Recession and weak recovery has caused a reversal in the U.S.-Mexico immigration relationship, with more heading south than traveling north. Pew researchers found that most of those returning to Mexico have done so voluntarily, and that only 14% were deported. They estimated one million Mexicans and their families moved to Mexico from 2009 to 2014. Over the same period, 870,000 Mexican nationals left Mexico to come to the U.S., according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.   read more

Boko Haram was ranked No. 1 in part because its terror campaign surged last year, when deaths attributed to the Muslim fundamentalist group increased by more than 300%. In fact, the Global Terrorism Index 2015 reported huge increase in terrorist attacks during 2014, most of which were carried out in the countries IS and Boko Haram are based: Iraq, Syria and Nigeria. The report pointed out that the vast majority of terrorist attacks do not take place in the West.   read more

Persistent lobbying by Scottish agriculture officials has convinced the USDA to consider ending the ban on beef and lamb imports by 2017. “Getting back into the U.S. market in 2017 would unlock a huge market and millions of pounds of business for our Scotch lamb and haggis producers,” said Scottish Agriculture Secretary Richard Lochhead. However, the USDA says it will not lift its prohibition on sheep lungs, which would mean any Scottish haggis would have to be altered to enter the U.S.   read more

About 73% of all the water associated with the United States’ oil demand comes from international sources. That’s considerably more than the worldwide total, in which 56% of the oil sector’s water needs come from countries outside of where demand for that oil originates, according to ThinkProgress. Water requirement related to U.S. oil needs is more than three times as much as that of China, where 22% of its oil sector’s water needs come from international sources.   read more

All five are from Yemen, but the ongoing war there made it impossible for the U.S. to send them back home. Instead, the Obama administration convinced the United Arab Emirates to take the men. The notorious military facility in Cuba still has 107 detainees, 48 of which have been approved for transfer. Seventeen more “proposed transfers of lower-level detainees are in the bureaucratic pipeline,” according to The New York Times.   read more

So far in the 2010s Democratic gubernatorial candidates have a winning percentage of 37%, according to Smart Politics. That rate is the lowest since the turn of the 20th century, Eric Ostermeier concluded after examining the results of nearly 1,900 gubernatorial elections since 1900. Democrats have won only 34 of the 92 gubernatorial elections since 2010, or 37%, while Republicans have won 56 races.   read more

“Now that we’ve seen the full text, it turns out the job-killing TPP is worse than anything we could’ve imagined,” said Democracy for America's Charles Chamberlain. “This agreement would push down wages, flood our nation with unsafe imported food, raise the price of life-saving medicine, all the while trading with countries where gays and single mothers can be stoned to death.” TPP also would restrict food inspections at international borders, and undermine efforts to label GMO foods.   read more

These firms use visas to relocate their employees, many from India, to the U.S., where they are taking jobs Americans could do. The Times reported federal law requires global companies using H-1B workers to sign a declaration saying they will not displace Americans. “But there is a loophole: An exemption cancels that requirement if employers pay H-1B workers at least $60,000 a year — significantly less than an experienced technology worker’s salary in many parts of the country,” said the Times.   read more

Only 90 of the 5,400 children who have applied to escape street gangs, extortion and rape have been interviewed by the Department of Homeland Security. Some have been approved, but “lengthy procedures for getting airplane tickets and processing paperwork have delayed” their admittance into the U.S., the Times reported. “Really, it’s pathetic that no child has come through this program,” said Lavinia Limón, president and CEO of the nonprofit U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.   read more

An official at the hotline told The New York Times that potential spies could be Chinese or foreigners. “Anyone can be a spy,” he said. “And anyone can also not be a spy.” Citizens were warned in a post on social media that foreign journalists, some workers for non-governmental organizations and those with extensive time studying abroad could be spies. Locals were also informed that those using the hotline to settle scores with enemies would be punished.   read more

As the U.S. presence in Afghanistan continues, so does the reduction in the U.S. government’s ability to monitor the contractors. DynCorp, which has made more than $6 billion there since 2009, was found to have overbilled the government. Both DynCorp and Fluor are being investigated for human trafficking in their recruitment of workers. Defense budget expert Todd Harrison estimates that the 5,500 troops heading there in 2017 will cost about $20 billion, with much of that going to contractors.   read more

ISIS is selling the oil at a steep discount from the world price of around $50 a barrel. The group extracts between 30,000 and 50,000 barrels a day from Iraq and Syria, which it then sells for $10 to $35 a barrel to smugglers. They, in turn, resell the oil to middlemen, mostly in Turkey. The oil is then taken in small tankers for processing. The group also keeps some oil that it refines for its use. The Islamic State makes at least $40 million a month from oil sales.   read more