Matteo Bernasconi
@mbernascona.bsky.social
Swiss/German Historian, working in Comms - interested to read & learn about Southeast Asia, geopolitics, energy, public health, climate crisis, etc.
Germany alone is now close to 10.000 deaths as a result of heat / lack of airconditioning this year.
DIE ZEIT@zeit.de · 6d agoBundesweit sind in diesem jahr 9.800 Menschen wegen hoher Temperaturen gestorben. Das übersteigt die Zahl jedes Gesamtjahrs seit 2016.
»In der Klimakrise verändert sich unsere Umwelt so rasant, dass es manchmal kaum noch glaubhaft wirkt«, sagt @rahmstorf.bsky.social. "Eine Stadt wartet auf das Feuer" @zeit.de www.zeit.de/wissenschaft...
Waldbrände in Frankreich: Eine Stadt wartet auf das Feuer
Seit Tagen wüten Waldbrände nahe Bordeaux. Was passiert, wenn sie den Stadtrand erreichen? Tausende Menschen mussten vorübergehend fliehen. Und es kommt eine Hitzewelle.
zeit.de
One of the most striking patterns from today’s historic vote: The higher the share of non-Swiss residents in a municipality, the *lower* the support for the far-right SVP initiative to cap Switzerland’s population at 10M. The contact hypothesis holds up well! Plot (c): @marcokistler.bsky.social
Big moment for Europe: in December, fully electric cars outsold petrol-only cars in the EU for the first time. This shows that clear, consistent policy works. Which is exactly why backtracking now would be a mistake. Rolling back targets or creating uncertainty would slow investment and innovation.
Imprisoned former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been convicted in a corruption trial tied to a multibillion-dollar looting of the 1MDB state investment fund.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak convicted in trial over 1MDB corruption scandal
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been convicted in a corruption trial tied to a multibillion-dollar looting of the 1MDB state investment fund.
bit.ly
“Members received a private briefing on Sudan, at which one of the academics stated, ‘Our low estimate is 60,000 people have been killed there in the last three weeks’.”
Matthew Downhour @matthewdownhour.bsky.social · 8mo agoSo, El Fasher looks like one of the worst single event atrocities to happen this century so far, but the evidence has come in such a trickle it seems to only now be getting verified
Thailand-Cambodia live: Border clashes reignite, Thailand launches airstrikes reut.rs/49YKgbe
Thailand-Cambodia live: Border clashes reignite, Thailand launches airstrikes
Simmering tensions erupted into new violence.
reut.rs
Was Südasien gerade an Sturmkatastrophen erlebt hat, ist geradezu beispiellos. Es ist eine Kette von Stürmen, angetrieben durch Effekte der Erderwärmung. Und mein Eindruck ist: Je stärker die Auswirkungen, umso mehr sinkt das Interesse bei uns news.un.org/en/story/202...
Deadly storms sweep South and Southeast Asia, leaving over 1,600 dead
From Sri Lanka’s central highlands to Indonesia’s flood-swollen river basins, a wave of climate-fuelled cyclones and monsoon rains has unleashed one of the deadliest weather patterns south and southea...
news.un.org
The government of Iceland now considers this a national security threat. www.arctictoday.com/iceland-sees... And the Foreign Intelligence Service of Germany together with other German institutions published a National Climate Risk Assessment this year. Here is what it says about #AMOC tipping risk.
China now dominates not just global clean energy manufacturing (solar power & photovoltaics, wind turbines, EVs etc), but the fundamental research and patents that will define the world's energy future.
This is unbelievable. The high temperature at one of Finland’s northernmost weather stations, in the municipality of Sodankylä (Lapland region) within the Arctic Circle at latitude 67.3°N, reached at least 25°C for 26 days in a row. Records date back to 1908.
Aber schön, daß Brosius-Gernsdorf 12x vorkam. Solche Prioritäten muß man sich erstmal leisten können.
Thorsten Benner@tbenner.bsky.social · last yr.On Friday, Friedrich Merz gave his first „summer press conference“. In 90 minutes the word „China“ was not uttered once. Reveals a lot about German priorities & state of mind.. China shock hitting German core industries? Rare earth coercion? Beijing enabling Russia? Not a thing it seems.
This is the typical annual loss in thickness of the Rhône glacier in recent years at this location (>7 m)... 🧊📏 Guess what ? Over last 10 days it has already lost 1 meter! 😱 Likely en route to an all-time record year...🔥📈 Pic and data: @matthias-huss.bsky.social
SPEECHLESS BEFORE / AFTER #BLATTEN The magnitude of destruction after the 3:24 pm collapse of Birch Glacier is immense! 😱 All the forest has been razed and the ice/wood/debris dammed the Lonza river 🌊 Some buildings of Blatten are buried 🏠 📷 Pomona
Nach gestern fragt man sich noch einmal mehr: Wohin schlingert die Merz-Union? Andreas Püttmann schreibt über den Richtungsstreit in der CDU, der sich am Umgang mit der AfD festmacht, aber auch die Frage betrifft, wie christlich die Union eigentlich noch ist: www.blaetter.de/ausgabe/2025...
Zwischen Christdemokratie und Rechtspopulismus
Wohin schlingert die Merz-Union? Andreas Püttmann beschreibt das Ringen der christdemokratischen Partei um die Bedeutung des »C« in ihrem Namen.
blaetter.de
The AfD has been declared far-right extremist and anti-constitutional due its disregard for human dignity by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (i.e. German domestic intelligence agency) after three years of investigation: www.verfassungsschutz.de/SharedDocs/p...
verfassungsschutz.de
Die weltgeschichtliche Dimension des Verrats durch Trump nicht nur an der Ukraine, den europaeischen und sonstigen Alliierten, sondern auch an Amerika als Idee selbst kann gar nicht ueberschaetzt werden.
“Solange die Weltlage stabil gewesen ist, funktionierte die helvetische Tugend des Durchwurstelns ausgezeichnet. Es wäre verhängnisvoll, zu glauben, dass dies auf ewig gilt. Wir müssen uns neu aufstellen. Ein Anfang wäre es, die kollektive MärchenStunde zu beenden.” www.republik.ch/2025/04/12/w...
Wir brauchen einen Plan
Die Schweizer Aussenpolitik ist konzeptlos. Das muss sich jetzt dringend ändern.
republik.ch
This is the issue with so many problems in politics—short term reactions to comparative expectations rather than ever taking stock of the big picture. That’s how you kill a country, by getting people to be inexplicably happy after undoing *some* of the terrible policies you just inflicted.
Zack Beauchamp@zackbeauchamp.bsky.social · last yr.Unless I'm misunderstanding Trump's post, we still have 10 percent across the board tariffs and are in the midst of a trade war with China. That's not a good scenario for the US economy. Why is everyone acting like Trump just turned into Adam Smith?
"What the U.S. is doing now is not reform. It is rejecting the very system it created." - Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (April 8, 2025)
Sechsttrockenster März seit 1881 mit nur 21% des Niederschlages (Deutschlandmittel) im Vergleich zu 1991-2020. Bei weiterer #Trockenheit gemäß DWD-Witterungsvorhersage ist Trockenstress bei auflaufenden Sommerkulturen möglich. 👉 t1p.de/mnhvv
The standout madness in the general madness are the enormous tariffs on South East Asia which, if these stick, is going to magnify China's sphere of influence. Geopolitical lunacy.
"Humans are driving #biodiversity loss among all species across the planet. The exhaustive global analysis leaves no doubt about the devastating impact humans are having on Earth, according to researchers from @eawag.bsky.social & University of Zurich." www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Biodiversity loss in all species and every ecosystem linked to humans – report
Sweeping synthesis of 2,000 global studies leaves no doubt about scale of problem and role of humans, say experts
theguardian.com
According to this @zdfde.bsky.social Politbarometer poll, 76% of Germans are in favour of more defence spending with new debt. This includes 90% of CDU voters, 52% of Die Linke voters and even 70% of FDP voters. A fiscal public opinion revolution.
Der Bundesrat soll "weitere Möglichkeiten zur sicherheitspolitischen Kooperation mit der EU" prüfen und "die Rolle der Schweiz als Teil der europäischen Sicherheitsarchitektur stärken". Das verlangt der Nationalrat mit einer "Erklärung". (1/3)
This is massive. The real Zeitenwende.
Jeremy Cliffe@jeremycliffe.bsky.social · last yr.CDU/CSU &SPD have just proposed a sea change in German fiscal policy: - defence spending above 1% of GDP exempt from debt brake - 10-year €500bn special fund for infrastructure - looser debt rules for states - further debt-brake reform in new Bundestag
Credit where it’s due: where many old-school European atlanticists are still struggling to come to terms with the Trumpism 2.0, Merz has shown no interest in fence-sitting or hedging his pivot to new realities. Mere impulsiveness or genuine adaptability? Judge him by his actions.
Mujtaba Rahman@mijrahman.bsky.social · last yr.Merz's clear and unambiguous in his support for Zelensky
Blimey. Asked about Trump, Merz says he’s in close contact with European leaders about becoming “independent” from US (and confesses “I never thought I’d say that on TV show”). Casts doubt on value of NATO summit in June. This from a die-hard Atlanticist. Things are moving fast.
