By TAMMY WEBBER

The most comprehensive global environment assessment ever undertaken calls for a new approach to jointly tackle the most pressing environmental issues including climate change and biodiversity loss that threaten over 1 million plant and animal species with extinction.

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The U.N. Environment Assembly — which the U.S. government didn’t attend — produced the new report this week by almost 300 scientists from 83 countries.

The issues, which also include land degradation and pollution, are inextricably linked and require solutions that include increased spending and financial incentives to transition away from fossil fuels, encourage sustainable agricultural practices, curb pollution and limit waste, the authors of the U.N. Environment Programme’s Global Environment Outlook said.

“You can’t think of climate change without thinking of biodiversity, land degradation and pollution,” said Bob Watson, one of the lead authors and a former top NASA and British climate scientist. “You can’t think of biodiversity loss without thinking about the implications of climate change and pollution.”

They’re “all undermining our economy,” worsening health and poverty and threatening food and water security and even national security, Watson said.

Experts have warned that the world is nearing a tipping point on climate change, species and land loss and other harms. But efforts to address those problems largely have been pursued through individual agreements that haven’t made nearly enough progress, they said.

Instead, they advocate an approach that involves every area of government, the financial sector, industry and citizens and a circular economy that recognizes that natural resources are limited.

“What we’re saying is we can become much more sustainable, but it will take unprecedented change to transform these systems,” Watson said. “It has to be done rapidly now because we’re running out of time.”

FILE – People walk along a road in a village affected by a flash flood in Batang Toru, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara, File)

Global tipping point

The report lays out a dire future if the world continues on its current path.

Emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases — primarily from burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil — reached a new high in 2024, despite decades of negotiations between countries to curb emissions.

Ten years ago, almost 200 nations signed the Paris Agreement with the goal of limiting future warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since preindustrial times to avoid or lessen the most catastrophic effects of climate change. But on the current trajectory, the climate could warm by 2.4 degrees Celsius (4 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100, Watson said.

Scientists say climate change is contributing to wilder weather extremes, including more intense storms, drought, heat and wildfires.

What’s more, climate change is a threat multiplier, meaning that it makes things like land degradation, deforestation and biodiversity loss worse, said Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech University and chief scientist at the Nature Conservancy, who wasn’t involved in the report.

“If we don’t fix climate change, we’re not going to be able to fix these other issues too,” Hayhoe said.

Among other challenges: Up to 40% of land area globally is degraded, and pollution contributes to an estimated 9 million deaths a year.

FILE – Flood survivors use logs to cross a river in Batang Toru, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara, File)

Adopting a comprehensive approach would be expensive, scientists acknowledge, but cost far less than the harms that otherwise could result.

The report says that to achieve a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 and restore biodiversity, about $8 trillion in global investment is needed every year. But starting in 2050, economic benefits will surpass spending, growing to $20 trillion a year by 2070 and $100 trillion a year thereafter.

Nations also must look beyond gross domestic product as a barometer for economic health, because it doesn’t measure whether growth is sustainable or recognize its potential harms, Watson said.

Environmental issues aren’t the only things interlinked, Watson said. He also said governments, nonprofits, industry and the financial sector also must ensure that there are incentives and funding for renewable energy and sustainable agricultural practices, for example.

University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann, who wasn’t involved in the report, welcomed its emphasis on tackling issues across governments and society.

“We must do what is right, rather than what seems politically expedient,” Mann said. “The stakes are simply too great.”

International cooperation falters

Despite the report’s urgent call for action, international cooperation is anything but guaranteed, scientists say — especially as U.S. President Donald Trump has refused to participate in many of the discussions.

FILE – The Gibson Power Plant operates April 10, 2025, in Princeton, Ind. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

Trump, who withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, has called climate change a hoax. He’s promoted fossil fuel use, canceled permits for renewable energy and is abandoning automobile fuel-efficiency standards.

“International action and agreements are becoming harder and harder,” Watson said, noting that this year’s U.N. climate conference in Brazil failed to “move in the direction we needed it to move” with stronger commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other issues.

Talks this summer on a treaty to address plastic pollution in Geneva ended without an agreement, though a U.N. conference earlier in the year garnered commitments for funding to protect global biodiversity.

Watson said that the U.S. didn’t attend the intergovernmental meeting in Nairobi, but joined discussions on the last day and “said they didn’t agree with anything in the report.”

“Some countries might say if the U.S. is not willing to act, why should we act?” Watson said.

Still, he believes that some countries will move forward, while others, including the U.S., could fall behind.

FILE – Traffic crosses a bridge at Woodhead Reservoir in Derbyshire as England experiences a drought in Woodhead, England, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)

Hayhoe, the Texas Tech scientist, said that she’s confident changes will happen, because the stakes are becoming too great.

“It is not about saving the planet. The planet will be orbiting the sun long after we’re gone,” Hayhoe said. “The question is, will there be a healthy, thriving human society on that planet? And the answer to that question is very much up for grabs at this point.”

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — UN Women and partners published a study Tuesday that found more than two-thirds of women journalists, rights defenders and activists have reported violence online, with over 40% saying they have faced real-world attacks linked to digital abuse.

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The report entitled “Tipping Point” focuses on an escalation in violence targeting such women alongside the rise of social media and artificial intelligence, and draws on input from more than 6,900 human rights defenders, journalists and activists in 119 countries.

The study by UN Women, the United Nations agency that promotes women’s rights, gender equality and empowerment of women and girls, follows a similar report by the U.N. cultural and educational agency UNESCO in 2021 that highlighted the issue.

“Online violence against women has become a growing global crisis,” UN Women said. “What begins on a screen can quickly fuel harassment, intimidation, and even real-world harm.”

Some 41% of respondents said they experienced offline attacks, abuse or harassment that they linked with online violence in the forms of physical or sexual assault, stalking, verbal harassment and “swatting,” a tactic to get authorities to respond to an address by making bogus claims of violence happening inside.

Women writers, influencers and social media content providers who focus on human rights are most often affected of such online violence, through the use of new tools like deepfake images or manipulated content, according to the study complied with partners like the European Commission.

Lead researcher Julie Posetti, speaking Tuesday to reporters in Geneva, said the tally of cases of real-world harm linked to online violence against women journalists has more than doubled over the past five years, with 42% of respondents in 2025 identifying “this dangerous and potentially deadly trajectory.”

Posetti also expressed concerns about “digital misogyny” and the “manosphere ” promoted by some high-profile online influencers, and personal attacks against some women journalists by government leaders including by U.S. President Donald Trump.

“This is part of what I refer to as a continuum of violence against women, or the enabling of violence against women in public life,” she said. “When a president or a prime minister or some senior official makes such egregious comments, it tends to stir up the mob online.”

“It’s not even a dog whistle, which is a kind of subtle way of triggering a mob reaction. It’s an overt attack,” Posetti added.

The authors call for stronger laws and better monitor to pinpoint violence against women linked to technology, more accountability for tech companies and increased efforts to amplify voices from men and others to speak out against such practices.

“Women who speak up for our human rights, report the news or lead social movements are being targeted with abuse designed to shame, silence and push them out of public debate,” UN Women policy director Sarah Hendricks said. “Increasingly, those attacks do not stop at the screen — they end at women’s front doors.”

Tenants in five East Harlem buildings won half a million dollars in back rent and repairs, in a settlement with their landlord over poor housing conditions. They now hope other tenants across the city can learn from their organizing.

NEW YORK – Caroline Schettler, 28, in her apartment in East Harlem, where she said previous ownership was known for “slapping a Band-Aid over something that needs stitches—or needs surgery,” when it came to repairs. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Tenants in five East Harlem buildings won half a million dollars in back rent and repairs, in a settlement finalized this week with their landlord over poor housing conditions. 

It’s a victory for tenants organizing in New York City, where Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has pledged to “crack down” on bad landlords.

“This settlement shows the power of tenants who stand together and demand change,” said Matt Latterner, staff attorney at Manhattan Legal Services. “These tenants drove one of the worst slumlords in the city from their buildings and won’t stop fighting until they get the repairs they need.”

The building’s most recent owner, Isaac Kassirer, was number 72 on the list of the city’s worst landlords in 2023. His firm, Emerald Equities, and its portfolio of rent-stabilized homes has been struggling for years, after the firm’s plan to deregulate the apartments came to a screeching halt after 2019, when new state laws made taking units out of rent stabilization much more difficult.

The buildings have been sliding into disrepair since.

“There’s so many code violations that it’s unfixable. And you know what it is, the landlord wasn’t paying the mortgage to the bank all these years. They were just taking our money, and I don’t know what they were doing [with it],” said Abir, a tenant in the building who asked to be identified only by his first name.

Emerald Equities did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

The settlement win comes after a 16-month rent strike where tenants withheld payments and demanded the landlord make repairs. They now hope that their building will finally get the attention it deserves, and that other tenants across the city can learn from their organizing.

“You should stick it to the man if you feel like you are being cheated, and if you feel like you’re living in unsanitary conditions, call 311,” said Caroline Schettler, a 28-year-old tenant in the building who works nights on Broadway shows.

Organizing around bad building conditions

Black mold. Locked fire exits. Broken front doors. Leaks. No hot water. No heat. No electricity. Roach infestations. Stolen security deposits.

Those were just a few of the problems cited over the past six years by the city’s housing department and a lawsuit from Manhattan Legal Services.

“This building has been okay at slapping a Band-Aid over something that needs stitches—or needs surgery,” said Schettler.

The set of five buildings has 523 open housing code violations for 142 units—more than four violations per unit. The dysfunction took a toll on tenants, who told City Limits the repair issues caused them health problems, stress, and even risked their livelihoods.

Abir said that his bathroom roof leaked for months without remedy, and developed mold that affected his family’s health and made them miss work. “At one point we were even about to lose our jobs, because we would stay up all night cleaning out the water,” said Abir. “We would go to our work as zombies.”

“I was always thinking about my apartment when I was at work. I was always scared to go back home. I was always scared that I might get more sick because of this situation that I’m living in. So that emotional stress, I cannot even explain it,” he added.

Schettler said that some days she would have to shower at work or at the local Planet Fitness because of the lack of hot water.

The set of five buildings has 523 open housing code violations for 142 units, more than four violations per unit. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Residents banded together and worked with a local organizing group, Community Voices Heard. They began meeting regularly, laying out demands, documenting all the problems with the building and calling the city’s 311 line. They sued in May 2024.

“To hear stories from other people about all of the same issues that we’re having has been really, really helpful in not feeling like we’re going crazy here. Everybody’s experiencing the same issues, and everybody wants the same solutions,” said Schettler.

How to win a rent strike

Management was unresponsive to tenants’ repeated asks for help with repairs, they said.

“You got to complain, complain, and keep complaining and nothing is happening… I [felt] like it could cause revenge on us for complaining,” said Carlos Rodriguez, who moved to one of the buildings seven years ago to take care of his aging mother.

When landlords don’t make repairs, tenants can legally withhold rent until they address it, setting the funds aside. (If you’re having repair issues in your apartment, you may want to consult professional advice before withholding rent).

But starting a rent strike was scary, and many tenants feared retaliation from their landlord. “I did not go on the rent strike at first. I went on rent strike way after every other tenant, because I am a student, I’m young. I had no idea that this would even work, and I got so many threatening letters from the landlord,” said Abir.

But there is strength in numbers. By the end of the 16-month strike, 50 tenants were withholding rent and demanding repairs. “I did not know organizing had that much power,” said Abir.

In the middle of the rent strike, the building foreclosed, and the court appointed a receiver to manage the building. As part of the settlement, which Legal Services NYC began negotiating with Emerald Equities and completed with the receiver, residents will receive six months rent credit, and pay back the rest they withheld on strike. The receiver is legally obligated to use the remaining settlement money and future rent proceeds to fund repairs.

Rodriguez was one of the lead organizers in his building. He said the settlement is a relief, and might help him get some home health help for his mom so he could work more.

“That was wonderful because it shows we were in the right. It was a relief to not have the headaches, running around trying to get our apartment repaired,” said Rodriguez.

Mayor-elect Mamdani has promised to reactivate the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, among other changes. (Ron Adar / Shutterstock.com)

What’s next

The incoming Mamdani administration has signaled seriousness about enforcing the city’s housing code and rooting out bad landlords, and some advocates hope that it will be a boon for tenant organizing in the city.

“I would recommend to folks who are dealing with bad landlords, talk to your tenants, talk to your neighbors, start holding meetings and start comparing notes. The thing that scares bad landlords the most is a good tenant association,” said Latterner.

Mamdani has promised to reactivate the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, which has been largely dormant under Mayor Eric Adams. His plan would increase fines for hazardous violations, consolidate code enforcement, and have the city step in to take buildings in disrepair from bad landlords and give them to community groups.

At the same time, property owners are pressing the incoming Mamdani administration to expand resources for owners of rent regulated properties in financial distress, arguing the mayor-elect’s pledge rent freeze could spiral into worsening conditions for tenants. 

Cea Weaver, director of the New York Tenant Bloc, said Mayor Mamdani could make the accountability process for landlords clearer. 

“We are going to hold you accountable to operating [affordable housing] alongside the housing maintenance code. If you can’t do that, we are going to offer you money so that you can do it, but you have to make the homes affordable,” Weaver said. “And if you still don’t do it, we’re going to take it away from you. Making that pipeline more clear is what I hope the Mayor’s Office of Tenant Protection can do.”

Tenants on East 103rd have dreams of turning the strip of buildings into a community land trust, where a nonprofit entity controlled by the tenants would own the property and each tenant would have a condominium.

“In this city it is so often taken for granted—we’ll just take what we get. We’re lucky to live here,” said Schettler. “And we still are entitled to electricity. We are still entitled to a mold-free and roach-free living space and locks on our doors.”

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Patrick@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.

The post How These East Harlem Tenants Won Their Rent Strike appeared first on City Limits.

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Raul Malo, the soulful tenor and frontman of the genre-defying, Grammy-winning band The Mavericks, has died. He was 60.

Malo died Monday night, his wife, Betty Malo, posted on his Facebook page. He had been battling cancer. The frontman of The Mavericks had documented his health journey on social media since he disclosed in June 2024 that he was receiving treatment for colon cancer.

In September 2025, Malo said on Instagram that he was battling LMD, or leptomeningeal disease, a rare complication when cancer spreads to membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord.

The diagnosis forced The Mavericks to cancel dates with Dwight Yoakam in the middle of a joint tour. Malo left home in Nashville, Tennessee, to seek treatment in Houston, keeping his fans updated along his health journey.

“He was called to do another gig — this time in the sky — and he’s flying high like an eagle,” Betty Malo wrote. “No one embodied life and love, joy and passion, family, friends, music, and adventure the way our beloved Raul did. Now he will look down on us with all that heaven will allow, lighting the way and reminding us to savor every moment.”

FILE – Raul Malo of The Mavericks performs at the Americana Honors & Awards in Nashville, Tenn., on Sept. 22, 2021, (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski, File)

Malo’s band praised his deep commitment to the “preservation of the multilingual American musical repertoire” and his steadfast championing of “music education as an inspiration for every child across America and throughout the world.”

Born Raul Francisco Martínez-Malo Jr. in Miami to Cuban parents, he co-founded The Mavericks in 1989 with drummer Paul Deakin and bass guitarist Robert Reynolds. Their self-titled debut album was released the following year on the independent, Miami-based label Y&T Music.

Some call the band alt-country. Others describe it as Americana, roots, Latin, Tejano or swing. It’s all of the above and more, driven by songs written by Malo, his expansive guitar style and his broad vocal range, from a soaring, velvety baritone to operatic high notes.

His musical prowess was in the blend, also incorporating rock, traditional country and surf. In the early days in Miami, The Mavericks played punk and rock clubs to get their sound out there.

“I grew up in a household where we listened to all kinds of music,” Malo said in a 2020 NPR interview. “I just remember it was a celebration of all these cultures.”

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At that time, The Mavericks had just released an all-Spanish album, “En Español,” featuring original songs and classic Latin American standards. In 2002, Malo released an all-Spanish album for children, “el Cancionero de la Familia Volume 1,” featuring vocals from his sister, Carol, wife, Betty, and mother, Norma, along with other guests.

The band has taken on various iterations over the years as some members came and went. The Mavericks also disbanded a couple of times. Malo put out a dozen or so solo albums and collaboration projects as well, including his instrumental “Say Less,” “You’re Only Lonely” and “Sinners & Saints.”

The Mavericks released their 13th studio album, “Moon & Stars,” in 2024. Between that and their debut, the band received a Grammy, two Country Music Association awards and three Academy of Country Music Awards.

Raul has a BMI award for songwriting, for “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down,” and was nominated for several solo Grammys, including one for his album “Lucky One” and another for his work with the Latin supergroup “Los Super Seven.”

He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Betty; sons Dino, Victor, and Max, mother Norma, sister Carol, and Mavericks bandmates Paul Deakin, Eddie Perez, and Jerry Dale McFadden.