UN-aligned is one year old this month! The seed was sown some years ago in China and developed thanks to the dedication of like-minded people. We have gone from 22 Foundation Members to hundreds of followers from around the world: some are full members, others are subscribers, while many follow us on Facebook.

Sea level rise is set to challenge human civilisation for centuries to come. In this issue of the Gordian we discuss various aspects about the rise of sea levels, including: causes, consequences and a potential way out. This issue contains more exclusive reports by Molly Perkins, Alex Liberto and other UN-aligned members.

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In this issue of the Gordian we cover various topics about water. We will also take a closer look at a few ways to deal with misbehaving artists and their work. The issue contains more exclusive reports by Jonna Lappalainen and Alex Liberto.

So far The Gordian magazine has been presented in a PDF format sent to your email on a monthly basis. While this may have been perfect for readers who printed our magazine on traditional paper or those who used computer devices with bigger screens, such as laptops or tablets, mobile users often had to pinch and zoom on a specific section of the page in order to see a paragraph of text.

This issue of The Gordian includes some examples of the damage certain high-profile companies have caused to human health and the environment. We also take a closer look at Russian tourist visas and their importance in international relations. This issue contains exclusive reporting by Zhi Wang and Ruby Goldenberg.

In February 2020, Russia announced that it would soon be offering a simplified and cheaper online visa application for tourists from EU countries. If you were asked to describe Russia, your immediate thoughts may be of snow, bears and vodka.

On Thursday 27th February, a British appeals court ruled that a planned expansion of Heathrow airport is unconstitutional because the planning process was not in accordance with the government’s own climate policies set out in the Paris Agreement. Lords Justice Lindblom, Singh and Haddon-Cave ruled that when setting out their support for the measures in their National Policy Statement (NPS), the government did not take adequate account of its contribution to the Paris Agreement on climate change.

2019 was a momentous year for UN-aligned! The organisation was launched in May after years of preparation and it only took a few months to attract members from all over the world. The first months were focussed on perfecting and consolidating the website and communication structures, including the magazine and language options.

In December 2019 the Government of India, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), secccesfully amended a bill to the Citizenship Act of 1955, offering amnesty to non-Muslim illegal immigrants, who arrived in India prior to 2004. These immigrants must be able to prove that they are citizens of one of the three neighbouring countries: Pakistan, Bangladesh or Afghanistan. Half the truth is often a whole lie Spokespeople of the Indian Government have repeatedly claimed that the new law intends to give sanctuary to people fleeing religious persecution.

The Enemy Within When Martin Luther King Jr. visited India in 1959, he paid the homage to the venerable land with these powerful words: “To other countries I may go as a tourist, but to India I come as a pilgrim.” Martin Luther King Jr.

Nuclear leaks are probably among the most horrifying accidents possible due to their long-term detrimental damage to life and environment. Eight years after the nuclear leak from Japan’s Fukushima power plant, local residents, many of whom are fishermen, are still suffering the consequences.

National Identity Villages and towns, built on cooperation, existed long before nations did. With time, however, the need for security threaded them together like a string of pearls.

What happened? Although people are long used to the erratic twists and turns of Donald Trump, his decision to sell the Kurds down the river by withdrawing American troops from Syria caught everyone by surprise. Whether Trump was right to extricate his forces from Syria remains debatable, but just as there is rarely a good time to start international military interventions, so there is rarely a good time to discontinue them.

Lies, half truths, deceit and hypocrisy are so embedded in our society that people have become immune to them, accept them and often believe that subterfuge is a way of life. Some, indeed, revel in fake news, willingly spreading fictitious slander in jest.

This year we took it upon ourselves to go through every speech of the United Nations General Assembly and brief you about the most important updates. In doing so, we got to hear some of the most bold and exciting statements from leaders around the world. We believe that the President of El Salvador’s speech was courageous, effective and to the point and thus, deserves the prize of the best statement of the debate.

Every Forty Seconds The 10th September was World Mental Health Day. In this context the WHO published a flyer to raise awareness on suicide and how to help prevent it: Working Together to Prevent Suicide.