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As well as calling for direct US-Russia peace talks, Viktor Orbán cited the "great replacement" theory, which claims there is a plot to dilute the white populations of the US and European countries through immigration.

In der japanischen Stadt Yamaguchi wird die Bevölkerung von Affen terrorisiert. Die Affen dringen sogar in Häuser ein.

Der neue Präsident Albaniens, Bajram Begaj, wurde am Sonntag (24. Juli) vereidigt. Er rief die politischen Parteien des Landes auf, in den für die Zukunft wichtigen Fragen zusammenzuarbeiten, insbesondere im Bereich der Rechtsstaatlichkeit.

Hvg.hu: Japánban kitört a Szakuradzsima tűzhányó hétfőn, az ország déli fő szigetén, Kjúsún két városból többtucatnyi embert kimenekítettek, miután a vulkán hamut és nagyméretű köveket lövellt ki. A japán meteorológiai szolgálat (JMA) a legmagasabb, ötös fokozatra emelte a kitörési riasztást, és a vulkánnal szemben fekvő két városban lakók közül 51-nek azt tanácsolta, hogy hagyják el otthonukat.

Nem Moszkva háborúja idézte elő a globális élelmiszerválságot, és az orosz gabonaexportőrök eleget fognak tenni minden kötelezettségünknek - nyugtatta meg az orosz külügyminiszter az egyiptomi vezetőket afrikai körútja első állomásán.

Benoit Thierry, is Sahel Office Director of International Fund for Agriculture Development, Dakar

By Benoit Thierry
DAKAR, Senegal, Jul 25 2022 (IPS)

The current Ukraine-Russia conflict is dominating the global media to the point of overshadowing longer protracted crisis that no longer make headlines, but are still rife. Such is the case with the on-going Sahel crisis, one of the world’s most neglected ones, where acute poverty, the dramatic effects of climate change and rising armed conflicts have become the norm for more than a decade. A situation further exacerbated by the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.

Benoit Thierry

The Sahel region, known for its nomadic herders and resilient agriculture systems, spans 6000 km across a dozen of countries south of the Sahara desert, which include Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Chad for a population of approximately 150 million. They share a common geography, a similar climate and way of life, but they are also among the poorest countries in the world, ranking last in the Human Development Index. According to the UN Refugee Agency, the region counts more than 4.6 million people who have lost their home today, including 2.7 million people who are internally displaced and running away from conflict and drought. They no longer have a livelihood and need to rely on humanitarian aid for their survival.

However, as vital as it is, humanitarian aid cannot provide a long-term solution. More coordinated responses that address the underlying causes of the crisis are required. For this reason, the three UN agencies specialised in food and agriculture, namely the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), have joined forces with the G5 Sahel, the regional organisation established in 2014 by the five most affected Sahel countries. Together and with the participation of Senegal, they have launched a US$180 million programme to improve the livelihoods and economic means of rural producers in the region and scale up successful pilot activities. Through it, a common approach is implemented, capitalizing on rural development work of past decades, particularly in supporting farmers and herders’ associations.

At IFAD we have a long experience working with rural producers in the region, however, until now, we tended to implement programmes nationally, in agreement with national governments. Currently, IFAD is financing 20 programmes and projects in G5 Sahel countries plus Senegal for a total of US$1 billion.

With the existence of regional Sahel organisations, we can now focus our efforts at regional level, knowing that many of the issues cut across national borders, and work in partnership with all the governments and international agencies concerned. This is for the benefit of the poorest, which is the purpose of the joint Sahel programme, known as the Regional Joint Programme Sahel in Response to the Challenges of COVID-19, Conflict and Climate Change (SD3C). In addition to financing, IFAD is contributing its long experience in implementing agricultural projects at local level, FAO is bringing its in-depth knowledge and research in agriculture, and WFP its expertise working in conflict areas.

An estimated 25 million people in the Sahel are nomadic pastoralists who are increasingly more desperate to find grazing areas for their cattle herds because of the effect of climate change. As they expand grazing areas into farming land, conflicts with sedentary farmers are on the rise leading to a decline in food production, when at the same time the population is increasing. According to UN forecast, population in the Sahel should more than double to 330 million people by 2050. How will they eat if the issue of food production and productivity is not addressed today through agriculture investment and adequate planning?

The programme looks to increase food production and yields through climate-resilient agricultural practices, a key aspect in a region where 80 percent of agriculture is estimated to be affected by climate change. With climate experts forecasting temperatures in the region, currently averaging 35 degrees Celsius, to rise by at least 3 degrees by 2050, there is even more urgency to implement climate resilient measures today.

Beyond the key issue of agriculture, the programme is also focussing on promoting cross-border trade and transactions and peace building at community level. Women, who typically have limited access to land and finance, are making up to 50 per cent of the programme’s participants. About 40 per cent are young people, who face high rates of unemployment and receive help in launching productive activities to create jobs and generate decent incomes. Landless people and transhumant pastoralists also benefit. The overall strategy is designed to meet the challenges of emergency, development and peace following a rapid intervention approach based on the scaling up of existing and efficient responses and approaches. Under implementation since 2021, the program will continue up to 2027 and expand to other countries in the Sahel region.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Excerpt:

Benoit Thierry, is Sahel Office Director of International Fund for Agriculture Development, Dakar

Die Erholung der Ticketnachfrage hat Europas grösstem Billigflieger Ryanair im Frühjahr überraschend viel Gewinn eingebracht. Im ersten Geschäftsquartal (bis Ende Juni) lag der Überschuss bei knapp 188 Millionen Euro, wie das Unternehmen am Montag mitteilte.

The EU is seeking to import more liquid gas from Nigeria to make up for shortfalls from Russia, a senior EU Commission official has said. Oil and gas output had been reduced by lawlessness. But Nigerian officials told the EU side "Come and talk to us again at the end of August because we think we can deliver real progress on this", Matthew Baldwin, a Commission deputy director-general, told Reuters.

Moldova's prime minister Natalia Gavrilita has said she is "very worried" about the prospect of a Russian invasion in future. "This is a risk, it's a hypothetical scenario for now, but if the military actions move further into the southwestern part of Ukraine and toward Odessa, then of course, we are very worried," Gavrilita told CNN on Sunday. "Nobody's safe, and I think that a lot of countries are worried".

Turkey on Saturday summoned the Swedish deputy ambassador in Ankara for a formal compliant about what it called "terrorist propaganda" by Kurdish groups protesting in Stockholm. Turkey earlier threatened to block parliamentary ratification of Sweden's Nato accession if it did not crack down on Kurdish exile groups living there. It voiced its "strong reaction" to the Swedish diplomat on Saturday, sources told Reuters.

Some 1,200 people arrived in Sicily and in Lampedusa in Italy from Libya and Tunisia over the past 24 hours, Italian media report. Five dead bodies were also recovered from an overcrowded fishing boat. The arrivals have stretched facilities, especially on Lampedusa, where a holding centre has room for just 350 people. Far-right leaders are poised to make gains in upcoming snap elections in Italy, with immigration a hot topic.

Incendies dans les Balkans : des morts, des dégâts immenses et des gouvernements très critiqués
Incendies en Grèce : les défaillances criminelles du gouvernement
Grèce : le feu ne se calme pas, la colère monte
Grèce : après les incendies meurtriers, la solidarité s'organise et les critiques pleuvent

/ droite dure Grèce, Courrier des Balkans, dérèglement climatique, Grèce, Environnement, Société

Nach seinem Rücktritt als Profi gibt Martin Hinteregger sein Amateur-Debüt. Die Schatten seiner Vergangenheit voller Eskapaden verfolgen ihn aber noch immer.

Másodfokú hőségriasztás (+35°C) lesz érvényben hétfőn délután (12:00-19:00) az ország délnyugati járásaiban. Nyugat-Szlovákia északibb járásaiban, valamint a Nagykürtösi járástól az Ung-vidékig, illetve a Bodrogközig (a Kassa-vidéki járást kivéve) elsőfokú figyelmeztetés (+33°C) lesz érvényben.

Oroszországi működésének beszüntetését latolgatja a zsidók Izraelbe telepítését intéző nemzetközi Zsidó Ügynökség (Szohnut), mert az orosz hatóságok az Izraelbe emigrálók adatainak átadását követelik, illetve irodáik bezárását – jelentette a ynet.

Az Izraelből irányított szervezet mindeddig sikeresen megtagadta a kért információk átadását, ám emiatt az orosz igazságügyi minisztérium oroszországi működésének felfüggesztésére utasította. A lap szerint már a hónap elején érkezett egy levél az orosz hatóságoktól a szervezet moszkvai irodájába, amelyben olyan megjegyzéseket és bírálatokat fogalmaztak meg a Szohnut helyi működéséről, melyeknek “jogi következményei lehetnek”.

A Zsidó Ügynökség évek óta dolgozik Oroszországban a zsidók Izraelbe vándorlásának ösztönzésén, emellett nyári táborokat, valamint oktatási intézményeket működtet. Az orosz kormány a közelmúltban szigorította az ügynökséggel szemben támasztott követelményeit, majd információkat kért az Oroszországból Izraelbe vándorolni szándékozó zsidókról. Ezt a kérést a Szohnut megtagadta, mert féltette az érintettek személyes biztonságát.

A ynet értesülése szerint a következő napokban izraeli delegáció indul Moszkvába, hogy megvitassa az orosz igazságügyi minisztérium követelését a Zsidó Ügynökség irodáinak bezárására vonatkozóan. A Szohnut bejelentette, hogy jövő csütörtökre előzetes tárgyalást tűztek ki Moszkvában, s a jogi eljárás befejeztéig nem nyilatkoznak az ügyről.

“Az orosz zsidók nem lesznek az ukrajnai háború túszai. Szánalmas és sértő a kísérlet, hogy a Zsidó Ügynökséget büntessék Izrael háborúval kapcsolatos álláspontja miatt. Nem lehet elszakítani az orosz zsidók Izraelhez fűződő történelmi és érzelmi kapcsolatát” – nyilatkozta Nachman Sáj izraeli diaszpóraügyi miniszter.

Oroszország Ukrajna elleni háborújának kezdete óta több ezren vándoroltak Oroszországból Izraelbe. Az Izraelben élő orosz ajkúak szervezetének elnöke, Alex Rif felszólította az izraeli hatóságokat, hogy gyorsítsák fel a bevándorlás bürokratikus eljárásait, mert “lehetséges, hogy egy hónap múlva legördül egy új vasfüggöny, és a mi lelkiismeretünkön szárad, hogy a zsidók ott maradnak” Oroszországban.

 

The post A Szohnut oroszországi működésének beszüntetését latolgatja Izrael appeared first on .

A child eating WFP high-energy biscuits as part of WFP's nutrition assistance in Batangafo town, northern Central African Republic. Credit: WFP/Bruno Djoyo

By Alexander Müller, Adam Prakash and Elena Lazutkaite
BERLIN / TERNI, Italy, Jul 25 2022 (IPS)

A growing mountain of data and analysis points to an unprecedented global crisis in the making, due to the convergence of “Four Cs” (Conflict, Covid, Climate and Costs).

As most recently highlighted at the recent UN High-Level Political Forum on the Sustainable Development Goals (HLPF), the intersection of poverty, climate vulnerability and geopolitical dynamics could unleash the worst humanitarian crisis in recent memory.

Why is this crisis different?

All food crises are intrinsically linked to spikes in fossil fuel prices. Recent episodes (such as the food price crises of 2007-2009 and 2012) display several common characteristics: increased demand for biofuels as an alternative energy source; and the diversion of massive amounts of food grains to intensive, and unsustainable livestock sectors in countries with an already high and unhealthy consumption of animal protein.

However, until now, severe impacts on food availability have been avoided thanks to favourable weather conditions that have helped to quickly restore market equilibria.
Not this time.

While the root of the current crisis is strongly linked to incessant pressure on food systems to deliver energy and meat, high fertilizer prices mean that production costs are outpacing farmgate prices of food, discouraging farmers from maintaining or increasing production.

This adds yet another layer of complexity to the “perfect storm” that has already been gathering. Covid-19 looms large over the ability of supply chains to deliver food. Conflict (Russia’s invasion of Ukraine) has siphoned-off enormous amounts of food destined for international markets as well as driving up the price of crude oil, which is highly influential in determining prices of fertilizer – the critical input in global agri-food value chains.

(Note: On July 22, The United Nations, Turkey, Russia, and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul aimed at delivering Ukrainian grain to world markets. The deal was the result of months of negotiations as world food prices skyrocketed amid increasing grain shortages connected to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres heralded the agreement as a major diplomatic breakthrough. “Today there is a beacon on the Black Sea. A beacon of hope—a beacon of possibility, a beacon of relief—in a world that needs it more than ever.”)

Due to our energy-hungry and inefficient food systems, over seven units of fossil fuel energy are required to produce one unit of food – from farm to retail.

Adding to the complexity of these developments is the accelerated impact of the climate crisis on global agriculture. The upshot is that the world is facing record food costs in 2022.

These “Four Cs” are instigating a scenario that could be more severe than anything we’ve seen in the past five decades, mirroring the hunger crisis of the 1970s in which millions perished from hunger.

Moreover, overall prospects for a global bumper grain crop are increasingly dim. Recent satellite surveillance shows that excessive dryness and heat stress could lead to a five million tonne shortfall in the EU wheat harvest and a combined eight million tonne contraction of wheat output in the US and India.

This adds to uncertainty about continued blockage of wheat supplies from Ukraine, which had a pre-conflict capacity of storing 60 million tonnes of grains and oilseeds.

One hopeful sign is that Ukraine has begun shipping small but increasing quantities of food via land routes, with significant volumes also passing through the Danube River. Several international initiatives are also underway to unblock supply chains and compensate for storage infrastructure destroyed by Russia.

These include US support for new silos along the border with Romania and Poland, and Turkey’s offer to help reinstate Ukraine’s exports from the Black Sea. However, any delays to these initiatives could force many Ukrainian farmers into bankruptcy, jeopardizing global food security for years to come.

Can we crisis-proof our food systems?

The war in Ukraine has thrown into sharp focus – yet again – to just how vulnerable our energy and food systems are to shocks, including geopolitical tensions. Dependence on a few countries for energy and fertilizer needs, poses exceptional and unacceptable risks.

Faced with severe food shortages, many countries will undoubtedly turn to Russia, which is set for an excellent food harvest this season, raising prospects of “weaponizing grain” in retaliation against sanctions.

Behind the geopolitics of blockades on Ukrainian grain is an untold story of a fragile, overly-centralized global food system, constructed and promoted by the richer nations and their corporations, that was already vulnerable to shocks long before the tanks rolled in.

Added to these continuing uncertainties, is the increasing impact of climate extremes to global food production. Once largely associated with the African region, drought is wreaking havoc to food systems around the world. A record-breaking drought reordered plantings in the United States, heat stress in India has led to a reported 10-35 percent decline in crop yields with more heatwaves predicted prompting a ban on the country’s wheat exports, with restrictions on food shipments instigated by another 34 countries.

Devastating heatwaves and the worst drought in 70 years are also being felt in northern regions of Italy driving up prices by as much as 50% , while the Horn of Africa is being ravaged by the worst drought in four decades. With only one percent of arable land equipped for irrigation in the region, the longer-term prognosis for strengthening climate resilience is disturbing, to say the least.

Unfortunately, the global response so far has largely taken the same laissez faire approach that was proposed in the wake of previous crises. In Einstein’s words, it is tantamount to “doing the same thing(s) over and over again and expecting different results.”

To achieve the fundamental reform needed, our food systems need to be set on a transformative pathway, necessitating the redesign around intertwined action.

Restoring sanity

It would be wishful thinking to expect that the world will ever be free of multiple crises. The question, therefore, is how to construct a more resilient global food system to shocks from wherever they might arise.

In the short-term, emergency measures are needed to safeguard access to food for those who are hardest hit from high food prices. Moratoriums on the biofuel and livestock feed sectors would free up sufficient quantities of grain to avoid a hunger crisis. Food stocks, where abundant, should also be released to ensure that the most at risk have affordable and open access to food.

A communiqué issued at the close of the recent G7 Summit in Germany unveiled plans to boost fertilizer production and promote the supply of organic fertilizers. G7 leaders also encouraged the release of food from stockpiles and agreed not to introduce any new public subsidies for fossil fuel sectors, even as they called for additional temporary investment in the natural gas industry to mitigate current supply shortages.

In parallel to these emergency measures, we urgently need to embark a more resilient pathway in the medium- to long-term. Even were the war in Ukraine to end tomorrow and supply chains to return to “normal” we must shift the current paradigm of dependency on climate-destroying mineral fertilizers. We must make hard choices to wean ourselves off conventional monocultural agriculture towards more diverse, localized and ecosystem-sensitive food systems.

Science tells us that nitrogen-based fertilizers derived from fossil fuels, can contribute to 40 percent of cereal yields. Continuing to depend on fertilizer supplies from a few countries is therefore tantamount to holding nearly 8 billion people to ransom.

It is increasingly clear that to avert the impact of such geopolitics, policy makers must make serious attempts to delink world food security from fossil fuel-based and climate-destroying inputs. Incentivizing inexpensive and readily available and proven technologies – such as agroforestry and other agroecological practices – boosts soil health, improves the availability of nutritious food, and strengthens climate resilience.

Repurposing a mere fraction of current perverse subsidises for the fossil fuel sector, which amount to an astounding US$ 7 trillion per year, is a critical step towards enabling such a transformation.

Ultimately, however, we need to value our food systems differently by including their total footprint on human health and the environment. Ignoring the “true cost” of food production has led to a focus on cheap and non-nutritious food that is linked to the global obesity pandemic and a greater risk of zoonotic disease spillovers.

The benefits of such a True Cost Accounting (TCA) approach would be manifold: a reduction in food waste, a far more productive and sustainable agricultural sector that respects our natural capital, and a sense of realism in achieving greenhouse gas targets under the Paris Agreement.

Dismantling the 4 Cs

Decoupling the world’s food systems from fossil fuel-based inputs would be a major step forward in solving long-term global hunger. A necessary first step towards such transformation is to design pathways in which the global north shares its food stockpiles instead of diverting grains to fuel cars and promoting unsustainable livestock production.

Such repurposing requires immediate investment in renewable energy and the manufacture of bio-fertilizers. Organic fertilizers are integral to the circular economy, which is an increasingly important model for planetary sustainability.

Equally, the overuse of mineral fertilizers needs to be addressed, especially given their role in creating additional input demand, which in turn leads to higher prices, while compounding environmental degradation.

While the G7 Leaders’ communiqué is a refreshing breakaway from tradition, the world still has much to learn from history. The world was ill-prepared in the 1970s, the 2000s as well as today. Arguably, solutions to fix increasingly complex and intertwined food systems are difficult.

Vested interests, a lack of governance and a system of economic accounting that undervalues our natural and societal capital are challenges under which transformation of our food systems needs to happen. This task is by no means underestimated, but bold action is needed to ensure food systems become more crisis-proof.

As an emergency step, prioritizing food for people “over all else” would build up trust especially between developing regions in need and the G7. And trust is also a very scarce resource in the world of today.

Alexander Müller is Managing Director (based in Berlin), Adam Prakash is Research Associate (based in the UK), Elena Lazutkaite is Research Associate (based in Berlin)

Töpfer Müller Gaßner, a Think Tank for Sustainability, based in Berlin.

About TMG
TMG Research gGmbH is a Berlin-based research organization with an African regional hub in Nairobi and projects across several countries in Africa. Together with partners at the local, national and international levels, TMG explores transformative solutions for entrenched sustainability challenges, with a focus on four thematic clusters: Food Systems, Land Governance, Nature-Based Solutions and Urban Futures.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Greek firefighters battled wildfires on the island of Lesbos for a second day on Sunday, as well as new fires in the western Peloponnese and in northern Greece, evacuating nearby settlements as a heatwave set in, Reuters reported. Temperatures hit 40 degrees Celsius in parts of Greece on Sunday as a heatwave that has hit other parts of Europe spread east. Greece is suffering a second consecutive summer of wildfires.

Thousands of Hungarians joined the annual Budapest Pride march on Saturday, the hottest day in the country this year with 40 degrees Celsius, vowing to keep up their fight against prime minister Viktor Orbán's policies on LGBTI rights, Reuters reported. Earlier this month the EU Commission triggered legal action over a law targeting LGBTI people. Dozens of embassies in Budapest issued a statement in support of Hungary's LGBTI community.

After five months of Russian attacks, Ukraine will continue to do all it can to inflict as much damage on its enemy as possible, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Sunday (24 July).

British foreign minister Liz Truss and former finance minister Rishi Sunak will clash in a crucial TV debate on Monday as the two aim to convince 160,000 Conservative party members that they can lead the party and the UK, after disgraced Boris Johnson leaves office in September. Over the weekend, Truss and Sunak tried to outbid each other on immigration, China and the establishment of tax-free economic zones.