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Cet adage souvent lancé à la volée sans grande foi s'est révélé si vrai que j'en ai fait aujourd'hui ma devise personnelle et celle de toute ma famille.

J'étais juste parti faire du footing aux alentours de la maison. Loin des grandes routes et de la dense circulation urbaine. Il sonnait à peine 17h. La visibilité était très bonne. De plus, je connaissais bien le parcours puisque j'ai l'habitude de le faire deux à trois fois par semaine. Et pourtant ce jour-là l'accident est arrivé. Mon pied a flanché sur une dalle posée en équilibre précaire. En moins d'une fraction de seconde ma jambe parti en vrille. Je tombai de tout mon poids. La suite fut douloureuse, éprouvante, stressante... Ce fut l'immobilisation temporaire, une incapacité partielle. Heureusement, j'avais pensé à prévenir ce risque. J'avais souscrit L'INDIVIDUEL ACCIDENT de la GAB SA. Presque tous les frais d'hospitalisation et de pharmacie m'ont été remboursés et en sus je bénéficie d'une indemnité mensuelle conséquente. C'est tout ça qui colorie un peu le ciel de ma vie malgré ma situation.

UN SEUL CONSEIL : PRÉVENEZ ! CAR LE RISQUE NE PREVIENT PAS.

Charcoal sold in urban centres is usually illegally imported from Mozambique and Zambia, where charcoal has traditionally been produced. But this energy source is now being produced in Muzarabani District in Mashonaland Central Province close to the border with Mozambique, according to the Forestry Commission. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

By Busani Bafana
BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE, Jun 14 2021 (IPS)

Once a week a tonnage of fresh charcoal is dropped off at Sibangani Tshobe’s rugged, pit-stop stall by a hired, battered old Bedford lorry. Small, makeshift trolleys — nicknamed Scania’s — quickly cart off small loads and disappear into Old Pumula, the oldest suburb in the country’s second-largest city of Bulawayo.

Electricity blackouts have temporarily stopped in Zimbabwe, but higher power costs and an occasional cold spell still offer Tshobe a chance to make a few dollars.

“I sell a bag of charcoal for $7 and it is good business for me,” Tshobe tells IPS, indicating to a 50 kg polythene bag from other traders that is split into smaller bundles that he sells for $1.

High costs of electricity for cash-strapped Zimbabweans — the country has a poverty rate of just over 38 percent, according to the World Bank —  means that the demand for firewood for cooking, lighting and heating has increased.

And so too has the destruction of Zimbabwe’s fragile forests.

“With the high cost of electricity what does one do? This is a means to fend for my family. I am aware our business means destroying trees but we have to live,” Tshobe says.

Felling forests to keep warm

Each year, Zimbabwe loses about 60 million trees — some 33,000 hectares of forests — thanks to illegal deforestation, according to the the Forestry Commission, a body mandated to protect state forests.

Charcoal making is increasing the loss of indigenous forests and also increasing land degradation, says Violet Makoto, spokesperson for the Forestry Commission.

“Charcoal is happening and is a worrying trend necessitated by the energy challenges the country is facing. Yes, a few months back we had an issue of no electricity, so charcoal was coming in handy for cooking, especially in urban areas. Now, in most parts, electricity is available but beyond the reach of many due to the high tariffs,” Makoto tells IPS.

Charcoal production is depleting indigenous forests in Zimbabwe where hardwood trees are preferred to make charcoal. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

Charcoal – favoured for burning hotter and longer than wood – is made from heating wood without oxygen. The practice is taking root across swathes of the country, dominated by native forest hardwoods such as the mopane hardwood species (Copaifera mopane J), Makoto says.

Charcoal sold in urban centres is usually illegally imported from Mozambique and Zambia, where charcoal has traditionally been produced. But this energy source is now being produced in Muzarabani District in Mashonaland Central Province close to the border with Mozambique, according to the Forestry Commission. The Midlands province, Mashonaland West Province and Matabeleland North province were also hot spots for charcoal production, says Makoto.

In Matabeleland North province charcoal producing areas include Hwange Colliery Concession, Gwayi River Farms and resettlement villages along the Bubi-Nkayi boundary, says Armstone Tembo, the Forestry Commission Chief Conservator of Forests. 

“We have been carrying out raids and confiscating the charcoal but our problem is that we are aware that even if we confiscate the charcoal people still go to those areas and cut down more trees and produce charcoal,” she says.

Last year, more than 30 people were arrested and fined for trading in charcoal with 1,9 tonnes of charcoal confiscated.

This year, more than 1,000 bags of charcoals were confiscated and 10 people arrested and charged for making and selling charcoal.

“We need a lasting solution that can completely eliminate charcoal making in the country. Maybe crafting new laws to directly address the issue of charcoal production in Zimbabwe would help.”

The production, marketing and even consumption of charcoal are crimes, unless one is buying charcoal made from exotic trees, according to Abednego Marufu, the Forestry Commission’s General Manager. Marufu says that there was an exception for timber companies who harvested exotic tree species, such as wattle, for charcoal making.

Charcoal from hard wood trees is wiping out forests in most part of Africa because of rising energy needs. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

Tighter laws for culprits

The Forestry Commission is pushing for tighter laws to curb the practice, proposing a mandatory jail term, instead of fines, which are proving not sufficient deterrent. Currently anyone caught selling firewood and charcoal can receive a Level 7 fine for $59 or a year in jail.

“The Level 7 fine for people in communal areas is deterrent enough what is required by us is enforcement and we are working with the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Rural District Councils and the Environmental Management Agency to curb this activity,” Marufu says.

“We envisage a mandatory jail term rather than optional fines so that people can go to jail for three months. We feel it will be painful enough for people to understand that environmental crimes are serious.”

However, stricter fines are not necessarily the answer to issue, some activists note.

“The constant rise of electricity is unsustainable not just for consumers who are poor and unemployed but also for businesses because electricity is a key component of both the domestic and household economy,” Effie Ncube, a civil rights activist, tells IPS. He adds that high costs of electricity are also pushing up the costs of basic goods and services.

Last September, the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), the holding company of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), increased charges by 50 percent. These were increased by a further 30 percent in May. The increases were attributed to the high costs of importing electricity.

Soaring prices of basic food stuffs, food, fuel and energy are driving Zimbabweans to poverty, says Comfort Muchekeza, Southern region Manager of the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, arguing that government needs to restore economic production for consumers to afford electricity.

“Energy is a really a sensitive issue,” Machemedza tells IPS by telephone. “It is high time the government comes up with alternative sources of energy and invites other players into the energy sector.  The cost of electricity today has gone beyond the reach of not only the ordinary consumers but even the middle class. Since September last year we have seen more than three increases in electricity and that is worrying.”

Wood fuels represent significant economic value in many countries, accounting for approximately $ 6 billion for the whole of Africa, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). More than $1 billion of this amount was made up by charcoal.

“Zimbabwe needs to invest in wide scale alternative energy sources like wind and solar so that people have access to affordable and clean energy at a time when firewood and charcoal are widely use but these have a serious environmental impact,” says Ncube.

 

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Le Roi Mohammed VI a donné des instructions aux compagnies notamment Royal Air Maroc pour le retour au pays des Marocains Résidant à l'Etranger (MRE) à des prix abordables.

Selon le communiqué du cabinet royal diffusé ce dimanche 13 juin 2021, Sa Majesté le Roi Mohammed VI a donné « ses Très Hautes Instructions aux autorités compétentes et à l'ensemble des intervenants dans le domaine du transport, afin d'œuvrer à la facilitation des Marocains résidant à l'étranger au Maroc à des prix abordables ».

Sa Majesté le Roi a ordonné à « l'ensemble des intervenants dans le domaine du transport aérien, en particulier la compagnie Royal Air Maroc, ainsi qu'aux différents acteurs du transport maritime, de veiller à pratiquer des prix raisonnables qui soient à la portée de tous, ainsi que d'assurer un nombre suffisant de rotations, afin de permettre aux familles marocaines à l'étranger de rentrer au pays et renouer avec leurs familles et proches, particulièrement dans le contexte de la pandémie de la Covid-19 ».

Le Souverain exhorte tous les opérateurs du tourisme, aussi bien dans le domaine du transport que de l'hôtellerie, à prendre les dispositions nécessaires afin d'accueillir les membres de la communauté marocaine résidant à l'étranger dans les meilleures conditions et aux meilleurs prix.

A.A.A

Kurz nach ihrer Vereidigung steht Israels neue Regierung bereits vor einer grösseren Herausforderung. Vor einem für Dienstag geplanten Flaggenmarsch von etwa 5000 Nationalisten in Jerusalems Altstadt herrscht Sorge vor einer neuen Eskalation der Gewalt.

Die EU-Spitzen haben das Gesetz für den europaweit gültigen digitalen Impfpass unterzeichnet. Mitte der Woche sollen bereits mindestens 15 EU-Länder an die notwendige Technik angeschlossen sein. #BrusselsBureau

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L’article Méthode pour supprimer l’arrière-plan d’une image en ligne avec Bg remover est apparu en premier sur .

Was für ein Tor von Patrick Schick! Der Tscheche erzielt aus rund 50 Metern seinen zweiten Treffer des Tages.

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MTI: Hétfőn kihirdették az idén nyárra halasztott tokiói olimpián induló magyar sportlövő-válogatott összetételét. A hazai sportági szövetség (MSSZ) elnöksége a hétfői ülésén hagyta jóvá a csapatot. A névsorból kiderült, hogy az eltiltott Sidi Péter helyett Pekler Zalán utazik.

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VIENNA, 14 June 2021 — Experts will take a closer look at the arms control framework and the role of emerging technologies at the OSCE Security Chat event being held online on Wednesday, 16 June.

The Security Chat, organized by the OSCE and the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH), will reflect on the relevance of the 1996 OSCE Framework for Arms Control and its guiding principles. It will also explore the Framework’s relationship to emerging technologies in already deployed modern weapon systems and those used in the near future.

The Chat will feature four prominent experts who will share their views on the framework for arms control, its relevance and its relation to technological change, and emerging technologies in current and future weapon systems. The virtual panel will be introduced by OSCE Secretary General, Helga Maria Schmid, followed by a statement by Ambassador Luis Cuesta Civís, Permanent Representative of Spain to the OSCE. The Security Chat will be moderated by Alexander Graef of the IFSH.

The event is open to representatives of international organizations, think tanks and academic institutions, civil society, youth, the private sector and the media.

Register here to attend:

https://osce-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_c83AqGTzR8OzNw3bdaQQRg

For more information about the event, please visit: https://www.osce.org/secretary-general/488914.

By Daud Khan
ROME, Jun 14 2021 (IPS)

Italy, as other countries, has been struggling to balance the health and economic challenges posed by COVID-19. Controlling the spread of the virus implied restrictions on economic activity, on school and college attendance, and on personal movement. It also had to deal with the economic and social implications of a fall of almost 10% in GDP. This has been hard for a country which, even before the pandemic, was one of the slowest growing economies in Europe, with unemployment, especially among young people in the South of the country, at alarming levels.

Daud Khan

So far the Government main response to the economic crisis has been to try to spend its way out. Support and subsidies to enterprises, as well as to individuals, have been ramped up. Much of this has been funded by borrowing and public debt, already high at 130%, has shot up to 160% of GDP. The Government also placed a moratorium on dismissal and firing of workers until the end of June, and there is talk of extending this even further. The moratorium has kept official unemployment down but it is clear that the numbers of those out of work looks set to increase sharply. Getting the economy going is thus imperative.

Fortunately, over the last couple of months there has been good news with regard to the spread of the virus. The rate of new infections been dropping, the pressure on hospital and Intensive Care Units have eased, and COVID-related death rates have been falling. At the same time, vaccination programs have been moving ahead. These trends led to a decision by the Government to start on a gradual easing of restrictions. As of 26 April students were allowed to return to schools, colleges and universities; theatres, cinemas and museums were allowed to have visitors; and restaurants and bars were allowed to stay open also in the evening, provided they had tables in the open air. In addition, a timetable for further easing of restrictions was announced, with a special focus on facilitating tourism in the critical summer period.

However, as many epidemiologists were quick to point out, the Government’s moves may prove premature. Death rates remain significant, much higher than last summer before the second wave hit. Vaccinations are proceeding with 26 million doses administered so far but only about nine million Italians, out of a total of a total population of 60 million (l15% of the population), has had the required two doses.

Moreover there are dangerous new variants lurking in the wings – most worryingly is the B.1.617.2 mutation (the so-called Indian variant). The Government has placed tight restrictions on those travelling back from South Asia asking some of them to quarantine in special COVID hotels. However, there are large communities of Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in Italy. Many of these people live in crowded, ghetto-like, conditions, ideal for the spread of the virus. There have already been some cases of the Indian variant near Rome and the Government has imposed strict lockdowns in these areas. But it remains a very worrisome situation.

In announcing the reopening measure, the Prime Minister said that the Government was taking a “calculated risk”. Several leading medical experts were quick to respond that the calculations were done badly and failed to adequately assess costs and benefits.

The outcome of the recent measures will play out in the coming months. The country may plunge back into the pandemic or else move rapidly towards normalization. However, the so called normalization may only be a superficial phenomenon. The Pandemic has created, or often exacerbated, several deeper changes in Italian society. The country will have to struggle with these for several years.

The pandemic and the lockdowns are created a growing unease among the population, especially among younger people. There are strident calls for “Liberty” and this often translates into a strong unwillingness to follow Government SOPs. Despite continuous warnings by authorities, many people simply do not maintain social distancing, do not wear face-masks, and gather in large groups especially on Friday and Saturday nights.

The feeling of oppression, a mistrust of authority, and a search for alternative realties are not new phenomena. However, the pandemic has sharply split society between those who see Government, Science and Rules as things for the common good; and those who are who feel alienated and are constantly searching for conspiracy theories to justify their actions.

The pandemic has also very sharply increased income and wealth inequality, and this has stoked feelings of helplessness and a lack of optimism in the future. One of the consequences of this was a sharp fall in marriages, an increase in divorces, and, most worryingly, an unwillingness to have children. In 2020, the birth rate, already low and lagging behind the death rate, reached its lowest level ever – around 400,000 a fertility rate of only 1.24 – well below the number of deaths (750,000). In a recent speech that touched on this issue, Pope Francis called it a “demographic winter, cold and dark”.

The pandemic has seen the significant faltering of traditional politics and leadership. The political parties have been continuously bickering. After several rather odd coalitions between the strangest of bed-fellows, the President had to ask a non-politician (the former head of the Italian and European Central Banks to take over as Prime minister. The traditional institutions failed even to manage the vaccination campaign and a uniformed serving general, sometimes referred to as the TV general due to his frequent public appearance, was placed in charge of the campaign.

The populist parties, some of which are part of the ruling coalition, continue to fan social and economic tensions and rail against restrictions. For example, when the Government confirmed continuation of the 10:00 pm curfew, one of the Ministers made a statement that no one would be fined if they were out after 10:00pm – provided they could show that they were at a restaurant, returning from work, or a host of other reasons. All of this made a mockery of the curfew as the police and other authorities have confused about what action they are expected to take.

The political tensions are likely to rise in the coming months. The Parliament has approved a Recovery and Resilience Plan in the amount of almost Euro250 billion – more than Pakistan’s annual GDP for a country less than 30% of its size – to be spent in the next 5-6 years. Of this amount, the bulk will come from EU funds and is conditional on a series of deep reforms. Many of these reforms have been in the programme of several Governments but never got implemented due to lack of political will and various entrenched vested interests.

In the past year the country has faced an agonizing period. Recovery now hinges on how things move forward. It will be hard but I remain optimistic.

Daud Khan works as consultant and advisor for various Governments and international agencies. He has degrees in Economics from the LSE and Oxford – where he was a Rhodes Scholar; and a degree in Environmental Management from the Imperial College of Science and Technology. He lives partly in Italy and partly in Pakistan.

This story was first published in The Express Tribune, Pakistan

 

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Hiába lőttek sokkal többször kapura a skótok, gólt csak a cseh színekben játszó Shick ért el, nem is akármilyeneket! A második gólt olyan távolról szerezte, amire még nem volt példa 1980 óta, mióta jegyzik ezeket a részleteket. A skótok folytatják hagyományos vesszőfutásokat a világversenyeken és ismét nem fognak továbbjutni a csoportjukból, hiszen az angolok és a horvátok ellen kellene javítaniuk.

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