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In the aftermath of the fire in Moria, Athens has not brought any refugees from the island of Lesbos apart from 400 unaccompanied minors, but instead set up a temporary tent camp for them. Germany has announced its willingness to take in more than 1,600 refugees from Greece, and France has said it will take several hundred. Commentators in other countries appeal to the conscience of their governments.

Zwergmangusten können nur eine beschränkte Anzahl verschiedener Laute erzeugen. Trotzdem produzieren sie durch Kombination oder Auftrennung von Silben verschiedene Alarmrufe, wie ein Team der Universität Zürich bei freilebenden Zwergmangusten nachgewiesen hat.

Eine neue Studie legt die weit verbreiteten Eingriffe in die Grundrechte der Roma in westeuropäischen Ländern offen. Sie ist ein weiterer Beleg für die Diskriminierung der größten ethnischen Minderheit Europas.

Wegen der steigenden Corona-Infektionen in Grossbritannien haben Banken und Versicherungen einen Teil ihrer Mitarbeiter wieder ins Homeoffice geschickt. Bei der Bank Barclays etwa sind bis zu 1000 Mitarbeiter aufgefordert, von daheim zu arbeiten.

Es ist an der Zeit für einen neuen Versuch: In Brüssel nimmt die EU-Kommission einen neuen Anlauf, Bewegung in die festgefahrene Asyl- und Migrationspolitik der EU zu bringen.

A maszkviselés szabályainak megsértése az elmúlt héten tíz esetben, összesen 172 perces vonatkésést okozott – közölte a MÁV-Start Zrt.

Mint írták, hiába kötelező maszkot viselni a vonatokon, az elmúlt héten tíz esetben kellett intézkednie jegyvizsgálónak azért, mert néhány utas nem viselte a védőeszközt, így többek között négy elővárosi vonalon – a pusztaszabolcsi, a szolnoki, az esztergomi és a váci vonalon is – félórás késést okozott “néhány utas figyelmetlensége vagy nemtörődömsége”. Egy balatoni vonaton pedig az utast figyelmeztette a vezető jegyvizsgáló a maszkhasználatra, mire az utas megütötte a vezető jegyvizsgálót, ezért rendőri intézkedés történt és a vasúttársaság feljelentést tett. A jegyvizsgálónak orvosi segítségre volt szüksége, a vonat emiatt nem közlekedett tovább – írták.

Kiemelték: ezekből az esetekből jól látható, hogy aki a felszólítás ellenére sem tartja be az előírásokat, nemcsak a maga és utastársai egészségét veszélyezteti, hanem felesleges, elkerülhető bosszúságot is okoz a vonaton közlekedőknek.

Hozzátették: a szeptember 18-án megjelent kormányrendelet értelmében szeptember 21-től a maszk használata már nemcsak a vonatokon, hanem azon állomási és megállóhelyi helyiségekben is kötelező, ahol az utas a felszállás előtt vagy után tartózkodik. Megjegyezték: ezek alapján kötelező a maszk használata a váróteremben, az aluljáróban, a zárt felüljáróban, a pénztárcsarnokban, valamint a budapesti fejpályaudvarok esetén a vágánycsarnokban.

A vasúttársaság a nyitott peronokon, továbbá a nyitott felüljárókon is javasolja mind saját, mind utastársaik egészségének védelmében a maszkhordást.

Kiemelték: a rendelet a hatodik életévét be nem töltött kiskorú kivételével mindenkire vonatkozik, és a vasúttársaság minden olyan utasát kizárja az utazásból, aki nem a rendeletben előírt módon viseli az orrot és a szájat eltakaró maszkot.

The post MÁV: egy hét alatt összesen 172 perces vonatkésés a maszkviselés hiánya miatt appeared first on .

A koronavírus-járvány miatt az idén nem rendezik meg a kick-box Európa-bajnokságot, amelynek a törökországi Antalya adott volna otthont.

Que vous soyez Propriétaire ou Locataire, Vous protéger par une Assurance adéquate est toujours un choix gagnant.
Exposé aux nombreux risques menaçant votre maison ou appartement, AsTRIM est le remède pour lutter efficacement contre les conséquences néfastes desdits risques.
Ce contrat d'assurance offre des garanties de base à savoir :

• Incendie et Evènement similaire
• Vol
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Les avantages liés à ce contrat d'assurance sont dans la simplicité de sa souscription, la Préservation du patrimoine, le transfert de l'obligation de réparation, la garantie du logement après sinistre et enfin la célérité et l'équité dans le règlement des

Surpris par l'ampleur du débat occasionné par les interventions de Traian Sandu à propos du livre de Robert Adam, je me suis retrouvé devant une question qui m'a toujours intrigué : quelle fut au juste la place des narodniki dans la vie politique roumaine à la fin du XIXe siècle-début du XXe ? Peut-on établir des liens avec les populismes qui allaient se manifester par la suite dans ce pays ?
Pour commencer, voici l'« aveu » assez troublant dont faisait part dans ses mémoires publiés à la fin du XIXe (...)

The 6th edition of the EUROPEAN CYBERSECURITY FORUM will be held on 28–30 September online. This year’s CYBERSEC leitmotif - “Together Against Adversarial Internet” and the mission of the forum enhance cooperation of like-minded countries to secure digital transformation.

Waorani women from Alianza Ceibo march for the protection of their forest in Ecuador’s capital Quito. Credit: Mateo Barriga, Amazon Frontlines.

By Jamison Ervin
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 23 2020 (IPS)

A spate of reports on biodiversity – the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystems, the Living Planet Report, the Global Forest Resources Assessment Report and the Global Biodiversity Outlook– paint a stark picture for the world’s biodiversity.

All point in the same direction: we are on track to lose more than a million species by mid-century, we lost 68% of all wildlife populations since 1970, we lost more than 11 million hectares of primary forest last year, and we have failed to meet almost all of the conservation targets in the decade-long Strategic Plan for Biodiversity.

Failure to halt the loss of biodiversity, let alone reverse historic trends, has grave consequences for all of humanity. The livelihoods, food, water security and safety of billions of people are at risk.

The stability of our climate is at risk. Half of global GDP is at risk. Buffers against the next pandemic are at risk. Indeed, the very future of humanity is at risk. Halting biodiversity loss and restoring the health of the planet requires several profound and systemic transformations.

We must place nature at the heart of sustainable development. Because nature plays such as fundamental role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, all nations must take a closer look at how to integrate the protection, restoration and sustainable management of biodiversity and ecosystems into their national climate, health, water, security and development plans.

We must tackle the root causes of biodiversity loss – the unchecked economic and market forces that fail to account for nature’s values. Our current economic system favors short-term gain over long-term stewardship of nature.

Governments must find ways to ensure that their national expenditures align, and do not countermand, their national development goals, especially those goals that depend on healthy ecosystems.

At the same time, we must ensure that corporations and finance institutions place nature at the center of financial decision-making by holding them accountable to the impacts of their decisions on the health of biodiversity and ecosystems.

We must invest in nature protection and recovery. While the cost of inaction on nature is profound, the economic cost of investing in nature is not. We currently spend less than $100 billion a year on nature — about what we spend on pet food globally.

We only need an additional $700 billion annually to achieve ambitious biodiversity goals for 2030 – that’s less than 1% of global GDP, and only a fraction of the $5.2 trillion that we spend on fossil fuel subsidies every year.

We must increase our global ambition for immediate action on nature. We are facing a complex and interacting planetary emergency – a nature crisis, a biodiversity crisis, a health crisis and an inequality crisis all at once.

To fully respond to this emergency, we need bold ambition, commitment and action at all levels, from local to global. We must commit to creating a nature-based planetary safety net, in response to our planetary emergency.

One way to do that is through greening Covid-19 economic recovery and stimulus packages a step many countries have yet to take.

We must transform global production and consumption. For example, global appetites for beef are responsible for as much as half of forest cover loss worldwide, while unsustainable agricultural practices are responsible for nearly a quarter of our global greenhouse gas emissions.

We must increase global commitment and accountability for deforestation-free commodities, though initiatives such as the New York Declaration on Forests.

We must promote, celebrate and accelerate local action on nature if we are to tackle our planetary emergency – we need an all-of-society approach. Examples such as UNDP’s Equator Initiative showcase how the world is witnessing action on nature by youth, Indigenous peoples and local communities in every country and in thousands of communities.

By protecting, restoring and sustainably managing biodiversity, local actors can realize direct and tangible development dividends. To support local efforts, we must also strengthen governance and rule of law, especially for the 90 percent of Indigenous peoples who lack title for their lands, and who face murder, persecution and intimidation, often by multi-national corporations.

We must raise awareness of all levels of society of the value of nature, and of the risks inherent in biodiversity loss. In September, a campaign to promote the hashtag #NatureForLife has already garnered more than 50 million views.

But we must do more to raise global awareness. On the margins of the UN General Assembly, marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, UNDP is convening more than 40 partners to create a virtual “Nature for Life Hub,” involving more than 300 speakers from every walk of life.

Join us, either during or after the event, and help us strengthen global resolve to bend the curve on biodiversity loss – for nature, and for life.

 

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The post Bending the Curve on Biodiversity Loss Requires Nothing Less than Transformational Change appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

The UN will be hosting the first-ever Biodiversity Summit – remotely – on September 30.

 
Jamison Ervin is Manager, Nature for Development Global Programme, UNDP, New York

The post Bending the Curve on Biodiversity Loss Requires Nothing Less than Transformational Change appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Ravasz Ábel (Híd), Juraj Hipš (Spolu) és Michal Šimečka (Progresívne Slovensko) közösen fordultak Branislav Gröhling oktatásügyi miniszterhez egy nyílt levélben az általa vezetett tárca Oktatáskutató Intézetben (Inštitút vzdelávacej politiky/IVP) dolgozó elemzők irányába folyatott kommunikációja miatt.

Szerdán kiengedték a berlini Charité kórházból Alekszej Navalnij orosz ellenzéki politikust, akit súlyos mérgezés gyanújával szállítottak Németországba augusztus 22-én.

L’Algérie figure toujours, aux côtés de la Tunisie, le Maroc, et le Monténégro, dans la catégorie C de la liste des pays selon leur risque épidémiologique, établie par les autorités chypriotes. Le ministère de la Santé chypriote a indiqué, lundi 22 septembre sur son site internet, que l’Algérie, le Maroc, la Tunisie, et le Monténégro, […]

L’article Chypre : L’Algérie maintenue dans la catégorie C de la liste des pays selon leur risque épidémiologique est apparu en premier sur .

By Million Belay and Timothy A. Wise
STOCKHOLM, CAMBRIDGE (US), Sep 23 2020 (IPS)

As COVID-19 threatens farming communities across Africa already struggling with climate change, the continent is at a crossroads. Will its people and their governments continue trying to replicate industrial farming models promoted by developed countries? Or will they move boldly into the uncertain future, embracing ecological agriculture?

Million Belay

It is time to choose. Africa is projected to overtake South Asia by 2030 as the region with the greatest number of hungry people. An alarming 250 million people in Africa now suffer from “undernourishment,” the U.N. term for chronic hunger. If policies do not change, experts project that number to soar to 433 million in 2030.

The evidence is now convincing that the Green Revolution model of agriculture, with its commercial seeds and synthetic fertilizers, has failed to bring progress for Africa’s farmers. Since 2006, under the banner of the billion-dollar Alliance for a Green Revolution for Africa (AGRA), that strategy has had an unprecedented opportunity to generate improved productivity, incomes, and food security for small-scale farmers. African governments have spent billions of dollars subsidizing and promoting the adoption of these imported technologies.

According to a recent report, “False Promises.” evidence from AGRA’s 13 countries indicates that it is taking Africa in the wrong direction. Productivity has improved marginally, and only for a few chosen crops such as maize. Others have withered in a drought of neglect from donor agencies and government leaders. In AGRA’s 13 focus countries, the production of millet, a hearty, nutritious and climate-resilient grain, fell 24% while yields declined 21%. This leaves poor farmers with less crop diversity in their fields and less nutritious food on their children’s plates.

Small-scale farming households, the intended beneficiaries of Green Revolution programs, seem scarcely better off. Poverty remains high, and severe food insecurity has increased 31% across AGRA’s 13 countries, as measured by the United Nations.

Rwanda, the home country of AGRA’s president, Agnes Kalibata, is held up as an example of AGRA’s success. After all, maize production increased fourfold since AGRA began in 2006 under Kalibata’s leadership as Agriculture Minister. The “False Promises” report refers to Rwanda as “AGRA’s hungry poster child.” All that maize apparently did not benefit the rural poor. Other crops went into decline and the number of undernourished Rwandans increased 41% since 2006, according to the most recent U.N. figures.

Timothy A. Wise

Green Revolution proponents have had 14 years to demonstrate they can lead Africa into a food-secure future. Billions of dollars later, they have failed. AGRA wrapped up its annual Green Revolution Forum September 11 without providing any substantive responses to the findings.

With a pandemic threatening to disrupt what climate change does not, Africa needs to take a different path, one that focuses on ecological farm management using low-cost, low-input methods that rely on a diversity of crops to improve soils and diets.

Many farmers are already blazing that trail, and some governments are following with bold steps to change course.

In fact, two of the three AGRA countries that have reduced both the number and share of undernourished people – Ethiopia and Mali – have done so in part due to policies that support ecological agriculture.

Ethiopia, which has reduced the incidence of undernourishment from 37% to 20% since 2006, has built on a 25-year effort in the northern Tigray Region to promote compost, not just chemical fertilizer, along with soil and water conservation practices, and biological control of pests. In field trials, such practices have proven more effective than Green Revolution approaches. The program was so successful it has become a national program and is currently being implemented in at least five regions.

Mali is the AGRA country that showed the greatest success in reducing the incidence of hunger (from 14% to 5% since 2006). According to a case study in the “False Promises” report, progress came not because of AGRA but because the government and farmers’ organizations actively resisted its implementation. Land and seed laws guarantee farmers’ rights to choose their crops and farming practices, and government programs promote not just maize but a wide variety of food crops.

Mali is part of a growing regional effort in West Africa to promote agroecology. According to a recent report by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has developed an Agroecology Transition Support Program to promote the shift away from Green Revolution practices. The work is supported by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as part of its “Scaling Up Agroecology” program.

In Burkina Faso, Mali, and Senegal, farmers’ organizations are working with their governments to promote agroecology, including the subsidization of biofertilizers and other natural inputs as alternatives to synthetic fertilizers.

In the drylands of West Africa, farmers in Burkina Faso, Senegal, Ghana and Niger are leading “another kind of green revolution.” They are regenerating tree growth and diversifying production as part of agro-forestry initiatives increasingly supported by national governments. This restores soil fertility, increases water retention, and has been shown to increase yields 40%-100% within five years while increasing farmer incomes and food security. It runs counter to AGRA’s approach of agricultural intensification.

Senegal, which cut the incidence of severe hunger from 17% to 9% since 2006, is one of the regional leaders. Papa Abdoulaye Seck, Senegal’s Ambassador to the FAO, summarized the reasons the government is so committed to the agroecological transition in a foreword to the IPES report:

“We have seen agroecological practices improve the fertility of soils degraded by drought and chemical input use. We have seen producers’ incomes increase thanks to the diversification of their crop production and the establishment of new distribution channels. We have seen local knowledge enriched by modern science to develop techniques inspired by lived experience, with the capacity to reduce the impacts of climate change. And we have seen these results increase tenfold when they are supported by favorable policy frameworks, which place the protection of natural resources, customary land rights, and family farms at the heart of their action.”

Those “favorable policy frameworks” are exactly what African farmers need from their governments as climate change and COVID-19 threaten food security. It is time for African governments to step back from the failing Green Revolution and chart a new food system that respects local cultures and communities by promoting low-cost, low-input ecological agriculture.

Million Belay is coordinator of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa.
Timothy A. Wise is researcher and writer with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and Tufts University, and the author of the recent book Eating Tomorrow: Agribusiness, Family Farmers, and the Battle for the Future of Food. His background paper contributed to the “False Promises” report.

 

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The post Africa at the Crossroads: Time to Abandon Failing Green Revolution appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Espagne / Commission
Aide d'État
Le régime fiscal espagnol applicable à certains accords de location-financement conclus par des chantiers navals constitue un régime d’aides

Spain v Commission
State aid
The Spanish tax system applicable to certain finance lease agreements entered into by shipyards constitutes an aid scheme