Archive for June 10th, 2022

10/06/2022

US Leads Sanctions Killing Millions to No End

Human Wrongs Watch

KUALA LUMPUR and SYDNEY, Jun 7 2022 (IPS)* – Food crises, economic stagnation and price increases are worsening unevenly, almost everywhere, following the Ukraine war. Sanctions against Russia have especially hurt those relying on wheat and fertilizer imports.

Unilateral sanctions illegal
Unilateral sanctions – not approved by the UN Security Council – are illegal under international law. Besides contravening the UN Charter, unilateral sanctions inflict much human loss. Countless civilians – many far from target countries – are at risk, depriving them of much, even life itself.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Sanctions, embargos and blockades – ‘sold’ as non-violent alternatives to waging war by military means – economically isolate and punish targeted countries, supposedly to force them to acquiesce. But most sanctions hurt the innocent majority, much more than ruling elites.

Like laying siege on enemy settlements, sanctions are ‘weapons of mass starvation’. They “are silent killers. People die in their homes, nobody is counting”. 

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10/06/2022

Prolonged and Deadly Heatwave Has Hit Large Swaths of India and Pakistan Affecting Hundreds of Millions of People, Sparking Food and Energy Shortages

Human Wrongs Watch

9 JUNE 2022 (UNEP)* — A prolonged and deadly heatwave has hit large swaths of India and Pakistan affecting hundreds of millions of people and sparking food and energy shortages. Experts say the extreme heat is a grim preview of what the climate crisis has in store for a region home to over 1 billion people.

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Reuters/Ajay Verma

Temperatures in India’s capital and parts of Pakistan have at times reached close to 50°C, killing dozens of people in both countries and upending the daily lives and livelihoods of students, labourers, and farmers.

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10/06/2022

Plastic Pollution: Harmful Chemicals in Plastics

Human Wrongs Watch

9 June 2022 (UNEP)* — The harmful chemicals released from plastic products throughout their entire life cycle can pose a serious risk to humans and the environment, particularly when waste is not properly managed, finding its way to air, water and soils.

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Photo: Unsplash

Global cumulative plastic production is predicted to reach 34,000 million tonnes between 1950 and 2050.

While the preparations for the legally binding agreement on plastic pollution are ongoing, the plastic waste and chemicals in plastics are being discussed at the 2021/2022 meetings of the conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, including the Plastic Forum from 8 and 10 June 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Experts say that action is urgently needed to better understand and control the use of chemicals of concern along the plastic life cycle.

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