7 May 2021 (UNEP)* — Since the start of the pandemic a growing number of people have turned to nature – including visible and audible nature in urban settings in the form of birds and birdsong – to soothe the angst brought about by COVID-19.
And bird watching seems to be becoming more popular. Starting in April 2020, eBird began to see a notable increase in contributions of bird observations. April 2020 eBird checklist submissions increased by 41 per cent compared to April 2019.
Thousands of boots on the ground have been replaced by multiple deployments of smart bombs that stay under the radar of public debate
Fewer boots are on the ground compared with Iraq in 2007 | Mike Pryor, US Army (Copyright-free)
8 May 2021 (openDemocracy)* — In the black and white TV schedule of the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Western drama series reigned supreme. One of the most popular was ‘Have Gun, Will Travel’, starring Richard Boone as a mercenary in the late 1800s.
ROME (FAO)* – International food commodity prices rose for the 11th consecutive month in April, with sugar leading the increase and cereals resuming their upward trend, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 6 May 2021 reported.
Loading sugarcane in Nigeria.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged 120.9 points in April, 1.7 percent higher than March and 30.8 percent higher than its level in the same month last year.
In Rio de Janeiro, drug trafficking factions, paramilitaries and evangelical churches have united to fight a ‘holy war’ against their rivals.
Armed men in front of a football field | Ricardo Funari//BrazilPhotos/Alamy Stock Photo
6 May 2021 (openDemocracy)* — Israeli flags fly from the highest spots of the hills surrounding the Cidade Alta favela in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro. Checkpoints, raised to prevent the entry of police and rival groups, display the Star of David to warn passers-by whose territory they are entering.
Washington DC, 6 May 2021 (UNEP)* – A Global Methane Assessment released today by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) shows that human-caused methane emissions can be reduced by up to 45 per cent this decade.
Such reductions would avoid nearly 0.3°C of global warming by 2045 and would be consistent with keeping the Paris Climate Agreement’s goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (1.5˚C) within reach.
The assessment, for the first time, integrates the climate and air pollution costs and benefits from methane mitigation.
The Competition aims to recognize fair and balanced media reports that contribute to the elimination of public misperception, xenophobia and discrimination against migrant workers and highlight the positive contributions they make.
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6 May 2021 (ILO)* — This year, specific media coverage of the impact of COVID-19 on labour migration and fair recruitment, including contributions of migrant care workers, will be viewed favourably, as well as stories about migrant domestic workers to mark celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189).
I would like to announce the publication of a book which discusses the things that I have experienced during my 67 years of work in the peace movement.
The book may be freely downloaded and circulated from the following link:
Seven years ago, Holger Terp, the founder and web editor of the Danish Peace Academy, invited me to write something about my 60 years of work in the peace movement.
“Almost 10 million Bangladeshi migrants work across the world. A UNICEF report states that, approximately 400 women and children in Bangladesh are victims of trafficking every month. According to a report, approximately 3,000,000 Bangladeshi children and women have been trafficked out of the country in the last 10 years. A Pakistan based organization, Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid’s report shows nearly 200,000 Bangladeshi women and girls were sold in Pakistan. The statistics highlight how grave the human trafficking situation is in Bangladesh…”
Dr. Rashida Khanam
Human trafficking is a violation of human rights, an unethical and heinous crime against humanity. “The trade of human beings, a modern form of slavery . . . violates the God-given dignity . . .”.1 Pope Francis.
Trafficking in persons over the past 20 years has generated an astounding attention across the world. The crime has a growing coverage in the media. Anti-trafficking activities mounted high and most of the countries’ new policies, laws and enforcement mechanisms emerged to combat the problem.2
Conflict, economic shocks – including due to COVID-19, extreme weather – pushed at least 155 million people into acute food insecurity in 2020
Conflict, or economic shocks that are often related to COVID-19 along with extreme weather, are continuing to push millions of people into acute hunger.
Brussels/Rome (FAO)* – The number of people facing acute food insecurity and needing urgent life and livelihood-saving assistance has hit a five-year high in 2020 in countries beset by food crises, an annual report launched today [5 May 2021] by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC) – an international alliance of the UN, the EU, governmental and non-governmental agencies working to tackle food crises together – has found.
4 May 2021 (openDemocracy)* — Commodity trading firms are among the most important corporations in global capitalism, yet most people have never heard of them.
As intermediaries between suppliers and buyers of primary and secondary commodities, these shadowy entities are key players in vital international markets, from aluminium and crude oil to soybean meal and zinc.
