ROME, May 10 2023 (IPS)* – Two big facts are impressive enough: plants are the source of 80% of all food, and as much as 98% of all oxygen. Logically, it would be taken for granted that human beings would do whatever is needed to protect this essential source of life.
But do they?
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Several human-caused threats lay behind the current annual loss of up to 40% of food crops globally, mainly due to plant pests and the introduction of alien species. Credit: Jency Samuel/IPS
Not at all. Rather the whole contrary.
Several human-caused threats lay behind the current annual loss of up to 40% of food crops globally, mainly due to plant pests and the introduction of alien species.
Among them stands the massive international travel and trade business, which has been associated with the introduction and spread of so many pests.
ROME, May 8 2023 (IPS)* – Less than a decade ago, Africa was home to 60-65% of the world’s uncultivated arable land and 10% of renewable freshwater resources, as reported by the African Union in 2016, while concluding that African farmers could feed the world.
Is it still the case?
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Droughts are a growing threat to global food production, particularly in Africa. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS
A major consequence is that that very percentage (60-65%) of the world’s uncultivated and arable land is now affected by degradation, with nearly three million hectares of forest lost… every single year.
What are we to think when governments make every effort to keep their actions secret from their own citizens? We can only conclude that although they may call themselves democracies, such governments are in fact oligarchies or dictatorships.
In a democracy, the citizens must control the actions of their government. If they are unable to do so because those actions are secret, then any claim to democratic government is lost.
Many governments have agencies for performing undercover operations (usually very dirty ones). We can think, for example, of the KGB, the CIA, M5, or Mossad.
How can countries that have such agencies claim to be democracies, when the voters have no knowledge of or influence over the acts that are committed by the secret agencies of their governments?
Nuclear weapons were developed in secret. It is doubtful whether the people of the United States would have approved of the development of such anti-human weapons, or their use against an already-defeated Japan, if they had known that these things were going to happen.
(UN News)* — The UN International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice in policing, ended a 12-day visit to the United States on Friday [], calling on Washington to boost efforts to promote accountability for past and future violations.
Members of the UN Human Rights Council-appointed delegation said they “felt an urgency, and a moral responsibility, to echo the harrowing pain of victims” and their resounding calls for accountability and support.“We saw some promising initiatives centering the voices of victims and survivors, as well as law enforcement initiatives that could be replicated throughout the United States.
ROME, May 4 2023 (IPS)* – Some days ago in Rome, the Italian taxi driver switched on the radio during a longish ride through the usual traffic jam. Music, gossip, and the hourly news bulletin. All of a sudden, the man strongly hit the steering wheel. “They are stupid, those bastards…,” he shouted.
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Africa is the continent that has contributed the least (just 2 to 3%) to the causes of the current climate emergencies while bearing the brunt of 82% of the devastating consequences. Credit: Isaiah Esipisu/IPS
“These useless politicians speak every now and then about the need for solidarity with Africa…, blah, blah, blah,” he added. “But the solution is easy, very easy, even the most stupid can see it.”
According to the taxi driver, “the solution is that the government sends to Africa our retired engineers, agronomists, university professors… to teach Africans how to farm.”
The man was so furious that you would not dare to comment that African farmers already know how to farm… far more than many foreign academicians.
CAIRO, May 4 2023 (IPS)* – On the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, Saber Nasr, a young Egyptian man of 20, developed a fever.
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Ahmed Saber with two of his children. His son, Sabre Nasr, died when he was unable to access medical attention due to the conflict in Khartoum, Sudan.
Saber, who left Egypt for Sudan to pursue his dream of becoming a dentist after his high school grades prevented him from enrolling at an Egyptian university, was unable to find medical attention even though his temperature reached a dangerous 40 degrees Celcius.
One of his friends, Ahmed, attempted to seek assistance from the nearby hospitals in Khartoum, but all of them were locked.
Nasr’s father followed up on the phone, helplessly asking Ahmed to continue helping his son.
Ahmed couldn’t find transport, so he carried his friend for three kilometers to seek medical attention.
(UN News)* — Disinformation, hate speech and deadly attacks against journalists are threatening freedom of the press worldwide, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday [], calling for greater solidarity with the people who bring us the news.
UN Photo/Mark Garten | File photo of UN Secretary-General António Guterres (on screen) holding a virtual press conference.
The appeal comes in his message ahead of World Press Freedom Day, celebrated annually on 3 May, in line with a 1993 UN General Assembly resolution. The focus this year is on the connection between press freedom and overall human rights.
A global problem
“Freedom of the press is the foundation of democracy and justice. It gives all of us the facts we need to shape opinions and speak truth to power. But in every corner of the world, freedom of the press is under attack,” Mr. Guterres said.
UNITED NATIONS, May 1 2023 (IPS)* – The United Nations has consistently been a vociferous advocate of freedom of the press – and, most importantly, the right of journalists to report without fear of reprisals.
Credit: UNESCO Attribution 3.0 IGO
But regrettably, the UN is also one of most opaque institutions where transparency is never the norm.
The present world that we are all part of, shows imperialism or domination of large parts of the world by some imperial power such as USA, China, Britain.
In fact, Britain used to pride itself at the end of WWII by the statement that ‘the sun never sets on the British empire’ since Britain had colonised several countries north and south, east and west — from North America to Australia to New Zealand.
India was one of its proudest, biggest colonies among these regions. Britain had entered India for trade purposes, by the agency known as ‘East India Company’, but gradually metamorphosed into a colonial power.
This happened not only in India (which was under British rule for two centuries), but in several other regions from North America to South Africa, Singapore, New Zealand, and so on.
(UN News)*— Countries in the Americas should suspend forced returns of Haitians on the move and adopt measures to protect them instead, UN-appointed independent human rights experts said on Friday [].
IOM Haiti | A woman arrives at an IOM-supported reception centre in Haiti after being deported from Texas , USA, in 2021.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) sounded the alarm after 36,000 people of Haitian origin were deported during the first three months of the year, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Some 90 per cent were deported from the Dominican Republic.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 