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“We have to stop destroying the planet as we feed ourselves,” a World Bank official said, as red meat and dairy drive CO2 emissions.

Cows and milk are out, chicken and broccoli are in — if the World Bank has its way, that is.

In a new paper, the international financial lender suggests repurposing the billions rich countries spend to boost CO2-rich products like red meat and dairy for more climate-friendly options like poultry, fruits and vegetables. It's one of the most cost-effective ways to save the planet from climate change, the bank argues.

The politically touchy recommendation — sure to make certain conservatives and European countries apoplectic — is one of several suggestions the World Bank offers to cut climate-harming pollution from the agricultural and food sectors, which are responsible for nearly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions.

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The paper comes at a diplomatically strategic moment, as countries signed on to the Paris Agreement — the global pact calling to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius — prepare to update their climate plans by late 2025.

Col Rabih Alenezi says he was ordered to evict villagers from a tribe in the Gulf state to make way for The Line, part of the Neom eco-project.

One of them was subsequently shot and killed for protesting against eviction.

The Saudi government and Neom management refused to comment.

Neom, Saudi Arabia's $500bn (£399bn) eco-region, is part of its Saudi Vision 2030 strategy which aims to diversify the kingdom's economy away from oil.

Its flagship project, The Line, has been pitched as a car-free city, just 200m (656ft) wide and 170km (106 miles) long - though only 2.4km of the project is reportedly expected to be completed by 2030.

More than 200 people with diabetes have been injured when their insulin pumps shut down unexpectedly due to a problem with a connected mobile app, the US Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.

Late concession by Belgium paved way for deal on using profits to buy ammo for Kyiv’s war effort.

The EU approved a plan to use the profits generated by investing frozen Russian assets to buy weapons for Ukraine.

Ambassadors meeting in Brussels on Wednesday gave the go-ahead after Belgium signaled a climbdown on the way it treats tax revenue on the cash — the last major obstacle to deal.

The profits generated by investing Russia’s assets immobilized in Belgium— where a large part of the assets frozen in Europe are kept — are worth between €2.5 billion and €3 billion per year.

Twelve Malawians have been deported from Israel after leaving the farms where they were working, to get higher salaries elsewhere.

The 12 Malawians were among more than 40 foreign workers who were arrested while working at a bakery in Tel Aviv last week.

The workers, who were part of a labour agreement between Israel and Malawi, were unhappy with working conditions in the agricultural sector and found work in a bakery instead.

Israel's ambassador to Malawi Michael Lotem told the BBC: "Anybody who violates his visa terms will be deported – as easy as this, as in any country.

Last week, Benzani, a Malawian working in Israel, told the BBC that some of his compatriots working on other farms were being paid less than the minimum wage in Israel.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/tel-aviv-pride-parade-wont-be-held-this-year-will-be-replaced-with-assembly-for-hostages/

Biodiversity loss is the biggest environmental driver of infectious disease outbreaks, making them more dangerous and widespread, a study has found.

New infectious diseases are on the rise and they often originate in wildlife. In meta-analysis published in the journal Nature, researchers found that of all the “global change drivers” that are destroying ecosystems, loss of species was the greatest in increasing the risk of outbreaks. Biodiversity loss was followed by climate change and introduction of non-native species.

“The take-home messages are that biodiversity loss, climate change and introduced species increase disease, whereas urbanisation decreases it,” said lead researcher Prof Jason Rohr from the University of Notre Dame in the US. Experts analysed nearly 1,000 studies of global environmental drivers of infectious disease, covering all continents except for Antarctica. They looked at both the severity and prevalence of disease in plant, animal and human hosts.

Europeans view immigration with increasing suspicion. Seven out of 10 Europeans believe that their country takes in too many migrants, according to a survey carried out by BVA Xsight for ARTE Europe Weekly, a project led by the French-German TV channel ARTE GEIE and which EL PAÍS has participated in, as part of the countdown to the European elections in June.

The survey shows that 85% of respondents feel the European Union needs to take more action to combat irregular migration. And only 39% believe that Europe needs immigration today.

The countries where most people consider immigration a problem are Bulgaria (74% of respondents), the Czech Republic (73%), Hungary and Cyprus (68% in both cases). Paradoxically, in Italy, the European country where the largest number of immigrants entered irregularly last year (157,652), only 44% of respondents viewed it as a problem and only 14% saw it as the main problem. In Greece and Spain, the second and third countries with the most irregular arrivals in 2023, respectively, only 11% of respondents considered it the issue of most concern to them, below the European average of 17%. However, Greece is the country where the most people (90%) believe their country takes in too many migrants.

Malaysia intends to present orangutans to nations that import its palm oil. The move aims to allay concerns that palm oil production is often linked to the destruction of the endangered apes' habitats.

Malaysia has said it plans to present orangutans to major palm-oil-importing countries with the aim of boosting its credentials as a conserver of biodiversity.

The Asian nation is the world's second-largest producer of the widely used commodity, whose production is blamed by environmentalists for fuelling the destruction of the great ape's habitats in both Malaysia and Indonesia.

The move comes after the EU last year approved a ban on importing commodities, like palm oil, that are linked to deforestation.

Malaysia says the ban has been introduced to protect the bloc's own oilseeds market.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15187023

Hundreds of Gaza's water and sanitation facilities have been damaged or destroyed since Israel began military action against Hamas, satellite analysis by BBC Verify has found. Damage to a major supplies depot has also severely disrupted repairs. The lack of clean water and flows of untreated sewage pose a serious threat to health, say aid agencies.

The destruction comes despite Israel's duty to protect critical infrastructure under the rules of war, unless there is evidence sites are being used for military reasons, say human rights lawyers. Of the 603 water facilities we analysed, 53% appeared to have been damaged or destroyed since 7 October.

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Israel has abandoned its goals of freeing the captives in Gaza, instead seeking to establish a long-term presence with its Rafah ground offensive and pursue top Palestinian leaders, Israeli military officers have told Middle East Eye.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, three officers, one of whom is serving in Gaza, questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategy in the ongoing war on Gaza, which has killed at least 34,800 Palestinians and failed to return captives taken by Hamas on 7 October.

One officer told MEE the government’s aims were unclear and the objective of rescuing captives and destroying Hamas had “collapsed”.

The officer told MEE that Israel’s military had become “obsessed” with Sinwar and the upper echelons of the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

An open letter by Meta employees claims the company censors Palestinian-related content internally and externally.

The message was not getting through. Not through the phone calls or the emissaries or the public statements or the joint committee meetings. And so, frustrated that he was being ignored, President Biden chose a more dramatic way of making himself clear to Israeli leaders. He stopped sending the bombs.

Mr. Biden’s decision to pause the delivery of 3,500 bombs to Israel was meant to convey a powerful signal that his patience has limits. While insisting that his support for the Jewish state remains “ironclad,” Mr. Biden opted for the first time since the Gaza war erupted last fall to use his power as Israel’s chief arms supplier to demonstrate his discontent.

The hold on the bombs represents a significant turning point in the 76-year-old relationship between the United States and Israel, historically one of the closest security partnerships in the world. But it may not necessarily be a breaking point. The Biden administration is still allowing other weapons to be sent to Israel, and in fact officials emphasized that no final decision has been made on the bombs that are currently in limbo. Mr. Biden hopes the pause will prompt Israel to change course.

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Russia on Monday threatened to strike British military facilities and said it would hold drills simulating the use of battlefield nuclear weapons amid sharply rising tensions over comments by senior Western officials about possibly deeper involvement in the war in Ukraine.

After summoning the British ambassador to the Foreign Ministry, Moscow warned that Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with U.K.-supplied weapons could bring retaliatory strikes against British military facilities and equipment on Ukrainian soil or elsewhere.

The remarks came on the eve of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration to a fifth term in office and in a week when Moscow on Thursday will celebrate Victory Day, its most important secular holiday, marking its defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said “the sky is the limit” on future cooperation.

Serbia loves Xi Jinping. Like, really loves him.

The Chinese leader’s arrival in Belgrade on the second leg of his European tour ignited unparalleled enthusiasm in Serbia, a nation often regarded as one of China’s staunchest allies in Europe.

“I told him that as the leader of a great power he will be met with respect all over the world, but the reverence and love he encounters in our Serbia will not be found anywhere else,” President Aleksandar Vučić said after a welcoming ceremony in front of Palata Srbije, a lavish socialist-era compound often used for state visits.

Vučić also stressed that, when it comes to cooperation with Beijing, “the sky is the limit.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/20747975

> There are over 100 Myanmar nationals who, despite having completed their sentences and paid all their fines for illegally staying in Manipur State, are still being held at Imphal Prison. Their families are allowed to contact them once a week. > > Family members of those imprisoned say they are facing difficulties in raising 50,000 rupees because they have been fleeing conflict and lack stable employment.

Scientists reclassify Humboldt glacier, also known as La Corona, after it melted faster than expected

Venezuela has lost its last remaining glacier after it shrunk so much that scientists reclassified it as an ice field.

It is thought Venezuela is the first country to have lost all its glaciers in modern times.

The country had been home to six glaciers in the Sierra Nevada de Mérida mountain range, which lies at about 5,000m above sea level. Five of the glaciers had disappeared by 2011, leaving just the Humboldt glacier, also known as La Corona, close to the country’s second highest mountain, Pico Humboldt.

The Humboldt glacier was projected to last at least another decade, but scientists had been unable to monitor the site for a few years due to political turmoil in the country.

Now assessments have found the glacier melted much faster than expected, and had shrunk to an area of less than 2 hectares. As a result, its classification was downgraded from glacier to ice field.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., says Israel is about to commit "crimes against humanity" and on Tuesday urged the International Criminal Court to arrest Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

>The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that as Israeli leaders seemed to approach a decision on a Rafah incursion, “we began to carefully review proposed transfers of particular weapons to Israel that might be used in Rafah” beginning in April.

>“As a result of that review, we have paused one shipment of weapons last week. It consists of 1,800 2,000lb bombs and 1,700 500lb bombs,” the official said, according to Reuters. The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse reported similar comments from a senior US official.

U.N. agencies said on Tuesday the two main crossings into the southern Gaza Strip remained shut, virtually cutting off the Palestinian enclave from outside aid with few stocks positioned inside.

The global agency's humanitarian office spokesperson Jens Laerke told journalists Israel had shut both the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings for aid and people as part of its military operation in Rafah, where around 1 million uprooted people are sheltering.

The Biden administration’s report on whether Israel has violated U.S. and international humanitarian law during the war in Gaza has been delayed and will no longer be released Wednesday as planned, three Senate aides and a House aide told POLITICO.

The State Department has been working for months on the report, which will issue a determination on whether Israel has violated international humanitarian law since the war in Gaza began. If so, the U.S. would be expected to stop sending Israel military assistance.

The email said the report is “briefly delayed,” but doesn’t provide a specific timeline.

Ukrainian counterintelligence investigators have foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other top military and political figures, Ukraine’s state security service said Tuesday.

Two colonels in the State Guard of Ukraine, which protects top officials, were detained on suspicion of enacting the plan drawn up by Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, a statement said. The colonels were recruited before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to the statement.

It quoted the head of the State Security Service, Vasyl Maliuk, as saying the plot foresaw an attack before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration for a fifth term on Tuesday. Maliuk said that he personally oversaw the top-secret operation to track the plot.

Ukrainian claims of Russian efforts to kill Zelenskyy aren’t new. Zelensky said in 2022 there has been at least 10 attempts to assassinate him, and now the war with Russia has stretched into its third year.

Also, prosecutors in Poland said last month that a Polish man had been arrested on allegations of being ready to spy on behalf of Russia’s military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate Zelenskyy.

An appeals court has granted a Hong Kong government request to ban a popular protest song. The ruling deepens concerns about the ebbing away of freedom in the semi-autonomous territory.

Hong Kong's appeal court on Wednesday banned the protest song "Glory to Hong Kong" — an anthem popularized during the territory's widespread democracy demonstrations in 2019.

The decision makes the song the first to be prohibited since Britain handed the former colony back to China in 1997.

Why has the song upset authorities?

Demonstrators often sang the anonymously written piece during their pro-democracy protests.

Its lyrics include the slogan "Liberate Hong Kong; Revolution of our times," and it had already become dangerous to play or sing after authorities crushed the demonstrations.

Officials have lobbied Google to remove the song from search results and video platforms, although with little success.

In one mix-up that particularly embarrassed officials, the song was played as the city's anthem at an international sporting event instead of China's "March of the Volunteers."

Israel has launched a major military offensive against Hamas forces in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, seizing control of a key border crossing and cutting off most aid into the territory a day before indirect talks on a ceasefire deal are due to restart.

Images released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) showed tanks flying large Israeli flags driving through the post and crushing a concrete sign reading “I Love Gaza”.

Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said the offensive would continue until Hamas forces in Rafah “and the entire Gaza Strip” were “eliminated” or the militant Islamist organisation begins to release hostages. A government spokesperson described the first stage of a wider effort targeting Hamas.

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One of the largest communities expelled in the months since the war began was from the village of Wadi al-Siq, which is separated from Maghayyir A-Dir only by a beautiful green wadi. Next to the ruins of the village, which are still visible, cows from the nearby outpost that was established only about a year ago are grazing today. The road that used to lead to the village is now blocked with stones.

According to Ibrahim, on the day the residents of Wadi al-Siq were expelled, a group of settlers he knew – and with whom he previously had a good relationship – entered his village. He says they recommended that the villagers evacuate for 10 days because the settlers were "angry" following October 7.

"On October 11, we took the children and women to relatives in another village, to sleep there. We thought it would be for two or three days and then we'd bring them back," relates Abd el-Rahman Mustafa Ka'abneh, from his new temporary residence on agricultural land near the village of Taybeh. The next day, while some of the villagers were busy packing their belongings, settlers and soldiers came and attacked them at the site. Several residents and activists who had come to help them were arrested and detained for hours inside the village. Some were beaten and subjected to abuse, including, as previously reported in Haaretz, severe beatings, burns and attempted sexual assault.

"They stole [the contents of] my whole house. They destroyed and took everything: stove, kitchen utensils, cabinets," Ka'abneh says. "We found almost nothing." In his estimation, the value of the property stolen from the house was about 200,000 shekels ($53,000).

Russian forces launched a large-scale attack against Ukrainian cities overnight on May 8. Russia launched cruise and ballistic missiles, rockets, and Shahed-type drones throughout the night, Ukraine's Air Force reported.

Multiple explosions were heard in Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Poltava oblasts around 5 a.m. local time, Suspilne reported.

In Poltava Oblast, a Russian drone struck a critical infrastructure facility, causing a fire to break out, regional governor Filip Pronin said on Telegram.

Residents also reported hearing explosions in Kyiv around 5:30 a.m. local time. The Kyiv Oblast Military Administration also reported explosions around Kyiv Oblast, near the capital.

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