Health

58% of human infectious diseases can be worsened by climate change – we scoured 77,000 studies to map the pathways

By Tristan McKenzie, University of Gothenburg; Camilo Mora, University of Hawaii; and Hannah von Hammerstein, University of Hawaii | – Climate change can exacerbate a full 58% of the infectious diseases that humans come in contact with worldwide, from common waterborne viruses to deadly diseases like plague, our new research shows. Our team of environment […]

Arab World

Opening of shipping Routes from Ukraine will not Lessen Commodity and Food pressure on the Middle East and North Africa

Global Voices

By Roman Shemakov | – Russia and Ukraine are two of the most essential pillars of the global food trade, producing 25 percent of the global wheat supply. More than 160 days after Russia invaded Ukraine, food, commodity, and energy shortages have plunged many economies across the world into recessions, particularly in the Middle East, […]

Afghanistan

Pact Act is Vindication for Vets after US Denied for Years that Burn Pits in Afghanistan and Iraq made them Ill

The Conversation

By Jason A. Higgins, Virginia Tech | – During a 13-month stint in Iraq that began in 2006, Heath Robinson served as a medic with the Ohio National Guard. Like thousands of others soldiers stationed there, he was routinely exposed to toxic smoke emanating from what are known as burn pits. Located near military bases, […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Taliban’s Catastrophic Year of Rule

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (New York) – The Taliban have broken multiple pledges to respect human rights and women’s rights since taking over Afghanistan a year ago, Human Rights Watch said today. After capturing Kabul on August 15, 2021, Taliban authorities have imposed severe restrictions on women’s and girls’ rights, suppressed the media, and arbitrarily […]

Food Security

The Russia-Ukraine Grain Export Deal brokered by Turkey Promises major Benefits for Poor Countries

The Conversation

By Wandile Sihlobo, Stellenbosch University | – If Russia keeps to the deal it has signed with Ukraine allowing for the resumption of grain exports, much needed relief will be provided to importing countries, including many in Africa. Ukraine, which has about 22 million tonnes of grain (wheat, maize, sunflower seed and other grains) in […]

Food Security

The Turkey-Russia-Ukraine Grain Agreement and the Weaponization of Food

John Feffer

( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – When Russia bombed the port in Odesa last week, it was not an auspicious beginning to the new deal on grain exports. If anyone believed that this agreement between Moscow and Kyiv would have some positive spillover effect on the war grinding on elsewhere in Ukraine, the Russian […]