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Gulf Today
28-05-2025
- Business
- Gulf Today
Congo's budget goes mainly for arms spending
The Congo government is in an economic tight spot. Its eastern provinces which have lucrative mineral resources like gold, tin and coltan reserves are in the eastern provinces now controlled by the rebel M23 soldiers, supported by the Rwandans. The main challenge for the Congo government is to feed the war machine, and the budget exercise is to equip the army and pay the soldiers' salaries. This is turning out to be a financial burden because the rich provinces under rebel control also reduce the tax potential of the government. It has been calculated that the tax revenue is expected to fall from 15.1 per cent to 12.5 per cent. And the military expenditure has gone up because of the war. The government had promised to double the salaries of soldiers and the police, costing $500 million in the year. The army counts 268,602 personnel, among whom 74,000 are in combat zone. More than 36,000 are considered non-active, and 3,618 are retried soldiers waiting for $145 million unpaid benefits. Unnamed sources told Reuters that the salaries have not been paid. It is also reckoned that defence and security-related spending that was incurred in the first four months of the year was $1 billion. According to an unnamed military source, 'The bulk of these funds are handled outside the formal budget framework. We don't have full visibility either.' This pertains to just rise in the defence expenditure. It is estimated that the budget deficit would increase from 0.8 per cent to 1.2 per cent. The economics of war is negative, to put in simple terms. Valuable money is spent in destructive armaments and precious lives of human beings as soldiers and as non-combatants is lost. There just does not seem to be an iota of regret and penitence in the minds and hearts of politicians and generals about the countless lives of people lost in meaningless wars. The only people who seem to be thriving are the arms merchants and the countries that are hubs of arms manufacture. Ironically, Western lending agencies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) end up lending money for supporting these local conflicts. It does not mean that if the IMF and WB do not give money, the wars would end. They would not. Politicians of countries at war with each other are going to fight them anyway, and they will buy the arms and create an underworld market of arms smugglers. What is happening in Congo is indeed the fate of many countries in Africa, especially in West African countries like Burkina Faso, Male, where military governments are fighting armed rebels. It is the civilians, young and old, and women who are caught in the crossfire. As normal life in cities, towns and villages is disturbed, people are forced to migrate to the neighbouring countries, where they are not welcome. Almost all countries in Africa are facing economic stress, and they cannot bear the burden of refugees. There is also the new element of private armies for hire. In many of the western African countries, the presence of private armies like Wagner from Russia, for example, has become quite prominent. Earlier, the French had stationed their troops in some of these countries. But due to political fluctuations, the military rulers have asked French troops to leave, and they have been replaced by mercenaries of the Wagner type. Wars have become anarchic. It is not always the armies of one state fighting the armed forces of another. So, when the peace terms were worked out, there was the guarantee that the nation-states would keep the promise. But with the presence of militants and their nexus with the arms dealers, ending wars has become a big problem.
Bahrain News Gazette
04-04-2025
- Business
- Bahrain News Gazette
IdentiFlight and Roc Conservation Tech Partner to Advance AI-Powered Bird Conservation for South African Wind Farms
Flight path of a Cape griffon IdentiFlight system captures images of a Cape Griffon's flight path in South Africa. LOUISVILLE, Colo., April 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Boulder Imaging has announced a partnership with Roc Conservation Tech to expand IdentiFlight's global reach and enhance wildlife conservation within the wind energy sector. With a shared commitment to bridging technology and environmental stewardship, Roc Conservation Tech will play a pivotal role in growing IdentiFlight's presence and impact in South Africa's renewable energy industry. Dirk van der Walt Dirk van der Walt, Founder of Roc Conservation Tech On the brink of a renewable energy revolution in South Africa, Roc Conservation Tech is uniquely positioned to assist as the country enters this transformational era by specializing in leveraging data science and engineering for conservation, with expertise in bird detection systems, conservation drones and environmental monitoring. The collaboration between the two companies will promote the IdentiFlight mission to help mitigate the cumulative impacts of wind energy on biodiversity. The IdentiFlight system operates with 99 percent accuracy and reduces bird fatalities in wind farms by more than 85 percent in 12 countries across five continents. 'The need for sustainable energy solutions comes with the responsibility to protect biodiversity,' said Dirk van der Walt, founder of Roc Conservation Tech. 'South Africa's wind energy sector is rapidly growing, yet it is home to diverse and vulnerable bird populations that require advanced conservation measures. Partnering with IdentiFlight to deploy these systems in South African wind farms will help ensure that renewable energy expansion in the region is both responsible and sustainable.' 'Strong partnerships are essential to Boulder Imaging's mission and IdentiFlight's continued growth,' said Don Mills, president and chief operating officer of Boulder Imaging. 'By collaborating with Roc Conservation Tech, we are bringing a wealth of local expertise and resources to the South African market, enhancing our ability to efficiently and responsively serve our customers.' Developed by Boulder Imaging, IdentiFlight is a state-of-the-art bird detection and informed curtailment system designed to mitigate the impact of wind energy projects on bird populations. Using advanced artificial intelligence and optical sensor technology, IdentiFlight detects, classifies and quantifies risks to sensitive bird species such as the Cape vulture, martial eagle, Verreaux's eagle and blue crane. If collision risk meets a predetermined threshold, IdentiFlight provides temporary shut down on demand to impacted wind turbines – optimizing energy production while minimizing environmental impact. The first South African IdentiFlight station was installed in June 2024. This system has already been trained to detect and classify more than 20 unique species with over 98 percent accuracy, including the Cape vulture, African marsh harrier and African fish eagle. Join the Movement for Sustainable Wind Energy To learn more about IdentiFlight's innovative conservation technology, visit . To collaborate on conservation and wind energy projects in South Africa, visit . About Boulder Imaging Founded in 1995, Boulder Imaging develops and delivers innovative machine vision and artificial intelligence solutions that transform quality assurance. With unprecedented speed, accuracy and scalability, its inspection systems solve the toughest challenges in industries including architectural products, automotive, renewable energy, security paper and banknotes. Headquartered in Colorado, Boulder Imaging is committed to advancing machine vision technology to address complex inspection needs worldwide. For more information, visit . About Roc Conservation Tech Roc Conservation Tech was founded on the vision of merging advanced technology with environmental conservation. Built on a foundation of control engineering and more than 20 years of industry experience, the company leverages data science and innovative technology to address complex environmental challenges. Specializing in bird detection systems, conservation drones and environmental monitoring, Roc Conservation Tech helps industries grow sustainably while protecting wildlife and preserving natural ecosystems. For more information, visit . CONTACT INFORMATION Tawney Eisenbraun Marketing and Communications Manager [email protected] Photos accompanying this announcement are available at GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 9415856
National Geographic
13-03-2025
- National Geographic
Discover the surprising cuisine of this Guatemalan town
Livingston is not an island, but it exists so separately from the rest of Guatemala that locals use the word 'mainland' to mean everywhere beyond its boundaries. Triple-isolated on the east coast by rainforest, river and saltwater, this small fishing town is cut off from the national road network and only accessible by boat. It used to be the country's main seaport on the Caribbean, but that role shifted south east long ago to the larger Puerto Barrios, at the far end of Amatique Bay, and Livingston has been somewhat cut adrift. I arrive hungry, on a small charter vessel, via the river mouth of the Río Dulce. The captain recommends Happy Fish, a wooden bar and restaurant that looks like a Wild West saloon, perched on the pier where he ties up the boat. At dusk, he tells me, it becomes a busy nightclub. But it's barely afternoon, and the place has a relaxed feel, with a few early birds having taken the dockside tables for lunch. Everyone seems to have ordered the house special, tapado. It's a traditional seafood dish, served as a full meal in three parts: a rich soup of coconut milk, shrimp and plantains; a whole fried palometa, a ubiquitous fish of the Caribbean coast; and a side of rice and beans. I visit the kitchen to see how it's made and find chef María Luisa Cobos in her cap and apron. Working over a gas stove in the midday heat, she adds the fruit and shellfish to a pot of thick liquid, which has turned reddish with achiote (annatto), the staple spice and colouring of Guatemalan cooking. Others may have their own ways of making tapado, but María claims hers is the only correct one — the recipe developed here and passed down from her mother and grandmother. Chef María Luisa Cobos with fresh ingredients to prepare tapado. Photograph by Francesco Lastrucci Custom dictates you eat tapado slowly, ideally with a cold beer and a fresh, warm coconut bread roll to mop up the broth. So that's what I do, taking my time. Then, I pop in to see owner Walder Veliz at the other, older branch of Happy Fish, a smaller venue with a similar pioneer-kitchen feel that he's run for more than 40 years in the centre of town. Walder considers the food of his home port a measure of its isolation from 'mainland' Guatemala. The rest of the country's cuisine relies heavily on chicken, beef, stuffed chillies and corn tortillas, sharing certain dishes with Central American neighbours. Here in Livingston, they eat more like Caribbean islanders. 'We use so much more fish, coconut, plantain and green banana,' he says. The ingredients come from the surrounding waters and plantations, and the community works with that bounty. The recipes — tapado, as well as other popular foods like cassava bread, banana tamales and tomato-based 'boil-up' sauce with dumplings and fried snapper — are particular favourites of the Garifuna people. This ethnic group accounts for some 4,000 of Livingston's residents, around a quarter of the town's total population. They are descended from the African slaves who escaped a shipwreck off the island of St Vincent in the 1600s. Building families with native Caribs, they created a distinct ethnicity that then dispersed to Belize, Nicaragua, Honduras and here, on the edge of Guatemala. In their troubled passage from one enclave to another, the Garifuna were often subject to the cruelties of foreign naval powers and marauding pirates. That history is marked all over Livingston. The town itself was named after 19th-century American politician Edward Livingston, whose legal codes became the basis for local government. But the main street pays homage to quasi-mythical hero Marco Sánchez Díaz, a Black Haitian soldier credited with leading the first Garifuna here from Honduras. Walking up that thoroughfare today, I pass tropical birds perched over housefronts painted with wild animal murals, and stop outside a little fruit and veg store owned by Leti Fuentes, who sits back in a deckchair. She also sells her homemade banana bread by the slice. Moist, fragrant, nutty and slightly chewy, it's the best I've ever tasted, and I tell her so. She replies, 'I know it is.' 'Bush doctor' Carlos Flores Garden sells traditional herbs and medicines at a stall by the Parque Municipal. Photograph by Francesco Lastrucci A bit further up the street is Buga Mama, a Maya-run restaurant with a wooden deck out over the water. Operating as part of the Ak'Tenamit project, the business gives Indigenous students on-the-job training in the service industry. Manager Wendy Tzalan comes from the Mopan people, a sub-group of the Maya, and was herself a beneficiary of the programme. 'I wanted to pass on my knowledge,' she says, 'and help these kids become what they want.' She shows me into a kitchen filled with interns, all prepping menu items that deploy local seafood across an intercontinental range of quesadillas, pizzas and rice dishes. Much of what's available from the day's catch is sold a few blocks away, where the street opens onto a portside plaza known as Garifuna Park. That fish is also fried in the open at tented market stalls, which fill the square with smoke. Between a coconut vendor and a busy cantina stands Artisina Garifuna, an al fresco health bar and natural pharmacy made of crates and cargo nets. There, bearded 'bush doctor' Carlos Flores Garden trades in remedies concocted from homegrown medicinal plants — star vine, cinnamon, sarsaparilla — and laid out in apothecary bottles. His signature recipe is a potent distillation of 27 roots that he calls guifitti, and which he claims can cure anything from diabetes to infertility. He also blends it into a rum that he sells by the shot, which smells and tastes like a barn fire. Only after I down it does he tell me that the alcohol mostly cancels out the health benefits. 'Nah, the rum just burns,' he says. 'It's good though, right?' Bandmates Chuleta, Alfonso and Kyoto play Garifuna music on the beach by La Playita de Barique. Photograph by Francesco Lastrucci Tostones (fried green plantain) with crab at La Playita de Barique. Photograph by Francesco Lastrucci Livingston comes to an end another five minutes' walk away, at a short arc of white sand where the blues of sea and river meet. Local band Aceite de Coco ('Coconut Oil') are on the beach performing Garifuna music — an Afro-Caribbean form of drumming and chanting derived from ancestral rituals. A dancer named Kimara shimmies in a dress screen-printed with the poster for the classic zombie movie Night of the Living Dead, while bandmates Chuleta, Alfonso and Kyoto play bongos and maracas, and sing in the Garifuna language. They sound cheerful, but the lyrics tell of historical heartbreaks and bloody revenges against pirates. Or so translates Chuleta — the chattiest of the group — when they take a break at the hut-like beach bar La Playita de Barique. The place is new, opened late last year by Claudia Monroy and her husband Robin. It's a prime spot, says Claudia, her smile balanced somewhere between pride and modesty — the sand acts as a kind of landing strip where locals leave their boats to shop or eat in town. Now, they stop here, too, for fresh-made bar snacks, which draw on the same tropical flavours that have sustained the Garifuna for centuries. The food, the music, the light on the water — all conspire to tell you Livingston is an island, even though you know it's not. Indirect flights are available from London, Manchester or Edinburgh to Guatemala City (taking around 15-19 hours), with stopovers usually in the US. Town centres tend to be walkable, and taxis (including Uber) or buses are available for longer journeys. For more information, see This paid content article was created for Guatemalan Institute of Tourism. It does not necessarily reflect the views of National Geographic, National Geographic Traveller (UK) or their editorial staffs. To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
