Latest news with #FoodProgram
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists raise concerns after discovering peculiar phenomenon affecting entire country's terrain: 'Strong correlations'
As rising sea levels erode South Africa's coastline, droughts are raising the country's land in other areas, DW reported. According to a recent study published in the AGU's Advancing Earth and Space Sciences journal, South Africa's land is rising by 2 millimeters annually. The research challenged the prevailing view that the shifts on the continent were caused by activity related to the Quathlamba hotspot under the Earth's surface. However, the team identified a different cause: groundwater loss caused by persistent droughts. As the study's summary stated: "Our GPS-derived water mass changes show strong correlations with other hydrological data sets. We suggest that the uplift in South Africa is largely due to drought." Last year, South Africa and its neighbors experienced what the U.N.'s Food Program called the "worst drought in a century," per Al Jazeera. It has put a massive strain on the country's food security. Around the same time, extreme events, including hurricanes, wildfires, and heavy rainfall, are battering the southwestern cape. Experts emphasize the importance of treating the two divergent situations as part of the same problem. David Willima, an ocean governance policy researcher in South Africa, told DW: "The problem has been that South Africa hasn't successfully linked climate and ocean discussions, they're often treated as separate issues." Human activity is driving both phenomena. Harmful pollution from burning fossil fuels is warming ocean temperatures, accelerating sea ice loss, raising sea levels, and making extreme weather events more frequent and severe. Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly vulnerable to rising global temperatures, as many smaller farms depend on rain-fed agriculture. Without regular rainfall, the region faces a food insecurity crisis. Aside from water shortages, South Africa is vulnerable to other natural disasters. Riverine flooding, wildfires, and tropical storms all present significant risks, according to a report commissioned by the World Bank. South Africa still relies heavily on fossil fuels, especially coal, to meet its energy needs. Although coal is the dirtiest energy source, it provides 86% of the country's energy, according to the International Institute for Sustainable Development. Ending fossil fuel subsidies and supporting clean, renewable energy should be prioritized. Additionally, adopting more sustainable agricultural methods will help ease the water crisis. Some farmers are already reaping the benefits of no-till farming, which uses less water and chemical fertilizers while boosting crop yields. Do you think America has a plastic waste problem? Definitely Only in some areas Not really I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawsuit: U-M fired 8 pro-Palestinian staffers and forever banned them from working there
A group of eight University of Michigan employees has filed a federal lawsuit against the university, alleging they were unlawfully fired and forever barred from working on campus because of their support of Palestinians, and calls on U-M to divest from Israel over the ongoing war in Gaza. At issue for the plaintiffs is why were they disciplined over their protected free speech, when, they contend, such measures were never taken before — not during the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War era or when students pushed for the university to divest from apartheid-ruled South Africa, which U-M ultimately did in the late 1970s. "During the previous half century, no such measures are known to have been taken at any time by the University against students or alumni who, while students, had engaged in speech and related activities on other important issues of public concern," the 64-page lawsuit states. "In fact," the suit continues, "the University has encouraged its students and employees to speak out on a variety of issues of public concern," and promotes its "long history of activism by students — in brochures directed to prospective students, on murals on campus buildings, in classroom instruction, in social media posts and through emails to the entire University network." The lawsuit also cites the University's Free Speech on Campus policy, which states: "The university has long welcomed dissent, advocacy, and the expression of the broadest array of ideas, even those that could be unpopular, upsetting or critical of the university." U-M Director of Public Affairs Kay Jarvis, citing university policy on pending litigation, on May 2 declined to comment on the lawsuit, which was filed the day before in U.S. District Court. The plaintiffs include an academic program specialist at the university's Center for South Asian Studies, a nuclear energy researcher, a manager within U-M's Sustainable Food Program, a teacher's assistant at the North Campus Children's Center and undergraduate students who worked various jobs at the university, including research assistant and customer service rep for the Campus Information Center. According to the lawsuit, three plaintiffs were fired over their participation in a Nov. 7, 2023, peaceful protest at the Ruthven Building, where 42 students were arrested by day's end on minor charges of not obeying police instructions to leave. Five plaintiffs were fired over their attendance at a May 3, 2024, peaceful demonstration outside the U-M Museum of Art. In both events, the demonstrators were protesting violence in Gaza and calling on the university to divest from Israel. The lawsuit is the latest such case filed against the university, which has been the site of numerous protests over the Israel-Gaza war. In February, five people, including two students, sued the university alleging it violated their constitutional rights by effectively banning them from campus after they attended pro-Palestine demonstrations. In December, another group of students sued, claiming the college selectively targeted peaceful pro-Palestinian demonstrators for their beliefs, subjecting them to disciplinary proceedings and suspensions. Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian activities have also triggered criminal charges and multiple raids by the FBI and other law enforcement groups. Last month, police and FBI raided three homes as part of an investigation into a string of vandalism cases involving pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel and antisemitic graffiti. Among the vandalism cases under investigation involve U-M Regent Jordan Acker, who is Jewish. Vandals spray-painted his car and smashed a window at his home while he and his family slept. In September, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed criminal charges against 11 pro-Palestinian protesters at U-M, alleging that several of them used "physical force to counter" police officers clearing a tent encampment in Ann Arbor. One of the protesters was charged with ethnic intimidation after he allegedly attacked a pro-Israel rally. "The right to free speech and assembly is fundamental, and my office fully supports every citizen's right to free speech under the First Amendment," Nessel has previously said. "However, violent and criminal behavior, or acts that trample on another's rights cannot be tolerated. I hope (these) charges are a reminder to everyone who chooses to assemble, regardless of the cause, that the First Amendment does not provide a cover for illegal activity." In the latest lawsuit, the plaintiffs maintain that they engaged in no acts of violence, only peaceful demonstrations. They allege that U-M wrongfully accused them of violating a university policy prohibiting violent behavior, put an "indelible stain on their employment record," and failed to give them proper notice or a fair opportunity to be heard before firing them. "Each of these actions were taken and based, in whole or part, on speech and activities — occurring outside Plaintiffs' work hours and unrelated to their work responsibilities — to advocate for the human rights of Palestinians, to call for an end to the genocide against the Palestinian people, and to petition their public University to divest from Israel and from companies complicit in violating the human rights of Palestinians," the lawsuit states. As the suit notes, activities on the U-M campus — both in support of and against Israel's actions in Gaza — have dramatically increased since Oct. 7, 2023. That's the day the terrorist group Hamas launched a surprise attack in Isreal, killing nearly 1,200 people and kidnapping at least 240. Israel retaliated in a series of attacks that has devastated the Gaza region, killing 42,000 Palestinians, including 13,000 children in what Amnesty International has described as "genocide" in a December 2024 report. The plaintiffs allege that the university has "solely targeted, discriminated against and punished" pro-Gaza demonstrators in an effort to deter others from expressing pro-Palestinian viewpoints." Moreover, their lawsuit states, demonstrators calling for divesture by the university isn't a new concept. In fact, students have led other campaigns calling on the university to divest on other issues of public concern, including: After years of protest, the University's Board of Regents passed its first resolution to divest from South Africa in the late 1970s. In 2000, the University divested from tobacco companies. In 2002, the University began the process of divesting from fossil fuels. In 2022, the University divested from Russia. The plaintiffs maintain that the methods of divestment advocacy haven't changed at U-M, but that the university's response "has changed dramatically when students advocate for divestment from Israel." According to the lawsuit, this is how one of the plaintiffs learned she could never work at U-M again: Nine months after the sit-in at the Ruthven Building, Arwa Hassaballa, a 2023 U-M graduate from Lake Orion who held several part-time jobs at U-M, including research assistant, student life facilitator and teaching assistant, received a letter from the university human resources department. The letter stated that she was 'ineligible for rehire' at the university and that her 'record will reflect that she violated the Violence in the University Community (police).' At the time the letter was sent, Hassaballa was no longer a student or employed by the university, though she had planned to apply for post-graduate work. On Oct. 22, 2024, she received evidence that the university allegedly used to fire her: a heavily redacted police report, and an incident report about her conduct. A November grievance hearing followed, with a university official claiming there was video showing Hassaballa had violated university policy. No video was shown at the hearing, nor was it provided to Hassaballa, and no witnesses spoke. Still, the university upheld the decision to fire her and rendered her permanently ineligible for rehire. On Nov. 22, 2024, Hasssaballa finally saw the video in question. It showed a crowd of protesters outside the Ruthven Building, and other protesters walking through the doors. Hassaballa was seen walking into the building without issue. She does not appear in the second video at all. Another plaintiff, Rhea Chappel, a building manager at the university's Michigan League, has a similar story: Her conduct at the sit-in was deemed as being in violation of university policy and she was let go. She denied engaging in any violence, but to no avail. Her termination would stick and she was deemed permanently ineligible for rehire. The plaintiffs who attended the subsequent demonstration outside the museum saw a similar fate. During that protest, several regents were attending a private event inside the museum as protesters stood in front of the building, linked arms and chanted. University of Michigan police arrived and set up a barricade surrounding the museum entrance. The plaintiffs complied with orders from police, stood on the public sidewalk behind the barricade, and chanted for a free Palestine while calling on the university to divest from Israel. According to the lawsuit, police sought to disburse the protesters by using pepper spray, pushing protesters with bikes, and physically assaulting individuals. The plaintiffs maintain that they engaged in no sort of violence, but the university concluded otherwise. Zainab Hakim, of Canton, a 2024 U-M graduate and full-time academic program specialist at the university's Center for South Asian Studies. His job duties included planning events, lectures, programs and conferences, and coordinating academic programs for students. Henry Mackeen-Shapiro, of Ann Arbor, an undergraduate student at U-M who also worked as a student program assistant at the English Language Institute, where he provided feedback and advice to international graduate students on their coursework and other academic materials to improve their English writing and verbal skills. Eaman Ali, of Ann Arbor, an undergraduate student at U-M and campus information assistant at the university's Campus Information Center. Her job included providing in-person customer service at the university unions. Assmaa Eidy, of Ann Arbor, an undergraduate student at U-M and research assistant in the American Culture Department whose job included conducting research on Arab American social issues, archiving sources and assisting on a documentary film project. As a community leadership fellow, Eidy also conducted a public service project on behalf of the university with a local nonprofit organization. Harrison Rhoades, of Ann Arbor, 2024 U-M graduate and part-time manager within the University of Michigan's Sustainable Food Program, which is part of the Student Life Sustainability Office. This job included event planning, collaborating with partnering organizations and and supporting a grant program. Hassaballa, of Lake Orion, a 2023 U-M graduate who held several part-time roles at U-M, including research assistant, student life facilitator for M-STEM Academics, Arab Heritage Month Student Coordinator and teacher's assistant at the North Campus Children's Center. A severe foot injury forced her to leave her teaching assistant job in 2023. Chappel, of Ann Arbor, an undergraduate student at U-M and part-time student building manager at the Michigan League, which involved managing and preparing rooms for events, including student meetings, conferences and weddings. Zaynab Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Elkolaly, of Ypsilanti, a 2024 U-M graduate who conducted research on nuclear energy at U-M and held several part-time positions at the university, including administrative assistant at Michigan Medicine, and research assistant and diversity, equity and inclusion officer in the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Department. Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@ This is a developing story. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: University of Michigan sued for firing staffers who support Palestine
Al Arabiya
09-04-2025
- General
- Al Arabiya
Six weeks since Israel imposed cut off all supplies to Gaza, last food is running out
The bombs still haven't killed Rehab Akhras and her family. But if the checkpoints that Israel has sealed off since the start of March are not opened soon, she says hunger surely will. Six weeks since Israel completely cut off all supplies to the 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip, food stockpiled during a ceasefire at the start of the year has all but run out. Emergency meal distributions are ending, bakeries are closed, markets are empty. On a spot of packed ground in a camp of plastic sheets where she lives with her displaced family in Khan Younis, Akhras, 64, used cardboard to light a fire and boil a can of beans. It is all they have left. 'We're a family of 13 people, what will one can of fava beans do for us?' she said. 'We have survived the war and we survived the airstrikes as we wake up and go to sleep. But we can't survive the hunger, neither us nor our children.' To the north in Nuseirat, hundreds of Palestinians queued up for hot cooked rice at an outdoor emergency kitchen. Small children jammed the front of the queue, waving buckets to bring something home for their families. Aid agencies that have been supplying those emergency meals say they will have to stop within days unless they can bring in more food. The World Food Program used to provide bread at 25 bakeries across the Gaza Strip. All of those bakeries are now shut. It will soon have to halt distribution of food parcels at reduced rations. 'Very, very deep hunger' 'All basic supplies are running out,' said Juliette Touma from UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian aid. 'The prices of commodities have exponentially increased over the past one month plus since the Israeli authorities put the siege on the Gaza Strip. 'It means babies, children are going to bed hungry. Every day without these basic supplies, Gaza inches closer towards very, very deep hunger.' Every Gazan can now quote the fantastical prices for the little food remaining in markets: a 25 kilo sack of flour that used to sell for $6 now costs ten times as much. A litre of cooking oil, if you can find it, costs $10 instead of $1.50. The lucky few might stumble on a tin of sardines if they can afford $5. 'Food distributions have almost stopped altogether, with remaining stocks now diverted to keep hot meal distributions going for a few more days, but that will soon finish too,' said Gavin Kelleher, an access manager for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Deir al-Balah. Medical charity Medicins sans Frontiers says it is encountering children and pregnant women with severe malnutrition. Lactating mothers are themselves too hungry to be able to breast feed. Israel denies that Gaza is facing a hunger crisis. The military accuses the Hamas militants who have run Gaza of exploiting aid, and says it must keep all supplies out to prevent the fighters from getting it. 'The [Israeli army] is acting in accordance with the directives of the political echelon. Israel is not transferring and will not transfer aid to the hands of terrorist organizations,' the military said. The ministry of foreign affairs said 25,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza in the 42 days of the ceasefire - before it shut the border at the start of March - and that Hamas had used the aid to rebuild its war machine. Hamas denies exploiting aid and accuses Israel of using starvation as a military tactic. In Nuseirat, Neama Farjalla goes out every day at 6:00 a.m., trekking with her children across the war zone from soup kitchen to soup kitchen in the hope of a bowl of rice. 'If we don't die of airstrikes, we will die of hunger,' she said. 'When my young son tells me, 'Mama I want a glass of milk', my heart breaks.'
Associated Press
08-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
The US ends lifesaving food aid for millions. The World Food Program calls it a ‘death sentence'
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has ended funding to U.N. World Food Program emergency programs helping keep millions alive in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and 11 other impoverished countries, many of them struggling with conflict, according to the organization and officials who spoke to The Associated Press. The World Food Program, the largest provider of food aid, appealed to the U.S. to roll back the new cuts in a social media post Monday. The unexpected round of contract cancellations has targeted some of the last remaining humanitarian programs run by the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to two U.S. officials, a United Nations official and documents obtained by the AP. 'This could amount to a death sentence for millions of people facing extreme hunger and starvation,' WFP said on X. The agency said it was in contact with the Trump administration 'to urge for continued support' for lifesaving programs and thanked the United States and other donors for past contributions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other administration officials had pledged to spare emergency food programs and other life-and-death aid from deep cuts to U.S. foreign assistance. There was no immediate comment Monday from the State Department. The projects were being canceled 'for the convenience of the U.S. Government' at the direction of Jeremy Lewin, a top lieutenant at Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency who was appointed to oversee the elimination of USAID programs, according to termination notices sent to partners and viewed by the AP. Programs targeted by Trump administration In Syria, a country battling poverty, hunger and insecurity after a 13-year civil war and an insurgency by the Islamic State group, some $230 million in contracts with WFP and humanitarian groups was terminated in recent days, according to a State Department document detailing the cuts that was obtained by the AP. The single biggest of the targeted Syria programs, at $111 million, provided bread and other daily food to 1.5 million people, the document says. About 60 letters canceling contracts were sent over the past week. An official with the United Nations in the Middle East said all U.S. aid to WFP food programs across Yemen, another war-divided country that is facing one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters, has been stopped, apparently including food that already had arrived in distribution centers. WFP also received termination letters for U.S.-funded programs in Lebanon and Jordan, where Syrian refugees would be hit hardest, the U.N. official said. Some of the last remaining U.S. funding for key programs in Somalia, Afghanistan and the southern African nation of Zimbabwe also was affected, including for those providing food, water, medical care and shelter for people displaced by war, one of the U.S. officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. Current and former USAID experts and partners said some $560 million in humanitarian aid was cut to Afghanistan, including for emergency food assistance, the treatment of severely malnourished babies, lifesaving medical care, safe drinking water, and emergency mental health treatment for survivors of sexual and physical violence. Another of the notices, sent Friday, abruptly pulled U.S. funding for a program with strong support in Congress that had sent young Afghan women overseas for schooling because of Taliban prohibitions on women's education, said an administrator for that project, which is run by Texas A&M University. The young women would now face return to Afghanistan, where their lives would be in danger, according to that administrator, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Larger impact of cutting aid The abrupt end of WFP programs threatens some of the world's most vulnerable populations, many of which depend on such food aid, according to humanitarian groups. The U.S. and other donors long have seen efforts to ease humanitarian crises as being in their strategic interest by stemming mass migration, conflicts and extremism, which struggles for resources can bring. WFP chief Cindy McCain said in a posting on social media that the cuts 'undermine global stability.' Rubio had notified Congress and courts last month that USAID contract cuts were over, with about 1,000 programs spared worldwide and more than 5,000 others eliminated. That added to the shock of the new cuts. The Trump administration has accused USAID of wastefulness and advancing liberal causes. Trump's freeze on all foreign assistance through USAID and the State Department led to a brief shutdown of services at the al-Hol camp, where tens of thousands of alleged Islamic State fighters and their families are kept under guard. That shutdown raised fears of an uprising or breakout at the camp. U.S. officials quickly intervened to restore services. The State Department document obtained by the AP identifies two newly terminated contracts, run by Save the Children and the U.N. Population Fund, which provided mental health services and other care to women and children at al-Hol. It was not immediately clear if any other services were affected at the camp. The U.S. had been the major funder of the WFP, providing $4.5 billion of the $9.8 billion in donations to the food agency last year. ___
Egypt Independent
29-03-2025
- Business
- Egypt Independent
Planning Minister partakes in WFP roundtable on debt swaps for development
Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation Rania Al Mashat said effective partnerships, national ownership and integration, and a resilient governance structure are key factors the success of debt swap programs. Mashat made the remarks during a World Food Program (WFP) roundtable discussion hosted by Spain on debt swaps for sustainable development and building resilient food systems, the ministry said in a press release on Friday 28/3/2025. Participants explored practical ways to enhance policy and operational frameworks for debt swaps, and how to mobilize global support for integrating the debt for development swap tool into the international development finance agenda. Reviewing Egypt's debt swap experience as well as her ministry's role in this regard, Mashat showcased the country's success stories, including the fruitful cooperation with Italy, which helped in securing the funds needed for 114 development projects in various fields, and a debt swap program with Germany under Egypt's Nexus on Water, Food and Energy (NWFE) platform – a part of Egypt's National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS) 2050. Mashat shed light on the results of the debt swap program with Germany as well as the development projects pursued under the program to provide better school feeding and quality education, rehabilitate hydroelectric plants, and improve drinking water and sanitation services. She also highlighted ongoing projects under the third tranche of the swap program with Germany, which covers a set of projects to combat school dropout and child labor, along with some energy projects. The roundtable discussion was held in preparation for the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), set for June 30 – July 3 in Seville, Spain.
