Latest news with #Moseley
Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Why is the EU still buying Russian fertilizer?
Why is the EU still buying Russian fertilizer? (Image: AP) Amid the intense focus on the European Union's efforts to reduce imports of Russian gas and oil over the past few years, a significant product has slipped under the radar: fertilizer. Russia is a major global producer and exporter of fertilizer, which is used by farmers and food producers to provide nutrients to plants and crops. While the EU has largely cut out Russian oil and gas from its import list, it has ramped up its purchases of the country's fertilizer since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Russia's share of EU fertilizer imports has grown from 17% in 2022 to about 30% now. In 2024 alone, imports rose by more than 33% to around $2 billion (€1.75 billion). According to the MIT Observatory of Economic Complexity — a detailed trade data platform — Russia exported a total $15.3 billion worth of fertilizers in 2023, making it the largest exporter in the world. While its primary export markets are India and Brazil, the EU collectively accounts for a significant chunk of Russia's exports, weighing in at around 13% in 2023. Earlier this month, however, the European Parliament endorsed the European Commission's proposal to introduce a 6.5% tariff on fertilizers imported from Russia and Belarus. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với mức chênh lệch giá thấp nhất IC Markets Đăng ký Undo The plan is to continue ramping up the tariffs to 50% by 2028. Why does the EU buy so much Russian fertilizer? This can be partly explained by the type of fertilizer Russia produces and how it produces it. Russia specializes in nitrogen-based or inorganic fertilizer, which requires huge amounts of natural gas both as a raw material and to produce it. Many EU nations require nitrogen-based fertilizers because they are particularly rich in nitrogen and vital nutrients such as phosphorus and potassium. William Moseley, professor of geography at Macalester College in the USA and a member of the UN High-Level Panel of Experts for Food Security and Nutrition, told DW that Russia is particularly well-placed to meet this demand because it can use cheap gas to produce the fertilizer for far lower prices than European competitors can. The European fertilizer sector has railed against what some have said is Russia "dumping" cheap fertilizer into the EU market. When European energy prices surged and energy markets were disrupted by the invasion of Ukraine, many European producers of nitrogen-based fertilizers were forced to stop production. Now they have lost market share to Russia and are struggling to compete. What are the EU's alternatives? According to Moseley, the EU's tariff plans suggest it is serious about weaning itself off Russian fertilizer by 2028. "This will force EU countries to source inorganic fertilizer from elsewhere," he told DW, identifying China, Oman, Morocco, Canada or the US as potential alternative markets. Mosley believes other alternatives for the EU would be to turn to its own sources of nitrogen-based fertilizer — which would be very expensive, due to the gas requirements — or to ramp up the use of organic fertilizer made from manure and composted organic waste. This option, he added, was "more sustainable and better for the soil." "While it is unlikely that the EU could become totally independent of inorganic fertilizer imports, it could certainly shift the ratio towards more dependence on home-grown organic fertilizer production, especially if it is done gradually," said Mosley. The EU itself has acknowledged that it wants to move in this direction of developing fertilizer processed from animal dung and urine. Christophe Hansen, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, said in February that the livestock sector could "provide a positive input to the circular economy" with organic fertilizer, as it is "domestically grown and doesn't need to come from outside and is not based on high energy prices like gas." How will the EU plan work? Moseley thinks the EU fertilizer tariffs, if carried out as planned by 2028, will gradually eliminate Russian imports from the EU market. "By 2028, the duties will be so high that it will be economically unviable for the EU to import inorganic fertilizer from Russia and Belarus." The EU's sanctions will come into effect in July and specifically target agricultural products which it had neglected previously, including fertilizers. In a statement, the EU Commission said particularly fertilizer imports "make the EU vulnerable to potential coercive actions by Russia and thus present a risk to EU food security." The reason why the sanctions are to be phased in gradually over the next three years is to give EU farmers time to find alternatives, particularly if they are already dependent on Russian fertilizers. Are farmers and fertilizer producers happy? In a statement on the EU tariff plan, the president of the Fertilizers Europe industry group, Leo Alders, said surging imports of Russian fertilizers into Europe have been "undermining fair competition and putting pressure on domestic producers" for too long. Although calling for higher tariffs to be brought in more quickly, Alders wrote that "by levelling the playing field, tariffs will contribute to ensuring that European producers can continue supplying European farmers with high-quality, sustainable fertilizers for years to come." However, farmers' groups are not happy because they feel the EU has not done enough to develop realistic, affordable alternatives to Russian fertilizer. Copa and Cocega, the two major agricultural umbrella organisations in the EU, released a joint statement urging the EU to present a clear strategy on diversification of fertilizer supply. If the EU is determined to reduce dependency on Russian and Belarusian fertilizers, they said, it must present a "credible and forward-looking" alternative. "We cannot afford to further undermine the economic viability of farms or the food security of millions across the EU," the statement underlined.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Travellers move back onto family park for third time in weeks
A large group of travellers have set up camp at popular family park for the third time in weeks. A convoy of caravans and other vehicles started driving onto Swanshurst Park on the outskirts of Moseley and Billesley on Wednesday, May 21, settling on the field near the play park. The Friends of Swanshurst Park said members had notified the council with a view to initiating eviction proceedings. READ MORE: Major Midlands A-road near hospital blocked due to crash READ MORE: Armed police scramble to hospital over man armed with crossbow READ MORE: Victims of deadly 'mistaken identity' petrol bomb attack say 'this fire was meant for someone else' An event scheduled for the community tomorrow, Saturday, May 24, was also cancelled. The Friends group posted on Facebook: "We are cancelling our balsam bashing session this Saturday as the travellers are very close to the area we would be working. "We will rearrange another date and post details as soon as it has been decided." This is the third traveller incursion in the park since April with volunteers clearing up the mess left behind. A Birmingham City Council spokesperson said previously " Birmingham City Council is committed to actively protecting its land and will take steps to recover this land where unauthorised encampments encroach upon it. 'The council has useable transit sites and plots for use by the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community – which is in line with Government policy – and details of the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment carried out and updated in 2019 can be found on our website." Stu Johnson wrote on Facebook: "I saw them arriving while I was on the bus earlier - going onto the pavement by the entrance to the car park, driving along the pavement then onto the grass once they've passed the trees. "Needs to be more logs or railings I'm afraid." Mary Hart said: "There have been three lots of travellers this year on Swanshurst. "Each time a different group. Last time there were two groups at the same time. The clean-up is mostly done by volunteers with help from the council."
USA Today
19-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Ohio State scores redemption win at NGI; Utah State's Enrique Karg earns indy title in playoff
Ohio State scores redemption win at NGI; Utah State's Enrique Karg earns indy title in playoff Had Ohio State's season ended last month, it would have been on a sour note indeed. The Buckeyes, in a rebuilding year, finished fifth at the Big 10 Championship and missed an NCAA Championship bid. But three weeks after their year could have been over, head coach Jay Moseley and his team are carting a postseason trophy back across the country to the heartland, and that's something Moseley has never done. On Sunday, Ohio State finished off a seven-shot victory in the third National Golf Invitational at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona. Ohio State made an NCAA semifinal run a year ago this time, but that was with four distinguished seniors on the roster. After failing to score an NCAA regional bid earlier this month, Moseley's team committed to some areas of improvement and bought into a different side of the postseason: the NGI. This win amounts to a huge shift in momentum, especially considering that Ohio State's only two team wins this season, as Moseley noted, came in their backyard. 'To come out where we're unfamiliar with the desert golf conditions, to come out on top and get a win with a little bit of a target on our back was really good,' he said. National Golf Invitational: Scores The Buckeyes trailed Utah State by a shot on the first day, had leapfrogged them by the end of 36 holes and slowly pulled away over the course of Sunday's final round. Three Ohio State players finished in the top 7 individually, and the Buckeyes led the field in birdies ''Fight' has been our mentality all spring, so they did a good job hanging in there, taking advantage of the chances when we got them and making some birdies down the stretch was really cool,' Moseley said. 'It was a great team win.' While Ohio State, on the other side of its senior exodus, spent the week finding out what its next chapter can look like, a similar transition period awaits Utah State in the fall. The NGI amounted to the final ride for graduates John Cook, Julio Arronte and Esteban Jaramillo. The Aggies made six team birdies in the first three holes on Sunday and hung within a few shots of Ohio State all day. 'We beat them on Day 1, so I think they were like, 'OK we can do this,'' Utah State head coach Dean Johansen said. That sophomore Enrique Karg was the man to lead them is a good sign for Utah State. Karg, of Guadalajara, Mexico, only finished inside the top 20 in one start during the regular season. At Southern Dunes, he came out of the gate with a bogey-free 7-under 65 and parlayed that into a Sunday playoff victory for his first individual title in a year. Karg is a player who struggled with a lot on his plate this past year – from school to golf to family. 'I had a rough spring this year,' Karg said. 'I had a lot on my mind, and it was a lot of up and down so playing good in this event, it was very good for me.' Karg felt he took advantage of his distance all three rounds and put himself in favorable positions, reaching several par 5s in two and leading the field in par-4 scoring. The week wasn't all smooth sailing, however, and Johansen watched Karg fight for a second-round 70 to stay in the tournament. 'The mark of a true human being is how they handle adversity, and you couldn't tell from 5 feet to 500 yards if he was making a bogey or a birdie,' Johansen said, 'and I love that.' Karg, who finished the week at 12-under 204, had to play an extra hole with Richmond's Carson Baez for the individual title, and nearly holed his 70-foot birdie putt on that extra trip down the 18th to do it. His tap-in par was good enough. He Facetimed his family back home in Mexico right away. As a result of his win, Karg earns an exemption into the Southeastern Amateur, which he'll add to the lineup of other amateur events (the Memorial Amateur in Sacramento, California, the Mexican International Amateur in Guadalajara and a U.S. Amateur qualifier) he has planned for the summer. As this Utah State team scatters, Cook, Arronte and Jaramillo are headed for professional careers. Johansen knew early week it would be emotional to see them go. This team's international makeup is largely thanks to the work of assistant coach Erik Skinner, who took Johansen's idea to expand the roster globally and 'found some of the best young men – phenomenal kids,' Johansen said. He has always been interested in the whole player, not just level of golf talent. Johansen began his day on Sunday with an early workout before driving a couple miles down the road for a protein shake. When he pulled into a gas station, he met Cook, one of his three seniors. Cook, who has committed himself to getting healthy these past three years, was out on a morning run before the round. Cook, as a runner, demonstrates exactly the level of commitment this senior class gave to Utah State. Nevermind that they all reassembled post-graduation for a final tournament – Cook ditched a full cycle of marathon training, skipping the Ogden (Utah) Marathon on Saturday to be here with his team instead. And that, funny enough, was how Johnson lost it, three hours before his team ever hit a shot. 'I was driving back to the hotel and he was running alongside the road and I just started tearing up,' said Johansen, who has praised the character of his whole squad this week. 'I'm so proud of the young man he has become.'
USA Today
18-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Ohio State is looking for a different kind of postseason purpose at National Golf Invitational
Ohio State is looking for a different kind of postseason purpose at National Golf Invitational The past two postseasons have been dramatically different for Ohio State. A year ago, the Buckeyes lineup included four seniors and a redshirt freshman, and that squad battled all the way to the semifinal match at the NCAA Championship. This year, at No. 75 in the national rankings after a fifth-place finish in the Big 10, they weren't selected to the NCAA Championship field at all. Head coach Jay Moseley realized his team would probably be on the outside looking in as they traveled home from the conference championship on April 27. He gave his team a bit of tough love. 'Look, this isn't how our season is supposed to end,' he told them that evening, 'and that should leave some pain and suffering that gets you guys fired up and ready to go for next year.' His men agreed. National Golf Invitational: Scores The next morning, however, Moseley started talking with his administration about competing in the National Golf Invitational. He called a meeting with the team at noon that day and met with a squad that still had the deer-in-the-headlights look of being at such a low point 14 hours earlier. Regardless, the team aligned on what a different kind of postseason event could do in terms of building momentum for next season. The NGI is in its third year, and this year more than ever it's apparent that it can mean different things to different teams. Ohio State, for example, leads the 10-team field at 18 under through 36 holes, but the Buckeyes started the day trailing Utah State by a shot. The Aggies haven't been selected to the postseason since 1981. Only one player on this season's 10-man Ohio State roster has played in an NCAA regional. The core of Moseley's lineup this season included three sophomores and two freshmen. Through two rounds, Moseley's decision to rally his squad for an NGI start looks like a savvy coaching move indeed. Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona, is a course where Moseley sees a lot of scoring opportunities. Scores were slightly higher in Saturday's second round across the board as winds picked up, but Moseley liked the venue as much as the tournament itself because he felt like it was a golf course that would create opportunities to work on some targeted areas of development for Ohio State – namely, wedge play. 'Wedge play this spring has certainly not been up to our standards so coming out here we felt like we could really get a good sense of where we've made progress the last couple weeks,' Moseley said. 'For the most part, we've done a really good job of creating scoring opportunities, hitting wedges close to be able to roll in some putts, making some birdies, which has been good to see.' There's another huge advantage to competing at Southern Dunes: The course is set to host a men's regional in 2026 and, as Moseley noted, you have a one-in-six chance of going to any regional venue on a given year. 'We've kind of enjoyed being together – big eyes mindset, their approach this week has kind of been let's run it back one more time this year and leave everything out there and go out and play with as much belief and as much trust as we can in each other and get some momentum going into next year when essentially everybody is back for at least a couple years,' he said. Entering the final round, Ohio State has just a one-shot lead on Utah State, a team that just finished sixth in the Mountain West Conference Championship for its best conference finish in 12 years. The two teams have opened up a sizable gap on the rest of the field, with West Virginia sitting in third at 8 under and Oregon State fourth at 7 under. Oregon State's Bradley Smolinski and Utah State's Enrique Karg are tied for first in the individual race at 9 under. Joe Wilson IV has been Ohio State's leading scorer so far this week, and at 7 under, is only two off the individual lead. The junior underwent double hip and ab surgery 18 months ago and missed all of last season recovering. 'He's been a good shot in the arm for us coming off of basically nine months of no competition and not a lot of physical golf at all,' Moseley said. Timotej Formanek, a freshman from the Czech Republic, has adapted well to desert golf, too, this week and contributed rounds of 70-69. Ohio State leads the field in par-4 and par-5 scoring and has made more birdies than any team. 'We've definitely got some guys that can play well out here, we just need to sharpen up some wedge play and clean up some short game on the par 3s,' Moseley said. 'We'll be in a good spot coming down the stretch tomorrow, hopefully.'
San Francisco Chronicle
10-05-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
Bay Area students are setting school laptops on fire in new TikTok trend, officials say
A dangerous TikTok trend is prompting warnings from school officials across the Bay Area and beyond, after a rise in incidents involving students intentionally damaging school-issued Chromebooks — some resulting in smoke, fire and costly destruction. Known as the ' Chromebook Challenge,' the viral prank encourages students to insert metal objects such as paper clips, foil, or LED wires into the USB ports of their laptops. The goal, apparently for social media attention, is to short-circuit the devices, causing sparks, heat or flames. Petaluma City Schools issued an alert Friday after reporting multiple cases of deliberate damage. 'This is extremely unsafe and poses a serious risk to student safety, school property, and classroom learning,' wrote Esmeralda Sanchez Moseley, assistant superintendent of student services. She warned that any student found deliberately tampering with a Chromebook would be held financially responsible for repairs or replacements, which can cost up to $350, and would face disciplinary consequences under the California Education Code. On Thursday, the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District in the East Bay issued a similar warning. 'We take this issue very seriously as it can not only result in the destruction of valuable school property, but more importantly, poses significant personal safety risks including the potential for electric shock, burns or other injuries,' the district said in a letter. In Connecticut, Newington High School was evacuated after a student's Chromebook caught fire. In Arizona, a middle school classroom was briefly closed due to smoke and burning plastic, and in New Jersey, a 15-year-old student faces arson charges for allegedly setting a device on fire. Officials say that beyond the financial impact, the trend carries serious health and safety risks. Damaged lithium-ion batteries — standard in Chromebooks — can overheat rapidly, potentially reaching temperatures above 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Fire officials in Maryland and Texas have warned that the consequences could include burns, toxic fumes, or widespread property damage. 'We urge all families to speak with their students about the dangers and seriousness of this issue,' Moseley added. 'While platforms like TikTok can be creative and fun, they can also promote harmful or misleading trends.'
