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☆ Images show US military building floating pier off Gaza. Pentagon says it will cost $320 million
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Helen Regan | Natasha Bertrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Construction of the temporary pier began at sea last week and the images show crew from several military vessels building the platform. Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said Monday the pier will cost the US about $320 million. The temporary pier is intended to help deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Instead, the Israel Defense Forces will partner with the US military to anchor the causeway to the shore in Gaza “on day one,” the military official said. A working-level Israeli delegation of intelligence agencies and military officials is expected to travel to Cairo on Tuesday, the Israeli source and another Israeli official said.

Persons: Sabrina Singh, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Israel Organizations: CNN, United States Central Command, Planet Labs, Pentagon, Gaza . U.S . Central Command, U.S . Central Command, Israel Defense Forces, British Navy, Royal Navy, Food Programme, USAID, United Nations, PBC CNN, Integrated Locations: Gaza, Gaza . U.S, ”, Cardigan, Cyprus, British, Gaza’s Rafah, Rafah, Egypt, Israel, Cairo

One of the architects of that plan for a Trump second term said as much in a video last year for the Heritage Foundation. Reissuing Schedule F is part of a roadmap, known as Project 2025, drafted for a second Trump term by scores of conservative groups and published by the Heritage Foundation. The new rules would not fully block reclassifying workers in a second Trump term. Greene said she worries for federal workers who might face the same choice in a second Trump term. The project includes a personnel database for potential hires in a second Trump administration.

Persons: Donald Trump, it’s, —, Trump, Joe Biden, Donald Moynihan, Georgetown University's, ” Donald Moynihan, ” Moynihan, “ It’s, ”, Russell Vought, “, you’re, Doreen Greenwald, Moynihan, Kenneth Baer, Barack Obama, ” Kenneth Baer, Peter Orszag, Pete Souza, Robert Shea, Eva Shea, George W, Bush, Laura Bush, Tina Hager, ” Biden, Baer, George Frey, ” Trump, Max Stier, Verna Daniels, ” Daniels, Catherine Greene, ” Greene, Tom Bewick, NIFA, ” Bewick, we’ll, Greene, Biden, “ We’ve, He’s, Hillary Clinton, he’d, James Comey, Bill Barr, Barr, Jeffrey Clark, Clark, Mark Meadows, Stephen Miller, Peter Navarro, he’ll Organizations: CNN, United, Republican, Democratic, Trump, ”, Georgetown, Georgetown University's McCourt School, Public, Georgetown University, Heritage Foundation, Management, Budget, of Justice, FBI, Environmental Protection Agency, Vought, National Treasury Employees Union, OMB, White, Personnel Management, Land Management, Department of Agriculture, Kansas City, Partnership for Public Service, Government, Office, GAO, Economic Research Service, National Institute of Food, Agriculture, USDA, National Institute for Food, NIFA, Applied Economics Association, BLM, Getty, Department of Justice, Justice Department, Univision, Justice, Department, U.S . Justice, Center, Washington Post, National Security and Intelligence, of Homeland Security, of Education and Commerce, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission Locations: United States, Washington, Georgetown, , Colorado, DC, Kansas, Colorado, Virginia, America, Grand Junction, Washington ,, New York City, New York, Georgia

☆ Ship with 400 tons of food aid destined for Gaza has left Cyprus
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Zeena Saifi | Lauren Said-Moorhouse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The United Arab Emirates has now partnered with an aid agency to send crucial assistance to Gaza via the Israeli port of Ashdod. A UAE official told CNN Saturday that the vessel laden with critical food aid left on Saturday through a relationship with American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA). Itayam told CNN the 400 tons of aid would undergo Israeli security clearance upon arrival. The plan is for most of the food aid to be delivered to northern Gaza, but Itayam said that depending on the security situation, ANERA might consider sending a shipment to the south as well. The United States has already begun construction of the pier, intended to help deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

Persons: Jerusalem CNN —, Jennifer, ”, Itayam, Kerem Shalom, ANERA, Grant Shapps, “, ” Matthew Hollingworth Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, United Arab, UAE, CNN, American, East Refugee, West Bank, Mohenad, ANERA, of, Britain’s Royal Navy, United, Pentagon, Royal Navy, ”, British, Food, Integrated Locations: Jerusalem, Gaza, Cyprus, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Ashdod ., Larnaca Port, Israel’s Ashdod, Kerem, Territories, UAE, Cardigan, United States, ”

☆ Why Emily Blunt’s turnip dress is part of a fashion tradition
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Leah Dolan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Turnips, radishes, potatoes… This is not the beginning of Emily Blunt’s shopping list, but rather the items that appeared all over her latest red carpet outfit. And while radishes rarely get a turn on the red carpet, fashion has been committed to making sure we get our greens lately. “Luxury fashion houses are including more and more food/ grocery adjacent items this season because food is a luxury category,” wrote master’s student @kfesteryga. And while we may be seeing more food-themed fashion on runways and in retail stores, the reality is edible patterns are far from new. The turnip, potato and radish two piece is just one of Anderson's many food-themed fashion creations.

Persons: Emily Blunt’s, Guy, ”, Blunt, Ganni, Loewe, Jonathon Anderson didn’t, Jess Cartner, Morley, piquantés, Gabbana's, Chris Moore, Hubert de Givenchy, Cynthia Rowley, Phoebe Philo, Marc Piasecki, JW Anderson —, “ Organizations: CNN, Northwestern University, Gabbana, Milan Fashion, Getty, Vogue Locations: Paris, Danish, New York, ”, artichoke, Gabbana's Milan, TikTok

☆ Opinion: I loved my Lunchables as a kid. Now, all I see is what’s in them
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Opinion Hasan Merali | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

So why are we now feeding Lunchables to children as part of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP)? We are proud of Lunchables and stand by the quality and integrity that goes into making them,” Kraft Heinz said. In Canada, for example, a country that often outperforms the US in public health measures such as vaccination rates, there is no national food program for children. Meals that adhered to a higher nutritional standard were also thrown away less, according to a study published in Childhood Obesity in 2015. A modeling study published in Public Health Nutrition in 2022 estimates a 20% tax would reduce purchases of UPFs by 24%.

Persons: Hasan Merali, ”, Hasan Merali Chris Hartlove, Kraft Heinz, Lunchables, Fresh, ” Kraft Heinz, UPFs, Tony Organizations: of Pediatrics, McMaster University, CNN, Consumer, British Medical, American, Clinical Nutrition, Public Health Nutrition Locations: Canada, Lunchables, America, Colombia, Chile, France

☆ Some bumblebees can survive underwater for up to a week, new study shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —An experimental error led a team of scientists researching bumblebees to make a startling discovery: the insects’ remarkable ability to survive underwater for up to a week. Scientists believed that these conditions provide protection from flooding, which would be fatal to many terrestrial organisms, but the study shows that eastern common bumblebees can survive for at least a week. “These bees are effectively on energy-saver mode,” said Raine, who added that they most likely wouldn’t survive underwater if they were active. Understanding the mechanisms behind this resilience is a key question for future research, said Raine, who also plans to test whether hibernating queens could survive for longer than a week underwater. “Understanding wild pollinators is really, really important,” he said, emphasizing the insects’ importance for food security and terrestrial ecosystems.

Persons: bumblebees, Nigel Raine Study, Nigel Raine, ”, “, ” Raine, Raine, “ We’re Organizations: CNN, Canada’s University of Guelph Locations: diapause

☆ Middle East Crisis U.S. Personnel in Israel Face New Travel Restrictions
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Liam Stack | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

The crisis in Gaza is entirely human-made, a result of Israel’s war on Hamas and a near-complete siege of the territory, aid experts say. For years before the latest war, Gaza was subject to an Israeli blockade, backed by Egypt. Image A child being treated for malnutrition at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza last week. Critics of the way Israel is conducting the war say that the hunger crisis derives largely from Israeli restrictions on where trucks can enter and from an onerous inspection process. (UNRWA said last month that Israel had denied the group access to northern Gaza, though Israel has rebutted that claim.)

Persons: ”, Jens Laerke, Kamal Adwan, Mahmoud Issa, José Andrés, Arif Husain, Gazans, Israel, Biden, ” Adam Sella Organizations: Hamas, United Nations, Kamal, Reuters, Food Locations: Israel, Gaza, United Nations, Sudan, Somalia, Egypt, Gaza’s, South Sudan, Israeli, United

☆ Middle class wiped out: Half of Myanmar’s people forced into poverty by civil war, UN report finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Once considered among the most promising economies in Southeast Asia with a growing middle class, Myanmar is now suffering from soaring levels of poverty as a devastating civil war drives tens of millions further into destitution, according to a new United Nations report. Poverty has not only doubled but people are also more deeply poor, the report found. Wignaraja said Myanmar’s middle class is “literally disappearing.”“A 50% collapse of the middle class over two and a half years is quite astounding for this country, but for any country,” she said. The value of Myanmar’s local currency, the kyat, has plummeted, along with rising costs for food and other basic necessities. “We call on all stakeholders — inside and outside Myanmar — to take action and preserve vulnerable households from slipping into irreversible poverty and despair.”

Persons: Aung, Suu Kyi, ”, Kanni Wignaraja, Wignaraja, Achim Steiner Organizations: CNN, United Nations, UN Development Program, UNDP, Asian Development Bank, Bank, Asia Locations: Southeast Asia, Myanmar, destitution, Suu, Yangon, Mandalay

☆ USAID administrator says it is ‘credible’ to assess famine is already occurring in parts of Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The top US humanitarian official said Wednesday it is “credible” to assess that famine is already occurring in parts of Gaza as the war between Israel and Hamas continues. Although US officials have been sounding the alarm about the imminent risk of famine in the war-torn strip, USAID Administrator Samantha Power is the first official to publicly agree with an assessment that famine is already taking place. The assessment is likely to fuel further calls for the administration to put restrictions on its military aid to Israel. Power noted that “in northern Gaza, the rate of malnutrition, prior to October 7, was almost zero. And it is now one in three, one in three kids.”“Food has not flowed in sufficient quantities to avoid this imminent famine in the south and these conditions that are giving rise already to child deaths in the north,” she said.

Persons: Samantha Power, ”, Joe Biden, Israel, Antony Blinken, Power, “, Joaquin Castro Organizations: CNN, USAID, Foreign, Biden, Integrated, IPC, Democratic Rep, Gaza Locations: Gaza, Israel, States, ”

☆ Oracle's Larry Ellison thinks every government will want to build a 'sovereign' AI cloud in the future
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-07 | by ( Michelle Castillo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Oracle, which works with Nvidia and Microsoft on generative AI capabilities, has already helped use cloud tech to cut red tape for countries. For the first time, we're beginning to win business for countries," Ellison said. Countries including Serbia are standardizing on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and using generative AI for processes like automating health care. Cloud and generative AI applications allowing countries to give rural areas internet access could increase educational opportunities and create more economic value. "There's the 'Black Mirror' bad side of it: Big Brother, data wars, AI warfare and all that stuff," Garder said.

Persons: Raimo Lenschow, Ellison, Oracle's Larry Ellison, it's, Elon Musk's, you've, we've, Dan Gardner, Tapan Parikh, Parikh, Garder, Gardner, Simone Bohnenberger, It's, Bohnenberger, there's Organizations: Oracle, Barclays, EU, Nvidia, Microsoft, European, Amazon, Department of Defense, Google, Infrastructure, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Cornell University, U.S Locations: Serbia, Albania, European Union, Kenya, Rwanda, U.S, China, TikTok

☆ Gaza aid efforts dealt major blow as Israel’s deadly attack on relief workers prompts withdrawal of agencies
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

WCK and Anera, another aid group, have said they will pause operations in Gaza following the incident. Israel maintains there is no limit on the amount of food or humanitarian aid that can enter Gaza, but aid agencies accuse it of deliberately restricting deliveries. Shortly afterwards, American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera), an NGO that delivers aid to the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Jordan, also suspended its Gaza operations. Along with Turkey, the UAE is the biggest donor of aid to Gaza, according to COGAT, providing 25% of all aid from foreign nations. The fate of the extra aid WCK had planned for Gaza is also uncertain.

Persons: “, ” WCK, Jose Andres, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, ”, Juliette Touma, Ismael Abu Dayyah, WCK, Touma, Ghassan, ” Abu, Sittah, CNN’s Eleni Giokos, Anera, Barak Ravid, Nikos Christodoulides, Jamie McGoldrick Organizations: CNN, United Arab Emirates, Integrated, UN’s, Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, Israel, UN, WCK, Reuters, Wednesday, UNRWA, Israel’s, CARE, ICRC, United Nations, Israel Defense Forces, East Refugee, West Bank, Touma, UN agency’s Locations: Gaza, Cyprus, Israel, UAE, ”, East, Gaza’s, Deir al Balah, Cypriot, Larnaca, Territories, Egypt, Jordan, British, Palestinian, Gazan, Deir, American, Lebanon, Axois, Turkey, The Gulf, UNRWA, Palestinian Territory

CNN —Israeli military forces have withdrawn from Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, after a 14-day siege that witnesses and Gazan authorities say left the medical facility largely destroyed. “There are bodies buried in the hospital yards.”Images from the area showed widespread destruction with charred and pockmarked buildings inside the complex. More than 30 wounded people were transported from Al-Shifa to the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital east of Gaza City, Bassal said. Last week, residents of the area around Al-Shifa told CNN there was heavy firing in the vicinity. Second raidThis raid was the second of its kind at the hospital, with the IDF first raiding Al-Shifa in November.

Persons: ”, Mahmoud Bassal, “, Shifa, Bassal, ” Hamada Abdelhadi, Khader, Wafa, Za’anoun, –, Jake Sullivan, Tedros Adhanom Organizations: CNN, Civil Defense, Al, Ahli Baptist Hospital, Israel Defense Forces, Health, IDF, Hamas, Getty, National, World Health Organization, WHO, Integrated Locations: Al, Ahli, Gaza City, Gaza, Israel, –, AFP, Israel’s, United States, “, UN

☆ Middle East Crisis Top U.N. Court Orders Israel to Allow ‘Unhindered’ Aid Into Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Anushka Patil | Marlise Simons | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

In an interim ruling on Jan. 26, the court ordered Israel to ensure that more aid would be allowed into Gaza. Since then, the “catastrophic living conditions of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated further,” necessitating further measures, the court said on Thursday. The ruling touches on some issues that leading aid organizations have called Israeli impediments contributing to the risk of famine in Gaza. Palestinians, U.N. officials and aid workers have voiced concerns about diseases spreading, hospitals collapsing and children beginning to starve to death. But, she wrote, the court “can at least mitigate” the risk to Palestinians by directing the parties before it: South Africa and Israel.

Persons: Israel, “, Aharon Barak, Abdulqawi Yusuf, ”, Nawaf Salam, ” Hilary Charlesworth, Johnatan Reiss, Victoria Kim Organizations: International Court of Justice, United Nations, South, United Nations ’, ” Locations: The Hague, Gaza, Israel, South Africa, Africa, Somalia

☆ Rep. Ocasio-Cortez defends accusing Israel of genocide in floor speech, “I believe we have crossed the threshold of intent”
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Michelle Shen | Aileen Graef | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday defended accusing Israel of genocide against the Palestinian people and advocating for cuts to US military aid until humanitarian relief flows freely in Gaza. Her decision to use the term genocide, as she did during a floor speech on Friday in the House chamber, was “taken with extraordinary gravity,” she said. But the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza has “crossed the threshold of intent,” Ocasio-Cortez told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”“As we speak, in this moment, 1.1 million innocents in Gaza are at famine’s door,” Ocasio-Cortez said in her speech Friday. “What we are seeing here, I think, with a forced famine is beyond our ability to deny or explain away,” Ocasio-Cortez told Tapper. Ocasio-Cortez told Tapper on Sunday that she disagrees with the Israeli government restricting the flow of food and aid until Hamas frees the hostages and lays down arms.

Persons: Alexandria Ocasio, Cortez, Israel, ” Ocasio, CNN’s Jake Tapper, ”, “, Tapper, Biden, Kamala Harris, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, ” Harris ’, Jake Sullivan, Yoav Gallant, Barak Ravid, Sullivan, Gallant, CNN’s Becky Anderson Organizations: CNN — Rep, Hamas, Union, New York Democrat, Gaza Ministry, Health, Integrated, Sunday, Israeli, White, CNN Locations: Alexandria, Gaza, Israel, “ State, Rafah, Ocasio, unjustifiable

☆ You can buy an endangered monkey on Facebook in 20 minutes
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

It took BI 20 minutes to find endangered squirrel monkeys and other exotic species for sale. Used lawn furniture, homemade baked goods… endangered species. 20 minutes to monkeysIt took BI less than two minutes to identify Facebook accounts selling the bowmouth guitarfish horns. Advertisement"In just two mouse clicks, our researchers could locate substantial wildlife trafficking content," researchers behind the ACCO study wrote. "Facilitated by transnational organized crime networks, with links to drug, human, and weapon trafficking, illegal wildlife trade threatens not only wildlife populations," Allan told BI.

Persons: —, Crawford Allan, Allan, Jill Atkins Organizations: Facebook, Service, World Wildlife Fund, Coalition, Meta, Products, BI, Wildlife Fund, Wildlife, Alliance, WWF, United Nations, Sheffield University Management School, University of Sheffield

☆ Famine in northern Gaza is imminent as more than 1 million people face ‘catastrophic’ levels of hunger, new report warns
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Mousa Salem/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Palestinians transport bags of flour on the back of trucks as humanitarian aid arrives in Gaza City on March 6. Omar Qattaa/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Palestinians wait to receive food at a refugee camp in Rafah on January 27. Omar Qattaa/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Humanitarian aid packages are dropped from the air by Jordanian army planes in Gaza City on March 1. Abed Zagout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images A funeral prayer is performed for Yazan al-Kafarneh, the 10-year-old Palestinian child who died of malnutrition, on March 4. Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Children suffering from malnutrition receive treatment at a health-care center in Rafah on March 5.

Persons: Israel, Antonio Guterres, ”, Cindy McCain, it’s, Josep Borrell, Israel “, Trucks, ” Borrell, Loay, Fadi, Kamal Adwan, Omar Qattaa, Saher, Ahmed Qannan, Mohammed Salem, Said Khatib, Dawoud Abo, Jehad, crouches, Abed Zagout, Yazan, Rabie Abu Noqaira, Mohammed Abed, Alexi J . Rosenfeld, Yasser Qudih, Fatima Shbair, Benjamin Netanyahu, ” Netanyahu, Stringer, Khan Younis, “, Netanyahu, Joe Biden, Jake Sullivan, Biden, Sullivan Organizations: CNN, Integrated, IPC, United Nations, Ministry of Health, Food, UN, Washington Post, Kamal, Anadolu Agency, Getty, AFP, Reuters, US Air Force, UPI, Dawoud Abo Alkas, Aid, ”, Gaza, National Locations: Gaza, UN, ”, Israel, Rafah, Mousa Salem, Gaza City, AFP, Jordanian, Territories, Deir, Egypt, United States

The acute food shortage in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip has become so severe that “famine is imminent” and the enclave is on the verge of a “major acceleration of deaths and malnutrition,” a report from a global authority on food security and nutrition said on Monday. The group, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification global initiative, which was set up in 2004 by U.N. agencies and international relief groups, has sounded the alarm about famine only twice before: in Somalia in 2011 and in South Sudan in 2017. The warning came as Israeli forces again raided Al-Shifa Hospital in the northern part of the enclave on Monday, in an operation that they said had been aimed at senior Hamas officials who had regrouped on the premises, setting off an hourslong battle that both sides said had resulted in casualties. The raid at Al-Shifa, in Gaza City, raised questions about the level of control that Israeli forces have over northern Gaza. In December, the Israeli military said it was nearing “full operational control” there.

Persons: ” Organizations: Integrated, U.N, Shifa Locations: Gaza, Somalia, South Sudan, Al, Gaza City

Video shows RSF soldiers humiliating men from a village in Jazira state. Displaced people fleeing from Jazira state arrive in Gedaref, in the east of war-torn Sudan, on December 22, 2023. The RSF told him they would only return his car if he worked for them, Farouk recalled. Displaced people fleeing from Jazira state arrive in Gedaref, in the east of war-torn Sudan, on December 22, 2023. The RSF’s violent advances in Jazira state, their targeted destruction of warehouses, Sudan’s gene bank and irrigation systems will inevitably further exacerbate Sudan’s massive food shortages,” she said.

Persons: CNN —, “, Sudan’s, ”, Alex de Waal, Mohamed Badawi, Luis Tato, Sidiq Farouk, Farouk, ” Farouk, hasn’t, ‘, ’, Hala Al, Al Karib, Tomoya Obokata, Leni Kinzli, ” Kinzli, Omar Marzoug, geolocated, Waal, Médecins, Anette Hoffmann, You’re, ” CNN’s Benjamin Brown Organizations: CNN, Rapid Support Forces, Sudanese Armed Forces, SAF, United Nations, Peace Foundation, African Center for Justice, Peace Studies, Getty, Food Programme, UN Office, Humanitarian Affairs, UN, Hala, Initiative, Women, UNICEF, WFP, “, ” CNN, ”, Farmers ’ Alliance, Clingendael Institute, Agriculture Organization Locations: Al Jazira, Sudan’s, Darfur, Jazira, Sudan’s breadbasket Jazira, Sudan, Khartoum, of, Sudanese, Renk, South Sudan, AFP, Chad, Gedaref, Hala Al Karib, Horn of Africa, Omdurman, Al, of Africa

Experts anticipate a steep rise in malnutrition-related deaths in children in Gaza, according to a new report from a global authority on food security and nutrition, which warned of especially dire circumstances for 300,000 people in the northern part of the territory. “Famine is imminent in the northern governorates and projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May 2024,” said the report released Monday by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification global initiative. The group — set up in 2004 by U.N. agencies and international relief groups — has classified a famine only twice before: in Somalia in 2011 and in South Sudan in 2017. Across the Gaza Strip, people are facing severe shortages of food and other basic goods amid Israeli’s bombardment and a near-total blockade. “Since then, the conditions necessary to prevent famine have not been met,” the latest report said.

Persons: ”, “ Organizations: Integrated, U.N Locations: Gaza, Somalia, South Sudan

☆ Vertical farming: This GigaFarm in Dubai’s desert could produce 3 million kilograms of food
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Rebecca Cairns | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —In 2022, Dubai unveiled the world’s largest vertical farm. Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS)“Not just another vertical farm”GigaFarm’s vertical farming solution is supplied by IGS, a Scottish company founded in 2013. “This is not just another vertical farm, this is something completely different,” says Lloyd, adding that the recycling model could be applied to any urban area. And it’s not just the UAE that’s interested in vertical farming: Qatar is investing heavily in smart farming, and agritech companies are expanding into Saudi Arabia. However, it will take another decade before we see widespread adoption of vertical farming, and more research is required to increase the number of crops that can be grown, Sharma adds.

Persons: Dubai’s Al, it’s, Oliver Christof, “, Andrew Lloyd, you’ve, ”, Lloyd, AeroFarms, Lloyd —, It’s, ReFarm, Rohit Sharma, Sharma Organizations: CNN, Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport, UAE, UN, IGS, University of Wollongong Locations: Dubai, Dubai’s, Dubai’s Al Maktoum, Tech, Scottish, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Ukraine, Russia, Carrefour, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, East, Africa

She passed away.”As Israel’s severe restrictions on aid entering the Gaza Strip drain essential supplies, displaced Palestinians told CNN they are struggling to feed their children. CNNFood shortages are reportedly the worst in northern Gaza, where Israel concentrated its military offensive in the early days of the war. Dr. Muhammad Salha, acting director of Al-Awda Hospital, in northern Gaza, told CNN medical workers are treating cases of dehydration, gastroenteritis, and hepatitis among women and children. The US military said it had, alongside the Royal Jordanian Air Force, parachuted more than 36,800 meals into northern Gaza that day. He told CNN that he injured his foot while trying to buy flour along Al-Rashid Street.

Persons: CNN — Anwar Abdul Nabi, Kamal Adwan, tenderly, Mila, Nabi, Ashraf Al, Hussam Abu Safiya, Israel, “, ”, Ikhlas Shehadeh, ” Anwar Abdul Nabi, Richard Peeperkorn, Dr, Muhammad Salha, ’ wombs, Mohammed Salem, Ahmad Salem, Kosay Al Nemer, Melanie Ward, Riyad Mansour, Faraj Abu Naji, Rashid Organizations: CNN, Kamal, Health, Hamas, Ministry of Health, Integrated Food Security, UNICEF State, United Nations Population Fund, World Health Organization, WHO, Al, Awda, Reuters, Humanitarian Affairs, Kamal Adwan Hospital, United Arab, Emirati Ministry of Defense, Royal Jordanian Air Force, Medical Aid, Israel Defense Forces, United Nations Locations: Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Rafah, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Gaza City, ”, Kuwait, Rasheed, Palestinian, Al

☆ Agtech valuations were crushed in 2023. But food security concerns will keep it on the agenda.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Agtech Unicorn Index, which tracks venture-backed startups in the sector worth over $1 billion, recorded a 20% decline in 2023, according to the Morningstar Unicorn Market Monitor Q4 2023 update. Advertisement"There are more software companies that have sprouted over the past decade, but it traditionally requires fairly technical knowledge about plants and biology." London’s vertical farming unicorn InFarm also struggled and shuttered in Europe . Indeed, PitchBook’s Frederick anticipates agtech will outperform the broader VC ecosystem in the near term due to issues around food security, per PitchBook’s Agtech Q4 2023 report. More broadly, the number of companies hitting unicorn status was at its lowest level since 2017, with 81 new unicorns entering the Morningstar PitchBook Global Unicorn Index in 2023.

Persons: —, Alex Frederick, Frederick, Po Bronson, Bronson, PitchBook’s Frederick, agtech, ” Frederick Organizations: Service, Business, Morningstar, US, Farmers Business Network Locations: cybersecurity, Europe, Ukraine, India, California, Spain

☆ Nigeria customs confirms deaths in stampede for discounted rice
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Abuja, Nigeria CNN —The Nigeria Customs Service has paused the sale of seized bags of rice to needy residents amid growing hunger in the country, after confirming people were trampled to death during a deadly crowd surge at its Lagos office Friday. “The crowd became desperate and charged through our barricades in search of rice bags inside emptied containers. Nigeria is battling one of its worst cost-of-living crises that has seen inflation rise to nearly 30% - the highest in 30 years. ‘End hunger’ protestsFresh protests broke out on Tuesday as labor unions mobilized for nationwide demonstrations to rail against the economic hardships. The government also endorsed a 2012 recommendation from a presidential committee that recommended cuts to government staffing levels.

Persons: Abdullahi Maiwada, regrettably, ” Maiwada, EndHungerProtest, Bola Tinubu, Tinubu Organizations: Nigeria CNN —, Nigeria Customs Service, World Bank Locations: Abuja, Nigeria, Lagos, Africa’s, West, India

Reliable and affordable food and commodity imports are more important to a net food importer like Kenya than to some other countries. Perhaps more importantly, a critical part of the world's food supply system remains disrupted, undermining food security and raising the underlying costs of cross-border trade. The governments of Kenya and Ukraine are also working together on food security. Meanwhile, Russia's own efforts to play a part in rebuilding food security have been more a public relations exercise than real action. Although Russian sources have claimed that such shipments have begun, there is still little evidence of Russian food aid arriving in Africa.

Persons: Timothy Njagi Njeru, Kalya Kiptiony, Dr Abraham Korir SingOei, William Ruto, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia's, Dr Njeru, Lensa Omune Organizations: Tegemeo Institute, Kenyan, Initiative, Kenya's Ministry of Foreign, Diaspora Affairs, International Food Policy Research Institute, Insider Studios, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Locations: East Africa, Ukraine, Kenya, Russian, Nairobi, Russia, Africa, Horn, Port, Mombasa

☆ Nigeria customs investigate deadly crowd crush during sale of seized bags of rice to stave off hunger
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The Nigeria Customs Service says it is investigating reports people were trampled to death during a sale of bags of confiscated rice amid growing anger over skyrocketing prices of food in Africa’s most populous country. Long queues have formed outside the Lagos customs office since the commencement of the sale as thousands of locals struggle to grab a bag of the 25-kilogram rice selling at a discounted price of 10,000 naira ($6.80). The customs service said the distribution of the seized bags of rice was part of the government’s plan “to tackle the pressing issue of food insecurity.”The cost of rice, a staple food in Nigeria, has surged in recent months. The customs service says it has been confiscating contraband rice from smugglers following restrictions on foreign rice imports by the Nigerian government. Analysts welcomed the rice distribution initiative but questioned its viability in tackling Nigeria’s worsening food insecurity.

Persons: Abdullahi Maiwada, “, ”, couldn’t, Sam Amadi, Bola Tinubu, Tinubu, Babajide Sanwo, Olu Organizations: CNN, Nigeria Customs Service, World Bank, Analysts Locations: Africa’s, Lagos, West, India, Nigeria, Nigerian

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