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One company is injecting liquid clay into California desert to trap moisture and help fruit to grow, while another in Malaysia boosts soil with droppings from fly larvae. Biochar, liquid clay and fly larvae droppings are all in limited commercial production. Some, like liquid clay and biochar add nutrients while also improving the ground's ability to retain water, and require fewer applications than fertilizer. Norway-based Desert Control has spent 18 years and $25 million developing liquid clay to boost soil. In Malaysia, Nutrition Technologies produces "soil conditioner" from frass - the waste and skin of Black Soldier Fly larvae.

REUTERS/Eva Plevier/File PhotoWINNIPEG, Manitoba, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Netherlands-based Rabobank NA (RABOVR.UL) is aiming to grab 10-15% of the Canadian farm lending market within 15 years, as it aims to shake up a sector dominated by government and domestic banks, its new Canadian agricultural head told Reuters on Wednesday. It took Rabobank a decade before deciding to expand into Canadian farm lending, taking a methodical approach, Lieverse said. Rabobank expects Canadian farm lending to be profitable from the start and plans to announce hiring plans shortly, she said. Rabobank did not release its estimate of the value of the Canadian farm lending market, but government agency Statistics Canada pegged 2021 farm debt at a record-high C$129 billion ($96.1 billion), with chartered banks accounting for 37%. Farm Credit Canada, owned by the Canadian government, is the biggest agricultural lender, controlling a market share of about one-third, Lieverse said.

☆ In 'Women Talking,' Mennonite women find voice on sexual assault
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Danielle Broadway | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LOS ANGELES, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The film “Women Talking” follows eight Mennonite women who struggle over how to respond to continual sexual assaults from the men in their insular religious community. “Women from all walks of life do have a really powerful reaction to the film, and it’s this incredible conversation starter,” Mara said in an interview. "Women Talking" joins “She Said,” and “The Woman King” in a group of 2022 films that focus on the narratives of women. McLeod, who plays a younger member of the group, believes that is a reflection of society making some progress. "More and more women are finding their voice and breaking out of the social confines we’ve been put in,” McLeod said.

Oil companies are facing faltering prices and Canadian firms are also absorbing an unusually punishing discount for their heavy-grade crude. Net debt represents a company's gross debt minus cash and cash-like assets. It faced an existential threat in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic crushed oil prices. Canadian producers also absorb a $29 per barrel discount due to distance from U.S. refineries and lower heavy oil demand. If oil prices dip below $65, companies may tighten spending but opt to reduce capital budgets before shareholder returns, Bushell said.

☆ Police in Canada say remains of 2 slain Indigenous women are likely in landfill — but they won't search site
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Chantal Da Silva Is A Breaking News Editor For Nbc News Digital Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Police in Canada are facing scrutiny after saying they believe they know where the bodies of two Indigenous women allegedly slain by a suspected serial killer are buried — but that they won't be searching the area due to difficult conditions. In May, the Winnipeg Police Department announced that partial remains of one of the victims, Rebecca Contois, 24, had been found in a landfill. In a tweet Tuesday, Niki Ashton, a Member of Parliament with Canada's New Democratic Party, said: "We remember the Indigenous women who have been targeted and killed because they are Indigenous women. "These deaths must not be ignored, nor the reality that they represent the ongoing generational harms and trauma that are rooted in violence against Indigenous women, girls, and Two Spirit people," the statement said. Federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller said Tuesday that he believed all levels of government have failed Indigenous women, girls and Two Spirit people for centuries, CBC News reported.

☆ Alleged serial killer in custody and charged in killings of 4 Indigenous women in Canada, police say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Tina Burnside | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Authorities in Winnipeg, Manitoba, believe the murders of four Indigenous women came at the hands of an alleged serial killer now in custody in Canada. Jeremy Anthony Michael Skibicki, 35, of Winnipeg, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of the women, a news release from the Winnipeg Police Service states. Skibicki was arrested May 18 by the agency’s Homicide Unit and charged with first-degree murder, the release says. She is believed to be an Indigenous female killed on or around March 15, police said. “As a city, we must all grieve their loss and recognize that we have much more work to do to protect the lives of Indigenous women and girls,” Gillingham said.

"I remember reading a book once called, 'Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers,'" Poirier said at the company's investor day. Calgary, Alberta-based TC is widely known for its Keystone oil pipeline, a critical artery for moving Canadian oil to U.S. refiners that dominated headlines over the past decade for an expansion that ultimately failed. Keystone could fetch TC C$12.8 billion, said CIBC analyst Robert Catellier in a note. He added that reducing TC's oil exposure would help it reach its emissions-reduction goals. TC's stake in the Millennium natural gas pipeline in New York state is another logical sale candidate and could fetch $1 billion, said Scotiabank analyst Robert Hope.

☆ The world's largest cannabis companies are gobbling up beer brands and striking deals with top athletes to hawk energy drinks because they're struggling to profit off pot
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Jeremy Berke | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

It's hard to make money in cannabis, so the world's largest cannabis companies are pivoting. The Canadian cannabis company Tilray in early November acquired Montauk Brewing Company, a New York craft-beer brewer. In a November 11 note, analysts at the investment bank Jefferies called Canopy's core Canadian cannabis business "a sideshow." Tilray's cannabis business slumps, while beer boomsLike Canopy, Tilray's core cannabis business is also declining while its beverage unit and other businesses are growing. Beyond cutting costs, it was, therefore, only a matter of time before the world's largest cannabis companies, with investors and shareholders breathing down their necks, looked elsewhere to boost their margins.

☆ Remote Town Is Home to 900 Humans and 850 Polar Bears
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Angela Owens | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

CHURCHILL, Manitoba—On a cold October morning in this remote Canadian village, a series of loud bangs disturb the quiet hum of residents beginning their day. A polar bear lumbering through town has been spotted near the cemetery.

A sale of Westbrick would mark an exit from the Canadian oil and gas production business for KKR. KKR has owned Westbrick for a decade, longer than most of its investments, making a sale logical, one of the sources said. KKR invested C$250 million in Westbrick when it was a smaller producer in 2012. Apart from Westbrick, KKR's other investments in Canada include gas processing assets and a stake in the Coastal GasLink pipeline under construction. "Anyone who knows me knows that Westbrick has been for sale every day since our existence," he told Reuters via email.

☆ Polar bears, pushed on land by climate change, get their own radar
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

As climate change diminishes sea ice from coastal communities in the Arctic and the subarctic, researchers expect polar bears to range further into the towns and camps in this remote part of the world. Geoff York and KT Miller install a mobile radar tower in Churchill, Manitoba, which hosts the SpotterRF radar to detect polar bears. When the sea ice along the bay melts, the bears migrate to make their home on land and wait for the ice to return. “It makes it ideal to test new technologies.”Although every season is different, climate change is lengthening the amount of time bears are away from sea ice here. But as climate change limits sea ice habitat, it’s expected to push more hungry bears toward communities that haven’t dealt with these creatures before.

Eastern Canada, with its strong electricity-generating winds and short shipping distance, is a prime potential source for green hydrogen. Most hydrogen output uses natural gas or coal, called gray hydrogen, but companies want to produce green hydrogen without emissions by separating hydrogen from oxygen in water using wind-powered electrolyzers. Green hydrogen is typically more expensive, but soaring natural gas prices have elevated gray hydrogen production costs above those of green hydrogen, according to an October report. GERMANY-CANADA HYDROGEN PARTNERSHIPGermany and Canada signed a non-binding agreement in August to ship clean Canadian hydrogen to Germany by 2025. "We believe in green energy, but we don’t believe in destroying nature for a profit or supplying Germany," Rowe said.

[1/5] Volunteers fill boxes with donated food at the Ottawa Food Bank warehouse in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada October 27, 2022. Demand has surged 33% at the Ottawa Food Bank from pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, with visits up as spiraling grocery, gas and rent prices, along with fast-rising borrowing costs, leave more Canadians struggling to make ends meet. "That's because the cost of food has risen ... but also because of the number of people that are turning to a food bank right now," said Wilson. "Our wholesalers are definitely more tentative about spending money," said Farnell. "Everyone's nervous ... Will people be spending money?

Some, like fossil fuel-burning Saskatchewan and Alberta, say the federal government's plan for a 2035 net-zero grid is unrealistic. The challenges Canada faces underline how difficult meeting net-zero electrification goals will be globally. Reuters GraphicsUnlike Canada, the United States has a federal electricity regulator and mostly delivers power through regionally integrated systems, which may make it more nimble to transform the grid. Provinces regulate Canada's electricity utilities, but the federal government has some jurisdiction over the environment. The Alberta Electric System Operator in June estimated it would cost an additional C$44 billion to C$52 billion ($38.18 billion) to meet Ottawa's 2035 net-zero mandate.

A farmer spreads nitrogen fertilizer in his wheat field in Blecourt, France, May 27, 2021. Russia, under financial sanctions, is a major producer of fertilizer and natural gas, key in making nitrogen products to boost yields of corn and other crops. Since Russia's February invasion of Ukraine, Europe started weaning itself off Russian natural gas and a pipeline transporting ammonia from Russia to a Ukraine port shut down. European countries typically buy most of their imported urea, a form of nitrogen fertilizer, from North Africa, but are now purchasing it further afield, Wallace said. EU nitrogen prices eased in mid-October as some European plants resumed production due to softening natural gas prices, he said.

CNN —In Nelson Mandela Bay, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, thousands of hectares of land could one day become the world’s largest green ammonia plant. But by using renewable energy, “green” ammonia can be manufactured, slashing the carbon footprint of agricultural production and opening up the compound to further uses. ‘A completely green process’The process to make green ammonia is quite simple, Loubser says, requiring just water, air and energy. But green ammonia could also be burned in existing coal-fired power plants to quickly reduce their CO2 emissions, the study notes, or in plants customized to run entirely on ammonia. And many of the systems that will make use of green ammonia – including ship engines – are still under development, which is why production levels are low at the moment.

☆ Canada a depăşit un milion de cazuri de infectare cu noul coronavirus
▼ + stars: | 2021-04-05 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: 1 min

Din totalul cazurilor, 922.524 au fost vindecate (98%). De asemenea, s-au înregistrat 23.062 de decese (2%). 58.402 sunt cazuri active, dintre care 1% sunt grave.Canada a înregistrat primul caz de infecţie cu noul coronavirus anul trecut, pe 15 ianuarie. Statul canadian a constatat o creştere bruscă a numărului de cazuri la începutul lunii septembrie, atingând punctul culminant în prima decadă a lunii ianuarie (peste 9.000 de cazuri pe zi). Creşterea numărului de cazuri a fost raportată în regiuni metropolitane precum Alberta, Columbia Britanică, Quebec, Manitoba, Ontario şi Saskatschewan, unde s-au înregistrat peste 90% din numărul total de infecţii.Până în prezent au fost vaccinate 5,6 milioane de persoane (14,8% din populaţie).

Locations: Statul canadian, Alberta, Columbia Britanică, Quebec, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatschewan

☆ Omenirea se pregăteşte pentru un Crăciun insolit
▼ + stars: | 2020-12-14 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +4 min

Autorităţile din numeroase ţări, precum Franţa şi Norvegia, dar şi organizaţii internaţionale, precum Organizaţia Mondială a Sănătăţii (OMS), i-au îndemnat pe oameni să nu renunţe la prudenţă, în pofida dorinţei lor de a se întâlni şi de a se relaxa alături de cei dragi după un an foarte dificil. "Eu sunt tipul acela care vă fură Crăciunul", a declarat Brian Pallister, prim-ministrul provinciei canadiene Manitoba, implorându-i pe locuitorii din acea regiune "să nu se întâlnească de Crăciun". "Dacă avem prea multe contacte acum, înainte de Crăciun, iar apoi acesta va fi ultimul Crăciun petrecut alături de bunici, atunci înseamnă că vom fi ratat ceva", a avertizat, emoţionată, cancelarul german Angela Merkel.Belgia este una dintre ţările care au decis să limiteze cel mai mult numărul invitaţilor cu ocazia Crăciunului: un singur invitat pentru o familie, cel mult doi pentru persoanele care locuiesc singure. Luxemburgul a autorizat doi invitaţi pentru fiecare familie.Nu mai mult de şase adulţi la masa de Crăciun, au cerut şi autorităţile din Franţa.Norvegia îşi relaxează restricţiile pe durata sărbătorilor şi va permite reuniuni de cel mult 10 persoane. "Va trebui să improvizaţi şi, poate, să lungiţi puţin masa", a declarat prim-ministrul Erna Solberg, referindu-se la normele de distanţare fizică.În Marea Britanie, reuniunile familiale (cel mult trei familii) vor fi permise din 23 până pe 27 decembrie.

Persons: Brian Pallister, Crăciun, Angela Merkel.Belgia, Erna Solberg, Regina Elisabeta a II, prinţul Philip, Francisc, anunţat Organizations: OMS, Sandringham Locations: Franţa, Norvegia, prudenţă, canadiene Manitoba, Castelul Windsor, canadiană Quebec, Belgia, Luxemburg, Spania, Germania, Elveţia, Betleem, Cisiordania, Bobotează, Madrid, Puerta del, Olanda, Londra, Paris

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