IT'S FRIDAY. START OF THE WEEKEND MASSACRES
Three Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Jenin raid



Three Palestinians have been killed and 10 wounded as Israeli forces raided Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry has said.

About 30 Israeli military vehicles raided Jenin in the early hours of Friday and surrounded a car in al-Marah area in the east of the city, firing shots at four men sitting inside. Three of them were killed and a fourth seriously injured.

Palestinian news agency Wafa named the men killed as Baraa Lahlouh (24), Yusuf Salah (23) and Laith Abu Suroor (24).

The Israeli army said in a brief message in Hebrew that it was conducting an operation to locate weapons from two different locations, and that they had been fired upon.

“Shots were identified towards the soldiers who thwarted the terrorists’ plans to target them,” the army said, adding that they found weapons, including two M-16 assault rifles and cartridges at the scene.

Residents in Jenin said they suspected the Israelis had intended to demolish the home of Raed Hazem, who carried out a shooting attack in Tel Aviv on April 7 that killed three Israelis before he was shot dead.

The Israeli army has ramped up raids in and around the occupied Jenin camp, in an attempt to crack down on growing Palestinian armed resistance there.

Fears are rampant of a possible large-scale Israeli invasion of the camp, where the armed wings of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Fatah movements are active.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, more than 60 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces this year, many of them in raids.

A string of Palestinian attacks since March has also killed 19 people in Israel.

Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, a prominent TV reporter with Al Jazeera, was killed by Israeli forces last month in Jenin while she was covering an Israeli army operation.

A Palestinian investigation said the reporter – who was wearing a bullet-proof vest with “press” written on it and a reporting helmet when she was shot – was shot dead in what it described as a war crime.

Israel has backtracked from its initial insinuation that Abu Akleh could have been killed by a Palestinian gunman, but has now said it will not pursue a criminal investigation.

WTO agrees landmark fishing, food and Covid-19 vaccine deals after tense talks

The World Trade Organization concluded hard-won deals Friday on fishing subsidies, food insecurity and Covid-19 vaccines in a landmark bundle of agreements secured through hectic round-the-clock talks.

WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the trade ministers’ conference had struck an “unprecedented package of deliverables” which would make a difference to people’s lives across the planet.

The talks at the global trade body’s Geneva headquarters began Sunday and were due to wrap up on Wednesday.

But instead the WTO’s 164 members went straight through on into Friday, finally concluding at around 5:00 am (0300 GMT).

The ministerial conference also agreed on deals on e-commerce, responding to pandemics and reforming the organisation itself.

“Not in a long while has the WTO seen such a significant number of multilateral outcomes,” Okonjo-Iweala said.

“The package of agreements you have reached will make a difference to the lives of people around the world. The outcomes demonstrate that the WTO is in fact capable of responding to the emergencies of our time.”

With ministers struggling to conclude agreements on each topic separately, countries began making trade-offs in a bid to get several measures through in a grand bargain.
Fisheries deal netted


The fisheries deal was the last one to get over the line.

Delegations were frantically haggling in the early hours of Friday on the flagship issue being thrashed out at the WTO conference.

Negotiations towards banning subsidies that encourage overfishing and threaten the sustainability of the planet’s fish stocks have been going on at the WTO for more than 20 years.

Okonjo-Iweala, who took over in March 2021, hinged her leadership on breathing new life into the sclerotic organisation.

The former foreign and finance minister of Nigeria positioned herself as someone who can bang heads together and get business done.

The last ministerial conference in Buenos Aires in December 2017 was seen as a flop after failing to strike any heavyweight deals.

The new WTO chief wanted to prove that the organisation could still make itself relevant in tackling the big global challenges.

Some delegations accused India of being intransigent on every topic under discussion at the WTO—where decisions can only pass with the agreement of every member.

But Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal insisted: “India is not a roadblock on anything... People are realising that we were the ones who actually helped create the sole consensus.”

The second major issue on the table was the plan for a Covid-19 vaccine patents waiver.

Some countries that host major pharmaceutical companies, like Britain and Switzerland, were finding some of the draft wording problematic, while big pharma feared a deal that would strangle innovation.

But Britain’s ambassador in Geneva, Simon Manley, told Okonjo-Iweala late Thursday that after clarification and improvements were achieved, London was “now ready to join the consensus”.

(AFP)

Germans turn to food banks as inflation hits


Yasmine GUÉNARD-MONIN
Fri, June 17, 2022,


German pensioner Gabriele Washah waits in line to fill her trolley with bags of carrots for 50 cents, yoghurts just past their sell-by date and bunches of wilting flowers.

With the cost of living soaring across Europe, the 65-year-old retired shop assistant is one of many Germans turning to food banks to make ends meet.

"Sometimes I go home from the shop almost crying because I can't afford it any more," she told AFP outside the row of stalls in Bernau, near Berlin.

Nestled in an alleyway behind a big chain supermarket, the food bank sells at greatly reduced prices groceries donated by supermarkets, as well as cheap prepared meals.

Here, customers can pick up a full trolley of food for around 30 euros (around $32).

For Washah, that means bread, butter and her favourite sandwich filling, sausage -- "which used to cost 99 cents ($1.02) but now sometimes costs more than two euros".

Driven by the war in Ukraine, inflation in Germany soared to 7.9 percent in May -- its highest level since reunification in 1990, with food prices among those worst affected.

Demand for food banks across the country has increased "significantly" since the start of the year and doubled in some areas, according to a spokeswoman for the Tafel food bank network.

There are around 1,000 such schemes in Germany, run by volunteers and available to customers on a means-tested basis.

Groceries, while donated, are still sold rather than given away free to the customers as the Tafel has to cover running costs, including rents and electricity. The organisation too has had to put up prices because their running costs have risen.

"It's not just one product," said 69-year-old pensioner Peter Behme. "All the prices are going up."

- Poverty line -

In a bid to ease the pressure on squeezed finances, the government has lowered taxes on fuel, drastically slashed the cost of public transport and promised all taxpayers a one-off payment of 300 euros.

But Behme remains unimpressed. "I don't know where the government help is going," he said.

Even the food banks themselves are feeling the effects of the massive inflation.

"We have had to raise some prices by 20 or 50 cents because we need money to replenish our stocks," said Malina Jankow, manager of the Bernau food bank.

Along with pensioners and unemployed people, the queues are now also filling up with Ukrainian refugees.

Anna Dec, a 35-year-old hospital worker, has come to Bernau with two Ukrainian women who are staying in her home and currently each receiving 449 euros a month in benefits.

"They have to pay for water, energy, food, hygiene products... That's almost nothing," she said.

Overwhelmed by the influx of customers, some food banks in Germany have had to turn away new arrivals or ration the food they distribute.

"We have been asking the government for a long time for a law to force supermarkets to give away their unsold food," said Norbert Weich, 72, chairman of the food bank.

Some 16 percent of Germans, or more than 13 million people, were living below the poverty line in 2020, according to a study by the charity Deutscher Paritaetische Gesamtverband, published in December 2021.

"The federation of food banks has a resolution: as soon as we are no longer needed, we will disband," said Weich. "But I don't think it will be in my lifetime."

str-fec/hmn/kjm

Lethbridge historian tracks down unique books from 1914

Belinda Crowson loves a good book, especially when it's got some local history.

Belinda Crowson holds two books written in 1914 about 

Lethbridge and southern Alberta

Quinn Campbell - Yesterday Global News

The historian and avid reader set out to find two unique books dating back an entire century.

"I knew that in 1914 two sisters that visited Lethbridge in 1911 had both written novels," added Crowson.

Read more:
New book gives readers snapshot of Lethbridge’s past

After keeping a close eye on book sites for about 10 years, she has finally added both books to her private collection.

"One is a first addition, one is a reprint and both of them are set in southern Alberta. One is actually set mostly in Lethbridge and it tells this beautiful story of Lethbridge in 1911," she said.

The books are written by Cicely and Madge Smith. The young sisters were from England and came to Lethbridge to visit their brother who was a lawyer at the time.

Cicely's book is titled City of Hope and Madge wrote Alberta and The Others, which Crowson said clearly highlights Lethbridge.

Read more:
Black History Month: The untold story of ‘Auntie’ Annie Saunders in southern Alberta

"She sets it in Sunshine and it's absolutely Lethbridge, right down to the descriptions. They would have arrived here at the train station," said Crowson.

"They talk about our square, which would have been Galt Gardens. They talk about the hospital, which they call the Salt Hospital instead of the Galt Hospital."

The books are now stamped with her initials and a forever home on her book shelf.

Crowson is already looking for her next needle-in-a-hay-stack book to collect.

"I'm always trying to find those books that aren't very much in print and, as I said, every historian has that list [of books to collect] and I probably shouldn't admit that yesterday I just tracked down five more books for my collection," laughed Crowson.

British Columbians overwhelmingly oppose new museum, poll finds

David Carrigg - Yesterday 

Close to 70 per cent of British Columbians are opposed to a costly rebuild of the Royal B.C. Museum and are more concerned with inflation, health care and housing affordability, according to polling data being released by the Angus Reid Institute on Thursday.


© Provided by Vancouver SunB.C. Premier John Horgan speaks during a media scrum at the Hotel Saskatchewan on Friday, May 27, 2022 in Regina.

The poll showed 42 per cent of the 615 adults questioned were “strongly” opposed to the $800-million project, while 27 per cent were simply opposed.

The survey found four per cent of people “strongly” support the project, while 18 per cent supported it — for a total of 22 per cent.

Eight per cent of respondents had no opinion.

“If there was ever a museum of political gaffes built in British Columbia, the rollout of the Royal B.C. Museum’s rebuild could occupy a gallery of its own,” Angus Reid president Shachi Kurl wrote.

The B.C. government announced in early May that it would rebuild the 54-year-old Royal B.C. Museum, without presenting a business plan.

While the government expected the news to be received well, the opposite occurred, and two weeks later Tourism Minister Melanie Mark presented a heavily redacted business plan.

The B.C. Liberals have already promised to cancel the project if they are elected in 2024, with leader Kevin Falcon dubbing it a “vanity project boondoggle.”

“The backlash comes as the NDP government under John Horgan faces other political headwinds from inflation and cost of living increases,” Kurl wrote.

The poll found 70 per cent of respondents thought the B.C. government was performing poorly in its handling of inflation, health care staffing and housing affordability.

Horgan’s approval has dropped seven percentage points over the past three months to 48 per cent, but the B.C. NDP still hold an 11-per-cent lead over their rival B.C. Liberals. The B.C. Green party has 15 per cent support.

Newly anointed Liberal leader Falcon is viewed favourably by 23 per cent of British Columbians and unfavourably by 44 per cent.

Rising costs of living was the most important concern to 61 per cent of respondents, while fewer than seven per cent were concerned with the government’s response to COVID-19.

dcarrigg@postmedia.com

Related

New Royal B.C. Museum: Here's why the government says it'll cost $789 million

$1B for Victoria museum could be better spent elsewhere, critics say

ABOLISH CBP

US Customs and Border Protection investigating an unofficial challenge coin depicting Haitian migrant incident

Priscilla Alvarez - Yesterday --CNN


An unofficial challenge coin depicting the infamous image of an agent on horseback confronting a Haitian migrant is being investigated by US Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility, according to agency spokesperson Luis Miranda.

The coin, which is on sale on eBay, is inscribed with phrases, like “You will be returned” and “Reining it in since May 28, 1924.” It’s unclear where the coin originated.

“The images depicted on this coin are offensive, insensitive, and run counter to the core values of CBP. This is not an official CBP coin,” Miranda said in a statement.

“The CBP Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) is investigating whether or not it is being sold by anyone at CBP, and will take appropriate action if so. The CBP Office of Chief Counsel (OCC) will also send a cease-and-desist letter to any vendor who produces unauthorized challenge coins using one of CBP’s trademarked brands,” he added.

Last year, during a surge of mostly Haitian migrants at the US southern border, photos surfaced of agents on horseback swinging long reins near migrants who had crossed the border near Del Rio, Texas – where around 15,000 migrants had amassed under the Del Rio international bridge.

The incident drew swift condemnation from senior Biden administration officials.

CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility has been investigating the incident, though the results of the investigation have not yet been released.

CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said Thursday that the coins anger him “because the hateful images on them have no place in a professional law enforcement agency.”

“Those who make or share these deeply offensive coins detract and distract from the extraordinarily difficult and often life-saving work Border Patrol agents do every day across the country,” he continued.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Shawna Mizelle contributed to this report.

Biden seeks to counter ‘legislative attacks’ on LGBTQ rights

1 of 12

President Joe Biden celebrates after signing an executive order at an event to celebrate Pride Month in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, June 15, 2022, in Washington. 

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

By WILL WEISSERT

June 15, 2022

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden issued an executive order Wednesday to stymie what what his administration calls discriminatory legislative attacks on the LGBTQ community by Republican-controlled states, declaring before a signing ceremony packed with activists, “pride is back at the White House.”

The order seeks to discourage “conversion therapy” — a discredited practice that aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity — while also promoting gender-affirming surgery and expanding foster care protections for gay and transgender parents and children.

Tapping money already allocated to federal agencies rather than requiring new funding, Biden said the order is meant to counter 300-plus anti-LGBTQ laws introduced by state lawmakers over the past year alone. The Department of Health and Human Services will draft new policies to expand care to LGBTQ families and the Education Department will devise rules to better protect LGBTQ students in public schools.

The president, first lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris attended a crowded reception in the White House’s East Room, where the adjacent hallway was decorated in rainbow colors. Attending were LGBTQ activists, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, and top administration officials, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who adopted twins with his husband, Chasten.

The gathering is part of the Biden administration’s recognition of Pride Month.

“All of you in this room know better than anyone that these attacks are real and consequential for real families,” the president said before sitting to sign the order. He pointed specifically to the arrest last weekend of 31 members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front near an Idaho pride event.

Actions listed within the order attempt to bolster programs better addressing the issue of suicide among LGBTQ children and seek to make adoptions easier for LGBTQ parents and children.

“It shouldn’t take courage to be yourself,” said Jill Biden, who noted that it was a little too hot and humid in summer sun-drenched Washington to hold the event on the South Lawn. “We know that, in places across the country like Florida or Texas or Alabama, rights are under attack. And we know that in small towns and big cities, prejudice, and discrimination still lurk.”



Among the state laws the White House has opposed is the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” measure in Florida, which was signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in March. It bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. Critics say it marginalizes LGBTQ people, and the law sparked a public battle between the state and the Walt Disney Co.

Biden’s action creates a federal working group to help combat LGBTQ homeless and one promoting educational policies for states and school districts that encourage inclusive learning environments for LGBTQ children. His order also establish new rules to discourage conversion therapy, though efforts to enforce bans against it in places where state law allows the practice will rely on legal challenges from outside the White House.

While some Republican-led legislatures have championed conversion therapy, other states and communities have banned it. The American Psychological Association says conversion therapy is not based on science and is harmful to a participant’s mental health.

The order further directs health officials to spell out that federally funded programs cannot be used to fund conversion therapy. And it seeks to ease barriers to health care and certain types of treatment for the LGBTQ community, including gender affirming surgery.

That follows Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s February order directing Texas’ child welfare agency to investigate reports of gender-confirming care for kids as abuse. A judge has since issued a restraining order that halted investigations into three families, and prevented others.

“We have a lot more work to do,” Biden said. “In Texas, knocking on front doors to harass and investigate parents who are raising transgender children. In Florida, going after Mickey Mouse for God’s sake.”

In earlier orders, Biden has sought to direct that gay and transgender people are protecting from discrimination in schools, health care, housing and at work. He ordered federal agencies to update and expand regulations prohibiting sexual discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity, and reversed a ban on transgender people serving in the military.

Biden on Wednesday also renewed his calls for Congress to pass the Equality Act, which would amend existing civil rights law to explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identification as protected characteristics. The measure has been stalled on Capitol Hill but the president said it’s necessary to “enshrine the long overdue civil rights protections of all Americans, every American.”

___

Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.

Will Trans Mountain skimp on oil spill coverage for its new pipeline?

Yesterday 


When Trans Mountain's new pipeline and facilities are ready to operate, the company says "a slight increase" to its $1-billion liabilities plan for the existing pipeline will be sufficient to cover the risk of an oil spill on either the current line or its new counterpart.

But “a slight increase” is not in line with the additional $1.1 billion the energy regulator has said is required to open the new pipeline, says independent economist Robyn Allan, who wrote to the regulator with her concerns.

To protect the public interest, companies must show Canada’s Energy Regulator (CER) they've got the financial resources to deal with an oil spill before operating a new pipeline. If a company doesn't have the money to cover those costs and an oil spill occurs, taxpayers could be left to pay for the mess.

In the case of Trans Mountain, the regulator has specified the new pipeline’s “financial assurance plan” must include at least $100 million of cash that can be tapped instantly for cleanup in the event of a spill. The company is also required to carry lines of credit, third-party liability insurance and other financial instruments to cover the remaining $1 billion.

The Crown corporation would not specify what “a slight increase” to its financial assurances plan for the current pipeline entailed when asked by Canada’s National Observer. It said only that the company has “the required financial resource requirements in place for the current pipeline operations” and will share details with the CER “at an appropriate time.”

Allan says the company is trying to backtrack on obligations that were clear when the regulatory hearing approved the project, “and in doing so, is putting the public at serious risk for spill costs.

“We really need this, frankly, nonsense to stop,” she adds.

Part of the regulator’s duty is to prevent situations where the public is on the hook for cleanup, says Eugene Kung, a staff lawyer with West Coast Environmental Law. Across Canada, oil and gas companies have declared bankruptcy, abandoned wells and left cleanup costs to the public purse. That’s what we want to avoid here, Kung says.

The expansion’s construction costs have nearly quadrupled compared to Kinder Morgan’s original cost estimate in 2013, which experts say has destroyed the business case for the pipeline. The federal government has said no more public dollars will go towards the project and that it intends to sell the pipeline.

To attract private investment, the federal government recently greenlit a $10-billion loan guarantee for Trans Mountain, quietly financed by Canada’s six biggest banks. Technically, no public money has been spent yet, but the guarantee means if Trans Mountain can’t pay back the loan, the public will foot the bill.

If the regulator allows Trans Mountain to avoid adding $1.1 billion in financial assurances for the new pipeline, it could make the project more appealing to prospective buyers, Allan says.

Dropping the requirement to have additional backup cash immediately available, plus lines of credit and insurance, makes it easier for potential buyers, says Kung. “It also leaves them potentially much more exposed to a scenario where ... there could be indefinite liability if they're found at fault for a spill.”

There’s an incentive for Trans Mountain to skimp on the financial assurances plan because money for rising insurance costs and spill preparedness can’t be recouped through the fees oil producers are charged to use the pipelines, he says.

Built in 1953, the existing Trans Mountain pipeline carries 300,000 barrels of oil per day from Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C. The expansion will essentially twin the old 1,150-kilometre pipeline and raise its capacity to 890,000 barrels per day.

The regulator requires Trans Mountain to maintain $500 million in insurance and a $500 million line of credit through Crown corporation Canada Development Investment Corporation for cleanup, remediation, business interruptions and other spill-related costs for the existing pipeline.

Based on the regulator’s 2019 report, Trans Mountain was instructed to come up with an additional $1.1 billion for the expansion project for a total of $2.1 billion for both pipelines, explains Allan.

“It makes sense in a way, right?” says Kung. “If you're doubling the pipelines and, in fact, tripling the capacity then there's a corresponding increase in risk.”

Allan is also concerned Trans Mountain won’t be required to seek insurance for the expansion project until much of it is already in operation.

In January, Trans Mountain signalled its intention to apply to open segments of the expansion project gradually, such as terminals or pump stations. If the request is granted by the regulator, Trans Mountain would be able to skirt a condition requiring the company to file a financial assurances plan — including insurance — six months before applying to open the second pipeline, explains Allan, who was once the president and CEO of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia.

But Allan’s letter points out it's unlikely the current insurance would extend to the new pipeline and facilities.

When asked specifically if private insurers are willing to back the new pipeline, Trans Mountain media relations wrote the company “has all the required and necessary insurance in place.”

However, the project has had some insurance problems. To date, 17 insurers have cut ties with Trans Mountain. The existing pipeline’s insurance situation has been a black box ever since the regulator granted its request to keep the names of its insurers secret in April 2021.

With the expansion’s consistent cost overruns and new understanding of flood and fire risks, Allan says it's critical to know if the company can obtain private insurance for the second pipeline before opening any part of it.

“If we find out at the 11th hour that the private sector won’t insure it, the responsibility will default to Canadians,” said Allan.

Natasha Bulowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer

FIRST NATO NATION BUILDING WAR

Kosovars Tire Of Knocking At Europe's Closed Doors


By Ismet HAJDARI
06/16/22

Of all the passports in the world, Kosovo's opens fewer doors than most, even the doors to other parts of Europe.

"It's a contradiction to be called European when you are not allowed to see, touch or travel around Europe," 27-year-old journalist Aulona Kadriu told AFP.

"I don't see why an entire population should be locked out and isolated."

Of the 199 countries ranked by the number of destinations their passport holders can visit according to the Henley index, only 10 offer fewer opportunities than Kosovo. The former province of Serbia languishes in the company of places like Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and North Korea.

Kosovars still still need visas to enter the EU. Kosovo's journalist Aulona Kadriu shows her visa photos Photo: AFP / Armend NIMANI


Kadriu gave up trying to travel within Europe for work or for leisure, because she found the hoops Kosovars have to jump through too frustrating.

The landlocked country's 1.8 million citizens are the only people in the Balkans to need a visa to do so, and that magic pass is tricky to obtain.

"It's beyond humiliation," she grumbled.

Kosovars still need visas to enter other European countries and the queues at embassies to get them can be long 

Photo: AFP / Armend NIMANI

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 but is not universally recognised.

Five European Union countries are among the opponents, alongside Serbia itself -- with whom relations remain unstable -- and its Russian and Chinese allies.

So the tiny country applauded when the European Commission -- the EU's executive body -- decided in 2018 that Kosovars should be eligible to travel freely to all 26 countries in Europe's borderless Schengen Area.

But EU governments, who have the final say, have yet to follow suit and four years on, Kosovars still need visas and the queues to get them are as long as ever.

Pensioner Igballe Kryeziu hopes to visit her children in Germany, where around half the 800,000 Kosovars living abroad currently reside.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 but is not universally recognised, with five EU countries among the opponents Photo: AFP / Armend NIMANI

It has taken her five months and 200 euros ($210) in paperwork just to get a place in the queue outside the consulate.

Work and study permits are just as hard to come by.

Berlin's embassy in Pristina said it had received more than 100,000 requests in December and January alone. It only has capacity to issue 5,500 in a full year.

Local charities believe the hold-up is due to reserves on the part of EU heavyweights like France about Kosovo's ability to tackle corruption and organised crime.

More than 80 local NGOs wrote recently to French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, urging him to end the "isolation of Kosovo citizens".

Talks between Pristina and Brussels about visa-free travel had dragged on for 10 years, they pointed out -- longer than it took neighbouring Croatia to go from applying to join the EU to actually becoming a full member.

Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi told AFP Kosovo had "done more than was asked of it" to meet the conditions imposed on it and the delay was essentially "due to the dynamics between different EU members".

Political analyst Donika Emini concurred.

"We've seen the stick but not the carrot," she said.

Architecture student Teuta Rexhaj, 22, had to say goodbye to her plans to study at Vienna University.

"It was a real blow," she told AFP. "I belong to a generation that has not been able to fulfil its European dream."

"When I see other young people from the Balkans travelling to Europe without any difficulty, I can't help thinking Kosovo is being discriminated against."

SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=KOSOVO

Seeing the Forest for the Trees
Thesis on The Kosovo Crisis and the Crisis of Global Capitalism
(originally written May 1999, Bill Clinton set the stage for George W. to invade Afghanistan and Iraq for humanitarian purposes.)
http://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2005/01/war-whats-it-good-for-profit.html

Russian farmers seek to ride out Western sanctions

AFP - 
Yevgeny Shifanov, co-owner of an organic farm, says his business has felt the sting of Western sanctions and he is no longer able to sell his grain to Europe.

© Yuri KADOBNOV

Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine has devastated crops and farming in the pro-Western nation and disrupted crucial deliveries from Ukraine

But the 42-year-old puts on a brave face, saying he is pivoting to ex-Soviet countries such as Belarus as well as domestic clients.

"We are more interested in our internal market, our economy," the co-owner of Chyorny Khleb ("Black Bread") told AFP.

Shifanov's business -- located in the village of Khatmanovo, some 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of Moscow on the banks of the Oka River -- is one of numerous small farms that have mushroomed in Russia over the past decade.


© Yuri KADOBNOV

Numerous small farms that have mushroomed in Russia over the past decade.

Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine has devastated crops and farming in the pro-Western nation and disrupted crucial deliveries from Ukraine fuelling concern about hunger and food prices worldwide.

The military campaign also put a major focus on Russia's own agriculture sector.

The country is the largest wheat exporter in the world and has been accused by the West of using grain as a geopolitical tool.

While Russia appears to be calling the shots in the current grain standoff with the West, experts say that its own agricultural sector is also bracing for tough times.

At Chyorny Khleb, which cultivates cereals on just over 1,000 hectares of land, green wheat stalks are knee-high. The farmers are enjoying a relative lull before harvesting starts in late July.

"In March or April, we begin to prepare the land, then we plant. Soon we will reap the results of our work," said Alexei Yershov, a 28-year-old tractor driver before climbing into his red-and-black tractor and setting off into a buckwheat field.

- New reality -

The outlook for the season is good, with the agriculture ministry forecasting a harvest of 130 million tonnes including a record 87 million tonnes of wheat.

But the farmers admit they have struggled since the onset of unprecedented Western sanctions.

"We have faced logistical problems," said Shifanov, adding that he has partners in Europe and Israel but the trucks carrying his farm's produce abroad were blocked at the border.

"We have buyers abroad, but we can't do anything, we can't deliver there, now we can only make do with our domestic market," he said.

He added that he was also searching for partners in Belarus, Armenia and Kazakhstan.

The farm is gradually adjusting to the new reality.

Like many other Russian businesses, the farm went on a "panic buying" spree in the first few weeks of the crisis, purchasing a year's worth of packaging supplies that are now gathering dust.

One of Shifanov's partners is now running out of glue needed to make labels.

"It was imported from Europe," said Shifanov, standing in a shed between mounds of wheat.

"They are trying to solve the problem via China but the logistics remain complicated," he added.

In a nearby building, Roman Tikhonov, 40, works on an Austrian-made wooden milling machine.

The miller said that the farm is learning to operate without foreign-made spare parts.

"Recently, something broke, we found the material and fixed it," he said.

"Before the spare parts arrived from Austria, we waited a long time, now we make them ourselves, it's faster."

The Ukrainian-made milling machine next-door has been receiving its spare parts via Belarus since the outbreak of hostilities between Ukrainian forces and Moscow-backed separatists in 2014.

Shifanov nevertheless says he is relieved that his tractors were mainly made in Russia or Belarus.

- Trading at a discount -

The grain market is also adjusting to the new conditions.

Before Russia's military campaign, the price of wheat was already high at around $300 per tonne but now it is more than $400.

Andrey Sizov, the head of Sovecon, a Russian agriculture consultancy, said that Russia is now selling its grain -- just like its oil -- at a discount.

"The war discount for Russian grain is $20 per tonne," he told AFP.

"Russian grain has become cheaper than, for example French grain, because you have to reflect and price in those additional costs like freight, insurance, problems with payments."

Sizov also pointed out that not only do farmers face higher production costs due to inflation, authorities in 2021 introduced strict export taxes that take about "30 percent of farmers revenue".

"The irony is current record high wheat prices were driven mainly by the Russian war but at the same time Russian farmers are not benefiting from them."

apo/bur/har