Kremlin propagandist Maria Zakharova hits out at Norway: “Real zoocide”

40 reindeer that crossed into Russia to graze were slaughtered upon return to Norway, a move used by foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova attempting to stir up conflict between indigenous Saami and the Norwegian state

By

 Thomas Nilsen, The Independent Barents Observer

 -

29 August 2023

Norwegian reindeer on a mountain plateau in the borderland with Russia in the background horizon. Photo: Thomas Nilsen

“The spirits do not forgive this,” Zakharova said in a post on Telegram, pointing to the old Saami legend about Mayandash, an ancestor to the herders who was a reindeer shapeshifter.

“The Norwegian neoliberal and animal haters from veterinary authorities wanted to spit on the feelings of the Saami and their mythology,” she continued.

Being one of the highest-ranking officials in the Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Zakharova is a well-known purveyor of Russia’s disinformation and propaganda. Norway is among her favorite countries to verbally lash out against at the ministry’s weekly briefing of lies.

Problems with reindeer ‘illegally’ crossing into Russia in the northern borderland seeking better pastures is nothing new. This year, though, the animals made worldwide headlines as the Pasvik Zapovednik (nature reserve) demanded 47 million kroner (€5,2 million) in compensation from Norway for the “significant damage” caused by the deer.

That is more than €100,000 for each of the 42 reindeer that since December last year walked over the border.

This week, the Norwegian Agriculture Agency said 40 of the animals were brought back, but all were slaughtered after an order by the Food Safety Authority. Norway has a general ban on import of animals from countries subject to restrictions due to serious contagious diseases.

“They were executed, … Real zoocide,” Maria Zakharova said and rhetorically asked where are the “vaunted animal rights activists? … Greenpeace, WWF?”

The same two organizations were this summer listed as undesirable in Russia and are shutting down activities.

“For the indigenous inhabitants of Norway, the small northern Saami people, what happened is blasphemy and sacrilege,” Moscow’s spokeswoman continued.

Violation of Saami rights is similarly highlighted by the Russian Foreign Ministry in its annual report on problems with human rights in Norway.

Disrespectful of Zakharova

Andrei Danilov left Russia soon after the war on Ukraine started in February. He now lives in Northern Norway awaiting asylum decision. Photo: Thomas Nilsen

Andrei Danilov, himself a Saami from the Kola Peninsula who last year fled Russia for safety concerns, puts Maria Zakharova’s accusations into context and says her words are “disrespectful” and “lies.”

“Maria, your regime is destroying the Saami people in Russia. There are fewer reindeer in the Murmansk region today than after the Second World War. There are almost no Saami reindeer herders left,” Danilov says to the Barents Observer.

“The Saami are not allowed to engage in traditional activities in Russia’s Murmansk region,” he adds.

Cultural cornerstone

In Norway, reindeer husbandry is of great importance for Saami communities; for economy, culture, and employment. More than 3,000 people are active in reindeer husbandry, the majority of them in Finnmark, Norway’s northernmost region bordering Russia to the east.

Photo: Thomas Nilsen

The number of reindeer varies from year to year. Of the about 214,000 in 2020, some 50,000 were slaughtered.

Meanwhile, Norway is currently in full swing with rebuilding a reindeer fence along parts of its border with Russia to stop animals of creating more tensions with both the neighboring Pasvik Nature Reserve and propaganda trolls in Moscow.

To be completed before the winter, a stretch of seven kilometers of the most exposed grazing land will be reinforced, the Agriculture Agency informs.

Less visa freedom for reindeer to Russia when the new reinforced barrier on the Norwegian side is completed later this fall. Photo: HT Gjerde Finnmark

The two remaining Norwegian reindeer still on the Russian side of the border have the full attention of Maria Zakharova:

“If anyone sees two surviving deer, I suggest not to return them to the evildoers in Norway. Nothing good awaits them there.”

---

Located in Kirkenes, Norway, just a few kilometres from the borders to Russia and Finland, the Barents Observer is dedicated to cross-border journalism in Scandinavia, Russia and the wider Arctic.

As a non-profit stock company that is fully owned by its reporters, its editorial decisions are free of regional, national or private-sector influence. It has been a partner to ABJ and its predecessors since 2016.

You can read the original here. 

 

Saudi Arabia: 'ludicrous' death sentence against retired teacher for tweets must be quashed

Mohammad al-Ghamdi was convicted and sentenced to death on 9 July © Private

Mohammad bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, 54, was accused of ‘using his accounts on Twitter and YouTube to follow and promote individuals who seek to destabilise public order’

Al-Ghamdi’s brother, resident in the UK, believes sentence is ‘retaliation’ against him for his political opposition to Saudi government

‘No amount of money can whitewash just how repressive the country has become’ - Philip Luther 

The Saudi Arabian authorities must quash a “ludicrous” death sentence against 54-year-old retired teacher Mohammad bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, who has been convicted by the country’s notorious Specialised Criminal Court solely for his peaceful activity on Twitter and YouTube.

Al-Ghamdi was convicted and sentenced to death on 9 July, and his brother - Dr Saeed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, an Islamic scholar and government critic living in self-imposed exile in the UK - believes the death sentence is an act of reprisal against him by the Saudi authorities for his political activism while based in the UK.

Dr Saeed al-Ghamdi told Amnesty: 

“The Saudi authorities asked me several times to return to Saudi Arabia, but I refused to do so. It is very probable that this death sentence against my brother is in retaliation for my activity. Otherwise, his charges wouldn’t have carried such a severe penalty.”

Dr Saeed also said that, during questioning, that interrogators asked his brother about his political opinions and his views on other detained Saudi nationals, including religious clerics Salman al-Awda and Awad al-Qarni, both of whom were detained in 2017 and face the death penalty for their political views.  

Amnesty has reviewed the charge sheet against al-Ghamdi, which shows he was convicted under articles 30, 34, 43 and 44 of the country’s counterterrorism law. His purported offences include “renouncing allegiance to the guardians of the state”, “supporting a terrorist ideology and a terrorist entity (the Muslim Brotherhood)”, “using his accounts on Twitter and YouTube to follow and promote individuals who seek to destabilise public order”, and “sympathising with individuals detained on terrorism-related charges”. The charges specifically cite several of al-Ghamdi’s tweets, including posts criticising the Saudi king, the crown prince and the country’s foreign policy. He also called for the release of jailed religious clerics and complained of increased prices. He was not accused of any violent crimes. 

According to Dr Saeed, his brother was originally arrested on 11 June 2022 by state security forces as he sat with his wife and children in front of their house in the al-Nawwariyyah district in Mecca. Al-Ghamdi was kept in solitary confinement in Dhahban prison near Jeddah for four months, during which he was not allowed to contact his family or a lawyer. According to Dr Saeed, al-Ghamdi was only allowed contact his family when he was moved to al-Ha’ir prison in Riyadh, more than four months after his arrest. 

Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Director, said:

“The death sentence against Mohammad bin Nasser al-Ghamdi - who has a total of just ten followers on both of his anonymous Twitter accounts and is accused of nothing other than expressing his opinions on social media - is ludicrous.

“The sentence appears to be a vindictive punishment designed not only to target him, but also to act as a reprisal for the actions of at least one other family member who has been more politically outspoken.

“The Saudi authorities have spent billions of dollars trying to rehabilitate their image, but no amount of money can whitewash just how repressive the country has become.”

Escalating crackdown under Mohammed bin Salman

Over the past two years, Amnesty has documented an escalating crackdown in Saudi Arabia against people using the internet to voice their opinions. Last year alone, Amnesty documented the cases of 15 people sentenced to terms of imprisonment of between ten and 45 years for their peaceful online activities, including the longest jail sentence believed to have ever been imposed on a Saudi woman for peaceful online expression. In many of these cases, the Specialised Criminal Court has used vague provisions under the anti-cybercrime and counterterrorism laws which equate peaceful expression and online activity with “terrorism”. 

Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s top executioners. In 2022, it executed 196 people, the highest annual number of executions that Amnesty has recorded in the country during the past 30 years. This was three times higher than the number of executions in 2021 and at least seven times higher than in 2020. 

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

AUGUST 31,2023 

French data watchdog probes Worldcoin’s Paris hub

ChatGPT founder Sam Altman’s crypto project is under scrutiny for collecting users’ biometric data.

Part of Worldcoin's notoriety stems from the company's co-founder being Sam Altman

 | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

BY OCÉANE HERRERO
AUGUST 31, 2023

PARIS — France's data regulator CNIL swooped by Worldcoin offices in Paris unannounced on Wednesday to quiz a top executive, amid growing scrutiny over the cryptocurrency project's privacy practices.

The watchdog delegation arrived unexpectedly at Worldcoin's Orb center, where the company scans people's eyeballs in order for them to access its crypto services, two employees told POLITICO at the scene.

Representatives of the regulator met with the company's manager overseeing its French operations. Paris' Orb center is just one of many such hubs that Worldcoin has set up across Europe, including Germany, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.

CNIL has expressed deep concerns over the crypto startup, telling Reuters in July that the "legality of this collection [of data] seems questionable, as do the storage conditions of biometric data."

The regulator has yet to comment on Wednesday's visit, located in a coworking place in Paris' 3rd arrondissement.

Part of Worldcoin's notoriety stems from the company's co-founder being Sam Altman, the boss of OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed company that last year took the tech world by storm by launching its artificial intelligence chatbot, called ChatGPT.

CNIL is currently working with the Bavarian Data Protection Authority, which has been investigating Worldcoin's privacy practices for several months.

With Worldcoin's EU headquarters based in Erlangen in Bavaria, the German watchdog is leading a European-wide probe into whether the crypto project complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Under the GDPR, the processing of biometrics is forbidden except under several conditions, such as free and explicit consent.

Altman has partnered up with Alex Blania, who will lead the technology company behind the Worldcoin project, called Tools for Humanity. Anyone who wants to use Worldcoin's platform and digital wallet will have to peer into so-called Orbs and have their irises photographed.

The goal is to ensure that only humans, not robots, can use Worldcoin's technology and the unique structure of an eye is the best way to do that, according to the company. Some 1,500 eye-scanning Orbs have been shipped out across the world.

Clothilde Goujard and Bjarke Smith-Meyer contributed reporting from Brussels.

END THE WAR ON DRUGS

Belgium's deputy prime minister supports cannabis legalization

'We must end the hypocrisy,' as other crimes have a far greater negative impact on societal life, says

 Pierre-Yves Dermagne
Nur Asena Erturk |31.08.2023 - 


ANKARA

Belgium's deputy prime minister has advocated the legalization of cannabis in the country, Belgian media reported on Thursday.

"We must end the hypocrisy," Pierre-Yves Dermagne told the daily L'Avenir in an interview, as reported by the broadcaster RTBF.

"We must consider legalizing cannabis in Belgium," he said, adding that it is no longer worthwhile to “peruse, arrest, and imprison” people involved in cannabis consumption or sales.

Dermagne also mentioned that three of Belgium's four neighbors have either decriminalized cannabis or look forward to legalizing its consumption and sale.

"There is no point in using state resources to combat cannabis," the deputy prime minister remarked, adding that "there are types of crimes that are far more serious and have a far greater impact on societal life."

He added that the state should consider organizing and controlling cannabis production, as well as selling and generating income from it.

The German government took a step toward legalizing the possession and cultivation of cannabis for personal use.

​​​​​​​The controversial bill requires parliamentary approval to become a law, and it is expected to be discussed at the Bundestag after the summer recess.

Personal use of cannabis is legal in the Netherlands, and cultivation and consumption are also decriminalized in Luxembourg under precise circumstances.

IAEA Director General Grossi Sees “Impressive” Work in Sweden to Store Spent Nuclear Fuel Deep Underground

Fredrik Dahl, IAEA Office of Public Information and Communication

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi descended deep underground in coastal Sweden this week to study the Nordic nation’s advanced preparations to store its spent nuclear fuel safely and securely for many thousands of years, saying they demonstrated the availability of technical solutions for managing such used radioactive material at a time of growing global interest in nuclear energy.

On the third day and final day of his official visit to Sweden, Director General Grossi travelled to the country’s south-east yesterday to visit the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory 500 metres below ground, located on an island north of the town of Oskarshamn and near one of its nuclear power plants. Sweden has six reactors generating nearly a third of its electricity but is planning to build more.

At the laboratory, the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) has for decades been carrying out cutting-edge geological research in realistic conditions for the planned construction – at the Forsmark site further north – of a final repository for thousands of tonnes of spent fuel generated by Sweden’s nuclear industry over the past half century.

The Swedish government has approved the plan and SKB – owned by the nuclear plant operators – aims for the facility to be operational in the 2030s. In neighbouring Finland, the nuclear fuel repository at Onkalo is expected begin operating in the next few years. Both will use the KBS-3 method largely developed at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory and the nearby Canister Laboratory, which Director General Grossi also visited yesterday.

The method is based on three protective barriers: copper canisters, bentonite clay and bedrock. Once the final repository stands ready, the spent fuel – currently stored in an interim facility in Oskarshamn – will be encapsulated in copper canisters and transported by sea to Forsmark, where they will be placed in tunnels half a kilometre underground.

“More countries around the world are planning to introduce nuclear power or – like Sweden – expand existing programmes to fight climate change and ensure energy security. In this context, it is very important that people know that the spent fuel and radioactive waste the nuclear sector is generating is managed in a sustainable and responsible way,” Director General Grossi said.

“Countries like Sweden and Finland – with decades of nuclear power experience – are leading the way on how to do it, also ensuring that the local communities hosting the sites are engaged, informed and in favour of these important projects,” Director General Grossi said.

Opinion polls cited by SKB show that a large majority in the municipalities that will host the final repository and the associated encapsulation plant support the construction of these facilities.

“Few industries are investing as much time and resources in taking care of its waste as the nuclear sector. Engaging with local stakeholders is key in this context. Without local backing, it would be very difficult to pursue the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel. Sweden is showing it is possible to gain the confidence of the local communities, which is very important,” he said.

Director General Grossi said the work carried out at the two laboratories was a “magnet” for international interest and indicated that the IAEA would step up its cooperation with the facilities so that other countries could benefit from their expertise and experience.

“I’m very impressed and encouraged by what I saw here,” he said.

Rishi Sunak faces Tory party split over withdrawal from ECHR

 European Convention on Human Rights 

Amy Gibbons
Sat, 2 September 2023 

Rishi Sunak could face pressure from up to a third of his Cabinet to put an ECHR exit at the heart of the Tory election campaign - Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Europe

Rishi Sunak is facing a major Tory split over the UK’s membership of Europe’s human rights pact as centrist MPs warned that quitting would be a “historic mistake”.

The Tory Reform Group (TRG), whose patrons include ministers Tom Tugendhat and Victoria Atkins, urged the Prime Minister not to withdraw nor derogate from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) for the sake of the Government’s flagship Rwanda policy.

The One Nation Conservatives set out their stall on the heated debate amid mounting pressure on Mr Sunak from the Right of the party to quit the international treaty.

It means the Prime Minister risks being burned by his own MPs whatever decision he makes on the UK’s membership, having so far resisted calls to leave the convention.

It is understood Mr Sunak will face pressure from up to a third of his Cabinet – including Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary – to put an ECHR exit at the heart of the Tory election campaign if migrant deportation flights to Rwanda are ultimately blocked by the courts.

But the TRG, a centre-Right Conservative faction dating back nearly 50 years, warned such a move would damage the Northern Ireland peace process, the UK’s ability to bring criminals to justice, its relations with democratic allies, and the Tory party’s own reputation.
Government has ‘range of options’

The Rwanda scheme – whereby migrants arriving illegally on UK shores would be sent to the central African state – is a major plank of Mr Sunak’s campaign to stop the boats, one of his five key pledges to the nation.

But flights have been suspended since June 2022, when a single judge from the European Court of Human Rights, which rules on the ECHR, issued an 11th-hour injunction halting the first deportation.

At least eight Cabinet ministers, along with other senior Tories, are prepared to back Britain’s withdrawal from the European pact if its membership prevents it from protecting its borders against illegal migration.

But the TRG insisted the Government has a “range of options” to tackle Channel crossings besides quitting the ECHR, including rewriting the Rwanda agreement, seeking similar deals with safer countries and introducing digital ID for work and benefits.

It also warned that polling suggests pledging to leave the convention would make voters less likely to side with the Tories, by a margin of 41 per cent to 26 per cent.

The group stressed that the European court rarely finds against the UK, while a number of “positive changes” to British law have been made following cases there, including decriminalisation of homosexuality in Northern Ireland.
Leaving would be a ‘profound mistake’

The ECHR came into force in 1953. It affects the 46 states in the Council of Europe but is not a European Union convention, so the UK’s adherence to its principles was not affected by Brexit.

Mrs Braverman has publicly backed leaving the pact, while others in the Cabinet have been privately voicing support.

Nearly 70 Tory MPs, many from Red Wall seats, backed quitting the ECHR in a vote on a Private Member’s Bill last year. More MPs beyond pro-Brexit backbench groups, such as the new Conservatives, are likely to come under pressure from grassroots Tories to support an exit in the run-up to the election.

But according to the TRG, leaving would be a “profound mistake”, damaging the UK’s interests on the international stage.

In a policy paper shared with The Telegraph, the group said leaving the pact would put Britain alongside Belarus and Russia, who are also non ECHR members.

As well as Mr Tugendhat and Ms Atkins, the group’s patrons include ministers Guy Opperman, Rachel Maclean and Johnny Mercer and John Major, the former prime minister.

Half of Britons too worried about cost of living to consider climate change

THE OTHER HALF ARE WORRIED ABOUT THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THEIR FAMILIES

Amy Gibbons

THE TORY TELEGRAPH
Sat, 2 September 2023 

Woman in milk aisle

More than half of British people are too concerned about the cost of living to worry about climate change, a new poll suggests.

An Ipsos UK survey found 52 per cent of Britons are too consumed by sky-high living costs to consider the environment, while 51 per cent would like to do more to help but cannot afford to.

It comes as Rishi Sunak is under pressure to mitigate the impact of the Government’s net zero drive on households already hit hard by the cost of living crisis.

Tory MP Craig Mackinlay, head of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group, said the results suggest the British public is turning “lukewarm” on the 2050 climate target.

The UK is legally obliged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 100 per cent over the next 27 years, an objective signed into law by Theresa May.
Nearly half avoid harming environment

The Prime Minister has committed to making the transition in a “proportionate and pragmatic” manner, but recently ruled out a referendum on the plans – despite calls from his party to give the public a vote.

The survey, carried out in the first week of August and shared exclusively with The Telegraph, asked 1,000 British adults about their views on energy conservation.

While a majority said they were too worried about living costs to think about the impacts of the climate crisis, nearly half (45 per cent) said they try to avoid lifestyle changes that harm the environment when they are saving money.

Less than a third (29 per cent) said they found that eco-friendly lifestyle choices were often cheaper, with nearly one in four (37 per cent) disagreeing.

A majority (55 per cent) also believe Mr Sunak’s commitment to granting new oil and gas licences in the North Sea will help reduce Britain’s dependency on other nations for energy, while nearly half (47 per cent) think it will boost the economy.

The findings will be food for thought for Claire Coutinho, the new Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary, who replaced Grant Shapps in the role when he was made Defence Secretary on Thursday.

‘Nonsensical rabbit hole’

Mr Mackinlay said: “I am not at all surprised that polling shows the British public, now facing the reality of net zero costs, becoming lukewarm to the project.

“They are feeling the increased cost in their energy bills and being told that a variety of reliable items from cars to heating systems are to be banned in favour of untried, unreliable and hideously expensive technologies they do not want.

“All the while they look abroad and see that few others are following the UK down this nonsensical rabbit hole. It’s little wonder the public are asking ‘why’?”

Rachel Brisley, head of energy and environment at Ipsos UK, said the research “starkly illustrates the reality of balancing the energy trilemma of security, affordability and sustainability”.

“The cost of living crisis remains top of mind for the British public, impacting their ability to take action to reduce climate change even though most would like to do more,” she said.

“Incentives like making public transport easier to use are more popular than penalties such as making it more expensive to drive.

“And the importance of energy security is highlighted by more than half of Britons thinking new oil and gas licences will help reduce our dependence on other countries for energy.

“Balancing these concerns will continue to be a challenge for policymakers as well as the public as we transition towards net zero.”
‘The UK is a world leader’

A Government spokesman said: “We know families are concerned about the cost of living and we provided nearly £40 billion to cover around half a typical household’s energy bill last winter.

“Energy prices have fallen significantly since last autumn and we’re making sure the Energy Price Guarantee remains in place as a safety net through to April 2024.

“The UK is a world leader on net zero and we are progressing our commitments in a proportionate and pragmatic way – listening to businesses and consumers to protect families, bring down energy bills and grow the economy.”

Chernobyl: Scientists solve mystery of why wild boars are more radioactive than other animals

FERAL PIGS ARE A PROBLEM 

WORSE IF THEY ARE GLOWING

Lottie Limb
Sat, 2 September 2023 

Chernobyl: Scientists solve mystery of why wild boars are more radioactive than other animals

The 1986 Chernobyl disaster forever changed the face of the forest in Central Europe.

Pine trees died and turned russet from the radiation - coining the new name of ‘Red Forest’ for the area where saplings regrew. Plants crept into abandoned buildings in the Exclusion Zone, creating eery images now embedded in humanity’s collective psyche.

Animals joined the resurgence: boar, elk, and roe deer populations have boomed in the decades since the disaster, as well as rarer species of lynx, bison and wolves.

But while we’re all aware of the startling visuals that have emerged from the region in Ukraine, far less is known about the inner life of this world, shot through with radioactivity.

Scientists are still largely in the dark about how healthy Chernboyl’s animals are. And one paradox in particular has puzzled them for years: why are the wild boars still so much more radioactive than other species like deer?

Now, more precise measurements have enabled researchers at the Vienna University of Technology and the Leibniz University of Hannover to solve this “riddle”.

In a new paper published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, they explain that it has to do with nuclear weapons tests that predate the disaster - and the pigs’ penchant for a certain truffle.

Radioactivity in wild boars has remained surprisingly high

After the accident, people were discouraged from eating local mushrooms and the meat of wild animals because of high radioactive contamination.

The contamination of deer and roe deer decreased over time as expected. But the measured levels of radioactivity in wild boar meat stayed surprisingly high, SciDaily reports.

To this day, some samples of wild boar meat - from populations that have spread across the region - still contain radiation levels significantly over regulatory limits.

Cesium-137 is the key radioactive isotope measured in these samples. It has a half-life of around 30 years - meaning that after 30 years, half of the material has decayed by itself.

Radiation exposure to food typically declines faster, since the cesium has travelled far since Chernobyl - washed out by rainwater, or driven down into the soil, so it stops being absorbed by plants and animals in the same initial quantities.

So after one half-life, most food samples exhibit much less than half the original concentration.

In Bavarian boar flesh however, radiation levels have remained almost constant after nearly 40 years - seemingly breaking the laws of physics.

A green oasis: How Nairobi’s world-only national park benefits lions, giraffes and people

Why do wild boars have high radioactivity?

Wild pigs feed in a snow covered field near the village of Lovchitsy, 65 kilometres northwest of Minsk, Belarus. - Sergei Grits/AP

To help solve this mystery, a team led by Professor Georg Steinhauser at TU Wien decided to decipher the origin as well as the amount of radioactivity in boars.

"This is possible because different sources of radioactive isotopes have different physical fingerprints," explains Dr Bin Feng, who conducts his research at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry at Leibniz Universität Hannover and the TRIGA Center Atominstitut at TU Wien.

"For example, they do not only release cesium-137, but also cesium-135, a cesium isotope with a much longer half-life."

The ratio of these two types of cesium varies depending on the nuclear event. A breakthrough in measuring cesium-135 (much harder to pin down) helped the researchers see that the boars bore the marks of a different period: nuclear weapons tests of the 1960s.

The results showed that while a total of about 90 per cent of the cesium-137 in Central Europe comes from Chernobyl, the proportion in the wild boar samples is much lower. Instead, a large proportion of the cesium in wild boar meat tracks back to nuclear weapons testing - up to 68 per cent in some samples.

But again, the question is why?

Here are all the positive environmental stories from 2023 so far

Chernobyl’s tree frogs: The inside story on how a cunning species survived radiation
Deer truffles are at the root of it

As the old adage goes, you are what you eat. The researchers have linked the prevalence of nuclear weapons testing era radiation in the boars to their diet.

The animals are particularly keen on deer truffles - underground growing mushrooms that they dig up. And the radioactive cesium accumulates in these subterranean mushrooms with a long time delay.

The cesium migrates downwards through the soil very slowly, sometimes only about one millimetre per year.

"The cesium migrates downwards through the soil very slowly, sometimes only about one millimetre per year," Georg Steinhauser to SciDaily.

Deer truffles, which are found at depths of 20-40 centimetres, are therefore only now absorbing the cesium that was released in Chernobyl. The cesium from "old" nuclear weapons tests, on the other hand, already arrived there some time ago.

The mushrooms - which are likened to marzipan balls rolled in cinnamon - have had a double hit of cesium, which is also decaying over time.

"If you add up all these effects, it can be explained why the radioactivity of deer truffles - and subsequently of pigs - remains relatively constant over the years," says Steinhauser.

"Our work shows how complicated the interrelationships in natural ecosystems can be," he adds, "but also precisely that the answers to such riddles can be found if your measurements are sufficiently accurate."

Given these factors, the contamination of wild boar meat is not expected to drop significantly in the next few years.

That could be bad news for farmers. Wild boars are less hunted in some areas - possibly because their ongoing radioactivity makes them less appealing. And their overpopulation often causes damage to agriculture and forestry.

The middle   WORKING class is getting its spending power back — but progress is 'fragile'

Gabriella Cruz-Martinez
·Personal finance writer
Sat, September 2, 2023 

America’s middle class is getting its spending power back after a year and a half of decades-high inflation.

But it still lags behind the levels from before the pandemic.

A new household budget index from Primerica, a financial services company, found that the purchasing power of middle-income households — defined as those earning between $30,000 and $130,000 a year — increased to 97.5% in July, up from 97% the month prior.

The improvement, however, is still below the index's baseline of 100% that occurred in January 2019. Any reading under that threshold shows consumers' spending power is at a deficit.

The modest uptick comes after credit card debt surpassed $1 trillion for the first time last month and a string of recent data showed that more consumers are having trouble paying their debts on time.

Read more: Personal loan vs. credit cards: What to use for an emergency?

"We’re seeing some climbing out of the deepest of the difficulties after the pandemic. We’ve seen inflation slowed down, and we’ve seen earned incomes begin to increase. Both are positives compared to the way things were previously," Primerica CEO Glenn Williams told Yahoo Finance. "I think the important thing to realize is that while things are not getting as bad as fast as they were, they’re still not necessarily getting good."

Eva Cevallos with her 11-month-old daughter, Quinn, pays with a credit card, as she shops at the Walmart Supercenter store in Rosemead, Calif. (Damian Dovarganes, AP Photo)
'Families have been underwater for 44 months'

Inflation has been dragging middle-income households underwater for over a year, according to Primerica’s data.

American’s spending power dipped to a low point of 85.6% in June 2022, the survey showed, down from its high of 102.8% in November 2020. The decline represented six years of gains in purchasing power lost in 18 months, Williams said.

That sharp decline in June of last year coincided with consumer prices increasing 9.1%, the largest 12-month increase since November 1981. Though inflation has cooled since then, households have yet to fully recover from the blow.

"The index is not yet back to 100. And when you get to 100, it simply means that the families have enough earned income in that month to cover their expenses," Williams said. "They didn't make up for the lost ground."

According to Primerica’s data, in the 55-month period the index covers going back to 2019, middle-income households have been at a spending deficit for roughly 44 of those months.

"For 44 of those months, families have been underwater, which means they didn't have enough earned income to cover their expenses," Williams said. "That spending comes either through withdrawal of savings or using credit."

'The success we’re beginning to see is extraordinarily fragile'

While household finances have made some progress, those gains may not last long.

Credit card balances hit $1.03 trillion, up 4.6% from the previous year, the Federal Reserve of New York revealed earlier this month. Similarly, the Federal Reserve of St. Louis reported outstanding credit balances had surpassed $1 trillion. Both indicators were record highs.

A separate study found that 51% of credit card borrowers couldn’t pay off their entire balance each month and let debt roll over from one month to the next, accruing interest. That was the first time that the share of Americans revolving their debt was higher than those paying off their bills on time, J.D. Power researchers noted.

And Macy’s said last month its second quarter credit card sales were down 36%, with the retailer writing off many of the ballooning balances of consumers unable to pay their bills.

"I think the success that we're beginning to see is extraordinarily fragile. And I think that the credit card balances that we're seeing today at record levels are directly connected to those months of those families being underwater for the last 44 months," Williams said. "And using credit cards to bridge the gap each month because their income was not keeping up with inflation."


Interest rates on credit cards have surged to record highs following the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame inflation. The average rate on a credit card is now above 20%, according to Bankrate, matching 38-year highs.

For folks with revolving credit debt, accruing interest can add up fast. For instance, if you have a credit card with an APR of 20.60% and want to pay off $3,000 in debt within 24 months, you’ll pay $153 monthly. Over that time, you’ll accrue roughly $685 in interest. That’s cash you could be using for other expenses.

Worsening the financial circumstances for many younger Americans is the end of federal student forbearance come October. According to Experian, the average student loan borrower will have to make a payment of $203 once payments resume.

"So you've got challenges from the past, which I think are directly related to the credit card balances and then you do have the other potential challenges of the future. The one that's staring so many families in the face right now is the beginning of loan payments and student loan payments," Williams said.

"There's still a tremendous amount of progress that needs to be made for these families to be out of harm's way."

Gabriella is a personal finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @__gabriellacruz.

THERE IS NO MIDDLE CLASS , NOR CONSUMER CLASS,  ITS A FALSE LABELING OF THE POST WWII WORKING CLASS. LIKE SO CALLED COLOR OF YOUR COLLAR WHITE, BLUE, PINK. OR THE SO CALLED COLOUR OF THE WORKING CLASS; WHITE.

Robust tropical disturbance near Africa is on track to be the next storm to watch

Bryan Norcross
Sat, September 2, 2023 

Updated Saturday 9 a.m. ET 

The Tropical Disturbance that moved off Africa yesterday already has a broad circulation with bands of tropical moisture around the system. As it tracks to the west over the warm tropical Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center and the various computer forecasts indicate the system is likely to develop into a tropical depression or tropical storm over the next several days.

The name will be Tropical Storm Lee, if another system somewhere in the ocean doesn’t pop up. But none is expected

Tropical Disturbance to Watch

The disturbance has lots of runway to organize into a mature tropical storm or hurricane on its track to the general vicinity of the northeastern Caribbean islands next week. On the current schedule, the system would reach the islands or the waters north of them about next Saturday.

It’s far too early to speculate whether potential-Lee will impact the islands or the U.S. The final track will likely be dependent on how strong the system gets and on what timetable, which can’t be known except in a general sense. The disturbance is expected to organize and intensify, but whether that happens early or late in the week is an open question.

For now, this is just a system to watch, especially later next week.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic, Ex-Idalia is producing tropical-storm-force winds over 50 mph on Bermuda. The system is skirting by to the south and east. Conditions on the island will improve later today.

Tropical Storms Gert and Katia are expected to be short-lived, dying over the open ocean.

Otherwise, more systems over Africa will follow today’s Tropical Disturbance off the continent, but nothing is imminent that is of interest.