FREE PALETINE!

Palestinians facing eviction by Israel vow to stay on land


















1 / 18

Palestinian Issa Abu Eram takes his flock of sheep out for the afternoon graze, in the West Bank Beduin community of Jinba, Masafer Yatta, Friday, May 6, 2022. Israel's Supreme Court has upheld a long-standing expulsion order against eight Palestinian hamlets in the occupied West Bank, potentially leaving at least 1,000 people homeless.

(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

IMAD ISSEID
Fri, May 6, 2022,

JINBA, West Bank (AP) — Everything here is makeshift, a result of decades of uncertainty. Homes are made from tin and plastic sheets, water is trucked in and power is obtained from batteries or a few solar panels.

The lives of thousands of Palestinians in a cluster of Bedouin communities in the southern West Bank have been on hold for more than four decades, ever since the land they cultivated and lived on was declared a military firing and training zone by Israel.

Since that decision in early 1981, residents of the Masafer Yatta region have weathered demolitions, property seizures, restrictions, disruptions of food and water supplies as well as the lingering threat of expulsion.

That threat grew significantly this week after Israel’s Supreme Court upheld a long-standing expulsion order against eight of the 12 Palestinian hamlets forming Masafer Yatta — potentially leaving at least 1,000 people homeless.

On Friday, some residents said they are determined to stay on the land.

The verdict came after a more than two-decade-long legal struggle by Palestinians to remain in their homes. Israel has argued that the residents only use the area for seasonal agriculture and that they had been offered a compromise that would have given them occasional access to the land.

The Palestinians say that if implemented, the ruling opens the way for the eviction of all the 12 communities that have a population of 4,000 people, mostly Bedouins who rely on animal herding and a traditional form of desert agriculture.

The residents of Jinba, one of the hamlets, said Friday that they have opposed any compromise because they have lived in the area long before Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war.

Issa Abu Eram was born in a cave in the rugged mountainous terrain 48 years ago and has endured a tough life because building is banned here.

In the winter, he and his family members live in a cave. In the summer, they stay in caravans near the cave. His goats are a source of income, and on Friday, he had laid out dozens of balls of hardened goat milk yogurt on the roof of a shack to dry.

He said his children grew up with the threat of expulsion hanging over them. They are attending a makeshift school in Jinba, with the oldest son now in 12th grade.

“He did not live in any other place except Jinba. How are you going to convince him ... to live somewhere else?” he said.

The Palestinian leadership on Friday condemned the Israeli Supreme Court ruling, which was handed down on Wednesday — when most of Israel was shut down for the country's Independence Day.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, said the removal order “amounts to forced displacement and ethnic cleansing, in violation of international law and relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions.”

Also on Friday, Israel's interior minister said Israel is set to advance plans for the construction of 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank. If approved, it would be the biggest advancement of settlement plans since the Biden administration took office.

The White House is opposed to settlement growth because it further erodes the possibility of an eventual two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The West Bank has been under Israeli military rule for nearly 55 years. Masafer Yatta is in the 60% of the territory where the Palestinian Authority is prohibited from operating. The Palestinians want the West Bank to form the main part of their future state.

Jewish settlers have established outposts in the area that are not officially authorized by Israel but are protected by the military. Last fall, dozens of settlers attacked a village in the area, and a 4-year-old boy was hospitalized after being struck in the head with a stone.

For now, the families say they have only one choice left: to stay and stick to their land.

“I don’t have an alternative and they cannot remove me,” said farmer Khalid al-Jabarin, standing outside a goat shed. “The entire government of Israel can’t remove me. We will not leave ... we will not get out of here because we are the inhabitants of the land.”

Referring to West Bank settlers who came from other countries, he said: "Why would they bring a replacement from South Africa to live in the high mountains, in our land, and replace us, and remove us, why? “

___

Associated Press writer Fares Akram in Hamilton, Canada, contributed to this report.

ILLEGAL ZIONIST OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE

Israeli minister touts plans to approve 4,000 settler homes


APARTHEID SETTLEMENT

A general view shows the West Bank Jewish settlement of Efrat, Thursday, March 10, 2022. Israel is set to advance plans for the construction of 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank, the interior minister said Friday, May 6. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)


AREEJ HAZBOUN
Fri, May 6, 2022

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is set to advance plans for the construction of 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank, the interior minister said Friday, drawing warnings of “serious consequences” from the Palestinian Authority.

If approved, it would be the biggest advancement of settlement plans since the Biden administration took office. The White House is opposed to settlement growth because it further erodes the possibility of an eventual two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, a staunch supporter of settlements, tweeted that a planning committee would convene next week to approve 4,000 homes, calling construction in the West Bank a “basic, required and obvious thing.”

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the planned approvals would have “serious consequences on the ground” in an already tense West Bank. He did not say what those consequences might be, and the Palestinian Authority has no way of halting settlement building or any other Israeli measures.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported that the Civil Administration, a military body, would meet Thursday to advance 1,452 units, and that another 2,536 units would be approved by Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

The Defense Ministry referred questions to COGAT, the military body in charge of civilian affairs in the occupied West Bank. COGAT did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter told reporters that the Biden administration has been clear on West Bank settlement expansion from the outset.

“We strongly oppose the expansion of settlements which exacerbates tensions and undermines trust between the parties," she said. “Israel’s program of expanding settlements deeply damages the prospects for a two-state solution.”

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and has built more than 130 settlements across the territory that are home to nearly 500,000 settlers. Nearly 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank under Israeli military rule.

Earlier this week, Israel's Supreme Court upheld an expulsion order that would force at least 1,000 Palestinians out of an arid region in the southern West Bank where they say they have been living for decades. The military declared the area a firing zone in the early 1980s.

The Palestinians want the West Bank to form the main part of their future state. They view the expansion of settlements as a major obstacle to any future peace deal because they reduce and divide up the land on which such a state would be established. Most of the international community views the settlements as illegal.

“All of these Israeli measures of demolition, eviction and settlement fall within the framework of the apartheid regime that the occupation applies to the Palestinians and their lands amid international silence,” said Abu Rdeneh, Abbas' spokesman.

Israel's current government is split between parties that oppose and support settlements. As a compromise, it has ruled out any major peace initiative or any move to formally annex parts of the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a former leader of the main settler council, is opposed to Palestinian statehood.

Israel approved the construction of 3,000 settler homes in October despite a U.S. rebuke. Authorities have, however, paused some especially controversial projects in the wake of strong U.S. opposition.

Settlement construction can only be approved after a long bureaucratic process, and it was unclear how soon construction crews would be able to break ground on the 4,000 homes if they get a green light. The process also provides the opportunity for Israeli officials to pause or delay such projects.

___

Associated Press writers Fares Akram in Hamilton, Canada, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

New White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre's Partner Also Had A Job Change Today


Sabrina Talbert

Women's Health.
Fri, May 6, 2022, 

Photo credit: Sarah Silbiger - Getty Images

There's going to be a new face running press conferences at the White House. Karine Jean-Pierre, current deputy press secretary, will be taking over from current press secretary, Jen Psaki.

She is set to become the first Black, openly gay woman to hold the position.

Women's Health has everything to know about Karine Jean-Pierre and her family.

President Biden announced Thursday that Karine Jean-Pierre will be taking over as the newest White House press secretary, replacing Jen Psaki, who is expected to leave her position next week. This move makes Jean-Pierre the first Black and first openly gay person to hold the position. Jean-Pierre currently serves as White House principal deputy press secretary under Psaki.

During the press announcement, Psaki praised Jean-Pierre, calling her a “partner of truth,” adding that "representation matters, and she will give a voice to many, but also make many dream big about what is truly possible."

"I am still processing it because, as Jen said, at the top, this is a historic moment, and it’s not lost on me," Jean-Pierre said in response to Psaki's comments. "I understand how important it is for so many people out there. So many different communities that I stand on their shoulders. It is an honor and a privilege to be behind this podium,” per CNN.

Biden also released a statement of his own saying that Jean-Pierre “not only brings the experience, talent, and integrity needed for this difficult job, but she will continue to lead the way in communicating about the work of the Biden-Harris Administration on behalf of the American people."

She was born in Martinique.

Jean-Pierre was born in Fort-de-France, Martinique, a Caribbean island just north of Barbados and St. Lucia, according to Forbes. She later immigrated with her parents to Queens, New York, where she grew up. Jean-Pierre currently lives in Washington, D.C., with her partner Suzanne Malveaux and their daughter.

Jean-Pierre graduated from the New York Institute of Technology and Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, according to the New York Times.

Before joining the White House press team, Jean-Pierre was chief of staff to Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2020 campaign. She has been in the media world for a long time, serving as a political analyst on MSNBC and NBC, and also worked on Obama's re-election campaigns. Jean-Pierre was the national spokeswoman for MoveOn.org, a federal political committee, in 2016, per BBC News.

She also speaks three languages: English, Haitian Creole, and French.

Her partner is a news correspondent.

Suzanne Malveaux currently works as a CNN correspondent, covering national and international news as well as cultural events, per CNN. Before joining the news outlet in 2002, she worked for NBC in Chicago and D.C.

Malveaux has previously covered White House news throughout the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations.

But with Jean-Pierre's new role, her partner will stop covering politics to avoid a conflict of interest. "Suzanne Malveaux will continue in her role as CNN National Correspondent covering national/international news and cultural events but will not cover politics, Capitol Hill, or the White House while Karine Jean-Pierre is serving as White House Press Secretary," CNN spokesman Matt Dornic confirmed to Women's Health.

The couple has a daughter together.

Jean-Pierre and Malveaux have a daughter named Soleil Malveaux Jean-Pierre, whom the couple adopted. Soleil is reportedly about seven years old. And while Jean-Pierre and Malveaux both have social media accounts, they seem to prefer to keep family photos private and off their platforms, per Distractify.

CAPITAL FLEES

Boeing Exits Chicago as City Wrestles With Crime, Exodus



Steve Stroth and Julie Johnsson
Thu, May 5, 2022,

(Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co.’s decision to leave Chicago is the latest blow to a U.S. city that already has seen its once-mighty economy battered by Covid-19 and crime.

The planemaker said Thursday that it will shift its headquarters to Arlington, Virginia, from Chicago, a move that would put Boeing near federal government decision-makers in Washington.

Chicago, the nation’s third-most populous city, has seen a rise in crime that prompted its richest resident, Citadel founder Ken Griffin, to say he’s likely to move his $38 billion hedge fund elsewhere. Chicago’s Magnificent Mile and State Street shopping districts, along with many restaurants in the downtown Loop, have yet to recover from the pandemic. Even the National Football League’s Bears franchise is considering an exit to the suburbs.

“Boeing’s decision to leave Illinois is incredibly disappointing -- every level of government in our state has worked to make Chicago and Illinois the perfect home for Boeing’s headquarters for the past 20 years,” U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois said in a statement Thursday. “We are working together to ensure Boeing leadership both understands how harmful this move will be and does everything possible to protect Illinois’s workers and jobs.”

Chicago remains home for many big companies, including McDonald’s Corp., Aon Plc, Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., Conagra Brands Inc. and R.R. Donnelley & Co. But the city has had other recent departures. United Airlines Holdings Inc. said in December that it will move as many as 1,300 workers from its Willis Tower headquarters to Arlington Heights, a suburb about 30 miles (48 kilometers) away that also is being considered by the Chicago Bears.

Arlington is wealthier, with 2020 per-capita personal income of $100,823, or 169.4% of the national average, compared with Chicago’s Cook County at $69,935, or 117.5%, government data show. Since 2000, compounded annual growth for the Chicago metropolitan area was 2.9%, compared with 4.1% in the Washington, D.C., area.

A recurring complaint about Chicago is crime, which is up 35% so far this year compared to the same period in 2021. Though murders and shooting incidents are down, all other major categories of crime are up, including a 67% jump in thefts.

Boeing says the biggest chunk of its employees remain in Washington state -- more than 55,000 employees out of nearly 142,000. In 2018, the company estimated it had 729 employees in Illinois, where it spent $1 billion on suppliers and vendors, and donated $23.8 million to local charities that year. The company said Thursday it would “maintain a significant presence” in the city.

Boeing moved its headquarters from Seattle to a 36-story building along the Chicago River in 2001, choosing the city over Denver and Dallas as the company sought to expand beyond planemaking and to be more centrally located in the U.S.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot offered assurances that Chicago is a thriving economy that’s attracting new businesses with its diverse workforce and expansive infrastructure-network.

“Chicago is a world-class city and in the last year, 173 corporations relocated or expanded here, and 67 corporations have made that same decision since the start of 2022,” Lightfoot said in a statement on Thursday. “We have a robust pipeline of major corporate relocations and expansions, and we expect more announcements in the coming months.”

Lightfoot also announced that Bally’s Corp. will build a $1.7 billion casino and hotel complex that would generate 3,000 permanent jobs and hundreds of millions in tax revenue.

SOUTH AFRICA
World’s Biggest Hydrogen Trucks Start Work at Anglo American


Antony Sguazzin
Fri, May 6, 2022,

(Bloomberg) -- Anglo American Plc on Friday unveiled the world’s biggest green-hydrogen powered truck at a platinum mine in northeast South Africa where it aims to replace a fleet of 40 diesel-fueled vehicles that each use about a million liters of the fossil fuel a year.

The NuGen project at the Mogalakwena mine, owned by Anglo American subsidiary Anglo American Platinum Ltd., will use power from a 140 megawatt solar plant to supply hydrogen electrolyzers to split water and provide the trucks, which can carry up 315 tons of ore each, with hydrogen fuel. Engie SA has helped Anglo establish the system.

The project, expected to be fully implemented by 2026, is a first step in making eight of the company’s mines carbon neutral by 2030, according to Julian Soles, head of Technology Development, Mining & Sustainability at Anglo American. The company, which mines metals around the world ranging from iron ore and platinum to copper, has set a target of getting all of its operations to that status by 2040.

“People told us three years ago this is not going to happen, this is not a good idea. They are now beginning to take real notice,” Soles said at a presentation in the South African city of Polokwane. “The vision for us is to see this rolled out across our business and the mining industry. It’s Anglo’s choice whether to commercialize this.”

The mining company, which dominated South Africa’s economy for eight decades before moving its headquarters to London in 1999, initially approached a number of equipment manufacturers with the idea of building a hydrogen-powered truck fleet. When it was turned down it took the decision to convert its diesel fleet to use the clean fuel itself.

About “80% of our diesel consumption at our large mines is through the use of large trucks,” Soles said. “What we actually had to build was a full ecosystem. A solar photovoltaic site, an electrolyzer and a refueling system to create a zero emission haulage system.”

Anglo American’s haul truck fleet currently generates 10% to 15% of its so-called Scope 1 emissions, those generated directly from its own activities, Duncan Wanblad, Anglo American’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

The use of hydrogen doesn’t emit climate-warming gases while diesel does. And with water being split to create the fuel using energy from the sun, there are no carbon emissions from its manufacturing process either.

The trucks are equipped with fuel cells that include platinum in their components. Mogalakwena is the world’s biggest open-pit platinum group metals mine.

“It’s a smart step for Anglo American, but it’s a giant leap for South Africa’ s hydrogen economy,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a speech at the mine to launch the NuGen program. “The hydrogen economy is beckoning us.”

Anglo and its global mining peers are under increasing pressure to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and improve their environmental performance. The company last year spun off its South African thermal coal assets, while rivals such as Glencore Plc have pledged to reduce their emissions.

BLOOMBERG

Mexican president slams US on tour of Central America


Thu, May 5, 2022,

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador started a five-day tour to four Central American countries and Cuba on Thursday by lashing out at the U.S. government.

López Obrador criticized American officials sharply for being quick to send billions to Ukraine, while dragging their feet on development aid to Central America.

On his first stop in neighboring Guatemala, López Obrador demanded U.S. aid to stem the poverty and joblessness that sends tens of thousands of Guatemalans north to the U.S. border. The Mexican leader had been angered that the United States rebuffed his calls to help expand his tree-planting program to Central America.

“They are different things and they shouldn't be compared categorically, but they have already approved $30 billion for the war in Ukraine, while we have been waiting since President Donald Trump, asking they donate $4 billion, and as of today, nothing, absolutely nothing,” López Obrador said.

“Honestly, it seems inexplicable,” he added. “For our part, we are going to continue to respectfully insist on the need for the United States to collaborate.”

López Obrador's pet program, known as “Planting Life,” pays farmers a monthly wage to plant and care for fruit and lumber trees on their farms.

Mexico has asked the U.S. government to help fund the program, something that so far hasn’t happened. Mexico is also touting another program that apprentices young people to companies. Critics say both programs lack accountability.

Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard wrote in his social media accounts that meetings with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei and other officials focused on development, migration and strengthening bilateral ties.

Ebrard said Mexico was starting the tree program in the Guatemalan province of Chimaltenango.

It is only be the third overseas trip in more than three years for López Obrador, who is fond of saying that the best foreign policy is good domestic policy. The tour is an opportunity for Mexico to reassert itself as a leader in Latin America and will be welcomed by some leaders under pressure from the U.S. government and others for their alleged anti-democratic tendencies.

Both geographically and metaphorically, Mexico finds itself wedged between the United States and the rest of Latin America. López Obrador has deflected criticism dating to the Trump administration that his government is doing Washington’s dirty work in trying to stop migrants before they reach the U.S. border.

López Obrador will be received in Central America, in part, as an emissary of the United States when it comes to migration policy.

The U.S. government has been trying to build consensus ahead of the June Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles to cement a regional approach to managing migration flows. In recent years large numbers of Central Americans, but also Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans, Colombians and migrants arriving from other continents, have made their way up through the Americas.

The visit is an opportunity for López Obrador to show some independence from the United States. López Obrador has criticized the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba and he said that he told U.S. officials that no country should be excluded from the Summit of the Americas. The Biden administration has signaled that Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua would not be invited.

Giammattei, meanwhile, has been under pressure from the U.S. government for backsliding on the country’s fight against corruption — a campaign central to López Obrador’s image in Mexico.

López Obrador will continue on to El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele has faced international condemnation since imposing a state of emergency after a surge in gang killings at the end of March.

A visit from López Obrador, who prefers a “hugs not bullets” approach to security, is an opportunity to show he’s not being isolated. El Salvador’s security forces have arrested more than 24,000 suspected gang members in just over a month and human rights organizations say there have been many arbitrary arrests.

In Honduras, new President Xiomara Castro has forged a close relationship with the Biden administration. Last month, Honduras extradited former President Juan Orlando Hernández to face drug and weapons charges in the U.S. Castro is desperate to activate the economy and create jobs, so could be open to López Obrador’s proposals if there is money behind it.

The president’s agenda in Belize is less clear, but his final stop in Cuba will be the most symbolic. Cuba President Miguel Díaz-Canel visited Mexico for its independence celebrations last year.

López Obrador has largely governed as a nationalist and populist, but he has positioned himself politically as a a devoted leftist.

Japan's Okinawa urges government to reduce China tensions

MARI YAMAGUCHI
Fri, May 6, 2022

TOKYO (AP) — Japan should focus more on peaceful diplomacy with China instead of on military deterrence as tensions rise around Chinese-claimed Taiwan, the governor of the nearby southern Japanese island of Okinawa said Friday. He also urged that the burden on Okinawa of hosting a majority of the American troops in Japan be reduced.

“We are strongly alarmed,” Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki said of discussions in parliament about the possibility of a security emergency involving Taiwan, and concerns that Okinawa, 600 kilometers (370 miles) away, could become embroiled in it.

Tamaki was speaking online from the prefectural capital of Naha ahead of the 50th anniversary of Okinawa's return to Japan on May 15, 1972, 20 years after most of Japan regained independence from the U.S. occupation following World War II.

There is concern in Okinawa, with its continuing heavy U.S. military presence, over rising tensions resulting from China’s increasingly assertive military actions in the region and its rivalry with the United States. There is also worry that the Russian invasion of Ukraine might embolden Beijing.

China claims independently governed Taiwan as its own territory, and controlling the island is a key component of Beijing’s political and military thinking. In October, Chinese leader Xi Jinping reiterated that “reunification of the nation must be realized, and will definitely be realized.”

In what Beijing calls a warning to advocates of Taiwanese independence and their foreign allies, China has been staging threatening military exercises and flying fighter planes near Taiwan’s airspace, including on Feb. 24, the day Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.

“Any escalation of problems over the Taiwan Strait and the contingency of Okinawa being a target of attack must never happen or be allowed to happen,” Tamaki said.

The ongoing tension has rekindled fears among Okinawans that they may be sacrificed again by mainland Japan, as in the Battle of Okinawa that killed some 200,000 people, half of them civilians, near the end of World War II.

Japan views China’s military rise as a regional threat and has been shifting its troops to defend southwestern islands including Okinawa and its outer islands, deploying missile defense systems and other facilities, and increasing joint drills with the U.S. military and other regional partners.

On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Japan “has been taking advantage of diplomatic activities to make an issue of China, play up regional tensions and hype the so-called China threat," and that Tokyo is “looking for excuses for its military expansion.”

The U.S. has consistently expressed support for ensuring that Taiwan can defend itself, and Chinese military action against the island in the short- to medium-term is generally considered a remote possibility.

Noting that China is Japan's biggest trading partner and that Japan is China's second largest, Tamaki said their close economic ties are indispensable.

“I call for the Japanese government to always maintain calm and peaceful diplomacy and dialogue to improve its relations with China, while working toward easing U.S.-China tension,” he said.

Okinawa at the time of its reversion asked Japan to make it a peaceful island free of military bases. Today, it still hosts a majority of the approximately 50,000 U.S. troops and their military facilities in Japan, and Tamaki said that burden should be shared by all of Japan.

Because of the U.S. bases, Okinawa faces noise, pollution, aircraft accidents and crime related to American troops on a daily basis, Tamaki said.

"That excessive U.S. base burden is still unresolved 50 years after the reversion,” he said. "Okinawa's burden of the U.S. military bases is a key diplomatic and security issue that concerns all Japanese people.”

The biggest sticking point between Okinawa and Tokyo is the central government’s insistence that a U.S. Marine base in a crowded neighborhood, Futenma air station, be relocated within Okinawa instead of moving it elsewhere as demanded by many Okinawan people.

While development projects over the past five decades have helped Okinawa's economy, the average Okinawan's income remains the lowest among Japan's 47 prefectures, Tamaki said.

If land taken by the U.S. military is returned to the prefecture for other use, it would produce three times as much income for Okinawa, Tamaki said.

Bird Flu Outbreak Nears Worst Ever in U.S. With 37 Million Animals Dead




Zijia Song, Elizabeth Elkin and Michael Hirtzer
Fri, May 6, 2022

(Bloomberg) -- A bird flu virus that’s sweeping across the U.S. is rapidly becoming the country’s worst outbreak, having already killed over 37 million chickens and turkeys, with more deaths expected through next month as farmers perform mass culls.

Under guidance of the federal government, farms must destroy entire commercial flocks if just one bird tests positive for the virus, to stop the spread. That’s leading to distressing scenes across rural America. In Iowa, millions of animals in vast barns are suffocated in high temperatures or with poisonous foam. In Wisconsin, lines of dump trucks have taken days to collect masses of bird carcasses and pile them in unused fields. Neighbors live with the stench of the decaying birds.

The crisis is hurting egg-laying hens and turkeys the most, with the disease largely being propagated by migrating wild birds that swarm above farms and leave droppings that get tracked into poultry houses. That’s probably how the virus contaminated egg operations in Iowa, which produce liquid and powdered eggs that go into restaurant omelets or boxed cake mixes. Further north under the same migration paths lie Minnesota’s turkey farms, which supply everything from deli meats for submarine sandwiches to whole birds for the holidays.

Prices for such products are soaring to records, adding to the fastest pace of U.S. inflation in four decades. The supply deficits triggered by the flu also come as world food prices reach new highs. From the war in Ukraine to adverse weather for crops, it’s all throwing supply chains into turmoil and compounding the crisis that’s pushed millions of people into hunger since the start of the pandemic.

“Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, here comes the bird flu,” said Karyn Rispoli, an egg market reporter at commodity researcher Urner Barry.

Ventilation Shutdown

Wholesale egg prices touched a record $2.90 a dozen in April in government data. Whole turkeys touched an all-time high $1.47 a pound according to Urner Barry.

The last time bird flu hit the U.S. in 2015, it took the lives of about 50 million animals by the end of the season and cost the federal government over $1 billion dollars, as it handles killing and burying of birds. At the time, the industry beefed up its biosecurity around poultry houses, installing sound canons to repel wild birds, or even carwashes so farm trucks wouldn’t bring contamination from one farm to another to avoid a repeat.

This time around, even with that better biosecurity, the industry has failed to prevent the transmission from wild birds, said Michelle Kromm, an executive consultant for the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association. As a precaution, farmers are supposed to go through a laborious process of completely changing their clothing and shoes before entering barns, and making sure all supplies and tools are clean.

Yet weather and migration patterns are making it easier for the virus to win this year. Rare spring snowstorms are originating in the Midwest and travelling up the East Coast, and the cold, wet weather keeps the virus alive for longer, helping it spread. The flu this year is also more lethal than in the past. The deaths this season are already tracking above previous outbreaks at 37 million chickens and turkeys. The U.S.’s flock of egg-laying hens totals more than 300 million birds (chickens raised for meat, known as broilers, haven’t been as affected).

“We all need to maintain really high awareness that the environment is contaminated,” said Beth Thompson, a veterinarian at the Minnesota Board of Animal Health. The weather “needs to warm up and dry out to kill that virus that’s sitting out there.”

Iowa, the U.S.’s center of egg production, has been hit the worst. One farm, Rembrandt Enterprises, destroyed its giant flock of 5.3 million hens starting in late March using a government-approved yet controversial method called ventilation shutdown plus. The technique, which is being widely used to eliminate millions of chickens at a time during this outbreak, involves closing up barns so that temperatures rise and the animals suffocate over hours. Turkeys can be killed by spraying a firefighting foam that suffocates them.

Rembrandt didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Bird flu is also wreaking havoc in Canada, wiping out almost two million fowl. The virus has never been in multiple provinces at the same time.

“We’re worried. We’re worried for sure,” said Lisa Bishop-Spencer, spokeswoman for Chicken Farmers of Canada.

One person involved in culling infected birds in Colorado has contracted the avian flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The risk of the bird flu spreading to humans remains low, even with this case, the agency said. Flus that spread from animals to humans are a concern because in rare instances, the result can be a pandemic.

Longer Recovery

It won’t be easy to recover from the crisis. In 2015, it took the egg industry over a year to ramp back up, according to Maro Ibarburu-Blanc, a research scientist at Iowa State University’s Egg Industry Center. This time, supplies could be hit for longer because farmers whose operations were affected by the virus may make a transition to cage-free production, which is a long-term trend in the industry, said Mark Jordan, a poultry analyst with LEAP Market Analytics.

Massive outbreaks may continue to plague the U.S. poultry industry as long as bigger bird barns stay in vogue. And the trend is toward bigger.

“We continue to see consolidation of facilities, new facilities continue to be built that are for several million birds,” said John Brunnquell, chief executive officer of Egg Innovations

Any India Curbs on Wheat Exports Would Hurt Its Neighbors Most


Any India Curbs on Wheat Exports Would Hurt Its Neighbors Most

Pratik Parija

Thu, May 5, 2022

(Bloomberg) -- Any restrictions on wheat exports by India will likely hurt neighboring countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka most, while some Middle Eastern and Asian markets would also be affected.

The food ministry said India doesn’t see a case for controlling wheat exports, but cut the estimate for 2021-22 production. Bloomberg reported earlier this week that the country is considering export restrictions after severe heat damaged India’s wheat crop.

While India hasn’t been a large shipper of wheat on the global market, the war in Ukraine and drought in some major growing nations have elevated its importance as one of the few remaining places with ample stockpiles. Major buyers including Egypt have recently approved access for Indian wheat.

Traders have already contracted to export 4 million tons in 2022-23, the food ministry said, adding that Turkey has also given approval to import wheat from India. The South Asian nation in April targeted record shipments of up to 15 million tons this fiscal year, from more than 7 million a year earlier.

‘It’s an almost grotesque situation.’ Nearly 25 million tons of grain are stuck in Ukraine, and the UN says it doesn’t know when it can be accessed


John Moore—Getty Images

Tristan Bove
Fri, May 6, 2022

Ukraine was oe of the world’s largest exporters of grain before the Russian army invaded and halted grain exports, harvesting 11% of the world’s wheat and 17% of its corn. For decades, it’s been referred to as the breadbasket of Europe.

In spite of Russian troops blockading Ukraine’s ports, the country’s harvest has continued, but most crops have been unable to leave Ukraine. Now, millions of tons of grain are sitting idle, and the country’s storage capacity is reaching its limits while the world gets hungrier, according to the UN’s top food agency.

Nearly 25 million tons of grain are currently stuck in Ukraine and unable to leave the country due to obstructed seaports and infrastructural issues, said Josef Schmidhuber, an economist with the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, he warned of an “almost grotesque situation” in Ukraine, in which grain is being harvested according to regular schedules, but cannot be taken out of the country.

"[There are] nearly 25 million tonnes of grain that could be exported but that cannot leave the country simply because of lack of infrastructure, the blockade of the ports,” Schmidhuber said.

He clarified that the war has so far not had a significant impact on harvests, but it is becoming harder and harder for global markets to access Ukraine’s food commodities.

Schmidhuber explained that most of Ukraine’s winter crops were planted and harvested in the west of the country, far away from the brunt of the fighting and the war did not impact the recent harvest. He added that around half of the planned summer crops are already in the ground, although it is uncertain how much of it will be reaped.

“A considerable crop could be coming in going forward,” Schmidhuber said, but added that the outlook for grains leaving Ukraine remained uncertain, especially if Black Sea ports remained blocked by Russian forces.

Ukrainian ships have been blocked from leaving Black Sea ports for months, and the director of the UN World Food Programme in Germany announced earlier this week that almost 4.5 million tons of grain are currently sitting in containers in Ukrainian ports, unable to leave because of unsafe or occupied sea routes.

Grain shipments from Ukraine are usually done by sea, according to Schmidhuber, but are now being taken out of the country by rail more and more frequently, something he said can be exceedingly more complicated. Grains leaving Ukraine by train can sometimes need to be unloaded and placed on new carriages due to different railway specifications, such as different widths between rails on a single track.

Ukraine and Russia combined are some of the world’s largest suppliers of key agricultural commodities, including wheat, rapeseed, maize, and sunflower oil, according to the FAO. The disruption of these crucial global supply chains has raised food prices and exacerbated hunger issues in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions.

There are also some reports that Russian troops have been looting Ukrainian grain storages, according to the FAO.

“There is anecdotal evidence that Russian troops have destroyed storage capacity and are looting storage grain that is available,” Schmidhuber said, adding that there are also signs Russian troops have been stealing farm equipment as well, potentially putting the productivity of future harvests at risk.

“Grain is being stolen by Russia and transported by trucks into Russia,” he said.

The uncertainty about what direction the war will take, Ukraine’s limited storage capacity for grain, and evidence that Russian troops have been stealing and damaging harvests and farming equipment, means that global food prices—especially those for cereals and meats, according to the FAO’s latest monthly food price index—are still highly volatile.

In its latest food price index, released on Friday, the FAO announced that global food prices decreased in April after a huge jump last month, but Schmidhuber stressed that it was only a small decline.

The UN said in April that 45 million people worldwide suffer from malnourishment, with up to 20 million more at risk of famine because of the war. Highly vulnerable regions of the world where the war is expected to amplify hunger include countries in the Sahel and West Africa, according to the World Bank.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com