UN Estimates it will Take at Least 15 Years to Clear Gaza of Bombing Debris
Clearing the rubble left from Israel’s sweeping bombardment of the Gaza Strip is expected to take 15 years and cost between $500m and $600m, the UN said on Monday.
The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (Unrwa) posted on X about the staggering cost and years needed for reconstruction, saying the debris are a potential threat and “harmful”.
“Debris poses a deadly threat for people in the Gaza Strip as it can contain unexploded ordnance and harmful substances,” Unrwa said, adding that it would take more than 100 trucks to clear rubble.
The values show how difficult it will be to rebuild Gaza, even as Israel continues to pummel the enclave.
Israel dropped at least 70,000 tonnes of bombs on Gaza between 7 October and 4 May, surpassing the World War II bombings in Dresden, Hamburg, and London combined, according to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.
Unrwa cited a report from the UN environment programme released in June which said that 137,297 buildings had been damaged in Gaza, more than half the enclave’s total. It would take sprawling landfill sites occupying between 250 and 500 hectares to dump the rubble, the report said.
The report also said that Israel’s offensive likely set the Gaza Strip back 44 years in terms of the development of healthcare, education and wealth.
The report found that explosive weapons used in the war have generated around 39 million tonnes of debris, with every square metre of Gaza littered with more than 107kg of debris on average.
It also found that water, sanitation and hygiene systems in Gaza are almost entirely defunct, with the Strip’s five wastewater treatment plants shut down.US post-war Gaza plans collide with President Biden’s faltering campaignRead More »
“All of this is deeply harming people’s health, food security and Gaza’s resilience,” said UN environmental programme (Unep) executive director, Inger Andersen.
Israel’s war is exacerbating an already deteriorating environment in Gaza, where over 92 percent of water was deemed unfit for human consumption in 2020.
The UN report came as a result of a request from the Palestinian Environment Quality Authority in December, in which it called on Unep to look into environmental damages in Gaza.
Climate change and Israel’s attacks on environmental infrastructure have long plagued Gaza and other parts of occupied Palestine.
After the Nakba, which refers to the ethnic cleansing and destruction of Palestinian communities in 1948 by Zionist forces, the Jewish National Fund planted monoculture forests of pine trees, which destroy bio-diversity and indigenous lands, often on the ruins of Palestinian villages.
At least 38,664 Palestinians have been killed and 89,097 wounded by Israel’s war on Gaza since 7 October, the Palestinian health ministry said on Monday.
At least 80 Palestinians were killed and 216 wounded by Israeli forces in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.
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Zelensky: Russia Should Attend the Next Ukraine Peace Summit
In a notable shift, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged the need for Russian representatives to attend the next international summit on the ongoing conflict.
He issued this call on July 15, telling reporters that he is in the process of organizing the next summit. Zelensky had previously refused to invite Russia to attend international summits where he was pushing his 10-point “peace formula.” One such summit held in Switzerland last month included representatives from 92 countries – but without Moscow.
“I set a goal that in November, we would have a fully ready plan,” the Ukrainian leader said. “I think that representatives of Russia should be at the second summit.”
Zelensky’s 10-point “peace formula” calls for a complete Russian withdrawal from Ukrainian territory before peace talks could ever happen, which is a non-starter for negotiations with Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin meanwhile stressed his terms before talks could begin: Kyiv must pull out all its troops from territory annexed by Russia, and must abandon its intention of joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Throughout the war, the only time a real peace deal was on the table was back in March and April of 2022. Talks were held in the Turkish city of Ankara to iron out a peace deal between the warring parties.
However, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson meddled in the peace deal. Consequently, the U.S.-led NATO bloc discouraged Ukraine from signing an agreement and promised to support its fight against Russia.
Zelensky’s July 15 comments came as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been pushing for a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv. The Hungarian leader discussed his ideas in recent visits to Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing.
During his visit to the Ukrainian capital, Orban suggested Zelensky consider a ceasefire with Russia as a first step toward a peace deal. The Ukrainian president rejected the idea, but Zelensky’s recent comments about the possibility of Russia attending the next summit could signal a softening stance.
Zelensky’s foreign minister earlier stressed the need for Russia’s inclusion
The president’s comments appeared to echo that of Ukrainian Prime Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who stressed the need for Russia to be included in peace talks. He made this admission during the last day of the two-day Ukraine peace summit last month in Switzerland.
“The idea is that the next summit should be the end of the war. And of course, we need the other side at the negotiating table as well,” Kuleba said. “It is obvious that both sides are needed to end the war.”
(Related: Kuleba: Russia will eventually have to be involved in peace talks with Ukraine.)
According to the foreign minister, both belligerents in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war will have to sit down and negotiate at some point to reach a definitive peace. He added that Kyiv understands “perfectly well that the moment will come when it will be necessary to talk to Russia.” Until then, he reiterated that everyone backing Kyiv must “ensure that Ukraine is in the strongest position at that time.”
Russia Today (RT) meanwhile reported of the 92 countries who attended the peace summit, 78 left their signatures on the final communique. Fourteen other nations including Saudi Arabia did not sign the document.
Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud remarked that any meaningful progress toward peace will require “Russia’s participation,” as well as a “difficult compromise” between the parties. Riyadh did not sign the final communique, according to RT.
Head over to WWIII.news for more stories about the Russia-Ukraine war and efforts to end it.
Watch this interview from September last year where Volodymyr Zelensky is encouraging Donald Trump to share his peace plan.
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UN says Reduced Population Peak is a ‘Hopeful Sign’ Despite Looming Collapse
(LifeSiteNews) — The United Nations has claimed that predictions of population reduction offer a “hopeful sign” for the planet, without addressing the expected full-blown population collapse from which some demographers say the world will not recover.
According to The Guardian, new U.N. projections estimate that the world’s population will peak earlier and at a lower number than expected — 10.2 billion, which is 6 percent less than that expected a decade ago — giving U.N. officials “hope of reduced pressure on the environment.”
More than half of the world’s countries now have fertility rates at below replacement level, including the U.S., the U.K., and Australia, with “nearly a fifth” of countries at an “ultra-low” fertility rate of under 1.4 births a woman, according to the U.N. The current world fertility rate is 2.27 births per woman, fast approaching below-replacement fertility .
Li Junhua, the U.N. undersecretary general for economic and social affairs, said that the lower, earlier population speak “could mean reduced environmental pressures from human impacts due to lower aggregate consumption,” and yet still called for a reduced environmental impact of the “activities of each individual person.”
The idea that the world’s population must be restrained in order to sustain its existing people is hotly contested, and studies on the earth’s carrying capacity vary widely in their estimates. While 20 studies say it is 8 billion people or less (the current world population is about 8 billion), 14 studies peg the world’s carrying capacity at twice that amount, 16 billion, and 18 other studies notch that number way up, with seven studies estimating the earth can sustain as many as 64 billion people, and one study estimating it at 1,024 billion people.
Moreover, the recent UN report entirely fails to address the coming population collapse that demographers anticipate after 2100, which will have a devastating effect on economies and likely on quality of life. It also fails to address the morality of desiring a world with less people.
Dean Spears, an economist at the Population Research Center of the University of Texas, has noted that “if the world’s fertility rate were the same as in the United States today,” which is about 1.66 births per woman, “then the global population would fall from a peak of around 10 billion to less than two billion about 300 years later, over perhaps 10 generations. And if family sizes remained small, we would continue declining.”
Spears co-authored a paper rare for its estimation of world population projections beyond 2100, showing that in any of 3 scenarios in which the world population remains below replacement rate, the number of the world’s inhabitants would rapidly plummet to a “very small” number. Darrel Bricker and John Ibbitson, authors of the book Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline, have asserted that once global population decline begins, which they say will occur in three decades, “it will never end.”
“Even if below-replacement fertility is sustained only for a few centuries, the size of the global population could become very small,” Spears and his fellow authors maintain. This means that a whole slew of harmful effects to society will follow population decline, likely including a decline in basic services and infrastructure; unemployment; a decline in innovation; insufficient end-of-life care for the elderly; and a decline in mental health.
Even the World Economic Forum (WEF) has admitted that the effects of population collapse will be “severe.”
Jordan Peterson has noted in an interview with podcaster Chris Williamson that “dire predictions” about the state of the world by the year 2000 made by the globalist Club of Rome based on ideas of overpopulation have not only been way off the mark, but are the inverse of what actually happened. Peterson explained that the Club of Rome predicted “riots and mass starvation… and all the things you hear about climate change, because there’s too many people on the planet.”
Peterson continued, “That just didn’t happen at all… it wasn’t just wrong, it was anti-true. It was absolutely wrong. What happened instead was that everyone got way richer and the [poorest] section of the population… got lifted out of poverty.”
Eric Metaxas has noted that such false predictions were built on Thomas Malthus’s “iron law of population,” an idea cited by Charles Darwin, which states that population increases must of necessity outstrip food production.
According to environmental scientist Erle C. Ellis, history shows that populations have always been sustained that were “well in excess of what a strictly Malthusian calculation would have predicted,” due to technology. Ellis maintains that “there is no need to use any more land to sustain humanity” due to existing technologies, and that there “really is no such thing as a human carrying capacity.”
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EU Parliament Refuses to Condemn Trump Assassination Attempt, Majority of Parties Reject Orbán-Backed Patriots for Europe Group’s Resolution Against Political Violence
On Wednesday, the Patriots for Europe Group in the European Parliament initiated a plenary debate and a resolution condemning political violence, including the attempted assassination of former U.S. President Donald Trump, the current presidential candidate, but the majority of MEPs voted against it, Kinga Gál, the group’s first vice-president, said in Strasbourg.
At her press conference, Kinga Gál criticized the EU parliament for doing virtually nothing to combat the political violence that has already been rife in Europe. She cited as examples the attack on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and the case of Antifa activist Ilaria Salis, who was arrested in Budapest and “despite almost killing an innocent man, is now sitting in the EU parliament benches, and despite all the procedures, is lecturing us on how to behave.”
NEW: ??? Chilling footage of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico predicting his own assassination just a month before yesterday’s shooting.
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) May 16, 2024
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Kinga Gál said that in her speech before the agenda, she also referred to Tuesday’s EU parliament vote on the vice-presidencies, calling it disrespectful to the 18 million or so voters behind the Patriots for Europe group and to the basic rules of democracy and the rule of law that neither of the two candidates — Klara Dostalova and Fabrice Leggeri — from the parliament’s third-largest group received enough votes.
“The fact that practically an extreme communist was voted into the positions belonging to the Patriot MEPs with the help of the European People’s Party is unacceptable,” she said, adding that she did not rule out legal action.
“We must fight for what we deserve for parliamentary rules,” she said.
She said that Patriots for Europe had issued a political declaration on the issue, in which it said it strongly condemned all forms of violence in political life, in the light of recent manifestations of political violence in Europe and the U.S.
“The assassination attempts on U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico must not go unpunished,” the statement said.
“We find unacceptable the conniving silence of the left-wing political forces and the legitimization of violent acts against patriotic politicians. We demand respect for political opponents in the left discourse and expect fair and balanced treatment from the media,” Kinga Gál wrote in a Facebook post.
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Apple Warns of Cyberattack Targeting 1.46 Billion Apple Devices
Apple has sent a warning to all 1.46 billion users of Apple devices worldwide after tech experts spotted a cyberattack targeting Apple IDs.
Experts explained that hackers are using SMS phishing campaigns that send messages claiming to be from Apple. The messages then encourage users to visit a link to an “important request” about iCloud.
Symantec, a California-based security firm, uncovered the attack in July. The firm explained that the links lead to fake websites that tell users to input their Apple ID information.
Apple has established guidelines for similar attacks, urging iPhone owners to activate two-factor authentication (2FA) that requires a password and a six-digit verification code to access their account from an outside device.
On its website, Symantec advised that Apple credentials are “highly valued” among hackers because they prove “control over devices, access to personal and financial information, and potential revenue through unauthorized purchases.”
Symantec explained that Apple’s strong brand reputation makes users more prone to trusting deceptive communications pretending to be from Apple. It also makes Apple customers attractive targets to cyber criminals.
The warning was released on July 2, and it said that a malicious SMS being sent contained the following text:
“Apple important request iCloud: Visit signin[.]authen-connexion[.]info/icloud to continue using your services.”
Symantec added that the hackers added a CAPTCHA to the fake website to make it seem more legitimate to their targets. Once completed, the website will redirect users to an outdated iCloud login template.
On its support page, Apple cautioned that scammers may ask iPhone users to disable features like 2FA or Stolen Device Protection because it can help “stop an attack or to allow you to regain control of your account.” In reality, disabling these features will instead lower your security so they can carry out their own attack.
The company warned that Apple will never ask users to disable security features on their devices or their accounts.
(Related: Cyberattack disrupts operations in hospitals and clinics operated by Prospect Medical Holdings.)
If you’re not sure what to look for, there are some effective ways to identify fraud, such as checking the link in the text. Even if the message seems legitimate, the URL will not match Apple’s website.
The company also cautioned users that hackers will often send texts that look significantly different from the company’s standard text messages.
Scam also targets customers from other companies like Amazon and Netflix
Apple isn’t the only company being targeted by cybercriminals. Other scams where hackers impersonate companies have many users reporting text messages claiming to be from Amazon, Netflix and other well-known companies.
The fake messages will claim that an account is frozen or credit cards have expired. The texts will then prompt account holders to click a link that asks for personal or bank account information.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned that if you receive a text message that you weren’t expecting and it asks you to give out your personal or financial information, don’t click on suspicious links.
“Legitimate companies won’t ask for information about your account by text,” warned the agency. The FTC also said that if you think the message might be real, you can confirm by contacting the company “using a phone number or website that you know is real.”
Visit Deception.news to read more stories about other cyberattacks in the United States.
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Globalized ‘Honey’: Polish Beekeepers in Crisis as Cheap ‘Technical Honey’ from the East Floods Market
Globalism strikes again, with Polish beekeepers facing crisis as an increasing amount of cheap, so-called “technical honey” from Eastern Europe and Asia flooding the markets. In combination with the high costs of maintaining traditional apiaries, many Polish beekeepers are being forced to cease operations.
Representatives from beekeeping associations are raising alarms that apiaries are being shut down at an alarming rate, with a potential year-over-year loss of up to 30 percent of all bee colonies.
If this trend continues, Polish honey, renowned for its health benefits and delicious taste, will become both rare and expensive.
Previously, terms like “bakery honey” or “industrial honey,” also known as “artificial honey,” were used. Now, the term “technical honey” refers to very low-quality products that do not meet standards but are swiftly imported and sold to consumers at a fraction of the cost, often using fraudulent labeling.
“Ukraine is just a middleman; these honeys often come from China and Turkey and are of poor quality,” says Przemysław Maciąg, a board member of the Beekeeping Association. He notes that these honeys also negatively impact the Polish market, as many dishonest traders purchase them and sell them as Polish products, misleading consumers.
Trade in cheap honey is having severe consequences. Many beekeepers will give up their business as the market for Polish, high-quality honey is shrinking — partly due to inflation pressures. Polish beekeepers are losing out to “technical honey.” As a result, the costs of maintaining apiaries are becoming unsustainable.
“It’s mainly small apiaries, and the scale of the problem will truly be assessable in a few months when we receive full information on how many bee families have been prepared for wintering,” Maciąg explains. He confirms the issues based on his own circle of beekeepers.
“Just a year ago, there were about 1,500 bee families; now, there are only about 1,000. So, we are talking about a third less in a short time,” he said.
Maciąg, who runs an apiary with his wife Sylwia in the village of Ryszewo in northwestern Poland, does not want to shut down but points out another looming issue: “We might soon be dealing with an ecological time bomb.”
The difficulties in selling honey directly translate into a lack of investment in apiaries, as well as a lack of funds for fuel costs, purchasing new frames, increasing the number of bee families, and most importantly, paying for medications.
“Bees are getting sick, and medications are often required, such as vaccines. The costs of these medications have skyrocketed, and not every beekeeper can afford them today,” Maciąg explained.
For those who still want to work with bees, the fear is real. Untreated insects in small apiaries could lead to the spread of various diseases and infect more bee families, including those in other colonies. “It’s a ticking ecological bomb; if this happens, we will face a mass extinction of bees. I hope it will not come to this, but we must expect the worst,” says Maciąg.
Beekeepers say that those who do not want to give up their operations are making tough decisions and reducing the number of families in their apiaries due to huge problems with selling honey.
It is hard to predict how much Poles will be willing to pay for honey at the end of the year. All signs indicate that Eastern honey will continue to flood the Polish market.
In this manner, it is clear that the war in Ukraine is also partly responsible for the crisis in beekeeping, with fuel and other input costs higher, while unrestricted market access has already slammed Polish farmers selling sunflower oil, wheat, and other products.
Polish beekeeping dates back to pre-Christian times and the country features famous regional varieties many of which have Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status in the EU. For many years, Poles have been consuming more honey, with the 15 years preceding 2021 seeing Polish honey consumption double. However, inflation has taken its toll, and changing consumer tastes are seeing many Poles eye cheaper honey from countries like China, which is produced with the cheapest production methods possible — sweet but lacking key nutrients, anti-oxidants, and antimicrobial elements found in honey made using traditional production methods.
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