cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/3877004

Russia has had to cope with an almost systematic increase in sanctions in scope and scale in order to conduct its invasion of Ukraine. These sanctions aim to hobble Russia’s capacity to procure and produce the necessary products to resupply its military. However, while sanctions have significantly affected Russia’s economy and war effort, Russia has shown adaptability in circumventing these restrictions through various initiatives and engaging with strategic partners, most importantly, the People’s Republic of China and its business entities.

[...]

A study by the KSE Institute utilizing Harmonized System (HS) codes [...] analyses forty-five common high-priority items (i.e., battlefield goods) and 485 HS codes for critical components [...] Between January and October 2023, Russian imports of battlefield goods totalled $8.77 billion, while critical components amounted to $22.23 billion. Within the 2023 KSE Institute compiled dataset, China has exercised a pivotal role in Russia’s efforts to import battlefield goods and critical components for its military and defence industry. This is observed from the immediate aftermath of Western sanctions being imposed to August-December 2022 when imports of battlefield goods and critical components increased by 84% and 42% respectively.

[...]

China was instrumental in all stages of the Russian defence industry’s external supply chain between January and October 2023. For instance, where businesses are headquartered, China accounts for 41% of battlefield goods and 41.2% of critical components. Interestingly, the total non-coalition sanctions accounted for 48%, and of these, China represented 46.7%, making China the most dominant power outside the coalition-sanction countries and the most dominant single entity.

China’s role increases substantially during manufacturing, representing 63.1% of battlefield goods and 58.7% of critical components produced for Russia.

[...]

Data shows that Chinese and Hong Kongese companies’ data combined led the sales of the goods and components in question to Russia, accounting for 68.9% of battlefield goods and 57% of critical components. Finally, China also plays a pivotal role in goods and components shipped directly to Russia, with China representing 53.2% of battlefield goods and 53.8% of critical components, respectively. Again, China is followed by Hong Kong at 22.7% and 12.9, with a combined 75.9% and 66.7%.

[...]

Specific Chinese exports of dual-use components and materials related to Russia’s defence industry and equipment that is being utilized by Russia’s military, including construction equipment, comprises:

• Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines
• Semiconductors
• Microelectronics and Electronic Components
• Ball Bearings
• Nitrocellulose
• Drones and Electronic Warfare systems
• Body armour and Helmets

[...]

China’s continued support for Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine poses significant risks and challenges that far outweigh any short-term benefits. By aiding Russia, China jeopardizes its international reputation as a responsible global power, becoming a complicit actor in the conflict, violating international law and the core principles of sovereignty.

Moreover, Chinese entities supporting Russia and the Chinese government’s lackadaisical response to Western complaints will eventually lead to secondary sanctions, deepening economic strains and retaliation from Western nations.

[...]

The biodigester solution began as a means of managing food waste. In 2011 HECAF360 built a single-chamber, underground biodigester at Bir Hospital, Kathmandu. A culture of biogas has existed in Nepal for more than 40 years, according to a nationwide survey, which suggests 69% of the country's total energy demand is met by biomass energy. Homes and farms dispose of their animals' manure into small biodigesters on their land, which releases methane gas to fuel cooking.

At Bir hospital, methane released by digested food waste was piped into the staff tearoom. But Nakarmi faced a new challenge at Kathmandu Medical College and Teaching Hospital, where he installed a biodigester in 2016. "After Bir, hospitals we worked with had maternity services which produce placentas as well as food waste," he says. "We modified the biodigester to make it suitable for both types of waste."

Before hospital staff began adding waste, constructors put in cow dung to "seed" the chambers. This contains bacteria the mix needs to digest the hospital waste and generate methane. Hospital workers throw pathological and some food waste into the first underground chamber through an inlet above the ground. The majority of the hospital's food waste goes into the second inlet and chamber. "You feed placentas and some food to balance that carbon and nitrogen into the first chamber," says Stringer. "Food, which is much bulkier but doesn't need such a long residence time – because there's no potential for infection – is fed into the second."

The team trained hospital staff to segregate waste and ensure they only fed suitable organic materials into the digester. Staff also regularly pour water into the inlets to keep the mixture fluid. Gravity slowly moves it though the system. The digestate ends its passage by tipping out of the second chamber into a sewer, from where it safely washes away. By this time, any pathogens have died. "Most viruses can last maximum a week outside of the body," says Stringer. "There's no risk."

The methane gas produced by the biodigester at TUTH is piped out of the chambers into the staff room. It fuels a stove used for cooking, and has replaced some of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) the hospital used to buy. The biodigester in Tribhuvan produces 1.5 cubic metres a day of methane gas – the equivalent of five standard-size LPG gas cylinders. One cylinder is enough for a family of five to cook two meals a day for a month and costs about £15 ($20), according to Nakarmi.

By replacing the incinerator, 4.6 tonnes of CO2 emissions were avoided in 2019, as well as all diesel fuel and methane gas emissions, the assessment estimates.

The event, scheduled for next week, will feature the construction of a sukkah as part of a "city of sukkahs" initiative by the Nachala movement, which is known for establishing illegal outposts in the West Bank.

Social Equality Minister May Golan, along with MKs Tally Gotliv, Osher Shkalim and Hanoch Milwidsky, confirmed to Haaretz that they will attend the event. The invitation also mentions that six other Likud MKs are expected to participate.

The Nachala movement stated that "the event is not just a theoretical conference, but a practical exercise and preparation for renewed settlement in Gaza." The movement added that "the return to settlement in Gaza is no longer just an idea but a process that is already in advanced stages, with government and public support."

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/3843819

Archived link

The sudden order to remove the symbol of the cross from the roof and entrance of a village church in China’s Anhui province cited unspecified “safety” hazards.

The notice, issued in March, was a shock to the church in Yongqing, eastern China, which had reportedly passed official safety inspections for the cross on the roof five years ago. The second cross had stood at the door of the church for over 40 years without any security concerns.

[...]

Nicola Smith Asia Correspondent. Jenny Pan Related Topics

Xi Jinping, China, Christianity, Religion 

05 October 2024 2:00pm BST 98

Worshippers in a Roman Catholic church in China Worshippers in a Roman Catholic church in China Sally and Richard Greenhill/Alamy Stock Photo

The sudden order to remove the symbol of the cross from the roof and entrance of a village church in China’s Anhui province cited unspecified “safety” hazards.

The notice, issued in March, was a shock to the church in Yongqing, eastern China, which had reportedly passed official safety inspections for the cross on the roof five years ago. The second cross had stood at the door of the church for over 40 years without any security concerns.

ChinaAid, a US-based group that advocates for religious freedom in China, alleged the order had been made by the villagers’ committee with no legal basis, suggesting it may have originated with higher-level authorities who wanted to avoid international criticism. Party slogans and censorship

It was one of multiple examples of oppression cited in a report last week by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an agency that reviews violations of religious freedoms overseas and makes policy recommendations to the President and Congress.

In their effort to “exert total control” over religion and to “sinicise” Catholic and Protestant Christianity, the authorities have “ordered the removal of crosses from churches [and] replaced images of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary with pictures of President Xi Jinping,” the report said.

The Chinese government has also required “the display of CCP [Chinese Communist Party] slogans at the entrances of churches, censored religious texts, imposed CCP-approved religious materials, and instructed clergy to preach CCP ideology,” the USCIRF report said.

Its investigation pointed to a report from 2019 of a Catholic church in the eastern province of Jiangxi that was forced to replace a painting of the Virgin Mary with her child with one of President Xi.

[...]

"The dehumanization of Palestinians and the collective punishment they endure from Israel's war in Gaza have shattered the very fabric of their society, much like what China has inflicted upon my people," writes exiled Uyghur human rights lawyer Rayhan Asat.

The Palestinian mother watching a bulldozer tear through her house reminds me of every Uyghur mother whose home was invaded by Chinese forces. The rubble of schools and mosques destroyed in Gaza takes me back to my homeland, where the oldest shrines have been leveled, and our teachers handed life sentences. The surveillance system China tested against the Uyghurs has been exported to the streets of occupied Hebron. As Israeli settlers flood the West Bank with the full support of Israel's government, I'm reminded of the millions of Han people that China brought into my homeland, where they receive special privileges in an apartheid system the world has ignored for decades.

[...]

Israeli atrocities in Gaza, and the intentional blocking of humanitarian aid that has led to starvation and the spread of polio in the besieged territory, have sparked global outrage, especially among young people. However, this same level of outrage has not been directed toward China's systematic efforts to slowly eradicate the Uyghur people in its prison camps. Some argue that the differing reactions are due to America's direct support for Israel's war in Gaza, but victims do not suffer less because of the identity of their perpetrator. If human rights are truly universal, then what happens in Gaza and Xinjiang should equally outrage us all.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/3815253

Chinese authorities have forcibly detained four Tibetan students, aged 15 to 18, for refusing to attend a state-run boarding school following the closure of the Buddhist primary school at Taktsang Lhamo Kirti Monastery in Dzoge County, according to a report by Radio Free Asia. The students have been subjected to “political education” as part of the government’s efforts to enforce attendance at state-run institutions.

The Taktsang Lhamo Kirti Monastery School was shut down on October 1, coinciding with China’s National Day celebrations. On October 2, authorities forced more than 200 students, aged 15 to 18, to attend state-run schools in Dzoge County as part of China’s compulsory education policy, marking the complete closure of the monastery school. Starting in July, over 300 younger students, aged 6 to 14, had already been forcibly transferred to various state-run schools in the county.

[...]

The forcibly enrolled young monks are being educated primarily through Chinese textbooks. However, they are also receiving separate political education sessions focused on Chinese politics and ‘Xi Jinping’s Thought,’ according to an anonymous source inside Tibet.

[...]

Dachshunds are famed for their sausage shape, but their extra-long backs and extra-short legs can create crippling strain on their spines. This animal welfare bill would ban what it calls “torture breeding” — the breeding of animals with structural disabilities — not just of dachshunds with bad backs, but German shepherds with bad hips or French bulldogs with breathing problems.

Dachshund owners say they’ve got the problem under control, and that a breeding ban, rather than helping, could doom the dachshund. More than 18,000 people have signed a petition against the bill, and the national dachshund club has mounted a pressure campaign on legislators.

The bill isn’t just about dog breeding. It is meant to protect all kinds of animals in places from livestock farms to circuses to slaughterhouses. Germany already has one of the world’s strongest animal welfare laws, with animal protection written into its national constitution. Some 90% of Germans support stronger legal protections for animal welfare. That makes the debate more complicated than a simple for or against.

Cyprus has outstripped all other EU member states in embracing hot-water solar systems, with an estimated 93.5 % of households exploiting the alternative energy form for domestic needs.

The solar thermal systems not only collected solar energy as heat – usually generated through electricity and the burning of fossil fuels – they were extremely cost-effective and had helped spawn an entire industry, he explains.

“It’s been great for low-income families and then there’s the jobs: so many have been generated,” the MP says. “There are the local manufacturers who produce the parts and then all the people who are trained to install them. It’s big business.”

In his role as environment commissioner, Theopemptou pushed hard to make the solar systems obligatory on all newly constructed residential and commercial buildings – a move instituted by Israel back in the 1970s.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/3765597

Archived link

[...]

While censorship on economic issues is hardly new, the level of repression has taken a darker turn of late, sending chills through anyone in the country who analyzes the economy as part of their profession.

The most extreme example is the reported disappearance of Zhu Hengpeng, one of China’s most prominent and well-connected economists. Zhu is a director at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), a leading think tank that reports directly to the cabinet.

[...]

He is believed to have been forcibly disappeared in April after he made disparaging remarks about the economy in a private chat group on the Chinese social media platform WeChat. The specifics of what Zhu said are unclear, but some reports indicate that he had “improperly discussed central policies” and made a reference to the “mortality” of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping.

[...]

While economic information is perceived as being less politically sensitive than discussions about democracy or human rights in China, [...] research shows that over the past decade, the CCP has repeatedly ratcheted up restrictions whenever the economy appears to be in trouble. This year, the crackdown has increasingly focused on content that addresses income inequality, youth employment, and poverty – in other words, deep-rooted problems that affect large swaths of the population and could undermine a key pillar of the CCP’s political legitimacy.

[...]

Chinese citizens are also prohibited from expressing their feelings about the economy. In February, WeChat removed a popular article that reported on survey findings from the Guangzhou-based Canton Public Opinion Research Center, which revealed a prevailing sense of pessimism about the country’s economic well-being. Around the same time, the CCP’s flagship mouthpiece People’s Daily published an article titled “The Whole Country Is Filled with Optimism,” attempting to project positivity online. Netizens immediately flooded the social media platform Weibo with posts ridiculing the article. Within hours, the hashtag being used to discuss the piece was removed from public view.

[...] information on the economy is a daily concern for almost everyone in China. Tight censorship on this topic can breed mass distrust in approved sources and compel more netizens to circumvent the CCP’s draconian internet censorship, despite the possibility of punishment, in search of more objective news and analysis on China’s economic situation. In other words, censorship on the economy could ultimately backfire on censorship in general, exposing the regime to an even greater crisis of legitimacy.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/3677707

https://archive.is/j0Rlm

According to senior defense officials, the Israeli government is not seeking to revive hostage talks and the political leadership is pushing for the gradual annexation of large parts of the Gaza Strip. In closed-room discussions, these officials say the chances of reaching a hostage deal appear slim right now. One of the reasons cited is that since negotiations were suspended, there has been no discussion among international players involved in the talks.

In addition, they say, Israel's political leaders have not held any discussions with the various security branches about the condition of the hostages. Army commanders in the field who spoke with Haaretz say the recent decision to launch operations in northern Gaza was taken without any in-depth discussion. They said it appeared that the operations were aimed principally at pressuring local residents, who were again told to evacuate the area for the coast as winter is approaching.

It is possible that the operation is laying the groundwork for a decision by the government to put into effect the so-called surrender or starve plan of Maj. Gen. (ret.) Giora Eiland. That plan calls for all the residents of northern Gaza to be evacuated to humanitarian zones in the south, with those choosing to remain deemed Hamas operatives and legitimate military targets. While Gazans in the south are getting humanitarian assistance, those who remain in the north will face hunger.

Defense officials who were asked to respond to the Eiland plan pointed out that it violated international law and that the chances of the United States and the international community supporting it were virtually zero. They said it would further undermine the legitimacy of Israel's entire Gaza offensive.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/16537189

Selected the wrong WorldNews community (lemmy.ml) -_-

The Generals’ Plan was presented to the parliament last month by a group of retired generals and high-ranking officers, according to publicly available minutes. Since then, officials from the prime minister’s office called seeking more details, according to its chief architect, Giora Eiland, a former head of the National Security Council.

Israeli media reported that Netanyahu told a closed parliamentary defense committee session that he was considering the plan.

Eiland said the only way to stop Hamas and bring an end to the yearlong war is to prevent its access to aid.

“They will either have to surrender or to starve,” Eiland said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to kill every person,” he said. “It will not be necessary. People will not be able to live there (the north). The water will dry up.”

...

When asked if the evacuation orders in northern Gaza marked the first stages of the “Generals’ Plan,” Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said no.

“We have not received a plan like that,” he added.

But one official with knowledge of the matter said parts of the plan are already being implemented, without specifying which parts. A second official, who is Israeli, said Netanyahu “had read and studied” the plan, “like many plans that have reached him throughout the war,” but didn’t say whether any of it had been adopted. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, because the plan isn’t supposed to be discussed publicly.

On Sunday, Israel launched an offensive against Hamas fighters in the Jabaliya refugee camp north of the city. No trucks of food, water or medicine have entered the north since Sept. 30, according to the U.N. and the website of the Israeli military agency overseeing humanitarian aid crossings.

A UN peacekeeper has been wounded in southern Lebanon after being hit by gunfire, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) has said, the fifth member of the multinational force to be injured in recent days.

In a statement on Saturday, Unifil said the peacekeeper was injured at its headquarters in the southern city of Naquora on Friday night amid "ongoing military activity nearby", though added that it did not know the origin of the fire.

"He underwent surgery at our Naqoura hospital to remove the bullet and is currently stable," it said.

On Friday US President Joe Biden has said he was "absolutely, positively" urging Israel to stop firing at UN peacekeepers in Lebanon following two earlier incidents on Thursday and Friday.

Research has shown time and again that news consumption on print has plummeted in the last decade. Both print circulation and advertising revenue are shrinking for most publications. Many publishers have moved to digital-only offerings or are printing fewer days a week.

But two titles in North America that have shunned the pivot to digital, as it is shown by Dave Bidini from Canada’s West End Phoenix, a monthly publication in a Toronto neighbourhood, and Dan Jacobson from U.S.’ TriCity News, a weekly newspaper published in New Jersey.

“Slow print for fast times” is the slogan of the West End Phoenix, a monthly local newspaper for Toronto’s West End neighbourhood. Its founder and editor, Dave Bidini, launched the paper eight years ago. “I discovered that all of the community newspapers in the West End had disappeared, so I felt it was important to try to save the print media in our neighbourhoods,” he says.

This sentiment is shared by Dan Jacobson, publisher and founder of TriCity News, a weekly newspaper published in New Jersey. The paper describes itself as “an alternative newspaper focusing on the arts, culture and politics in eastern Monmouth County.”

According to Jacobson, the paper serves the creative spirit of the community, filling a niche that is underserved by other outlets. The first edition of the paper was published in 1999 and they have stood the test of time and technology.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/3750687

For years, posts related to events during World War Two have proliferated on the Chinese internet, with the Japanese invasion during the war remaining a sensitive topic for nationalists on both sides. In China, Japan’s wartime atrocities have long been a sore point as Beijing maintains that Tokyo has never fully apologised.

The online posts are part of a wider phenomenon, which encompasses both xenophobia and attacks on Chinese nationals for being unpatriotic. One argument by analysts is that this digital nationalism has gone mostly unchecked by the Chinese government, with online patriotism fanning flames of anti-foreigner sentiment as well as accusations against Chinese figures.

Some are asking if this has gone too far. [...]They see echoes of the violent, state-sponsored campaign against so-called enemies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that traumatised the country in the 1960 and 1970s. Hundreds of thousands died in purges often led by youth militias known as the Red Guards. Families and neighbours turned on each other.

In a recent essay, author and university professor Zhang Sheng noted that “in the past people summoned the Red Guards, now people summon the ‘little pinks’” – a popular nickname for the virtual army of online nationalists.

[...]

It is not just foreigners facing the ire of cyber-nationalists. In recent months, Chinese public figures and companies have also been castigated for being insufficiently patriotic.

Beverage giant Nongfu Spring is considered a Chinese business success story, with its mineral water bottles a ubiquitous sight across the country’s convenience stores and restaurant tables. But in March, nationalists accused the company of using Japanese elements in its product design. One of its logos was said to resemble a Shinto temple, while the iconic mineral water bottle’s red cap was deemed to be a reference to the Japanese flag.

It resulted in a brief but intense online campaign: some called for a boycott, while videos of people angrily stamping on Nongfu Spring bottles and chucking their drinks down the toilet were all over social media.

Similarly, the author and Nobel Literature Prize laureate Mo Yan was accused of “beautifying” Japanese soldiers and being unpatriotic in his works by a nationalist blogger, who controversially sued the writer for insulting China.

[...]

Even state media has accused online nationalists of “making patriotism a business”. One commentary by CCP mouthpiece People’s Daily said those who “stir up public opinion and add fuel to the flames in order to… gain traffic and make personal gains, should be severely punished”.

But the ruling party has had a hand in stoking the fire, some say.

So, in the late 2010s, the Saulteau First Nations held meetings with members to ask the communities what they wanted to see on their homelands. One of the key objectives identified in the meetings was for the nations to start a reclamation company of their own.

In 2019, the B.C. Energy Regulator, then the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission, hired the First Nations to reclaim an orphan well pad east of Moberly Lake, between the Peace and Pine Rivers, about 750 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.

By consulting Elders and members, the Saulteau First Nations collected data on plants used for sustenance, medicine and more. The nations compiled information dating back at least 50 years, and created a database of trees, shrubs and grasses that are native to their homelands.

With this knowledge, the reclamation team identified what plants needed to be re-introduced to the site. They planted several native species, including black spruce trees and cottonwood. They reintroduced willow and red osier dogwood, which Aird says are important for moose.

Five years later, Aird said native animals have returned to the site, too. She leads tours of the site so Saulteau First Nations Elders can see how the land has changed. The bare well pad has been transformed into a thriving wetland.

China: Rights group urges Beijng to free ‘bridge man’ protester Peng Lifa, who sparked ‘White Paper’ protests and 'forcibly disappeared' in 2022

"The Chinese government may have taken away the ‘Bridge Man,’ but his arrest ignited widespread support for a free and democratic China,” said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch. “Two years since Peng Lifa was taken into police custody and forcibly disappeared, his message continues to resonate.”

On October 13, 2022, a man in a construction outfit unfurled two banners on Sitong Bridge in Haidian district in Beijing. One read: “We want food not Covid testing; we want freedom not lockdowns; we want dignity not lies. We want reform not the Cultural Revolution; we want to vote not a leader; we are citizens not slaves.”

And another read: “Go on strike, depose the traitorous dictator Xi Jinping.” The police immediately took him away and he has not been seen since.

[...]

Peng’s protest was rare in a country where police closely monitor all public spaces and dissidents. Control was especially tight in the capital ahead of the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress at the time of the protest. While authorities quickly censored all news about it, Peng’s messages nonetheless spread.

[...]

On July 30, 2024, a 22-year-old activist who participated in the White Paper movement, Fang Yirong (方艺融), put a Peng-inspired banner on a bridge in Loudi City, Hunan province, and posted a video online saying that he “hope[s] that the Chinese will get rid of autocracy and live a better life as soon as possible.” Police arrested Fang in early August and his current condition is also unknown.

[Edit typo.]

Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese group of atomic bomb survivors, has won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.

Known as hibakusha, the group is made up of survivors of the 1945 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It has been recognised by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

Nobel Committee Chair Joergen Watne Frydnes said the group had "contributed greatly to the establishment of the nuclear taboo".

Mr Frydnes warned the "nuclear taboo" was now "under pressure" - and praised the group's use of witness testimony to ensure nuclear weapons must never be used again.

Founded in 1956, the organisation sends survivors around the world to share their testimonies of the "atrocious damage" and suffering caused by the use of nuclear weapons, according to its website.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/3660846

• The European Parliament (EP) urges Turkish authorities to drop the charges against Bülent Mumay and all other arbitrarily detained media workers, political opponents, human rights defenders, civil servants and academics. Türkiye deplores "a complex web of legislation that systematically silences and controls journalists, and denounce the new “foreign agent regulation” to be introduced by the end of 2024", the EP says in a statement.

• China must immediately and unconditionally release Ilham Tohti, 2019 Sakharov Prize laureate, and Gulshan Abbas, as well as all those arbitrarily detained in China, MEPs say. They strongly condemn the human rights violations against Uyghurs and people in Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.

• For Iraq, the EP resolution underlines that new proposed laws do not legally protect women and child victims of domestic violence in the country and deplore the fact that the proposed amendments to the law, if enacted, would lead to an even more radical application of Sharia law.

The resolution urges Iraq to adopt a national action plan to eliminate child marriage, criminalise marital rape, fight domestic violence and strengthen women’s and girls’ rights, in line with the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/3660106

Viktoria Roshchyna, who turned 28 this month, wrote vivid accounts of life in Crimea after Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and areas of eastern Ukraine seized by Russian-funded separatists.

She also documented the nearly three-month defence of the port of Mariupol after Moscow launched its February 2022 full-scale invasion. At least 17 journalists have been killed while reporting on the war, according to international organisations.

Roshchyna was initially held for 10 days in southern Ukraine after the invasion and had embarked on a new trip into occupied regions when she disappeared in August 2023. Russian officials acknowledged last May that she was being held.

With more than 70 percent of Trinidad and Tobago's population and 81 percent of its economic activity concentrated in coastal areas, recent natural disasters have displaced thousands of people and caused millions of dollars in damage, according to the dual-island nation’s Ministry of Planning and Development.

Faced with this reality, a group of 20 teenagers from the country are training to become citizen reporters to address the threats that climate change poses to their communities.

The organization Cari-Bois Environmental News Network launched the second edition of its Youth Journalism Program on Sept. 21. According to the organization, the initiative seeks to train “a cohort of environmentally aware and climate conscious Gen Z multimedia journalists.”