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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/international-news/40018765

Volunteers have started filling up nearly 8,000 backpacks with scissors, pencils, glue sticks and other school essentials to help prepare New York City public school students for the upcoming school year.

About 160 of them will be working for the next two days at the Salvation Army’s Harlem Community Center, starting on Wednesday.

“Well, as a mom and a New Yorker, I think that doing my part is important,” said Keyonie Hart, a volunteer who also runs her own non-profit. “We got hit pretty hard with the pandemic, and I think that if you have the time, you should come out and help out. I was off today, and I saw it on Instagram, and I was like, ‘I’m signing up right away.'”

TK Lee came with a team of coworkers from PricewaterhouseCoopers to help.

“I think it’s important to come together in this time of a trial and the challenging time for everyone,” said TK Lee. “And to show everyone that they’re not alone, and we can show them love and humanity, and that this world is still… it’s a good place to live.”

The initiative came from a nonprofit New York Cares that teamed up with the Salvation Army Greater New York Division.

The backpacks will be delivered to 30 schools and community partners in need across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, according to Sapreet K. Saluja, executive director at nonprofit New York Cares.

“We’re focused on communities that have been exponentially impacted by food insecurity, economic challenges, and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Saluja. “There’ll be over 8,000 students who receive these backpacks full of these important supplies that they’ll need to start off the school year right.”

The initiative comes as the National Retail Federation estimates that parents will spend about $864 on average for clothes, shoes, school supplies and electronics for their K-through-12 students, totalling around $37 billion in 2022, on par with last year’s record number.

Many parents can’t afford such an expense and are cutting back on supplies, according to Katherine Cullen, senior director at the National Retail Federation.

“We know that lower-income families, in particular, maybe hit a little bit harder by higher prices and inflation,” said Cullen. “There are a lot of programs out there that families can look to, whether that’s donating school supplies, which can ease the burden of those items for families, buying secondhand for your student, or participating in things like clothing swaps or supply swaps with other families in the neighbourhood. All of those tactics can certainly help relieve some of the pressure put on those who are being hit the hardest right now.”

The New York Cares backpack event at the Salvation Army’s Harlem Community Center starts New York Cares’ third annual Stand with Students campaign, a donation-supported initiative that includes academic tutoring, school revitalization projects, and book distributions in areas affected by food insecurity and financial hardship, as well as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the in neighbourhoods such as Central Queens, East Brooklyn, and the South Bronx.

This year’s campaign goal is $700,000.

New York Cares manages hundreds of year-round projects in elementary schools, assisting students with homework, math, reading and fitness goals.

In 2021, New York Cares served 45,000 children through in-person and virtual programs, distributed 10,000 coats to NYC Community Schools and 15,000 backpacks to students.

Published : August 11, 2022

By : Reuters

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/international-news/40018763

The midwestern part of the United States of America has a severe problem with invasive carp threatening the ecosystem. The state of Illinois hopes to have the answer that’ll solve this decades-old issue; a rebranding.

“We’ve launched a new name, “copi”, to help people consume this delicious fish and help us do our work in keeping them out of the waterways,” said Kevin Irons, assistant chief of fisheries for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, or DNR.

Irons and the Illinois DNR want everyone to start calling the fish formerly known as Asian carp, “copi”, in hopes it will entice more Americans to eat the abundant fish.

“Names mean something,” said Irons. “Back in the 70s, there was a fish called “slimehead”, under-utilized, but when you go to a restaurant and get orange ruffi, everybody’s like, ‘oh, it’s awesome.’ So, a name means something and it’s the same fish. So, copi’s going to help us transition from something that’s maybe negatively perceived and give it a positive space.”

The state of Illinois even launched a new website, choosecopi.com, where facts, nutritional information and recipes for the fish are provided.

“Anything you do with ground meat you can do with copi,” said Dirk Fucik, owner of Dirk’s Fish and Gourmet Shop in Chicago, Illinois. “So, burgers are most popular for us here, but we bolognese, meatballs, we’ve done sausage, tacos, all that kind of stuff. Everything we’ve made people like.”

Fucik says he’s been selling Asian carp, or copi, in his store since 2010.

“If you can’t beat ‘em, eat ‘em,” said Fucik. “There’s like, 20 million pounds of copi in Illinois rivers. It’s one of the reasons the name is copious, there are copious amounts of copi out there — so we should all eat it.”

Since 2004, over $600 million in state and federal funds have been fed into the fixing invasive carp issue.

“This fish is delicious, it compares well with any fish we currently consume,” said Irons. “Actually, silver carp are top water feeders, they eat plankton. They have the best micronutrients out there.”

Irons says the state of Illinois also intends to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to formally change the name and is planning to register “copi” as a trademark.

Published : August 11, 2022

By : Reuters

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/international-news/40018761

The Czech Republic’s pipeline company MERO said on Wednesday it had sufficient reserves of oil crude for the next weeks in case of no further fuel coming into the country.

Speaking at Mero’s central oil tank farm in Nelahozeves, the company’s executive technical director Zdenek Dudr said about one million tonnes of oil was stored in steel tanks.

The farm is used for the storage of strategic emergency oil reserves, as well as the short-term intermediate storage for oil transported by the Druzhba and IKL oil pipelines.

On Tuesday, Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft said pipeline flows had been suspended to parts of central Europe because Western sanctions prevented the payment of transit fees from Moscow to Ukraine.

Hungarian group MOL said on Wednesday oil was again flowing through the southern branch of the Druzhba, or Friendship, pipeline, that it had reached Slovakia and should reach Hungary on Thursday. Oil flows, however, are not expected to resume to the Czech Republic.

“We still don’t have any signal that the flow will be renewed,” Dudr said.

The Druzhba suspension drove up oil prices, which have already surged along with those for other forms of energy, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raised concerns of shortages, especially in Europe, which largely depends on Russian fuel.

Published : August 11, 2022

By : Reuters

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/international-news/40018754

Lingqiu County in north China’s Shanxi Province has taken organic agriculture as an effective way to push forward the high-quality rural development.

Themed on “organic agriculture promotes high-quality rural development”, the ninth China Datong Chehe International Organic Agriculture Forum was held on Saturday in Datong City, north China’s Shanxi Province.

Nearly 100 well-known experts and scholars from home and abroad gathered together both online and offline to discuss the future development direction of organic agriculture. 

The event was convened for the first time in 2014 and has been successfully held for eight consecutive sessions.

Ai Lingyu, deputy secretary of the CPC Datong Municipal Committee said at the opening ceremony of the forum that it is necessary to give full play to the forum’s platform advantage, and constantly optimize the organic agricultural production system, policy system and marketing system in a bid to let “Datong organic food” shine brighter all over the country and gain a foothold in the overseas market.

Since 2013, Lingqiu County in Datong City has explored a new way of agricultural transformation and development and took organic agriculture as the basic task and development goal.

Meanwhile, Lingqiu has also adopted a development mode featuring the combination of organic agriculture, beautiful countryside, and eco-tourism. It has built six communities with organic agriculture as the mainstay.

As the first village-level organic agriculture model in Lingqiu,Chehe Organic Community saw its per capita income increase from 2,300 yuan in 2013 to 21,500 yuan in 2020.

After nearly a decade of development, Lingqiu County boasts an organic agricultural production area of nearly 100,000 mu (about 66.67 square kilometres), 54 certified organic products, and more than 30 organic agricultural production businesses. 

Experts at the forum also believed that organic agriculture can play a positive role in solving food safety problems, steadily increasing rural income levels, as well as improving ecological environment security.

InfoQuest Media Relations

Published : August 10, 2022

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/international-news/40018714

About four thousand beagles are looking for their forever homes after animal rescue organizations started removing the dogs from Envigo RMS LLC’s facility in Cumberland, Virginia, which bred them to be sold to laboratories for animal experimentation.

“Four thousand is a big number,” said Kitty Block, president and CEO of The Humane Society Of The United States. “And it’s going to take 60 days to get all of these animals out, and working with our shelter and rescue partners across the country, working with them to get these dogs into eventually into ever-loving home.”

In May, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Envigo alleging Animal Welfare Act violations at the facility.

Government inspectors found that beagles there were being killed instead of receiving veterinary treatment for easily treated conditions; nursing mother beagles were denied food; the food that they did receive contained maggots, mould and faeces; and over an eight-week period, 25 beagle puppies died from cold exposure.

Other dogs suffered from injuries when they were attacked by other dogs in overcrowded conditions.

The effort to rescue beagles has its origins much earlier, according to Bill Stanley, a Republican senator for Virginia’s 20th district.

“Back in 2019, we discovered that there was a place in Cumberland County that was breeding beagles, beautiful beagle dogs for experimentation,” said Stanley. “I tried to shut them down in 2019 but was not successful. But over the years, we never stopped fighting.”

The Humane Society of the United States brought 201 beagles to its care and rehabilitation centre, where they will receive care until they are transported to organizations experienced with dealing with animals that come with trauma like the beagles, such as the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), Wisconsin Humane and Dakin Humane.

Published : August 10, 2022

By : Reuters

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/international-news/40018712

The mysterious hole measuring 36.5 meters (119.7 feet) in diameter that emerged in late July has provoked the mobilization of local authorities and led the mining regulator Sernageomin to suspend operations of a nearby mine owned by Canada’s Lundin LUN.TO in the northern district of Candelaria.

“We are going to go all the way with consequences, to sanction, not just fine,” Mining Minister, Marcela Hernando, said in a press release, adding that fines tend to be insignificant and the ruling must be “exemplary” to mining companies.

Chilean authorities have not provided details of the investigation into the causes of the sinkhole.

Local and foreign media showed various aerial images of the huge hole in a field near the Lundin Mining operation, about 665 kilometres north of the Chilean capital.

Initially, the hole, near the town of Tierra Amarilla, measured about 25 meters (82 feet) across, with water visible at the bottom.

The Canadian firm owns 80% of the property, while the remaining 20% is in the hands of Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd and Sumitomo Corp.

The Public Affairs manager at Ojos del Salado mine (linked to Lundin) said the company was working with authorities to determine what caused the sinkhole.

Locals from Tierra Amarilla took the streets on Sunday, as its mayor, Cristobal Zuniga, said they want this sinkhole to set a precedent in that community’s string of infringements.

Published : August 10, 2022

By : Reuters

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/international-news/40018709

Water levels in rivers, lakes and reservoirs across western Europe are running low, or even dry, as the severest drought in decades dents local tourism, puts stress on drinking water supplies, hampers river freight and threatens crop yields.

Restaurants and boats companies’ business has reduced to a trickle, just like stretches of the Doubs River straddling the French-Swiss border that cruise boats usually ply.

The Doubs River should coarse through a forested canyon and cascade over waterfalls before spilling out into Brenets Lake, a draw for tourists in eastern France’s Jura region. After months without meaningful rain, the Doubs River water has receded up the canyon and sluggishly reaches the lake in a narrow channel.

Fewer boat tourists mean fewer meals to serve for restaurateur Christophe Vallier – a painful blow just as he hoped to recover from the COVID-19 downturn.

“It’s catastrophic, simply catastrophic,” he said.

Boat companies now have to bus clients along the gorge to a starting point further upstream to a point in the river where there is enough water for cruise boats to navigate.

Asked how his boat tour had gone, holidaymaker Alain Foubert said simply: “It was a lot shorter than normal.”

Conditions have deteriorated across Europe as multiple heatwaves roll across the continent.

As France contends with a fourth heatwave this year, many scientists say the blistering temperatures so far this summer are in line with the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather episodes in Europe.

“We hope it’s really an exception to the rule,” said the director of the “Saut Du Doubs” boats company, Francoise Droz-Bartholet, whose bookings are 20% lower than usual for the time of year.

Restaurant owner Vallier sees little cause for hope in the future.

“All the Doubs experts say the river is getting drier and drier, so, it’s not good news,” he lamented.

Published : August 10, 2022

By : Reuters

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/international-news/40018678

Torrential rain knocked out power, caused slips and left roads and subways submerged in and around the South Korean capital of Seoul overnight, leaving at least eight people dead, authorities said on Tuesday.

The southern part of Seoul received more than 100mm (3.9 inches) of rain per hour on late Monday, with some parts of the city has received 141.5mm of rain, the worst rainfall in decades, according to Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

The accumulated rainfall in Seoul since midnight Monday stood at 420mm as of 5 a.m. Tuesday, with more rain forecast.

In the glitzy, highly concentrated Gangnam district, some buildings and stores were flooded and were without power, while cars, buses and subway stations were submerged, leaving people stranded.

Streets and subway stations were submerged in South Korea’s posh Gangnam area due to torrential rain, video footage on social media showed.

Footage showed people walking through flooded streets of Gangnam and cars passing through inundated roads while a subway station was submerged.

At least six people died with at least nine injured and six missing in Seoul and two others in the neighbouring Gyeonggi Province by early Tuesday, authorities said.

Published : August 09, 2022

By : Reuters

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https://www.nationthailand.com/blogs/international/international-news/40018660

Aug. 8th, 2022 is the 55th anniversary of the Asean’s foundation. Congratulations on Asean Day through this page. It is not an overstatement that Asean Member States have manifested their earnest efforts to seek peace and prosperity in the region since its establishment, overcoming unexpected obstacles over the past five and a half decades.

By Ambassador Kim Hae-yong 

Secretary General of Asean-Korea Center  

Last May, I had the chance to meet the president and vice president of a university in Vietnam, a member of “Passage to Asean Association,” which represents a network of 80 universities and colleges from Asean countries and consists of more than 1.2 million students. Along with an introduction to the university, they pinpointed on the need to increase exchanges among the youth and further deepen mutual understanding in order to accumulate future-oriented developments in Asean-Korea relations. Recognizing the bigger thirst on Asean’s end for youth exchanges from the meeting, the Asean-Korea Center also reaffirms the key role that our youth play in developing a genuine, sustainable and mutually beneficial cooperation between Asean and Korea.

Since the establishment of the Sectoral Dialogue Partnership in 1989, Asean and Korea have made rapid developments over the years. All areas including trade, investment, culture and tourism, and people-to-people exchanges saw remarkable advancements, especially after the agreement on the Joint Declaration on Asean-ROK Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in 2010. Although the two sides may have inevitably lost some traction due to the onset of COVID-19, stable figures in trade and investment depict much potential for recovery once the pandemic is settled.

With high hopes for recovery and aspiration for consolidation of the partnership, the role of youth can be much highlighted as they are the future players in Asean-Korea relations. Asean has very young and dynamic demographics, with the population under age 35 taking up 57 per cent of the total. The role of youth is also highly valued by Asean, as seen through Asean Secretariat’s declaration year 2022 as the “Year of Asean Youth” under the chairmanship of Cambodia.

Against this backdrop of the growing importance of youth’s role, one of the most crucial assignments that lies ahead for the youth of Asean and Korea is perceiving one another as equal partners. For Koreans, Asean should not only be seen as a provider of tourist destinations, low-wage workers, or exotic food but as a true friend who can support when in need. For Asean, Korea should be given greater value and perceived as a partner who shares common values, rather than just as a country with economic benefits or as a source of K-pop and K-drama. To alter such status quo into a more balanced perception for the future of Asean-Korea relations, the Asean-Korea Center is carrying out many efforts.

With the aim of understanding the current perceptions of Asean and Korean youth, the centre conducted a survey of the youth of the two regions last year. Some interesting findings were made in the survey. Both Asean and Korean youths viewed the future of ASEAN-Korea relations positively, showed encouraging favorability toward each other, and were also interested in one another. All the results showed promising outcomes for future partnerships. Aiming to delve into details of such a positive outlook, the centre is carrying out the second phase of the survey this year.

Acknowledging that Asean youth residing in Korea can be one of the key players in shaping future relations, given their understanding and perception of both Korea and their home country, the centre has been actively gathering and supporting the activities of the Asean Youth Network in Korea (AYNK) since its establishment in 2014. Particularly, activities conducted by AYNK contribute to the community-building initiatives of Asean students in Korea, while at the same time also promoting Asean and its culture more to Korean peers.

To stimulate dialogues and discussions on Asean-Korea relations and its future partnership, the centre is preparing to hold the “2022 Asean-Korea Forum” this November, where scholars and policymakers from both Asean and Korea will engage with one another to exchange their views and ideas to develop strategies together for the future relationship. In particular, a separate session will be dedicated to the youth, the future players of ASEAN-Korea relations, to share their fresh views and outlook, by inviting the winners of Asean-Korea Academic Essay Contest,” which is one of the centre’s core projects for ASEAN and Korean youths.

The opening of an “Asean Hall” on Jeju Island next month is also in line with these efforts. The Asean Hall in Jeju is an exhibition space showcasing the culture and tourism-related items on Asean and Jeju. To provide information on Asean member states and Asean-Korea relations as well as insights into their culture, the Hall also offers digitalized self-service kiosks for a more vibrant visitor experience. Hopefully, this new exhibition hall can be used as a great venue for site visits especially among the youth and younger generation, thereby contributing to formulating a better sense of familiarity and understanding of Asean and Asean-Korea relations. As one of the most popular tourist destinations in Korea among both Koreans and international travellers from Asean, and a symbolic milestone for Asean-Korea relations, being the very location of the 1st Asean-Rok Commemorative Summit in 2009, the Asean Hall in Jeju is expected to contribute to increasing exposure of Asean to local Koreans and in enhancing a sense of Asean-Korea bond among Asean tourists.

Marking the 55th “Asean Day,” the Asean-Korea Center once again envisions a sustainable and mutually beneficial partnership between Asean and Korea, one that is shaped by the vision of its future generations that genuinely value and appreciate one another. To that end, the Asean-Korea Center will steadfastly continue to keep up its efforts to deepen mutual understanding and promote greater awareness of Asean and Korean youth to one another.

Published : August 09, 2022

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/international-news/40018658

The Razoni, the first ship to depart Ukraine under an UN-brokered deal, is looking for another port to unload its grain cargo as the initial Lebanese buyer refused delivery citing a more than five-month delay, the Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon said on Monday.

“According to the information provided by the shipper of the Ukrainian grain aboard the Razoni, the buyer in Lebanon refused to accept the cargo due to delays in delivery terms,” the embassy said in a Facebook post.

“So the shipper is now looking for another consignee to offload his cargo either in Lebanon/Tripoli or any other country/port.”

The Razoni left Odesa last week carrying 26,527 tonnes of corn.

The ship was scheduled to arrive in Lebanon on Sunday (August 7) but it changed its destination to Turkey’s Mersin port and is currently at anchor off Turkey’s southern coast, according to Refinitiv ship tracker data.

The United Nations and Turkey brokered the agreement last month after warnings the halt in Ukrainian grain shipments caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could lead to severe food shortages and even outbreaks of famine in parts of the world.

So far, around 243,000 tonnes of corn have been exported from Ukraine on seven ships since the first departure on August 1, according to a Reuters tally of data from Turkey’s defence ministry.

Published : August 09, 2022

By : Reuters