Tag: peak food

Africa

Harsh repression as bread riots rock Sudan

Sudanese authorities carried out mass arrests and confiscated newspapers as protests exploded over rising bread prices and severe economic austerity. One student was killed amid demonstrations in Geneina, capital of West Darfur state. Protests were also reported from the cities of Nyala, al-Damazin and the capital Khartoum. The unrest broke out as bakeries doubled the price of bread following a government decision to increase the price of flour nearly fourfold. The decision was part of a package of austerity measures issued under the country's 2018 budget, seeking to address the spiralling inflation rate.

Iran

Iran: uprising against austerity —and clerical rule?

A wave of protests across Iranian cities began as a response to inflation and economic pain, but shows signs of escalating to a popular repudiation of clerical rule. Spontaneous protests first broke out in the northeast city of Mashhad, where security forces responded with tear-gas and water cannons. Since then, protests have been reported from Kermanshah and Hamadan in the west, Rasht and Sari in the north, Ahvaz in the southwest, and Qom and Isfahan in central Iran. Arrests are also reported from the capital, Tehran, where a group of demonstrators attempted to occupy a public square. Protests began with the slogan "Death to high prices!" But as repression mounted, demonstrators began chanting "Death to the dictator," in apparent reference to President Hassan Rouhani and the ruling mullahs. (Photo: Center for Human Rights in Iran)

The Andes

Venezuela: is the problem really ‘socialism’?

There is an unseemly tone of gloating to conservative commentary on the crisis in Venezuela, with pundits pointing to the current chaos as evidence that "socialism" doesn't work. But a case can be made that, contrary to conservative and mainstream assumptions, the problem is precisely that the Bolivarian Revolution has been insufficiently revolutionary and socialist.

Greater Middle East

Middle East may become uninhabitable: FAO

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization warned that the Middle East and North Africa risk becoming uninhabitable in a few decades, with water reserves falling dramatically.

The Amazon

Carbon obfuscation in New York Times

Amid the current UN climate talks, the New York Times runs an op-ed entitled "To Save the Planet, Don't Plant Trees"—filled with bogus science and dishonest claims.

Greater Middle East

Did climate change spark Syria crisis?

A jet stream blockage related to climate change caused the Russian wheat crop to fail in 2010, halting exports to Syria and the Arab world, and fueling unrest and revolt.

Southern Cone

Argentina: indignados occupy Buenos Aires

Hundreds of thousands of indignados—”indignant ones,” as econo-protesters call themselves in Spain and Argentina—filled the streets of Buenos Aires, occupying the central plaza.