World

Retraction of US-backed Gaza famine report draws anger, scrutiny

Published

3 months ago

December 26, 2024

Retraction of US-backed Gaza famine report draws anger, scrutiny

United States President Joe Biden’s administration is facing criticism after a US-backed report on famine in the Gaza Strip was retracted this week, drawing accusations of political interference and pro-Israel bias.

The report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), which provides information about global food insecurity, had warned that a “famine scenario” was unfolding in northern Gaza during Israel’s war on the territory.

A note on the FEWS NET website, viewed by Al Jazeera on Thursday, said the group’s “December 23 Alert is under further review and is expected to be re-released with updated data and analysis in January”.

The Associated Press news agency, quoting unnamed American officials, said the US asked for the report to be retracted. FEWS NET is funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

USAID did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on Thursday afternoon.

Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 45,300 Palestinians since early October 2023 and plunged the coastal enclave into a dire humanitarian crisis as access to food, water, medicine and other supplies is severely curtailed.

An Israeli military offensive in the northern part of the territory has drawn particular concern in recent months with experts warning in November of a “strong likelihood” that famine was imminent in the area.

“Starvation, malnutrition, and excess mortality due to malnutrition and disease, are rapidly increasing” in northern Gaza, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said in an alert on November 8.

“Famine thresholds may have already been crossed or else will be in the near future,” it said.

The report

The FEWS NET report dated December 23 noted that Israel has maintained a “near-total blockade of humanitarian and commercial food supplies to besieged areas” of northern Gaza for nearly 80 days.

That includes the Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoon areas, where rights groups have estimated thousands of Palestinians are trapped.

“Based on the collapse of the food system and worsening access to water, sanitation, and health services in these areas … it is highly likely that the food consumption and acute malnutrition thresholds for Famine (IPC Phase 5) have now been surpassed in North Gaza Governorate,” the FEWS NET report had said.

The network added that without a change to Israeli policy on food supplies entering the area, it expected that two to 15 people would die per day from January to March at least, which would surpass the “famine threshold”.

The report had spurred public criticism from the US ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, who in a statement on Tuesday said FEWS NET had relied on “outdated and inaccurate” data.

Lew disputed the number of civilians believed to be living in northern Gaza, saying the civilian population was “in the range of 7,000-15,000, not 65,000-75,000 which is the basis of this report”.

“At a time when inaccurate information is causing confusion and accusations, it is irresponsible to issue a report like this,” he said.

pic.twitter.com/f9rxgHdVPm
— Ambassador Jack Lew (@USAmbIsrael) December 24, 2024

‘Bullying’

But Palestinian rights advocates condemned the ambassador’s remarks. Some accused Lew of appearing to welcome the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza.

“To reject a report on starvation in northern Gaza by appearing to boast about the fact that it has been successfully ethnically cleansed of its native population is just the latest example of Biden administration officials supporting, enabling and excusing Israel’s clear and open campaign of genocide in Gaza,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement.

The group urged FEWS NET “not to submit to the bullying of genocide supporters”.

Huwaida Arraf, a prominent Palestinian American human rights lawyer, also criticised Lew for “relying on Israeli sources instead of your own experts”.

“Do you work for Israel or the American people, the overwhelming majority of whom disapprove of US support for this genocide?” she wrote on X.

Polls over the past year have shown a high percentage of Americans are opposed to Israel’s offensive in Gaza and want an end to the war.

A March survey by Gallup found that 55 percent of people in the US disapproved of Israel’s actions in Gaza while a more recent poll by the Pew Research Center, released in October, suggested about three in 10 Americans believed Israel’s military offensive is “going too far”.

While the Biden administration has said it is pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza, it has rebuffed calls to condition US assistance to Israel as a way to bring the war to an end.

Washington gives its ally at least $3.8bn in military assistance annually, and researchers at Brown University recently estimated that the Biden administration provided an additional $17.9bn to Israel since the start of the Gaza war.

The US is required under its own laws to suspend military assistance to a country if that country restricts the delivery of American-backed humanitarian aid, but Biden’s administration has so far refused to apply that rule to Israel.

“We, at this time, have not made an assessment that the Israelis are in violation of US law,” Department of State spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters in November despite the reports of “imminent” famine in northern Gaza.

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World

Sludge-Fertilizer Giant Leaves Texas Town Amid ‘Forever Chemicals’ Crisis

Published

4 hours ago

March 28, 2025

Press Room

Sludge-Fertilizer Giant Leaves Texas Town Amid ‘Forever Chemicals’ Crisis

The City of Fort Worth, Texas, is ending its contract with Synagro, the Goldman Sachs-backed provider of fertilizer made from sewage sludge, over concerns that “forever chemicals” in the fertilizer are contaminating local farmland and groundwater.

Fort Worth this month also sued several manufacturers of the chemicals, also called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, alleging that they contaminated the city’s water supplies.

The New York Times reported last year on a group of ranchers in Johnson County, just south of Fort Worth, who sued Synagro, blaming the fertilizer used on neighboring farmland for contaminating their crops and livestock.

The sewage-sludge fertilizer came from Synagro, which had a contract to take sewage from Fort Worth’s sewage treatment plant, treat it further, and distribute it to farmers as fertilizer. Johnson County has since launched a criminal investigation into Synagro.

A growing body of research has shown that sewage sludge, much of which is used as fertilizer, can be contaminated with PFAS, a synthetic chemical used widely in everyday items like nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpets.

The chemicals, which are linked to a range of illnesses including an increased risk of cancer, do not break down in the environment. When tainted sludge is used as fertilizer on farmland, it can contaminate the soil, groundwater, crops and livestock.

In January, the Environmental Protection Agency warned for the first time that PFAS present in sewage fertilizer, also known as biosolids, can pose human health risks. Maine, the only state that has started to systematically test farmland for PFAS, has detected the chemicals at dozens of dairy farms. But there has been little testing on farms in other states.

Fort Worth’s city council voted unanimously on Tuesday to cancel a 10-year contract signed with Synagro in 2019. The contract will end on April 1, and staff at the city’s water utility are working on new contracts for its biosolids operations, according to council records.

The city did not cite a reason for terminating the contract. But in a recent lawsuit filed by Fort Worth against the manufacturers of PFAS chemicals, the city cited the presence of PFAS in the city’s drinking-water sources and wastewater infrastructure.

Synagro said in a statement that the company and the city of Fort Worth “mutually agreed to part ways and settle all claims following ongoing disagreements regarding contract requirements.” It said that the termination was unrelated to PFAS. The city’s water department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Synagro, owned by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, has disputed claims that its biosolids have contaminated Texas farmland. This month, the company filed a motion to dismiss the Johnson County ranchers’ claims, citing an independent investigation it had commissioned that concluded that sludge fertilizer could not be the source of high PFAS levels found in the ranchers’ livestock.

Synagro also said testing had shown far lower levels of PFAS in the soil than claimed by the ranchers. The company has not publicly released the investigation.

Lawyers representing the ranches could not be reached for comment. The ranchers have stopped sending their cattle to market, while continuing to care for them, and say they face financial ruin.

Dana Ames, an environmental investigator leading Johnson County’s probe of Synagro, said an “exhaustive investigation” had found high levels of PFAS on the rancher’s property. “We have ruled out all other sources of contamination. We also tested the biosolids and found contamination,” she said.

At the council meeting, Luanne Langley, a resident of Grandview, Texas, accused the city of standing by while Synagro “dumped biosolids on unsuspecting landowners and farmers.” She said canceling the contract was not enough. “How is that going to help the families whose lives have been destroyed?” she said.

World

Massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocks Thailand, Burma, collapsing buildings and killing more than 150

Published

5 hours ago

March 28, 2025

Press Room

Massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocks Thailand, Burma, collapsing buildings and killing more than 150

A massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake rattled Thailand and Burma on Friday, causing buildings to collapse and leaving more than 150 people dead across both countries.

Dramatic footage captured in Bangkok showed a 33-story apartment building that was under construction falling down, scattering dust and debris throughout the city’s streets. Bangkok city authorities said 10 people were killed, 16 were injured and 101 are missing from three construction sites, including the high-rise.

More than 144 people were killed in Burma, where photos and video from two hard-hit cities showed extensive damage. The earthquake’s epicenter was in central Burma and aftershocks were reportedly felt in India and China.

One aftershock was reported to have been 6.4 magnitude, according to the United States Geological Survey. People in Bangkok that were evacuated from their buildings were cautioned to stay outside in case there were more.

AMERICA’S MOST EXPENSIVE NATURAL DISASTERS IN RECENT DECADES

Rescuers work at the site of a collapsed apartment building under construction in Bangkok, Thailand. (Reuters/Ann Wang)

The head of Burma’s military government said in a televised speech Friday evening that at least 144 people were killed and 730 others were injured.

“The death toll and injuries are expected to rise,” Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said, according to the Associated Press.

In Bangkok, Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said 90 people were missing in the wake of the building collapse.

Near Bangkok’s popular Chatuchak market, the 33-story building under construction, with a crane on top, crumpled into a cloud of dust, and onlookers could be seen screaming and running in other videos posted to social media.

Officials there declared the city a disaster area to facilitate interagency aid and emergency help. The greater Bangkok area is home to more than 17 million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments.

April Kanichawanakul, who works in an office building in Bangkok’s city center, at first didn’t even realize it was an earthquake, the first she’d ever experienced. “I just thought I was dizzy,” she told the AP.

“All of a sudden the whole building began to move. Immediately there was screaming and a lot of panic,” added Fraser Morton, a tourist from Scotland, who was in one of Bangkok’s many malls shopping for camera equipment.

Patients are evacuated outdoors at a hospital after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, March 28. (Tadchakorn Kitchaiphon)

“I just started walking calmly at first but then the building started really moving, yeah, a lot of screaming, a lot of panic, people running the wrong way down the escalators, lots of banging and crashing inside the mall.”

IS THE EAST COAST ON THE BRINK OF A MAJOR EARTHQUAKE — AND ARE WE PREPARED?

The U.S. Geological Survey and Germany’s GFZ center for geosciences said the earthquake was a shallow 6.2 miles, with an epicenter in central Burma, according to preliminary reports.

Apartment building under construction collapses in Thailand

Rescuers work at the site of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, March 28. (AP/Sakchai Lalit)

Water from high-rise rooftop pools in Bangkok sloshed over the side as they shook, and debris fell from many buildings.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra called an emergency meeting to assess the impact of the quake, which Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention said was felt in almost all regions of the country.

The location of Friday’s earthquake that rocked Burma and Thailand. (Fox News)

In Mandalay, Burma’s second-largest city and close to the epicenter, the earthquake damaged part of the former royal palace and buildings, according to videos and photos released on Facebook social media.

In the Sagaing region just southwest of Mandalay, a 90-year-old bridge collapsed, and some sections of the highway connecting Mandalay and the city of Yangon were also damaged.

In the capital Naypyitaw, the quake damaged religious shrines, sending parts toppling to the ground, and some homes.

Damaged pagodas are seen after an earthquake, on Friday, March 28, in Naypyitaw, Burma. (AP/Aung Shine Oo)

There are reportedly 188 people injured so far in Tibet on the Chinese side of the border, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

World

JD Vance tours US military base on controversial visit to Greenland

Published

7 hours ago

March 28, 2025

Press Room

JD Vance tours US military base on controversial visit to Greenland

The trip to the semi-autonomous Danish territory comes as relations between the US and the Nordic country nosedived after President Donald Trump repeatedly suggested that the US should control the island.

US Vice President JD Vance, his wife and other senior US officials have visited an American military base in Greenland, part of a trip that was scaled back following an uproar among Greenlanders and Danes who were angry that the original itinerary was planned without consulting them.

Soon after arriving on Friday, Vance briefly addressed US troops stationed at the base as he and his wife sat down to lunch with them, saying that that he’s “really interested in Arctic security.”

“As you all know, it’s a big issue and it’s only going to get bigger over the coming decades,” said Vance, who was scheduled later to receive briefings from military officials and deliver remarks.

The revised trip to the semi-autonomous Danish territory comes as relations between the US and the Nordic country have nosedived after US President Donald Trump repeatedly suggested that the United States should control the mineral-rich territory of Denmark, a traditional US ally and NATO member.

Friday’s one-day visit to the US Space Force outpost at Pituffik on Greenland’s northwest coast removed the risk of potentially violating diplomatic custom by sending a delegation to another country without an official invitation.

It will also reduce the likelihood that Vance and his wife will cross paths with residents angered by Trump’s threats of seizing control of the island.

During his visit, Vance was expected to receive briefings and deliver remarks to US service members on the base, according to the vice president’s office.

His delegation includes the national security advisor, Mike Waltz, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

According to a senior White House official, Vance was expected to make the case that Danish leaders have “spent decades mistreating the Greenlandic people, treating them like second-class citizens and allowing infrastructure on the island to fall into disrepair.”

The official, who was not authorised to comment publicly and requested anonymity to preview the vice president’s message, added that Vance would emphasise the importance of bolstering Arctic security in places like Pituffik.

Ahead of Vance’s arrival, four of the five parties elected to Greenland’s parliament earlier this month signed an agreement to form a new coalition government.

Those parties have come together in the face of Trump’s designs on the territory.

“It is a time when we as a population are under pressure,” the prime minister-designate, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said before the accord was signed to applause and cheers in the capital, Nuuk.

He added that “we must stick together. Together we are strongest,” Greenland broadcaster KNR reported.

In a post on Instagram, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen congratulated Nielsen and his incoming government, and said that “I look forward to close cooperation in an unnecessarily conflict-filled time.”

Frederiksen said on Tuesday that the US visit, which was originally set for three days, created “unacceptable pressure.”

She has said that Denmark wants to work with the US on defence and security, but Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.

Initially, second lady Usha Vance had announced a solo trip to the Avannaata Qimussersu dogsled race in Sisimiut.

Her husband then subsequently said he would join her, only to change the itinerary again, after protests from Greenland and Denmark, to a one-day visit to the military post only.

In an interview on Wednesday, Trump repeated his desire for US control of Greenland.

Asked if the people there were keen to become US citizens, Trump said he didn’t know “but I think we have to do it and we have to convince them.”