Links

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-grains/crop-damage-mounts-for-eu-farmers-after-torrid-summer-idUSKCN1L71F5
Aug. 22, 2018
Crop damage mounts for EU farmers after torrid summer
The severe weather in Europe has coincided with adverse growing conditions in other major grain producing zones such as Russia and Australia, raising the risk that supplies in exporting countries will be eroded to their smallest in years.
The latest harvest estimates have underlined the impact of drought and heatwaves in northern Europe. Germany’s farmers’ association DBV on Wednesday forecast a 22 percent plunge in grain production this year in the European Union’s second-largest cereal grower.
Germany endured its highest summer temperatures in over a century as extreme weather gripped northern Europe from Britain to the Baltic states.
The combination of poor harvest yields and shriveled grassland has led to spiraling costs for animal feed, putting pressure on livestock farms.


https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/aug/23/tropical-disease-outbreaks-are-growing-threat-in-europe-as-temperatures-rise
Aug. 23, 2018
Europe is facing a growing threat of tropical disease outbreaks, as rising temperatures linked to climate change cause illnesses brought by travellers to spread more easily, health experts warned.
This summer has seen a sharp spike in West Nile virus infections in Europe, following soaring temperatures, compared with the past four years. Until the middle of August, 400 cases of the disease, which is carried by mosquitos, were recorded in Europe, with 22 fatalities, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Countries affected include Italy, Greece, Hungary, Serbia and Romania, all of which have recorded cases of the tropical infection in the past.
The spike was due to an early start to the transmission season, caused by high temperatures followed by wet weather, conditions ideally suited to mosquito breeding, according to the World Health Organization’s regional office for Europe.


https://apnews.com/4adc5a2a2e6b45df953ebcba6b63d171/Big-oil-asks-government-to-protect-it-from-climate-change
Aug. 22, 2018
Oil companies want tax payers to protect their facilities from the effects of the climate change they caused.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/saudi-arabias-barbaric-price-for-protest/2018/08/24/daed2a64-a640-11e8-97ce-cc9042272f07_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.adf66b8b466e
Aug. 25, 2018
Case in point: Israa al-Ghomgham, a 29-year-old Shiite rights activist who was arrested, along with her husband, Moussa al-Hashem, in December 2015 and has been in pretrial detention ever since without legal representation. She had been a leader of anti-government protests in restive Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia since the Arab Spring of 2011, calling for an end to discrimination against Shiites and for the release of political prisoners. Saudi Arabia is majority Sunni Muslim, as is the monarchy.
Ms. Ghomgham’s transgressions were “participating in protests in the Qatif region,” “incitement to protest,” “chanting slogans hostile to the regime,” “attempting to inflame public opinion,” “filming protests and publishing on social media” and “providing moral support to rioters,” according to Human Rights Watch. Saudi Arabia’s rulers are intolerant of dissent and punish it harshly, with imprisonment and public lashings. On Aug. 6, a prosecutor asked for the death penalty for Ms. Ghomgham, her husband and four others. If carried out, she would be the first woman beheaded in Saudi Arabia for nonviolent protest, although the punishment is used often for violent crimes. The prosecutor’s request was made before the Specialized Criminal Court, a counterterrorism tribunal that is increasingly being used as a bludgeon against dissent. A judge is due to consider the death-penalty request Oct. 28; if upheld, it would be reviewed by the king before being carried out.
Beheading a rights activist for nonviolent protest is barbaric, whether the victim is a woman or a man. Saudi Arabia recently bristled at criticism of its dismal human rights record by Canada, claiming interference in its internal affairs. But it is impossible to look the other way at such medieval practices, or should be. It would be heartening if the United States, the world’s most powerful democracy, could muster a stronger voice against the abuses.