Feb 2023 – Page 8

Grain from Ukraine went to pigs in Spain – report

The scheme to ostensibly prevent famine in Africa may have benefited Spanish ham producers instead

from thefreeonline on 16th Feb 2023 by Censored by Google

‘Russia offered to send grain for free. But its exports were blocked’

Almost half of all Ukrainian wheat and corn exports to the EU ended up feeding pigs in Spain to produce the world-famous, and very expensive, jamon, according to an investigation by Austrian outlet eXXpress.

The bloc ended up accounting for most of Kiev’s grain exports, even though the opening of the Black Sea corridor was advertised as a way to feed Africa and Asia.

An estimated 2.9 million tons of wheat and corn from Ukraine ended up in Spain, where it was used as animal feed, the Austrian outlet said on Monday.

According to eXXpress, only 15% of the exports ended up in the countries at risk of famine, including 167,000 tons in Ethiopia and 65,000 tons in Sudan.

File photo: Jamon Iberico de Bellota is sliced during a competition in Madrid

“Spain paid more money – and Ukraine delivered,” the outlet said.

After months of Kiev and its Western backers accusing Russia of “blockading” the Ukrainian ports, the UN and Türkiye negotiated an arrangement for exporting grain from both Ukraine and Russia, via special corridors in the Black Sea.

Can Turkey/Syria Earthquake Doom Erdogan Nightmare of Re-election?

from thefreeonline on 16th Feb 2023 by @JosephDaher19 by Voices | The New Arab ..

The government’s inadequate response to the earthquake speaks to decades of mismanagement, corruption, and cronyism that could threaten Erogan’s career, as public outrage soars alongside the death toll, writes Joseph Daher.

Critics and analysts explain these shortcomings as consequences of Erdogan’s policy of centralising power in his own hands, undermining institutions of their independence, nominating inexperienced people loyal to his party to key positions, and weakening or eliminating civil society organisations

Will Turkey-Syria earthquake doom Erdogan’s dreams of re-election?

More than a week after the deadly earthquake in Turkey and Syria, which has killed more than 35,000 people and counting, including 29,695 in Turkey and more than 3,500 in Syria, public criticisms against Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government continue to increase.

The Turkish president and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) are already looking fragile ahead of the upcoming presidential and legislative elections in May. Current criticisms of Erdogan’s government in the aftermath of the earthquake centre on two main issues.

First, the response to the earthquakes has been considered by many as insufficient and inadequate. Many collapsed buildings have been left unattended and people left without electricity, water and food.

There has been growing frustration from the population, with critics signalling the lack of equipment, expertise and support to rescue those trapped under the rubble and questioning why the army, which played a key role after a 1999 earthquake, was not brought in sooner.

Erdoğan’s Palace Has More Than 2000 Rooms | Islamic Voice Of Turkey

“This is not the first time that Ankara is denounced for its failures to deal with natural disasters”

Erdogan himself recognized there were problems and limitations with the government’s initial response to the earthquake. One of the problems is the continuous weakening of the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (known by its acronym AFAD), which is the institution responsible for search and rescue and providing food during emergencies.

#Afrin: While the so-called "Barzani Charitable Organization" sent aid to occupied Afrin… kurdish people from Cindirês district of Afrin canton confirmed that they did not receive any aid, and added that the aid is only sent to settlers
"Since days we have not received any aid" pic.twitter.com/f0qHZXEN2m
— Rojava Network (@RojavaNetwork) February 16, 2023

US destroyed Nord Stream -sabotaged Europe – Germany not just humiliated – US Media ‘Silent as a Fish on Ice’: Lavrov

Moscow Slams Nordics for Sweeping Nord Stream Blast Under Carpet as Hersh Warns of Dire Costs for US

from thefreeonline on 15.02.2023 by BANNED News Agency

Last week, bombshell reporting by veteran US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh revealed that the Biden administration was directly responsible for September’s attacks against the Nord Stream network, which cut off a major Russian route for energy deliveries to Germany, and undermined Europe’s energy security.

BREAKING> Hersh reveals more- Only 6 0f 8 bombs went off, due to “Biden’s delay in giving final order” // CIA whistleblower’s motive- ‘against making Germany FREEZE’// Hersh promises more Nord Stream ‘bombshells’ to come

Denmark and Sweden have failed to respond to Russian overtures to discuss the Nord Stream blasts for nearly six months now, with their behavior constituting nothing short of a “boorish” attempt to hide Washington’s responsibility for the sabotage attack, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

“For half a year now they’ve been as silent as a fish on ice, and since September neither the Swedes nor the Danish have responded to official letters of our prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, who very politely offered to appoint some kind of contact person with whom it would be possible to hold talks, since [the attack] took place in the territorial waters of their exclusive zones, and the pipelines are the property of a Russian company,” Lavrov said, speaking to reporters on Wednesday.