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Germany ‘likely to miss’ goal of cutting emissions by 40% by 2020

Germany will likely miss its goal of cutting emissions by 40 percent by 2020, the environment minister said Monday. Official estimates project that Europe’s biggest economy will trim its greenhouse gas emissions by 32 percent or less by 2020 compared to 1990 levels, AP reported. The next target, a decade later, calls for a 55 percent drop in emissions from 1990. “ It’s painful for me to have to tell you that we will miss the targets we’ve set for ourselves for 2020, ” Svenja Schulze told delegates from more than 30 governments in Berlin. They gathered to prepare for an annual global climate summit in December. Setting her sights on 2030, Schulze said all sectors of the German economy would have to contribute cuts, but singled out transportation in particular. Emissions there remain at 1990 levels. https://www.rt.com/newsline/430129-germany-cut-emissions-goal/

Turkish soldiers deployed in Syria’s Manbij

Turkish troops have begun carrying out duties in the northern Syrian town of Manbij, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Monday, according to NTV. The broadcaster earlier cited local sources as saying Turkish soldiers had entered the outskirts of Manbij. The move is part of a deal agreed with the United States. Earlier this month, Ankara and Washington endorsed a roadmap for the withdrawal of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia from Manbij and the deployment of Turkish and US forces in the region to secure the area. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Syrian Kurdish militia fighters were leaving northern Syria’s Manbij area. Turkey’s armed forces announced earlier that they had started patrols with US soldiers along the line separating Turkish-controlled areas from the town of Manbij. Ankara says that Kurdish YPG militia fighters are based there. Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist group. Erdogan made the comments in a campaign rally i

Chinese tariffs target American nuts & hundreds of other products

Trade Wars In an attempt to kick Washington in its natural resources, Beijing has revealed a list of US goods set to be affected by the first round of retaliatory tariffs that will come into effect on July 6. China will set a 25-percent tariff on 545 American products worth $50 billion in agriculture products, cars, and seafood, according to Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency. The decision on the remaining 114 items, including chemicals, medical equipment, and energy industry products, will be “announced later.” Last week, the White House announced import levies targeting $50 billion of goods from China, aiming to curb unfair trade practices by Beijing. The measure, which comes into effect on July 6, targets 1,102 separate product categories, with the first package of tariffs to be applied to $34 billion of Chinese goods. China, the world’s largest commodities consumer, started levying additional taxes on American fruit, nuts, pork, and win

Julian Assange's lawyer: the British Government could end his detention TODAY

WikiLeaks reveals Italian officials had serious concerns about Italy's ability to participate in the monetary union already since the late 70s

The WIKILEAKS Public Library of US Diplomacy (PlusD) holds the world's largest searchable collection of United States confidential, or formerly confidential, diplomatic communications. As of April 8, 2013 it holds 2 million records comprising approximately 1 billion words. The collection covers US involvements in, and diplomatic or intelligence reporting on, every country on earth. It is the single most significant body of geopolitical material ever published. The PlusD collection, built and curated by WikiLeaks, is updated from a variety of sources, including leaks, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and documents released by the US State Department systematic declassification review. globinfo freexchange A 1978 cable from the US Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs to the Secretary of State, was monitoring in detail the Italian serious concerns on the perspective of Italy joining the European monetary union. It describes an atmosphere of

Western complicity in Saudi Arabia's dirty war in Yemen

The complicity of Western governments in the ocean of suffering being wrought in Yemen exposes them as agents of Saudi brutality. After three years of relentless conflict, it has been estimated that out of a population of 27.4 million, 22.2 million people in Yemen are in need of humanitarian assistance, 17 million are food insecure, 14.8 million lack basic healthcare, 4.5 million children are suffering malnourishment, while 2.9 million people are internally displaced. As for dead and injured, the toll stands at almost 10,000 and 50,000 respectively. As a result of the conflict, the country is also facing the " largest documented cholera epidemic of modern times. " And this epidemic can only have been intensified by the Saudi bombing of a cholera treatment center in the west of the country, causing the French NGO Médecins Sans Frontières to halt their work at the facility. Yet despite this mammoth scale in human suffering, the Saudi-led Sunni co

World running out of sand, making it the black market’s hot commodity

A global shortage of sand is prompting black-market gangs to steal large amounts from rivers and beaches. Scientists are warning that the global supply of sand is slipping through our fingers. Statistics show that worldwide, we go through 50 billion tons of sand every year – twice the amount produced by every river in the world during the same period. According to writer and journalist Vince Beiser, who wrote a book on the subject, “Sand is the essential ingredient that makes modern life possible. And we are starting to run out.” That’s mainly because the number and size of cities is exploding, especially in the developing world, Beiser told Business Insider. “ Every year there are more people on the planet, and every year more of them move to cities. Since 1950, the world’s urban population has ballooned to over 3.9 billion from 746 million,” he said. The demand for construction aggregates will rise by 5.2 percent annually to 51.7 billion t

US-led coalition strikes Syrian army positions in Deir ez-Zor province

US-led coalition aircraft have reportedly bombed Syrian military positions in the Al Bukamal area of Deir ez-Zor province in eastern Syria, state media outlet SANA reports, citing a military source. The strike, according to the military source, allegedly targeted a Syrian “military position” in al-Harra, southeast of Al Bukamal. There are dead and wounded following the strike, the source added. The strike was “probably” carried out by American drones, a source from among the local pro-government forces told Reuters, adding that the attack allegedly targeted Iraqi factions between Albu Kamal and Tanf, as well as Syrian military positions. The reported strike would not be the first time the US-led coalition targeted the positions of Syrian military and pro-Damascus forces in Deir ez-Zor, where the Western-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) operate. Updates: https://www.rt.com/news/430046-syria-army-positions-strike/

Letter to the People of Brazil

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Part 4 - Free and Democratic Elections We know the way to carry out these dreams. Today it goes through the holding of free and democratic elections, with the participation of all political forces, with no rules of exception to prevent just one candidate. Only then will we have a government with legitimacy to face great challenges, that can dialogue with all sectors of the nation supported by the popular vote. It is this mission that I am taking on by accepting my nomination as presidential candidate of the Workers’ Party. We have demonstrated already that it is possible to make a government of national appeasement, where which Brazil walks in the direction of the Brazilians, especially the poorest and the workers. My government was one where the poor were included in the Union’s budget, with more income distribution and less hunger; with more health and less child mortality; with more respect and affirmation of the

Catastrophic US-Saudi-UAE attack on Yemen port city Hodeida could trigger mass famine