Author Archives: Reuters News Agency

World hunger, malnutrition soared last year mostly due to COVID-19 – U.N. agencies

By Maytaal Angel

LONDON (Reuters) – World hunger and malnutrition levels worsened dramatically last year, with most of the increase likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a multi-agency United Nations (U.N.) report published on Monday.

After remaining virtually unchanged for five years, the number of undernourished people rose to around 768 million last year – equivalent to 10% of the world’s population and an increase of around 118 million versus 2019, the report said.

Authored by U.N. agencies including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Program (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), the report is the first comprehensive assessment of food insecurity and nutrition since the pandemic emerged.

“Unfortunately, the pandemic continues to expose weaknesses in our food systems, which threaten lives and livelihoods. No region of the world has been spared,” the U.N. agencies said in a joint statement.

The 2021 edition of “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” estimated that on current trends, the U.N. sustainable development goal of zero hunger by 2030 will be missed by a margin of nearly 660 million people.

That number is 30 million higher than in a scenario where the pandemic had not occurred.

“Our worst fears are coming true. Reversing such high levels of chronic hunger will take years if not decades,” said WFP chief economist Arif Husain.

There is increased diplomatic momentum this year to tackle hunger and malnutrition with upcoming summits like the U.N. Food Systems Summit and the Nutrition for Growth Summit. But the report stressed the challenge was huge.

The number of people unable to access adequate food year-round rose by 320 million to 2.37 billion last year – a rise in one year equal to the preceding five years combined.

Of the 768 million undernourished people, 418 million were in Asia, 282 million in Africa and 60 million in Latin America and the Caribbean. In Africa though, 21% of people are undernourished, more than double that of any other region.

After declining for several decades, food insecurity has been on the rise since the mid-2010s, especially in countries affected by conflict, climate extremes, economic downturns, or battling high inequality.

The increase last year however was equal to that of the previous five years combined.

(Reporting by Maytaal Angel; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

‘Wither away and die:’ U.S. Pacific Northwest heat wave bakes wheat, fruit crops

By Julie Ingwersen

CHICAGO (Reuters) – An unprecedented heat wave and ongoing drought in the U.S. Pacific Northwest is damaging white wheat coveted by Asian buyers and forcing fruit farm workers to harvest in the middle of the night to salvage crops and avoid deadly heat.

The extreme weather is another blow to farmers who have struggled with labor shortages and higher transportation costs during the pandemic and may further fuel global food inflation.

Cordell Kress, who farms in southeastern Idaho, expects his winter white wheat to produce about half as many bushels per acre as it does in a normal year when he begins to harvest next week, and he has already destroyed some of his withered canola and safflower oilseed crops.

The Pacific Northwest is the only part of the United States that grows soft white wheat used to make sponge cakes and noodles, and farmers were hoping to capitalize on high grain prices. Other countries including Australia and Canada grow white wheat, but the U.S. variety is especially prized by Asian buyers.

“The general mood among farmers in my area is as dire as I’ve ever seen it,” Kress said. “Something about a drought like this just wears on you. You see your blood, sweat and tears just slowly wither away and die.”

U.S. exports of white wheat in the marketing year that ended May 31 reached a 40-year high of 265 million bushels, driven by unprecedented demand from China.

But farmers may not have as much to sell this year.

“The Washington wheat crop is in pretty rough shape right now,” said Clark Neely, a Washington State University agronomist. The U.S. Agriculture Department this week rated 68% of the state’s spring wheat and 36% of its winter wheat in poor or very poor condition. A year ago, just 2% of the state’s winter wheat and 6% of its spring wheat were rated poor to very poor.

On top of the expected yield losses, grain buyers worry about quality. Flour millers turn to Pacific Northwest soft white wheat for its low protein content, which is well-suited for pastries and crackers.

But the drought is shriveling wheat kernels and raising protein levels, making the some of the crop less valuable. “The protein is so high that you can’t use (it) for anything but cattle feed,” Kress said.

Low-protein “soft” wheats have lower gluten content than the “hard” wheats used for bread, producing a less-stretchy dough for delicate cakes and crackers.

The Washington State Agriculture Department said it was still too early to estimate lost revenue from crop damage.

The heat peaked in late June, in the thick of the harvest of cherries. Temperatures reached 118 degrees Fahrenheit (48 Celsius) on June 28 at The Dalles, Oregon, along the Washington border, near the heart of cherry country.

Scientists have said the suffocating heat that killed hundreds of people would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change and such events could become more common.

The National Weather Service posted weekend heat advisories for eastern Washington.

NIGHTTIME CHERRY HARVEST; SUN NETS FOR APPLES

On the hottest days last month, laborers who normally start picking cherries at 4 a.m. began at 1 a.m., armed with headlamps and roving spotlights to beat the daytime heat that threatened their safety and made the fruit too soft to harvest.

The region should still produce a roughly average-sized cherry harvest, but not the bumper crop initially expected, said B.J. Thurlby, president of the Northwest Cherry Growers, a grower-funded trade group representing top cherry producer Washington and other Western states.

“We think we probably lost about 20% of the crop,” Thurlby said, adding that growers simply had to abandon a portion of the heat-damaged cherries in their orchards.

The heat wave’s impact on Washington’s $2 billion apple crop – the state’s most valuable agricultural product – is uncertain, as harvest is at least six weeks away. Apple growers are used to sleepless nights as they respond to springtime frosts, but have little experience with sustained heat in June.

“We really don’t know what the effects are. We just have to ride it out,” said Todd Fryhover, president of the Washington Apple Commission.

Growers have been protecting their orchards with expansive nets that protect fruit against sunburn, and by spraying water vapor above the trees. Apples have stopped growing for the time being, Fryhover said, but it is possible the crop may make up for lost time if weather conditions normalize.

The state wine board in Oregon, known for its Pinot Noir, said the timing of the heat spike may have benefited grapes. Last year, late-summer wildfires and wind storms forced some West Coast vineyards to leave damaged grapes unharvested.

Washington’s wine grapes also seem fine so far, one vineyard manager said. “I think wine grapes are situated well to handle high heat in June,” said Sadie Drury, general manager of North Slope Management.

(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen in Chicago; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Matthew Lewis)

At least 18 people killed in lightning strikes in India

(Reuters) – At least 18 people, including seven children, were killed and 16 others injured by lightning strikes in the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan late on Sunday, local officials said.

Eleven of those killed were tourists visiting the Amer fort on the outskirts of the state capital Jaipur, after lightning struck a watchtower near the site.

“As it started raining visitors took cover at a watchtower near the fort. Lightning struck the watchtower killing 11 people on the spot and injuring others,” Jairam, a local police officer who identified himself by only one name, told Reuters on Monday.

Most of those dead were local tourists, he said.

Seven children were killed by lightning strikes in two other incidents in the state on Sunday night, Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Twitter.

There were also reports of casualties from lightning strikes in the neighboring states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, but the number of those affected was not immediately known.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed in a tweet his condolences to the families of the deceased.

Lightning and thunderstorms are common in the rainy season in India, which runs from June to September.

(Reporting by Sumit Khanna in Ahmedabad; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Illinois becomes first U.S. state to require Asian-American history in schools

By Nathan Layne

(Reuters) – Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill on Friday requiring public schools to teach Asian-American history, the first such step by a U.S. state amid rising concerns about violence against people of Asian descent.

The bill mandates the teaching of a unit of Asian-American history in public elementary and high schools starting in the 2022-2023 school year.

“We are setting a new standard for what it means to truly reckon with our history,” said Pritzker, who signed the legislation into law at a high school in Skokie, a suburb of Chicago.

Educating children about the contributions of Asian Americans in U.S. history would help curb the proliferation of false stereotypes and discrimination, the Democrat governor said.

Led by advocacy group Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Chicago, supporters had been promoting the bill since early 2020. But it gained traction in the state legislature following the deadly attacks on Asian women in the Atlanta area in March.

Many Asian communities have been on edge amid a wave of violent incidents targeting them following lockdowns to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, which emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

The Teaching Equitable Asian American History Act says the curriculum should include teaching of the efforts made by Asian Americans to advance civil rights, as well as their contributions to the arts and sciences and to the economic and cultural development of the country.

Grace Pai, Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Chicago, said the bill would benefit the more than 100,000 Asian American students from kindergarten through high school in Illinois.

“So many students don’t get a chance to learn about the contributions of their communities or the migration stories of their families, contributing to feelings of being ‘othered’,” Pai said in a statement.

(reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Fire at Bangladesh factory kills 52 workers, police open probe

By Ruma Paul and Zeba Siddiqui

DHAKA (Reuters) -At least 52 people were killed and 20 injured after a massive fire raged through a juice-making factory in Bangladesh, officials said on Friday, the latest industrial accident in a country with a track record of poor working conditions.

The fire started late Thursday on the ground floor of a six-story factory building in Narayanganj, southeast of Dhaka, and was still raging Friday evening as firefighters scrambled to control it.

Flames rose from the top floors of the building, where many workers had jumped out from to escape, as a key exit out of the working areas was locked, said fire official Abdullah Al Arefin.

“Three people died from jumping off the building to escape the fire and 49 charred bodies have been recovered,” Mustain Billah, the administrator for the Narayanganj district, told Reuters by phone from the scene.

“Firefighters are struggling to control it, as chemicals and flammable materials were stored inside the building,” he added.

The cause of the fire is not yet known, but police official Abdullah Al Mamun told reporters that three police teams have been dispatched to probe the incident and legal action would be taken against those responsible for the fire.

Dozens of disasters occur in Bangladesh each year due to poor fire and building safety standards. The latest incident is the worst since or August 2016, when more than 100 people fell ill in the southern Chittagong city after inhaling gas that leaked from a fertilizer factory.

Past accidents have mired the country’s robust textiles sector, which employs millions of people and contributes the most to Bangladesh’s economy.

Industry officials promised better safety standards after the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory building in Dhaka that killed more than 1,000 workers and injured hundreds. But many factories still fall short.

“We demand speedy trial and punishment of those responsible for this tragic murder incident through a fair investigation,” the nonprofit Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust said in a statement. It also sought compensation for impacted workers and a probe into the cause of the fire, including reports of locked exits.

The factory is owned by the private firm Hashem Food and Beverage, a unit of Bangladesh’s multinational Sajeeb Group. Officials at both companies did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment on Friday.

Al Arefin said each building floor is about 35,000 square feet (3,250 square meters) but they were only accessible by two stairways, which many workers couldn’t get to as the fire had spread there. Some escaped to the roof from the stairs and were rescued, but many couldn’t, as a door leading to the roof was locked.

Dozens of family members protested outside the plant, demanding justice. But some, like Nazma Begum, were still looking for those lost. “There is no justice! Where is my son?” Begum cried out.

(Reporting by Ruma Paul and Zeba Siddiqui; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Christian Schmollinger)

Dutch reimpose COVID curbs as cases jump in young adults

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -The Dutch government reimposed COVID-19 curbs on nightclubs, music festivals and restaurants on Friday in an effort to halt a surge in COVID-19 infections among young adults.

The Netherlands lifted most lockdown measures on June 26, as cases were falling. Roughly two-thirds of the population has had at least one vaccination shot.

But, with bars, restaurants and nightclubs open again, new infections have risen at the fastest pace in months, with nearly7,000 cases reported over the 24-hours through to Friday morning. That compared with fewer than 1,000 a week earlier.

“Partly because of the Delta variant, infections are rising very fast,” Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.

“Our goal is to rein in the virus, protect the vulnerable groups and make sure the healthcare system is not overrun.”

The measures included earlier closing of cafes and restaurants and a return to social distancing and fixed seating for diners or concert-goers. All dance venues and nightclubs will be closed because it will be impossible to ensure social distancing.

Festivals spread over several days would be cancelled and large public gatherings restricted to smaller groups, Rutte said.

The curbs would go into effect at 0500 GMT on Saturday and remain until Aug. 14, the government said.

So far, the new spike in infections has not led to an increase of COVID-19 patients in hospitals.

But health minister Hugo de Jonge said the current low level of hospital admissions could be threatened by an “unprecedented” increase in infections.

Around three-quarters of new cases in the Netherlands are occurring among young people and more than half are of the more infectious Delta variant, the health minister said this week.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Writing by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Andrew Heavens)

Nearly 600 rescued migrants disembark from charity boat in Italy

ROME (Reuters) – Hundreds of migrants rescued in the central Mediterranean disembarked on Friday in the southern Italian town of Augusta, in Sicily, after Rome-based maritime authorities agreed to give their ship a port.

The Ocean Viking vessel, operated by SOS Mediterranee, carried 572 people, including around 180 minors, after picking them up in six separate operations in Maltese and Libyan search and rescue areas, the European NGO said.

After asking the European Union to find a safe port for the migrants, the group said the situation onboard was deteriorating due to tension and exhaustion among those rescued.

“This news brings us relief and gives these people irrepressible joy,” said Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, referring to the Ocean Viking being able to dock.

SOS Mediterranee said all migrants would be tested for COVID-19 after disembarking the boat.

Migrant boat departures from North Africa towards Europe have picked up in 2021 after a decline in the previous few years and scores of people have died in recent weeks following shipwrecks as they tried to reach Italy.

Some 22,900 migrants have arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year – many of them fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East – compared with almost 7,700 in the same period last year, Interior Ministry data shows.

Several charity boats have been impounded in Italy in recent months after officials reported irregularities onboard.

Charity group MSF complained Italian authorities were using such inspections to prevent ships from returning to sea where many migrants die.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante in Rome; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

Find $75 billion to head off next pandemic, top panel tells G20

By Gavin Jones

VENICE (Reuters) – COVID-19 is probably only a forerunner of increasingly dangerous pandemics in the future and governments need to find $75 billion over the next 5 years to prepare for them, a panel of experts told finance ministers of the Group of 20 rich countries on Friday.

In a report to the G20 meeting in Venice the panel said the $15 bln per year of investments it recommended doubled current spending levels but was “negligible” compared with the costs of another major outbreak of a new contagious illness.

“The economic case for these additional investments is overwhelming,” said former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, who co-chaired the 23-member panel along with World Trade Organization Chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Singapore’s former finance minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Summers told Reuters in an interview he was “guardedly optimistic” its recommendations would be implemented and said “we won’t be reluctant to speak out” if they are not.

“Spending tens of billions of dollars could save tens of trillions,” he said.

To plug “major gaps” in pandemic preparedness, the panel identified four main areas for action: infectious disease surveillance, resilience of national health systems, supply and delivery of vaccines and other medicines, and global governance.

The report, titled “Global deal for a pandemic age”, called for the creation of a $10 bln annual Global Health Threats Fund, plus $5 bln to strengthen the World Health Organization and create dedicated pandemic facilities at the World Bank and multilateral development banks.

In addition, low and middle-income income countries would need to add about 1% of gross domestic product to public spending on health over the next five years, it said.

“Achieving safety from pandemics will require a basic shift in thinking about international cooperation,” said Shanmugaratnam. “It is the ultimate case for both national self-interest and international solidarity at the same time.”

The panel was set up in January and includes prominent names such as former European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet, Ana Botin, executive chairman of the Santander group, and Guntram Wolff, head of the Bruegel think-tank.

The G20, chaired this year by Italy, will consider its recommendations in the lead up to a joint finance and health ministers’ meeting in October.

Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters the finance ministers had been “generally very positive” about the report and she was confident it would be taken forward.

(Editing by Giles Elgood)

Death toll in Florida condo collapse rises to 78

(Reuters) -The confirmed death toll in the collapse of a Miami-area condominium tower increased to 78 on Friday after workers pulled the remains of an additional 14 people from the rubble of the building, an official said.

A total of 62 people remain missing and feared dead in the concrete and steel ruins of the 12-story tower, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told a news conference.

The number of missing could change as it remains possible that not all were in the building when it abruptly caved in and crumbled to the ground early on June 24.

“This is a staggering and heart-breaking number that affects all of us very deeply,” Levine Cava told a briefing.

The rising death toll followed the removal of 13 million pounds (589,6701 kg) of debris from the site, she said.

Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said that crews have whittled down the size of the building debris pile from four or five stories to nearly ground level, with some areas at below-ground level.

“So the progress that our search and rescue teams are making is really incredible,” Burkett said.

Investigators have not determined what caused the Champlain Towers South to fall apart without warning. Attention has been focused on a 2018 engineering report that warned of structural deficiencies.

(reporting by Peter Szekely in New York and Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut, Editing by Franklin Paul and Aurora Ellis)

U.S. donation of 1.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses arrives in Afghanistan

By Doyinsola Oladipo

(Reuters) – A U.S. donation of more than 1.4 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Afghanistan on Friday, the first of two shipments this month, the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF said in a statement.

A second shipment of vaccines donated by the United States through the COVAX global sharing program will bring the total to 3.3 million doses, UNICEF said. The U.S. vaccine donations come as U.S. military forces withdraw from Afghanistan, ending a 20-year war in the country.

The deliveries are part of President Joe Biden’s pledge to share 80 million vaccine doses globally, most through COVAX, which is run by the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

“These vaccines arrive at a critical time for Afghanistan as the country faces a difficult surge in COVID-19 infections,” said UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan, Hervé Ludovic De Lys.

Over 1,200 new infections were reported in Afghanistan on July 8th down from a record peak of 1,853 new cases on June 21st, according to the Reuters COVID-19 tracker. Less than four percent of the Afghan population is vaccinated, UNICEF said.

“As many countries face vaccine supply challenges, the dose-sharing mechanism is a rapid way to close the immediate supply gap,” De Lys said. “I hope that other governments will step up and share their doses, supplies and therapeutics to protect those most in need.”

(Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo, editing by Michelle Nichols and David Gregorio)