Soldiers leaving Myanmar’s air force by the dozens, report says – UPI.com

Dozens of soldiers with Myanmar’s Air Force have deserted the military as air strikes continue against civilian populations in the country, according to a recent press report. Aung Zay Ya, a sergeant who said he left the military to joint the opposition Civil Disobedience Movement in Myanmar, said about 80 air force officers have defected in protest since the military coup Feb. 1, Myanmar Now reported Tuesday.

Source: Soldiers leaving Myanmar’s air force by the dozens, report says – UPI.com

Japan bans removal of prized agricultural seeds, seedlings abroad

The ban comes in response to concerns seeds and saplings of domestic varieties of plants registered in Japan, such as the high-end lime-colored Shine Muscat grape, have been grown and sold abroad in recent years without the local developers’ permission.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries says China and South Korea have cultivated the Shine Muscat grapes and exported them to Southeast Asia and other areas.

Japan has been promoting its exports of fruits and vegetables to other Asian countries.

A revised seed and seedling protection law that came into effect on April 1 now enables plant breeders to designate where their varieties are permitted to be grown and exported when registering their species.

In line with the revised law, the farm ministry announced last month it has decided to ban the export of seeds and seedlings of 1,975 agricultural products, including 273 whose plant variety registrations with the ministry are pending.

Source: Japan bans removal of prized agricultural seeds, seedlings abroad

2 Indian delegates at G-7 test positive for COVID-19: source

The development forced Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to pull out of attending the last-day session of the three-day meeting in the British capital. India is not a G-7 member but is participating in part of the talks as a guest, together with Australia, South Africa and Brunei, this year’s chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Jaishankar, who has not tested positive for COVID-19, said Wednesday, “Was made aware yesterday evening of exposure to possible Covid positive cases.”

“As a measure of abundant caution and also out of consideration for others, I decided to conduct my engagements in the virtual mode. That will be the case with the G7 meeting today as well,” he said in a Twitter post.

Source: 2 Indian delegates at G-7 test positive for COVID-19: source

US backs waiving COVID vaccine property rights | CIDRAP

A statement from United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai said, “The Administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines.” The statement was made during talks at the World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) general council meeting. The proposal was first floated last fall, but many wealthy countries opposed it. The WTO will require unanimous agreement on the temporary waiver of property rights, and is expected to formally vote on the issue in June. Proponents of the waiver say it will be in place for a handful of years, until the pandemic is under control. “This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures,” Tai said. “The Administration’s aim is to get as many safe and effective vaccines to as many people as fast as possible.”

Source: US backs waiving COVID vaccine property rights | CIDRAP

Red Cross sounds alarm over Nepal’s COVID-19 crisis | CIDRAP (Me: India’s failure now impacts Nepal)

“Nepal is recording 57 times more cases than this time last month,” IFRC said, adding that the country’s test positivity rate was 44% last weekend, a sign that thousands of infections are undiagnosed and prompting fears of mass deaths if virus spread isn’t stopped.

IFRC’s Nepal chairperson Dr Netra Prasad Timsina said in the statement, “What is happening in India right now is a horrifying preview of Nepal’s future if we cannot contain this latest COVID surge that is claiming more lives by the minute.”

Source: Red Cross sounds alarm over Nepal’s COVID-19 crisis | CIDRAP

Let’s talk American History

The Mind of Brosephus

American history has been a hot topic as of lately, primarily because of Republicans striking out against what they’re calling “wokeism”, revisionism, or whatever the code word is for the day. There’s been a lot of crap being spewed from the Tennessee Republican claiming the Three-fifths Compromise was passed to end slavery to Tim Scott claiming America isn’t a racist country.

Individually, the statements that have been made are outrageously stupid and wrong. Collectively, these statements all feed into the cult-like behavior Republicans now exhibit where up is down, the sky is green, and grass is blue. This is dangerous because this creates a society ignorant of its own history of accomplishments and mistakes. You can’t know who you are if you don’t what you have and haven’t done.

So, first up is Rick Santorum and his statement on Native Americans. The easiest and quickest way to disprove his statement…

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سافر غريب الدار

Home ” when he leaves his homeland and loved ones and goes away, and alienation may be optional for the sake of studies or to seek livelihood and ambition for a higher material profit, and it is compulsory in cases of wars and instability in the country, so displacement and people join among refugees and displaced persons Their homelands. A Stranger
HomeTravelled

حلم الدرويش

شعور الغربة من أصعب الأشياء على الإنسان, عندما يترك وطنه وأحبابه ويذهب بعيدا , وقد تكون الغربة أختيارية من أجل الدراسة أو للسعى على الرزق والطموح فى ربح مادى أعلى , وتكون إجبارية فى حالات الحروب وأنعدام الإستقرار فى البلاد فيكون التهجير وينضم الأشخاص فى عداد اللاجئين والنازحين عن أوطانهم .

ويشعر الناس بالغربة لأسباب عديدة مثل الأماكن الجديدة _ السكن فى مواقع نائية _ اللغة الجديدة التى تحيط بهم , وقد أهتم الأدباء بموضوع الغربة وظهرت كثير من الأعمال الروائية التى تتحدث عن ألم الأغتراب وأشهرها :

1_ ثلاثية غرناطة : نجحت الكاتبة رضوى عاشور فى تجسيد مشاعر وآلام التهجير من خلال تصويرها لأحدى العائلات فى الفترة الأخيرة قبل سقوط الأندلس .

2_ شآبيب : آخر روايات الكاتب د / أحمد خالد توفيق حيث يخلق عالما خياليا ربما يكون فى المستقبل , بعد أن يضيق العالم بالعرب المسلمين والمسيحيين فيفكروا فى خلق عالم جديد خالى من المنطق والواقعية .

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