The agreement committed the Belarusian government to releasing 123 political prisoners, a significant concession from one of Europe's most entrenched authoritarian regimes. In return, Washington agreed to lift sanctions on Belarus's potash exports-sanctions it escalated after the country's rigged 2020 election and later expanded, in 2022, when Belarus allowed Russia to use its territory to invade Ukraine.
The World Food Programme (WFP) transported more than 700 metric tons of food commodities to support nearly 70,000 people, including 21,000 mothers and children with specialized nutritious food to prevent malnutrition, the UN said in a statement. Dilling and the nearby city of Kadugli have been largely cut off from aid for more than two years, leaving communities with severe shortages of humanitarian assistance, the UN said.
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Polymarket, the cryptocurrency-based prediction market, announced on Tuesday it would be opening New York City's first free grocery store, seemingly a nod to the mayor's signature policy. In a statement the firm said it hoped to empower every New Yorker to achieve food security for good, and that it had donated $1m to the Food Bank for NYC. The eponymous Polymarket store, however, will apparently only run as a temporary pop-up, and despite supposedly opening on 12 February its location has yet to be announced.
For many Canadians, the cost of groceries and everyday essentials has been too high for too long. They need more support now," Prime Minister Mark Carney conceded on Monday morning, speaking at a grocery store in Ottawa, almost exactly a week removed from his landmark speech in Davos, Switzerland. The cost of food is no small thing. Indeed, for many Canadians it is the main thing. And for too many, the cost of food has become too much.
We begin with a deliberately ambitious question. What would it take for every person on Earth to live at least as well as someone in Switzerland does today-by 2100? Not culturally Swiss, but economically empowered with high incomes, long lives, strong education, and social cohesion. Achieving this would require global GDP to be about 8.5 times higher than it is today. That figure alone is enough to trigger skepticism. Will we have enough energy, materials, food, and innovation?
The global attack on nature is threatening the UK's national security, government intelligence chiefs have warned, as the increasingly likely collapse of vitally important natural systems would bring mass migration, food shortages and price rises, and global disorder. Food supplies are particularly at risk, as without significant increases, the UK would be unable to compete with other nations for scarce resources, a report to ministers warns.
Food policy across much of the world is changing. But not in Britain. That may be a costly mistake as the prices of essentials rise because of the climate emergency, geopolitical tensions and the fragility of just-in-time supply chains. Many capitals are now reviving their strategic food reserves. European nations such as Sweden, Finland, Norway and Germany are rebuilding stocks dismantled after the cold war.
Maui's lush landscapes have drawn visitors for decades, but now what comes from the aina (land) is also attracting attention. As the island continues to recover from the 2023 wildfires and a 20.7% drop in tourism between July 2023 and July 2025, more Maui farm owners are opening their fields and facilities to visitors. Farm tours offer educational, entertaining and enriching experiences that offset the high cost of farming and help stimulate the island's economic recovery.
One good way to help out this season is to partner with United Way of NYC, an organization with over 87 years of dedicated service. The nonprofit focuses on creating sustainable growth by addressing critical issues such as health, education and food security. Volunteers can help out by donating supplies like hygiene kits, school supplies, making financial donations or donating their time at one of the group's many toy drives.
The death toll from flooding and landslides across Indonesia's Sumatra island has risen to 631, the country's disaster agency said, as one million people were evacuated from high-risk areas. Heavy monsoon rains and tropical cyclones have devastated parts of Asia this week, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Southern Thailand, killing more than 1,160 people across the region, destroying infrastructure and inundating towns.
J ulian Canadien, a Dene man from Kakisa, Northwest Territories, is swarmed by black flies while he pulls weeds from the soil beneath his feet. The bugs don't bother him much. He's the only paid employee at the community garden, where his job is to prune and clear the rows of vegetables, water the produce, and churn the compost. And he likes his job.
A door about a hand's width opens into the frigid facility that protects the seeds that may one day play a fundamental role in the event of droughts, pests, floods, or the many other disasters that can ravage the earth and, consequently, the food supply for people and animals. Ukraine possesses an immense collection of biodiversity that cannot be found anywhere else. Who knows how useful it may be to us in the future. Its qualities can still be explored; it is like a treasure.
For their new meta-analysis, researchers analysed and compared data from different studies where crops were grown at various CO2 levels, both indoors and outdoors. They looked at 43 edible crops in total, including rice, barley, potatoes, tomatoes, wheat, soybeans, peanuts and lettuce. According to the analysis, when the CO2 level doubles, so too does the detrimental effect on the nutrients in the crops.
The shelves at Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre's food bank haven't been as stocked up as they used to be, but the need is greater than it's ever been, it says. And now the centre at Dundas Street and Parliament Street is one of the spots that fears losing funding after this year's federal budget left key reconciliation programs without guaranteed money beyond spring 2026.
American agriculture is facing a crisis. The average U.S. farmer is nearly 60, and according to American Farmland Trust research, we are losing farmland at a rate of more than 2,000 acres per day. Yet, consumer demand for organic and regenerative food continues to climb, creating an urgent need. This is not just an agricultural issue. It is an economic and cultural challenge with profound implications for our food security, our environment, and our communities.
Around 560 tonnes of food have entered the Gaza Strip every day since the US-brokered ceasefire came into effect last Friday, but levels in the first week have been described as a "trickle - not the flood needed". UN humanitarian affairs chief Tom Fletcher has said thousands of aid vehicles would have to enter weekly to tackle widespread malnutrition, homelessness and a collapse of infrastructure.
Scientists have devised a food supplement for bees that they say will have a wide-reaching effect on global food security. The experts say the yeast strain will help honeybees live longer as intensive farming and the climate crisis rob the insects of flowers and pollen. It is hoped the breakthrough will stem the decline in populations of wild bees, which are important pollinators. They help contribute to the production of at least 70 per cent of major global crops such as almonds, apples and cherries.
Humans' collective prospects as a species don't look great. By 2050, the global population will hit an estimated 9.7 billion, meaning there will be 1.5 billion more mouths to feed than today. Demand for animal-derived protein, with its high environmental price tag, is predicted to rise faster still. Global temperatures and atmospheric greenhouse-gas concentrations are still increasing, tree cover is shrinking, oceans are acidifying, agricultural land is being lost to salinization, and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent.
The government is advising UK households to stock up on tinned food, water, medicine, and pet food in anticipation of potential threats or emergencies.
"It is deeply troubling that the EU has become more dependent on phosphorus from Russian mines," says Pär Larshans, Chief Sustainability Officer at the Ragn-Sells Group.
