Patti Mohr

Earth To Warm By 1.5 Degree Celsius By 2040, UN Report Warns

9Aug

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Earth To Warm By 1.5 Degree Celsius By 2040, UN Report Warns

Consensus Now Says Human Influence on Climate Warming Is 'Established Fact' August 9, 2021--In a massive 3949-page report, a United Nations working group warns that the climate is warming and humans influence is a cause. The report covers every area of the world. It discusses both the cause and effect. Most notably, it warns that even under the best-case scenario, scientists predict the Earth will warm by 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2040. "It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land," the report said."Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occurred." It is the sixth of eight reports by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The report comes in advance of the UN Climate Change Conference i...

UN Security Council Looks At Syrian Chemical Weapons

6Aug

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Diplomacy and International Law, Middle East, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, UN Security Council, Sanctions, Types of News: Brief

UN Security Council Looks At Syrian Chemical Weapons

August 6, 2021--Since Syria joined the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has worked to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons program. On Wednesday, UN Security Council members met to discuss that work. 'Gaps, Inconsistencies And Discrepancies' Thomas Markram, deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, addressed the council with an update. First, the COVID-19 pandemic has faced greater difficulty advancing progress. Second, the Syrian government has yet to fully disclose and destroy its chemical weapons program. "As a result of the identified gaps, inconsistencies and discrepancies that remained unresolved," Markram said he could not consider Syria's declaration to be "considered accurate and complete i...

Ice Cream Maker Under Fire For Stopping Sales In The Occupied Palestinian Territory

6Aug

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Domestic Politics, Human rights, Middle East, Types of News: Analysis

Ice Cream Maker Under Fire For Stopping Sales In The Occupied Palestinian Territory

EDITORIAL: Backlash Against Ben & Jerry's Draws Attention to Israel's Use of Settlers to Drive Palestinians Out August 6, 2021—A company that takes pride in its logo, "Peace, love and ice cream," finds itself in the hot seat this Summer as the government of Israel, politicians in the U.S. states of Florida, and activists in nonprofit organizations and on social media launch campaigns against it. On July 19, Ben & Jerry's announced that it would no longer sell ice cream in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank. "We believe it is inconsistent with our values for our product to be present within an internationally recognized illegal occupation," the company founders Jerry Greenfield and Ben Cohen wrote. Ever since that decision, the company and its parent company Unilever have b...

Mexico Sues U.S. Gun Manufacturers, Saying Defendants ‘Knowingly Sell to Criminals’

5Aug

By Patti Mohr1 Comment

Arms Sales, Military Industry, Corruption, Bribes, Illicit Finance & Money Laundering, Global Trade, Types of News: Brief

Mexico Sues U.S. Gun Manufacturers, Saying Defendants ‘Knowingly Sell to Criminals’

It is illegal to sell military-style weapons in Mexico. Lawsuit Sheds Light On Gun Sales And Criminal Cartels August 5, 2021--The government of Mexico filed a personal injury lawsuit against 10 U.S. gun manufacturers yesterday. It's significant that the lawsuit accuses U.S. gun manufacturers of knowingly and willingly selling their products to criminals. "The flow of guns from Defendants’ U.S. manufacturing plants and stores to the streets of Mexico is not an inevitable, natural phenomenon like the migration of monarch butterflies," the lawsuit says. "The flow of guns into Mexico is a foreseeable result of Defendants’ deliberate and knowing decisions to design, market, distribute, and sell guns in ways they know with virtual certainty will supply criminals in Mexico." 10 Defend...

UK, US Diplomats Denounce Taliban’s Crimes Against Humanity

2Aug

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Diplomacy and International Law, Human rights, Legal Battles, International Law, Justice, Types of News: Brief

UK, US Diplomats Denounce Taliban’s Crimes Against Humanity

August 2, 2021--Following reporting by a human rights organization about retaliatory killing by the Taliban in Afghanistan, diplomats for the United States and the United Kingdom took to Twitter to call for accountability. The latest report comes after an attack against a UN compound in Herat, Afghanistan. It also follows news from the United Nations about a sharp rise in civilian killings in Afghanistan since May. As violence rises, many international diplomats are questioning whether the Taliban could ever be trusted to govern and take part in peace talks. A UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan warns that 2021 is on track to witness the "highest ever number of documented civilian casualties in a single year since UNAMA records began." Retaliatory Killings The Afghanistan Inde...

U.S. Government To Breach $22 Trillion Debt Limit By August 1

29Jul

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Global Economics, Types of News: Brief, United States

U.S. Government To Breach $22 Trillion Debt Limit By August 1

Total Public Outstanding Debt Is $28.4 Trillion Photo by Alexander Schimmeck. July 29, 2021—The United States government is expected to run out of borrowing authority on August 1. That is two to three months sooner than expected. As a result, beginning tomorrow, July 30, the Treasury will suspend sales of certain securities. The debt limit, however, is actually not so simple. Significantly, the implications are larger than sales of securities. Already Exceeding the $22 Trillion Limit Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote to Congress late last week, asking lawmakers to either increase the current limit or continue suspending it. She said that would "simply allow Treasury to pay for previously enacted expenditures." Reaching the debt limit occurs every few years. It means ...

U.S. Court Rules in Favor of Importers Opposing Tariffs on Chinese Goods

7Jul

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Global Trade, Types of News: Brief

U.S. Court Rules in Favor of Importers Opposing Tariffs on Chinese Goods

July 7, 2021-In what may be the first of thousands of cases contending Trump-era tariffs on Chinese goods, a high-level U.S. court ruled on Tuesday in favor U.S. importers. According to attorneys for the U.S. businesses, the ruling is likely to impact more than 6,500 plaintiffs who have filed similar lawsuits. The Case Decided This Week A group of U.S. companies in the flooring and home-based consumer products argued that import tariffs on Chinese goods imposed "irreparable harm" on their businesses. The case, which is the first of 3,600 cases before the Court of International Trade, relates to the final collection of tariff duties, called "liquidation." Specifically, the court ruled that, "Liquidation, as the final computation of duties, will constitute irreparable harm unless an...

China: National Security Law Brought Hong Kong ‘On Track’

30Jun

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Communism, Dictatorship, authoritarian, Democracy, Domestic Politics, Types of News: Brief

China: National Security Law Brought Hong Kong ‘On Track’

June 30, 2021-China's Foreign Minister Wang Wenbin said China's National Security Law brought Hong Kong "back to the right track." Asked about allegations of human rights issues during a press conference today, Wang said Hong Kong is back on track and "the rule of law and justice have been upheld." Hong Kong Source: Mohr Media, file photo "This is an undeniable fact that any unbiased people would recognize," Wang said. Moreover, he cited economic statistics to back up his assertion that the world supports China's rule over Hong Kong. China's Crack Down on Freedoms As the GER has previously reported, Hong Kong has cracked down on speech since the new National Security Law and the election law have taken effect. China, meanwhile, credits the National Security Law for making...

Australia Asks WTO For Dispute-Talks Over Waning Wine Sales in China

29Jun

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Global Trade, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, UN Security Council, Types of News: Brief

Australia Asks WTO For Dispute-Talks Over Waning Wine Sales in China

June 29, 2021-Australia requested dispute consultations in the World Trade Organization with China this week over its wine imports. Specifically, Australia is challenging China's anti-dumping and countervailing measures on imports of Australian wine. The WTO is the world's largest body for settling trade disputes. Australian exports of wine are facing countervailing measures in China over trade disputes. Photo credit: Just Wines According to a Reuters news story published in the Spring, Australian wine exports from AU$325 million in the final quarter of 2019 to AU$12 million in December of 2020. The agreements cited are the WTO's Anti-Dumping Agreement, the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994. China-Australia Trad...

In the Wake of Sanctions, Ties between Belarus and Russia Strengthen

25Jun

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Eastern Europe, Sanctions, Types of News: Brief

In the Wake of Sanctions, Ties between Belarus and Russia Strengthen

June 24, 2021 -- In response to new human-rights related sanctions by Western countries, Belarus is strengthening its relationship with Russia. “We are categorically against sanctions. Recently, unfortunately, politicians in the West have shown a lowered level of political responsibility and literacy. They assumed the right to say what is right and what is wrong, to promote ‘lofty values’ and force everyone to comply with these ‘values’,” said Vladimir Makei, Belarus’ Minister of Foreign Affairs, told BELTA, a state-run news agency in Belarus. Earlier this week, the European Union, United States, United Kingdom, and Canada announced new rounds of sanctions against individuals and entities close to the Alexander Lukashenko regime. It comes in response to worsening political ...