EcoNews BASE - in a troubled world we still plant trees, protect nature and humanity for our common future !

Details: Published: 04 April 2019

Belgium's Royal Museum for Central Africa. In February UN experts said racial discrimination was "endemic" in the country © Reuters

Belgium sorry for mixed-race kidnappings

By bbc.com - 04 april 2019

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has apologised for the kidnapping of thousands of children born to mixed-race couples during the colonial rule of Burundi, DR Congo and Rwanda.

The "métis" children born to Belgian settlers and local women were forcibly taken to Belgium and fostered by Catholic orders and other institutions.

About 20,000 children are believed to have been affected.

Most fathers refused to acknowledge paternity of their children.

Some of the children, born in the 1940s and 1950s, never received Belgian nationality and remained stateless.

Details: Published: 04 April 2019

The scandal of calling plantations ‘forest restoration’ is putting climate targets at risk

Mono-species plantations like all monocultures are NOT the solution. Solution here is that newly restored natural forests need **protecting** in order to protect the climate benefits they provide. - picture: Jen Watson / shutterstock

By Simon Lewis and Charlotte Wheeler (*) - April 4, 2019

As trees grow they remove carbon from the atmosphere. New forests can therefore play an important role in meeting the goal of keeping Earth’s temperature to 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels.

Governments and wider civil society are increasingly recognising these benefits. One important step was the 2011 launch of the Bonn Challenge to restore 350m hectares of forest by 2030. This is a major undertaking – the area is a little larger than the size of India.

Spurred by the necessities of drastically cutting emissions and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to meet climate targets, many countries, including Brazil, India and China, have committed large areas to forest restoration. Adding up the Bonn Challenge and other national pledges from 43 countries across the tropics and sub-tropics – where trees grow fast – reveals that these governments have pledged to restore 292m hectares of degraded lands.

This very welcome news is, unfortunately, not all that is seems. Our new analysis, published in Nature, shows that implementing the current pledges under the Bonn Challenge will mean the 1.5℃ climate goal is still missed.

Details: Published: 02 April 2019

5G - Brussels Becomes First Major City to Halt 5G Due to Health Effects

By Josh del Sol Beaulieu (*) - 2. April 2019

Great news. A Belgian government minister has announced that Brussels is halting its 5G plans due to health effects.

The statement was made by Céline Fremault, the Minister of the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, responsible for Housing, Quality of Life, Environment and Energy. From an interview last Friday, with L’Echo:

“I cannot welcome such technology if the radiation standards, which must protect the citizen, are not respected, 5G or not. The people of Brussels are not guinea pigs whose health I can sell at a profit. We cannot leave anything to doubt.”

– Céline Fremault, Minister of the Government (Brussels-Captial Region), responsible for Housing, Quality of Life, Environment and Energy

Read more: Brussels to Halt 5G

Details: Published: 02 April 2019

Human Rights Defenders Need to be Defended as Much as they Defend our Rights

USA and Canada or Brazil are omitted from this fake map??? Individuals in governments of these countries have to also be held accountable for the worst atrocities committed against human rights defenders - assassinations and murders.

By Michel Forst - UN special rapporteur (*)

GENEVA, April 2019 (IPS) - They are ordinary people – mothers, fathers, sisters, sons, daughters, brothers, friends. But for me they are extraordinary people – the ones who have the courage to stand up for everyone else’s rights.

They are the human rights defenders.

Last year, according to reliable sources, 321 of them were killed, in 27 countries. Their murders were directly caused by the work they do to ensure the rest of us enjoy the rights we claim as purely because we are human.

Countless others were tortured, raped and threatened, also for the work they do protecting their, and others’ human rights.

In fact, 2018 was deadliest year for human rights defenders since the UN began monitoring the challenges they face through the establishment of a mandate for a Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.

It shouldn’t be like this.

Details: Published: 31 March 2019

Bayer (Monsanto) Loses Billions As Another Jury Determines Roundup Herbicide Causes Cancer

BAYER-Monsanto should finally take RoundUp off the shelves even in those countries where they had bribed governments to allow it in the first place.

By Arjun Walia - - March 31, 2019

In Brief

The Facts:
Another jury has determined that Roundup herbicide causes cancer. It's the second case to make headlines, and there are currently thousands of pending cases against the agrochemical giant, Bayer, who recently acquired Monsanto.
Reflect On:
With so much science emerging over the past several decades showing how detrimental this product is to human health and the environment, why has it been approved? Why is it legal? Why do we buy it?

Read more: 2nd Jury Determines Roundup Herbicide Causes Cancer

Details: Published: 31 March 2019

DRUGS & ROCKnROLL AT THE HELM OF SOUTH AMERICA

(Constantly updated - Refresh your Browser!) No time to read and study in order to understand or to find an answer to the question: Why does the USA want to impose their kind of "democrazy" on Venezuela? - JUST WATCH 2:40 Minute CLIP

For earlier upates go to THE VENEZUELA FILES I

For later updates go to THE VENEZUELA FILES III and THE VENEZUELA FILES IV

LISTEN WHILE READING: They Don't Care About Us !

President Madura announced a 30-day power rationing scheme to rebuild the power-grid damaged by sabotage.

Update SUN, 31. March 2019 (vf): The Venezuelan government announced Sunday that school activities will be suspended for a longer period of time across the country as a result of the recent attacks against the electric system that have caused another blackout. The Minister of Communications Jorge Rodríguez read a communique saying the government also established a half working day in all private and public institutions of the country, meaning that a work day would start with first daylight and finish at 2 p.m. local time. "The terrorist attacks, carried out by criminal hands who had announced their purpose in a bold way in various public alloctions, have produced considerable damage in the Transmission sector of the Hydroelectrtic Plant of Simon Bolivar in Guri," he added. The statement also said that the attacks had "caused significant levels of destruction of equipment and interupting processes required for the constant functioning of the service." "The Bolivarian Government managed to re-instore the service almost entirely in the past after similar attacks and will not rest until reaching a definitive balance so such an important service can be provided again."

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is under siege by imperialist policies implemented by the U.S.A. that also forced some U.S. allies and vassals to follow.

REMEMBER: ... shortly before his untimely death, which he blamed on disabling agents,

#HugoChavez | #Venezuela sent a message to the #UnitedStates, that is relevant now more than ever.

MUST WATCH

duration 1:49 - uploaded by telSur 5:01 PM - 31 Mar 2019

UPDATE: 27. April 2019: Polly Higgins passed over. RIP - we will fight on!

The destruction of Earth is a crime. It should be prosecuted

Businesses should be liable for the harm they do. Polly Higgins has launched a push to make ecocide an international crime.

By George Monbiot - TG - 28 Mar 2019

Why do we wait until someone has passed away before we honour them? I believe we should overcome our embarrassment, and say it while they are with us. In this spirit, I want to tell you about the world-changing work of Polly Higgins.

She is a barrister who has devoted her life to creating an international crime of ecocide. This means serious damage to, or destruction of, the natural world and the Earth’s systems. It would make the people who commission it – such as chief executives and government ministers – criminally liable for the harm they do to others, while creating a legal duty of care for life on Earth.

Details: Published: 28 March 2019

France shaken after record 1,100 dead dolphins wash up on the country’s Atlantic coast

CECILE DARS, OBSERVATOIRE PELAGIS/CNRS/UNIVERSITE DE LA ROCHELLE VIA AP / MARCH 7

By Associated Press -March 28, 2019

PARIS >> The dolphins’ bodies were horribly mutilated, the fins cut off.

Dead dolphins on a shore of La Tranche sur Mer, on the Atlantic coast, western France. France has been shaken into action after a record number of dead dolphins have washed up on the country’s Atlantic coast this year, many clearly victims of industrial fishing. More than a 1,000 corpses, according to French marine researchers. The death toll that has alarmed animal welfare groups and prompted France’s ecology minister to launch a national plan to protect them.

But what shocked French marine researchers wasn’t just the brutality of the deaths of these highly intelligent mammals, but the numbers involved — a record 1,100 have landed on France’s Atlantic coast beaches since January.

Details: Published: 24 March 2019

INTERNATIONAL ALERT UPDATE: 11.04.19 / 16H00 UTC - Julian Assange was brought to Westminster Magistrate court and is now held in remand prison of "Her Majesty" awaiting trials for skipping bail and an extradition request by the USA. Hearings 02. and 12. May 2019.

INTERNATIONAL ALERT UPDATE: 11.04.19 / 10H00 UTC - The worst fears came true, when the doors of the Ecuadorian embassy in London were opened to British undercover police and Julian Assange was dragged by force of 6 men out of the embassy to then be bundeld into a police van from where he shouted: "RESIST!"

ALERT UPDATE: 04.04.19 - BREAKING: A high level source within the Ecuadorian state has told @WikiLeaks that Julian Assange will be expelled within "hours to days" using the #INAPapers offshore scandal as a pretext--and that Lenin Moreno, who is under investigation for corruption, already has an agreement with the UK for Assange's arrest. Activists mobilized. Fidel Narváez, who was Ecuador’s consul to London until 2018, bluntly warns that “the government seeks a false pretext to end the asylum and protection of Julian Assange.” Narváez wrote that Moreno is using the #INApapers offshore scandal as a pretext to “yield to US pressure”. However, an unnamed "senior Ecuadorian official" told Associated Press (AP) no decision has been made to expel Julian Assange from the country's London embassy despite tweets from WikiLeaks that sources told it he could be kicked out within "hours to days." Whistleblower Chelsea Manning has been re-jailed to coerce her into a secret interrogation. Edward Snowden remains in exile. Those responsible in the USA have not yet been punished for their revealed war-crimes and crimes against humanity. WATCH> 24/7 LIVESTREAM ON THE EMBASSY ENTRANCE

CHECK at least once a day: LIVE from Ecuadorian Embassy in London amid reports of Assange's asylum withdrawal

US-journalist confronts sickening UK Undercover Police MUST WATCH

Rendition Plane, Increased Police Presence Raise Fears for Assange

Infamous U.S.American rendition plane N966GA spotted in London

A mysterious flight of a U.S. rendition plane to London and increase of plainclothes British police outside the Ecuador embassy has heightened concern for the WikiLeaks founder, as Elizabeth Vos reports.

By Elizabeth Vos - CN - March 24, 2019

In four days, it will be a full year since WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange was severed from contact with the outside world by the government of Ecuador.

Concern for Assange was heightened as the anniversary approaches after a U.S. Department of Justice jet previously used for the rendition of an accused Russian hacker landed in London on Tuesday and remained there for days, only to return to the U.S. on Saturday. The flight reportedly departed from Manassas, Virginia.

5G Exposed: A Must-See Documentary on this Wireless ‘Experiment on Humanity’

This new documentary by Sacha Stone investigates the science (and lack thereof) behind the effect of wireless technology on the human population – especially children. Exposing the industry bias and aversion to the overwhelmingly strong evidence that 5g is not just harmful, but a genuine threat to Humanity and all biological life.

Watch this extremely important

5G Documentary Here: !

Details: Published: 21 March 2019

Fukushima: “An Ongoing Global Radiological Catastrophe”. “A Huge Coverup”.

Fukushima the epicentre of global nuclear contamination.

Transcript of 8th anniversary interview with Dr. Helen Caldicott

By Dr. Helen Caldicott and Michael Welch - Global Research, March 21, 2019

As part of efforts to normalize this historic event and cover it up in its magnitude, the Japanese government has invested considerable financial, public relations and other resources into what they are billing the ‘Recovery Olympics‘ set to take place in a year’s time in Tokyo. But Helen Caldicott warns that the dangers associated with Fukushima have not gone away and remain a cause for concern.

On the week marking the eighth anniversary of the Fukushima meltdowns, the Global Research News Hour radio program, hosted by Michael Welch, reached out to Dr. Caldicott to get her expert opinion on the health dangers posed by the most serious nuclear disaster since, at least, the 1986 Chernobyl event.

12 facts that show why bottled water is one of the biggest scams of the century

Hiker drinking bottled water in desert

By BI - 20. 03. 2019 - Tell your friends

Nearly 780 million people worldwide do not have access to a source of clean water (water that flows through a household connection, borehole, well, or protected spring).
In the US, 99.2% of the country has access to clean tap water , but many Americans chose to drink bottled water instead due to concerns about poor taste and contamination .
Bottled water and clean tap water are virtually identical in terms of purity and taste. In a 2011 study , only one-third of blind taste-testers could correctly identify tap versus bottled water.
Unlike tap water, however, producing bottled water is an expensive, resource-heavy process that requires crude oil and extra water.

There's nothing quite like the feeling of a pure, ice-cold drink of water.

While some Americans get water from the tap, the rest pay for the bottled variety at a cost of $100 billion a year.

The average cost of a gallons worth of single-serve bottled water in the US is nearly $9.50, according to FoodandWaterWatch . That's nearly three times more expensive than the average price for a gallon of milk , and almost four times the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline . Bottled water costs nearly 2,000 times more than tap water, which costs less than a cent per gallon.

Many people assume that the higher price tag is justified by the health benefits of bottled water, but in most cases, that's not true.

Right Groups, Activists Demand Justice for Slain Costa Rican Indigenous Leader

People demanding justice for Sergio Rojas, the murdered Indigenous leader from Costa Rica. — Sergio Rojas, the murdered Indigenous leader from Costa Rica. | Photo: Twitter / @BHRRC

By TS - 20 March 2019

People are demanding justice for murdered Indigenous leader from Costa Rica.

Various rights organizations are demanding justice for the murdered Costa Rican Indigenous activist who was shot dead Monday. From political parties, the Ombudsman's Office, students, to the presidency of the National Institute of Women are demanding a prompt investigation of the murder of Sergio Rojas, the Bribri leader.

Indigenous land rights defender Sergio Rojas was assassinated by armed gunmen who shot the activist as many as 15 times at around 11:45 pm local time in his home, according to his neighbors, in southern Costa Rica.

Details: Published: 19 March 2019

By Eric Walberg (*) - 19. March 2019

On 7. March 2019 Venezuela suffered a worst case cyberattack on its electricity grid

The Canadian government under Justin Trudeau is undermining not just Canada’s (ok, undeserved) reputation as a honest, fair mediator, but he has chosen 2019 to make Canada the enabler of the worst of US imperial policies.

Yes, the Huawei debacle is an embarrassment that will be remembered more as a joke, though possibly as the Suez Crisis of the US empire.* Whatever. Canada to the rescue! And of course, Canada reviles Islamic Iran, while shedding crocodile tears for the 50 Muslims murdered last week in New Zealand.

But far more despicable, downright ‘war-crime’ territory is Canada’s role in undermining the Venezuelan socialist government. The US war on Venezuela has been ongoing ever since Hugo Chavez miraculously survived a US-backed coup in 2002. Canada has been a minor irritant to the socialists, but not the villain. Until now.

Details: Published: 19 March 2019

These countries are home to the highest proportion of refugees in the world

Since the start of the Syrian conflict more than 6.31 million people have been forced to flee the country. Image: REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

By Johnny Wood Senior Writer, Formative Content - 19 Mar 2019

By the end of 2017, persecution, conflict and violence had forced 68.5 million people from their homes.

That figure – from the UNHCR’s 2018 Global Trends Report – includes 25.4 million refugees (over half of whom are under the age of 18), 3.1 million asylum-seekers and 40 million internally displaced people.

The number of people displaced by conflict and persecution is the highest on record with one in every 110 people worldwide either a refugee, an asylum-seeker or internally displaced.

Details: Published: 18 March 2019

5 Food-Medicines That Could Quite Possibly Save Your Life

Garlic - but get the locally and organically grown garlic, not the Chinese that is full of heavy metals and bleeched with toxic chlorine gas.

By Sayer Ji, Founder - GMI - March 18th 2018

Some of the most powerful medicines on the planet are masquerading around as foods and spices. While they do not lend themselves to being patented, nor will multi-billion dollar human clinical trials ever be funded to prove them efficacious, they have been used since time immemorial to both nourish our bodies, and to prevent and treat disease.

So valued were these in ancient times that they were worth their weight in gold, and entire civilizations either rose to great power or collapsed as a result of their relationship to them.

What is even more amazing is that many of these “plant allies” are found growing in our backyards, and often sitting there in our refrigerators and spice racks, neglected and under appreciated. In fact, many of us use these daily unaware that this is why we don’t get sick as often as those who do not incorporate them into their diet. Let’s look at a few examples….