Category: General

The Agriculture and Land Department at the Central Region reported that reinforced effort will be carried out in water and soil conservation activities with strong participation of the public, administrations, Ministries as well as members of the Defense Forces and national associations.

According to Eng. Mesfun Berhane, representative of the department, in 2022 praiseworthy construction and renovation of terraces, water diversion schemes and micro-dams as well as forestation activities have been carried out at the sub-zones of Serejeka, Berik and Gala-Nefhi.

Eng. Mesfun went on to say that 1 thousand 666 hectares of terraces have been constructed and 6 thousand 644 hectares of terraces have been renovated.

Eng. Mesfun further noted that in Mai-Diminet area 440 hectares of terraces have been constructed, 218 hectares of terraces have been renovated, 4 thousand 203 meter cube of water diversion schemes have been constructed and over 345 thousand tree seedlings have been planted.

Eng. Mesfun also said that construction and renovation of terraces and water diversion schemes, construction of dams in Adi-Qe and Adi-Hawush, feasibility study for construction of a dam in Adi-Taereshi as well as research on irrigation farming through solar energy system in three villages are among activities for 2023.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea

Some ideas, no matter how bad they are and regardless of how often they are proven wrong, seemingly refuse to go away. In that sense, they are a lot like zombies, who although ostensibly dead, do not actually die and are extremely difficult to finish off.

Today, zombie ideas abound and they can easily be found in many areas of society, from health, medicine, and education to psychology and economics. They are also common within global politics and international relations (IR), where they relentlessly stalk commentary, analyses, and policymaking.

In a popular article from years ago, Stephen Walt, a leading American scholar, offers a useful example of zombie ideas within Western foreign policy through his discussion of the US’ long-term commitment to domino theory. Generally dating back to US President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s “falling dominoes” speech in the 1950s, domino theory, in various guises, remained an ever-present, dominant concept within the minds of American policymakers and analysts.

During the Vietnam War, it was constantly argued that American withdrawal from the country would severely undermine the US’ credibility worldwide and also lead to a string of pro-Soviet communist realignments across Southeast Asia (in the fashion of falling dominoes). Yet, no major dominoes actually fell after American troops left the country in the mid-1970s. And the US incurred mind-boggling human and financial costs (not to mention the massive costs that were paid by local populations across the region). History ultimately revealed that domino theory was really a poor guide to IR and the US’ approach to the region.

Several decades later, much like the decomposing corpses that crawl up from the grave and stumble along, domino theory re-emerged to cast its dark shadow over US foreign policy. Once again it became an integral part of the guiding framework for a protracted war in a faraway country, this time Afghanistan.

While for years the US administration justified its longstanding military presence in the country by claiming that a victory for the Taliban would embolden enemies and lead to insecurity cascading across the region, in 2021 American troops finally headed for the exits. The US carried out a disastrous withdrawal, immediately drawing stark parallels with Vietnam, while Afghanistan was faced with a collapsed economy, hit by humanitarian crises, and left in the hands of a group essentially unchanged from that which ruled the country from 1996-2001.

Another pertinent example of zombie ideas comes from the past several decades, a period during which Western nations, led by the US, have relentlessly bombed, invaded, occupied, and otherwise heavily interfered in the internal affairs and political systems of an array of countries across Africa and the Middle East.

One after the other – and sometimes even at the same time – these interventions have been driven by the same thinking and undertaken with an apparent complete lack of understanding of how they inevitably lead to disastrous outcomes: the creation of failed states, growth of enemies, exacerbation of radicalism, spread of terrorism, and utter devastation for local civilian populations.

Zombie ideas stalking today’s discourse on Eritrea and the Horn

During recent weeks and months, zombie ideas have risen up to once again pervade the discourse on Eritrea. In a series of often extremely arrogant and incendiary articles and statements, Western officials and commentators have called for the imposition of sanctions and unilateral coercive measures, as well as made threats and even proposed piracy. They have also suggested isolating the country through exerting pressure on Eritrea’s partners and friends, and basically eschewed the potential for cooperation or understanding to instead promote the maintenance of a stance characterized by hostility, demonization, and confrontation.

In addition to displaying ostentatious hypocrisy and bias, many elements of what the officials and commentators have recommended contravene basic international norms, as well as violate a range of international laws and array of fundamental rights. Piracy and threats of force, for instance, although having been standard practice centuries ago are today prohibited by the United Nations Charter and related international conventions. Similarly, United Nations bodies and experts have meticulously detailed how unilateral sanctions impinge on numerous universal rights (such as the right to development or rights of everyone to a standard of living adequate for their health and well-being).

Alongside all of that, however, the policies and approach being floated again by Western officials and commentators have repeatedly failed over the years. They have led to the aggravation of extreme hardships, served to escalate rather than ease tensions, and contributed to stoking the rivalries and devastating conflicts that have engulfed the Horn of Africa.

It does not require much time or effort to see how in many ways they have actually helped to bring about outcomes and circumstances across the Horn that run not only directly counter to the interests of the people of the region, but also to those of Western countries.

Despite the years of utter failure produced by the policies and approach that they championed, Western officials and commentators appear to be convinced that simply doing more of the same will achieve different results. This is not only a case of zombie ideas in action, it is also the best definition of insanity. Instead of doubling-down and trying to resuscitate terribly bad ideas that have proven horribly unsuccessful time and time again, it would be far better for Western officials and commentators to develop new ones and adopt a fresh approach.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea

Pope Francis on Sunday appealed for an end to the “senseless” war in Ukraine, in his traditional Christmas message from St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

The 86-year-old also warned the 10-month-old conflict was aggravating food shortages around the world, urging an end to the use of “food as a weapon.”

The head of the Catholic Church addressed thousands of faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square, some of them holding Ukrainian flags, before delivering the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing (“to the city and the world”)

He has repeatedly called for peace ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, condemning the war but seeking to maintain a delicate dialogue with Moscow.

In his address from the central balcony of St Peter’s, he recalled “our Ukrainian brothers and sisters who are experiencing this Christmas in the dark and cold, far from their homes.”

“May the Lord inspire us to offer concrete gestures of solidarity to assist all those who are suffering, and may he enlighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the thunder of weapons and put an immediate end to this senseless war!”

“Tragically, we prefer to heed other counsels, dictated by worldly ways of thinking”, he added, recalling “with sorrow” that “the icy winds of war continue to buffet humanity.”

“Our time is experiencing a grave famine of peace also in other regions and other theatres of this third world war,” he said.

He referenced numerous countries in difficulty this Christmas, whether due to conflict or another crisis, from Afghanistan to Yemen, Syria, Myanmar, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Lebanon and Haiti.

For the first time, he also called for “reconciliation” in Iran, rocked by women-led protests for the past three months.

The pope also urged those celebrating Christmas to remember all those “who go hungry while huge amounts of food daily go to waste and resources are being spent on weapons.”

“The war in Ukraine has further aggravated this situation, putting entire peoples at risk of famine, especially in Afghanistan and in the countries of the Horn of Africa,” he said.

“We know that every war causes hunger and exploits food as a weapon, hindering its distribution to people already suffering.

“On this day, let us learn from the Prince of Peace [Jesus Christ] and, starting with those who hold political responsibilities, commit ourselves to making food solely an instrument of peace.”

Source: Voice of America

Situation Analysis

Across the region, millions of people are living in poverty and facing multiple daily threats to their food security. An estimated 146 million people are facing crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa. Climatic shocks, such as prolonged drought and recurrent flooding, conflict, desert locusts, and economic downturns, exacerbated by the effects of COVID-19, have combined to hit communities hard. The impact of global drivers is compounding the effect of pre-existing deep-rooted local drivers such as poverty and marginalisation.

The crisis has spread across all of Africa – from East Africa with the fourth consecutive failed rains in the Horn of Africa and extreme flooding for four successive years in South Sudan, to the Sahel region of West Africa plagued by insecurity and political instability, to Southern Africa where countries, such as Zimbabwe, are experiencing surging inflation. Unfortunately, this is not new and in 2010–2011, in spite of early warning signs that failed rains in East Africa would result in acute food insecurity and a loss of lives, the humanitarian response was too little and too late. History almost repeated itself in 2016–2017, but governments and humanitarian organisations mobilised a response sufficient enough to head off mass mortality.

Warnings of the current situation were given as early as 12 months ago when African Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies started to launch hunger crisis emergency appeals. So far, 17 African National Societies have responded to the hunger crisis across the region with the limited resources they have. However, to respond to the rapidly escalating humanitarian needs and scale up, for the National Society response, funding for the crisis needs to be urgently increased. The IFRC, in turn, must quickly and massively scale-up life-saving assistance to millions of people facing crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity, of which hundreds of thousands are at immediate risk of or experiencing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, but also to decisively address the root causes of this crisis through longer-term commitments.

The report details how the African Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies plan to scale up life-saving assistance to millions of people and the response efforts since the launch of the emergency appeal. At the same time, through longer-term programming, African National Societies will address the root causes of food insecurity. IFRC will build on our previous successes and work in support of government plans and frameworks to improve the resilience of the most impoverished communities, including displaced populations.

Source: International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies

A Franco-U.S. satellite is due for launch this week on a mission to survey with unprecedented accuracy nearly all water on Earth’s surface for the first time and help scientists investigate its impact on Earth’s climate.

For NASA and France’s space agency CNES, which have worked together in the field for 30 years, it’s a landmark scientific mission with a billion-dollar budget.

French President Emmanuel Macron went to NASA’s Washington headquarters at the end of November alongside U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.

He highlighted the liftoff — scheduled for early Thursday on the U.S. West Coast — of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission to monitor the levels of oceans, lakes and rivers, including in remote locations.

Its predecessor, TOPEX/Poseidon, launched in 1992, was also a Franco-U.S. joint venture that measured ocean surface to an accuracy of 4.2 centimeters (1.7 inches).

It aided the forecast of the 1997-1998 El Nino weather phenomenon and improved understanding of ocean circulation and its effect on global climate.

The 2.2-metric ton SWOT mission will be put into orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The satellite’s primary payload is an innovative instrument to measure the height of water called KaRin, or Ka-band radar interferometer. Its two antennas, separated by a big boom, create parallel swaths of data.

“We’re going to get 10 times better resolution than with current technologies to measure sea-surface height and understand the ocean fronts and eddies that help shape climate,” said NASA Earth Science Division Director Karen St. Germain.

“It’s like looking at a car number plate from space when before we could only see a street,” added Thierry Lafon, SWOT project leader at the CNES.

The stakes are high. While the impact of major ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream is known, more local flows and eddies covering dozens of kilometers remain more of a mystery.

But they too affect sea water surface temperatures and heat transfer as well as the absorption by the oceans of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

SWOT will improve weather and climate modeling, the observation of coastal erosion and help track how fresh and saltwater bodies change over time.

With an “optimal” orbit of 890 kilometers (about 550 miles) above Earth, Lafon said SWOT will “take in all the components that affect water levels such as tides and the sun.”

NASA said SWOT will survey nearly all water on Earth’s surface for the first time.

It will monitor water levels, surface areas and quantities at more than 20 million lakes with shores of more than 250 meters. The entire length of rivers more than 100 meters wide will also be observed.

Water management, flood and drought prevention will be improved, said Lafon.

Flying the satellite to Vandenberg from the Thales Alenia Space (TAS) site in Cannes, southern France, proved a headache.

“Due to the conflict in Ukraine, there were no more Antonov 124s available, and the 747 cargo is too small,” said TAS project leader Christophe Duplay. “We decided to ask the [U.S. Air Force] to provide one of its C-5 Galaxies.”

And that meant counting on NASA to have the air force supply one of its rare giant aircraft to ship the huge payload.

SWOT has an estimated three-year lifetime — although Lafon said “nothing precludes the mission to last five to eight years” — and is set to become the first satellite to make a controlled reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, reducing the amount of space debris, in line with the French space operations act.

Nearly 80% of the 400 kilos (880 pounds) of onboard fuel will be used to that end.

 

 

Source: Voice of America

 

The Department of Energy planned an announcement Tuesday on a “major scientific breakthrough” at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one of several sites worldwide where researchers have been trying to develop the possibility of harnessing energy from nuclear fusion.

It’s a technology that has the potential to one day accelerate the planet’s shift away from fossil fuels, which are the major contributors to climate change. The technology has long struggled with daunting challenges.

Here’s a look at exactly what nuclear fusion is, and some of the difficulties in turning it into the cheap and carbon-free energy source that scientists believe it can be.

What is nuclear fusion?

Look up, and it’s happening right above you — nuclear fusion reactions power the sun and other stars.

The reaction happens when two light nuclei merge to form a single heavier nucleus. Because the total mass of that single nucleus is less than the mass of the two original nuclei, the leftover mass is energy that is released in the process, according to the Department of Energy.

In the case of the sun, its intense heat — millions of degrees Celsius — and the pressure exerted by its gravity allow atoms that would otherwise repel each other to fuse.

Scientists have long understood how nuclear fusion has worked and have been trying to duplicate the process on Earth as far back as the 1930s. Current efforts focus on fusing a pair of hydrogen isotopes — deuterium and tritium — according to the Department of Energy, which says that particular combination releases “much more energy than most fusion reactions” and requires less heat to do so.

How valuable would this be?

Daniel Kammen, a professor of energy and society at the University of California at Berkeley, said nuclear fusion offers the possibility of “basically unlimited” fuel if the technology can be made commercially viable. The elements needed are available in seawater.

It’s also a process that doesn’t produce the radioactive waste of nuclear fission, Kammen said.

How are scientists trying to do this?

One way scientists have tried to recreate nuclear fusion involves what’s called a tokamak — a doughnut-shaped vacuum chamber that uses powerful magnets to turn fuel into a superheated plasma (between 150 million and 300 million degrees Celsius) where fusion may occur.

The Livermore lab uses a different technique, with researchers firing a 192-beam laser at a small capsule filled with deuterium-tritium fuel. The lab reported that an August 2021 test produced 1.35 megajoules of fusion energy — about 70% of the energy fired at the target. The lab said several subsequent experiments showed declining results, but researchers believed they had identified ways to improve the quality of the fuel capsule and the lasers’ symmetry.

“The most critical feature of moving fusion from theory to commercial reality is getting more energy out than in,” Kammen said.

 

 

Source: Voice of America

 

 

A Japanese space startup launched a spacecraft to the moon Sunday after several delays, a step toward what would be a first for the nation and for a private company.

Ispace Inc’s HAKUTO-R mission took off without incident from Cape Canaveral, Florida, after two postponements caused by inspections of its SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

More than a hundred people at a viewing party in Tokyo roared in applause when the rocket fired and lifted into the dark skies.

“I’m so happy. After repeated delays, it’s good that we had a proper launch today,” said Yuriko Takeda, a 28-year-old worker at an electronics company who joined the gathering.

“I have this image of the American flag from the Apollo landing, so while this is just the launch, the fact that it’s a private company going there with a rover is a really meaningful step.”

The national space agencies of the United States, Russia and China have achieved soft landings on Earth’s nearest neighbor in the past half century, but no companies have.

Mission success would also be a milestone in space cooperation between Japan and the United States at a time when China is becoming increasingly competitive and rides on Russian rockets are no longer available in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

It would also cap a space-filled few days for Japan, after billionaire Yusaku Maezawa revealed on Friday the eight crew members he hopes to take on a SpaceX flyby of the moon as soon as next year.

The name HAKUTO refers to the white rabbit that lives on the moon in Japanese folklore, in contrast to the Western idea of a man in the moon. The project was a finalist in the Google Lunar XPRIZE before being revived as a commercial venture.

Next year is the Year of the Rabbit in the Asian calendar.

The craft, assembled in Germany, is expected to land on the moon in late April.

The company hopes this will be the first of many deliveries of government and commercial payloads. The ispace craft aims to put a small NASA satellite into lunar orbit to search for water deposits before touching down in the Atlas Crater.

The M1 lander will deploy two robotic rovers, a two-wheeled, baseball-sized device from Japan’s JAXA space agency and the four-wheeled Rashid explorer made by the United Arab Emirates.

It will also be carrying an experimental solid-state battery made by NGK Spark Plug Co.

“The Rashid rover is part of the United Arab Emirates ambitious space program,” said Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is also vice president of the United Arab Emirates and who watched the launch at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.

“Our aim is knowledge transfer and developing our capabilities and to add a scientific imprint in the history of humanity,” he tweeted.

Privately funded ispace has a contract with NASA to ferry payloads to the moon from 2025 and is aiming to build a permanently staffed lunar colony by 2040.

Source: Voice of America