Month: February 2024

The cities stripping out concrete for earth and plants – BBC Future

From Australia to Ontario, cities are taking up unnecessary stretches of concrete and asphalt, allowing nature to take hold in their place.
On a hot July day, Katherine Rose picked up a sturdy metal pole and jammed it under the tempting lip of a pre-cut concrete slab. Rose, communications and engagement director at Depave, a non-profit in Portland, Oregon, was sweating in the heat – but she was going to win this fight.
The grubby, rectangular section of urban crust in front of her was about to move. Pushing down on her metal bar, applying it like a lever, she eased the concrete covering up and away. Now sunlight could fall once again on the ground below. A mess of gravel and dirt that was, to Rose, just bursting with potential.

(https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240222-depaving-the-cities-replacing-concrete-with-earth-and-plants?fbclid=IwAR1xOC2kpLse0WOeNtC6eLt7dms1AjSyBum76oKeDJILFVG3QG7w9-szuH8_aem_AWsuO8VJdS4hGUWPANOyVTwzYcD3aaRdbef9nUxut7uVdHw4E30Lc0ih2wWvfepCbt4)

Breadfruit: The Caribbean’s hurricane-resistant food

Originally brought to Jamaica from the Pacific Islands by the HMS Bounty in 1794, breadfruit was an inexpensive, nutritious food for enslaved Africans labouring on British-owned sugar plantations. The trees grow quickly and fruit within a year of planting, producing 200 to 400 fruits per year the size of a large grapefruit or small watermelon. Breadfruit contains all nine essential amino acids and is a good source of fibre, protein and several minerals and vitamins.


In the centuries since their introduction, breadfruit trees were abundant across Jamaica, and the fruit has been a staple of the country’s cuisine. In recent years, as communities have sought out more sustainable, local and healthy food sources – especially ones that can withstand extreme weather (a breadfruit tree that’s damaged in a hurricane can regrow itself) – breadfruit has experienced renewed interest as a nutritious and versatile option, providing both health and economic benefits.

(https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240221-breadfruit-the-caribbeans-hurricane-resistant-food)

Julian Assange appeals in ‘most important press freedom case in the world’ | Freedom of the Press News | Al Jazeera

The most important press freedom case in the world’
Since it came to prominence in 2010, Wikileaks has become a repository for documentary evidence uncovered by government or corporate whistleblowers.

In 2013, Edward Snowden, a contractor with the US National Security Agency, leaked documents to WikiLeaks revealing that the NSA had installed digital stovepipes in the servers of email providers, and was secretly filtering private correspondence.

(https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/20/julian-assange-appeals-in-most-important-press-freedom-case-in-the-world?utm_source=brevo&utm_campaign=Weekly+21022024&utm_medium=email)