NAIROBI, Kenya, July 22 -- The U.S. Agency for International Development issued the following transcript of remarks by Administrator Samantha Power with Kenya Cabinet Secretary Margaret Kobia after a meeting with Kenyan Multi-Agency National Drought Response Committee: * * * SECRETARY MARGARET KOBIA: This morning, the Government of Kenya and the USAID held a roundtable discussion of the drought and the food security implications and the ongoing response in the country. The objective of today'  more

WASHINGTON, July 27 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper on Libya and U.S. policy (No. IF11556) on July 26, 2022, by Middle Eastern affairs specialist Christopher M. Blanchard. Here are excerpts: * * * Eleven years after a 2011 uprising that toppled long-time authoritarian leader Muammar al Qadhafi, Libya has yet to make a transition to stable governing arrangements. Elections and diplomacy have produced a series of interim governments (Figu  more

WASHINGTON, July 26 (TNStalk) -- The Center for Strategic and International Studies issued the following commentary on July 25, 2022: * * * By Sujai Shivakumar, Director and Senior Fellow of the Renewing American Innovation Project Gregory Arcuri, Research Assistant of the Renewing American Innovation Project, and Charles Wessner, Senior Adviser of the Renewing American Innovation Project Global supply chains, particularly in technologies of strategic value, are undergoing a remarkable reev  more

LONDON, England, July 30 -- The European Union's European Bank for Reconstruction and Development issued the following news: Until Russia went to war on Ukraine in February, Ukraine was known as the "breadbasket of Europe". One of the largest grain exporters in the world, it provided about 10 per cent of globally traded wheat and corn and 37 per cent of sunflower oil, United Nations figures show. The yellow and blue of its flag mimic its rolling golden fields under blue summer skies. The war h  more

WASHINGTON, July 29 -- Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California, chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Environment, issued the following opening statement at a hearing on July 19, 2022, entitled "Regenerative Agriculture: How Farmers and Ranchers are Essential to Solving Climate Change and Increasing Food Production": * * * Climate change poses serious threats to food security. As the magnitude and frequency of extreme weather events increases, disruptions threaten our food supply at   more

WASHINGTON, July 29 -- The House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Environment issued the following testimony by Association of American Indian Farmers President Kara Brewer Boyd involving a hybrid hearing on July 19, 2022, entitled "Regenerative Agriculture: How Farmers and Ranchers are Essential to Solving Climate Change and Increasing Food Production": * * * Dear Honorable Chairman Ro Khanna and Ranking Member Ralph Norman. Thank you for the invitation. It is truly an honor to address yo  more

WASHINGTON, July 29 -- The House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Environment issued the following testimony by Rachel Schattman, an assistant professor of sustainable agriculture at the University of Maine, involving a hybrid hearing on July 19, 2022, entitled "Regenerative Agriculture: How Farmers and Ranchers are Essential to Solving Climate Change and Increasing Food Production": * * * My name is Rachel Schattman, and I serve as an assistant professor of sustainable agriculture at the   more

BOSTON, Massachusetts, July 26 (TNStalk) -- Oxfam America issued the following statement on July 25, 2022: * * * In reaction to Ukraine and Russia's recently signed grain deal, Max Lawson, Oxfam International's Inequality Policy & Advocacy Lead said. "This is extremely important news that puts people before politics. The deal will help calm spiralling food prices which have fueled poverty and hunger around the world. "It will help countries already mired in hunger crises, and which until the  more

BOSTON, Massachusetts, July 30 -- Oxfam America issued the following news release on July 28, 2022: Yemen is facing unprecedented rises in the price of food, putting millions more people in danger of catastrophic hunger, Oxfam warned today. Already exhausted by over seven years of conflict, Yemen has been hit hard by the worsening global food crisis. The prices of wheat, flour, cooking oil, eggs, and sugar have all increased by more than one third since March. Such price hikes haven't been see  more

OXFORD, England, July 25 (TNStalk) -- Oxfam International issued the following statement on July 23, 2022, by Max Lawson, inequality policy and advocacy lead, in reaction to Ukraine and Russia's recently signed grain deal: * * * "This is extremely important news that puts people before politics. The deal will help calm spiralling food prices which have fuelled poverty and hunger around the world. "It will help countries already mired in hunger crises, and which until the war broke out relied  more

WASHINGTON, July 29 -- Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-California, issued the following news release on July 28, 2022: Congresswoman Sara Jacobs' (CA-53) bipartisan resolution condemning the use of hunger as a weapon of war and recognizing the effect of conflict on global food security and famine passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee today. Russia has intentionally attacked agriculture infrastructure in Ukraine, including fields, farm equipment, warehouses, markets, roads, bridges, and ports, causing   more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, ranking Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following news release and letter on July 29, 2022: House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul (TX-10) and several House Foreign Affairs Committee members including Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Rep. Steve Chabot (OH-01), Rep. Darrell Issa (CA-50), Rep. Ann Wagner (MO-02), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Rep. Ken Buck (CO-04), Rep Dan Meuser (PA-09),   more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee issued the following written statement by World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley involving a hearing on July 20, 2022, entitled "Global Food Security Crisis and The U.S. Response": * * * I. INTRODUCTION Thank you for convening this hearing on the current global food crisis and the urgent need to address the growing threat of starvation around the world. I want to thank the United States Congress and this Committee f  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee issued the following testimony by U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield involving a hearing on July 20, 2022, entitled "Global Food Security Crisis and The U.S. Response": * * * Thank you, so much, for the opportunity to testify here today. My mother was a cook -- the best I've ever known. She shared her gift widely, and not just with our family. She'd cook for the whole town at once. Even though we didn't h  more

WASHINGTON, July 28 -- The U.S. State Department issued the following transcript of a news availability on July 27, 2022, by Secretary Antony J. Blinken: * ** SECRETARY BLINKEN: Full house. Good to see. This week, President Putin's war on Ukraine entered its sixth month. Costs continue to climb - thousands of civilians killed or wounded; 13 million Ukrainians forced to flee their homes; historic cities literally pounded into rubble; food shortages, skyrocketing food prices around the world -  more

WASHINGTON, July 20 (TNSRep) -- The U.S. Department of the Interior's U.S. Geological Survey issued the following report entitled "Kansas and Landsat." Here are excerpts: * * * ABSTRACT Kansas seems synonymous with agriculture, and rightly so--87 percent of Kansas land is devoted to it. As a key contributor to the State's economy, agriculture makes Kansas one of the top producers of wheat, grain sorghum, and cattle in the country, but the State at the geographic center of the conterminous Un  more

NEW YORK, July 22 -- The U.S. Mission to the United Nations issued the following transcript of a roundtable by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield with Ambassador James O'Brien, head of the Office of Sanctions Coordination: * * * AMBASSADOR LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Thank you very much, Lisa. And let me say good morning to all of you. It's been a while. I skipped out of New York for a couple of weeks, and so it's great to be back and I want to thank all of you for joining us today. I'm really   more

CALGARY, Alberta, July 27 (TNSres) -- The University of Calgary issued the following news: * * * New work by Marcus Samuel and Logan Skori receives funding from institutions across Canada * * * When it's summertime in Alberta, the blue prairie skies are contrasted by rolling fields of yellow. Abundant stretches of golden wheat fields and flowering canola crops are not only a symbol of Canada's prairies, but substantial contributors to the Canadian economy. The Canadian grain industry genera  more

MOGADISHU, Somalia, July 25 -- The U.S. Agency for International Development issued the following transcript of remarks on July 24, 2022, by Administrator Samantha Power and U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Larry Andre at the conclusion of her trip: * * * AMBASSADOR ANDRE: My name is Larry Andre. I am the United States Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Somalia and it is my honor, my team and I, to host today, our Administrator for the United States Agency for International Development Samantha P  more

WASHINGTON, July 25 -- The U.S. Agency for International Development issued the following news release on July 24, 2022: The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing an additional $476 million in critical humanitarian and development assistance to the people of Somalia as a historically unprecedented drought pushes more than 7 million people to the edge of starvation. With this announcement, the United States has provided nearly $707 million i  more

WASHINGTON, July 29 -- The U.S. Agency for International Development issued the following news release on July 27, 2022: The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing an additional $488 million in critical humanitarian assistance to the people of Ethiopia as an historically unprecedented drought threatens the survival of more than 8.1 million people. Communities across southern and southeastern Ethiopia are experiencing the worst effects of the f  more