risk

Some viewers have dubbed the new documentary a ‘wake up call’

A brand new documentary just added to Netflix has been dubbed a “wake up call” by terrified viewers.

The Plastic Detox arrived on the streaming service just this week, exploring the impact of exposure to everyday plastic items such as clothing fibres, cosmetics and kitchen tools on human health and fertility.

The feature-length film centres around six couples who are all trying for a baby. They all have one thing in common: they have been unable to conceive, with some of the pairs having spent years trying unsuccessfully to make it happen.

They are tasked with lowering their exposure to plastics over the course of three months supported by scientists and researchers to see if doing so can turn their fortunes around.

Netflix’s official synopsis reads: “Strange symptoms. Unexplained infertility. Human extinction? Six couples cut back on plastics while trying to conceive in this absorbing documentary.” The film is directed by Louie Psihoyos who was behind 2024 Netflix documentary, You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment.

Viewers have been quick to flood social media with their first thoughts about the documentary, with one warning fellow viewers: “I was not prepared to be so enraged and also disgusted. So many chemicals. In everything. All the time. Just watch at your own risk.”

A second said: “Everyone needs to watch this. It’s a wake-up call,” as a third remarked: “I just made the grave mistake of watching The Plastic Detox on Netflix and that was a mistake. I mean, it wasn’t, but it was. I would not recommend if you’re a spiraller… because, wow.”

Environmental and reproductive epidemiologist Dr Shanna Swan who appears in the documentary, told Netflix’s Tudum: “I think it empowers people to know that they can do things to protect themselves, at least if not completely, to a large extent.

“And that’s what the film really shows — when these couples took action and reduced their exposure, they saw differences.”

At time of writing, it has been revealed that three of the six couples that took part in the experiment have since gone on to become pregnant. One of the couples, Monique and Bruno, are actually expecting their second baby at the end of this month.

As well as seeing a difference in fertility, the couple shared that they had seen a huge impact in their overall health too. They shared with Tudum: “We sleep better, our skin is less dry, and Bruno’s extreme eczema has decreased considerably.”

The Plastic Detox is now available to stream on Netflix.

The Middle East conflict risks adding a staggering 45 million to acute hunger levels, warns the UN’s World Food Programme.

Tens of millions more people will face acute hunger if the United States-Israel war on Iran, and its reverberations through Iran’s retaliation, continue through to June, the United Nations warned.

“If the Middle East conflict continues through June, an additional 45 million people could be pushed into acute hunger by price rises,” Carl Skau, the deputy executive director of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), said on Tuesday.

“This would take global hunger levels to an all-time record, and it’s a terrible, terrible prospect,” Skau said, with 319 million people, already a historic high, currently acutely food insecure.

The US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began on February 28 have choked up key humanitarian aid routes, delaying life-saving shipments to some of the world’s worst crises.

Skau said shipping costs are up 18 percent since the war began and that some have had to be rerouted.

The extra costs come on top of deep spending cuts by the WFP, as donors focus more on defence, he added.

Hunger crises in Gaza, Sudan

In Gaza, residents are rushing to stockpile dwindling goods as border closures and the Iran war further strain already fragile supplies, with shortages worsening across the besieged enclave as Israel presses on with its genocidal war there.

Israel is set to partially reopen Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt on Wednesday, ending a two-week shutdown that has deepened an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the decimated territory.

Israel shut the crossing the same day it and the US launched strikes on Iran, citing “security” reasons.

The World Health Organization’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean warned last week that only about 200 trucks a day were entering Gaza, far short of the estimated daily requirement of 600.

Meanwhile, more than 21 million people in Sudan, nearly half of the population, face acute hunger. Famine has been confirmed in areas where months of fighting have made access for aid workers largely impossible.

In January, the UN warned that aid to Sudan could run out within months unless hundreds of millions of additional dollars are pledged.

Three years of brutal war between the military government and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 14 million.

A big rise in infections has been detected in a report published today

Health officials have issued an alert of a ‘high risk’ of being infected with a potentially lethal virus at one of the world’s most beautiful holiday destinations. In an alert issued today (Friday March 13) the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said gthere has been a huge surge in cases in people returning from this hotspot.

It said that since November 2025, more than 110 travel-related cases of chikungunya virus disease have been reported by 13 EU/EEA countries among travellers returning from Seychelles. In a report today it said: “This represents a marked increase compared with

the earlier months of 2025, and no cases have been reported in preceding years. The emergence of chikungunya virus disease in the Seychelles aligns with a broader regional spread throughout the Indian Ocean. Notably, Réunion (France) experienced a major outbreak in 2025.

“According to local health authorities, chikungunya virus has become more prevalent in the Seychelles compared with other circulating arboviruses.”

Approximately 20,000 to 30,000 people from the UK travel to the Seychelles annually, with 19,870 visitors recorded in 2023. The beaches of the Seychelles have been described as being the most beautiful in the world.

The Republic of Seychelles, to give the official name, is an archipelago consisting of 115 separate islands most of which are uninhabited. The islands are set in the western part of the Indian Ocean at a distance of between 480 and 1600 km from the east coast of Africa and to the north of Madagascar. At a latitude of 4 to 10 degrees south of the equator, they form what has been described as a tropical island paradise.

The ECDC report said: “The current likelihood of chikungunya virus infection for travellers to the Seychelles is high. Given that the peak travel period to the Seychelles occurs between February and April, it is important to strengthen communication to travellers and travel medicine clinics regarding the ongoing outbreak and the need for reinforced preventive measures.

“Vaccination of travellers may be considered, based on national recommendations. The likelihood of onward transmission of chikungunya virus in mainland Europe following introduction by a viraemic traveller is currently considered low, as environmental conditions are not favourable for Aedes mosquito activity at this time of year.”

The UK Health Security Agency said: ”In 2024, there were 112 confirmed and probable cases of chikungunya reported among travellers returning to England, Wales and Northern Ireland – nearly one and a half times the number reported in 2023. Travel to India accounted for the majority of these cases, followed by travel to Pakistan and Brazil – all popular destinations for people travelling from the UK.”

It explained Chikungunya spreads through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes, particularly Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus species. Mosquitoes breed in natural and human-made sources of standing and stagnant water such blocked gutters and drains, litter, tarpaulins, open buckets, bins, plant pots and discarded items like tyres, and these are a risk factor for transmission if left around human habitation. Unlike malaria-carrying mosquitoes that are active at night, these insects are most active during the day, and particularly at dusk and dawn. This timing makes them troublesome for travellers engaged in daytime activities.

The UKHSA said: “The first symptoms of the disease are usually a high fever and severe joint pain, often more severe in the small joints or where there have been previous injuries. Many patients also experience muscle pain, headaches, sensitivity to light, and distinctive skin rashes. While most people recover fully within 1 to 2 weeks, the joint pain can persist for months or even years in some cases, with up to 12% of patients still experiencing discomfort 3 years after infection.

Serious complications are rare, occurring in approximately one in every 1,000 cases. However, certain groups face higher risks, including young babies, elderly people, and adults with underlying health conditions. Occasional complications affecting the eyes, nervous system, heart, and digestive system have been reported.”

For more information from the UKHSA click here.

Khan Younis, Gaza Strip – On the blue, wavy surface off the Khan Younis seaport, two Palestinian fishermen paddled their small, battered boat nearly 200 metres (656 feet) into the sea. On the shore, Dawood Sehwail, a 72-year-old Palestinian fisherman, stood inspecting a torn net, his eyes fixed on the waves as if reading a language only he understands.

Displaced from Rafah, further to the south, in May 2024 as a result of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Sehwail now comes daily to the water’s edge, not just to fish, but to have an escape, to study the sea, and to remember.

“The feeling never gets old,” he said, with a sparkle in his eye that defies his age. “You come to see what wonders the sea might still have for you.”

“We were always shackled [by Israel],” Sehwail said quietly. “But one period was less harsh than another.”

Even before October 2023, when Israel started its genocidal war on Gaza, the Palestinian enclave’s fishermen operated under heavy restrictions imposed by Israel. Fishing zones were repeatedly reduced. Maritime boundaries outlined in agreements since the 1993 Oslo Accords were rarely implemented on the water. The distances fishermen were permitted to travel in the sea constantly shifted, often shrinking without warning.

“After every Israeli aggression, the consequences fell on us,” Sehwail explained. “We were supposed to [be allowed to] go further into the sea, but the occupation kept pushing us back.”

Controlling the sea

For a coastal territory, the sea should have been a source of wealth, stability, and fresh food. Instead, under Israel’s blockade that controls Gaza’s land, air, and sea since 2007, it has become another mechanism of control and persecution.

Sehwail once owned a stone distribution business, but was forced to shut it down after the Israeli blockade on Gaza tightened in 2007. He eventually turned to fishing, a skill he had learned as a child, and which he once thought he had abandoned.

“Our profession is day by day,” he said. “It used to be that, if you work, and are lucky, you can sell your catch and feed your family. If you’re very lucky, you save a little for the future of your children.”

But within a few days of Israel’s genocidal war, everything changed. Gaza’s seaport was destroyed by Israeli air strikes. Israel also bombed fishing installations from north to south. Boats were burned or sunk. The sector collapsed almost instantly.

“The Rafah fishermen had six fishing trawlers,” Sehwail recalled. “All of them were bombed and burned. I tried to keep my own small boat and nets for as long as I could, but they were destroyed by the occupation just days before we were displaced in May 2024.”

At Khan Younis port, the aftermath is no different. The harbour has turned into a crowded displacement site. Broken or burned boats are no longer vessels but tent supports, tied with ropes to hold fragile shelters in place.

A rusted metal skeleton of a trawler protrudes from the sand where displaced children now play around. But even in ruin, fishermen improvise.

“What we do now is try not to die,” Sehwail said. “We borrow tools. Some even turn refrigerator parts into floating boards. We have no motors, only paddles. We use whatever is left.”

Originally from the coastal village of Jourat Asqalan, depopulated of its Palestinian residents during the 1948 Nakba and the formation of Israel, Sehwail’s bond with the sea runs generations deep. “The connection is powerful,” he said. “My home in Rafah was also near the beach. Even in displacement, the sea keeps me company. But now my children and their families are scattered across displacement camps.”

No safety

Material destruction has been only part of the toll for Gaza’s fishermen. According to the Gaza Fishermen’s Syndicate, at least 238 fishermen have been killed by Israel since October 2023, whether at sea or on land, among more than 72,000 Palestinians.

The sector once consisted of more than 5,000 fishermen providing for more than 50,000 family members, who depended on fishing as a primary source of income. And Israeli violations have continued since the “ceasefire” began in October, with more than 20 fishermen reported to have been killed or detained.

“The sea is practically closed,” said Zakaria Baker, the head of Gaza’s Fishermen Syndicate, in a recent interview with Al Jazeera.

Baker explained that some fishermen do not risk venturing more than 800 metres (2,625 feet) offshore in small boats, as there is still uncertainty over how far they can go into the sea.

Standing on the shore, Sehwail pointed toward an Israeli naval boat.

“They are always there,” he said. “There is no official clearance for us. We enter at our own risk. The farthest we can go is about 800 metres, and even that depends on their mood.”

He described sudden chases by the Israeli navy: boats shot at or sunk, fishermen detained.

“They can see clearly what we are doing,” he said. “But it depends on the soldier’s mood whether he lets you fish or decides to shoot you dead.”

“Israel ‘executed’ fishing in Gaza,” Sehwail said, repeating the phrase in pain. “What we do now is not real fishing. It’s risking your life for the hope of bringing back one or two fish to your tent.”

Critical source of food

Before the genocide, Gaza’s fisheries sector played a vital role in food security and poverty alleviation. According to the United Nations, by the end of 2024, the sector was operating at less than 7.3 percent of its pre-October 2023 production capacity. The UN also estimated that 72 percent of Gaza’s fishing fleet had been damaged or destroyed.

The collapse has severely affected food availability, income generation, and community resilience. The reduction of fishing access to less than a nautical mile (1.85km) has drastically limited both quantity and species variety.

“The further west we used to go, the more variety [of fish] we could find,” Sehwail explained. “But now in shallow waters, you find only small quantities and mostly juvenile sardines that should be left to grow. But people needed whatever they could find.”

Months of Israeli starvation have turned fresh protein into a rarity; thus, fish is a special luxury.

Even now, with the relative relief brought by the “ceasefire”, fish seen in Gaza’s markets are largely frozen imports, often more expensive than fresh local fish was before the genocide. Catastrophic economic collapse means many families cannot afford them.

Baker emphasised that rehabilitation and recovery require more than ceasefire declarations. “No materials or compensation have been allowed in so far,” he said, “Israeli restrictions continue to block the entry of equipment. Fishermen need stable and safe conditions to return to work without fear of Israeli bullets.”

“The fishermen are simple, poor people,” Sehwail said. “We only want to live with dignity and provide for our families. Across Gaza from north to south, we’re all in need of support to finally fish as we actually deserve.”

March 4 (Asia Today) — In U.S. history, only one president served four terms: Franklin D. Roosevelt. Facing the unprecedented economic crisis of the Great Depression, Roosevelt pushed forward sweeping New Deal legislation to revive the economy. With Congress controlled by his Democratic Party, the political environment initially seemed favorable.

However, Roosevelt’s New Deal soon faced a major obstacle: opposition from the conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court. Several core New Deal laws were struck down as unconstitutional.

After winning re-election in 1936 with 61% of the vote, Roosevelt proposed a plan to expand the Supreme Court. Under the proposal, the president could appoint additional justices if sitting justices over the age of 70 years and six months did not retire. Because six justices were already over that age, the court could have expanded from nine members to as many as fifteen.

The proposal became known as “court packing” – an attempt to add justices favorable to the administration.

Opposition emerged from unexpected quarters. Not only Republicans but also members of Roosevelt’s own Democratic Party objected. Even Vice President John Nance Garner opposed the plan, warning it could create a dangerous precedent by allowing a president to reshape the judiciary for political purposes.

The proposal was ultimately withdrawn without a vote.

Another leader who reshaped the judiciary was Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. After taking power, Chávez expanded the number of Supreme Court justices and appointed individuals loyal to his government. Once the executive branch gained control over the judiciary, the court largely lost its ability to check the administration.

The consequences were severe. Venezuela’s political system deteriorated, and the power structure Chávez built has remained firmly in place under his successor, Nicolás Maduro.

In South Korea, a revision to the Court Organization Act aimed at expanding the number of Supreme Court justices passed the National Assembly on Feb. 28 with 173 votes in favor, 73 against and one abstention. The legislation now awaits promulgation by the president.

If enacted, the number of Supreme Court justices will increase from 14 to 26. President Lee Jae-myung would have the authority to appoint not only the 12 newly added justices but also replacements for 10 justices whose terms are set to expire, including Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae. In total, the president could appoint 22 of the court’s 26 justices during his term.

Expanding the number of justices is not simply a matter of increasing seats.

In Venezuela, Chávez filled the court with allies and during his tenure the Supreme Court issued virtually no rulings against the government. The judiciary effectively lost its role as an independent check on executive power.

Even Roosevelt – widely admired in American history – saw his attempt to expand the Supreme Court become one of the most controversial episodes of his presidency.

History offers clear lessons about the consequences of governments attempting to dominate the judiciary. Once the independence of the courts is compromised and the balance of powers between branches of government is weakened, any leader risks being viewed as moving toward authoritarian rule.

— Kim Chae-yeon, Asia Today

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the publication.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

As the Chicago Bears were rocketing toward an NFC North title and playoff run, quarterback Caleb Williams made a comment on social media about his Pro Bowl center Drew Dalman that has proven prophetic.

“He’s the brains behind all of it.”

Dalman informed the Bears on Tuesday that he will retire. Now. At age 27. After only five NFL seasons. After playing every snap in 2025, the first year of a three-year, $42 million contract.

Initial reaction around the league was that the decision was bonkers. Upon further review, however, it might be the most rational, reasoned move made this offseason.

Not long ago, most NFL players — linemen, certainly — couldn’t up and quit at the peak of their earning potential because their earnings weren’t enough to ensure a lifetime of financial stability.

Instead, they did what football players do — button their chin strap and play as long as their name remained on a roster. The risk of serious injury — including concussions — was simply the price of staying in the business.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy? Early-onset dementia? Afterthoughts.

Today, it doesn’t take a mechanical engineering major to recognize that the equation has changed. Dalman, who happened to study mechanical engineering at Stanford, has yet to articulate why he is retiring.

But it is safe to presume that considerations included the roughly $24 million he banked in four years with the Atlanta Falcons and one with the Bears as well as the well-chronicled list of former players whose brains or other body parts no longer function properly because of the violent nature of the sport.

One of those players was Chris Dalman, an offensive lineman for the San Francisco 49ers from 1993-1999. He retired at 29 after suffering a neck injury during training camp in 2000 that left him temporarily paralyzed.

Chris is Drew’s father. He also graduated from Stanford and now is president of the private school in Salinas, Calif., that he and his son attended. This is what Chris told reporters when he retired in 2000:

“When I first got hurt and I couldn’t move, laying on the field for about 30 seconds, I knew it was probably over,” he said. “Still, it’s strange to think that this part of your life is over.”

Abruptly ending a career prematurely can’t be easy. It likely was as difficult for Drew Dalman as it was for his father. Yet the mountain of information regarding the link between repeated helmet-to-helmet hitting and CTE is irrefutable.

A 2023 Boston University study found that 345 of 376 (91.7%) post-mortem brains of former NFL players contained CTE, a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head trauma. This condition is linked to dementia, cognitive decline and increased suicide risk among former players.

It remains to be seen whether more players will retire while at the top of their game. Already, several have done so, most prominently linebacker Luke Kuechly at 28 and quarterback Andrew Luck at 29.

Losing Dalman shocked the Bears, but they should be OK. The $10 million in salary cap space freed by his retirement can be spent on one of the several available free-agent centers.

That means Williams — the former USC Heisman Trophy winner and blossoming NFL quarterback — must adjust to a new center a year after he was thrilled that the Bears signed Dalman.

Williams’ words in December about Dalman’s exceptional brain, however, were followed by something less prophetic. While showering the Bears center with praise, Williams said, “And he’s the right guy for the job for my future and our future here.”

Dalman apparently prioritized his own future health instead.

Feb. 23 (UPI) — Nearly $273 million in annual Ecuadorian exports are at stake if a reciprocal 30% tariff announced by Ecuador and Colombia takes effect, according to the Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters, Fedexpor.

The trade group said 580 Ecuadorian companies export to Colombia and warned that for several of them, the impact of new tariffs could be devastating, as up to half of their revenue depends on that market.

Although the tariff has not been implemented, Fedexpor said uncertainty is already affecting business decisions. Colombian buyers are reluctant to close deals amid the possibility that the measure could made formal in the short term, local newspaper Primicias reported.

The government of President Daniel Noboa announced Jan. 21 that Ecuador would impose a 30% tariff, described as a “security fee,” on imports from Colombia. Quito said the move responds to what it considers a lack of commitment by the government of President Gustavo Petro to border security.

Colombia responded the following day by announcing a reciprocal 30% tariff on 20 products imported from Ecuador. It also decided to cut off electricity supplies to Ecuador.

The 30% tariffs were scheduled to take effect Feb. 1, but were not implemented.

Xavier Rosero, president of Fedexpor, said there remains a “window of time” for both governments to reach an agreement on security and trade matters.

Industrial products such as fats, vegetable oils, canned tuna, plastics and rubber face high uncertainty. Orders for these goods, which are key in bilateral trade, are currently on hold, Rosero told digital outlet El Oriente.

He added that Colombian buyers are already seeking alternative suppliers in China, Brazil and Mexico to replace Ecuadorian products, a shift that could result in market losses that are difficult to recover.

Ecuadorian palm oil is among the most affected products, valued at roughly $96 million annually.

The palm oil sector generates 110,000 jobs across 14 provinces, mainly in border areas. It exports between 6,000 and 8,000 metric tons per month to the Colombian market — volumes that could be redirected to other destinations, though that would not be easy, according to Ecuavisa.

Fedexpor estimates about 40,000 jobs are tied to Ecuadorian companies with significant sales to Colombia. Once the tariff is applied, it could affect more than 50 Ecuadorian products.

Rosero acknowledged as “legitimate” the Noboa government’s concern over security conditions along the shared border with Colombia, describing it as “a key space for trade, but also one that has been vulnerable to illicit activities.”

The dispute is now under review by the Andean Community’s courts after complaints filed by Colombia and counterclaims from Ecuador, in a process that could prolong commercial uncertainty.

The Gaza Strip – As soon as the “ceasefire” in Gaza began in October, Palestinian farmer Mohammed al-Slakhy and his family headed straight for their farms in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City.

After more than two years of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza – and despite ongoing Israeli attacks – it was finally safe enough to return, and attempt to rebuild and restore.

Mohammed and his family spent months clearing rubble from the ground and whatever was left of their greenhouses, which were flattened during the fighting, like many of the buildings in Gaza.

With very limited resources, they prepared the soil and planted the first courgette crop, hoping it would be ready to harvest by early spring.

But even this limited attempt to bring the family’s land back to life is not without risk. As Mohammed explains, every time he goes to tend to his field, he is risking his life. A few hundred metres away sit Israeli tanks, and the sound of bullets flying by is common.

Before the war, Mohammed’s farm produced large quantities of vegetables.

“I learned farming from my father and grandfather,” he told Al Jazeera. “Our farm used to produce abundant, high-quality crops for the local market and for export to the [occupied] West Bank and abroad. Now, everything we had has been destroyed in the war.”

Levelled to the ground

More than three hectares (7.5 acres) of Mohammed’s greenhouses were levelled to the ground. The destruction also included his entire irrigation network, all nine of his wells, two solar power systems, and two desalination plants.

Mohammed’s losses reflect the wider extent of the damage to the agricultural sector in Gaza. According to a July 2025 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), more than 80 percent of cropland was damaged, and less than 5 percent remained available for cultivation.

And even with the “ceasefire”, the losses have not stopped for Gaza’s farmers, as Israel expands a so-called buffer zone, within which its forces are based.

In fact, many Palestinians fear that Gaza’s agricultural lands will be forcibly taken by Israel if the buffer zone becomes a permanent fixture. Blueprints released as part of United States President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” plan for Gaza show many agricultural areas erased.

Expanding buffer zones

Israel still controls about 58 percent of the Gaza Strip, calling it a security buffer zone in the east, north, and south of the Gaza Strip. The majority of that buffer zone is Palestinian agricultural land.

Mohammed has only been able to return to one hectare (2.5 acres) of the more than 22 hectares (54 acres) of farmland his family had cultivated in Gaza City before the war. The other 21 hectares lie within the Israeli buffer zone, and he cannot access them.

The solitary hectare is only about 200 metres (650 feet) from the “yellow line”, which marks the border between the buffer zone and the rest of Gaza. Mohammed says that Israeli tanks frequently approach and fire randomly.

One such incident occurred on February 12, when Israeli tanks advanced into Salah al-Din Street and opened fire. Two Palestinians were killed, and at least four others were reported wounded. Mohammed was in his farmland, close to the Israeli tanks.

“We were working in the field when suddenly a tank approached and opened fire towards us. I had to take cover behind a destroyed building and waited there for more than an hour and a half before I could escape west,” Mohammed said.

The dangers to Mohammed’s farm are mirrored in central Gaza, where 75-year-old Eid al-Taaban is increasingly worried.

His land in Deir el-Balah lies only about 300 metres (980 feet) from the yellow line and the Israeli areas of control.

“We planted eggplants in an open field after the ceasefire. Now, we can’t reach it and harvest the crop because of the expansion of the buffer zone,” Eid told Al Jazeera.

“The sounds of Israeli heavy machineguns are heard every day in our area. Every time my sons go to irrigate the crops in the greenhouses, I just pray that they come back alive,” he added.

On February 6, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the Israeli army killed Palestinian farmer Khaled Baraka while he was working on his land in eastern Deir el-Balah. Khaled was Eid’s neighbour and friend.

“Khaled Baraka was a great farmer,” Eid said. “He dedicated his life to cultivating his land and teaching his sons and daughters about farming.”

Israeli blockade

According to Palestinian farmers, the Israeli blockade of Gaza is one of the biggest challenges they face in their efforts to reclaim agricultural land.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has largely prevented the entry of any agricultural equipment or supplies, such as seeds, pesticides, fertilisers, irrigation networks, or tractors.

That has led to a huge shortage, with what is available still liable to being damaged in bombing, or in the case of seeds, pesticides, and fertilisers, reaching expiry. The prices of what little is available have also skyrocketed due to the Israeli restrictions.

And even when the materials can be obtained, they do not guarantee a return.

Eid said that he had planted tomatoes in his greenhouses to harvest in the spring, paying an exorbitant amount to acquire the seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides.

After 90 days of costly care for the plants, and when it was time to start harvesting, the entire crop was ruined because the pesticides and fertilisers he had bought turned out to be ineffective. He was forced to replant the crop.

Market difficulties

Eid noted that the current economic conditions in Gaza mean that it is hard to find customers for the produce.

“Even when we manage to keep the plants alive and harvest the crop, we don’t know if we’ll be able to sell it,” Eid said.

The instability of the market in Gaza is causing heavy losses for local farmers.

Waleed Miqdad, an agricultural produce wholesaler, explained that Israeli authorities sometimes close the crossings and at other times flood the market with various goods, causing significant losses for Palestinian farmers.

He added that Israeli goods are usually of a lower quality and are priced more cheaply.

“Our local produce, although much fewer in quantity than before the war, still has a distinctive quality and taste. Many of our customers prefer local produce,” Waleed told Al Jazeera.

But many residents of Gaza, whose economy has been devastated as a result of the war, do not have the money to be able to choose the higher-priced items.

The competition from Israeli produce is therefore making it difficult for Palestinian farmers to market their produce and make a profit.

“I was recently forced to sell large quantities of my produce for less than the cost of production because of the competition from imported goods that are widely available in the market,” said Mohammed, the farmer from northern Gaza. “I had to sell and lose or watch my produce rot. And of course, we haven’t received any compensation or support.”

Despite the challenges facing the farmers in Gaza, they remain determined to reclaim agricultural fields across the Gaza Strip. These areas have always been adored by Palestinians in Gaza, where most had lived in the built-up cities. The farms provided a respite from Israel’s control over the territory and its constant wars.

“Agriculture is our life and our livelihood,” said Mohammed. “It is an important part of our Palestinian identity. Despite the destruction and danger, we will remain steadfast on our land and will replant all the land we can reach. Our children will continue after us.”

For Eid, farming is a continuation of the work of his ancestors – in towns that are now in Israel, and where he can never set foot.

“I’m 75 years old, and I still work in the fields every day,” Eid said. “My grandfather was a farmer in our hometown of Beersheba before the [1948] Nakba.”

“He taught my father, my father taught me, and today I’m passing on my agricultural expertise to my grandchildren,” Eid added. “The love of the land and agriculture is passed down from generation to generation in our family, and it can never be taken away from us.”

The UK Government issued an urgent safety alert for a travel electronic after it was identified as posing a serious risk of fire

The Government has issued an urgent safety warning for households who’ve recently bought a particular travel item or are planning a holiday in the near future. In a recent product safety report published on Wednesday, February 18, officials announced that a specific travel adapter must not be used.

This safety alert follows identification of the product as presenting a “serious risk” of fire during use. According to the government’s official website, the travel adapter fails to “conform to the dimensional requirements” of BS 1363 (the British Standard for 13-amp plugs, socket-outlets, and adapters), whilst also containing an undersized fuse.

The item in question is a black plug manufactured by the brand Decqle.

The product subject to the safety alert includes:

• Decqle Universal Travel Adapter – model number DQZ9.

They can also be identified by the following numbers: B0D95K3NV3, 1031-YSR3013, and 10433514U000010, reports the Express.

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It additionally carries the PSD notification number: 2602-0096. A Product Safety Database (PSD) notification number is a unique identifier allocated to reports of unsafe or non-compliant products submitted to the UK’s Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS).

The risk description read: “The product presents a serious risk of fire because the plug does not meet the dimensional requirements of BS 1363 and the fuse is too small.

“The fuse is required to ensure the safe operation of the product under fault conditions, and its absence could lead to the plug overheating and/or exploding. Improvements are also required to the product labelling and marking.

“The product does not meet the requirements of the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 or the Plugs & Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994.”

As the travel adaptor was imported into the UK, it has been turned away at the border as a corrective action.

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Los Angeles city officials may be empowered to remove homeless encampments from hillside areas at severe risk of fire, even without the property owner’s permission, under a proposal that the City Council moved forward on Tuesday.

The proposal would allow the city to remove hazardous materials, including homeless encampments, from private property in hillside areas in “Very High Fire Severity Zones,” including in the Santa Monica and Verdugo Mountains.

By an 11-3 vote, the council directed the city attorney to draft changes to the municipal code, which the council will then vote on at a later date.

“Prevention [of fires] is the most cost-effective tool we have,” said Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who sponsored the proposal. “When we are in imminent threat of wildfires, especially as it relates to or is exacerbated by these types of encampments, we have a duty to act.”

Rubbish fires, many related to homeless encampments, have skyrocketed over the last several years, according to Los Angeles Fire Department data. Rodriguez said there have been five wildfires in her northeast San Fernando Valley district since she took office in 2017, though none was caused by an encampment.

Between 2018 and 2024, about 33% of all fires in the city, and more than 40% of rubbish fires, involved homeless Angelenos, according to the LAFD.

Rodriguez said the city is often left flat-footed when encampments pop up on hillsides and property owners don’t help address the issue.

“If a private property owner is not responsive, it puts the rest of the hillside community under threat,” Rodriguez said in an interview.

Rodriguez’s motion said it’s often difficult for city departments, including police and fire, to get permission from property owners to enter.

“It can take weeks to determine property ownership and to obtain the necessary signoffs from property owners to access the property, causing unnecessary delays and increasing the risk for a serious fire and threats to public safety,” the motion reads.

Some council members argued that while they agreed with the intent of the proposal, some details needed to be addressed.

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez — who voted against the proposal — said he was concerned that homeless people would end up getting shuffled around the city.

“What I don’t want to see is this being used as a tool to push homeless folks from one side of the street to the other side of the street,” he said before casting his vote.

Soto-Martínez said he wouldn’t vote for the proposal until the city developed a definition of what a fire hazard is.

Councilmember Ysabel Jurado also voted against the proposal, saying she wanted the council to do more research before changing the municipal code.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez was the third “no” vote.

Connor Cipolla, an Eaton wildfire survivor, last year praised Southern California Edison’s plan of burying more than 60 miles of electric lines in Altadena as it rebuilds to reduce the risk of fire.

Then he learned he would have to pay $20,000 to $40,000 to connect his home, which was damaged by smoke and ash, to Edison’s new underground line. A nearby neighbor received an estimate for $30,000, he said.

“Residents are so angry,” Cipolla said. “We were completely blindsided.”

Other residents have tracked the wooden stakes Edison workers put up, showing where crews will dig. They’ve found dozens of places where deep trenches are planned under oak and pine trees that survived the fire. In addition to the added costs they face, they fear many trees will die as crews cut their roots.

“The damage is being done now and it’s irreversible,” homeowner Robert Steller said, pointing Maiden Lane to where an Edison crew was working.

For a week, Steller, who lost his home in the fire, parked his Toyota 4Runner over a recently dug trench. He said he was trying to block Edison’s crew from burying a large transformer between two towering deodar cedar trees. The work would “be downright fatal” to the decades-old trees, he said.

Altadena resident Robert Steller stands in front of his Toyota 4Runner that he parked strategically to prevent a Southern California Edison crew from digging too close to two towering cedar trees.

(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)

The buried lines are an upgrade that will make Altadena’s electrical grid safer and more reliable, Edison says, and it also will lower the risk that the company would have to black out Altadena neighborhoods during dangerous Santa Ana winds to prevent fires.

Brandon Tolentino, an Edison vice president, said the company was trying to find government or charity funding to help homeowners pay to connect to the buried lines. In the meantime, he said, Edison decided to allow owners of homes that survived the fire to keep their overhead connections until financial help was available.

Tolentino added that the company planned meetings to listen to residents’ concerns, including about the trees. He said crews were trained to stop work when they find tree roots and switch from using a backhoe to digging by hand to protect them.

“We’re minimizing the impact on the trees as we [put lines] underground or do any work in Altadena,” he said.

Although placing cables underground is a fire prevention measure, consumer advocates point out it’s not the most cost-effective step Edison can take to reduce the risk.

Undergrounding electric wires can cost more than $6 million per mile, according to the state Public Utilities Commission, far more than building overhead wires.

Because utility shareholders put up part of the money needed to pay for burying the lines, the expensive work means they will earn more profit. Last year, the commission agreed Edison investors could earn an annual return of 10.03% on that money.

Edison said in April it would spend as much as $925 million to underground and rebuild its grid in Altadena and Malibu, where the Palisades fire caused devastation. That amount of construction spending will earn Edison and its shareholders more than $70 million in profit before taxes — an amount billed to electric customers — in the first year, according to calculations by Mark Ellis, the former chief economist for Sempra, the parent company of Southern California Gas and San Diego Gas & Electric.

That annual return will continue over the decades while slowly decreasing each year as the assets are depreciated, Ellis said.

“They’re making a nice profit on this,” he said.

Tolentino said the company wasn’t doing the work to profit.

“The primary reason for undergrounding is the wildfire mitigation,” he said. “Our focus is supporting the community as they rebuild.”

It’s unclear if the Eaton fire would have been less disastrous if Altadena’s neighborhood power lines had been buried. The blaze ignited under Edison’s towering transmission lines that run down the mountainside in Eaton Canyon. Those lines carry bulk power through Edison’s territory. The power lines being put underground are the smaller distribution lines, which carry power to homes.

A power line outside the home of Altadena resident Connor Cipolla.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

The investigation into the fire’s cause has not yet been released. Edison says a leading theory is that one of the Eaton Canyon transmission lines, which hadn’t carried power for 50 years, might have briefly reenergized, sparking the blaze. The fire killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,000 homes, businesses and other structures.

Edison said it has no plans to bury those transmission lines.

The high cost of undergrounding has become a contentious issue in Sacramento because, under state rules, most or all of it is billed to all customers of the utility.

Before the Eaton fire, Edison won praise from consumer advocates by installing insulated overhead wires that sharply cut the risk of the lines sparking a fire for a fraction of the cost. Since 2019, the company has installed more than 6,800 miles of the insulated wires.

“A dollar spent reconductoring with covered conductor provides … over four times as much value in wildfire risk mitigation as a dollar spent on underground conversion,” Edison said in testimony before the utilities commission in 2018.

By comparison, Pacific Gas & Electric has relied more on undergrounding its lines to reduce the risk of fire, pushing up customer utility bills. Now Edison has shifted to follow PG&E’s example.

Mark Toney, executive director of the the Utility Reform Network, a consumer group in San Francisco, said his staff estimates Edison spends $4 million per mile to underground wires compared with $800,000 per mile for installing insulated lines.

By burying more lines, customer bills and Edison’s profits could soar, Toney said.

“Five times the cost is equal to five times the profit,” he said.

Last spring, Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of Edison International, told Gov. Gavin Newsom about the company’s undergrounding plans in a letter. Pizarro wrote that rules at the utility commission would require Altadena and Malibu homeowners to pay to underground the electric wire from their property line to the panel on their house. He estimated it would cost $8,000 to $10,000 for each home.

Residents who need to dig long trenches may pay far more than that, said Cipolla, who is a member of the Altadena Town Council.

An oak tree stands tall in an area impacted by the Eaton fires. Homeowners worry such trees could be at risk in the undergrounding work.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

Last week, Cipolla showed a reporter the electrical panel on the back of his house, which is many yards away from where he needs to connect to Edison’s line. The company also initially wanted him to dig up the driveway he poured seven years ago, he said. Edison later agreed to a location that avoids the driveway.

Tolentino said Edison’s crews were working with homeowners concerned about the company’s planned locations for the buried lines.

“We understand it is a big cost and we’re looking at different sources to help them,” he said.

At the same time, some residents are fuming that, despite the undergrounding work, most of the town’s neighborhoods still will have overhead telecommunications lines. In other areas of the state, the telecommunications companies have worked with the electric utilities to bury all the lines, eliminating the visual clutter.

So far, the telecom companies have agreed to underground only a fraction of their lines in Altadena, Tolentino said.

Cipolla said Edison executives told him they eventually plan to chop off the top of new utility poles the company installed after the fire, leaving the lower portion that holds the telecom lines.

“There is no beautification aspect to it whatsoever,” Cipolla said.

As for the trees, Steller and other residents are asking Edison to adjust its construction map to avoid digging near those that remain after the fire. Altadena lost more than half of its tree cover in the blaze and as crews cleared lots of debris.

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1. A pedestrian walks past Christmas Tree lane in Altadena. Christmas Tree Lane was officially listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. 2. A “We Love Altadena” sign hangs from a shrub on Christmas Tree Lane. 3. Parts of a chopped down tree rest on a street curb in Altadena.

Wynne Wilson, a fire survivor and co-founder of Altadena Green, pointed out that the lot across the street from the giant cedar trees on Maiden Lane has no vegetation, making it a better place for Edison’s transformer.

“This is needless,” Wilson said. “People are dealing with so much. Is Edison thinking we won’t fight over this?”

Carolyn Hove, raising her voice to be heard over the crew operating a jackhammer in front of her home, asked: “How much more are we supposed to go through?”

Hove said she doesn’t blame the crews of subcontractors the utility hired, but Edison’s management.

“It’s bad enough our community was decimated by a fire Edison started,” she said. “We’re still very traumatized, and then to have this happen.”