Like a lecturer making his first appearance before the public, he saw everything that was before his eyes, but apparently only had a dim understanding of it (among physiologists this condition, when the subject sees but does not understand, is called psychical blindness).

—Anton Chekhov, „The Kiss“, Ward No. 6 and Other Stories, (New York: Barnes & Noble, 2003), 74.

Guardian:

Climate breakdown and wildlife loss are deepening the EU’s “chocolate crisis”, a report has argued, with cocoa one of six key commodities to come mostly from countries vulnerable to environmental threats.

More than two-thirds of the cocoa, coffee, soy, rice, wheat and maize brought into the EU in 2023 came from countries that are not well prepared for climate change, according to the UK consultants Foresight Transitions.

For three of the commodities – cocoa, wheat and maize – two-thirds of imports came from countries whose biodiversity was deemed not to be intact, the analysis found.

…

The report, which was commissioned by the European Climate Foundation, argued that large chocolate manufacturers should invest in climate adaptation and biodiversity protection in cocoa-growing countries.

“This is not an act of altruism or ESG [sustainable finance], but rather a vital derisking exercise for supply chains,” the authors wrote.

…

Paul Behrens, an environmental researcher at the University of Oxford and author of a textbook on food and sustainability, who was not involved in the research, said the findings painted an “extremely worrying picture” for food resilience.

“Policymakers like to think of the EU as food-secure because it produces quite a lot of its own food,” he said. “But what this report shows is that the EU is vulnerable to climate and biodiversity risks in some vital food supply chains.”

In May 2025 articles use phrases like „countries vulnerable to environmental threats“, „countries that are not well prepared for climate change“, „countries whose biodiversity was deemed not to be intact“, „the EU is vulnerable to climate and biodiversity risks“.

Drop Site:

Microsoft has quietly implemented a policy blocking employee emails containing the words “Palestine,” “Gaza,” or “genocide” on its internal Exchange servers, according to No Azure for Apartheid, a group of pro-Palestine Microsoft employees. The automated filter, which silently prevents such emails from reaching recipients was first detected on Wednesday—just after Microsoft’s Build developer conference faced repeated disruptions by the activist group.

…

The terms “Israel” and “P4lestine” do not trigger a block, the group said. Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Guardian:

Israeli troops have fired “warning shots” at a group of 25 diplomats who were visiting Jenin in the Israel-occupied West Bank on an official mission organised by the Palestinian Authority to observe the humanitarian situation there.

…

The delegation comprised ambassadors and diplomats representing 31 countries, including Italy, Canada, Egypt, Jordan and the UK.

The IDF said it regretted “the inconvenience caused” …

I am fairly sure I didn’t read the city names other than Moscow when I was here in 2018, or if I did it was via Google Translate. I didn’t think about the hierarchy.

This is the Belarusian side of Agnieszka Holland’s Green Border. It’s a beautiful area, including a national park with old growth forest. It is within this forest that refugees are suffering and dying in order to reach the EU.

I walked by this street sign, stopped, thinking it looked strangely familiar, then realized I could read it. I’ve been having this experience continually. Being able to read simple words rather than having all meaning opaque really opens up the world of course.