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  🇺🇸 More new philatelic products from IGPC although many of them are on subjects which have little or no relevance to the countries whose names are printed on them. So nothing new there then.   🇦🇬 Antigua And Barbuda -   2019 (no specific date) - China World Stamp Exhibition - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps and the other containing a single stamp. Rating:- 0.   2019 (no specific date) - 75th anniversary of the death of former US President Franklin D Roosevelt - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 6 different stamps and 1 containing a single stamp. Rating:- 0.   2019 (no specific date) - Roses - 1 miniature sheet containing 6 different stamps. Rating:- 0.   🇬🇲 The Gambia - 8 June 2019 - The African jacana - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 6 different stamps and the other containing a single stamp. Rating:- **.  31 May 2019 - The caracal - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps and the other containing 2 different stamps

By Melanie Forstrom, Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Volunteer Being the first volunteer of a cycle gave me the exciting opportunity to contribute to and shape the youth involvement strategy for the following 5 years in the Dominican Republic. I was mainly stationed in Santo Domingo but had the opportunity to travel to Jarabacoa and Mao. There I saw and experienced organic strawberry and banana production, talked to young producers, and had rich conversations about protecting the basins of the Rio Yaque del Norte.   The main outcome of my assignment was creating a draft youth development strategy.  This was accomplished through research, surveys and meetings with host organizations and young producers. I produced a SWOT Analysis of each of the 3 organization partnering to incentivize youth agriculture in the Dominican Republic, as well as of the youth sector overall.  My assessment that a smaller scale mentoring program with each producer teaching 1-2 youth is the most viable path for

Since it's founding in 2015, the Yaque del Norte Water Fund (YNW Fund), Fondo Agua Yaque del Norte ,  has been working to promote the conservation and restoration of the watershed of the Yaque del Norte River, Rio Yaque del Norte , the most important river in the Dominican Republic. Their work consists of increasing and managing their financial trust that finances their organization and provides funding to watershed-focused groups in the region. The Yaque del Norte Water Fund also includes an educational and promotional arm known as the Dessarollo Association, Association para el Dessarollo Inc .  Kent Reid, Farmer-to-Farmer  (F2F) Volunteer, traveled to the Dominican Republic in May 2019 on assignment to work and review overall operating activities with the YNW Fund. This was Kent's second F2F assignment with the YNW Fund, having worked with the Dessarollo Association partner, ISA University, in October. The two main goals of the F2F assignment were to review the strategi

I was listening to the Today Programme this morning - I’m not quite sure what prompted this story, but at about 7:45 Yolande Knell started to recount a tale about the plight of cancer sufferers in Gaza, when the phone rang.  Who the hell phones you up for a non-emergency at that time of day? Better answer.  It was a damned robot speaking very fast on behalf of something I couldn’t quite catch, which sounded a bit like “Next” delivery, and without a pause it recited a long web address with a string of dots and forward- slashes and numbers - as if anyone could absorb all that code and type it all out on Google when they'd put the phone down and logged on.  On second thoughts it sounded more like NHS than Next, but I hung up. Also, the cat was furious because it hadn’t eaten all night and was absolutely starving. Having answered the phone and fed the cat I returned to the radio, to hear the Labour MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan telling listeners that “ The Israeli Government are using

"You never get satisfied in your paid job at the extent you can get as a volunteer because your effort can bring smiles on the faces of needy people" On April 28, 2019, Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Volunteer Ram Ray, Research Scientist of Praire View A&M University in Texas, traveled to the Dominican Republic (DR) to work with three unique communities that are facing serious issues with soil erosion, flooding, and landslides.  Although this is his second assignment with F2F (his first F2F assignment was in India), this is his first time visiting the beautiful country of the Dominican Republic.  When he landed in Santo Domingo, he enjoyed seeing the coastal city similar to his current hometown of Houston, Texas. Originally from Nepal, he was surprised to find a similar topography and terrain in the DR.  The overall objective of his F2F volunteer assignment was to increase the resilience of the vulnerable populations on the impacts of climate change and weather patterns. W

Pentagon Seeks Funds to Reduce U.S. Reliance On China's Rare Earth Metals (excerpt) (Source: Reuters; published May 29, 2019) By Phil Stewart and Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON --- The U.S. Defense Department is seeking new federal funds to bolster domestic production of rare earth minerals and reduce dependence on China, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, amid mounting concern in Washington about Beijing’s role as a supplier. The Pentagon’s request was outlined in a report that has been sent to the White House and briefed to Congress, said Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Mike Andrews, a Pentagon spokesman. Rare earths are a group of 17 chemical elements used in both consumer products, from iPhones to electric car motors, and critical military applications including jet engines, satellites and lasers. Rising tensions between the United States and China have sparked concerns that Beijing could use its dominant position as a supplier of rare earths for leverage in the trade war between the

Lawmakers who are furious about President Trump’s decision to circumvent Congress and sell weapons to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies are now searching for a way to thwart the sale. Experts say legislative options exist despite Trump’s move to invoke emergency powers that waive a congressional review period for the deals. But any attempt to block the president faces an uphill battle in a divided Congress. Still, arms control advocates are hopeful the issue has ignited enough bipartisan outrage for lawmakers to take action. “Congress blocking an arms sale like this would be pretty much unprecedented, but given that both the House and Senate approved Yemen War Power Resolutions, including with the support of Republicans in both the House and Senate, I believe the chance of a blocking action is high,” Jeff Abramson, a senior fellow at the Arms Control Association, said in an email. (end of excerpt) Click here for the full story, on The Hill website. -ends- Let's block ads! (

The Swedish government has unleashed a series of attacks against Hungary over its resistance to multiculturalism, perceived lack of feminism, and political correctness. Hungary is considering scrapping its lease agreement for Jas 39 Gripen and replacing the 14 Swedish fighter jets with US-made F-35, which may cost Sweden billions of kronor and thousands of job opportunities, the Swedish news outlet Fria Tider reported. The bilateral lease agreement is now at stake over Sweden's "constant smear campaign" against the Hungarian government. Specifically, Hungary is considering replacing the lease agreement with a $1 billion deal with US firm Lockheed Martin. The choice is between the latest model of the F-16 or the fifth generation F-35. Sweden's future on the Hungarian defence market currently looks gloomy. "The Swedes have been digging their own grave with their many anti-Hungarian attacks. It is conceivable that we are buying F-35s instead", a senior Hunga

The landslide election victory by India’s Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has led to an expected shuffle of top ministerial portfolios. India’s new defence minister is now Rajnath Singh, who moves in after a stint as the country’s Home Minister. He replaces erstwhile defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who moves up to the crucial post of Finance Minister at a crucial juncture for India’s economy. Bruising as the just-concluded election campaign was, it was conspicuously steeped in a defence/military flavour, thanks to an aggressive politicisation by the Opposition Congress Party of the 2016 Rafale jet deal, suggestions that state-owned  military airframer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd had been led to ruin, and that private sector firms (chiefly the Anil Ambani group) had been favoured in the area of defence offsets. With the dust all but settling on what was a year-long slugfest, the defence ministry tentatively gets to get back to priority business. Much has remained stalled as a result of

🇸🇱 I rarely mention the so-called ‘postage’ stamps produced and marketed by the Lithuania-based ‘philatelic agency’, Stamperija , though it still appears to have contracts to produce philatelic items with the postal services of Sierra Leone and Mozambique . However occasionally it is interesting to mention the more appalling items from this agency and one such item has appeared on an internet auction site this week. With the name of Sierra Leone inscribed on the 110 ‘stamps’ included in it, a large sheetlet with its inscriptions mainly in Chinese, is now available to buy for those who feel they must possess this reproduction of Chinese art. Oh, and if you can’t get enough of this stuff it’s also sold in imperforate format at a massive premium. This product is almost as awful as the Royal Mail ‘Marvel Comics’ set and miniature sheet. Rating:- 0.  Moving on from the depredations of Stamperija, of the 88 Commonwealth philatelic entities I have listed in Blog 1361, 3

A top Pentagon official said on Thursday the consequences would be "devastating" for Turkey's joint F-35 fighter program and its cooperation with NATO if the country bought a Russian missile defense system. Kathryn Wheelbarger, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, said that Ankara's planned purchase of the S-400 system would damage Turkey's ability to work together with the Western alliance, and force Washington to hit the country with sanctions. "Completion of this transaction would be devastating, not only to the F-35 program, on which the West has placed its modernized integrated air capability, but it would potentially rupture Turkish interoperability with NATO, a key aspect of the defense of the alliance," Wheelbarger told an audience at the Atlantic Council in Washington. "Let's be clear. The S-400 is a Russian system designed to shoot down an aircraft like the F-35, and it is inconceivable to imagin