>>15916190 what about this? was posted last

NSW MP Gareth Ward charged over historical sexual abuse of man and teenage boy

Independent NSW MP Gareth Ward has been charged by police with the alleged historical sexual abuse of a man and a teenage boy.

Key points:

Gareth Ward is accused of assaulting a 17-year-old boy and a 27-year-old man

In a statement, Mr Ward said he was completely innocent of the charges

Premier Dominic Perrottet has told Mr Ward to resign

The Member for Kiama, a former Liberal frontbencher, resigned from the ministry and moved to the crossbench in May last year after it was revealed he was being investigated by police.

The 40-year-old attended Oaks Flats Police Station today.

He has been charged with three counts of assault with act of indecency, and one count each of sexual intercourse without consent and common assault.

Detectives allege Mr Ward indecently assaulted a 17-year-old boy at Meroo Meadow in February 2013, and sexually abused a 27-year-old man in Sydney in September 2015.

He was granted conditional bail and is due to face Port Kembla Court in May.

In a statement, Mr Ward said he was completely innocent of the charges.

"I will be instructing my lawyers to seek to bring this matter before the courts as quickly as possible and I look forward to demonstrating my innocence there," he said.

"While others have already attempted to prosecute my case in the media rather than the courts, out of respect for our system of justice I will not be doing the same.

"Accordingly, I will be making no further comment at this time."

Mr Ward moved to the crossbench after confirming he was being investigated by police in May 2021.

At the time, he was serving as Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services under former premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Current Premier Dominic Perrottet issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon saying he would seek Mr Ward's immediate resignation from Parliament.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-22/mp-gareth-ward-charged-historical-sexual-abuse/100929714

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>>15916190

Ukraine: How the global fertilizer shortage is going to affect food security

More people around the world will go hungry as a result of the pandemic, high fuel prices and the conflict in Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine are also major producers and suppliers of fertilizers and their raw materials.

Existing logistical issues with moving grain and food are likely to worsen.

Disruptions will put further pressure on this year’s harvest and lead to higher food prices.

Even before the pandemic, the FAO estimated that 690 million people or 9% of the world’s population, were facing food insecurity.

We are currently witnessing the beginning of a global food crisis, driven by the knock-on effects of a pandemic and more recently the rise in fuel prices and the conflict in Ukraine. There were already clear logistical issues with moving grain and food around the globe, which will now be considerably worse as a result of the war. But a more subtle relationship sits with the link to the nutrients needed to drive high crop yields and quality worldwide.

Crops are the basis of our food system, whether feeding us or animals, and without secured supply in terms of volume and quality, our food system is bankrupt. Crops rely on a good supply of nutrients to deliver high yields and quality (as well as water, sunlight and a healthy soil), which in modern farming systems come from manufactured fertilisers. As you sit and read this article, the air you breath contains 78% nitrogen gas – this is the same source of nitrogen used in the production of most manufactured nitrogen fertilisers.

However, to take this gas from the air and into a bag of fertiliser takes a huge amount of energy. The Haber-Bosch process, which converts nitrogen and hydrogen into ammonia as a crucial step in creating fertilisers, uses between 1% and 2% of all energy generated globally by some estimates. Consequently, the cost of producing nitrogen fertiliser is directly linked to the cost of fuel. This is why the UK price of ammonium nitrate has climbed as high as £1,000 per tonne at the time of writing, compared to £650 a week ago.

Fertiliser inputs to farming systems represent one of the largest single variable costs of producing a crop. When investing in fertiliser, a farmer must balance the return on this investment through the price they receive at harvest. Adding more fertiliser, for a small improvement in yield, might not pay for itself at harvest.

This calculation between the cost of fertiliser and the value of the crop produced – the “breakeven ratio” – is typically around six for a cereal crop (6kg of grain needed to pay for 1kg of nitrogen fertiliser), but with the rise in fertiliser prices it is currently around ten. To remain profitable, farmers will need to keep a particularly close eye on production costs, and potentially use less fertiliser. However using less fertiliser will reduce yields and quality, adding to pressure on the food system as a whole.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/03/ukraine-global-fertilizer-food-security#BoldActions4Food