Nuclear security – briefing note
1. Departing St Petersburg, Russia, on 29 February 2024 bound for Philadelphia, USA, the Atlantic Navigator II made an unscheduled stop in Rostock, Germany, on 4 March due to damage to its propeller.
She left Rostock on 19 April after repairs and a customs inspection. This multipurpose cargo ship is carrying 241 containers of birch plywood from the exploitation of Arctic forests and enriched uranium.
Despite the war in Ukraine and tensions between the United States of America and the Russian Federation, trade in nuclear materials has not stopped, and Russian enriched uranium continues to supply fuel for some American nuclear power stations.
Frogs : appeal from more than 550 scientists and veterinarians
Trade in frogs’ legs must be curbed, President Macron!
Paris, Munich, March 6, 2024 – In a joint letter, 557 experts from research, nature conservation and veterinary medicine have called on French President Emmanuel Macron to end the overexploitation of frogs in Asia and Southeast Europe for the EU’s hunger for frogs’ legs. France, as the largest consumer, should initiate the international protection of the most traded frog species through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The letter is an initiative of Robin des Bois, the Veterinarians for Biodiversity (Vétérinaires pour la Biodiversité) and the German organization Pro Wildlife. A similar request was made by 46 NGOs on January 25 to Mr Béchu, the French Minister for Ecological Transition. So far, this letter has gone unanswered. “Are the French doomed to be froggies? It’s time to remember that frogs are also voluntary helpers for farmers. When they disappear, pests proliferate and the use of pesticides increases” points out Charlotte Nithart, President of Robin des Bois.
Gas and Gas / Nord Stream and old chemical munitions
Did the explosions followed by gas leaks on 26 September 2022 on the pipelines of the international consortium Nord Stream linking Russia and Germany awake, displace or dislocate chemical munitions dumped near or nearby them?