Here’s a range of news items related to the cascading effects of rising oil prices around the world:

Degraded land, unsustainable agriculture and unaffordable fuel prices are devastating ordinary people in Lesotho, a small, mountainous African nation. How are ordinary families feeding themselves?

Click on this link to read this special BBC News report about keyhole gardens.

IMF POLICIES PUT FOOD SECURITY AT RISK
“Peter O’Driscoll, the executive director of Action Aid USA, a development aid organisation, told Al Jazeera that the IMF was to blame for much of the current food crisis. O’Driscoll said the IMF had encouraged developing countries to grow crops for the export market, putting their food security at risk, and that the body had pushed governments to end subsidies of domestic agricultural industries”.
Click on this link to read the Al Jazeera report.

OIL HITS $143 A BARREL
“General concerns over global supplies and escalating rhetoric between Iran and Israel have pushed prices to fresh highs in recent days”.
Click on this link to read BBC News.

OIL COULD REACH US$200 A BARREL IN SIX MONTHS
“The price of crude oil could soar to $200 a barrel in as little as six months, as supply continues to struggle to meet demand, a report has warned”
Click on this link to read BBC News.

FUEL BILL SEES CONTINENTAL (AIRLINES) CUTS
Continental’s CEO said the industry was in “crisis”.
Click on this link for BBC News

HIGH FUEL PRICES MAY BANKRUPT SOME CANEGROWERS
“North Queensland cane farmers are worried soaring fuel prices will bankrupt some growers”
Click on this link for ABC News.

AUSTRALIAN BUSINESSES BRACED FOR DOWNTURN
“Surging fuel prices are now hurting 82 per cent of businesses surveyed…supporting expectations that inflationary pressure will continue throughout this year”
Click on this link for Courier Mail news

QLD GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES $4M TOURISM RESCUE DEAL
“National Tourism and Transport Forum spokesman Christopher Brown earlier said the industry is reeling from the flight cuts. “It’s another devastating day for Queensland tourism, which had to suffer last week [from] the domestic cuts for Qantas and today the international cuts.”
Click on this link for ABC News.

FISHERMEN CLASH WITH POLICE AT EU
“Police have clashed with hundreds of fishermen protesting against the high cost of fuel outside the headquarters of the European Union in Brussels”.
Click on this link for BBC News and video footage.

BANGLADESH RAISES FUEL PRICE
“Imagine a situation where crude hits 200 dollars a barrel. All development in Bangladesh will stop,” said the deputy energy minister.
Click on this link for Al Jazeera News.

INDIA STRIKE OVER FUEL PRICE RISE
Indian cabinet said “the move was necessary because state-owned oil companies were losing millions of dollars every day because of the increase in global oil prices”.
Click on this link for BBC News.

PAKISTAN ECONOMIC WOES WORSEN
The poorest section of the society may be as large as 34% of the population and rising, while grocery stores in poor districts are losing sales due to a two-fold hike in the prices of lentils, rice, wheat flour and cooking oil.
Click on this link for BBC News.

OIL PRICE PUTS SQUEEZE ON INDONESIA
“I don’t know what to do if the price keeps going up like this,” says Sunada, a fisherman who makes his living in the waters off Java. “If we stop working we can’t eat at all, but if we go on like this we don’t make any profit.”
Click on this link for Al Jazeera News.

STEEP OIL PRICE RISE AFFECTS NEPAL
Nepal Oil Corporation, which imports oil from India, increased fuel prices by 25% affecting the entire nation.
Click on this link for BBC News.

FOOD RIOTS IN TUNISIA
Violence in Tunisia follows weeks of protests against poor living conditions.
Click on this link for BBC News.

US MAIZE PRICES SURGE TO RECORD HIGH
Even before the US mid-west floods occurred, maize (corn) prices hit new highs after the US Department of Agriculture forecast that output would fall because of poor weather.
Click on this link for BBC News.

OIL INCREASES US TRADE GAP
The rising cost of importing foreign oil caused the US trade deficit to widen in April to $60.9bn.
Click on this link for BBC News.

GOOD NEWS! GENERAL MOTORS PONDERS SELLING HUMMER BRAND
The US company that bought and ripped up tram lines to ‘promote’ private car sales realises their hummer fuel guzzling cars are a liability.
Click on this link for BBC News.

If you’re so inclined you may wish to click on this link to see what Get Up! [LINK Broken] is saying. Adults only…strong language warning!

Jerry Coleby-Williams
2nd July2008