BBC4 Beyond Belief: al-Biruni

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Central Asian polymath al-Biruni and his eleventh-century book the India.Born in around 973 in the central Asian region of Chorasmia, al-Biruni became an itinerant scholar of immense learning, a master of mathematics, medicine, astronomy and many languages. He corresponded with the age's greatest scientist, Avicenna, and made significant contributions to many fields of knowledge.In 1017 al-Biruni became a member of the court of the ruler Mahmud of Ghazna. Over the course of the next thirteen years he wrote the India, a comprehensive account of Hindu culture which was the first book about India by a Muslim scholar. It contains detailed information about Hindu religion, science and everyday life which have caused some to call it the first work of anthropology.

With: James Montgomery Professor of Classical Arabic at the University of Cambridge

Hugh Kennedy Professor of Arabic in the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London

Amira Bennison Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge

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National Geographic: This Tiny Country Feeds the World

That copious output is made all the more remarkable by the other side of the balance sheet: inputs. Almost two decades ago, the Dutch made a national commitment to sustainable agriculture under the rallying cry “Twice as much food using half as many resources.” Since 2000, van den Borne and many of his fellow farmers have reduced dependence on water for key crops by as much as 90 percent. They’ve almost completely eliminated the use of chemical pesticides on plants in greenhouses, and since 2009 Dutch poultry and livestock producers have cut their use of antibiotics by as much as 60 percent.

One more reason to marvel: The Netherlands is a small, densely populated country, with more than 1,300 inhabitants per square mile. It’s bereft of almost every resource long thought to be necessary for large-scale agriculture. Yet it’s the globe’s number two exporter of food as measured by value, second only to the United States, which has 270 times its landmass. How on Earth have the Dutch done it? [...]

Dutch firms are among the world leaders in the seed business, with close to $1.7 billion worth of exports in 2016. Yet they market no GMO products. A new seed variety in Europe’s heavily regulated GMO arena can cost a hundred million dollars and require 12 to 14 years of research and development, according to KeyGene’s Arjen van Tunen. By contrast, the latest achievements in the venerable science of molecular breeding—which introduces no foreign genes—can deliver remarkable gains in five to 10 years, with development costs as low as $100,000 and seldom more than a million dollars. It is a direct descendant of methods employed by farmers in the Fertile Crescent 10,000 years ago. [...]

In 1944-45 a lethal famine struck the island of Java, where Bandung is located, killing some 2.4 million people. Devastating regional crop failures have haunted Indonesia as recently as 2005. Food supplies periodically run out in rural Nepal because of drought and high prices on essential imports. In 2011 a famine in the Horn of Africa affected 13 million people, and in 2017 1.6 million Ugandans face starvation without rapid assistance from abroad. All these events were unimaginable at the time, yet they pale in comparison to what could lie ahead. The number of people menaced by famine in just three African nations and across the Red Sea in Yemen exceeds 20 million today and is rising inexorably, according to the United Nations. “We are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the UN,” the organization’s emergency relief coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, warned in March.

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The Guardian: Global power is shifting to Asia – and Europe must adapt to that

Here’s a glimpse of what the map says. It took one century, from 1820 to 1913, for the centre of gravity (as measured by “weighing” locations’ GDP) to move from Asia to Europe. After the second world war, that point moved across the Atlantic to the United States. In the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s, it remained in the western part of the northern hemisphere. Then a dizzying acceleration occurred. In just one decade, from 2000 to 2010, the centre swept back to Asia, reversing almost all the trends of the previous 2,000 years. [...]

Europe matters, but it often seems to matter less than we would like. We didn’t even need Donald Trump for us to realise that the old continent had become less of an American focus than for previous generations. I remember an Obama administration official telling me in 2012 about how “tedious” Europe felt (this was in the middle of the euro crisis), whereas Asia was “exciting”.

It all has a psychological impact. Studies show that people in Asia’s emerging economies tend to be far more optimistic (58%) than Europeans (24%). The new middle classes in Asia are confident their children will be better off financially: for them, the future shines brightly. Europeans, on the other hand, have a hard time feeling upbeat. [...]

Macron had a go at boosting morale this week when he delivered a forceful speech on Europe and democracy in Athens. Europe’s past failures, he said, had “corroded the confidence” of its peoples. He called for a rediscovery of the continent’s rich culture as a way of drawing nations closer, and he plans to launch a grassroots consultative process in 2018, so citizens can have a better say on the continent’s future.

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Politico: In pictures: The art of Catalan protests

Celebrations of the Catalan national day, La Diada, on September 11 had been declining in popularity for decades. Things took a turn in 2012, when pro-independence grass-roots organizations Òmnium Cultural and the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) called a march in support of secession. The protest was so successful that the Catalan government abandoned any hope of a negotiation with the government in Madrid and started to push for a referendum on secession, which it now plans to hold on October 1.

La Diada demonstrations have become increasingly complex over the years, with organizers and supporters hoping picture-perfect marches will bring international attention to their cause.

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BoredPanda: Gustav Klimt’s Paintings Get Recreated With Real-Life Models, And The Result Is Amazing

Have you ever wondered what some of your favourite paintings would look like in real life? Austrian photographer Inge Prader has recreated selected iconic works from her compatriot Gustav Klimt, and the results are stunning.

Klimt is most commonly associated with the Art Nouveau style, a bold and elaborate aesthetic that originated at around the turn of the 20th century. The aesthetic inspired artists as well as architects such as Barcelona’s Gaudi to create ornate and rich works that reflected the optimism of the time.

Prader’s vivid recreations are based on Klimt’s Golden Phase of 1899-1910. This is evident in the luscious golden hues of the occasionally erotic scenes; models are often nude, intertwined and surrounded by gold ornaments that bring out the warm decadence of the original paintings.

The series of images were taken for Life Ball, an annual event in Vienna that seeks to raise funds to help fight HIV/AIDS.

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Scientific American: Germany’s Transition from Coal to Renewables Offers Lessons for the World

Today, only two hard coal mines remain, and in 2018 they’ll both be shut down. Germany continues to import hard coal from other countries for a substantial portion of its energy production—another habit it’s trying to kick, in line with its 2050 renewable energy target. The country also still extracts soft brown coal called lignite from hundreds of open-pit mines across the country. However, with the federal elections coming up in September, the phaseout of lignite is on the political agenda. Such a move would cost another several thousand jobs in the Ruhr alone—forcing the government to consider how to achieve a fair and final phaseout, and the role of renewable energy in that.

The move away from hard coal has left a lingering legacy in some cities, where unemployment can exceed 10 percent. Still, overall it “was really a soft and just transition,” says Stefanie Groll, head of Environmental Policy and Sustainability at the Heinrich Boll Foundation in Berlin. “In the Ruhr area, union representatives and local politicians worked out a plan to compensate and requalify people who worked in the coal industry,” she says. For families like Spahn’s, it was a success: under pressure from the labor unions, the mines where his sons worked launched a proactive campaign in 1994 to train employees for different careers. “My one son is now a professional security guard and the other is a landscaper,” he says. [...]

Some see the shutdown of lignite mining as an opportunity to correct some of the wrongs that were committed during the transition from hard coal. While aspects of the decades-long hard coal phaseout have been well managed, according to Dobertin, in the past the “political hesitation” to rapidly roll out a structured recovery plan for the Ruhr has today contributed to a legacy of unemployment in some cities, and urban areas that are still saddled with poor, outdated infrastructure.

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Haaretz: Why Netanyahu Hates George Soros So Much (July 14, 2017)

He [George Soros] is a favorite bogeyman of the political right, not only in Europe but also the United States. He featured in the closing ad of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, his face appearing amid accusations that “a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities.” According to the ad, which was criticized for striking an anti-Semitic tone, Trump was the only thing standing between this greedy cabal and innocent American citizens. [...]

Concerned by reports from Hungarian Jews that the posters were sparking an uptick in anti-Semitism, Israel’s ambassador to Hungary, Yossi Amrani, issued an extraordinarily sharp statement last weekend. In it, he called on Orbán and his Fidesz party to remove posters hung throughout the country that criticized Soros, saying it was fueling anti-Semitism. [...]

The statement was too much for Netanyahu. On his orders, the statement was “clarified,” to emphasize that while the condemnation of anti-Semitism remained, “in no way was the statement meant to delegitimize criticism of George Soros, who continuously undermines Israel’s democratically elected governments by funding organizations that defame the Jewish state and seek to deny it the right to defend itself.” [...]

Israel and Hungary’s NGO laws may both target groups that Soros supports, but they differ in a key regard. The Israeli law specifically cracks down on donations from foreign governments – not individual foreigners or their foundations.

But in the midst of the controversy over Hungary, one member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, Miki Zohar, said he plans to introduce an Israeli “Soros law,” in which “any person donating to organizations acting against Israel will not be allowed to donate to any organization or nonprofit association in Israel.”

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Politico: Latin America may be where Europe’s trade luck runs out

In recent months, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström has been on a winning streak. A major deal with Japan this summer boosted the EU’s credentials as the global leader in free trade and was the third big trophy for the commissioner, who has also concluded pacts with Canada and Vietnam. [...]

Of the two agreements, Mexico is the easier proposition as it centers on upgrading an existing agreement to include more sectors, such as processed food and financial services. Mexico’s fears about U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionism, and his promise to build a border wall, also greatly increase the likelihood of an agreement with Brussels.

It is Mercosur that presents a far more daunting challenge. The biggest problem is that the bloc includes the farming superpowers of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, which all have strong interests in Europe. [...]

Malmström is not without influential supporters in Europe, though. The opposition from farmers is sparking frustration among big European manufacturers in sectors such as cars and machinery, who argue that their ambitions in attractive Latin American markets must not be held back by a small number of clamorous farmers. [...]

The European Parliament also wants to add a sanctions mechanism to the trade deal to enforce the implementation of strict labor, environment and anti-corruption standards — an idea that hasn’t gone down well on the Mexican side.

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Politico: When it comes to Brexit progress, what counts as ‘sufficient’?

European Council officials acknowledge that the meaning of the phrase is “not specified.” That allows for a great deal of flexibility when the EU27 leaders meet. Ultimately, it will be a subjective judgment rather than a decision made against a checklist of negotiation goals. The thinking of each leader is likely to be steered by the most powerful Council members — Angela Merkel (assuming the German chancellor wins the upcoming September 24 election as expected) and France’s Emmanuel Macron.

According to U.K. officials, “sufficient progress” won’t necessitate putting an actual figure on Britain’s financial liabilities. On Ireland, it’s likely nothing will be settled until the end of the Brexit process. Meanwhile on citizens’ rights, the role of the European Parliament could become significant, introducing a second political dimension that the U.K. will need to be aware of. [...]

The EU will at least expect the U.K. to set out its proposal for calculating what its obligations are, if not a final figure. Thus far, the U.K. has refused to do so, preferring to critique the proposals put forward by the EU negotiating team. During the third round of Brexit negotiations, it presented a legal analysis of the EU proposals which rejected the entire basis for the bloc’s calculations. It favors of a more à la carte approach to the budget, with the U.K. paying for those parts (so far unspecified) that it wants to be part of. [...]

“The key issue for ‘sufficient progress’ will be money,” said Charles Grant, director of the London-based Centre for European Reform think tank. “The EU and the U.K. will have to agree on a methodology for calculating the amount that the U.K. must pay.” Such a methodology would have to be “detailed enough to reassure the EU … but vague enough so that journalists cannot easily work out a direct figure,” Grant added. EU estimates of this figure range from €65 billion net to €100 billion.

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