World News Thread

[N.E. Brigand]

I admit I didn't realize that Guyana is larger than Great Britain:



Restore England's prehistoric forests!

[N.E. Brigand]

BBC: "Turkish local elections: Opposition stuns Erdogan with historic victory."

These are local elections, notably in Istanbul and Ankara.

[N.E. Brigand]

Learned a new word today: zud. Sometimes spelled dzud.

It's a Mongolian word referring to a "disaster in steppe, semi-desert and desert regions ... in which large numbers of livestock die, primarily due to starvation, being unable to graze due to particular severe climatic conditions. Various kinds of zud are recognized, depending on the particular type of climatic conditions. In winter it may be caused by an impenetrable ice crust, in summer it may happen due to drought. One-third of Mongolia's population depends entirely on pastoral farming for its livelihood, and harsh zuds can cause economic crises and food security issues in the country." The concept is also known in other central Asian nations. "The literal translation of the Kazakh word 'жұт' is 'devourer.'"

The word came to my attention today because the "zud of winter 2023–2024 has been the worst in 50 years, with 2 million animals dead by late February, which had increased to 5 million by late March." Because Mongolia is heavily dependent on herding, the country will need economic aid.

[RoseMorninStar]

From what I've read, the people of Mongolia eat very little in the way of vegetation, not even grain. So a large loss of animals would be devastating.