President Donald Trump has been speaking to a number of different US media outlets after threatening Iran’s infrastructure if the country doesn’t reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Here’s what we’ve heard.

He told Axios that the US is « in deep negotiations » with Iran to make a deal. He says « there is a good chance, but if they don’t make a deal, I am blowing up everything over there ».

He similarly told Fox News there is a “good chance” a deal will be reached tomorrow, but he is considering “blowing everything up and taking over the oil” if a deal to end the war is not reached quickly – as we reported earlier

Trump told the Wall Street Journal that if Iran want to keep the strait closed « they’re going to lose every power plant and every other plant they have in the whole country »

As we’ve been reporting, Donald Trump has issued an expletive-laden threat that Iran’s infrastructure will be hit on Tuesday if the Strait of Hormuz is not opened.

He had previously issued a deadline of 6 April for Iran to make a deal. In a new post on his Truth Social platform, Trump writes: « Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time! »

That’s 03:30 Tehran time on Wednesday (01:00 BST).

It’s not clear what Trump’s social media post is referring to. The BBC has asked the White House to clarify.

Four people have been injured in Haifa, northern Israel, after a rocket strike, the country’s emergency service Magen David Adom says.

It says this includes « an approximately 82-year-old man in serious condition who was injured by a heavy object, and 3 casualties in mild condition with shrapnel and blast injuries ».

The emergency service has shared these pictures of the scene.

Military trains ‘endlessly’ for rescue missions, former US commander says

Gen Frank McKenzie, a retired former commander of US Central Command, tells CBS Face the Nation that the rescue of the airman in Iran is something the US military trains “endlessly” for.

“Every time we send air crew over enemy territory, we have detailed elaborate plans to go get them,” he says.

McKenzie says this rescue operation left the airman in a “position where they can hide until you can get to them, all that seemed to work out very well”.

The retired general says “we did in fact lose a couple of aircraft in that mission”, but it’s a loss you take « any day » in such a situation.

He says it is a “hard lesson” for Iran that it was “not able to find the missing air crewman” before the US rescuers.

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L’article Analysis. Trump issues expletive-laden threat to Iran demanding Strait of Hormuz be opened.. Video est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

US President Donald Trump has claimed that Iran has asked for a ceasefire, saying he will consider it when Strait of Hormuz is open.

Iranian officials have rejected those claims, saying no such request was made.

Qatar’s Defence Ministry says missiles launched from Iran hit oil tanker in the country’s territorial waters.

Kuwait says an Iranian attack has sparked a “large fire” at the fuel tanks at its international airport.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tells Al Jazeera he has no faith in talks with the US, and says that while he has had messages from Washington, no negotiations are under way.

Israeli medics say 14 wounded in Iranian missile attack

Israel’s emergency services say the wounded included an 11-year-old girl in a missile strike near Tel Aviv that the military blamed on Iran.

In the central city of Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, the Magen David Adom emergency service said it had treated and evacuated to hospital 14 wounded people, adding that the girl is in critical condition with shrapnel injuries.

It said a 13-year-old boy and a 36-year-old woman, also with shrapnel injuries, were in moderate condition, while a further 11 casualties were in mild condition.

Hezbollah says it downed Israeli drone, attacked warplane

Hezbollah has been announcing a flurry of attacks on Israeli army personnel and positions today. In recent hours, it said, its fighters attacked a newly established Israeli artillery emplacement in the town of Rabaa Thalathin with missiles.

It added that its fighters shot down an Israeli enemy drone with a surface-to-air missile in the skies over the town of Ainata, and “confronted” an Israeli warplane in the skies over the town of Bflay.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on any of these claims.

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L’article Iran rejects Trump claims that Tehran asked for a ceasefire est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

More on this incident in southern Israel now, as the national fire and rescue service instructs workers in and around the blaze to shelter in a safe space.

The service says the fire in Neot Hovav industrial zone has been declared « a hazardous materials incident », urging workers to evacuate « exposed » areas and instead shelter in « protected structures ».

According to Reuters news agency, ADAMA, a global crop protection company, has released a statement confirming its Makhteshim plant was the site that was hit – either by an Iranian missile or debris from an intercepted missile.

ADAMA – part of Chinese-owned Syngenta Group – says the extent of any damage to the plant is not immediately known, reports Reuters.

Death toll continues to climb in Lebanon during Israeli invasion

Officials in Lebanon say more than 1,200 people have been killed over the past four weeks.

The toll includes 124 children with more than 3,500 people wounded, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

On Saturday and Sunday alone, 49 people were killed including 10 rescue workers and three journalists.

Fears continue to rise of more deaths after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is “determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north”.

Hezbollah “still has residual capability to fire rockets at us”, he said.

Iran has ‘appetite for negotiations’ but also apprehension

Iran is eager to have talks and some sort of negotiations but on its own terms, says Mehran Kamrava, director of the Iranian studies unit at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies.

“There is appetite, but there is also apprehension,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that Tehran is concerned that in a few months, the Americans, or more likely the Israelis, would attack again.

In terms of guarantees, “what the Iranians want to do in addition to some sort of internationally sanctioned document is they want to make sure that the pain that they inflict on the United States and on America’s regional allies are deep enough, that they are painful enough that the Americans and the Israelis will think twice next time when they want to attack Iran.”

Over the past several weeks, the Iranians along with the US and Israel have been willing to cross successive red lines.

They have attacked oil and energy installations and strikes in the Middle East have become increasingly accurate, Kamrava said. They have also caused “major damage in military bases in Saudi Arabia, so that is another source of leverage”, he added.

World Opinion + Agencies

L’article Analysis. Israel says industrial site on fire after Iranian attack as hundreds mourn killed journalists in Lebanon.. Video est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

Israel has attacked two nuclear facilities and two major steel plants, actions for which Iran’s FM Araghchi says it will carry out “heavy” retaliation.

The attacks came despite US President Donald Trump’s promise to further delay attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure by 10 days – until April 6 – as he continues to claim talks with Iran on a peace deal are going “very well”.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirms Islamabad is relaying messages between US and Iranian officials as part of mediation efforts to end the war, with Turkiye and Egypt also lending support.

Iran’s Deputy Health Minister Ali Jafarian tells Al Jazeera at least 1,937 people have been killed in US-Israeli attacks on his country.

Israel has issued displacement orders for all residents of Lebanon living south of the Zahrani River – located some 50km (31 miles) from the border with Israel – as Lebanon’s Health Ministry reports more than 1,100 people killed in Israeli attacks since March 2.

Iran’s Ghalibaf says ‘fake news’ no longer altering energy markets

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf says the US’s spamming of “fake news” to alter the energy markets and push prices down had only made it “numb”.

“Keep going, nobody’s buying it anymore. The real prices will show up anyway. Powerful? Maybe. But Smart? Not even close. Burned that fake news card way too early,” Ghalibaf wrote on X.

US stocks closed out their worst week since the war began, with the S&P 500 falling 1.6 percent.

World Opinion + Agencies

L’article Tehran vows retaliation for Israeli hits on nuclear sites.. Video est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

The global rights group says erosion of health, safety in Gaza ‘a deliberate act of war targeting women and girls’.

Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip have been “denied the conditions needed to live and to give life safely” by Israel amid its genocidal war on the enclave, according to Amnesty International, a global rights group.

Amnesty warned on Tuesday that women and girls in Gaza have been pushed “to the brink” as the Israeli war has spurred a series of hardships, from mass displacement to the destruction of the local healthcare system.

Pregnant women, as well as those who need treatment for cancer and other illnesses, have been particularly hard-hit by the lack of adequate health services in the territory, Amnesty said in a statement.

“This systematic erosion of their rights to health, safety, dignity and a future is not an unfortunate by-product of war; it is a deliberate act of war targeting women and girls,” the group said.

“It is also the foreseeable consequence of Israel’s calculated policies and practices of multiple mass displacement, deliberate restrictions on basic and essential items, as well as humanitarian relief, and two years of relentless bombardment that have devastated Gaza’s health system and decimated entire families.”

More than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023.

Israeli attacks have continued despite a US-brokered “ceasefire” that came into effect in October of last year, killing more than 600 people, according to the latest figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.

Israel also continues to impede the steady flow of humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced across the Strip due to the Israeli bombardment.

Last week, the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) said the health sector in Gaza remains “under significant constraints” as a result of the restrictions on medical supplies and equipment, as well as fuel.

“Sexual and reproductive health services remain severely disrupted due to damaged infrastructure, shortages of essential medicines and supplies and limited referral capacity,” OCHA said, noting that as many as 180 women give birth daily in Gaza.

“Severe bed shortages mean women undergoing major procedures, including Caesarean sections, are often discharged within hours and return to overcrowded displacement settings, increasing risks of complications and infection,” the agency said.

Maternal, neonatal health problems

That was echoed by Amnesty, which said on Tuesday that medical workers in Gaza reported “an exponential increase in maternal and neonatal health conditions over the past 29 months” as a result of Israel’s genocide.

That includes pre-term births, low-weight babies and babies suffering from respiratory conditions, malnutrition of pregnant women, and postpartum depression, the rights group said.

“Displacement conditions have led to infectious diseases,” Dr Nasser Bulbol, a neonatologist at Al Helou Hospital hospital in Gaza City, told Amnesty, noting that there has been an increase in high-risk pregnancies due to conditions in the Strip.

“And most women come here under stress, trauma and uncertainty, having suffered multiple displacements, lost loved ones, unable to obtain the nutritious food they require.”

A 22-year-old Palestinian woman originally from the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza said she weighed only 43 kilogrammes (94 pounds) when she gave birth to a son in mid-January.

“My baby was born with lung infection in both lungs; he spent several days in the intensive care unit and now is a bit better, but still cannot breathe properly on his own and is in an incubator,” said the woman, who is displaced and living in southern Gaza’s al-Mawasi area.

“I am afraid he will get sicker because I live in a tent by the sea, and it has been very cold, and there is no way to keep warm. I also have another baby aged 18 months, and he too has been sick from the cold,” she told the rights group.

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L’article Israel denies women in Gaza ‘conditions to live’: Amnesty est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

Despite displacement, Gaza families strive to create joy this Ramadan, navigating grief, scarcity, and fragile peace.

At the Bureij refugee area in central Gaza, Maisoon al-Barbarawi welcomes the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in her tent.

Simple decorations hang from its worn ceiling, alongside colourful drawings on the fabric walls, prepared by camp residents to mark the arrival of the blessed month.

“We brought you decorations and a small lantern,” Maisoon tells her nine-year-old son, Hasan, smiling with an exhaustion tinged with joy at her ability to buy him a Ramadan lantern.

“My means are limited, but what matters is that the children feel happy,” Maisoon tells Al Jazeera, expressing cautious optimism about the month’s arrival.

“I wanted these decorations to be a way out of the atmosphere of grief and sadness that has accompanied us over the past two years during the war.”

Maisoon, known to everyone as Umm Mohammed, is 52 years old and a mother of two children.

“My older son is 15, and the younger is nine years. They are the most precious things I have.”

“Every day they are safe is a day worth gratitude and joy,” she says with pride mixed with fear, referring to the terror that has accompanied her throughout the war at the thought of losing them.

Like other Palestinians in Gaza, what distinguishes this Ramadan is the relative calm that has come with the current ceasefire, compared with the previous two years, when Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, was at its peak.

“The situation is not completely calm,” Maisoon explains. Everyone knows the war hasn’t truly stopped; shelling still happens from time to time. But compared to the height of the war, things are less intense.”

Maisoon participates in camp administration activities, helping prepare bread and arrange dates and water for distribution, minutes before the call to prayer on the first day of Ramadan.

“This is the third Ramadan we’ve spent in displacement. We lost our homes, our families, and many loved ones.”

“But here in the camp, we have neighbours and friends who share the same pain and suffering, and we all want to support one another socially.”

Maisoon lost her home in southeastern Gaza at the beginning of the war and was forced to flee with her husband, Hassouna, and their children, moving between camps before eventually settling in Bureij under what she describes as “very bad conditions”.

“We are trying to create life and joy out of nothing. Ramadan and Eid come and go, but our situation remains the same,” she says after a brief pause.

‘Wounded from within’

Maisoon’s words fluctuate between optimism and fear, but she insists that Ramadan is “a blessing”, despite everything around her.

On the first day of Ramadan, she had not yet decided what she would cook for her family, as her limited means would only allow for a modest meal.

But she had already prepared her prayers and wishes before breaking her fast.

“I will pray that the war never returns. That is my daily prayer: that things calm down completely and that the army withdraw from our land,” she says, pointing to bullet holes in her tent caused by gunfire from an Israeli quadcopter drone days earlier.

Fear of the war’s return during Ramadan is not unique to Maisoon, but is shared by many across the Gaza Strip, who worry about a renewed escalation, similar to last year when fighting resumed on March 19, 2025, coinciding with the second week of Ramadan.

That renewed war was accompanied by the closure of crossings and a ban on food aid entering the enclave, triggering a severe food crisis and humanitarian famine that lasted until last September.

“People these days keep talking about stocking up. They tell us: store flour, store food… the war is coming back,” Maisoun says anxiously.

“Last Ramadan was famine and war at the same time. I spent all my money during the previous famine.”

“My little son used to pray for death because he craved food. Can you imagine?”

Bitter memories

Gaza enters this year’s Ramadan under a “ceasefire” that began on October 10, 2025.

That truce remains fragile, but reports from the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) indicate a relative improvement in the availability of certain food items, compared with periods of severe escalation and closures.

Commercial activity has partially resumed, and aid has entered at a steadier pace, though the flow remains inconsistent and subject to restrictions and logistical obstacles.

Despite a broader range of goods appearing in markets, prices remain high, and purchasing power is severely weakened, with large segments of the population still reliant on humanitarian assistance to meet basic needs.

Many Palestinians in Gaza continue to rely on aid organisations to eat.

Hanan al-Attar is one of them. She received a food parcel from a relief organisation on the first day of Ramadan.

Opening the package with a broad smile, she celebrates its contents while her grandchildren gather around her.

“This is fava beans, halva, dates, tahini, oil, lentils, beans, spreadable cheese, mortadella, mashallah, an excellent parcel,” Hanan tells her daughter standing nearby.

“This will be perfect for tomorrow’s suhoor,” she says, referring to the predawn meal before Muslims begin fasting for the day.

Hanan, 55, is a mother of eight who fled to Deir el-Balah a year ago from Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, one of the hardest-hit places by Israel during the war.

She tells Al Jazeera that she will have to depend on whatever aid arrives to sustain her during Ramadan, due to her difficult economic situation.

“Today, thank God, we received assistance. This will ease my worry about what we will break our fast with,” says Hanan, who shares a tent with 15 family members, including children and grandchildren.

Smiling, she admits she secretly set aside a small amount of money to prepare a tray of potatoes with minced meat and rice for the first iftar.

“I saved a small amount to buy a kilo of meat tomorrow. Fasting requires protein,” she says in a low voice, noting that preparing a meal now depends entirely on what is available that same day, as storage conditions are nearly nonexistent.

“As you can see, there is no electricity, no infrastructure, no refrigerators to store vegetables or meat if we buy them.”

“We purchase what we need day by day so the food does not spoil.”

Yet the other side of Ramadan for Hanan is measured not by preparation but by those absent from the table.

Tears fill her eyes as she mentions her two sons in their late twenties who were killed in a strike last year, one leaving behind a daughter not yet two years old.

“This is the first Ramadan after the martyrdom of my sons Abdullah and Mohammed,” she says through tears.

“You feel the emptiness. It’s hard. When the family gathers and members are missing, you feel deep pain.”

Cooking in the tent: Fire, wind, and plastic

Still, Hanan’s sorrow is briefly interrupted by the practicalities of preparing the cooking space.

“Unfortunately, Ramadan hasn’t changed our reality. We’ve been cooking over open fire for two years. The wind blows out the flame, and my son tries to shield it with plastic.”

She relies on firewood due to prolonged shortages of cooking gas.

“I managed to fill an eight-kilo gas cylinder two months ago and refused to use it until Ramadan,” she says, pulling out the hidden cylinder.

“Gas is like treasure for us. I planned to save it for suhoor or something quick. It would be difficult to light a fire at dawn.”

“In the end, everything passes. What matters is that we remain together in health and safety, and that we do not live through famine or war again,” she adds, her voice shifting to prayers for peace.

The memory of famine further deepens her anxiety.

She repeats the word “difficult” as she recalls the months when prices soared and food disappeared after last Ramadan.

She describes grinding lentils to replace flour and mixing them with pasta or rice to feed as many family members as possible.

To make the bread stretch, she cut it into smaller portions.

“I make it smaller, so it’s enough for everyone.”

And yet, her final wish, repeated like a prayer, echoes what many in Gaza seek this Ramadan: nothing more than “goodness and peace”, and a return home from displacement.

“May this Ramadan be one of goodness and peace for everyone… and may we return to our homes and our land.”

World Opinion + ALjazeera

L’article Gaza welcomes Ramadan amid fragile ‘ceasefire’ and fears of renewed war est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

Hospitals in the besieged Gaza Strip have recorded two more deaths “due to famine and malnutrition” in the past 24 hours, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, bringing the total to at least 113.

Israel has recalled its ceasefire negotiating team for “consultations” after Hamas submitted a response to a proposed Gaza ceasefire deal to mediators.

The response reportedly includes amendments to conditions around the entry of aid, areas from which the Israeli army should withdraw, and guarantees on securing a permanent end to the war.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 59,587 people and wounded 143,498. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023 attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.

For aid to arrive into the hands of Palestinians in Gaza, it is not straightforward.

Since the war began in October 2023, some aid has been able to pass into the territory through a handful of militarised crossing points.

But even if lorries carrying supplies can get in, without the cooperation of Israeli authorities they can’t get much further.

Aid groups say there is no shortage in the supply of food, but accuse Israel of obstructing it and making it virtually impossible for humanitarian assistance to reach millions of people who desperately need it.

Instead, truckloads sit untouched in warehouses, external while not far away, aid groups say, Gazans face mass starvation.

Israel denies this, and blames UN agencies and « the collection bottleneck » as the main obstacle for supplies getting into Gaza.

Earlier this year, the Israeli military blockaded the entry of aid trucks into Gaza for 11 weeks, it said, to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages.

Not longer after that, Israel and the US backed a controversial organisation called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to bypass the UN and act as the main distributor of aid in Gaza.

The GHF, unlike the UN, uses private security contractors to distribute supplies from sites in Israeli military zones. It’s a system Israel and the US say is necessary to stop Hamas from stealing aid.

But aid organisations have also roundly condemned the scheme, which the UN says has seen more than 1,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces while trying to collect food.

And according to the World Health Organization, a large proportion of the population of Gaza is starving.

World Opinions + Agencies

L’article Israel has starved 113 Palestinians to death in Gaza.. How does aid get into Gaza – and why isn’t enough getting through?.. Video est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

Democratic presidential candidate in ‘excellent health’ before November’s US election, doctor says.

United States Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, released a letter from her doctor that pronounced her in “excellent health” and fit for high office, in an effort to draw a contrast with her counterpart, Donald Trump.

As president, I will take on corporate price gouging to lower the cost of groceries.

Donald Trump can’t figure out what groceries are. pic.twitter.com/fhvYsYj9Ep

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 12, 2024

In a memo released on Saturday, physician Joshua Simmons said Harris’s April exam was “unremarkable”, noting her active lifestyle, “very healthy diet”, seasonal allergies, sporadic hives, and moderate alcohol use.

“In summary, Vice President Harris remains in excellent health. She possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the presidency, to include those as chief executive, head of state and commander in chief,” Simmons wrote.

Donald Trump’s Project 2025 plan will gut Social Security and Medicare. pic.twitter.com/BcmhhA593n

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 9, 2024

Harris, 59, is running against Republican Trump, 78, for the White House in November.

Locked in a tight race, Harris’s campaign hopes that contrasting her comparative youth and mental acuity with Trump’s more advanced age and tendency to meander, along with the differences in transparency between the two, will help convince undecided voters that she is more fit for office than he is.

Simmons said Harris’s allergies had been well-managed with over-the-counter and prescription medications.

Her urticaria, or hives, were “sporadic and transient and do not seem to be triggered by any particular exposure nor are they associated with other symptoms” and respond well to antihistamine treatment.

Harris has been on allergen immunotherapy for the last three years, dramatically improving her allergy and urticaria symptoms and negating her need for medication other than occasional nasal spray, he said.

Trump’s health

Former President Trump questioned President Joe Biden’s health when the 81-year-old president was seeking re-election. Since Biden was replaced on the ticket with Harris, Trump’s own health has drawn more attention.

According to a Harris aide, the vice president made her medical information public on Saturday in an effort to draw attention to Trump’s refusal to do so.

Trump has released very little health information, including after his ear was grazed by a bullet during an assassination attempt in July.

Last November, Trump marked Biden’s birthday by releasing a letter from his physician that reported the former president was in “excellent” physical and mental health.

The letter posted on Trump’s social media platform contained no details to support its claims – measures like weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, or the results of any test.

World Opinions + Agencies

L’article Kamala Harris releases medical report, drawing contrast with Donald Trump est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

Des rues animées de New York aux collines paisibles d’Éthiopie, le café est un élément essentiel de la vie quotidienne de millions de personnes.

Le café est au cœur de la culture humaine depuis plus de 15 siècles. Certains lui attribuent le mérite d’avoir alimenté le mouvement des Lumières des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, qui a jeté les bases du monde moderne.

La caféine est le principal ingrédient stimulant du café et est aujourd’hui le stimulant de la mémoire le plus consommé au monde, influençant notre façon de penser et de nous sentir.

D’où vient le café ?

Le café provient des fruits du caféier Arabica, dont l’origine se situe en Éthiopie. Plus de 90 % du café est produit dans les pays en développement, principalement en Amérique du Sud, mais aussi au Viêt Nam et en Indonésie, tandis que la majeure partie est consommée dans les pays industrialisés.

La légende raconte qu’au IXe siècle après J.-C., un berger nommé Khalidi remarqua que ses chèvres étaient plus énergiques après avoir mangé du café, et il décida donc de l’essayer lui-même.

Depuis lors, les gens consomment des grains de café infusés ou préparent du thé à partir des feuilles de la plante.

Des sources historiques affirment que les soufis du Yémen ont été les premiers à torréfier les grains de café, au XIVe siècle après J.-C., créant ainsi la boisson que nous connaissons aujourd’hui.

Au XVe siècle, les cafés ont commencé à apparaître dans l’Empire ottoman, puis ils se sont répandus en Europe où ils sont devenus des centres de conversation sur le commerce, la politique et les nouvelles idées en général.

Certains chercheurs, dont le célèbre philosophe et sociologue allemand Jürgen Habermas, affirment qu’il n’y aurait pas eu de Lumières sans café.

Selon Habermas, les cafés sont devenus des « centres de critique » aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, lorsque l’opinion publique a commencé à se former.

Le philosophe français Voltaire buvait plus de 72 tasses de café par jour et le philosophe français Denis Diderot se serait appuyé sur le café pour rédiger son encyclopédie en 28 volumes, fondement du siècle des Lumières, selon l’écrivain américain Michael Pollan.

Ted Fisher, professeur d’anthropologie et directeur de l’Institute for Coffee Studies à l’université Vanderbilt, estime que le café a également joué un rôle clé dans l’essor du capitalisme.

M. Fisher a déclaré à la BBC : « Le café a changé le cours de l’histoire et a encouragé le développement des idées qui ont conduit aux Lumières et au capitalisme ».

M. Fischer a ajouté : « Il me semble que ce n’est pas une coïncidence si les idées sur la démocratie, la rationalité, l’empirisme, la science et le capitalisme sont devenues si populaires en même temps que le café ».

M. Fischer poursuit : « Cette boisson, qui stimule la compréhension et la concentration, a dû faire partie du contexte qui a conduit au capitalisme ».

Les hommes d’affaires ont compris que le café pouvait être utilisé pour augmenter la productivité et ont autorisé les travailleurs à faire des pauses pour boire cette boisson revigorante.

Le côté obscur du café

Un aspect plus sombre de l’histoire du café est son rôle dans l’exploitation des esclaves ; les Français ont exploité les esclaves amenés d’Afrique pour la culture du café en Haïti.

Au XIXe siècle, le Brésil produisait un tiers du café mondial en utilisant des esclaves africains.

Aujourd’hui, le café est une pierre angulaire de la culture mondiale, avec une consommation quotidienne de plus de deux millions de tasses, pour une valeur de 90 milliards de dollars par an.

Près de 600 ans plus tard, la situation n’est guère différente, selon Heifer International, une organisation non gouvernementale qui cherche à éradiquer la pauvreté et la faim dans le monde.

L’organisation affirme que les personnes de couleur constituent toujours l’épine dorsale de l’industrie du café et qu’elles travaillent pour des salaires peu élevés.

Dans une cinquantaine de pays, environ 125 millions de personnes dépendent de l’industrie du café pour leur subsistance, et plus de la moitié d’entre elles vivent dans la pauvreté.

Quels sont les effets du café sur l’organisme ?

Une fois ingérée, la caféine traverse le système digestif et passe dans la circulation sanguine. Cependant, dès qu’elle atteint le système nerveux, ses effets commencent. La caféine est similaire à l’adénosine, qui est produite naturellement par l’organisme.

L’adénosine calme le système nerveux sympathique, ce qui entraîne une diminution du rythme cardiaque et, par conséquent, une sensation de détente et de somnolence.

La caféine se lie aux récepteurs de l’adénosine à la surface des cellules nerveuses, comme une clé dans une serrure. Le blocage de ces récepteurs produit l’effet inverse.

Cela peut entraîner une légère augmentation de la pression artérielle, stimuler l’activité cérébrale, réduire la faim et favoriser un sentiment de vigilance et d’attention, favorisant ainsi une concentration plus durable.

La caféine stimule l’humeur, réduit la fatigue, améliore les performances physiques et est parfois utilisée comme supplément par les athlètes.

Ces effets peuvent durer entre 15 minutes et deux heures. L’organisme met cinq à dix heures pour éliminer la caféine après son ingestion, mais ses effets peuvent durer plus longtemps.

Pour maximiser les bienfaits de la caféine, les experts conseillent la modération et d’éviter d’en consommer après-midi afin d’en garantir l’effet dès la première tasse de café du lendemain matin.

Pour être en bonne santé, les experts recommandent aux adultes de ne pas consommer plus de 400 milligrammes de caféine par jour, soit l’équivalent de quatre à cinq tasses de café.

Certaines personnes dépassent parfois cette limite de tasses de café par jour, ce qui peut entraîner des effets secondaires tels que l’insomnie, l’anxiété, l’accélération du rythme cardiaque, des maux d’estomac, des nausées et des maux de tête.

Les experts de la Food and Drug Administration (FDA) américaine mettent en garde contre les effets graves d’une consommation excessive de caféine dépassant 1 200 milligrammes par jour, soit l’équivalent de 12 tasses de café.

Selon le Dr Matthias Hein, chercheur à l’université de Harvard, de nombreuses personnes pensent que la consommation modérée de café est bénéfique pour la santé et réduit le risque de nombreuses maladies.

Matthias a déclaré à la BBC : « Deux à trois verres par jour réduisent le risque de décès, de diabète, de maladies cardiovasculaires et même de certains cancers. »

Après tout, avant de prendre votre première nouvelle tasse de café, vous devriez peut-être réfléchir à cette longue histoire.

World Opinions – BBC News

L’article D’où vient le café, quelle est son histoire et quels sont ses effets sur l’organisme ? est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

The Palestine Red Crescent says Israel has imposed a curfew around Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, and that gunfire and The Israeli military says its ground forces have encircled Khan Younis, the southern Gaza Strip’s largest city.

The International Court of Justice says it will decide this Friday on South Africa’s requested provisional measures against Israel in genocide case.

UNRWA reports “mass casualties” as training centre sheltering tens of thousands of displaced people in Khan Younis catches fire after being struck amid fierce fighting.

Israeli forces continue tank-and-drone strikes on Khan Younis city with at least 210 people killed over the past 24 hours.

At least 25,700 people have been killed and 63,740 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139.

WHO laments killing of Palestinians in Israeli strike on UNRWA shelter

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has offered his condolences to those killed after Israeli tanks shelled a URWA facility sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza earlier today, lamenting the “horrendous” heavy bombardment of Khan Younis.

“The ongoing heavy bombardment, evacuation orders and killing of civilians in Khan Younis, Gaza is just horrendous,” Ghebreyesus said in a social media post.

“WHO team joined an UNRWA mission to help those who were injured in today’s blast at the training centre where civilians were sheltering. Our deep condolences to the families who lost loved ones.”

Troops have also reportedly advanced deeper into remaining parts of the city, where they believe Hamas leaders are hiding in tunnels with hostages.

Residents said tanks had shut the last road out of the city to the Mediterranean coast, effectively stopping them from fleeing southwards.

There was also intense fighting around the city’s two main hospitals.

It came as funerals took place for some of the 24 Israeli soldiers killed on Monday on the deadliest day for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) since the start of its ground offensive in Gaza 12 weeks ago.

At least 195 Palestinians were also killed in Gaza over the previous 24 hours, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The ministry says more than 25,400 people have been killed – mostly children and women – during the war between Hamas and Israel.

It was triggered by an unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas gunmen on southern Israel on 7 October, in which about 1,300 people were killed – most of them civilians – and about 250 others taken hostage.

Israeli ground forces expanded their operation into southern Gaza in early December, after largely taking control of Hamas strongholds in the north.

Within days they were said to have reached the « heart » of Khan Younis, where hundreds of thousands of people who had fled northern areas were sheltering.

But the troops have since faced fierce resistance from Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade. It is considered to be one of the two strongest in the group, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK and other countries.

The Israeli operation has expanded and intensified in recent days, with dozens of people reported killed in air and artillery strikes on Monday alone as tanks pushed into the west and centre of the city.

On Tuesday, the IDF put out a statement saying that over the past day its troops had « carried out an extensive operation during which they encircled Khan Yunis and deepened the operation in the area ».

The troops had « engaged in close-quarters combat, directed [air] strikes, and used intelligence to co-ordinate fire, resulting in the elimination of dozens of terrorists », it added.

The IDF also ordered residents of western Khan Younis to move immediately to the al-Mawasi area, on the Mediterranean coast, for their own safety.

However, some witnesses said tanks had blocked the road leading there, preventing them from joining the estimated million people currently sheltering to the south in Rafah, on the border with Egypt.

« I am trying to leave for Rafah but the tanks are now very near to the coast and are firing toward the west, » Shaban, an electrical engineer with four children, told Reuters news agency.

The World Health Organization meanwhile said it was deeply concerned by reports of attacks on hospitals in Khan Younis.

On Tuesday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said a civilian had been killed by an Israeli drone at the entrance of Al-Amal Hospital, which it runs, and that others had been injured when shells struck its nearby headquarters.

« The situation remains extremely dangerous. Early this morning, there was direct artillery shelling of the Palestine Red Crescent’s headquarters on the fourth floor. Israeli drones did not stop firing at people at al-Amal Hospital, » spokeswoman Nebal Farsakh told the BBC from Ramallah.

« [There is] panic and fear among thousands of displaced people who are taking shelter inside our facilities. »

There was no immediate comment from the IDF, but it has previously accused Hamas fighters of embedding themselves among the civilian population and operating in and around medical facilities.

Ms Farsakh also said ambulances were « facing significant challenges to reach wounded people and transport them to hospitals », adding that they were now being told to take critical cases to Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza.

And she warned that Al-Amal and the nearby Nasser Medical Complex – the largest of the 14 hospitals still partly working in Gaza – were « overwhelmed and overcrowded ».

Dr Haytham Ahmad, who works in Nasser’s emergency department, told the BBC that multiple amputations were being performed, and that in some cases, patients were not being given anaesthetic because of a shortage of supplies.

« These cases have severe crush injuries and there is just some skin and muscle still connected. We try to use limited anaesthetic in this situation, » he said.

A World Health Organization spokesman said Nasser was « now basically besieged » and that there was « no way in and out » for its 400 patients, as well as the medical staff treating them and displaced civilians.

Gaza’s health ministry alleged that Israeli forces had fired « heavily on the upper floors of the specialised surgery building and the emergency building » of the hospital.

One video filmed by a Palestinian journalist appeared to show gunfire hitting the hospital’s western corner, while in another clip smoke is seen rising from an area to the south.

The IDF told AFP news agency that it was « not aware of the event ».

Later, UN Secretary General António Guterres said the humanitarian situation in Gaza was « appalling » and that the entire population was « enduring destruction at a scale and speed without parallel in recent history ».

He also once again appealed for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman said it was « engaging in serious discussions with both sides » on a potential deal, and a Palestinian official told the BBC that a Hamas delegation had arrived in Cairo on Tuesday morning to « discuss new proposals » with Egypt’s intelligence minister.

Israel has not denied that it has proposed a two-month truce, involving the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners. But there are reports that has already been rejected by Hamas, which demands a permanent ceasefire.

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L’article Khan Younis: Israel says forces have encircled Gaza’s second city.. Video est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.