Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Friday 11 august 2017

Extreme heat decimating crops in parts of Europe Dutch arrest 2

in investigation
Institute.
“Unfortunately, extreme of tainted eggs
drought conditions caught
the corn in the most sen- By MIKE CORDER
sitive phase of develop- Associated Press
ment,” he said. THE HAGUE, Netherlands
“Not even heavy, longer (AP) — Dutch investiga-
rains could help now.” tors on Thursday detained
Serbian government of- two men suspected of be-
ficials have said any short- ing involved in the illegal
ages following this year’s use of pesticide at poultry
drought will be covered farms that sparked a food
from state reserves to avoid safety scare in several Eu-
further damage. ropean countries.
The government has also The detentions and a series
urged consumers to be of coordinated raids in the
cautious with water usage Netherlands and Belgium
and factories to refrain marked another escala-
from depositing waste into tion in a widening scandal
drained rivers where the that has seen eggs tainted
fish are already suffering. with the pesticide Fipro-
In neighboring Hungary, nil stripped from shelves
the drought has reduced in countries including the
Pavel Tordaj, 42, a farmer, stands inside his field of corn which has been decimated by drought, the number of birds hatch- Netherlands, Belgium and
in Padina, Serbia, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2017. Authorities and experts are warning that extremely hot ing in a national park as Germany.
and dry summer this year in the Balkans has decimated crops, dried rivers and hurt the animal Food safety authorities in
world. many of the breeding ar-
eas have dried out. other countries, including
By JOVANA GEC which several people have Tordaj said nearly all his Preliminary state statistics Britain, have reported dis-
Associated Press died and dozens of wild- corn, and half of his sunflow- have shown a predicted covering eggs from farms
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — fires have flared. ers have been destroyed decline in Hungary’s grain where Fipronil was used or
Evidence is piling up that The drought has also ratch- by the drought, adding harvest of around seven products containing eggs
this year’s sizzling summer eted up demand for water that it will be very hard for percent. from those farms.
in central and southeast- and electricity. the farmers to make up for Rising temperatures have It’s believed that the in-
ern Europe has decimated Serbia has been one of the loss. also prompted Hungary to secticide got into the food
crops, drained rivers and the hardest hit countries, “Who will pay for that?” he set a stricter legal defini- chain when it was illegally
hurt the animal world. with experts saying an esti- asked. tion of what constitutes a added to a product used
As the drought’s costs be- mated 60 percent of corn “We took loans from the drought, which will make it to treat poultry for lice,
come clearer, tempera- crops destroyed. The minis- bank.” more difficult for farmers to fleas and ticks.
tures in Serbia, Romania, try of ecology also says wa- Corn accounts for around get compensation from in- Though no one has been
Hungary and Croatia ter levels across the country one million hectares (2.4 surance companies. reported as falling sick,
soared to nearly 40 de- have dropped drastically, million acres) of Serbia’s In the country’s Koros- prosecutors said in a state-
grees Celsius (104 Fahren- threatening fish stocks. farmland, which is widely Maros National Park, the ment that there is evi-
heit) again on Thursday “This is really sad!” said perceived as having a majority of stork nests ob- dence that public health
following a few days of farmer Pavel Tordaj from poor watering system. served this year had only has been threatened by
moderately less oppressive the northern Serbian vil- Overall, around 60 percent three young birds instead “the delivery or applica-
heat. lage of Padina, while show- of corn crops have been of the usual four and none tion of the biocide Fipronil
The region is enduring one ing withered corn and destroyed, according to had more than five. Many in poultry houses in the egg
of the hottest and driest scorched sunflower on his Zeljko Kaitovic from the of the nests had only a sin- sector.”
summers in years, during land. state-run Maize Research gle nestling.q The Dutch investigation,
they added, is focusing on
a Dutch company that al-
Police: French suspect not known as radical legedly applied the Fipro-
nil, the presumed Belgian
supplier and a Dutch trad-
By SYLVIE CORBET nymity because he was not in northern France follow- hood and front bumper er who worked together
Associated Press allowed to speak about an ing a highway manhunt, damaged. with the supplier.
PARIS (AP) — The man sus- ongoing investigation. Po- police said. Police officers “I thought, ‘It’s weird... I’m Dutch farms produce bil-
pected of ramming a BMW lice have not disclosed a opened fire during the ar- going to take the vehicle’s lions of eggs each year, the
into a group of soldiers near motive for the attack. rest to subdue him, and he license plate,’” he said. majority for the export mar-
Paris is a 37-year-old Alge- Benlatreche’s name was on was injured along with an Mohammed Benlatreche, ket. An estimated 5 billion
rian who was known to po- the letterbox for an apart- officer hit by a stray police who identified himself as eggs are sold each year to
lice as a suspect in minor ment in a building in the bullet, officials said. The sus- the Hamou Benlatreche’s Germany alone, accord-
crimes but not as someone suburb of Bezons, north of pect was hospitalized but uncle, told BFM television ing to a poultry farming
with radical beliefs, police Paris, that police searched police did not provide an his nephew was a prac- union in the Netherlands.
said Thursday. Wednesday night. Neigh- update on his condition. ticing Muslim who told his Dozens of Dutch farms
Hamou Benlatreche was bors there refused to speak A police trainee only identi- family he was working as a visited by the company
living legally in France and to reporters Thursday. fied by his first name, Lau- driver for deliveries and for suspected of using Fipro-
had never been convicted Six soldiers were hurt in rent, told Europe 1 radio Uber. nil have been temporarily
of a crime, a police officer Wednesday’s incident, that while driving on the He said he was “stunned” banned from selling their
involved in the case told though none had life- highway north of Paris, he when he heard the news. eggs until the hens and
The Associated Press. He threatening injuries. noticed a car passing at full “It was not believable it their stalls are declared
spoke on condition of ano- Benlatreche was arrested speed with its windshield, was him.”q cleared of the pesticide.q