Month: February 2022

Fence Being Reinstalled Around US Capitol for Biden Speech

Posted on by SeeUS

Fencing installed around the U.S. Capitol for months after the January 2021 insurrection will be put back up before President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday as concern grows about potential demonstrations or truck convoys snarling traffic in the nation’s capital.

Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said in a statement Sunday that the fence will be erected around the Capitol building for the speech and is being put up “out of an abundance of caution,” in consultation with the Secret Service.

The move comes as officials in Washington prepare for trucker convoys that are planning protests against pandemic restrictions beginning this week. The Pentagon has already approved the deployment of 700 unarmed National Guard troops to be used to assist with traffic control during potential demonstrations.

Modeled after recent trucker protests in Canada, separate truck convoys have been planned through online forums. Many have different starting points, departure dates and routes, though some are scheduled to arrive in time for the State of the Union address. Others may arrive afterward.

Manger said his force’s “mission to protect the United States Congress, the Capitol, and the legislative process remains unwavering.” 

The fence had been a stark symbol of the fear many in the Capitol felt after the mob pushed its way past overwhelmed police officers, broke through windows and doors and ransacked the Capitol as Congress was voting to certify Joe Biden’s electoral win. It remained up for several months.

The U.S. Capitol Police Board had approved a plan to briefly reinstall the fence for a rally in September that was organized to support people who remained jailed in connection with the insurrection. Law enforcement officers and members of the media vastly outnumbered the protesters and only a few incidents were reported.

Capitol Police have also requested additional assistance from outside law enforcement agencies before Tuesday’s address, in addition to the request for help from the National Guard, Manger said.

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee has said his department is closely monitoring the shifting information and would be devoting additional policing in a rolling state of heightened alert over the next few weeks.
…

your ad here

EU Closes its Airspace to Russian Planes 

Posted on by SeeEU

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the European Union will close its airspace to Russian airlines and private jets due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The ban was decided on Sunday by the bloc’s foreign ministers. The decision is among several actions announced by the foreign ministers after their meeting in Brussels.

“We are shutting down the EU airspace for Russians. We are proposing a prohibition on all Russian-owned, Russian registered, or Russian-controlled aircraft. These aircraft will no more be able to land in, take off, or overfly the territory of the EU,” von der Leyen told a news conference.

 

Many European countries had already announced they would close their airspace to Russian planes.

Finland and Belgium were among the most recent to take the step, saying earlier they would join other European countries in ramping up sanctions against Moscow, officials said.

Finland, which shares a 1,300-kilometer border with Russia, “is preparing to close its airspace to Russian air traffic,” Transport Minister Timo Harakka said on Twitter on February 26.

He did not state when the measure would take effect.

Belgian Prime Minster Alexander De Croo said on February 27 that the country “has decided to close its airspace to all Russian airlines.”

De Croo said on Twitter that “our European skies are open skies. They’re open for those who connect people, not for those who seek to brutally aggress.”

Several other countries, including Germany, France, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Britain, Romania, and Poland, had already closed their airspace to Russian flights, forcing westbound Russian planes to make enormous diversions.

 

“France is shutting its airspace to all Russian aircraft and airlines from this evening on,” French Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said on Twitter.

Air France-KLM said it is suspending flights to and from Russia as well as the overflight of Russian airspace until further notice as of February 27.

Canada also said on February 27 it had shut its airspace to Russian aircraft effective immediately, Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra said on Twitter.

 

Germany’s Transport Ministry said it would close its airspace to Russian planes and airlines for three months from February 27, with the exception of humanitarian aid flights.

Baltic countries Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are also closing their airspace to Russian airliners.

Moscow, for its part, has also banned planes from those countries from flying over its territory.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters.
…

your ad here

Russians Hold Anti-War Rallies Amid Ominous Threats by Putin 

Posted on by SeeEU

From Moscow to Siberia, Russian anti-war activists took to the streets again Sunday to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, despite the arrests of hundreds of protesters each day by police.

Demonstrators held pickets and marched in city centers, chanting “No to war!” as President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear deterrent to be put on high alert, upping the ante in the Kremlin’s standoff with the West and stoking fears of a nuclear war.

“I have two sons and I don’t want to give them to that bloody monster. War is a tragedy for all of us,” 48-year-old Dmitry Maltsev, who joined the rally in St. Petersburg, told The Associated Press.

Protests against the invasion started Thursday in Russia and have continued daily ever since, even as Russian police have moved swiftly to crack down on the rallies and detain protesters. The Kremlin has sought to downplay the protests, insisting that a much broader share of Russians support the assault on Ukraine.

In St. Petersburg, where several hundred gathered in the city center, police in full riot gear were grabbing one protester after another and dragging some into police vans, even though the demonstration was peaceful. Footage from Moscow showed police throwing several female protesters on the ground before dragging them away.

According to the OVD-Info rights group that tracks political arrests, by Sunday evening police detained at least 1,474 Russians in 45 cities over anti-war demonstrations that day.

Four days into the the fighting that has killed scores, Putin raised the stakes dramatically on Sunday, ordering the military Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert, citing Western countries “taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere” and “top officials from leading NATO members made aggressive statements regarding our country.”

The day before, the U.S. and its European allies have warned that the coming round of sanctions could include freezing hard currency reserves of Russia’s Central Bank and cutting Russia off SWIFT international payment system. The unprecedented move could quickly plunge the Russian economy into chaos.

Ordinary Russians fear that stiff sanctions will deliver a crippling blow to the country’s economy. Since Thursday, Russians have been flocking to banks and ATMs to withdraw cash, creating long lines and reporting on social media about ATM machines running out of bills.

According to Russia’s Central Bank, on Thursday alone Russians withdrew 111 billion rubles (about $1.3 billion) in cash.

The anti-war protests on Sunday appeared smaller and more scattered than the ones that took place on the first day of Russia’s attack in Ukraine, when thousands of people rallied in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but their true scale was hard to assess and they seemed to pick up speed as the day went on.

“It is a crime both against Ukraine and Russia. I think it is killing both Ukraine and Russia. I am outraged, I haven’t slept for three nights, and I think we must now declare very loudly that we don’t want to be killed and don’t want Ukraine to be killed,” said Olga Mikheeva, who protested in the Siberian city of Irkutsk.
…

your ad here

Malawi Restocks Depleted AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine 

Posted on by SeeAF

Malawi has received nearly 300,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine under COVAX, the global initiative founded to foster equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. This is the first vaccine donation this year, after the country’s stocks were depleted in December. The donation from Japan Saturday is part of about 2 million doses of AstraZeneca Japan is prepared to send to Malawi.

Health authorities in Malawi say the donation is the first COVID-19 vaccine consignment from Japan to a country in sub-Saharan Africa.

Malawi’s health minister, Khumbize Kandodo-Chiponda, says Malawi feels honored to receive the vaccine donation when it is needed most.

“This is so timely because we have over about 700,000 Malawians who have already received the first dose of AstraZeneca. You are aware that we had our last consignment in December. By 31 December, we finished all the doses of the AstraZeneca which we had. So we haven’t had AstraZeneca from 1 January,” said Kandodo-Chiponda.

So far, Malawi administers three types of COVID-19 vaccine: Johnson &Johnson, Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

However, the country has so far vaccinated only about 7% of the population amid continued vaccine hesitancy largely stemming from misconceptions and doubts over its efficacy.

However, the frequency of shipment of the 1.9 million doses Japan is keeping for Malawi will depend on Malawi’s commitment in increasing vaccine use.

Kandodo-Chiponda said the condition is in line with the government’s new arrangement.

“You remember that last year, in March, we had over 20,000 doses expiring on us. So, what we have agreed with COVAX is that we should be getting them in parts. Otherwise, as government, we have already made procurement of over 2 million doses but we are saying ‘we don’t want anything to expire on us, our consumption rate is still very, very low,” she said.

Maziko Matemba, Malawi’s national ambassador on health, says the condition on the forthcoming vaccine donations should be a wakeup call to the Malawi government to make sure it does not lose vaccine donations from other countries.

“This is the first time the donor has put a condition on the COVID vaccines which Malawi received as a donation. And this just shows that our partners who are supporting us with these vaccines, they have noted that maybe we are not doing much in terms of demand creation but also uptake,” he said.

The World Health Organization has called for each country to vaccinate at least 70% of their population by June.

Malawi announced last month that it has set itself a target of vaccinating 50% by June.

“As a country, we are behind our projections because we would have loved that at least by this time, we would have been taking about at least 15% of the eligible people to have been vaccinated. But we are way behind. This is mainly [because of] vaccine hesitancy. It is still there, some people still not yet convinced that they need to get the vaccine. So, it is work in progress,” said Kandodo-Chiponda.

A recent U.N. report says although the COVAX facility has helped increase vaccine supplies in Africa, the continent is struggling to expand rollout, with only 11% of the population fully vaccinated so far.

But Kandodo-Chiponda said the Malawi government is devising a plan to increase its vaccine uptake which includes increasing an ongoing door-to-door vaccination campaign.
…

your ad here

Zimbabwe Police Use Dogs, Tear Gas Against Opposition   

Posted on by SeeAF

Zimbabwean police Saturday used dogs and tear gas to break up the country’s main opposition party rally as President Emmerson Mnangagwa delivered an address a few kilometers away unhindered.  

Police descended on thousands of unsuspecting members of the Zimbabwe Citizens’ Coalition for Change waiting for their leader, Nelson Chamisa, to address them in Gokwe, about 300km southwest of Harare for VOA News. The police used dogs and tear gas to disperse the rally for allegedly violating COVID-19 regulations barring more than 100 people from gathering.

Fadzayi Mahere, spokeswoman of Citizens’ Coalition for Change, was among them and blames President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

“We saw a regrettable selective application of the law by the Zimbabwe Republic Police. So, the police, on Mr. Mnangagwa’s instructions, made an about turn and purported to prohibit our rally, contrary to law and constitution. No explanation was given why our rally was banned, whereas Mr. Mnangagwa’s rallies are allowed to proceed. A further concern is the abuse of COVID regulations as a weapon to shrink the democratic space. As the Citizens’ Coalition for Change we continue to demand a level playing field.”

Zimbabwe’s home affairs minister, Kazembe Kazembe, who is in charge of police, refused to comment Sunday.

Harare-based political commentator Rejoice Ngwenya says Mnangagwa’s government seems to be taking the template from its predecessor. The late Robert Mugabe’s administration used to crush opposition gatherings.

“President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government, which has been calling for lifting of sanctions, saying all is now well, is now crushing the opposition’s gatherings, said Ngwenya. “It shows that ZANU-PF’s ugly way of doing things from the days of Mugabe of suppressing the opposition is still there. So that it means nothing will change – in terms of sanctions – unless the government changes the way it treats the opposition. This is not the new dispensation which people were looking forward to. We are still in Mugabe’s days.”

The opposition Citizens’ Coalition for Change said that its rally scheduled for Sunday in Kwekwe, about 300 kilometers south of Harare, would go ahead. Zimbabwe holds by-elections on March 26 to fill some seats in Parliament that have become vacant since the last election, in 2018.
…

your ad here

In Photos: Protests around the World against Russia Invasion of Ukraine

Posted on by SeeEU

People around the world rally in solidarity with Ukraine and protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
…

your ad here

Europe Begins Welcoming Ukrainian Refugees

Posted on by SeeEU

Tens of thousands of Ukrainians are arriving in Eastern Europe, fleeing the Russian invasion of their homeland. Experts predict between 1 million and 5 million could enter the European Union in coming weeks. This time, countries such as Poland are opening doors that were previously closed to others seeking asylum.

Grabbing any form of transportation they can, many Ukrainians are crossing their borders in search of safety. This group of refugees is arriving in Poland by train.

Others wait for hours to cross by car or walk kilometers to reach border points with Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Ukrainian men aged between 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave, they are supposed to be defending their homeland.

“We have, with all the frontline member states, explicit contingency plans to welcome and host immediately those refugees from Ukraine,” she said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has outlined European Union plans to support Ukrainian refugees and those internally displaced by the conflict through its humanitarian aid office, known as ECHO.

“And [as far as] internally displaced people are concerned we have a lot of support through ECHO humanitarian aid — shelter and all the necessities people who are internally displaced immediately need,” she said.

While the EU hopes there will be as few Ukrainians seeking asylum as possible, she said, Europe is prepared to welcome them.

The United Nations fears that up to 5 million Ukrainians could seek refuge in neighboring countries, including up to 3 million in Poland.

That is far more than there were during the 2015 migrant crisis, when 1.3 million Syrian, Afghan and other asylum seekers from conflict-torn countries flooded into Europe, the most in a single year since World War II. Germany granted asylum to many of them.

Eastern European countries such as Poland and Hungary, though, were reluctant to take them in. Hungary even built a border fence. Earlier this year, Poland also began building a border wall to prevent a new wave of Middle Eastern asylum seekers from entering from Belarus.

Today’s welcome is different. Poland is opening reception centers along its over 500-kilometer border with Ukraine. Poland’s interior minister says Warsaw will take in all the Ukrainians who arrive.

Here in France, far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen also affirmed her support for taking in Ukrainian refugees — even as her party earlier petitioned against a massive influx of refugees from Afghanistan.

Refugee rights groups welcome today’s open doors but they are concerned about discriminatory treatment of asylum seekers.

“Absolutely this kind of difference in treatment is something that we fear and that we see. With Ukraine, countries might be more inclined to keep their borders open. But we will see how this develops,” said Ole Solvang of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Still others fear that if the conflict in Ukraine drags on, Europe’s welcome mat may be less welcoming than it is today.
…

your ad here

Fears of Indiscriminate Russian Shelling Mount as Ukraine Battles On

Posted on by SeeEU

Fears are mounting that Russian forces will turn more to targeting critical civilian infrastructure and mount indiscriminate shelling as the defenders of Kyiv maintain their resistance and hold ground despite redoubled Kremlin efforts to subjugate Ukraine’s capital.

Some critical civilian infrastructure has already been hit and the Ukrainian military said it intercepted a missile heading for a nearby dam, which if breached could have caused major flooding of low-lying districts near the Dnieper River.

Russian forces also targeted a radioactive waste disposal site in Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities say.

“I think today we’ve seen a shift in Russian targeting towards critical civilian infrastructure, greater use of MLRS [multiple rocket launchers], and artillery in suburban areas,” tweeted Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian military at CNA, an American defense research organization.

“Unfortunately, my concern that this was going to get a lot more ugly and affect civilians is starting to materialize,” he added.

In the dam incident, the Ukrainian military said it managed to shoot down a Russian missile heading toward the Kyiv Reservoir dam Saturday.

“If the dam is destroyed, the flood will lead to catastrophic casualties and damage, including flooding of residential areas in Kyiv and the suburbs,” the Infrastructure Ministry said on Telegram.

Water experts say if the dam north of the city is breached, it could trigger a cascade effect, causing other key dams to fail. There are even concerns that a nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhya, about 550 kilometers southeast of Kyiv, could be affected.

Russian forces Saturday targeted an oil depot southwest of the city at Vasylkiv as Ukrainian forces repulsed a Russian assault on the capital.

Local authorities say Ukrainian forces are battling saboteurs and Russian special operations forces units who have infiltrated the capital. The Ukrainian government has reported 198 civilian deaths, including children, since the Russia’s invasion, but they caution the numbers could be higher. Ukrainian authorities say at least 1,200 civilians have been injured.

Six people, including a 7-year-old girl, were killed in Russian shelling in Okhtyrka, in Sumy Oblast in northeastern Ukraine, Governor Dmitry Zhivitsky said Sunday. And in the south of the country the Russian military launched drones strikes in Odessa, according to Serhiy Bratchuk, head of the regional administration.

The Ukrainian military says it has inflicted heavy losses on Russia, saying its forces have managed to destroy 16 warplanes, 18 helicopters, 102 tanks, 504 armored vehicles and a Buk-1 missile system. They estimate they have killed 3,000 Russian soldiers and captured 200. VOA is unable to vouch for the accuracy of the claims.

Sunday morning the Ukrainians blew up a bridge on the northwest of Kyiv to try to hinder Russian forces.

Ukraine presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told reporters that while a Russian delegation had arrived in Gomel in Belarus for peace talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected a Russian offer of talks in Belarus on Sunday. Podolyak said Zelenskyy is open to negotiations elsewhere — the Ukrainians have suggested Warsaw, which is being refused by the Russians.

Zelenskyy described the fighting overnight in Kyiv and across the country as “brutal” in a statement Sunday. He said Russian occupying forces are “attacking civilian areas” where there is no military infrastructure. He said Russia is now “attacking everything,” including ambulances.

As worries mounted in Kyiv of a shift in Russian targeting from mainly military infrastructure, locals Sunday reported fierce street fighting in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, where overnight shelling of residential districts preceded the entry of Russian ground forces.

Despite the Russian breach of Kharkiv, local Ukrainian commanders say they will continue to resist.

“There has been a breakthrough in light equipment including in the central part of the city,” Oleg Sinegubov, the head of the Kharkiv regional administration, announced, urging local residents to stay in shelters. He said Russian troops were still being blocked amid heavy fighting.

As in Kharkiv and Kyiv, so too elsewhere in the country defiance remains high — with resistance symbolized for many by a video posted on social media showing a Ukrainian civilian in Bakhmach in northern Ukraine attempting to stop a Russian tank by pushing against it.

In the video, the man first climbs on to the tank before jumping down and attempting to push it back, after that he kneels in front in a desperate bid to stop its advance. VOA cannot confirm the authenticity of the video, nonetheless it is one of many posted that Ukrainians point to as inspirational.

Ukrainian forces have notched up some significant successes. Zelenskyy aides confirmed that a convoy of Chechen special operations forces was intercepted near Hostomel and wiped out. Ukrainian forces have downed a cruise missile fired by a Russian Tu-22 strategic bomber from the territory of Belarus, Valery Zaluzhny, chief commander of the armed forces, said Sunday.

For civilians in cities and towns under siege — and even in towns unaffected directly by the fighting — getting basic goods and staples is becoming increasingly difficult. Many stores have closed, and supplies are difficult for owners to maintain. Village stores seem better supplied, being able to stock up with local produce, as witnessed by this VOA correspondent.

Seventy-two hours since the Russian invasion, Western experts estimate 80% of the country is still in Ukrainian hands, with around half of the forces Russian leader Vladimir Putin deployed along Ukraine’s borders now in action.

Franz-Stefan Gady, an analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think tank in London, says the Russians are having to throw in more second-echelon units because “Ukrainian forces by and large are fighting orderly delaying actions; morale remains very high; air-defenses still operational; air force remains active.”

He says Ukraine’s mechanized forces are managing to mount counterattacks and that a race is on for Ukrainian forces to beat an orderly retreat from the East, where the bulk of Ukrainian forces have been deployed, to cross the Dnieper River and establish fresh defensive positions where possible. The Russian tactic seems to be to avoid losing contact with major Ukrainian units and to encircle major cities, as they are trying to do with Kyiv, and probe for weaknesses.

He, too, worries about the likelihood of mounting civilian casualties.

“Expect very heavy fighting and a noticeable increase in Russian ground-based mass fires to break Ukrainian resistance. This will be absolutely devastating for the civilian population, if caught in crossfires,” he tweeted.

The U.N. Refugee Agency said Sunday that more than 200,000 Ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries. Tens of thousands more are waiting on Poland’s borders to enter, with many more trying to make it across the country, as witnessed by this VOA correspondent during a journey from Kyiv to Lviv that took two days.

As blasts and explosions echoed around Kyiv, Zelenskyy, wearing olive green military-style clothing, assured residents of the capital that he remains with them.

“I am here. We will not lay down any weapons. We will defend our state, because our weapons are our truth,” he said. “Our truth is that this is our land, our country, our children and we will protect all of this,” he added.

The country’s 44-year-old leader also said the country’s steadfast resistance has “derailed” a Russian plan to establish a puppet state in Ukraine. 
…

your ad here

Has China Turned its Back on ‘Best Friend’ Russia?

Posted on by SeeEU

China refused to join its close friend, Russia, in vetoing a U.S.-backed resolution in the U.N. Security Council deploring Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

China abstained on the motion but also made statements that could be extremely disappointing to Moscow. Zhang Jun, China’s U.N. ambassador, called for respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine as it was being violated by Russia.

“Ukraine should become a bridge between the East and the West, not an outpost for confrontation between major powers,” Zhang said. However, he also called for understanding Russia’s fears about NATO attempts to expand and include Ukraine as a member.

China has been using this argument about sovereignty and territorial integrity in rejecting foreign comments and opinions about trouble spots such as Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong. It has also used this argument to oppose the presence of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

“Russian annexation of portions of Ukraine, or invasion and seizure of Kiev, violate China’s position that sovereignty is sacrosanct,” John Culver, a former U.S. intelligence officer said on Twitter.

Cold feet

China’s decision to take a neutral stance on the invasion of Ukraine raises several questions. Did Beijing develop cold feet at the last moment, or did Russia go much further in its military aggression in Ukraine than China had expected?

“The unity and strong resolve of Western countries to isolate Russia is a matter of surprise. China needs to feel the pebbles and carefully walk through the stream,” a senior journalist with state-run Chinese media said while requesting not to be named.

Just a few days ago, Chinese experts had said there was no way Europe would back U.S. proposals against Russia because it was heavily dependent on Russian gas.

Europe’s ability to shun Russia “depends on the extent to which the US is able to replace Russia’s natural gas exports,” Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told the state-owned Global Times.

Now that Europe has overcome any hesitation and moved to stop further aggression from Russia, Beijing will be concerned about the more stringent financial sanctions imposed on Moscow, such as the ban on the international operations of the Russian central bank and the cutting Russia out of the SWIFT international fund transfer system.

As the world’s biggest trader, China has strong reasons to worry about being bracketed with Russia, particularly because many Chinese banks have close dealings with Russian financial companies. The stakes are also high for Chinese companies, as 254 of them are listed on U.S. stock exchanges.

For years, China has been trying to take advantage of differences between Washington and Europe. For instance, it has pushed for wider investment opportunities in Europe after the U.S. made it difficult for Chinese companies to buy corporate assets in areas related to security and high technology.

As the biggest importer of crude oil, it is China that will pay a heavy price due to the rise in oil prices, which have touched $100 per barrel. Russia is the second-largest source of oil for China, after Saudi Arabia.

China could face serious difficulties in buying Russian crude after Russia’s ouster from the international payments system, although Russia and China have been working on a payments process that does not require access to SWIFT for bilateral trade.

Domestic opinion

Within China, almost no one would accept the idea that Chinese authorities, known for taking a long-term view of situations, could have miscalculated or developed cold feet.

But there are signs that Putin did not reveal the full extent of his planned actions to Xi.

The New York Times reported that American intelligence had shared information about Russian preparedness to invade Ukraine with Chinese officials but the latter had rejected the possibility. U.S. officials calculated that China had a lot to lose in a Russian war on Ukraine and hoped Beijing might use its influence on Moscow to stop a direct invasion.
…

your ad here

Alaska Worries for Its Salmon Run as Climate Change Warms Arctic Waters

Posted on by SeeUS

With marine heat waves helping to wipe out some of Alaska’s storied salmon runs in recent years, officials have resorted to sending emergency food shipments to affected communities while scientists warn that the industry’s days of traditional harvests may be numbered.

Salmon all but disappeared from the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) Yukon River run last year, as record-high temperatures led to the fish piling up dead in streams and rivers before they were able to spawn. A study published Feb. 15 in the journal Fisheries detailed more than 100 salmon die-offs at freshwater sites around Alaska.

Those losses meant that, even as temperatures were milder in 2021, the Yukon River salmon runs remained so anemic that both Alaska and Canada were forced to halt their salmon harvest to ensure enough fish survived to reproduce for another year.

“Alaska is known for salmon and being cold,” said Vanessa von Biela, a U.S. Geological Survey research biologist and lead author of the study on the 2019 die-offs. Now “we have basically the problems that have been known for a long time at the lower latitudes.”

The collapsed Yukon River salmon harvests delivered financial blows to both commercial fishers and indigenous communities, which traditionally stockpile the fish as a year-round food staple.

Commercially, the river’s salmon fishers altogether earned a mere $51,480 for their 2020 harvest, before the harvest was canceled in 2021. By comparison, they earned $2.5 million in 2019 and $4.67 million in 2018.

Last month, the U.S. commerce secretary declared a disaster for the Yukon River fishery for both years, making federal relief funds available.

The state sent emergency fish shipments last year from the more plentiful salmon in Bristol Bay and elsewhere.

Scientists mostly have blamed ocean warming, with a series of heat waves in the Bering Sea and North Pacific Ocean from 2014 to 2019 affecting salmon living in the sea before their return to spawning grounds.

While the heat waves have passed, their effects have not, said fisheries scientist Katie Howard with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “We’re still seeing the residual effects,” she told a state legislative committee in Anchorage earlier this month.

Climate change may also be affecting salmon diets, with young salmon possibly filling up on nutrition-poor food like jellyfish as warmer waters in the Bering Sea drive away the more nutritious zooplankton the fish eat normally.

“In my opinion, the salmon are starving with climate change,” said Brooke Woods, the chair of the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission from the Athabascan village of Rampart.

But the impact on freshwater habitats is also getting a closer look.

Previous research led by von Biela on the rivers, streams and lakes where salmon spend their early and late life stages, the team found that Chinook salmon show heat stress at temperatures above 18 Celsius (64.4 Fahrenheit), and start dying above 20C.

Alaskan Yukon water temperatures in the past ranged between 12C and 16C, with Canadian monitoring sites upriver measuring even cooler waters. But in 2019, temperatures on the Alaskan side were above 18C for 44 consecutive days, the February study found.

The warming impact can be muted by climate-driven glacier runoff, which feeds cooler water into rivers and streams.

Scientists expect salmon will gradually shift to new areas within Alaska, with profound effects for people who depend on the fish for their livelihoods, diet and culture.

“Salmon will find a way,” von Biela said. “But it is going to be hard for communities that are in places where there might not be salmon anymore.”
…

your ad here

With Cinemas Closed, Ghana’s Hand-Painted Movie Posters Find Homes Abroad 

Posted on by SeeAF

With a flick of his brush, Ghanaian painter Daniel Anum Jasper armed actor Paul Newman with a pair of revolvers. Unfinished paintings of a bell-bottomed John Travolta and nunchuck-spinning Bruce Lee adorned the walls of his crammed Accra studio.

Jasper, a veteran movie poster designer, was finishing up one of the 1969 classic “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” commissioned by a foreign collector who had reached out over Instagram.

From the late 1970s to the 1990s, Ghana developed a tradition of advertising films with vibrant hand-painted posters. Local cinemas were flourishing in the West African country, and artists competed over who could entice the largest audience with their often gory, imaginative and eye-popping displays.

Jasper was a pioneer of the tradition and has been painting movie posters on repurposed flour sacks for the last 30 years. But the market for his work, which once had people clamoring for theater seats, has changed.

“People are no longer interested in going out to watch a movie when it can be watched from the comfort of their phones,” Jasper said.

“But there is a growing interest in owning these hand-painted posters internationally,” he added. “Now they hang them in private rooms or show them in exhibitions.”

With the rise of the internet, Ghana’s independent cinemas fell into obscurity. But Jasper’s work has gained appeal abroad, including in the United States, where the posters are valued as unique representations of a specific period in African art.

Western action flicks were mainstays of the tradition, as were Bollywood films and Chinese pictures. Many of the posters include paranormal elements and gratuitous violence even if the films had none, and physical features are wildly exaggerated.

Joseph Oduro-Frimpong, a professor in pop culture anthropology at Ghana’s Ashesi University, has several of Jasper’s paintings. He has collected the posters for years and has been known to buy up a closing video store’s entire supply.

He plans to display his posters at the Centre for African Popular Culture opening at the university later this year, and said he hopes people appreciate their historical significance.

“Of course there is an esthetic value to the posters, how crazy it is and all of that, but we use them to have a conversation with students,” he said.

“We tell them not to think about what they’re seeing now… [but] to think of these art forms as symbols of history that can tell their own stories.”
…

your ad here

Latest Developments in Ukraine: Feb. 27

Posted on by SeeEU

For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.

The latest developments of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, all times EST:

12:41 a.m.: Oil tanks burn after a massive explosion near Kyiv. CNN has video.

12:05 a.m.: A BBC reporter talks to women making Molotov cocktails in a park in Ukraine.

12:01 a.m.: Protests continue in Australia.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
…

your ad here

UN Security Council Plans Vote to Call General Assembly Meeting on Ukraine

Posted on by SeeEU

The United Nations Security Council is due to vote Sunday to call for a rare emergency special session of the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which would be held on Monday, diplomats said.

The vote by the 15-member council is procedural so none of the five permanent council members – Russia, China, France, Britain and the United States – can wield their vetoes. The move needs nine votes in favor and is likely to pass, diplomats said.

Only 10 such emergency special sessions of the General Assembly have been convened since 1950. The request for a session on Ukraine comes after Russia vetoed on Friday a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would have deplored Moscow’s invasion. China, India and UAE abstained, while the remaining 11 members voted in favor.

The General Assembly is expected to vote on a similar resolution following several days of statements by countries in the emergency special session, diplomats said. General Assembly resolutions are non-binding but carry political weight.

The United States and allies are seeking as much support as possible to show Russia is internationally isolated.

The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution in March 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region. The resolution, which declared invalid a referendum on the status of Crimea, received 100 yes votes and 11 against. Two dozen countries didn’t vote and 58 abstained.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday, telling him the world body plans to “enhance humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine,” a U.N. spokesperson said.

“He informed the President that the United Nations would launch on Tuesday an appeal to fund our humanitarian operations in Ukraine,” the U.N. spokesperson said in a statement.

U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said Friday that more than $1 billion will be needed for aid operations in Ukraine over the next three months as hundreds of thousands of people are on the move after Russia invaded its neighbor.
…

your ad here

Iran Studying Draft Deal to Restore Nuclear Agreement

Posted on by SeeUS

Iran is studying a rough draft of a deal to revive a 2015 nuclear agreement with major powers hammered out during talks in Vienna, its foreign minister said Saturday.

All sides have said the talks on bringing the United States back into the agreement after then-President Donald Trump’s 2018 walkout have reached a critical stage, and Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Bagheri has been back in Tehran for consultations.

Iran is “seriously reviewing [the] draft of the agreement,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Twitter, adding he had spoken by phone with the European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrel.

The EU has been acting as an intermediary between Iranian negotiators and a U.S. delegation in the absence of U.S. participation in face-to-face talks between Tehran and the remaining parties to the 2015 agreement.

We are “all trying to reach a good deal,” Amir-Abdollahian added. “Our red lines are made clear to western parties. Ready to immediately conclude a good deal, should they show real will.”

The 2015 agreement, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, provided Iran with relief from sanctions in return for strict limits to its nuclear activities.

Since Trump reimposed sanctions in 2018, Iran has gradually suspended its compliance with many of the restrictions it agreed to under the deal, something that it is now expected to reverse.

Amir-Abdollahian said Wednesday the talks had reached “a critical and important stage.”

He said he hoped the remaining “sensitive and important issues” would be resolved in the coming days “with realism from the Western side.”
…

your ad here

US Sending More Military Aid to Ukraine

Posted on by SeeUS

The United States has announced it is sending additional military assistance to Ukraine, including anti-tank and air defense capabilities. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy implored the world to help his people resist a full-scale Russian invasion, saying it is imperative to hold on to the capital city, Kyiv. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
…

your ad here

Huawei in Talks With South Africa on Labor Lawsuit

Posted on by SeeAF

South Africa’s labor ministry says Chinese tech firm Huawei is non-compliant with the country’s employment policies.

Huawei is in talks with the ministry over infringements of the country’s employment policies that require 60% of staff to be local hires. It’s still unclear what a settlement could mean for Huawei and other foreign businesses operating in the country.

The ministry’s employment equity act sets requirements for the number of local hires, including those of disadvantaged backgrounds, at various levels within a corporate structure. And it does regular checks across industries for compliance.

“There is room to employ foreign nationals, especially on companies or employers that come to the country to invest… and also to transfer skills to South Africans. We do allow them to bring 40% of their employees…. We realized that 90% of its workforce, that Huawai is foreign nationals, which is against our employment policies,” says Fikiswa Mncanca-Bede, a lawyer for South Africa’s Department of Employment and Labor.

The labor department launched legal proceedings against Huawei earlier this month.

On Friday, the ministry confirmed it was in settlement negotiations with the tech firm on how to correct the discrepancies.

Huawei did not respond to requests for comment.

Mncanca-Bede says the government’s action should send a signal to all companies that non-compliance will not be tolerated.

“We’re not targeting Huawei, but we’re also coming for the big companies in South Africa, … because we want to ensure that transformation does not just become a talk, but it must be seen as a reality…. Transformation means even if you employ South Africans, who are the South Africans that were employing? Are they addressing the imbalances of the past?” Mncanca-Bede asked.

The employment equity act aims to correct historic inequalities in the country, including racial preferences from the apartheid era that benefited white workers.

But those regulations are still not playing out as planned in the workforce.

“There’s rampant violation of regulations by big companies and small company, and South African companies, not just, you know, these international companies. I would definitely say in relation to all of our labor laws, there’s enforcement problems. I think that the Department of Labor is under resourced,” said Kgomotso Musanabi, a law lecturer at the University of Johannesburg.

In addition to inequities, South Africa is experiencing rampant unemployment, with upwards of 35% of people being jobless.

Musanabi says it’s even worse among the country’s youth.

“I think that government is trying to make an attempt to ensure that all South Africans are employed. But not only that South Africans are employed, but that they acquire sort of globally relevant skills that they need to compete in international markets, particularly tech skills,” Musanabi said.

Companies that are non-compliant face fines.

But labor lawyer Johanette Rheeder says for companies as big as Huawei, those fines are a drop in the bucket and unlikely to have a broader chilling effect.

“In South Africa there’s in many businesses also an attitude of we’ll fix it when we’re caught out. Bigger businesses that’s got a better a better social conscience, if I can call it that, do comply…. The middle size and the smaller businesses who just can’t afford to comply with all of these legislations, so they basically fix it when they offered when they caught out,” Rheeder said.

Instead, she says bridging education and skills gaps in the country — rather than going after foreign workers — is the best way to address unemployment and inequity.

“The biggest, biggest thing that we can do in my view in this country is to upskill people…  there are some strategies that [are] in place, but it’s always the struggle between upskilling our local people and not giving jobs to foreigners,” Rheeder said.

The labor department said talks with Huawei are expected to conclude Friday.
…

your ad here

Momentum Grows to Cut Russia From SWIFT Global Banking System

Posted on by SeeEU

The U.S. is revisiting cutting Russia from the global bank-to-bank payment system known as SWIFT, as the next step in a series of escalating sanctions punishing Moscow for the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. President Joe Biden initially held back on this crucial step that would isolate Russia on the world stage and have a serious impact on its economy, due to the concerns of European allies. But those concerns appeared to be eroding Saturday as Russian forces moved to encircle the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Ukraine has lobbied for a SWIFT ban on Russia, urging Europe to act more forcefully in imposing sanctions against Moscow. However, some European nations, including Germany, are hesitant to take that step.

 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called Friday for nations to cut off Russia from the SWIFT international bank transfer system “to inflict maximum pain.”

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said “the debate about SWIFT is not off the table, it will continue.”

Putin, Lavrov sanctioned

The United States announced Friday that it would freeze the assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, following similar steps taken by the European Union and Britain, as nations around the world sought to tighten sanctions against Russia’s government over its invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced the action Friday after EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels unanimously agreed to freeze the property and bank accounts of the top Russian officials.

Britain’s government took the same action Friday, with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss writing on Twitter, “We will not stop inflicting economic pain on the Kremlin until Ukrainian sovereignty is restored.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the move by the U.S., the European Union and Britain sends “a clear message about the strength of the opposition to the actions” by Putin.

Juan González, the National Security Council Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs, told VOA, the sanctions were designed to apply global pressure on Russia.

“If you see the sanctions on 13 financial institutions, among the largest in Russia, that will have an impact with any government or business that has agreements with these institutions. But also, a lot of this money laundering and governments that operate outside the financial system international will feel the squeeze,” Gonzalez said.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the sanctions against Putin and Lavrov reflect the West’s “absolute impotence” when it comes to foreign policy, according to the RIA news agency.

World leaders are rarely the target of direct sanctions. The only other leaders currently under EU sanctions are Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to Agence France-Presse.

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said the move is “a unique step in history” toward a country that has a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council but said it shows how united EU countries are in countering Russia’s actions.

The EU sanctions against Putin and Lavrov are part of a broader sanctions package that targets Russian banks, oil refineries and Russia’s defense industry.

EU leaders agreed, however, it was premature to impose a travel ban on Putin and Lavrov because negotiating channels need to be kept open.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Friday the package of banking sanctions the EU has passed would hit Putin’s government harder than excluding Russia from the SWIFT payments system.

“The sword that looks hardest isn’t always the cleverest one,” she said, adding, “the sharper sword at the moment is listing [the] banks.”

In response to the sanctions, Russia has taken its own measures, including banning British flights over its territory, after Britain imposed a similar ban on Aeroflot flights.  

The United States and several allies had imposed a first tranche of sanctions Tuesday, after Putin declared the disputed eastern Ukraine regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent states, much as he appropriated Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

President Biden added another round of sanctions on Russia Thursday, hours after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, declaring at the White House after meeting virtually with leaders of the G-7 nations and NATO that “Putin chose this war, and now he and his country will bear the consequences.”

Biden said the new U.S. sanctions, which target Russian banks, oligarchs and high-tech sectors and include export controls, will “squeeze Russia’s access to finance and technology for strategic sectors of its economy and degrade its industrial capacity for years to come.”

NATO allies, including Britain and the European Union, also imposed more sanctions Thursday, and the effects were felt almost immediately when global security prices plunged and commodity prices surged. Biden acknowledged that Americans would see higher gasoline prices.

Also Friday, an International Criminal Court prosecutor warned that the court may investigate whether Russia has committed any possible war crimes, following its invasion of Ukraine.

“I remind all sides conducting hostilities on the territory of Ukraine that my office may exercise its jurisdiction and investigate any act of genocide, crime against humanity or war crime committed within Ukraine,” ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said Friday in a statement.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
…

your ad here

WFP: Climate Crisis in Madagascar Threatens Food Security

Posted on by SeeAF

The World Food Program warns Madagascar will continue to suffer severe food shortages and acute hunger if it does not tackle the climate crisis.

Madagascar has been buffeted by four powerful tropical storms in as many weeks. The toll from the recurrent cyclones has been huge. The full impact of the last storm, Tropical Cyclone Emnati, which made landfall Wednesday, is not yet known. However, the United Nations says Cyclone Batsirai, which hit Madagascar on February 5, killed 120 people, and displaced 143,000.

The WFP says years of severe drought, recurrent storms and other extreme weather events have pushed vulnerable communities to a breaking point.

WFP spokesman Tomson Phiri says many thousands of people are facing extreme hunger because of widespread storm damage to agricultural land. This includes the rice crop that was just weeks away from harvest.

“Now cash crops like cloves, coffee and pepper have also been severely affected. And this is a country where the majority of people make a living from agriculture. An estimated 90% of crops could be destroyed in some areas of affected regions,” Phiri said.

Additionally, he notes a resulting shortage of food in the marketplace is likely to result in soaring prices in the coming months.

The WFP warns weather extremes will trigger runaway humanitarian needs if Madagascar does not address the climate crisis. Phiri says WFP staff is in a race against time to assist those affected.

“Our longer-term climate adaptation work helps communities to prepare for, respond to, as well as to recover from climate shocks and stresses. For example, WFP’s integrated risk management in the districts of Ambovombe and Amboasary last year reached 3,500 smallholder farmers with insurance, savings, and climate-adapted agriculture practices training,” he said.

 

Phiri says such programs need to be scaled up, especially for communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis. He notes there is little time to lose as forecasts predict another tropical system already is forming in the southwest Indian Ocean.
…

your ad here

Russia Threatens Local Media Covering Ukraine War

Posted on by SeeEU

Russia’s communications regulator accused 10 local media outlets on Saturday of falsely depicting what Russia calls a special military operation in Ukraine and distributing false information about events there.

Among those sent warning letters were Echo Moskvy, a popular radio station, and Novaya Gazeta, a newspaper critical of the government whose editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov was awarded a Nobel Peace prize last year.

Roskomnadzor, the regulator, ordered the media to delete the offending information or face restricted access to their websites and media resources.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last week, saying it needed to demilitarize its neighbor.
…

your ad here

UNICEF Boosting Aid to Children Threatened by Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

Posted on by SeeEU

UNICEF, the U.N. Children’s Fund, is scaling up programs for millions of children in Ukraine threatened by Russia’s invasion.

Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, is under attack. Russian forces have entered the country from multiple directions.  Deaths and injuries reportedly are growing. Since Russian President Vladimir Putin began his invasion of the country Thursday, the dangers to civilians have risen exponentially.

UNICEF regional director for Europe and Central Asia Afshan Khan warns the war is posing an immediate threat to Ukraine’s 7.5 million children.

“As we speak, there have been major attacks in Kyiv that have created great fear and panic among the population, with families really scared, moving alongside their children into subways and shelters.  And this is clearly a terrifying moment for children across the country,” Khan said.

UNICEF has been providing humanitarian assistance to millions of children and families in Ukraine for eight years.

The agency has been particularly active in the Russian-backed searatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, where it has been trucking safe water to areas affected by conflict.

UNICEF has placed health, hygiene, and emergency education supplies in areas near the contact line. That is the 500-kilometer zone separating Russian-backed territories from the rest of Ukraine. The agency also has provided psychosocial support for traumatized children living in the volatile area.

Khan says needs are increasing with the escalating crisis.  She says fuel is in short supply, as is the cash needed to buy emergency supplies of medicines, hygiene kits and other essential relief for people in the Donbas region and across the country.

“Obviously, Kyiv and the West have not suffered the same consequences.  And now, as a result of the critical situation families and children are finding themselves in, we see an increased risk of fear, trauma, the need for shelter, the need for cash. And we will see an increasing need for additional supplies,” Khan said.  

UNICEF says the needs of children and families are escalating in line with the conflict. The agency is seeking $66.4 million to increase access to basic services for up to 7.5 million children inside Ukraine.  

It says the appeal will provide water and sanitation, immunization and health care, schooling, and learning.  The agency says it aims to expand the number of mobile teams currently moving around the country providing psychosocial support to traumatized children. Boosting this service, it says, will allow it to keep pace with a fast-rising number of requests for psychological support, and care for children.

Meanwhile, the U.N. Refugee Agency warns that up to 4 million people may flee to other countries in Europe if the crisis escalates. Given this reality, Khan says UNICEF, with the refugee agency, and other U.N. agencies will issue a flash appeal in the coming days to support an influx of refugees in surrounding countries.

According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, more than 150,000 Ukrainians have already crossed into neighboring countries.
…

your ad here

France Seizes Ship Suspected of Violating Sanctions Against Russia

Posted on by SeeEU

French sea police seized a ship on Saturday that authorities suspect belongs to a Russian company targeted by European Union sanctions over the war in Ukraine, a government official told Reuters.

The cargo vessel transporting cars, which was headed for St. Petersburg, is “strongly suspected of being linked to Russian interests targeted by the sanctions,” said Captain Veronique Magnin of the French Maritime Prefecture.

The ship was diverted to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. (0200-0300 GMT), Magnin said, adding ongoing checks were being carried out by customs officials and the ship’s crew was “being cooperative.”

The Russian Embassy in France is seeking an explanation from authorities over the seizure, Russia’s RIA news agency quoted the embassy as saying.

French newspaper La Voix Du Nord, which first reported the news, said the vessel was the Baltic Leader, which, according to website marinetraffic.com, sails under a Russian flag.

The company that owns the ship belongs to a Russian businessman who is on the EU’s list of sanctioned people, Magnin said.

EU states on Friday agreed to freeze European assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister to punish Russia for the attack on Ukraine. A wider list of sanctioned people was put in place earlier this month.
…

your ad here

10 Years Later, US Remembers Death of Trayvon Martin

Posted on by SeeUS

On Saturday, people in the United States will mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old Black youth who was shot to death in Sanford, Florida, in 2012. Martin’s death, and the subsequent exoneration of his killer at trial the following year, created a firestorm of public anger that many consider a seminal moment in the development of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Among them is civil rights attorney Ben Crump. In the foreword to an essay published this month by Sybrina Fulton, Martin’s mother, he wrote, “The not guilty verdict in the Trayvon Martin case was the catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement, for the resounding call for justice when the people cried out: ‘Justice for Michael Brown,’ ‘Justice for Breonna Taylor,’ and ‘Justice for George Floyd.'”

Brown, Taylor and Floyd were all Black Americans killed by police officers. Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis in 2020, documented in video footage that showed him dying in the street with a police officer’s knee on his neck, ignited global protests that drew attention to the fact that individual Black Americans, particularly men and boys, are statistically far more likely to be killed by police officers than white Americans.

According to a study published in the Lancet, Black Americans were killed by police at more than three times the rate of non-Hispanic white people, between 1980 and 2018.

Though Martin’s death did not come at the hands of a police officer, his killer’s exoneration prompted calls for the reform of a legal system that, according to advocates for change, systematically undervalues the lives of Black Americans.

Martin’s death

Martin, who had recently turned 17 at the time of his death, had left home to buy candy and a drink at a nearby convenience store. On his way back, he encountered George Zimmerman, a volunteer for the local neighborhood watch. Zimmerman phoned police to report Martin as a “suspicious” individual.

Despite being told by a police dispatcher that he should not pursue Martin, who ran from him and was unarmed, Zimmerman gave chase. After a struggle, Zimmerman shot Martin in the chest, killing him.

Zimmerman was eventually charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. In July 2013, a jury found Zimmerman innocent of both charges. The case hinged, in part, on the state of Florida’s “stand your ground” law, which holds that individuals who believe themselves to be in danger from another person have no duty to retreat before responding with force, including lethal force.

Martin’s family, including his father, Tracy Martin, and Fulton, his mother, helped lead an unsuccessful campaign to have Florida change its stand-your-ground law.

Signs of change

In the days leading up to the 10-year anniversary of Martin’s death, there have been signs suggesting the Black Lives Matter movement may have helped shift public attitudes on race, policing, and the use of force.

In Minneapolis last week, three police officers on the scene at George Floyd’s death were convicted on federal charges for their failure to intervene. Months earlier a jury found Derek Chauvin, the police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck, guilty of murder. The jury found all three officers had violated Floyd’s civil rights by willfully refusing to provide medical assistance. Two were found guilty on an additional charge stemming from their failure to intervene during the nine minutes Chauvin spent kneeling on Floyd.

Also last week, three Georgia men were found guilty of federal hate crimes for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a young unarmed Black man who was gunned down while jogging in a rural part of the state. The culprits, Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan, had chased Arbery down in pickup trucks, and the McMichaels, who were both armed, confronted him with guns while attempting to make what they described as a citizen’s arrest.

A state court had already convicted all three men of murdering Arbery and sentenced them to life in prison. Georgia subsequently passed a hate crimes law, and repealed and replaced its law governing citizen’s arrests.

The case, with its obvious parallels to the Martin case, was particularly fraught because the three culprits were not arrested until two months after the murder even though their identities were known, and then only after the case was taken out of the hands of a local prosecutor.

Frustration and hope

In an essay published this month marking the 10th anniversary of her son’s death, Fulton wrote, “Even now, a decade later, when I see the continual acts of racial violence – against George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery – I don’t tell people that justice is coming, because we did not receive justice.”

However, Fulton also struck a hopeful note, writing, “We are at a turning point now. Things are changing. If the protests during the summer of 2020 showed us anything, it’s that we cannot afford to be silent.”

She added, “While one generation is getting older, we need the next generation to step up to the plate and use their voice on behalf of our people. The youth have the spirit and enthusiasm, we just need to show them how and then get out of their way. The very future of our people is at stake, and there’s no room for nonsense or playing games.”
…

your ad here

Are COVID-19 Restrictions Stunting Children’s Immune Systems?

Posted on by SeeUS

Some medical experts have expressed concern that COVID-19 preventative measures, like masking and remote schooling, are potentially weakening children’s immune systems by shielding them from the usual childhood illnesses.

“There’s a lot of reasons to believe that kids need to be exposed to things to keep their immunity complex, so that should they encounter something very dangerous, they have aspects of their immunity that might cross over and help protect them against those things,” says Sara Sawyer, a professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at the University of Colorado Boulder.

At birth, vulnerable infants get antibodies from their mother’s breast milk, which helps protect them until they can build their own immunity. It’s no accident that babies start putting things in their mouths as soon as they gain enough dexterity to pick things up.

“They’re doing that because they’re sampling the environment and building their immunity. That’s an evolutionary trait,” Sawyer says. “They’re exposing their body to germs in a certain, level way to build their immunity. So, some people would argue that childhood illnesses, like colds and stomach bugs, build our immunity so that when more dangerous things come along, we’re prepared and we don’t get as sick from those more dangerous things.”

Even before the pandemic, epidemiological evidence suggested that children in more developed countries, where handwashing and the use of sanitizer are more prevalent, might have less-developed immune systems compared to kids in developing nations who are routinely exposed to more bacteria, viruses and allergens. This makes kids in more industrialized countries more vulnerable to developing autoimmune diseases, according to what’s known as the “hygiene hypothesis.”

“The hygiene hypothesis is actually quite controversial because it’s thought that our exposure to microbes isn’t the only factor,” says Cody Warren, a virologist and immunologist who is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Colorado Boulder. “A lot of this could also be dictated by genetics, diet, and the environment that we live in. That also shapes our immune system… it’s a real multifactorial thing that we can’t fully account for just by wearing masks. There are other things that go into that equation.”

Warren, the father of three young children, says spending lots of time outdoors is one way to balance the negatives of isolation.

“Just exploring microbes in the environment also is benefiting [and] training our immune system,” Warren says. “Our immune systems get trained through the foods that we eat, which also have microorganisms on them. And so, despite the fact that we’ve kind of been hunkered down a little bit, I do feel that our immune systems will catch up.”

There are other things parents can do, he says, to boost their children’s immune systems during pandemic times.

“One of the most important things you can do is just to stay up to date on vaccines. That’s one of the best ways that we have to train our immune systems,” Warren says. “But also, equally important is making sure our children have a good diet and they regulate stress. It’s been well documented that both of those — having a good diet, a less stressful environment — can have a positive impact on our immune system.”

Once public health officials say masks are no longer necessary, Sawyer thinks pointing out the positives of putting our masks away could reassure hesitant parents who worry about their children getting sick.

“Maybe we should have a public conversation about the possible reasons to take that mask off, if they are in school, and get back to the normal repertoire of relatively safe childhood illnesses,” she says. “The plus side of childhood illnesses is that they can build up that hornet’s nest of immunity that could protect kids against new things that then come along.”
…

your ad here