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Thursday, October 07, 2021

CONSERVATIVE GOVTS CAN'T MANAGE

Provincial Emergency Operations Centre takes over Saskatchewan’s COVID-19 response

By David Giles Global News
Posted October 7, 2021

WATCH: Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe announced on Thursday that the province is pivoting it's COVID-19 response strategy. He said the government is enhancing the provincial Emergency Operations Centre and it will become a unified command centre with the Ministry of Health and the Saskatchewan Health Association.

Saskatchewan’s Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC) will now lead the province’s emergency management response to the COVID-19 situation.

PEOC will be responsible for the coordination and deployment of provincial supports for activities across multiple sectors.

It will also handle ongoing inventory management of staffing across the health-care system.

READ MORE: Saskatchewan patients waiting for life-saving surgeries, clarity from health officials

Premier Scott Moe said this will provide a better response to the pandemic.

“This is being done to better coordinate the pandemic response between government ministries and staff, ensure the right resources are in the right place at the right time and provide administrative support so health care workers can focus their efforts on providing the best possible care to patients,” Moe said.

“Responsibility for public health recommendations and orders will continue to be managed by the chief medical health officer, Dr. Shahab.”

PEOC will also disseminate critical updates for the public and establish normalized briefings through media availability.

No new COVID-19 restrictions for Saskatchewan amid 4th wave: Moe

Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency president Marlo Pritchard said this structure has worked well during other provincial emergencies.

“The pressures in our healthcare system as a result of COVID-19 have demanded all the resources of the SHA, and now require the resources of the entire province through provincial command,” he said.

“Our health-care system has been working to support the people of Saskatchewan, and this will ensure that Saskatchewan is supporting our health-care system with every tool we have available.”

Pritchard, Saskatchewan Health Authority CEO Scott Livingstone, and deputy minister of health Max Hendricks will led the provincial command.

The province said it expects the provincial command to be operational throughout the duration of the provincial emergency that was declared on Sept. 13.

READ MORE: Saskatchewan government, opposition, health professionals issue guidance for holiday gatherings

Moe made the announcement as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to climb.

On Wednesday, Saskatchewan reported 356 people were in hospital due to COVID-19, 76 of whom are in intensive care. Both numbers are record highs for the province.

Officials said nearly 77 per cent of COVID-19 patients in hospital were not fully vaccinated.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to provide any support necessary to help Saskatchewan with its COVID-19 crisis.

Trudeau and Moe spoke on Sept. 29 about cases in the province, increasing vaccination efforts and what the province needs to overcome the fourth wave of the pandemic.

There have been calls for the province to restrict gathering sizes.

On Tuesday, Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili called for “a return to indoor gathering limits for both public and private events until cases and hospitalizations stabilize.”

The government rejected the call, saying it will not be making an order limiting gathering sizes.

A spokesperson added that the “vast majority of new cases and hospitalizations are unvaccinated residents and those who are not vaccinated should get vaccinated.”

The City of Saskatoon, the Saskatchewan Medical Association and the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses have also asked the province to restrict gathering sizes.

—with files from Connor O’Donovan

UPDATED

756 Alberta schools reporting cases of COVID-19, 54 declare outbreaks

Dr. Vipond: 'Zero protection' for kids in Alberta

CTV News Edmonton
Published Oct. 7, 2021

EDMONTON -

Alberta's first list of schools reporting cases of COVID-19 since resuming the practice shows 54 have declared outbreaks of the virus, while more than 750 have reported at least two cases.

An outbreak is declared when 10 or more cases are reported within a 14-day period.

According to the list, there are 179 schools on alert with two to nine cases in the Edmonton Zone, and 10 more that have declared outbreaks.

164 Calgary schools report COVID-19 cases, 3 with outbreaks

Infographics: COVID-19 in Alberta by the numbers

The list also shows 199 Calgary Zone schools have reported between two and nine cases. Eleven Calgary Zone schools have declared outbreaks.

There are a total of 756 Alberta schools reporting at least two cases of COVID-19 on the province's list.

Released on Wednesday, the list was the province's first public disclosure of cases of COVID-19 in schools since announcing its newest plan to deal with the virus in schools on Tuesday.

Contact tracing returns to Alberta schools

Tuesday's announcement was a reversal of the province's decision announced in August, when its back-to-school plan included an end to reporting of COVID-19 cases unless there was a school-wide absence rate of 10 per cent or higher.

Alberta's back-to-school plan: COVID-19 vaccine clinics, masking not required by province

During Tuesday's announcement, the province also said next week school districts will start contact notification to parents if their child is exposed to COVID-19.

Health officials will conduct contact tracing for schools starting in November.

The province also announced it would give rapid tests to K-6 schools with outbreaks as children 12 and under can’t get vaccinated.

Rapid tests will be voluntary and administered by parents at home.

Alberta also recommended school divisions to implement a vaccine mandate for staff.

The shift in policy by the Alberta government came as the public school board in the provincial capital called on the province to implement a "firebreak" lockdown.

School board wants Alberta government to close all schools due to COVID-19 cases

There are 2,415 public schools in Alberta

( Catholic schools in Alberta are considered Public schools as well)

More than 100 schools in the Edmonton Zone have COVID-19 cases

EDMONTON -

Nearly 200 Edmonton Zone schools have COVID-19 cases on the first day Alberta Health began to report infections in the classroom online.

There are 179 schools on alert with two to nine cases in the Edmonton Zone, and 10 schools with outbreaks — 10+ cases.

Four of the schools in the outbreak category are in Edmonton: Edmonton Islamic Academy, John Paul I Catholic School, Nellie Carlson School and Westglen School.

RELATED STORIES
Alberta reports 1,263 new COVID-19 cases, 26 deaths

On Tuesday, Alberta said it would resume reporting school cases, and next week school districts will start contact notification to parents if their child is exposed to COVID-19. Health officials will conduct contact tracing for schools starting in November.
Contact tracing returns to Alberta schools

The province also announced it would give rapid tests to K-6 schools with outbreaks as children 12 and under can’t get vaccinated.

Rapid tests will be voluntary and administered by parents at home.

Alberta also recommended school divisions to implement a vaccine mandate for staff.

SEE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2021/10/edmonton-public-schools-calls-for.html

WAIT, WHAT

UPDATED

Ottawa wanted U.S. whistleblower Chelsea Manning to come to Canada so she could be kicked out in person

The IRB adjudicator dismissed the government’s motion, saying the intent of Parliament was simply for people who aren't allowed to be in Canada to not be here

Author of the article:Adrian Humphreys
Publishing date:Oct 07, 2021

PHOTO BY CLIFF OWEN/AP, FILE

The government of Canada asked U.S. whistleblower Chelsea Manning to travel to Canada so border agents would be able to physically kick her out of Canada.

The odd request was made by government lawyers last week in anticipation of an immigration hearing scheduled to begin Thursday for the former U.S. soldier who leaked thousands of U.S. documents that changed the public’s view of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The hearing on whether Manning is eligible to visit Canada is to be held by video conference.

Lawyers on behalf of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness asked the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) to postpone the hearing until Manning is in Canada for it, rather than participating over a video link from her home in the United States.

The government said that if she wasn’t physically in the country, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) wouldn’t be able to remove her, if the government wins its case.

“The purpose of a removal order is to compel an individual who is found to be inadmissible to leave Canada. Should the (IRB) issue a removal order against an individual who does not attend their hearing from a location in Canada,” the government told the IRB in written argument, it would “be impractical for CBSA to enforce the order.”

Manning’s lawyers objected to the request.

Canadian government is arguing she is inadmissible due to her prior convictions

Catharine Tunney · CBC News · Posted: Oct 07, 2021

Former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, seen in 2016, speaks with reporters, outside federal court in Alexandria, Va. The Canadian government is seeking to permanently ban her from entering, arguing that she should be denied entry because of the seriousness of her prior convictions on espionage charges. (The Associated Press)

Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. intelligence analyst who was convicted in one the largest breaches of classified information in American history, is fighting to be allowed into Canada.

The Canadian government is seeking to ban her from entering the country, arguing that she should be denied entry because of the serious criminality of her prior convictions on espionage charges in her home country.

Manning appeared virtually today in front of the Immigration and Refugee Board for an admissibility hearing. The administrative tribunal makes decisions about who can enter and stay in Canada.

"I really like Canada," she told the hearing today.

"I have many friends in Canada and obviously the pandemic has gotten in the way of a lot of this, but certainly in 2018 and 2019 I wanted to visit some friends in Canada, particularly in Montreal and Vancouver."

Her case dates back to September 2017, when border officers denied her entry at Quebec's St-Bernard-de-Lacolle border crossing. At the time, the government, citing her espionage charge, argued that if it had been committed in Canada "this offence would equate to an indictable offence, namely, treason."

Chelsea Manning says she's been denied entry into Canada

Chelsea Manning invited back to Canada after being denied entry last year

Manning has been both praised as a whistleblower and condemned as a traitor for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks, the website founded by Julian Assange, in 2010 while serving in the U.S. military.

She said she wanted to expose what she saw as the U.S. military's disregard for how the Iraq War was affecting civilians, and that she did it "out of love" for her country.

In 2013, she was convicted of six counts of violating the Espionage Act — which forbids unauthorized people from sharing national defence information — and a handful of other charges, including stealing government property. She was acquitted of the most serious charge against her: aiding the enemy.

In one of his last acts as president, Barack Obama commuted Manning's sentence in 2017. She was released from military prison after serving seven years of a 35-year sentence.

Anthony Lashley, a government lawyer, said Ottawa is asking the tribunal to rule that she is not permitted to enter the country.

Lashley spent the morning questioning Manning on how she accessed, downloaded and shared documents.

He also questioned her on her previous plans to share information with various news organizations.

'Whistleblowing are acts of honesty': lawyer

Manning's lawyer Joshua Blum argued her American offences are not equivalent to Canadian offences, making her not inadmissible.

He pointed to a provision in the Security of Information Act, Canada's national secrets act, which includes whistleblower protection in the "public interest."

A van with a 'Free Speech' placard and images of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning on its side sits outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Friday, April 5, 2019. (The Associated Press)

"We have a public interest defence for what Manning was convicted of," he said. "The U.S. doesn't."

Blum also argued Manning's actions were justified by "necessity" and that the public interest in disclosing that information outweighed the harm.

"The ongoing and unreported killings of Iraqi and Afghan civilians necessitated this act of whistleblowing," he said.

"We further add the acts of whistleblowing are acts of honesty, not fraudulence."

'Collateral murder' video shown

When asked by her counsel why she shared the documents, Manning said "it always feels so self evident."

"I was just shocked at how little people knew about how bad the war in particular was," she said.

While being questioned by the adjudicator, Manning said she didn't share sensitive documents that would have revealed the sources of U.S. government intelligence. She is still bound by a non-disclosure agreement with the U.S. government and did not go into detail about what she leaked.

During the proceedings, Blum and co-counsel Lex Gill turned to Heidi Matthews, an assistant professor of law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, to testify on international crimes.

As part of that questioning, they played a video titled "Collateral Murder" which made waves when it was first released on WikiLeaks more than a decade ago.

This image captured from a classified U.S. military video footage shows Iraqis being shot from an U.S. Apache helicopters that killed a dozen people in Baghdad, including two Reuters news staff, on July 12, 2007. The video was released to Reuters on April 5, 2010 by WikiLeaks. Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his assistant and driver Saeed Chmagh, 40, were killed in the incident. (Reuters/WikiLeaks/Handout)

The video shows a 2007 United States Army assault in Baghdad that left 12 people dead, including a Reuters photographer and driver. The video shows soldiers laughing and making jokes while taking part in the attack.

"Look at those dead bastards," one person can be overheard saying on the video. "Nice," another responds.

After an exchange of gunfire wounded two children, one soldier is heard saying on the video that "it's their fault for bringing their kids into a battle."

It was later revealed that Manning leaked the video.

Intelligence group secretly crafts new 'insider threat' policy

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange denied bail in U.K.

Matthews argued the video contradicted official statements from the U.S. at the time of the killings, which said the helicopters had been called in to help American troops who had been attacked first.

Government lawyers said at the start of today's hearing that the video shouldn't be played, arguing it was not relevant, it was submitted too late and was sent as a link rather than a CD. They were overruled.

Ottawa wanted Manning to appear in person

Ahead of today's hearing, the government objected to Manning appearing via video conference because that would prevent officials from deporting her immediately if an order came down quickly.

"The minister submits that holding an admissibility hearing without the person concerned being physically present in Canada would preclude them from enforcing a removal order which may be issued at the end of the proceedings," says the text of an interlocutory decision that rejected the government's request.

The content of that decision was first reported by the National Post.

Last week, lawyers acting for the minister of Public Safety asked the Immigration and Refugee Board to delay the hearing until Manning could appear in person.

The board said no.

"If she were physically in Canada when the order was made, the requirement would be that she leave Canada," wrote adjudicator Marisa Musto.

"Given that she is already outside Canada, a fact which is not in question, it can be said that the 'objective' of [the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act] in regards to denying access to Canadian territory to persons who are inadmissible would, de facto, be fulfilled."

Manning described the four-year process to land a Canadian hearing as "exhausting."

"Plus, I also have to relive this era, going over stuff that happened a decade ago again," she said.

Manning was granted a visa to enter Canada to speak at an event back in 2018 — something she said she hopes to continue doing in this country — but it came with no formal resolution of her admissibility.

The hearing was adjourned until Friday.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M SLAP ON THE WRIST
Ex-CEO who oversaw doomed nuclear project sentenced

Thu., October 7, 2021

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A utility executive who repeatedly lied to keep investors pumping money into South Carolina's $9 billion nuclear reactor debacle will spend two years in prison for fraud, a federal judge decided on Thursday.

Former SCANA Corp. CEO Kevin Marsh agreed with prosecutors that he should serve the sentence and the judge approved the deal, making him the first executive put behind bars for misleading the public on the project, which failed without ever generating a watt of power.

Marsh said he wants to serve his time as soon as he can because his wife of 46 years has incurable breast cancer, and he hopes to care for her after leaving prison. The judge agreed to have him report to a federal prison in North Carolina in early December.

U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis cited Marsh’s remorse and expansive cooperation with federal authorities as she reluctantly accepted the plea deal, which is well below the federal sentencing guidelines of five years. She said the prosecution and defense depiction of the crime Marsh committed is a “vanilla way to describe it,” adding that it understates "the seriousness of this non-disclosure.”

“Your crime was committed with a little more elegance and sophistication than many I see," Geiger told Marsh. "But you don’t get credit for that.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brook Andrews said imprisoning Marsh sends a message of public responsibility to powerful executives.

“It is a failure of judgment,” Andrews said. “It is a failure of conscience. It is a failure to tell the truth when telling the truth would bring dire financial consequences.”

A second former SCANA executive and an official at Westinghouse Electric Co., the lead contractor to build two new reactors at the V.C. Summer plant, have also pleaded guilty. A second Westinghouse executive has been indicted and is awaiting trial.

Marsh pleaded guilty in federal court in February to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and in state court to obtaining property by false pretenses.

Marsh is scheduled for a sentencing hearing in state court Monday. Federal prosecutors said they would agreed to his request to serve his entire sentence on both sets of charges in a federal prison.

The actions by Marsh and other executives took more than $1 billion from the pockets of ratepayers and investors, authorities said in an 87-page Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit filed against him and a second executive in 2020.

SCANA and its subsidiary, South Carolina Electric & Gas, were destroyed by the debt and poor management and were bought out by Dominion Energy of Virginia in 2019. State-owned utility Santee Cooper, which had a 45% stake in the project, ended up saddled with $4 billion in debt even though SCANA controlled management of the project.

Marsh has already paid $5 million in restitution. SCANA had paid Marsh $5 million in 2017, the year the utility abandoned the hopelessly behind-schedule project.

Reading a statement Thursday, Marsh said he takes responsibility for the project’s failure even though he was misled by Westinghouse, which was building the reactors. “Not a day goes by that I don’t regret these nuclear plants weren’t built for the citizens of South Carolina,” he said.

For sentencing, Marsh’s attorneys also submitted 10 letters from friends, colleagues and church pastors detailing his good acts, such as helping the family of an employee killed on the job get financial and legal help, securing an air conditioner for a women’s home and taking a week out of his busy executive schedule to volunteer for vacation Bible school.

The letters also detailed his relationship with his wife, Sue, whom he married when both were teens. She has terminal and incurable metastatic breast cancer and may not be able to visit her husband in prison because of COVID-19 fears and her weakened condition, defense lawyers said.

Federal regulatory filings have documented the history of the doomed nuclear project begun in 2008. Those filings said Marsh never wavered from saying the two reactors being built at the V.C. Summer site north of Columbia would be finished by the end of 2020 — a deadline that had to be met to receive the $1.4 billion in federal tax credits needed to keep the $10 billion project from overwhelming the utility.

Prosecutors said Marsh lied and presented rosy projections on the progress of the reactors that he knew were false in earning calls, presentations and press releases to keep investors happy and pump up the company’s stock price.

After watching the hearing, environmental activist Tom Clements waited for Marsh outside. He fought the reactors since they were first proposed in 2008, saying they were unnecessary.

“Kevin, why didn't you apologize to the people of South Carolina? You accepted responsibility but you couldn't apologize to us ratepayers,” Clements asked Marsh during his 20-second walk from the courthouse door to a waiting SUV.

Marsh said nothing.

___

Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.

Jeffrey Collins, The Associated Press

Singh wants to see paid sick leave, vaccine passport from minority Liberal government

The NDP leader outlined his priorities for the next Parliament

Richard Raycraft · CBC News · Posted: Oct 07, 2021

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh takes part in a post-election news conference. Singh outlined his priorities for the new Parliament Thursday, calling on the Liberal minority government to commit to a range of measures on the COVID-19 pandemic. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh says he wants to see the government take "concrete, immediate" steps on a range of issues — from pandemic supports to climate change to reconciliation — in order to secure NDP support in the next Parliament.

At a news conference in Ottawa today, Singh outlined a list of NDP priorities that includes paid sick leave and a federal vaccine passport.

"We believe strongly in a federal vaccine passport, a document that can be used for interprovincial travel, to travel domestically, and something that would allow people to have proof that can be used everywhere in Canada," Singh said.

NDP leader is asked how and when he would support the Liberal minority government
Jagmeet Singh spoke with reporters on Parliament Hill on Thursday. Parliament is expected to return next month. 0:45

"That was something that was floated in the past. Mr. Trudeau talked about it but has not yet done it. So we're saying, 'Let's see some action on these things.'"

The NDP won 25 seats in the 2021 federal election, boosting its caucus by a single seat. But because the Liberals did not win a majority of seats, the NDP will have significant influence in the minority Parliament.

NDP MPs gathered for a caucus meeting Wednesday and discussed the party's priorities for the next Parliament.

Online offers of fake documents show it's time for a national vaccination passport: NDP critic

Federal public servants, RCMP and air and rail travellers must be vaccinated by month's end, Trudeau says

Along with measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Singh said he wants to see the Liberal government take more action on climate change and Indigenous reconciliation.

He cited a court case between the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, the Assembly of First Nations and the federal government over underfunding and inequity in the child welfare system.

A federal judge recently dismissed an application for a judicial review from the federal government over a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal order which left Ottawa on the hook for billions of dollars in compensation related to the child welfare system.

Federal Court upholds landmark compensation order for First Nations children

Singh called on the government to terminate the case.

"One immediate, concrete step, something that could happen right now, is Mr. Trudeau could finally stop the court case against Indigenous children," he said. "There's been ruling after ruling from the Canadian human rights tribunal, and now another decision in the courts that said ... there's no ground to appeal it, so stop the legal battles.

"That would be another sign that this Liberal government is interested in working with us, and it would signal to us interest in working together."

He said the Liberals have not yet reached out to the NDP to discuss shared priorities.

"They haven't signaled that they want to negotiate or talk so far," he said. "That's fine, I'm not concerned because they know where we stand. We've campaigned on where we stand for the past 36-plus days ... I look forward to them signalling their interest by doing any of these things."

Singh cited the worsening pandemic situation in Alberta and Saskatchewan as he called on the Liberals to maintain robust economic supports, such as the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy.

"We want to see the supports continue. As I outlined, we're in the worst of it right now. For Alberta and Saskatchewan, this is the worst it's ever been," he said. "It would be irresponsible and wrong to cut the help to people."

Alberta has requested and received assistance from the federal government and the military to help staff its hospitals.

Canadian Armed Forces critical care nursing officers and a CAF senior nursing officer are in Edmonton to help Alberta Health Services in the fight against COVID-19. That province has requested federal help in dealing with its COVID-19 outbreak.

(Alberta Health Services)

While Singh criticized the governments in those provinces over their handling of the pandemic, he said the federal government needs to step up on health transfers.

The provinces and territories have come together to demand an increase in the share of health care spending covered by the federal government.
Singh reflects on the campaign

Although the NDP increased its seat total in the federal election, it was an underwhelming result for a party that was looking for a breakthrough.

Singh said that while he was proud of the campaign, he's disappointed the party didn't send more new faces to Parliament.

Following a caucus meeting, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he's proud of the campaign he ran
Singh says the feedback the party received was very positive and he looks forward to building a stronger party for the next election. 1:08

"One of the things that we've identified we need to do more work is on the ground," he said. "There's a lot of races where we were very, very close ... so that's part of the analysis that we'll be doing to get more details around what we can do to improve that."

Post election, NDP grapples with what went wrong

Parties weigh post-election priorities ahead of Parliament's return

The party announced it will conduct a review of the campaign led by political adviser Bob Dewar.

Singh and NDP brass have been accused internally of promoting his profile at the expense of local candidates in the election.

HE NEEDED TO BE PROMOTED NOBODY KNEW HIM EVEN AFTER HIS LAST NATIONAL ELECTION. THIS ELECTIONS CANADIANS GOT TO KNOW HIM

IT'S THE PARTY THAT TARGETS RIDINGS FOR SUPPORT

'NEVER'
How and when will French Church compensate victims of ‘systemic’ child abuse?

Issued on: 07/10/2021 -

Catholics priests celebrate a palm mass in the empty Saint Francois-Xavier church, in Paris, on April 4, 2020.

Text by: Cyrielle CABOT

France's Catholic Church has asked for "forgiveness" after a devastating report this week laid bare the "systemic" sexual abuse of children by clergymen. But how and when will the tens of thousands of victims be compensated for the abuse they suffered?

The Catholic Church of France was left reeling on Tuesday after an independent commission revealed in a 2,500-page report that members of the clergy had sexually abused around 216,000 children since 1950 – and covered up the abuse with a "veil of silence".

According to the head of the inquiry, Jean-Marc Sauvé, the report by the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (ICSA) proved that "systemic abuse" has been at work within the Church.

The report said the number of victims rose to some 330,000 when taking into account abuses committed by lay members of the Church, such as teachers at Catholic schools.

As well as laying bare the extent of the abuse, the inquiry also suggested a number of avenues to address the victims' yearning for justice and healing, from symbolic measures to financial reparation.

“Some victims mentioned money, but not all,” Sister Véronique Margron, president of the Conference of Religious Men and Women of France (Corref), told FRANCE 24. “Some talked about money in the name of victims they knew, others focused on a symbolic reparation,” she added.

Recognition as first step

“Above all, the victims are demanding an official recognition of the facts by the Church,” said Didier Ferriot, coordinator of the Independent Collective of Victims of Sexual Abuse in the Church. "For some of them, this is even the only thing they want. They are not demanding any specific reparation, other than recognising what they have experienced and their status as victims,” he told FRANCE 24.

Among them is Christian Dubreuil, one of the victims who spoke to the Sauvé inquiry. The former senior civil servant was assaulted by a priest from the Archdiocese of Lyon when aged 11 and 12. "For me, the most important thing is to receive a letter from the Church acknowledging that a sex crime was committed against me," he told AFP.

"Recognising the facts is the first step in the reparation process," said Sister Margron. "This is all the more important that, for many people, the facts are now time-barred and will never be brought before a court," she added.

Report finds 216,000 children were victims of French clergy sex abuse since 1950

01:54

It's a plea Church authorities appear to have headed in the wake of the report's release.

On Wednesday, Pope Francis expressed his personal "shame", inviting French Catholics to "assume their responsibilities to ensure that the Church is a safe home for all".

French bishops have also come forward. The president of the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF), Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, asked for “forgiveness” in a statement, expressing his "shame and horror".

Case-by-case approach

The Sauvé report also addressed the thorny issue of financial compensation. It proposed a clear mechanism: victims should be compensated individually, via an independent commission, rather than using worshippers’ donations.

Such a case-by-case approach is essential, said Didier Ferriot. "Some victims, in spite of what they went through, have managed to start a regular life again, working, having a social life [...]. But others have been really damaged, living now in precarious situations or being socially isolated," he explained. “That’s why only an individual approach, on a case-by-case basis, can be applied."

Margron agreed: "Needs differ from one person to the other, and that’s why ‘case-by-case’ is essential."

Who is to pay the bill?

In March 2021, months before the Sauvé report was released, the French Bishops' Conference (CEF) announced it was creating a specific endowment fund to compensate victims. "This will be funded by the bishops, priests and worshippers who wish to contribute," Karine Dalle, deputy secretary general and director of communications at the CEF, told FRANCE 24.

The fund’s first problem was its initial objective: raising 5 million euros – a substantial underestimation given the number of victims. "Today, we may have to think about hundreds of millions of euros", the Archbishop of Strasbourg, Luc Ravel, told French radio France Info following the report's release.

This fund has a second problem. While it officially depends on donations, Sauvé’s ICSA report recommends that all compensation should be financed "from the assets of the aggressors and the Church of France". In other words, it would be up to the dioceses alone to put their hands in their pockets.

“But the Church only lives on donations: they are all our resources,” Karine Dalle, deputy secretary general and director of communications at the CEF, told FRANCE 24. "Not to mention that we don't do what we want with it. According to the law, the donations of the worshippers can only be used for worship purposes. So, we can't just dip into it as we please and fund these compensations. That's exactly why we created [the CEF] fund," she explained.

"This also applies to our real estate: we can't sell a property that was given to us for religious intent, in order to compensate the victims," Dalle added.

The situation is all the more complex when the sum to be collected seems extremely difficult to measure, since many questions remain unanswered: How many victims will come forward? How many will claim compensation? And what amount will they claim?

For its part, the Corref preferred to wait for the Sauvé report before weighing on the issue. "I will propose, at our General Assembly in Lourdes in early November, that the institution which the aggressor belongs to should be responsible for compensating the victim," Sister Margron announced.

A memorial dedicated to the victims?

While the issue of financial compensation remains at the heart of the question, more symbolic projects have also been put forward by victims' associations, including public ceremonies, liturgical celebrations and a memorial.

"For several months now, we have been thinking about the creation of a memorial with the associations," said Sister Margron. "For the moment, the project is only in its early stages. There has been talk of a work of art, or a venue for exhibitions and conferences... Perhaps in Lourdes: nothing has been decided yet," she added.

Some pushed the idea of organising ceremonies or masses, but the president of the Congregation is sceptical. "The Catholic Church knows very well how to organise a big mass: it's almost too easy," Sister Margron quipped. "It is very important to organise a collective event. But it has to be well thought out and, above all, it should not be the only measure," she explained.

"But the reparation process will only be complete once the Church will have carried out a profound overhaul of its working system, and when the victims will be assured that these events will never occur again," she insisted."To do this, we need to rethink ecclesiastic training, the question of the secrecy of confession, think about the coordination with justice and even about the theology itself. This can only be done in the long run".

Such topics will be high on the agenda of both the Corref and the French Bishops' Conference ahead of their respective gatherings in Lourdes in November.

"The victims don't want words anymore, they want concrete steps and tangible actions", Didier Ferriot summed up, before adding: "And the first thing to do will be to study this report, and approve its many recommendations."

This article was adapted from the original in French by Henrique Valadares.

France rebukes top bishop for saying confessional secrecy trumps law in sex abuse cases

Issued on: 07/10/2021 -

A Catholic priest listens to a confession.

Text by: NEWS WIRES|

France’s top bishop has been summoned by the interior minister after saying that the pact of secrecy would prevent a priest from reporting sex crimes against children that were revealed during Catholic confession.

Following the publication of a report this week about sexual abuse of children by the clergy, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, who is archbishop of Reims and head of the Bishops’ Conference of France, said in a radio interview that the secrecy of the confession rite takes precedence over the laws of the republic.

Under French law, anyone who is aware of a sex crime against a minor is obliged to report it to the authorities and risks heavy fines and imprisonment if failing to do so.

“Nothing takes precedence over the laws of the republic in our country,” French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Thursday.

He added that Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin – who also oversees religious issues – would receive de Moulins-Beaufort next week at the request of President Emmanuel Macron “in order to make sure that things are clear”.

In the Catholic religion, confession is a rite during which sinners acknowledge their sins to a priest and seek forgiveness from God. It is usually performed anonymously in a confession booth, behind a screen, so that the priest can hear but not see the penitent.

“Confession must remain secret because it opens a space where one can speak freely... before God,” de Moulins-Beaufort said on franceinfo radio.

De Moulins-Beaufort said it was unlikely that many pedophiles would admit to their crimes during confession and that even if they did, it would be in euphemistic terms.

He added that when children indicate during confession that they are being abused, the church must look for other ways to help them speak out. “Many children only speak during confession because they know it is secret,” he said.

(REUTERS)

French Church and state clash over sex abuse confessions

01:55

Video by: Olivia SALAZAR-WINSPEAR

WW3.0

US troops secretly training Taiwanese since last year: report

Issued on: 07/10/2021

Washington (AFP)

US special operations forces and marines have been secretly training Taiwanese troops for more than one year, risking the ire of China, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The Journal said about two-dozen US service members have trained Taiwanese ground and maritime forces "for at least a year," amid China's rising verbal threats against the island ally of the United States.

The report cited unnamed officials for the report. Taiwan's Defense Ministry declined to comment on the report.

The Pentagon did not confirm or deny it. Spokesman John Supple said the US support for Taiwan's military is gauged on its defense needs.

"Our support for and defense relationship with Taiwan remains aligned against the current threat posed by the People’s Republic of China," Supple said in a statement.

"We urge Beijing to honor its commitment to the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait differences."

The report appeared to confirm Taiwan media articles last November -- which cited Taiwan's Naval Command -- that US troops had arrived there to train Taiwan marines and special forces in small-boat and amphibious operations.

Those reports were subsequently denied by US and Taiwanese officials, who emphasized the two sides are involved in bilateral military exchanges and cooperation.

The United States supplies weapons to Taiwan, including missiles for defense and fighter jets, amid Beijing's threat to forcibly retake control of the island and reintegrate it with China.

A US-made E2K Early Warning Aircraft (EWA) takes off from a motorway in Pingtung, southern Taiwan, during the annual Han Kuang drill in September 2021

Sam Yeh AFP/File

The US also maintains an ambiguous commitment to defend Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.

A video released last year and featured in Taiwan media showed US troops taking part in an exercise on the island dubbed "Balance Tamper."

Chinese forces have stepped up their activities toward Taiwan in the past year, conducting sea assault exercises and flying large sorties of bombers and fighters close to Taiwan airspace.

On Monday, Taiwan scrambled its own air force after a record 56 Chinese warplanes crossed into its air defense zone.

US State Department Spokesman Ned Price called the Chinese activity "destabilizing" and "provocative."

"We strongly urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan," he said, calling US commitment to the island "rock-solid".

© 2021 AFP

SHELL LEAVES ITS MARK

Oil cleanup in southern Nigeria still a 'long way' from target

Issued on: 07/10/2021 -

Oil legacy: Soil from the banks of a polluted river in B-Dere, Ogoniland

PIUS UTOMI EKPEI AFP

Abuja (AFP)

A much-touted cleanup of oil pollution in southern Nigeria has yet to start in parts of the hotspot Ogoniland, almost three years after contracts were handed out, and residents remain without proper drinking water, a report said Thursday.

Nigeria, Africa's biggest crude producer, has struggled with oil spills for decades, triggering social unrest and even militancy across the Niger Delta.

The kingdom of Ogoniland in Rivers state, home to about a million people, became an emblem of the problem after years of oil and gas exploration and production by a joint venure with Shell.

After mass protests led by activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and the so-called Ogoni Nine, Shell stopped production in 1993.

The Nigerian government pledged to restore the damage after a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) assessment of the area 10 years ago.

The UN said at the time that an initial cleanup would cost $1 billion and take five years. Cleanup activities finally started in January 2019.

But a report by two NGO monitors issued more than halfway through the five-year timeframe says the cleanup will probably take far longer.

"We can see some progress being made, and it’s important to recognise that," said Florence Kayemba, programmes director of the Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN), which co-authored the report with the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CEHRD).

Over 1,000 temporary jobs for community members with cleanup contractors have been created, the monitors said.

Thirteen out of 50 lots considered "simple" to clean have been certified as completed, they added.

However, "this is just a quarter... and we have yet to begin cleanup of complex sites, so this shows that we have really quite a long way to go," said Calvin Laing, SDN's executive director.

"That five-year target seems unrealistic now."

Emergency measures prescribed by the UN in 2011 "are yet to be delivered," the report noted.

"Communities which were identified as having highly contaminated drinking water sources in 2011 still do not have access to improved, safe drinking water sources," it said.

"Health screening of communities that would help understand the impact of pollution is yet to commence."

Cleanup activities need to happen "much faster" added Kayemba, but "without sacrificing quality."

SDN and CEHRD set up an interactive online dashboard on Thursday to help track progress.

The Ogoniland cleanup is "crucial" said Laing, as it "could also be a template for elsewhere in the Niger Delta."

Earlier this year, Shell agreed to pay around 95 million euros ($110 million) to Ogoniland communities over spills in the 1970s, although it has said damage to pipelines was caused by third parties.

© 2021 AFP

Giant ground sloths may have been meat-eating scavengers

The Ice Age beasts feasted on plants and meat, fossil hair analysis suggests

Some 12,000 years ago, the giant ground sloth Mylodon darwinii might have stopped outside Chile’s Mylodon Cave to take a few bites out of the carcass of a llamalike Macrauchenia, as shown in this artist’s rendition.
JORGE BLANCO

By Carolyn Gramling
5 HOURS AGO

Modern sloths may be dedicated vegetarians, but at least one of their massive Ice Age cousins chowed down on meat when it had the chance. Darwin’s ground sloth — which could grow to over 3 meters long and weigh as much as about 2,000 kilograms — may have been an opportunistic scavenger, chemical analyses of fossil sloth hair suggest.

Paleontologist Julia Tejada of the University of Montpellier in France and colleagues analyzed the chemical makeup of two amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, within the fossil hair of two giant ground sloth species: Darwin’s ground sloth (Mylodon darwinii) of South America and the Shasta ground sloth (Nothrotheriops shastensis) of North America (SN: 4/25/18). The team compared these with samples from living sloths, anteaters and other modern omnivores.

Nitrogen isotopes, different forms of the element, can vary a lot among different food sources as well as between ecosystems. Those isotope values in one amino acid, glutamine, change significantly with diet, increasing the higher the animal is on the food chain. But diet has little impact on the nitrogen values in another amino acid, phenylalamine. By comparing the nitrogen isotopes in the two amino acids found in the sloths’ hair, the researchers were able to eliminate ecosystem effects and zoom in on diets.

The data reveal that while the diet of the Shasta ground slothwas exclusively plant-based, Darwin’s ground sloth was an omnivore, Tejada and colleagues report October 7 in Scientific Reports.

The findings upend what scientists thought they knew about the ancient animals. Scientists have assumed the ancient creatures were herbivores. That’s in part because all six modern species of sloth are confirmed vegetarians, and in part giant ground sloths’ teeth and jaws weren’t adapted for hunting or powerful chewing and tearing (SN: 6/20/16).

But Darwin’s ground sloth could have managed to ingest already-killed meat, Tejada and colleagues say. And that might help solve a long-standing puzzle: the apparent absence of large carnivorous mammals in South America at the time. Darwin’s ground sloth, the researchers add, may have filled a vacant ecological niche: the scavenger who wouldn’t say no to a meaty meal.

A magnetic field reversal 42,000 years ago may have contributed to mass extinctions

The weakening of Earth's magnetic field correlates with a cascade of environmental crises

Red ochre handprints dating to almost 42,000 years ago decorate a wall in the El Castillo cave in Spain. Red ochre has been previously suggested as an ancient form of sunscreen.
PAUL PETTITT, GOBIERNO DE CANTABRIA

By Carolyn Gramling

A flip-flop of Earth’s magnetic poles between 42,000 and 41,000 years ago briefly but dramatically shrank the magnetic field’s strength — and may have triggered a cascade of environmental crises on Earth, a new study suggests.

With the help of new, precise carbon dating obtained from ancient tree fossils, the researchers correlated shifts in climate patterns, large mammal extinctions and even changes in human behavior just before and during the Laschamps excursion, a brief reversal of the magnetic poles that lasted less than a thousand years. It’s the first study to directly link a magnetic pole reversal to large-scale environmental changes, the team reports in the Feb. 19 Science.

During a reversal, Earth’s protective magnetic field, which shields the planet from a barrage of charged particles streaming from the sun, can lose strength (SN: 1/28/19). So some researchers have suggested that these flip-flops may be linked to extinction events (SN: 11/19/20).

But evidence for this has proven elusive. In fact, “the general belief had been that geomagnetic changes had no impact on climate or anything else,” says Alan Cooper, an evolutionary biologist at BlueSky Genetics in Adelaide. One reason for that belief is a dearth of precise dates for the timing and duration of the geomagnetic event to correlate with environmental, ice core and magnetic rock records.

Enter New Zealand’s kauri tree, among the most ancient in the world. The country’s swampy bogs preserve the relics of kauri trees dating as far back as the Laschamps excursion. Cooper and his colleagues obtained cross-sections from four ancient trees recovered from a swamp at Ngāwhā Springs in northern New Zealand, and analyzed them for carbon-14, a radioactive form of carbon. (This is the first paper Cooper has led since he was fired from the University of Adelaide in December 2019 for misconduct, allegations which he has denied.)

Kauri trees (one shown) have grown in New Zealand for thousands of years. By analyzing tree rings of preserved trees in the Ngawha swampland, scientists identified evidence to suggest a magnetic pole flip around 41,000 years ago.

MARK MEREDITH/MOMENT/GETTY IMAGES

In particular, one massive preserved log dating to about 41,000 years ago offered up a 1,700-year-long carbon-14 record. That record revealed major changes in carbon-14 during the time period running up to and including the Laschamps excursion, the team reports. That makes sense: Increasing incoming cosmic rays — as would occur with a weakened magnetic field — also produce more carbon-14 in the atmosphere, a carbon signature which would then become incorporated into the tree’s tissues.

The team simulated how a weakened magnetic field might alter atmospheric weather patterns. The computer analysis suggested that the increase of charged particles entering the atmosphere would also increase the production of atmospheric hydrogen and nitrogen oxides — molecules that tend to consume ozone. That would reduce the ability of stratospheric ozone to shield Earth’s denizens from ultraviolet radiation. The atmospheric changes would also affect how much sunlight is absorbed at different layers in the atmosphere, leading to large-scale changes in weather patterns that would have cooled the planet.

Such effects may have in fact occurred at that time. Using the carbon-14 dates from the kauri trees, the team examined sediment, pollen, and other data from before and during the Laschamps excursion that point to sudden cooling at locations from Australia to the Andes.

Surprisingly, the most intense effects did not occur during the actual pole reversal, the team found, but in the several hundred years leading up to it, spanning about 42,300 to 41,600 years ago. During the actual reversal, the field was only about 28 percent as strong as it is today. But during that transitional period, field strength shrank to about 6 percent of its current strength. The researchers dubbed this the “Adams Transitional Geomagnetic Event” — for Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. Adams is often associated with the number 42, said in his books to be the answer to “the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.”

Scientists have long debated whether climate change or human hunters were more to blame for extinction events that wiped such giant mammals as woolly mammoths and Diprotodon, a kind of super-sized Australian wombat. “It was actually one of the motivators for this study,” says study coauthor Chris Turney, a paleoclimatologist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

In a 2015 study by Cooper, Turney and colleagues, “we noticed that some of the megafaunal extinctions appear to cluster, and we started asking why,” Turney says (SN: 7/23/15). One such cluster of Australian megafauna extinctions, including the demise of Diprotodon and the giant kangaroo Procoptodon goliah, occurred around 42,000 years ago.

The team compared the dates of the magnetic event with previous records from ice cores that can reflect changes in solar activity. These data suggested the solar activity was at a minimum at the time. The combination of a weak magnetic field and this decrease in the sun’s output around the same time “created the perfect storm” of climate and broader environmental changes, placing a major stress on megafauna populations, Turney says. Those factors may also have led to increased competition between megafauna and human populations, as well as with Neandertals, he says.

Another possible line of evidence for a diminished ozone layer: an increasing abundance of red ochre handprints made by humans in cave paintings, the researchers note. Red ochre is thought to have been used as a sunscreen (SN: 7/3/20). There may also have been increasing use of caves between about 42,000 and 40,000 years ago, possibly as shelter from the more intense sun, the researchers report.

This is the first study to consider such a broad range of environmental consequences of extreme magnetic field changes, says Monika Korte, a geomagnetist at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam. “The suggested links seem conceivable to me,” Korte says. But, she adds, “the biggest value of the paper is that it’s putting out several ideas that should be investigated further.”

Whether other magnetic reversals may have prompted similar upheavals in the past remains unknown, but “we hope the community will look at biological and archaeological datasets through this different lens,” Turney says. Improving the precision of isotopic dating for these events will be key — and radiocarbon dates gleaned from the New Zealand kauri trees may be able to help with other recent reversals, such as a brief reversal event called the Mono Lake Excursion that occurred about 34,000 years ago.

What long-term environmental havoc may have been wreaked by much longer reversal events recorded in ancient rocks, such the 20,000-year-long Brunhes-Matuyama reversal that began 781,000 years ago, is an even more tantalizing question, Cooper says. “The impacts may have been enormous.”

Thursday, October 07, 2021

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