Vancouver’s Chinese restaurants are empty amid coronavirus fears. If misinformation is to blame, so is China’s embassy

For weeks, China’s embassy has been telling people to avoid crowds in Canada, while local authorities blame online mischief for the woes of Chinese restaurants

But misinformation alone is a poor explanation for empty restaurants – it’s also due to the public’s poor ability to calculate risk on a range of scary subjects

Ian Young in Vancouver 22 Feb, 2020


The main problem for Richmond’s Aberdeen Centre food court, in the heart of the most Chinese city outside Asia, used to be a lack of seats.

It heaved around meal times, with tray-toting diners pouncing on tables as soon as an incumbent so much as dabbed their lips with a napkin.

Not any more. The crowds are gone. Most tables are empty. It looks like someone pulled a fire alarm.

In the Aberdeen Centre, and at Chinese restaurants and other businesses in the Vancouver region and across Canada, trade has suffered precipitous declines amid fears of the coronavirus. This is in spite of the fact that there have been just nine known infections in Canada (all of them recent travellers or their close contacts).

Chinese-speaking Vancouverites receive a torrent of real-time updates from family and friends … Little wonder that the official Canadian response seems paltry by comparison

Canadian authorities say misinformation is to blame for those empty seats. At a press conference in Vancouver’s Chinatown on Monday, Canadian health minister Patty Hajdu pinned fault squarely on “rampant” online falsehoods.

Hajdu was backed up by Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, BC health minister Adrian Dix and a bevy of Chinese restaurateurs and other business owners. Stewart said trade at some restaurants was down 70 per cent – a conservative assessment if the Aberdeen food court is any gauge.

There have indeed been some high-profile instances of misinformation: a local supermarket chain, a restaurant in Burnaby’s Crystal Mall and a popular Richmond roast meat shop have all been hit with utterly baseless and anonymous mischief on social media about supposedly infected patrons or staff.

However, you don’t have to poke around the troll caves of Weibo to discover why Vancouver’s Chinese communities might be staying home.

For more than three weeks, China’s embassy has been plainly telling people in Canada to take precautions against the coronavirus by avoiding crowds and curtailing socialising.

“Please avoid travelling to crowded areas as much as possible, and do not organise or participate in party activities as much as possible,” it says in a directive posted prominently on its website since January 28.

Those Asian face mask wearers? They aren’t crazy or stupid, Vancouver
17 Feb 2020


It also recommends that anyone who does go to a “public place with a large number of people” should wear a face mask.

That advice all goes far beyond anything suggested for the general public by Canadian health authorities and political leaders (“Continue with your regular business,” Stewart had advised on Monday).

If misinformation is behind the woes at the Aberdeen Centre and beyond, then the embassy must share the blame, not just anonymous cranks on social media.

A traveller wears a mask after arriving at Vancouver’s airport on a direct flight from China. Photo: Reuters

Blame information overload

It would almost be comforting if the self-quarantining of Vancouver’s Chinese communities could be pinned on nonsense and crackpottery.

But it’s really down to a combination of factors, including the mixed messaging from the embassy.

It’s also because humans are generally terrible at calculating risk in relation to any high-profile fear factor. And overcoming that will be far more challenging than simple myth-busting.

The risks posed to tourists by terrorists in the aftermath of 9/11? To children in the wake of an infamous abduction case? The current risk to the Canadian public posed by the coronavirus? Logic and math should safely place them all at the back of a dark pantry in a small box marked Exceedingly Low.

But for many, the gut will say otherwise, and misinformation is an incomplete explanation. Math rarely triumphs when fear comes sneaking out of our lizard brains.

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer checks Canadians who had been evacuated from China and are on their way to Canadian Forces Base Trenton on February 7. Photo: Reuters

And Vancouver’s Chinese communities have been bombarded with fearful tales of the coronavirus, true and not, to a degree that dwarfs the exposure of the rest of the city.

That small matter of the Pacific Ocean separating Vancouver from events in China? It may as well not exist in the age of social media, as Chinese-speaking Vancouverites receive a torrent of real-time updates from family and friends sharing their experience of the biggest epidemic response in history, affecting hundreds of millions of people.

Vancouver donates thousands of masks to Wuhan, but virus profiteers cash in
15 Feb 2020


Little wonder that the official Canadian response seems paltry by comparison, with its simple imprecations to wash your hands and cover your mouth and nose when coughing.

So don’t just blame misinformation for those empty seats in the food court. Blame information overload.

The Hongcouver blog is devoted to the hybrid culture of its namesake cities: Hong Kong and Vancouver. All story ideas and comments are welcome. Connect with me by email
ian.young@scmp.com or on Twitter,  @ianjamesyoung70.

On This Day: Nicaraguan rebel leader Sandino killed

On Feb. 21, 1934, Nicaraguan guerrilla leader Cesar Augusto Sandino was killed by members of the country's national guard.

By

UPI Staff

File Photo courtesy of Underwood & Underwood/Wikimedia

In 1848, The Communist Manifesto was published by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Ecuador's 'throat of fire' volcano showing signs of 'potential collapse,' study shows
Doyle Rice
USA TODAY

The Tungurahua volcano is one of Ecuador's most active volcanoes.
A collapse 3,000 years ago led to a widespread debris avalanche 
of moving rock, soil, snow and water.

There remains some uncertainty about whether a collapse will occur, however.

The Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador – known locally as both the "throat of fire" and the "black giant" – is displaying the hallmarks of a potential collapse, which could result in a colossal landslide, a new study suggests.

"Using satellite data we have observed very rapid deformation of Tungurahua's west flank, which our research suggests is caused by imbalances between magma being supplied and magma being erupted," said study lead author James Hickey, a geophysical volcanologist from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, in a statement.

The Tungurahua volcano, one of Ecuador's most active volcanoes, has a long history of flank collapse and has been frequently active since 1999. Flank collapse is the failure of a large section of a volcano's unstable slope.

Volcanic activity in 1999 caused an evacuation of 25,000 people from nearby communities. The volcano is located in the Andes Mountains about 85 miles south of the capital of Ecuador, Quito.

A previous eruption of Tungurahua, around 3,000 years ago, caused a prior, partial collapse of the west flank of the volcanic cone.

This collapse led to a widespread debris avalanche of moving rock, soil, snow and water that covered 30 square miles – which is the equivalent of more than 11,000 football fields.

Since then, the volcano has steadily been rebuilt over time, peaking with a steep-sided cone more than 16,000 feet in height.

South American volcano showing early warning 
signs of 'potential collapse', research shows

One of South America's most prominent volcanoes is producing early warning signals of a potential collapse, new research has shown.

Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador -- known locally as "The Black Giant" -- is displaying the hallmarks of flank instability, which could result in a colossal landslide.

New research, led by Dr James Hickey from the Camborne School of Mines, has suggested that the volcano's recent activity has led to significant rapid deformation on the western flank.

The researchers believe that the driving force causing this deformation could lead to an increased risk of the flank collapsing, causing widespread damage to the surrounding local area.

The research recommends the volcano should be closely monitored to watch for stronger early warning signs of potential collapse.

The study is published in the journal Earth & Planetary Science Letters.

Dr Hickey, who is based at the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus, Cornwall, said: "Using satellite data we have observed very rapid deformation of Tungurahua's west flank, which our research suggests is caused by imbalances between magma being supplied and magma being erupted."

Tungurahua volcano has a long history of flank collapse, and has also been frequently active since 1999. The activity in 1999 led to the evacuation of 25,000 people from nearby communities.

A previous eruption of Tungurahua, around 3,000 years ago, caused a prior, partial collapse of the west flank of the volcanic cone.

This collapse led to a wide-spread debris avalanche of moving rock, soil, snow and water that covered 80 square kilometres -- the equivalent of more than 11,000 football fields.

Since then, the volcano has steadily been rebuilt over time, peaking with a steep-sided cone more than 5000 m in height.

However, the new west flank, above the site of the 3000 year old collapse, has shown repeated signs of rapid deformation while the other flanks remain stable.

The new research has shown that this deformation can be explained by shallow, temporary magma storage beneath the west flank. If this magma supply is continued, the sheer volume can cause stress to accumulate within the volcanic cone -- and so promote new instability of the west flank and its potential collapse.

Dr Hickey added: "Magma supply is one of a number of factors that can cause or contribute to volcanic flank instability, so while there is a risk of possible flank collapse, the uncertainty of these natural systems also means it could remain stable. However, it's definitely one to keep an eye on in the future."

---

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Exeter. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

---

Journal Reference:

1. James Hickey, Ryan Lloyd, Juliet Biggs, David Arnold, Patricia Mothes, Cyril Muller. Rapid localized flank inflation and implications for potential slope instability at Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2020; 534: 116104 DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116104

This collapse led to a wide-spread debris avalanche of moving rock, soil, snow and water that covered 80 square kilometres -- the equivalent of more than 11,000 football fields.

Since then, the volcano has steadily been rebuilt over time, peaking with a steep-sided cone more than 5000 m in height.

However, the new west flank, above the site of the 3000 year old collapse, has shown repeated signs of rapid deformation while the other flanks remain stable.

The new research has shown that this deformation can be explained by shallow, temporary magma storage beneath the west flank. If this magma supply is continued, the sheer volume can cause stress to accumulate within the volcanic cone -- and so promote new instability of the west flank and its potential collapse.

Dr Hickey added: "Magma supply is one of a number of factors that can cause or contribute to volcanic flank instability, so while there is a risk of possible flank collapse, the uncertainty of these natural systems also means it could remain stable. However, it's definitely one to keep an eye on in the future."

---

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Exeter. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

---

Journal Reference:

1. James Hickey, Ryan Lloyd, Juliet Biggs, David Arnold, Patricia Mothes, Cyril Muller. Rapid localized flank inflation and implications for potential slope instability at Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2020; 534: 116104 DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116104

South America's "Black Giant" Volcano Is Showing Early Warning Signs Of Potential Collapse



ENVIRONMENT




AN ERUPTION OF ECUADOR'S TUNGURAHUA VOLCANO IN 1999 FORCED THE EVACUATION OF 25,000 PEOPLE FROM NEIGHBORING COMMUNITIES. ECUADORPOSTALES/SHUTTERSTOCK


By Madison Dapcevich19 FEB 2020


One of South America’s most active volcanoes is showing early warning signs of “potential collapse” that could result in a far-reaching landslide, new research suggests.

Scientists are studying the potential for a flank failure at Tungurahua volcano, one of the most destructive processes on Earth, whereby a portion of a volcano collapses and creates landslides and explosive eruptions. Recent activity of the 5-kilometers-high (3 miles) volcano paired with a weakening western flank may make the volcano more likely to collapse, creating landslides with the potential to cause widespread damage to the area.

In the indigenous tongue of the Quechua peoples, Tungurhua means 'Throat of Fire'. Known locally as "The Black Giant,” the stratovolcano in the Eastern Cordillera of the Ecuadorian Andes has been “persistently active” since 1999 when activity forced the evacuation of 25,000 people from nearby communities. In November 2015, the volcano experienced multiple explosions and heightened seismic activity that displaced about 3.5 centimeters of sediment in around three weeks. But 3,000 years prior, the west flank of the volcanic cone partially collapsed, creating a widespread debris avalanche or rock, soil, snow and water over 80 square kilometers (30 square miles), leaving in its wake a massive scar.

Scientists have taken recent activity and compared it with ancient geophysical and geochemical monitoring of the volcano to test different physical mechanisms that might lead to a flank collapse.

“Using satellite data we have observed very rapid deformation of Tungurahua's west flank, which our research suggests is caused by imbalances between magma being supplied and magma being erupted,” said study author James Hickey of the Camborne School of Mines in a statement.
Map of Tungurahua volcano. The dashed blue line indicates the scar of the flank collapse 3,000 years ago and the blue diamond is the summit vent. Colored, transparent shapes indicate the footprints of deformation episodes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters

Modeling systems combined with visual observations of surface deformation show that a magma storage region below the volcano is likely creating a zone of “preferential weakness.” Stress along this region had collapsed previously, which can be magnified by the buildup of magma over time. If it continues, the volume can create enough stress that would add to more instability so that if a volcanic eruption were to occur, it may impact this already weakened region, resulting in a large collapse of the flank.

“Magma supply is one of a number of factors that can cause or contribute to volcanic flank instability, so while there is a risk of possible flank collapse, the uncertainty of these natural systems also means it could remain stable. However, it's definitely one to keep an eye on in the future,” said Hickey.

Researchers say that the history of the volcano and its magma-related stress must be considered alongside other triggering factors. In particular, magma transport and storage have implications for volcanic hazards, especially those with histories of flank collapsing. They advise closely monitoring the volcano for stronger signs of potential collapse.

“Shallow magma transport and storage are key dynamic processes at the heart of hazard assessment and event forecasting for eruptive activity and flank collapse. The results of this study highlight the importance of monitoring volcanoes with a history of flank collapse and how this can be incorporated into routine geophysical and geodetic volcanic surveillance,” write the authors in Earth & Planetary Science Letters.

UPDATED
'Trump got his wall': Indian city rushes to beautify before visit

Newly erected wall will hide slums along Ahmedabad motorcade route, while others face eviction

Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi and Julian Borger in Washington Fri 21 Feb 2020
 

Workers paint Trump and Modi on a wall in Ahmedabad.

 Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters

“World’s largest democracy meets world’s oldest democracy” reads the welcome daubed in bright letters across a newly built wall in Ahmedabad. It will be a fleeting trip – lasting less than 36 hours – but Donald Trump’s arrival in India on Monday on his first official visit has prompted a frenzied, costly and controversial beautification drive by authorities.

In Ahmedabad, in the western state of Gujarat, where the US president will fly on Monday to attend a huge rally with the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, dubbed “Namaste Trump”, this 2 metre (6ft) wall has been a particular point of contention. Quickly erected this week, it serves to hide the stretch of slums along the route due to be taken by Trump’s motorcade.

The outrage at the project was coupled with some amusement in India, with many noting that “Trump finally got his wall”. 

The wall along a route that Trump and Modi 

will take during the US president’s visit. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters

Eviction notices were also served this week to more than 40 slum dwellers in the vicinity of the new cricket stadium where Monday’s rally will be held, and street vendors were removed from the motorcade route, destroying their livelihoods. All stray dogs, cats and monkeys have been cleared.

The irony of the climate science denier Trump arriving in Gujarat, a state already suffering some of the worst effects of the climate crisis including mass water shortages and drastically rising temperatures in its cities, was not lost on environmental activists in Ahmedabad.

The activist Rohit Prajapati said some of the beautification measures being rolled out for Trump were environmentally detrimental. Trees are being chopped down for security purposes, and fresh water is being temporarily released into the Sabarmati River in Gujurat and the Yamuna River in Agra, where Trump will visit the Taj Mahal, to create the illusion that these usually toxic, sewage-ridden and smelly rivers are flowing normally.

Prajapati said police surveillance of activists had increased in recent days to try to stop protests during Trump’s visit. “It is almost like we are under house arrest,” he said. “For the past few days I am under constant surveillance and everywhere I go they follow us. They can’t arrest us because that would make the news so instead they are terrorising our neighbours, family, to create an atmosphere of intimidation.”

Residents have also alleged that the increased security restrictions have led to increased police harassment of the Muslim community in Ahmedabad.
Security forces patrol a road in Ahmedabad

 before Trump’s visit. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters

The adulation India typically shows US presidents is likely to play well to Trump’s ego, while Modi, grappling with a huge backlash against his BJP government’s new citizenship law and one of India’s biggest periods of unrest in 40 years, will hope to bolster his domestic image.

Trump has been retweeting Indian accounts of the grandiose welcome that awaits him, including Modi’s far-fetched claim that 7 million people will come out to greet him in Ahmedabad – almost the population of the entire city. More realistic estimates say around 100,000 people are likely to line the streets, while the stadium where the rally will be held seats 120,000.

Tanvi Madan, the director of the India Project at the Brookings Institution thinktank, said: “In some ways, American presidents go to India to feel loved.”

Yet it may not be entirely seamless. The two countries have come to blows over trade tariffs over the past year and Trump has already made it clear there will be no major trade deal signed between the two countries on this visit.

“I think partly because they have not been able to get to a trade deal, Prime Minister Modi will make an extra effort in delivering something else to President Trump which is great optics,” said Madan.

There will be some substance underlying the spectacle. US-Indian security cooperation has flourished in recent years, largely because of shared suspicion of China and a mutual desire to keep the Pacific open for free trade. Trump and Modi are likely to sign a deal over advanced helicopters at some point during the trip.

On the journey to India, or on the way back, Trump is also expected to make a detour to Afghanistan to sign a deal with the Taliban.

There is always the risk of surprise with Trump. Modi was visibly bewildered when the president offered to broker a peace deal with Pakistan over Kashmir, the sort of outside intervention India has resolutely opposed. 

Trump and Modi on a poster in Ahmedabad. 

Photograph: Sam Panthaky/AFP via Getty Images

But Bruce Riedel, who travelled to India with Bill Clinton as a special adviser in 2000, suggested that the prime minister could reasonably expect not to be embarrassed by his visitor over his actions in Kashmir and the erosion of democratic norms in Indian public life.

“The good news for India is that the last person in the world likely to raise any of these issues is Donald Trump,” he said.

TRUMP GETS HIS WALL....IN INDIA

India builds 1,640 ft wall along slum ahead of Trump visit

By Ajit Solanki, Associated Press,PA Media: World News•February 18, 2020

A 1,640ft brick wall has been hastily erected in India’s Gujarat state ahead of a visit by Donald Trump, with critics saying it was built to block the view of a slum area inhabited by more than 2,000 people.

“Since they are spending so much money on this wall, why not use that to improve our slum and provide better facilities for us,” said resident Keshi Saraniya. “Why are they hiding us poor people?”

The US president is visiting the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat during a two-day trip to India next week to attend an event called Namaste Trump, which translates to “Greetings, Trump”.

The event, being held at a cricket stadium, is along the lines of a “Howdy Modi” rally he hosted for Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in Houston last September.

Mr Trump is to drive along a road next to the slum and will be accompanied by Mr Modi, who is from Gujarat.

Workers construct the wall in Ahmedabad (Ajit Solanki/AP)

News reports said the wall was originally planned to be 6ft to 7ft high but was reduced to 4ft after it received widespread publicity.

Senior government official Bijal Patel said the wall was built “for security reasons” and not to conceal the slum.

“Apart from security reasons, the wall is also part of a beautification and cleanliness drive,” she added.

Several political leaders were quick to criticise the wall’s construction, questioning Mr Modi’s development work in his own state. He was chief minister of Gujarat for 12 years before becoming prime minister in May 2014.

Authorities on Monday also served eviction notices to 45 families living in another slum area near the cricket stadium.

The residents said they were asked to leave because of the upcoming event, but the city’s civic body denied it.

“We have been living here for the last 20 years and now we are suddenly being told to vacate because some important leader is visiting this city for a day,” said resident Sanjay Patani. “This is injustice.”

Workers erect a stage as part of preparations for the visit of Donald Trump (Ajit Solanki/AP)

Kishore Varna, a government official, said the land belongs to the civic body and evictions were done under the law. He did not say why the eviction notices were sent days ahead of Mr Trump’s visit.


The US leader, who has pledged to build a wall along America’s border with Mexico to stop people from entering the US, is visiting India on February 24-25. His visit is aimed at smoothing ties strained by trade disputes and could also allow him to woo tens of thousands of Indian-American voters ahead of the US presidential election.

Trade tensions between the two countries have escalated since the Trump administration levied tariffs on steel and aluminium from India.

India responded with higher tariffs on agricultural goods and restrictions on US medical devices, prompting Washington to retaliate by removing India from a decades-old preferential trade programme.





India hastily builds wall along slum ahead of Trump visit

By AJIT SOLANKI February 18, 2020

1 of 7
A man rides past a wall painted with portraits of U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of Trump's visit, in Ahmadabad, India, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020. Trump is scheduled to visit the city during his Feb. 24-25 India trip. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — A half-kilometer (1,640-foot) brick wall has been hastily erected in India’s Gujarat state ahead of a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump, with critics saying it was built to block the view of a slum area inhabited by more than 2,000 people.
“Since they are spending so much money on this wall, why not use that to improve our slum and provide better facilities for us,” said Keshi Saraniya, a resident. “Why are they hiding us poor people?”
Trump is visiting the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat during a two-day trip to India next week to attend an event called “Namaste Trump,” which translates to “Greetings, Trump,” at a cricket stadium along the lines of a “Howdy Modi” rally attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Houston last September. Trump is to drive along a road next to the slum and will be accompanied by Modi, who is from Gujarat.

News reports said the wall was originally planned to be 6-7 feet (1.8-2.1 meters) high but was reduced to 4 feet (1.2 meters) after it received widespread publicity.
Senior government official Bijal Patel said the wall was built “for security reasons” and not to conceal the slum.
“Apart from security reasons, the wall is also part of a beautification and cleanliness drive,” she said.
Several political leaders were quick to criticize the wall’s construction, questioning Modi’s development work in his own state. Modi was chief minister of Gujarat for 12 years before becoming the country’s prime minister in May 2014.
Authorities on Monday also served eviction notices to 45 families living in another slum area near the cricket stadium.
The residents said they were asked to leave because of the upcoming event, but the city’s civic body denied it.
“We have been living here for the last 20 years and now we are suddenly being told to vacate because some important leader is visiting this city for a day,” said Sanjay Patani, a resident. “This is injustice.”
Kishore Varna, a government official, said the land belongs to the civic body and evictions were done under the law. He didn’t say why the eviction notices were sent just days ahead of Trump’s visit.
Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along America’s border with Mexico to stop people from entering the U.S., is visiting India on Feb. 24-25. His visit is aimed at smoothing ties strained by trade disputes and could also allow him to woo tens of thousands of Indian-American voters ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
Trade tensions between the two countries have escalated since the Trump administration levied tariffs on steel and aluminium from India.
Indiaresponded with  higher tariff
TRUMP GETS HIS WALL....IN INDIA

India builds 1,640 ft wall along slum ahead of Trump visit

By Ajit Solanki, Associated Press,PA Media: World News•February 18, 2020

A 1,640ft brick wall has been hastily erected in India’s Gujarat state ahead of a visit by Donald Trump, with critics saying it was built to block the view of a slum area inhabited by more than 2,000 people.

“Since they are spending so much money on this wall, why not use that to improve our slum and provide better facilities for us,” said resident Keshi Saraniya. “Why are they hiding us poor people?”

The US president is visiting the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat during a two-day trip to India next week to attend an event called Namaste Trump, which translates to “Greetings, Trump”.

The event, being held at a cricket stadium, is along the lines of a “Howdy Modi” rally he hosted for Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in Houston last September.

Mr Trump is to drive along a road next to the slum and will be accompanied by Mr Modi, who is from Gujarat.

Workers construct the wall in Ahmedabad (Ajit Solanki/AP)

News reports said the wall was originally planned to be 6ft to 7ft high but was reduced to 4ft after it received widespread publicity.

Senior government official Bijal Patel said the wall was built “for security reasons” and not to conceal the slum.

“Apart from security reasons, the wall is also part of a beautification and cleanliness drive,” she added.

Several political leaders were quick to criticise the wall’s construction, questioning Mr Modi’s development work in his own state. He was chief minister of Gujarat for 12 years before becoming prime minister in May 2014.

Authorities on Monday also served eviction notices to 45 families living in another slum area near the cricket stadium.

The residents said they were asked to leave because of the upcoming event, but the city’s civic body denied it.

“We have been living here for the last 20 years and now we are suddenly being told to vacate because some important leader is visiting this city for a day,” said resident Sanjay Patani. “This is injustice.”

Workers erect a stage as part of preparations for the visit of Donald Trump (Ajit Solanki/AP)

Kishore Varna, a government official, said the land belongs to the civic body and evictions were done under the law. He did not say why the eviction notices were sent days ahead of Mr Trump’s visit.


The US leader, who has pledged to build a wall along America’s border with Mexico to stop people from entering the US, is visiting India on February 24-25. His visit is aimed at smoothing ties strained by trade disputes and could also allow him to woo tens of thousands of Indian-American voters ahead of the US presidential election.

Trade tensions between the two countries have escalated since the Trump administration levied tariffs on steel and aluminium from India.

India responded with higher tariffs on agricultural goods and restrictions on US medical devices, prompting Washington to retaliate by removing India from a decades-old preferential trade programme.

India hastily builds wall along slum ahead of Trump visit

By AJIT SOLANKI February 18, 2020

1 of 7
A man rides past a wall painted with portraits of U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of Trump's visit, in Ahmadabad, India, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020. Trump is scheduled to visit the city during his Feb. 24-25 India trip. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — A half-kilometer (1,640-foot) brick wall has been hastily erected in India’s Gujarat state ahead of a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump, with critics saying it was built to block the view of a slum area inhabited by more than 2,000 people.
“Since they are spending so much money on this wall, why not use that to improve our slum and provide better facilities for us,” said Keshi Saraniya, a resident. “Why are they hiding us poor people?”
Trump is visiting the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat during a two-day trip to India next week to attend an event called “Namaste Trump,” which translates to “Greetings, Trump,” at a cricket stadium along the lines of a “Howdy Modi” rally attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Houston last September. Trump is to drive along a road next to the slum and will be accompanied by Modi, who is from Gujarat.

News reports said the wall was originally planned to be 6-7 feet (1.8-2.1 meters) high but was reduced to 4 feet (1.2 meters) after it received widespread publicity.
Senior government official Bijal Patel said the wall was built “for security reasons” and not to conceal the slum.
“Apart from security reasons, the wall is also part of a beautification and cleanliness drive,” she said.
Several political leaders were quick to criticize the wall’s construction, questioning Modi’s development work in his own state. Modi was chief minister of Gujarat for 12 years before becoming the country’s prime minister in May 2014.
Authorities on Monday also served eviction notices to 45 families living in another slum area near the cricket stadium.
The residents said they were asked to leave because of the upcoming event, but the city’s civic body denied it.
“We have been living here for the last 20 years and now we are suddenly being told to vacate because some important leader is visiting this city for a day,” said Sanjay Patani, a resident. “This is injustice.”
Kishore Varna, a government official, said the land belongs to the civic body and evictions were done under the law. He didn’t say why the eviction notices were sent just days ahead of Trump’s visit.
Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along America’s border with Mexico to stop people from entering the U.S., is visiting India on Feb. 24-25. His visit is aimed at smoothing ties strained by trade disputes and could also allow him to woo tens of thousands of Indian-American voters ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
Trade tensions between the two countries have escalated since the Trump administration levied tariffs on steel and aluminium from India.
India responded with higher tariffs on agricultural goods and restrictions on U.S. medical devices, prompting the U.S. to retaliate by removing India from a decades-old preferential trade program. ___ Associated Press writer Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi contributed to this report

As Rio de Janeiro prepares to kick off Carnival, Mangueira is one of several samba schools using the world’s biggest festival as a platform for protest, with their theme of a Jesus of the favela returning to a land with prophets of intolerance

by Ana Ionova Fri 21 Feb 2020 


Packed into the brightly lit samba rehearsal hall, in the Mangueira favela of Rio de Janeiro, hundreds of revellers dressed in pink and emerald threw their arms towards the sky and burst into song. As they sang, some wiped tears from their eyes. Couples drew closer, clutching one another’s hand.

“My name is Jesus of the people,” the crowd chanted. “I am found in love which finds no boundary; search for me in the ranks who fight against oppression.”


A reveller dressed in drag poses for a photo during a rehearsal show.

As Rio de Janeiro prepares to kick off its annual Carnival festivities on Friday, Mangueira is among several samba schools poised to turn the world’s biggest festival into a platform for protest against the divisive rhetoric that has marked President Jair Bolsonaro’s first year in office.

This year, the Mangueira parade will tell the story of Jesus born in the favela who stands up to “prophets of intolerance”.

The school’s theme comes against a backdrop of deep polarization in Brazil since the country elected an ultra-conservative president who has gained infamy with offensive remarks about women, black people, gays and indigenous people. Bolsonaro has also vowed to loosen gun controls, promising criminals will “die like cockroaches on the street” at the hands of police.


The headline song envisions Christ with a “black face, indigenous blood and the body of a woman” and – in what appears to be a rebuke to the president – warns that there is “no Messiah with a gun in hand”. (Bolsonaro’s middle name Messias means “messiah”.)

Among the school’s planned costumes, a bearded Mary Magdalene clad in a rainbow flag holds a placard asking, “Brother, will you hit with a stone?” while a mourning “Mary of Brazil’s Suffering” bears a black Brazilian flag reading, “Murderous State”.


Samba dancers perform at the Mangueira samba school rehearsal.

Mangueira’s main message this year is one of fraternity, tolerance and love, explained Manuela Oiticica and Luiz Carlos Máximo, the couple who wrote the headline song titled, “The truth will set you free.”

“This is the Christ of Mangueira,” said Oiticica. “He died for those values, he was murdered because of those values. And these are the values ​​that we need to recover today.”
Revellers and members of the Mangueira samba school in Rio de Janeiro welcome the queen of the school during a rehearsal show.


Oiticica and Máximo insisted the lyrics are meant as a wider criticism of the intolerance and division gripping Brazil at the moment, rather than a pointed attack on the president. “There are so many saviours of the country who propose violence as a method of salvation,” Oiticica said.

Mangueira, is one of Rio de Janeiro’s most reknowned samba schools – and one of its most outspoken. Last year, it was crowned Carnival champion for its tribute to Brazil’s unsung black and indigenous heroes, including the Rio councilwoman and LGBTQ+ activist Marielle Franco, who was assassinated in 2018. 

The Mangueira samba school flag-bearer and her escort perform during a rehearsal show.

Yet this year’s theme has angered some religious groups, who have accused the school of blasphemy. A petition by the Catholic organization Instituto Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira has so far drawn more than 110,000 signatures.

Other schools are also preparing performances with strong political themes: the São Clemente samba school is focusing on the spread of misinformation. Fake news shared on WhatsApp played a key role during the 2018 elections, with much of the misinformation favoring Bolsonaro.

“There’s an orange! In my hand, one is three and three is 10,” the lyrics say. “Brazil, you shared, it went viral – but you didn’t even see it! And the whole country … fell to fake news.”

In its synopsis, the school says trickery – or malandragem – is “institutionalized” in Brazil, and argues that politicians are the greatest swindlers come election time. “Every time, hope is renewed, until the first crooked curve: after being elected, the trickster leaves the people adrift. By voting, the greatest illusions are sold.” 

Musicians from the Mangueira samba school perform one of the songs composed for this year’s Carnival at a rehearsal on 25 January.


“We are living in a moment where there’s a lot of hurt, there’s a lack of information,” said Thiago Almeida, the school’s carnival director. “We want to carry a message that the public wants to hear, that reflects the reality that we are currently living.


The Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel school, meanwhile, is mounting a critique on racism, inequality and the persecution of minority religions. At its base in Rio de Janeiro’s sprawling Samba City, a towering parade float is lined with open, lipsticked mouths. A black hand, holding an empty plate, reaches out of each one.

This year, the school is paying homage to the renowned Brazilian singer Elza Soares, who grew up in a favela in the Padre Miguel neighborhood and became a champion of women’s rights and Afro-Brazilian culture. (When the host of a singing competition asked a rail-thin young Soares what planet she came from, she memorably replied: “Planet Hunger.”)

The school’s lyrics describe Soares as a black woman who “silenced oppression” with her voice, and they urge Brazil to “face the evil that consumes” it. The song also gives a nod to Afro-Brazilian religions Candomblé and Umbanda, whose temples and followers have increasingly come under attack by fundamentalists.

“She was a woman of humble origin, black – she had to fight a lot,” Jack Vasconcelos, the school’s carnavalesco, or creative director, said. “So it makes sense that we take someone like Elza and use her story as a tool to be able to speak out, to talk about the excluded, to talk about the social issues that affect us.”

For Mangueira’s Máximo, it is “fundamental” for samba schools as popular cultural institutions to represent the realities of their communities.

“Carnival is about joy … but samba schools are reflecting what society is experiencing, they are talking about what the Brazilian people are living and suffering,” he said. “And that’s the thing about samba – it sings about the saddest things, but with joy.”

Volcanic Evidence Suggests Aboriginal Story May Be Earth's Oldest Tale


THE CRATER OF BUDJ BIM, ILLUSTRATED BY EUGENE VON GUERARD IN THE 1860S WHEN IT WAS STILL KNOWN AS MOUNT ECCLES. CC BY 2.0/PUBLIC DOMAIN
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By Stephen Luntz19 FEB 2020

A story told for generations by the Gunditjmara people of southern Australia is thought to describe a volcanic eruption. Now, dating of lava produced by a volcano thought to feature in the tale shows the account is 37,000 years old, quite likely making it the oldest tale on Earth.

The lava flows of South-western Victoria mark it as a former volcanic province, but the timing of the last eruptions has been uncertain.

The traditional owners of the Budj Bim heritage area, the Gunditjmara, have an origins story about four giants who gave life and laws to the land. In the Dreaming, an ancestral being – Budj Bim – emerges from the ground to become a domed hill with lava spilling out of its head, while the story also includes references to the “land and trees dancing”. It's not hard to see how this could be a description of a major eruption, leading anthropologists to wonder if the Gunditjmara were living there at the time of the last eruption. The possibility gained a boost with the discovery in the 1940s of an ax beneath the most recent layer of ash.

Dr Erin Matchan of the University of Melbourne used 40Ar/39Ar to date the most recent eruptions from the Budj Bim and Tower Hill volcanoes. The technique relies on the fact potassium radioactively decays to argon-39, so as time goes on potassium-rich rocks the amount of argon-39 builds up relative to the more common argon-40. Advances in mass spectrometry have recently made this technique much more widely available for dating volcanic rocks. In the journal Geology, she reports they released lava and ash respectively around 37,000 years ago, with an uncertainty of 3,100 years.

These lava flows are part of a series produced by the Budj Bim volcano, the most recent of which, possibly recorded in Aboriginal myths, was 37,000 years ago. Robirensi/Shutterstock

If the Gunditjmara story really does describe one of these eruptions, it is almost certainly the oldest surviving story whose origins we can identify.

It might seem impossible that eye-witness accounts could survive over such a vast sweep of time, even modified into myth. However, around much of coastal Australia Aboriginal stories refer to lands that were overwhelmed by rising seas, matching events that happened 7,000 years ago. An account of a volcanic eruption in northern Australia appears to be from the same time.

Matchan thinks the four giants story is five times older, but if 7,000 is possible, why not 30,000 more? The hardest period for the story's survival would have been the last two centuries, during which Indigenous Australians were banned from speaking their own language, and frequently had their children stolen by white authorities.

Matchan pointed out to IFLScience it is well established that Indigenous Australians have been in south-eastern Australia for at least 40,000 years, so habitation of the Gunditjmara lands almost certainly stretches back that far. However, aside from the ax and one profoundly mysterious 120,000-year-old possible fireplace and midden all the evidence of human occupation comes from the last 13,000 years.

The lake in Budj Bim today. CC BY 1.0/Public Domain

Matchan and her co-authors admit the evidence for the origins of the four giants story is far from conclusive. It might not describe a volcanic eruption at all. Or perhaps it was inherited from people fleeing the eruption of Mount Gambier, 130 kilometers (80 miles) northwest, which could be as little as 5,000 years old.

Nevertheless, there is mitogenomic evidence that Indigenous peoples may have remained in discrete geographical areas for tens of thousands of years following initial migration from Northern Australia. A people forced into a major migration by a local disaster would be expected to have interbred much more with their neighbors. The area's remarkable eel traps, the world's oldest aquaculture remnants are part of the Gunditjmara culture, indicating their presence in the area for at least 6,600 years.

Proving the four giants story really does describe the eruption may never be possible, but recovering additional relics from before the eruptions might tell us a lot about the people who inhabited the area. The reason nothing new has been found for 70 years, Matchan says, “Is probably because no one has really looked. The ax was a chance find by a farmer digging post holes, rather than part of a deliberate search."

UPDATED
Rohrabacher partially confirms Assange pardon story

Former congressman Dana Rohrabacher has confirmed that he told Julian Assange that Donald Trump would give him a pardon if he gave him information proving that Russians had not been the source of the leaked Democratic emails that are thought to have been part of Moscow’s campaign to swing the 2016 for Trump.

The WikiLeaks chief’s lawyers said in court in London on Wednesday that Rohrabacher had offered the pardon on Trump’s behalf. The White House denied that claimed Trump “barely knows” the former Republican politician. (Trump invited him to a White House meeting in 2017.)

Rohrabacher – known as one of the most pro-Russian politicians in Washington – told Yahoo News:

I spoke to Julian Assange and told him if he would provide evidence about who gave WikiLeaks the emails I would petition the president to give him a pardon. He knew I could get to the president.

He said he did not discuss the issue directly with Trump, and said he only wanted “truthful” information from Assange.

He apparently believes a conspiracy theory that Seth Rich, a murdered former Democratic staffer, was the true source of the leak.

The pardon claim was made before the opening next week of Assange’s legal battle to block attempts to extradite him to the US, where he faces charges for publishing hacked documents.


Julian Assange Claims Trump Offered a Pardon for Help Covering Up Russia’s 2016 Hacking

Assange’s attorney said former U.S. Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher delivered the message to Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in August 2017.

Cover: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange leaves Westminster Magistrates Court, London, where he was appearing for an administrative hearing relating to his extradition to the United States. (Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA Images via Getty Images)

By Greg Walters Feb 19 2020


President Trump offered up a presidential pardon to Julian Assange if the jailed radical activist would deny that Russia hacked emails from Democrats before the 2016 election, Assange’s lawyer claimed in British court.

Assange, the incarcerated founder of the notorious ultra-transparency outfit WikiLeaks, is now in London court battling extradition to the United States for alleged crimes unrelated to the group’s role in the 2016 election, when it released damaging emails stolen from Democrats by Russian spies.

Assange’s attorney Edward Fitzgerald said former U.S. Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, a man with his own legendary affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin, delivered the message to Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in August 2017.

Fitzgerald told the court that a statement from Assange’s lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, recounts “Mr. Rohrabacher going to see Mr. Assange and saying, on instructions from the president, he was offering a pardon or some other way out, if Mr. Assange… said Russia had nothing to do with the DNC leaks,” according to The Guardian.

News of the alleged offer arrives at a moment when Trump is waging an unprecedented assault on the American legal system, and publicly insisting he has the right to bend criminal prosecutions to punish his enemies and protect his friends if he feels like it. On Tuesday, Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of 11 people, including a handful of political supporters and high-profile officials convicted of corruption.

Trump has long railed against any suggestion he might owe his 2016 victory to Russian interference, even though the entire American intelligence community concluded that Russia intervened in the election on Trump’s behalf, using social media and by using WikiLeaks as a conduit for hacked content.

Former special prosecutor Robert Mueller indicted a bevy of Russian cyber spies for interfering in the 2016 election to boost Trump. In a detailed indictment, Mueller laid out, almost to the keystroke, how they hacked into the computer systems of the Democratic National Committee and then turned over what they found to WikiLeaks.

On Thursday, a court in Washington D.C. is set to hand out a criminal sentence to Roger Stone, Trump’s longtime friend and former political advisor who was convicted of lying under oath about his attempts to contact WikiLeaks about those hacked files in the midst of the 2016 campaign.

Trump’s Department of Justice has suffered widespread criticism from former DOJ officials for intervening to try to protect Trump’s buddy Stone by reducing the prosecutorial sentencing recommendation ahead of Thursday’s hearing, when the judge will decide how long Stone should be in prison.

Neither Rohrabacher nor Assange’s attorneys were immediately available to comment.

Assange was never charged with a crime for his role overseeing WikiLeaks during the 2016 election.

Instead, in spring of 2019, he was hit with an 18-count indictment that accused him of unlawfully obtaining and disclosing national defense information.

Those charges revolve around Assange’s interaction with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who shared hundreds of thousands of classified documents with WikiLeaks in 2010 that offered unvarnished windows into the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay.

This article originally appeared on VICE US.

WHEN ANTISEMITISM IS A TRADITION

Belgian carnival to go ahead despite row over 'hateful' antisemitism


Organisers in Aalst say they will defy calls from Israel’s government to cancel event


Daniel Boffey in Brussels

Fri 21 Feb 2020 12.49 GMTLast modified on Fri 21 Feb 2020 13.03 GMT




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Antisemitic figures at last year’s Aalst carnival. 

Israel’s foreign minister said Belgium should

 be ashamed. Photograph: Pen News

Organisers of a Belgian carnival, removed from a Unesco heritage list last year following criticism of its antisemitic floats, have said they will defy calls from Israel’s government for Sunday’s event to be cancelled.

Belgium’s prime minister, Sophie Wilmès, also described the parade as an “internal affair” after Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, called for the authorities to “condemn and ban this hateful parade in Aalst”.

“Belgium as a western democracy should be ashamed to allow such a vitriolic antisemitic display,” Katz had tweeted.

Emmanuel Nahshon, Israel’s ambassador to Belgium, said he hoped the organisers and local authorities would “pull themselves together”, as he clarified the minister’s remarks.


Belgian anti-racism activist forced to flee town in blackface row

“What we are asking for is absolutely not the prohibition of carnival as such,” Nahshon said. “What we are asking for is the prohibition of all these antisemitic cartoons, which become beyond good taste, which have nothing to do with a sense of humour and which do not honour an exemplary democracy such as Belgium.”

During last year’s three-day carnival in the Flemish town, floats depicted Orthodox Jews with hooked noses standing on sacks of gold coins. One of the figures was carrying a white rat on its shoulder.
Last year Unesco removed the Aalst carnival from a list of “intangible cultural heritage”, an inventory of protected practices that includes Irish hurling and Cypriot-Greek Byzantine chant.

The UN organisation said the festival, which has been on the list since 2010, had been guilty of “recurring repetition of racist and antisemitic representations”.

The carnival’s organisers had pre-empted the sanction by requesting that the event be taken off the Unesco inventory, claiming that support for its inclusion within the local community had been lost.

At the time, Christoph D’Haese, the mayor of Aalst, who is in the Flemish nationalist N-VA party, claimed his citizens had “suffered grotesque accusations … Aalst will always remain the capital of mockery and satire”.

On Friday, D’Haese said this year’s carnival, the 92nd, would go ahead as planned as he defended the freedom of expression of those involved.

“A magnifying glass is now looking at a very beautiful folk festival that has been able to take place 91 times without any significant problems,” he told a Flemish radio station. “If we can avoid sensitive issues, or visualise a theme without causing hurt, I call for that. We need to be aware of the fact that a large community may feel hurt and have respect for it. But Aalst will always remain the odd one out.”

D’Haese said that “raising awareness is one thing; forbidding and censorship is something else”. “You can focus your magnifying glass on many things, but you can also focus on the creativity that the carnivalists put into their work and on the young people who work on all those floats,” he said.

Bart Somers, a minister in the Flemish government, said the mayor “should make more efforts to enter into dialogue with the carnivalists and try to convince them that they are not acting morally and ethically”. There is expected to be heavier security around the parade.