Saturday, July 24, 2021

The US embargo on Cuba has failed

If Biden truly wants to put principles, and effectiveness, ahead of politics, he should make a bold choice and end the embargo.

Christopher Rhodes
21 Jul 2021
Police scuffle and detain an anti-government demonstrator during a protest in Havana, Cuba, Sunday July 11, 2021. Hundreds of demonstrators went out to the streets in several cities in Cuba to protest against ongoing food shortages and high prices of foodstuffs, amid the new coronavirus crisis. [Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo]

For nearly 60 years, the United States has enforced an embargo against Cuba, severely restricting the flow of goods to the island. Most US companies are forbidden from dealing with Cuba, and various US laws punish foreign companies that do business in Cuba. The restrictions are meant to economically squeeze the island and create enough discontent within Cuba to force the ruling Communist Party to either significantly reform or step down.

The Obama administration, with then-Vice President Biden’s support, sought to rethink the policy and pursue re-engagement with Cuba. Barack Obama relaxed sanctions, allowed direct flights between the two countries, and eased restrictions on Americans doing business in Cuba. Donald Trump reversed Obama’s strategy. He placed Cuba back on the US list of state sponsors of international terrorism, cut off travel between Cuba and the US, and barred Americans from sending remittances to their relatives in Cuba, cutting off a major economic lifeline for many Cubans.

Joe Biden promised to move away from this Trump strategy of “maximum pressures” against Cuba, but has so far not altered any of the Trump restrictions. The White House admitted earlier this year that “a Cuba policy shift is not currently among President Biden’s top priorities.”

However, the protests that have been rocking Cuba for the past week – some of the largest since the Revolution – have forced the issue. Many Cuban American activists and Republicans are urging Biden to keep up or even increase pressure on Cuba, and Democrats are divided on whether to maintain or ease the embargo.

The strongest reason to end the embargo against Cuba is the massive toll that the policy continues to enact on the Cuban population. Both the Cuban government and the United Nations have estimated that the embargo has cost the Cuban economy $130 billion over six decades. It’s also worth noting that the US Chamber of Commerce estimates that the embargo costs the US economy billions of dollars each year, as well. The human toll is harder to quantify, but has clearly been significant. Human rights experts at the UN have urged the US to ease sanctions during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that such a change will save lives by allowing Cuba greater access to medical supplies and equipment.

Cuba-policy hardliners have implicitly accepted the human and economic costs of the embargo as acceptable in order to achieve the goal of undermining the communist regime. They will point towards the unprecedented level of protests currently going on in Cuba as evidence that the embargo is working. It’s not. Yes, Cubans are angry at the economic hardships and pandemic suffering happening amongst their population. But as Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel uses repression and anti-US rhetoric to contain the protests, there’s little indication that the regime is in immediate danger.

The communist regime has already survived the fall of its Soviet sponsor, the death of Fidel Castro, and the handover of power from his younger brother Raul to Díaz-Canel, who is not a Castro and was born after the Revolution took power. Sixty years of sanctions have only created hardships for the Cuban people while providing the regime with a convenient scapegoat to blame for all of their country’s economic woes and societal discontent.

Counterintuitively, ending the embargo and promoting ties between the US and Cuba is the greatest weapon that America can deploy against the oppressive regime in Cuba. President Obama laid out the strategy when he opened up travel between the two countries: “Nobody represents America’s values better than the American people,” Obama said in 2014, “and I believe this contact will ultimately do more to empower the Cuban people.”

Exposing Cubans to the freedoms and opportunities available to their American relatives will increase outrage and pressure towards the Cuban government for failing to provide these things. And removing the ability of the Communist Party to blame the United States for its own failures will lay bare the consequences of the Cuban government’s unwillingness to shift away from Soviet-era economic policies and political repression.

Hardliners will argue that easing the embargo now will lessen the pressure on the Cuban government by lessening the societal desperation that has fuelled these protests. And while economic crises can lead to collective outrage, spontaneous protests against authoritarian regimes usually ends in renewed repression rather than regime change. Many experts believe that movements for social change are most effective when people and organisations gain the resources that are necessary for sustained political and social activism. Loosening the economic vice grip on Cuba will help to empower its citizens and civil society to stand up to their government.

The administration should be thoughtful about how it rethinks the embargo policy. It need not eliminate the policy all at once, nor should it relent on pressuring Cuba when it comes to democracy or human rights. But being thoughtful should not be an excuse for inaction. For example, rather than dismissing the idea of renewing remittances to Cuba, Biden should seriously explore ways to allow Americans to securely transfer money to their Cuban relatives.

Relaxing the embargo will be a risky political move for the president. Biden lost Florida in the 2020 election after underperforming among Latino voters, and a radical change in policy towards Cuba could risk alienating parts of the Cuban American population in the state.

Republicans will no doubt accuse the president of being soft on communism or caving in to progressive demands. But if Biden truly wants to put principles, and effectiveness, ahead of politics, he should make a bold choice and end six decades of US failure and Cuban suffering.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.



Christopher Rhodes
Lecturer in Government at Harvard University and lecturer in Social Sciences at Boston University.
Dr Christopher Rhodes is a lecturer in Government at Harvard University and lecturer in Social Sciences at Boston University. He is the author of the upcoming book Evangelical Violence: Christian Nationalism, the Great Commission and a Millennium of "Holy" Warfare and co-editor of the volume Conflict, Politics, and the Christian East: Assessing Contemporary Developments.
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A Triple Whammy Has Left Many Inner-City Neighborhoods Highly Vulnerable to Soaring Temperatures

Climate change, heat islands and disinvestment have led New York to subsidize air conditioners and Phoenix to cool street corridors and public housing.

By James Bruggers
July 23, 2021

A person lays on the street near Times Square during a heatwave in New York, on Wednesday, June 30, 2021. Credit: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In New York City, several Hunts Point residents have lists of neighbors they’re checking on to help keep the most vulnerable alive during heat waves.

The city has also subsidized 74,000 air conditioners for low-income, elderly residents and is spending tens of millions to plant trees, as part of a “cool neighborhoods” program that also includes outdoor water misters.

In Phoenix, the nation’s hottest big city, officials are working with residents to develop a new model for cooler public housing and cooling key street and pedestrian corridors. Phoenix and Arizona State University say they are developing a system that all cities could use to benchmark heat management.

Because of their experience with killer heat, New York City and Phoenix are leading the way among American cities in an effort to cool down and help vulnerable residents survive heat waves. But for all they are doing, climate change means they, like most cities, will need to do even more to keep their cities livable, according to experts, advocates and city officials.

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As large swaths of North America sizzle through another hot summer and record heat waves, cities face a triple heat whammy.

Climate change is bearing down, messing with weather in new ways that can exacerbate and supercharge heat waves, as Seattle and Portland discovered in late June. Urban cores can be 10 degrees or more warmer than the surrounding countryside, because of the way cities have been built, with so much pavement, so many buildings and not enough trees. And decades of disinvestment in neighborhoods where people of color live have left them especially vulnerable to heat.

“As a society, as a country, we are not ready for this, the future,” said Juan Declet-Barreto, the senior social scientist for climate vulnerability with the Union of Concerned Scientists, which published a report on killer heat in 2019. Excessive heat and other extreme weather made worse by climate change are “happening now,” he said. “We’re watching the trailer for the climate change disaster film that we’re going to screen very soon.”
From California to Maine, Scorching Temperatures

As researchers have documented, heat-related mortality in the United States has been declining for decades. But that trend may be coming to an end, in part because of an increase in the number of heat events, said Kent State University geography professor Scott Sheridan.

During a 10-year period ending in 2018, heat mortality continued to decline for people over 65, probably a result of improved public messaging, according to a peer reviewed study published last year by the American Meteorological Society’s journal Weather, Climate and Society, led by Sheridan. But the researchers also found that there was an increase in mortality among men ages 45 to 64, especially in the southern and southwestern states, wiping out much of the gain in the older population.

For many parts of the country, this summer has been a scorcher.

An early summer heat wave across the western United States broke all-time records in seven states, from Colorado to California, according to the National Weather Service. Phoenix topped 115 degrees for a record six straight days, reaching 118 on June 17. Records were also set in Tucson, Arizona, and tied in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Billings, Montana.

Then in late June, in a region not accustomed to triple digit temperatures, heat overwhelmed the Northwest, not just breaking records but “smashing them,” according to a weather service report. In all, there was a week of what the Washington State Department of Health described as “unprecedented” heat. Portland peaked at 116 degrees at its international airport on June 28.

This past week, temperatures again soared over the inland Northwest and across the northern tier. In Montana, the National Weather Service office in Billings on Monday reported that it had successfully made cookies on a shiny aluminum tray outside its office, where the temperature hit 111 degrees.

In the East, the cities of New York, Boston and Portland, Maine, have flirted with 100 degree temperatures, resulting in heat warnings and strained electrical grids. In all, there were four heat waves in the Northeast in which the temperature reached 90 degrees for three or more days, said Samantha Borisoff, a climatologist with the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University in New York, on Tuesday.

Multiple weather stations from Syracuse, New York, to Dulles Airport near Washington, D.C., set records for warm nights in June, she said. “Warm nights don’t allow the body to get relief from the heat, which can be particularly dangerous for high-risk populations and those without air conditioning,” she said.

Heat is the leading weather-related killer in the United States, and this summer, deaths are adding up.

Authorities have reported hundreds of deaths that are likely to be heat-related across the Northwest, including 117 in Washington State, with 29 in Seattle’s King County and 22 in Tacoma’s Pierce County. In Portland’s Multnomah County, a preliminary report tied 54 deaths to the heat wave—mostly older men who lived alone with no air conditioning.

Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, said the deaths in the Northwest were maddening. “The deaths from heat waves are preventable,” he said. “When you see these kinds of outbreaks, I mean, in my view, they didn’t prepare well enough.”

The Seattle Times on Sunday reported that Seattle had no specific plan for a heat response, that only two of the city’s 26 community centers have air conditioning and that many of its public drinking fountains had been turned off because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Officials scrambled to open cooling centers at libraries and senior centers but some neighborhoods were left out.

“There needs to be thinking more about what climate change is going to throw at us, and how we can be better prepared,” Kristie Ebi, a professor at the University of Washington Center for Health and the Global Environment, told the newspaper.
Most Cities Don’t Manage Heat Very Well

Cities basically have two main heat problems confronting them: emergencies that require immediate action to save lives, and long-term issues related to combating soaring temperatures in the face of heat islands and global warming.

One reason so many cities are behind is that cities lack dedicated personnel and mandates to manage heat.

“If we were to show up at various city halls around the country, and ask who’s in charge of heat in their city, we wouldn’t get a very clear answer,” said David Hondula, a geographical sciences and urban planning professor at Arizona State University. “And we probably wouldn’t find anybody whose annual performance evaluation has anything to do with heat.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency requires cities or counties to conduct hazard mitigation planning, but for the most part the heat strategies are “embarrassing,” with minimal articulation of the problem or needed responses, he said.

Across the United States, hundreds of cities have adopted climate action plans, and many of those address heat in some way, said Vivek Shandas, a professor of climate adaptation at Portland State University. They are “great on paper,” he said, but in practice are generally not being implemented.

As a result of inaction, cities are keeping their most vulnerable at risk for heat-related deaths, he said.

Shandas was co-author of a study, published in 2020 in the journal Climate, that looked at heat across 108 urban communities and linked the higher temperatures to past practices of red-lining, the historical practice of refusing home loans or insurance to people in neighborhoods of color. They found that 94 of the areas they studied showed a pattern of higher surface temperatures in formerly redlined areas, compared to non-redlined neighborhoods, by as much as 12.6 degrees.

Disinvestment has continued in other ways since red-lining was banned in the 1960s, but with similar results. Shandas cited as an example at least one Portland heat death in June that he investigated.

“There were about 25 or so individual trailer homes,” he said. “These are metal boxes that were right on asphalt, and not only that, they get direct impact from the sun.”

With no air conditioning, he said, it could get “upwards of 130 to 140 degrees inside one of these homes. If you do have AC and you’re running it so hard, continually, the AC is likely to break, which is what happened to this older man who passed away from this heatwave.”

Benjamin, the public health association executive director, said it’s “not rocket science” for cities to figure out who their vulnerable populations are, and develop programs to check on them.

“Communicate with the same communities that your food programs have, or other social support programs, and senior citizen homes,” he said.
By 2050, Phoenix Will be Baghdad

If there’s any place in the county that can serve as a heat laboratory for cities it’s Phoenix. On average, Phoenix has 110 days each year with a high temperature over 100 degrees, and 19 days with high temperatures exceeding 110 degrees, according to its new draft climate action plan. July and August 2020 were the hottest on record, and 2020 saw 53 days with temperatures over 110 degrees and 145 days over 100 degrees.

Last year, Maricopa County had 2,414 heat-related emergency room visits and more than 300 heat-related deaths. It is investigating 138 potential heat-related deaths so far this year.

Researchers from ETA Zurich have forecast that by 2050 the Phoenix climate will be more like that of Baghdad.

Phoenix faces “dire prospects” with its urban heat island and the changing climate, said Declet-Barreto, who lived there for 17 years and earned a Ph.D. in environmental social sciences from Arizona State University.

“There are entire neighborhoods in Phoenix where there is just no vegetation at all,” he said. “It’s just all sorts of impervious surfaces, like cement and glass, and asphalt. Those are also the places where low income populations of color live.”

Eva O. Olivas, executive director and chief executive officer of the Phoenix Revitalization Corporation, a grassroots nonprofit working with underserved communities, agreed.

“To wait at the bus stop literally is a life threatening situation in our neighborhoods in the summertime,” she said.

Still, both Olivas and Declet-Barreto give the city credit for taking heat problems seriously.

The City of Phoenix and the Maricopa County Association of Governments established a heat-relief network in 2005, following an extreme heat event that killed 35 people over nine days. The network coordinates emergency response to heat waves, including water distribution and cooling centers. Phoenix also requires landlords to supply reasonable cooling to rental housing units—air conditioners must keep homes to no warmer than 82 degrees, for example.

The city is now also updating its climate action plan with a strong heat component: new goals of creating a network of 30 cool corridors in vulnerable communities by 2030; increasing shade trees in neighborhood parks and along streets and sidewalks; and incorporating more reflective materials into surfaces and buildings.

The city this year also is establishing an “Office of Heat Response and Mitigation,” aimed at coordinating the city’s response to heat.

Budget constraints amid competing priorities can slow progress, said Karen Peters, deputy city manager.

But she added: “Dealing with and adapting to heat is essential to our long term viability, both our economic viability and being able to provide quality of life for our residents and visitors. So it’s essential.”

Phoenix and its neighbor, Tempe, are also working with ASU to develop a certification system for cities striving to tackle heat. They’re calling the program “HeatReady,” modeled somewhat after the National Weather Services’ StormReady program, to help cities better prepare for and respond to severe storms like tornadoes and blizzards.

The HeatReady program will be designed to help cities think through their heat problems and develop responses based on efforts tested in the Phoenix area, said Hondula, the ASU professor. The program will provide a framework for steps that can be taken, such as adding shade, cooling surfaces like roads, rooftops and parking lots, and adding water features, messaging and public education.

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The partners are still working through questions of how demanding the requirements for certification will be, he said. “Is it really going to be a deep, sophisticated evaluation tool?” Or, he said, it could end up being something more or less based on “good faith and trusting that the pieces are in place.”
And New York Will Feel Like Birmingham

New York City averages 10 deaths a year directly attributable to heat stress and 350 deaths a year from natural causes exacerbated by heat, according to the city’s health department.

The nation’s largest city, with 8.4 million people, experienced on average two heat waves per year from 1970 to 2000. With climate change, New York is bracing for an increase in the number of heat waves, with a tripling of the days when temperatures go over 90, from a baseline of 18 between the years of 1971 and 2000, to 57 by 2050.

New York City will feel more like Birmingham, Alabama, said Jainey Bavishi, director of the Mayor’s Office of Resiliency.

With heat in mind, the city announced it was strengthening its heat adaptation work in 2017, through a new Cool Neighborhoods NYC program that pledged tens of millions toward tree planting and other initiatives, expanded a cool roof program and launched the “Be A Buddy” program targeting the most vulnerable areas.

The city worked with Columbia University to develop a risk index that ranks neighborhood vulnerability, taking into account factors such as density, lack of education, race and poverty, Bavishi said. “When you look at the heat vulnerability index, you can see that the neighborhoods that kind of light up as being the most vulnerable in the city are the South Bronx, Northern Manhattan and Central Brooklyn,” she said.

The city’s heat reduction program involves “physically retrofitting neighborhoods so we can bring temperatures down,” she said.

To help with heat emergencies, she said, home health aides are being trained in heat safety. “They can make sure that their patients are staying hydrated or getting access to a cool space if they need it,” Bavishi said.

The city also launched its buddy pilot program, working with neighborhood organizations like The Point, a nonprofit community development group operating in the industrial Hunts Point neighborhood of the South Bronx. As part of a larger heat mitigation effort, The Point helps distribute subsidized air conditioners and runs a program, a person-to-person outreach that seeks to prepare the community for climate events.

Many mayors ask their city’s residents to check on loved ones and neighbors during weather extremes. The New York City program takes that a step further, by training residents in how to help their neighbors navigate extreme weather.

It’s “very preemptive,” said Danny Peralta, executive managing director of The Point. “This is like how all communities should kind of work at this point, if we’re gonna be able to save lives. And honestly, you know, be able to secure neighborhoods from the effects of climate, which is affecting everybody.”





James Bruggers
Reporter, Southeast, National Environment Reporting Network
James Bruggers covers the U.S. Southeast, part of Inside Climate News’ National Environment Reporting Network. He previously covered energy and the environment for Louisville’s Courier Journal, where he worked as a correspondent for USA Today and was a member of the USA Today Network environment team. Before moving to Kentucky in 1999, Bruggers worked as a journalist in Montana, Alaska, Washington and California. Bruggers’ work has won numerous recognitions, including best beat reporting, Society of Environmental Journalists, and the National Press Foundation’s Thomas Stokes Award for energy reporting. He served on the board of directors of the SEJ for 13 years, including two years as president. He lives in Louisville with his wife, Christine Bruggers.
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My Articles on Anarchism


FROM THE ARCHIVES

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Amour Anarchie


Léo Ferré (Shoed Leo in English)


Léo Ferré is, without doubt, one of the most important figures in French music history. Renowned for his musical compositions, Ferré is also remembered for his astonishing lyrics. Indeed, many would go so far as to call him one of the finest poets of French chanson.


This truly exceptional singer, songwriter and composer changed the face of the French music scene irrevocably. Léo Ferré’s poetry also made a major impact on French literature. As his old friend, the writer and poet Louis Aragon once said - "The literary history of France will have to be re-written a little differently because of the contribution made by Léo Ferré". The same could also be said of French music history.

Ferré gets involved into anarchism and communism

Throughout the early part of his career Ferré had kept out of politics, even during the heyday of the Front Populaire. But from the late 40’s onwards the singer found himself becoming increasingly involved with French political groups. After performing at several concerts organised by the French Anarchist Federation, Ferré decided his real sympathies lay with the French Communist Party and he became increasingly involved with their activities. (Ferré remained a committed communist right up until the end of his life).

In the early 50’s Ferré’s encounter with a young woman called Madeleine, whom he met in a Paris café, was to change the rest of his life. For not only was Madeleine to replace Odette in his life, she also took charge of his career. Shortly after meeting Madeleine, Ferré began writing his famous opera "la Vie d'Artiste", proving his talent as a musical composer. Four years later Ferré would go on to write an oratorio based on the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire’s work " La Chanson du mal-aimé", which was performed at the Monte Carlo Opera House.

By 1953, Léo Ferré’s singing career was going from strength to strength. He was invited to perform as a support act for the American star Josephine Baker, when she performed at the prestigious Paris music-hall, L’Olympia. Ferré then went on to land a recording deal with the Odéon label who soon released his version of "Paris Canaille" (the song which had been a hit for Catherine Sauvage the previous year). Ferré’s personal life was also looking up. The singer moved into a flat on Boulevard Pershing with Madeleine and the daughter from her previous marriage, whom Ferré brought up as his own child. Despite the fact that the couple existed on very little money, this was a particularly happy time in Ferré’s life. The door was always open to friends and the flat on Boulevard Pershing was always filled with visitors. Singer Catherine Sauvage, the actor Pierre Brasseur, Les Frères Jacques and many other stars from the music and theatre world were all regular visitors to Ferré’s home.

Following the immense success of the single "Paris Canaille", Ferré could afford to buy a big house in the country. In March 1955 he returned to the Olympia, but this time as the headlining star. It was on this memorable occasion that the singer performed "l'Homme", "Monsieur William", and "Graine d'Ananar" (all songs which went on to become absolute classics of the Ferré repertoire). At the end of the year Ferré went back into the studio to record eight new songs including the famous "Pauvre Ruteboeuf" and "Le Guinche". He was not surrounded by a group of musicians in the studio, preferring to accompany himself instead on the piano, and the organ.

Ferré's new album also contained the song "l'Amour" - a track which would greatly impress the famous Surrealist poet André Breton. Ferré and Breton went on to become close friends but this relationship came to an abrupt end when, in 1956, Ferré presented Breton with a copy of his work "Poètes...vos papiers". In this collection of poetry and song lyrics (77 texts in all) Ferré took a strong stand against the automatic writing techniques which the Surrealists had employed in their poetry. Breton was most unhappy with Ferré’s stance and, declaring that he did not share the same poetic views as the singer, refused to write a preface to the collection. This argument brought an abrupt end to Breton and Ferré’s friendship, and the pair were not on speaking terms when Breton died in 1966.

In 1956 Ferré devoted all his time and energy to composing "La Nuit", a modern ballet created for choreographer Roland Petit and his troupe, which included spoken texts and songs. Unfortunately, when the ballet was performed at the Théâtre de Paris it was slammed by the critics and the show came to a grinding halt after only four performances.

Ferré was to be caught up in the revolutionary fervour of May 68. Indeed, on May 10th the singer performed at the famous Gala de la Mutualité, organised by the Anarchist federation. Ferré the protest singer became the public symbol of revolutionary zeal and anarchic student demonstrations (although he continued to keep his distance from actual political involvement).

LEO FERRE
AMOUR ANARCHIE
In 1970 Léo Ferré produced a wondrous double album on which some incomparable jewels can be found. Among those are the pop marvel "La 'the nana'", the pulsating "Psaume 51", the pyshedelic opening "Le chien" (killer lyrics included) or the somber minimalist "Le mal", a masterpierce in sobriety. Those into more conventional orchestrations will indulge themselves with "La mémoire et la mer" and the moving, delicate and kind of deranged "Petite" speaking of the impossible love of a middle-aged man and a very young girl-child. Ferré dares it all, as usually, singing with his heart and guts (see "Poète, vos papiers"), writing with a great ease on themes no one but he can cover. There's anger, love, indignation and many more feelings here all mastered with great skills and incomparable strength! Jean-Michel Defaye's arrangements are, as always, wonderful. The whole double album is a must hear, a masterpiece and a great introduction to the peculiar world of Léo Ferré.


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UN: public water in Lebanon could stop pumping in matter of 'weeks'

Lebanon's water sector is on the verge of collapse due to the harrowing economic crisis, the United Nations has warned.

Lebanon is suffering from an acute water shortage. Here, a Lebanese woman walks past canisters used to store water and fuel in front of a shop in the coastal town of Junieh, north of Beirut, on Aug. 11, 2006. - PATRICK BAZ/AFP via Getty Images

Millions of Lebanese are at risk of losing access to water, the United Nations warned Friday.

The representative of UNICEF in Lebanon said the economic crisis could severely hinder people’s access to public water in the near future.

A loss of access to the public water supply could force households to make extremely difficult decisions regarding their basic water, sanitation and hygiene needs,” said Yukie Mokuo in a press release.

Lebanon is in the midst of a yearslong and increasingly devastating economic crisis. The local currency has lost more than 90% of its value since late 2019. Many people are struggling to buy essentials amid job losses and rising prices. Fuel shortages are also worsening, leading to long lines at gas stations.

UNICEF said Lebanon’s water sector is being “squeezed” due to maintenance costs, electricity cuts and rising fuel prices. More than 4 million people, including 1 million refugees, are at risk of losing access to water that is safe to use as a result.

“UNICEF estimates that most water pumping will gradually cease across the country in the next four to six weeks,” read the release.

The UN children's agency further predicted that water costs could shoot up 200% if people are forced to buy from private vendors in the event of a shutdown of public water.

The situation is already bleak. Almost 1.7 million people in Lebanon already only have access to 35 liters (nine gallons) of water a day, which is a nearly 80% decrease vis-a-vis the national average before 2020, according to a UNICEF assessment. Water pollution has also been an issue in Lebanon in recent years.

Lebanon has had a caretaker government since August 2020 when the Cabinet resigned en masse following the Beirut port explosion. The political impasse appears set to continue after Saad Hariri, who was the prime minister-designate, withdrew his nomination to form a new government last week.

Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/07/un-public-water-lebanon-could-stop-pumping-matter-weeks#ixzz71aoG5WTT

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Endangered bears leave Lebanon for better life in US animal sanctuary


Homer and Ulysses had been trapped for more than 10 years in a zoo in Tyre. (Supplied)

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NAJIA HOUSSARI
July 25, 2021

The Syrian brown bear lived in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Turkey but, due to illegal and non-organized hunting in Lebanon, the species became extinct


BEIRUT: Two endangered bears who were living in poor conditions in a Lebanon zoo have been flown to an animal sanctuary in the US after they started to lose weight and suffered from other health issues.

Rights association Animals Lebanon said it managed to persuade their owner that “the bears deserved better” given the creatures’ deteriorating condition.

Lebanon’s economic crisis, considered the worst in its modern history, has affected animals as much as humans.

Families have given up their pets, unable to feed them in light of sharp rises in the dollar exchange rate. Zoos have also been affected, with animals facing malnourishment and owners no longer able to secure their basic needs.

Animals Lebanon said the two Syrian brown bears, called Homer and Ulysses, had been trapped for more than 10 years in a zoo in the southern city of Tyre.

“There are six bears still waiting to be rescued in the north of Lebanon, Bekaa and Beirut,” the association’s director, Jason Mier, told Arab News.

Previous attempts to get the bears to the Colorado Wild Animal Sanctuary had failed due to the pandemic, roadblocks, banks freezing assets, and the wait to obtain the sanctuary’s confirmation to receive the creatures.


FASTFACT


Families have given up their pets, unable to feed them in light of sharp rises in the dollar exchange rate. Zoos have also been affected, with animals facing malnourishment and owners no longer able to secure their basic needs.

The sanctuary cares for more than 650 lions, tigers, bears, wolves and other animals — including a fox and a wallaby rescued by Animals Lebanon.

Animal rescue organization Four Paws offered to help bear the cost of the animals’ trip to Colorado.

Mier said: “There are six zoos we are aware of in Lebanon. In 2017, we passed the Animal Protection and Welfare Law, which regulates zoos. These zoos hold endangered wildlife, local wildlife, and farmed or domesticated animals. There are about 30 lions, 10 bears, and 10 tigers. We believe conditions need to be drastically improved at all zoos.”

Dr. Assad Serhal, director of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon, told Arab News that the Syrian brown bear was an endangered species seen in the mountainous area of eastern Lebanon, near the Syrian borders.

In 2019, an environmental activist filmed a brown cub playing on the road in the outskirts of Ersal, in the Bekaa valley. That same cub was previously seen with his mother in 2017 in the same area. This species had not been seen in Lebanon for over 50 years.

The Syrian brown bear lived in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Turkey but, due to illegal and non-organized hunting in Lebanon, the species became extinct.

Serhal said Lebanon was home to several species of wild animal, but that most had been captured by zoo owners across the country.
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Concern mounts about possible Turkish law on media funding

Press freedom groups expressed concern Friday about possible legislation to regulate foreign funding for media. (AP)

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https://arab.news/jqwmg
Updated 23 July 2021
AP

Top aide to Turkey’s president said this week the country needs a regulation on media outlets that receive foreign funds

Negative social media campaign targeted independent press outlet Medyascope and its founder, veteran journalist Rusen Cakir

ISTANBUL: Press freedom groups expressed concern Friday about comments by Turkish officials about possible legislation to regulate foreign funding for media and the dissemination of fake news, saying it could further curtail independent journalism in Turkey.

A top aide to Turkey’s president said this week that the country needs a regulation on media outlets that receive foreign funds. Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun said foreign media funding merits scrutiny when it comes from countries that “openly express their intentions and efforts to design Turkish politics.”

“We will not allow fifth column activities under new guises,” Altun said.

Turkish journalists flying back from a state visit to northern Cyprus this week reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party planned to review later this year whether the country needs a law against disseminating fake news. They quoted Erdogan as saying Turkey would have to fight the “terror of lies.”

The comments came as a negative social media campaign targeted independent press outlet Medyascope and its founder, veteran journalist Rusen Cakir, for receiving funds from the US-based Chrest Foundation. The private philanthropy group has also funded non-profit organizations and foundations working in arts, culture and diversity.

Media Freedom Rapid Response and 23 allied groups said in a statement Friday that foreign funding was a critical source of income for independent news outlets in Turkey as they face government pressure. Mainstream Turkish media is mostly run by businesses close to the government.

“Taken together, these statements create the impression that the Turkish government is preparing to introduce new legal measures that will further undermine media freedom and pluralism in the country,” the statement said.

But Altun said similar regulations apply in the United States, where media outlets funded by foreign countries must provide information on activities to US authorities. Turkey’s state-funded English-language broadcaster TRT World was required to register as a foreign agent last year under the Foreign Agent Registration Act for lobbyists and public relations firms working for foreign governments. TRT then said its performed new slathering and reporting like any other international media.

Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index ranked Turkey at 153 out of 180 countries in 2021. The Journalists’ Union of Turkey says 38 media workers remain behind bars.
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Olympics 2021

Team Canada's Quinn Is The First CANADIAN Openly Trans Athlete To Compete At The Olympics

This historic moment has been 125 years in the making.

Quinn on Instagram: “This team is hard to put into words! They have embraced change and turned into uncomfortable conversations and I love them for it. Taking…”
 

Twenty-five-year-old Quinn, a Team Canada soccer player at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, is making history as the first openly transgender Olympian to compete in the modern Games' 125-year history.

Quinn, who uses they/them pronouns and goes by a single name, reflected on their historic presence at the Tokyo Summer Games in an Instagram post on July 22, after a match on July 21 against Japan ended in a 1-1 draw.

"I feel proud seeing 'Quinn' up on the lineup and on my accreditation," they wrote. "I feel sad knowing there were Olympians before me unable to live their truth because of the world."

The midfielder, who was born and raised in a Toronto "sports family," came out as transgender in 2020 through Instagram, raising awareness on how to be better allies to transgender people.

New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard is another openly transgender athlete at the Tokyo 2020 Games. But women's +87 kilogram weightlifting is scheduled for August 2, while Quinn has already played one game, with another against Chile on July 24.

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