It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Wednesday, January 01, 2020
FILM REVIEW: ‘Nuestras Madres’ Is a Somber Drama on the Lasting Emotional Impact of Guatemala’s Civil War
Nuestras madres still courtesy of Perspective Films
How does someone move on with their life when so much of their past is left unresolved? It’s a question raised and, unfortunately, unanswered in Nuestras madres (Our Mothers), a lightweight film on a serious subject that deserved a more absorbing and expansive portrayal.
Coproduced by the countries of Belgium and Guatemala (Our Mothers is Belgium’s official submission for the 92nd Academy Awards in the International Film category), the drama explores the Guatemalan genocide that took place in the early 1980s during the country’s 36-year civil war. According to the Genocide Memorial Project, the Guatemalan government committed genocide against the Mayan population of Guatemala, destroying over 600 villages, killing 200,000 people and displacing 1.5 million more.
At the center of Our Mothers is Ernesto Gonzalez (Armando Espitia), a young forensic anthropologist whose job it is to exhume the remains of his fellow countrymen, women and children who were executed by their own government during the brutal conflict. Set in present-day Guatemala, the country has turned its attention to the trial of the military officers who started the civil war. While this trial serves as a backdrop, first-time feature writer-director Cesar Diaz, who lived in Belgium as teen but is of Guatemalan descent, pays little attention to the film’s historical perspective and, instead, revisits the atrocities from inside an emotionless vacuum.
Our Mothers begins with Ernesto puzzling together a human skeleton, piece by piece, on a firm slab. This is only one of many that he has dug out of a municipal cemetery. Although Ernesto’s supervisor makes it clear that his current project should be his top priority, he becomes sidetracked when an old woman, Nicolasa Caal de Sic (Aurelia Caal), asks for his help. She points him in the direction of a mass grave on private property where her husband was buried after he was tortured and then murdered by the Guatemalan military.
Because of his workload, Ernesto brushes her off at first, but is immediately intrigued when she shows him a photo of her husband, who happens to be standing next to a man Ernesto believes to be his guerrilla father, who disappeared during the war. Hoping to find out what happened to his father, Ernesto decides to follow Nicolasa’s tip and visit the mass grave without telling his mother Cristina (Emma Dib). When he visits Nicolasa in her village, Ernesto realizes he is no longer there just to unbury bones. He’s also there to dig up memories from other women in the village who have horror stories to share with him and to find closure for himself.
It’s during this section in Our Mothers where Diaz misses an opportunity to broaden the storytelling and identify some compelling recollections from these women whose lives were torn apart decades ago. Diaz doesn’t formally introduce any of them, but with the work of cinematographer Virginie Surdej, each of them is beautifully framed across wooden boards and their portraits are captured — elegant, indigenous faces weathered by years of emotional pain. All of them wear traditional and colorful huipils and cortes.
Although the women have come to “bear witness” to their experiences, we don’t hear from them. It’s evident Diaz wants each of their faces to tell their story, but without their voice — even if it was simply narrated — the chance to establish an authentic and firsthand connection to past events is lost. Regrettably, it’s not their specific stories Diaz is focused on. Our Mothers is really about Ernesto and the stake he claims to find out the truth behind the disappearance of his father. Later, it’s also about Cristina, the relationship she has with her son and the grim facts she has never been able to confess to him his entire life.
The ominous themes presented in the film are supported extremely well by Surdej, who creates interior scenes where shadows are cast on the characters. Whether it’s when Ernesto is in Nicolasa’s humble home sharing a cup of coffee or when he and his mother are staring out onto the shore contemplating their fears, the manner in which Surdej uses light and darkness speaks volumes to the details Ernesto still does not know.
Our Mothers, which won Diaz the Caméra d’Or Award (Best First Feature) at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, leaves a lot to be desired from a historical and narrative aspect. As the lead character, Ernesto’s frustration is palpable throughout the film and the love he has for his mother is unmistakable, especially in the third act. Still, without historical context or a more profound approach at exorcising all the demons Diaz awakens, Our Mothers resembles the skeletal remains Ernesto pulls from the earth — brittle and incomplete.
Nuestras madres is Belgium’s submission for Best International Film at the 92nd Academy Awards.
Art by Stephany Torres for Remezcla By Claire Jimenez | 5 days ago
Luis Rodriguez’s collection of essays From Our Land to Our Land: Essays, Journeys, and Imaginings From a Native Xicanx Writer does not begin with his own words but rather those of a reader he overheard speaking about his 2003 short story collection The Republic of East LA: “You teach Mexicans a little English and now they think they can write books.” His latest book, slated to release on January 28, 2020, is a response to that comment.
The collection itself feels like a type of ars poetica. It is one writer’s reckoning with xenophobia and racism in the United States, but it is also a reflection of his relationship with language and how it has been shaped by activism, faith, pop culture and identity throughout the last four decades. By doing so, he explores the writer’s role in a world increasingly marked by racial violence and natural disaster.
Rodriguez is most known for his 1993 memoir Always Running: La Vida Loca, a reflection on his life growing up in the ‘70s surrounded by gang culture in East Los Angeles. These essays feel like a natural extension of that memoir. He writes about teaching in prisons, his work as a poet laureate and the violent racism he continues to experience despite his accolades.
He also writes about the examples of violent racism he experienced, for example, while in elementary school. In one brilliant passage, he shows how that brutality first taught him the power of language: “On my first day, I went from classroom to classroom because I couldn’t speak English and teachers didn’t want me among their students. A teacher finally let me stay, but she had me in a corner playing with building blocks most of the year. I’d pee in my pants since I didn’t know how to say I had to go to the restroom. Whenever a Spanish word left my mouth, I was punished, including being swatted by the school’s principal. I made the mistake one day of stepping into the kindergarten class my sister was in so I could pick her up. The teacher slapped me across the face in front of everyone.”
Throughout the collection, Rodriguez returns to one question: How, as writers, can we harness the power of language in order to heal? In Remezcla’s interview with the esteemed author and poet, he explains, “every time there’s a racist person, it challenges all of us to find the language to speak out and insist that we all belong.”
Here, Rodriguez talks about poetry as a radical healing act, the rasquache — a Nahuatl word meaning “creativity out of disorder” — writing style and reconnecting with earth, among much more.
In these essays, you often circle back to the argument that part of the reason why humanity is in crisis is because of our severed relationship with the earth. As a writer, how do you seek to address the anthropocene?
I think what’s important to point out is that we need to get back to some very strong alignments that we’ve lost as a “civilization,” and that is the language with nature. I mention it in my book. We’re disconnected. We’re taking too much from the earth. We’re poisoning the earth, water and land. We also have to have a connection with our own natures, the gift and beauty that people can bring into the world.
You mentioned that as poet laureate, you want to make poetry a radical and healing act. What do you think makes this artistic form apt for healing or inspiring change?
From Our Land to Our Land by Luis Rodriguez
What I like about poetry is that the shape of the poem is totally based on its content. I call it the language with the deepest capacity for soul talk, where you really get into something deeper within everyone. You’re not just talking from the head, even though there’s poetry that does that. You know, with poetry you can speak from any place you want, but it gets you to a [further] depth than other forms of language or expression do.
You speak of poetry’s unique way of escaping the trappings of capitalism because it is not easily monetized. There’s an interesting anecdote that you share where you describe you and famed Mexican-American author Sandra Cisneros turning down money from Nike for an ad. What advice do you have for writers trying to balance the demands of living and trying to pay rent while also writing poetry?
Wow, that’s a great question. I think it’s one of the tensions we all have as writers and poets. How far do you go? I make a living doing this, so I have to constantly look at who’s giving me the money to get there. I mean, there’s one expression that says, “all money is tainted.” The idea then is if all money is bad, then you might as well take it. But I do think there’s some direct funding that I wouldn’t want to get. I wouldn’t want to get money from the oil and fossil fuel industries and I wouldn’t want to get money from big corporations that only want to use my image or my name to sell their products. However, let’s say it’s a product I really love, and I do that. OK then, I have to accept that responsibility. Right now, I can’t imagine doing that for any product. I know that my poetry has to speak for itself, whether there’s money coming out of it or not.
As poets, most of us don’t make any money. I happen to be a little bit more successful, but I also try to do it on my terms. I don’t want to compromise my basic principles just to make a little money. I hope I’m being clear, because obviously we all need money, but people have to have integrity. I think that’s what you teach the next generation that follows: Poetry has to have some type of integrity.
In one essay, you write, “To understand the Xicanx soul, which still claims facets of the Mexican soul, you have to understand rasquache.” You write that the term “originally from the Nahuatl language, literally means ‘by the seat of your pants,’ creativity out of disorder, doing the most with little.” You talk about how that shapes the Xicanx soul. How do you see that affecting your poetry and literature?
Rasquache is a concept that says every mistake is a new style. You risk making mistakes in art, and that’s an important thing that we’ve lost. We go to schools and we are taught by the best artists, and we’re losing that very authentic, real “I’m just putting stuff out there.” Maybe it doesn’t work, but that is part of the development of the art: make mistakes, fall into a pitfall, get up and figure out what you’re doing. I wrote lots of bad poetry. I did go to school and learned some things, but I didn’t really learn in school. I learned by writing. I learned by reading, by hanging out with poets and by picking up poetry books here and there. I began to see what’s out there. There were forms I was interested in, but I had to say, “This is rasquache. I’m just doing this.” I’m not saying that working isn’t a good quality for poetry — you have to be rigorous in what you’re doing — but I don’t think it means I have to write like other people or write in any particular way. I have to be true to my heart, my voice and my soul.
There are always Latino writers that are going under the radar and getting missed. Are there folk that you are reading that you would recommend for readers of Remezcla?
I mentioned Javier Zamora, a Salvadoran writer. There’s Erika Sánchez. Right now, I’m a judge for the Kingsley and Kate Tufts poetry prize, which is a large prize for poets in the country. I have like 40 books, so I’m reading all of this amazing poetry. They’re from all over the country and their voices are so diverse. Some of them are new voices and some of them are people who have been writing for years. It’s amazing to be swimming in this sea of poetry. I just love it. I can’t tell you who they are, because they’re being judged, but I will say they are some powerful, wonderful, fantastic writers coming out, young people and older writers, too. I’m very excited about where poetry is going.
TRUMP TOP TEN QUOTES ON WINDMILLS, WIND TURBINES, WIND POWER
US President Donald Trump signed off 2019 with another rant against wind power that commentators labelled among his most bizarre to date. Trump told an audience in Florida: “I never understood wind. You know, I know windmills very much. They’re noisy. They kill the birds. You want to see a bird graveyard?
“Go under a windmill someday. You’ll see more birds than you’ve ever seen in your life.” Despite his self-confessed ignorance of wind, Trump asserts: “I’ve studied it better than anybody I know.”
The comments join a growing list of Trump broadsides against turbines that includes claims that they don’t work and cause cancer. The latter was a step too far even for the President’s most stalwart supporters, who admitted it had no basis in fact. Critics in the US took to social media to link Trump’s venomous dislike of the wind sector to his long, unsuccessful battle to halt a Vattenfall-led offshore project he claimed would ruin the view from his luxury golf course in Aberdeen, Scotland. It recently emerged that action left his company with a $290,000 bill for the Scottish government's costs alone.
10. “I know windmills very much."
9. “If it doesn’t blow, you can forget about television for that night.”
8. "You cannot allow these industrial monstrosities."
7. "I’m not going to lose that wealth on dreams, on windmills, which, frankly are not working all that well."
6. [Scottish offshore wind] “will be like looking through the bars of a prison and the Scottish citizens will be the prisoners."
5. “I have been told by our attorneys, that we can bring a very large lawsuit and probably win the lawsuit based on the harm that these horrible things will do to Scotland.” [editor's note: he lost].
4. "If you love birds, you’d never want to walk under a windmill, because it’s a very sad, sad sight. It’s like a cemetery. We put a little statue for the poor birds."
3. "If you have a windmill anywhere near your house, congratulations: Your house just went down 75% in value."
2. "They say the noise causes cancer."
1. “I never understood wind."
In New Year message, pope decries violence against women
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis, in his first message of the new year, denounced on Wednesday the use and abuse of women in modern society, and called for an end to the exploitation of the female body.
Speaking in a packed St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope also defended women’s rights to migrate in search of a better future for their children and condemned those who only thought about economic growth rather than the well-being of others.
“All violence inflicted on women is a desecration of God,” the pope said in his homily.
“How often is a woman’s body sacrificed on the profane altar of advertising, profit, pornography, exploited as a surface to be used,” he said, adding that the female body “must be freed from consumerism, it must be respected and honored.”
The pope has regularly sought to defend women’s rights during his pontificate and in April told the Roman Catholic Church it had to acknowledge a history of male domination and sexual abuse of women.
“We can understand our level of humanity by the way we treat a woman’s body,” he said on Wednesday.
He also used his homily to address another theme close to his heart, immigration, saying women who moved abroad to provide for their children should be honored and not scorned.
“Today even motherhood is humiliated, because the only growth that interests us is economic growth,” he said.
“There are mothers, who risk perilous journeys to desperately try to give the fruit of the womb a better future and are judged to be redundant by people whose bellies are full of things, but whose hearts are empty of love.”
Disgruntled Pope Francis pulls himself free from woman's grasp
ROME (Reuters) - A visibly indignant Pope Francis had to pull himself away from a woman in a crowd in St Peter’s Square on Tuesday after she grabbed his hand and yanked him toward her.
Pope Francis was walking through the square in Vatican City and greeting pilgrims on his way to see the large Nativity scene set up in the huge, cobbled esplanade.
After reaching out to touch a child, the pope turned away from the crowd only for a nearby woman to seize his hand and pull her toward him. The abrupt gesture appeared to cause him pain and Francis swiftly wrenched his hand free.
The woman had made the sign of the cross as the pope had approached. It was not clear what she was saying as she subsequently tugged him toward her.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Hundreds of Iraqi militiamen and their supporters hurled stones at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad for a second day on Wednesday and security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades to drive them away.
The protests, led by Iranian-backed militias, mark a new turn in the shadow war between Washington and Tehran playing out across the Middle East.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who faces re-election in 2020, on Tuesday threatened to retaliate against Iran but said later he did not want to go to war.
The protests also cast uncertainty over the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Crowds had rallied on Tuesday to protest against deadly U.S. air strikes on militia bases, setting fires, throwing rocks and smashing surveillance cameras. They did not breach the huge embassy’s main compound, however.
Overnight, demonstrators pitched tents and camped outside the embassy walls. On Wednesday morning, they were bringing in food supplies, cooking equipment and mattresses, Reuters witnesses said, suggesting they intended to stay for a long time.
Senior Iraqi army officers had negotiated with those gathered outside the embassy in an attempt to convince them to leave but failed to do so. Washington is putting pressure on Iraqi leaders to ensure the security of its staff.
The incident marked a sharp escalation of the proxy conflict between Washington and Tehran - both influential players in Iraq - while mass protests are challenging Iraq’s own political system nearly 17 years after the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
The protests followed U.S. air strikes on Sunday on bases operated by the Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah inside Iraq which killed at least 25 fighters and wounded 55.
The strikes were retaliation for the killing of a U.S. civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, which Washington blamed on Kataib Hezbollah.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday y condemned the U.S. attacks.
“The Iranian government, nation and I strongly condemn the attacks,” Iranian state TV quoted Khamenei as saying.
Trump accused Iran of orchestrating the violence at the U.S. Embassy and said Tehran would be held responsible. Iran rejected the accusation.
More U.S. troops were being sent to the embassy, U.S. officials said. The 750 troops would initially be based out of Kuwait. The officials said that as many as 4,000 troops could be sent to the region in the coming days if needed.
More than 5,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq supporting local forces. The air strikes have galvanized calls inside Iraq to expel U.S. forces, not just from Iran-backed militias but also their political rivals.
World welcomes 2020, but wildfires, protests, cast a pall over some celebrations
SYDNEY/HONG KONG/LONDON (Reuters) - The world celebrated the New Year on Wednesday with fireworks displays from Sydney to London, although celebrations were clouded by deadly wildfires in Australia, protests in Hong Kong and India and nuclear tensions with North Korea.
Large crowds gathered in European capitals for spectacular firework displays that lit up the skies over landmarks like Big Ben in London, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the Parthenon in Athens and the Kremlin in Moscow.
The traditional drop of a Waterford crystal ball on Times Square in New York capped a six-hour New Year’s Eve show. Intermittent rain did little to dampen the festivities as hundreds of thousands of people were treated to performances by pop star Post Malone, the Korea-pop band BTS, and singer song writer Alanis Morisette.
In Australia, a million revelers thronged Sydney harbor and nearby districts to watch more than 100,000 fireworks explode above the city, even as thousands of people along the country’s eastern seaboard sought refuge from the bushfires on beaches.
Thousands in Hong Kong welcomed 2020 on neon-lit promenades in the picturesque Victoria Harbour, breaking into pro-democracy chants shortly after the countdown to midnight.
Hong Kong authorities canceled the main midnight fireworks display for the first time in a decade, citing security concerns. A “Symphony of Lights” took place instead, involving projections on the city’s tallest skyscrapers, while smaller-scale pyrotechnics were launched from waterfront rooftops.
In Japan, people took turns striking Buddhist temple bells, in accordance with tradition. A general view shows the Times Square in the Manhattan borough during the New Year's celebrations in New York City, U.S., January 1, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky
SYDNEY CONTROVERSY
Sydney decided to press ahead with its fireworks despite calls by some members of the public for the display to be canceled in solidarity with fire-hit areas in New South Wales, of which the city is the capital.
Sydney Mayor Clover Moore said planning had begun 15 months ago and that the event also gave a boost to the economy.
Some towns in eastern Australia canceled their New Year’s celebrations as naval vessels and military helicopters helped firefighters rescue people fleeing the fires, which have turned swathes of New South Wales into a raging furnace.
The fires have killed at least 11 people since October, two of them overnight into Tuesday, destroyed more than 4 million hectares (10 million acres) and left many towns and rural areas without electricity or mobile coverage.
Elsewhere, celebrations from Auckland, New Zealand, to Pyongyang, the capital of isolated North Korea, welcomed in the New Year with fireworks displays.
Fireworks exploded and confetti rained on revelers after the ball dropped in New York. High school science teachers and students pressed the button that started the ball on its 60-second descent to count down to the New Year in a gesture to highlight efforts to combat climate change.
The ball has changed form several times since it first dropped at One Times Square in 1907 as an iron-and-wood sphere and has now become a global symbol of the New Year.
But amid the celebrations of a New Year and decade, old tensions threatened to flare up. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Wednesday his country would keep developing nuclear programs and introduce a “new strategic weapon” in the near future, after the United States ignored a year-end deadline to restart denuclearization talks.
PROTESTS, BREXIT
In Hong Kong, rocked by months of sometimes violent pro-democracy demonstrations, protesters were urged to wear masks at a New Year rally called “Don’t forget 2019 - Persist in 2020,” according to social media posts.
Some 6,000 police were deployed and Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, appealed for calm and reconciliation in her New Year’s Eve video message and Chinese leader Xi Jinping hoped “harmony” would return to the territory.
The protests began in response to a now-withdrawn bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, where courts are controlled by the Communist Party, and have evolved into a broader pro-democracy movement.
Thousands of Indians ushered in the year by demonstrating against a citizenship law they say will discriminate against Muslims and chip away at India’s secular constitution.
The demonstrations came despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attempts to dampen protests that have run for nearly three weeks.
Irshad Alam, a 25-year-old resident of the Shaheen Bagh area of New Delhi, stood with his 1-year-old child in his arms and his wife by his side. He said he had been participating in the protest every day.
“It’s freezing here,” he said. “But we are still here because we care about this movement.”
More than three years after the UK voted to leave the European Union, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, fresh from winning a parliamentary majority in last month’s election, promised in his New Year’s message to “get Brexit done before the end of this month.”
“As we say goodbye to 2019, we can also turn the page on the division, rancor and uncertainty which has dominated public life and held us back for far too long,” Johnson added.
Reporting by bureaux in Sydney, Hong Kong, New Delhi, London, Seoul and Los Angeles; Writing by Gareth Jones, Alistair Bell and Peter Cooney; Editing by Giles Elgood, Leslie Adler and Neil Fullick
Thousands march in Hong Kong on New Year's Day, pledge to 'keep fighting'
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters began marching in Hong Kong on New Year’s Day, demanding concessions from the city’s embattled government as the civil unrest that convulsed the Chinese-ruled city for over half a year spills into 2020. Anti-government protesters attend a demonstration on New Year's Day to call for better governance and democratic reforms in Hong Kong, China, January 1, 2020. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar
Gathering on a grass lawn in Victoria Park under grey skies, citizens young and old, many dressed in black and some masked, carried signs such as “Freedom is not free” before setting off.
“It’s hard to utter ‘Happy New Year’ because Hong Kong people are not happy,” said a man named Tung, who was walking with his two-year-old son, mother and niece.
“Unless the five demands are achieved, and police are held accountable for their brutality, then we can’t have a real happy new year,” he added, referring to the push for concessions from the government including full democracy, an amnesty for the over 6,500 people arrested so far, and a powerful, independent investigation into police actions.
The pro-democracy march is being organized by the Civil Human Rights Front, a group that arranged a number of marches last year that drew millions.
Along the route, a number of newly elected pro-democracy district politicians mingled with the crowds on their first day in office, some helping collect donations to assist the movement.
“The government has already started the oppression before the New Year began ... whoever is being oppressed, we will stand with them,” said Jimmy Sham, one of the leaders of the Civil Human Rights Front.
Thousands of Hong Kong revelers had earlier welcomed in 2020 on neon-lit promenades along the iconic skyline of Victoria Harbour, chanting the movement’s signature eight-word Chinese protest couplet — “Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our Time.” — for the final eight seconds before clocks struck midnight.
A sea of protesters then surged down Nathan Road, a major boulevard, blocking all lanes in a spontaneous march breaking out within minutes of the new decade. Some held signs reading “Let’s keep fighting together in 2020.”
Overnight, police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons during some brief standoffs.
China’s President Xi Jinping said in a New Year’s speech that Beijing will “resolutely safeguard the prosperity and stability” of Hong Kong under the so-called “one country, two systems” framework.
Many people in Hong Kong are angered by Beijing’s tight grip on the city which was promised a high degree of autonomy under this framework when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Beijing denies interference and blames the West for fomenting the unrest.
Anti-government protesters attend a demonstration on New Year's Day to call for better governance and democratic reforms in Hong Kong, China, January 1, 2020. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar
A group of 40 parliamentarians and dignitaries from 18 countries had written an open letter to Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam on New Year’s Eve, urging her to “seek genuine ways forward out of this crisis by addressing the grievances of Hong Kong people.”
The protest movement is supported by 59% of the city’s residents polled in a survey conducted for Reuters by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute.
Demonstrations have grown increasingly violent in recent months, at times paralyzing the Asian financial center.
Protesters have thrown petrol bombs and rocks, with police responding with tear gas, water cannon, pepper spray, rubber bullets and occasional live rounds. There have been several injuries.
Reporting by Jessie Pang, Clare Jim, Mari Saito, Sarah Wu, Alun John, Marius Zaharia, additional reporting by Cate Cadell in Beijing; Writing by James Pomfret; Editing by Kim Coghill
Twelve dead, several missing as Australia counts the cost of devastating bushfires SYDNEY (Reuters) - A third person was confirmed dead on Wednesday in devastating bushfires that engulfed Australia’s southeast coast this week and a fourth was missing and feared dead, as navy ships rushed to provide supplies and assist with evacuations.
Twelve people have now lost their lives in fire-related deaths across Australia since blazes broke out a few months ago, including three volunteer firefighters, after a three-year drought in large parts of the nation created tinder-dry conditions.
Fanned by soaring temperatures, columns of fire and smoke blackened entire towns on Monday and Tuesday, forcing thousands of residents and holidaymakers to seek shelter on beaches. Many stood in shallow water to escape the flames.
Bushfires have destroyed more than 4 million hectares (10 million acres) and new blazes are sparked almost daily by extremely hot and windy conditions and, most recently, dry lightning strikes created by the fires themselves.
Cooler conditions on Wednesday gave the country a moment to count the cost of the fires, although there were still more than 100 blazes in New South Wales (NSW) state alone and thousands of firefighters on the ground.
The body of a man was found in a burnt car early on Wednesday on the south coast of New South Wales after emergency workers began reaching the most damaged areas, and police said the death toll will rise.
“Sadly, we can report today that police have confirmed a further three deaths as a result of the fires on the South Coast,” NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys told reporters in Sydney.
“Police are also at Lake Conjola now, where a house has been destroyed by fire and the occupant of that home is still unaccounted for.”
NSW police did not identify the missing man but said he was 72 years old and authorities have been unable to reach his home.
Police said early assessments have found nearly 200 homes have been destroyed, though they cautioned it was an early estimate.
Large-scale livestock and animal casualties are also expected across Australia’s east coast, though Mogo Zoo - home to Australia’s largest collection of primates, along with zebras, white rhinos, lions, tigers and giraffes – was saved.
The wildlife park was threatened by an out-of-control bushfire, though zoo keepers and firefighters managed to save all 200 animals.
In Victoria state, four people remain missing, state Premier Daniel Andrews said, after a massive blaze ripped through Gippsland - a rural region about 500 km (310 miles) east of Melbourne.
About 4,000 people in the town of Mallacoota in Victoria headed to the waterfront after the main road was cut off.
Mark Tregellas, a resident of Mallacoota who spent the night on a boat ramp, said only a late shift in the wind direction spared lives.
“The fire just continued to grow and then the black started to descend. I couldn’t see the hand in front in my face, and it then it started to glow red and we knew the fire was coming,” Tregellas told Reuters.
“Ash started to fall from the air and then the embers started to come down. At that point, people started to bring their kids and families into the water. Thankfully, the wind changed and the fire moved away.”
In Milton, a small town on the on the NSW south coast, locals queued for hours for the few remaining items left of shelves on supermarkets.
Emma Schirmer, who evacuated from her house in Batemans Bay with her three-month child on Tuesday, said the local shop was limiting sales to six items per customer, while a power outage meant shoppers could pay only with cash.
As shops run low and firefighters struggle with exhaustion, Australia’s military, including Black Hawk helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and naval vessels were being deployed.
“We’ve got choppers taking 90 firefighters out of the Mallacoota area, they can’t be removed any other way - we’re essentially doing a shift change by the air,” Andrews told reporters.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said authorities were working to restore communications with areas cut off by the fires, and she warned conditions will deteriorate again over the weekend.
“Weather conditions on Saturday will be as bad as they were” on Tuesday, Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.
Meanwhile, Australia’s capital Canberra was blanketed in thick smoke, reaching about 20 times hazardous levels, prompting health warnings.
The smoke has also drifted to New Zealand where it has turned the daytime sky orange across the South Island.
PHOTOS/VIDEO Australian bushfires claim third victim as authorities struggle to reach cut-off areas
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian authorities on Wednesday confirmed a third person had died in devastating bushfires that engulfed the southeast coastal region this week and said a fourth person was missing and feared dead.
Fanned by soaring temperatures, columns of fire and smoke blackened entire towns on Monday and Tuesday, forcing thousands of residents and holidaymakers to seek shelter on beaches. Many stood in shallow water to escape the flames.
In total, there have been 12 fire-related deaths across Australia since blazes broke out a few months ago, including three volunteer firefighters, after a three-year drought in large parts of the nation created tinder-dry conditions.
Huge bushfires have destroyed more than 4 million hectares (10 million acres) — an area larger than Japan — and new blazes are sparked almost daily by extremely hot and windy conditions and, most recently, dry lightning strikes created by the fires themselves.
Cooler conditions on Wednesday gave the country a moment to count the cost of the fires, although there were still more than 100 blazes in New South Wales (NSW) state alone and thousands of firefighters on the ground.
The body of a man was found on Wednesday on the south coast of New South Wales after emergency workers began reaching the most damaged areas, according to the state’s Rural Fire Service (RFS).
The death toll is likely to rise, NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said.
“We still have grave concerns for (another person),” he told reporters in Sydney.
There is “limited access to the remote area to try to identify and confirm one way or the other the status of that person.”
Large-scale livestock and animal casualties are also expected across Australia’s east coast, though Mogo Zoo - home to Australia’s largest collection of primates, along with zebras, white rhinos, lions, tigers and giraffes – was saved.
The wildlife park was threatened by an out-of-control bushfire, though zoo keepers and firefighters managed to save all 200 animals.
In Victoria state, four people remain missing, authorities said, after a massive blaze ripped through Gippsland - a rural region about 500 km (310 miles) east of Melbourne.
About 4,000 people in the town of Mallacoota in Victoria headed to the waterfront after the main road was cut off.
Mark Tregellas, a resident of Mallacoota who spent the night on a boat ramp, said only a late shift in the wind direction sparred lives.
“The fire just continued to grow and then the black started to descend. I couldn’t see the hand in front in my face, and it then it started to glow red and we knew the fire was coming,” Tregellas told Reuters.
“Ash started to fall from the air and then the embers started to come down. At that point, people started to bring their kids and families into the water. Thankfully, the wind changed and the fire moved away.”
With thousands of people still stranded, Australia’s military has been drafted in.
Black Hawk helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and naval vessels have all been deployed, along with military personnel.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said authorities were working to restore communications with areas cut off by the fires, and she warned conditions will deteriorate again over the weekend.
“Weather conditions on Saturday will be as bad as they were” on Tuesday, Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.
While avoiding any fires, Australia’s capital was on Wednesday blanketed in thick smoke, reaching about 20 times hazardous levels, prompting health warnings.
► VIDEO: Australians flee to beach to escape bushfires Homes, buildings and vast swathes of brush have been reduced to ashes by huge bushfires ripping through parts of Australia. Australians that took shelter on beaches to escape bushfires have been advised to go into the water if the fire situation worsens
Mallacoota is a tourist town in Victoria, Australia, some 500km (310 miles) east of Melbourne.
Around 1,000 people live there, but the population swells at Christmas, as Australians head to the coast to enjoy their holidays,
But on Tuesday morning - as bushfires swept the region - thousands of people fled to the beach for a different reason: safety.
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People in the town woke up to thick smoke and pale, orange skies. But as the fires drew closer, the sky turned red.
At 8am a warning siren sounded, telling people to head to the water. By 9.30am, the sky was "pitch black".
"We were bracing for the worst because, it was black," David Jeffrey told the BBC. "Like it should have been daylight and it was black like midnight. And we could hear the fire roaring."
A state of emergency was declared in Australia's most populated region on Thursday as an unprecedented heatwave fanned out-of-control bushfires, destroying homes and smothering huge areas with a toxic smoke.
"Bushfires this season have officially burnt the most land on modern record across eastern New South Wales...
"On December 9, NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons tweeted that fires had burnt about 2.7 million hectares — an area greater than Wales.
