U.S. embassy in Seoul displays Black Lives Matter banner in support of anti-racism protests


By Cynthia Kim 

A huge Black Lives Matter banner is seen at the U.S. embassy in Seoul

© Reuters/KIM HONG-JI

A huge Black Lives Matter banner is seen below a LGBT pride flag at the U.S. embassy in Seoul

SEOUL (Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Seoul draped a huge Black Lives Matter banner on its mission building and tweeted a picture of it in support of an anti-racism campaign across America.

"The U.S. Embassy stands in solidarity with fellow Americans grieving and peacefully protesting to demand positive change. Our #BlackLivesMatter banner shows our support for the fight against racial injustice and police brutality as we strive to be a more inclusive & just society," the embassy tweeted on Saturday, along with the picture of the banner in black and white.

U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris retweeted the message, adding "USA is a free and diverse nation... from that diversity we gain our strength."

Black Lives Matter protests are being held across the globe as part of campaigns focusing on social injustice following the death of George Floyd in police custody, but the banner is seen as a rare, open support for the protest by an appointee of President Donald Trump after Trump linked violent protests to "thugs."

No comment was immediately available from the embassy on Sunday.

The embassy also made some waves last year when it displayed a rainbow banner in support of the LGBTQ community.

Harris, a 40-year veteran of the U.S. Navy who started in Seoul in 2018 after Trump appointed him, has privately said that he is planning on exiting his position before the end of the year.

(Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Additional reporting by Josh Smit; Editing by Kim Coghill)

Saskatoon Black Lives Matter march joins call to end of racism, police brutality

© Nathaniel Dove / Global News 

Black Lives Matter demonstrators stand outside of the Saskatoon Police Services headquarters, on 25th Street.

One thousand people marched through downtown Saskatoon on Saturday in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

The demonstration began at noon in Kiwanis Park with speeches by organizers, guest speakers and the singing of "Lift Every Voice and Sing".

“I’m not free while any other woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own. And I’m not free as long as one person of colour remains chained,” said Natalya Mason, quoting poet Audre Lorde.

READ MORE: Lloydminster man paints Black Lives Matter message, turns fence into public canvas

It was the third demonstration in Saskatoon and just one of many that have taken place around the world since George Floyd, a Black man, died when a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes.

Several speakers, including Mason, led the crowd in saying the names of people who have died in police incidents, like Breonna Taylor and Regis Korchinski-Paquet.

Many people in the crowd wore shirts or held signs that said "Black Lives Matter" and "Indigenous Lives Matter".

Organizers, a group called Black Lives Matter YXE, told Global News they would only speak to the media after the event finished. The march concluded after the deadline and no interview was possible.

A Facebook event post described it as a “peaceful rally and march to stand in solidarity with the global Black Lives Matter movement.”

It also asked participants to wear personal protective equipment.

The march travelled from Kiwanis Park to the headquarters of the Saskatoon Police Service.

A truck, with a microphone and speakers on the back, enabled those giving speeches to lead the crowd in chanting “Black Lives Matter.”

One speaker, who organizers only named as “Justice”, demanded the police, in Saskatoon and in Canada, be held accountable for the Indigenous women and girls who have gone missing or been murdered in the country and for Starlight Tours -- when police would pick up people in their vehicles in the winter, drive them outside of town and leave them.

“How many of you know people like George Floyd? How many of you know people who are going about their daily lives and they are stopped because… their skin is seen as a problem to be dealt with?” said one organizer.

“I’ve lived my whole life in the United States of America and I’ve never experienced the racism and the violence that I’ve experienced here in Saskatoon,” she added.

Tunde Basharon said he had faced racism his entire life.

“I’ve always felt helpless against it. So now that I have a chance to do something about it, why wouldn’t I?” he said.

“Sometimes it’s hard walking down the street just because you see the awkward glances, you see the awkward stares. Sometimes you go into a store (and) it’s very awkward (because) you can see the people are clearly staring at you.

He said he hoped the marches would help people understand that everyone deserves to be equally treated.

“As a child, you never really think of race, or you never really think of a person as a different colour — you think of that person as just being another person,” he told Global News.

“If, somehow, everybody can connect to those roots and see us as people rather than our skin colour then I think everything… could definitely be better.”

Next, the march walked to city hall, where some speakers spoke about racism in the education system.

Nisa Bano said she took part in the march to learn about the issues and support those suffering from racism.

“Anywhere there is injustice happening we have to make sure that we all are standing against it together,” she said.

“Just because we don’t face (racism) ourselves or we don’t hear about it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.

Ahead of the event the organizers said in a Facebook post the Saskatoon police weren’t welcome to participate.

Officers directed traffic, tweeted out crowd size and road closures as they happened and largely kept their distance.

A watch commander told Global News no one was arrested and no property was damaged.

The sole confrontation was verbal -- an organizer directed traffic to leave -- and only lasted a few minutes.

'Their time has come': Calls increase for removal of statues linked to colonial legacy

TORONTO -- As statues and monuments of leaders from bygone eras are being toppled in response to growing calls to end systemic racism and discrimination, the sentiment is also growing here in Canada.

Just this week, protesters in Belgium vandalized a statue of King Leopold II, whose rule of Congo led to the death of 10 million people. At Oxford University, there are calls to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes, an architect of the apartheid. And in Bristol, England, a statue of slave trader Edward Colston was dragged through the streets and dumped into the harbour.

Meanwhile in the United States, several statues honouring Confederate generals and slave owners have also been taken down in response to the anti-Black racism protests spurred by the killing of George Floyd.

Related Stories
London may remove statues as Floyd's death sparks change
Virginia governor to announce removal of Lee statue
Paul Workman: Slave trader statue 'was an affront,' Bristol mayor says

Canada is not immune to this, either. A Change.org petition calling for the removal of a Sir John A. Macdonald statue in Montreal has received more than 10,000 signatures as of Wednesday evening.

Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, was an architect of the residential school system and led starvation tactics against Indigenous people in the Prairies.
Read more: Thousands of Montrealers want Sir John A. Macdonald taken down

“He was very proactive in starvation of Indigenous people, so why would we want a statue of him?” said Nakuset, executive director of the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal.

David MacDonald, a political science professor at the University of Guelph, told CTV News Channel that he believes these statues should be taken down.

“(Macdonald) certainly was the architect of several genocides in Canada, therefore I think it’s time that we continue to address his legacies and there shouldn’t be bridges and schools and all sorts of things named after someone who so blatantly went out to destroy Indigenous nations in this country,” he said.

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plants told reporters on Wednesday that there are no immediate plans to take down the statue, but she is looking at ways to address systemic racism in the community.

“There is also an opportunity to create a dialogue between what was the past and what was right then or what was acceptable then, where at one point we're like, as a society, ‘enough,’” she said.

A similar statue of Macdonald was taken down in Victoria, B.C., in 2018. Its artist said he is ashamed to admit that he didn’t know about residential schools until after he crafted the statue and now believes these monuments should also be taken down.

“We still need to confront our racism towards Indigenous people and if we have to tear down a few sculptures, great,” said John Dann.

Similar petitions in Toronto are calling for the city to rename Dundas Street, which is named after Henry Dundas, who delayed the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, and for Ryerson University to take down its statue of the school’s founder Egerton Ryerson, who also helped develop the residential schools.

Both petitions had more than 4,000 signatures by Wednesday evening.

“These sorts of statues are supposed to represent, in a way, the past, but also the kind of society we want going forward and if they’re giving lessons that are only negative, especially to younger generations of people, then I think they need to come down,” said MacDonald.

Halifax has also had its own controversial statue recently taken down. A monument to Edward Cornwallis, the city’s founder who offered cash bounties to anyone who killed a Mi’kmaw person, was removed in 2018 following increased public pressure.

MacDonald also argues monuments to people like James McGill, the founder of McGill University who was also a slave owner, and Sir. Wilfrid Laurier, who played a role in residential schools, should also be removed.

“These types of people, their time has come,” he said.

Others are wary of the removal of statues, however.

“I think we have to be careful judging the past with our modern sensibilities, so to speak” said Leo Deveau, a historian based out of Halifax.

Additionally, some art historians believe the best course of action is to put these statues into a museum, where they can preserved, but there can be additional context into the person’s life and actions.

Growing calls to rename Winnipeg school over namesake's link to apartheid

Some are pushing for the name of Cecil Rhodes School in Winnipeg to be changed. CTV’s Mason Depatie reports.

WINNIPEG -- A Winnipeg school's name is raising concerns over its namesake's link to apartheid.

Cecil Rhodes School was founded on Elgin Avenue back in 1909.

The school is named for Cecil Rhodes, a prominent 19th-century British figure

His accomplishments landed his name on the Winnipeg school, but his history isn't without fault. His policies while Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, a British colony in what is now South Africa, paved the way for apartheid.

"Hearing about Cecil Rhodes and what he has done and his background and criteria, I have a hard time being okay with his name to be on an educated school system building," said Aaron Sinclair, a parent at Cecil Rhodes School.

Aaron Sinclair is one of many parents at the school who thinks it's time for a new name.

That's why a teacher from another school division who once had a job interview at the school, created a petition to change it.

"I think leaving his name on the school leaves it in a place of honour instead of acknowledging values have changed," said Jill Sutherland, the petition creator.

The petition has gathered more than a thousand signatures in only a few days. Sutherland said the petition isn't about erasing history.

"We should absolutely remember why the school was named after Cecil Rhodes in the first place, and we should document the change," said Sutherland.

The school board trustee representing the ward has taken notice of the growing movement.
]

"I see this as an opportunity to revaluate who we choose to honour and why," said Jennifer Chen, Ward 6 Trustee of the Winnipeg School Division.

Chen is putting forward a motion to start name changing consultations.

She said she'd like to see the students heavily involved in the discussion of a new name – something Sinclair and his grade 7 daughter agrees with.

"I think that's the best way. I believe especially with our youth if we can't educate them, if we can't fix our past, I don't know how we can move ahead with the future," said Sinclair.

Trustee Chen's motion will be read for the first time on Monday, and then be up for debate at the next board meeting, likely in September.

Back in June of 2019, a Vancouver public school removed Cecil Rhodes's name from its campus.

There is also debate at Oxford University in the U.K., where there are calls to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes.

Ontario township named after slave owner seeks new namesake


Nicole Thompson
The Canadian PressStaff
Published Saturday, June 13, 2020

Peter Russell, the 18th-century government official pictured above. The Mayor of the township of Russell has decided to change the 'Russell' that the town will be named after. (Photo courtesy of Ontario Archives)


An eastern Ontario township is preparing to turn its back on the slave owner it's named for.

It just won't turn its back on the name.


Mayor Pierre Leroux says Russell Township had been the subject of online scorn over the past week because it was named for Peter Russell, an 18th-century government official who delayed the abolition of slavery.Related Stories

Some called for the name to be changed, while others said it should remain the same.

Leroux says he and his 18-year-old son came up with a different solution: choose a new Russell.

Leroux plans to bring forward a notice of motion at a council meeting on Monday night, saying residents no longer want their home to be associated with Peter Russell.

He said members of the community will be asked to submit contenders named Russell.
]

“We don't share the values, we never have shared the values, of Mr. Peter Russell, and we're looking to move forward,” he said.

The question of whether to rebrand buildings, streets and towns is part of a broader conversation about systemic racism and Canada and around the world, sparked in part by the death of George Floyd.

Floyd, a Black man, died last month when a white police officer held a knee against his neck for nearly nine minutes, putting the anti-racist movement back in the spotlight.

Elsewhere in Ontario, there have been calls to rename Dundas Street, which was named for Henry Dundas, an 18th-century politician who delayed Britain's abolition of slavery by 15 years. The street runs through Toronto and numerous neighbouring cities and towns.

In Russell, Leroux said, there were a variety of reasons they didn't want to change the name altogether, including the business owners who have built their brands on the town name.

“And if you change the town name, what happens to all these organizations who've built up a reputation for being kindhearted loving people and incredible businesses? You're saying, well, that name is by default still tied to this guy 200 years ago,” he said.

While he said his son came up with the idea on the fly, they later learned there's precedent.

In 1986, King County in Washington State made the same move.

The county was originally named for the slave trader William Rufus DeVane King, but a motion to change the namesake explains that Martin Luther King Jr. is more in line with residents' ideals.

Leroux said he's hoping Russell's residents will also find their perfect namesake.

“I could see school projects where the students talk about what's going on in the world, and they're getting together and they're making submissions on how to move forward and who they think best represents the values we have and the history we have,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 13, 2020.

British Columbia
Anti-racism protesters block Vancouver viaducts for rally in support of Black Lives Matter

Peaceful protest is latest in series of nationwide demonstrations

CBC News · Posted: Jun 13, 2020
Anti-racism protesters walk along the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts on Saturday. (Cory Correia)


Anti-racism protesters lined up along the east and west ends of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts early Saturday morning for a rally in support of Black Lives Matter and defunding police forces.

The protesters declined to comment to CBC News, but said the protest was peaceful, and held signs with slogans like "Care Not Cops," "Support Black Trans Women," and "Defund VPD."

Access to several adjacent roads has been blocked, though local residents are permitted access.

Vancouver police said in a written statement it is coordinating traffic around the disruption and would provide updates on its social media feeds.

 

People participate Saturday in a rally on Vancouver's viaducts to support Black Lives Matter. (Cory Correia)

The demonstration, which began around 7 a.m. Saturday, is the latest effort to protest anti-Black racism in the United States and Canada, and to demand defunding and reform of police departments.

A protest in Vancouver earlier in June drew a crowd of thousands, who gathered to highlight that racism and police brutality aren't just American problems.

Thousands have also demonstrated in other Canadian cities, including Victoria, Toronto, and Montreal.

Since the death of George Floyd in police custody in the U.S., police in North America have been facing greater scrutiny of their treatment of minorities and use of violence.

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki said on Friday that she believes systemic racism exists in the police force she leads — after telling several media outlets this week that she was "struggling" to define the term.

Access to several adjacent roads has been blocked due to the protest. (Cory Correia/CBC)

The area the viaducts occupy has historic significance to the city's Black community. The area — centred between Prior and Union and Main and Jackson — was known as Hogan's Alley.

Starting in the 1920s, it was a cultural hub for Vancouver's Black community, anchored by local businesses and the African Methodist Episcopal Fountain Chapel.

In the late 1960s, the neighbourhood's buildings were torn down for the development of an interurban freeway. The freeway was later dropped, but not until after the construction of the Georgia Street viaduct.

The protesters declined to comment to CBC News, but said the protest was peaceful. (Cory Correia/CBC)

Vancouver police face privacy lawsuit over mass surveillance units in neighbourhoods

SOCCER

Premier League approves kneeling protests, 'Black Lives Matter' on shirts

POOL/AFP / Patrik StollarzPremier League players will be allowed to take a knee before or during matches in protest of racial discrimination

The Premier League will support players taking a knee before or during matches in protest against racial discrimination, while "Black Lives Matter" will replace player names on the back of shirts for the first 12 games of the league's restart next week.

"The League supports the players' wish to have their names replaced by Black Lives Matter on the back of their shirts for the first 12 matches of the restarted 2019/20 season," the Premier League said in a statement on Friday.

"In addition, the League will support players who 'take a knee' before or during matches."

Protests have erupted across the globe since the killing of African-American George Floyd in the United States on May 25 when a police officer, who has been charged with second-degree murder, knelt on his neck for several minutes.

A statement by players from all 20 Premier League clubs said: "We, the players, stand together with the singular objective of eradicating racial prejudice wherever it exists, to bring about a global society of inclusion, respect, and equal opportunities for all, regardless of their colour or creed.

"This symbol is a sign of unity from all Players, all staff, all clubs, all match officials and the Premier League #blacklivesmatter #playerstogether."

Several matches in Germany's Bundesliga have been preceded by both teams taking a knee prior to kick-off in recent weeks.

England international Jadon Sancho was among the first players to protest by showing a t-shirt branded "Justice for George Floyd" during Borussia Dortmund's rout of Paderborn last month.

The Premier League will return with two matches on June 17 as Manchester City host Arsenal and Sheffield United travel to Aston Villa.

A full round of 10 fixtures will then take place between June 19 and 22 with Black Lives Matter on the back of players' shirts.

For the remaining 80 matches of the campaign a Black Lives Matter logo will feature on shirts along with a badge thanking Britain's National Health Service for their work during the coronavirus crisis.

Clubs in England's top flight have already made a number of gestures in line with the anti-racism protests.

Liverpool showed their support when their players posted a photograph at an Anfield training session, where they all took a knee.

Arsenal's players did likewise before Wednesday's friendly against Brentford and wore T-shirts with a variety of messages on them, such as 'I can't breathe', 'My skin is not a crime' and 'I'm not black but I stand with you'.

Salary cap review chief warns against English rugby strike

AFP/File / Glyn KIRKOwen Farrell's Saracens will be relegated from the English Premiership for salary cap breaches

The man behind the review of the Premiership's salary cap has warned English rugby union about being dragged into a players' strike.

Paul Myners' report, commissioned after the Saracens' scandal that will see the reigning champions relegated, prompted a unanimous announcement this week by the clubs to cut the cap from £6.4 million ($8 million) to £5 million for the 2020/21 campaign.

This has sparked a furious row between the clubs and the Rugby Players' Association (PRA).

The RPA warned of a "significant legal dispute unless meaningful and genuine dialogue takes place urgently".

That prompted the clubs to accuse the RPA on Friday of attempting to "sow division and create uncertainty".

But Myners, a former British government finance minister, said current spending on players' wages was unsustainable and urged both sides to pull back from the brink of a full scale dispute.

"Common sense would say we need to sit down and have constructive, respectful discussions," Myners told the Guardian.

"It would be foolhardy for the players to feel they've been pushed into a situation where they have to strike.

"If you're an owner wondering how much longer you want to go on writing annual cheques, nothing's more likely to tip you over the line than being exposed to industrial action."

Many players in England's top flight had taken temporary 25 per cent wage cuts in response to the coronavirus outbreak, but some clubs are now aiming to reduce salaries permanently.

Meanwhile Myners suggested the current structure of the Premiership Rugby board, in which the chief executive does not have a vote, needed to be reviewed.

"Now is not a bad time to have a look at the governance of the Premiership," he said.

"What is missing from almost every echelon of rugby is the presence of independent voices. We don't really have one in Premiership Rugby.

"I think it would lead to better decision-making. Somebody has to say: 'What's good for the future of this game that we care passionately about?' That's the element that's currently lacking."

Return of the otter: How reintroduced predators benefit ecosystems

Aquarium of the Pacific/AFP/File / Robin RIGGSShellfish-munching sea otters have been the bane of fishermens' existence ever since they were reintroduced to Canada's west coast in the 1970s -- but a new study indicates they bring more economic benefits than losses

These little guys think there's something you otter know.

Shellfish-munching sea otters have been the bane of fishermens' existence ever since they were reintroduced to Canada's west coast in the 1970s -- but a new study indicates they bring more economic benefits than losses.

The research was led by teams from the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Island University and published in the journal Science on Thursday.

The study offers an example of what might happen if other endangered species -- from apex predators like wolves and sharks, to herbivorous bison which were once plentiful in the great plains -- are brought back to their original habitats.

Toward the end of the 19th century, otters in the northwest Pacific were hunted almost to the point of extinction due to a demand for their thick, luxurious fur -- the densest coat in the animal kingdom, used by the aquatic mammals for insulation in freezing cold waters.

Otters prey mainly on invertebrates such as crabs, clams, and urchins. Don't challenge these chonky critters to an eating contest, as they consume about a quarter of their body weight every day.

With the otters gone the shellfish fishing industry exploded.

The Canadian government however decided to reintroduce otters in the 1970s -- without consulting the local population, including the native First Nations.

The otters began devouring the main source of fishermen's livelihoods, in what initially seemed to be a textbook example of ecological-economic conflict.

But it's not so straightforward, said the new paper's authors. The return of the otters also led to indirect effects on the ecosystem known as "trophic cascade."

Otters eat sea urchins, which had devoured kelp on the ocean floor. The size of these algal forests have now multiplied by a factor of twenty, said the researchers.

And kelp provide protective habitats for a number of fish species like herring, which, in turn, benefits the fishermen.

Not only that, kelp also sequesters carbon dioxide, reducing ocean acidification and the amount of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

- Wolves, foxes and ticks -

The biggest direct financial benefit has come through tourism.

"The sea otter is a very charismatic species," said Russell Markel, a co-author of the paper who runs Outer Shores Expeditions. "Tourists love being able to see them in the wild and, importantly, are willing to pay for this experience."

The study authors estimate the dollar profit from having the sea otters is seven times greater than the losses to the shellfish industry.

"When you restore a predator, it usually is controversial. And this arises largely because predators end up competing with people for resources," said Jane Watson, a professor at Vancouver Island University.

But the return of kelp forest "increases near-shore productivity" and "creates habitat for kelp dependent species," she said.

"Countless ecosystems around the world are a shadow of their former glory, held back by missing key ecological players just as the sea otters were missing from this coast for decades," added Kai Chan, the paper's senior author, from the University of British Columbia.

"Thus we are seeing elsewhere how reintroducing wolves can trigger ripples of benefits for a large number of species and also for humans across the US and even in Europe," he added.

How might bringing wolves back help humans? Their extermination from the midwestern and eastern United States benefited coyotes, which in turn led to a reduction in the population of foxes.

Foxes prey on small mammals, whose population has exploded as a result -- leading to a surge in ticks, and of Lyme disease.

The new paper underscores the need to analyze ecosystems in their totality, rather than looking solely at what reintroducing predators will mean in terms of livestock losses.

 Pandemic shuts Earth's eyes on the skies

AFP/File / Martin BERNETTIAn aerial view of the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) La Silla facility in La Higuera in Chile's Atacama Desert, on June 6, 2019

It's as if the Earth has closed its eyes, some scientists say: the coronavirus pandemic has forced astronomers in northern Chile to shut down the world's most powerful telescopes, running the risk of missing out on supernovas and other spectacles in space.

Scientists have been unable to take advantage of the pristine skies over Chile's Atacama desert since late March, when its array of world-renowned observatories were shuttered.

That means humans will be oblivious to what astronomers call randomly occurring transitory phenomena, like Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) or supernovas -- lost forever to the starry wastes.

"Any GRB or supernova that goes off while we're shut down, we can't really observe it. We will have missed the opportunity to observe it because it catches on so fast and then fades away, so it's these opportunities that are lost," says astronomer John Carpenter.

It's also a critical time to observe Betelgeuse, the giant red star in the constellation of Orion -- the 10th brightest in the night sky -- which has suddenly dimmed, prompting speculation that it could explode, though that could take decades.

"We were starting a campaign to observe and monitor it when we had to close -- so we couldn't continue," Carpenter told AFP.

- Eyes on the Skies -

AFP/File / Martin BERNETTIAn astronomer prepares equipment ahead of a solar eclipse at the La Silla European Southern Observatory in Chile's Coquimbo region, on July 2, 2019

Carpenter is chief scientist at the revolutionary Atacama Large Millimeter Array, or ALMA, an observatory whose 66 antennae combine to make it the world's most advanced radio telescope.

Carpenter said his observatory's operations have been on hold since March 18.

ALMA is just one of an array of observatories in Chile's arid north that comprise more than half of humanity's astronomical power. Just 400 kilometers (250 miles) away from ALMA is the Paranal Observatory and its Very Large Telescope, the world's most powerful.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit Chile hard, forcing a month-long lockdown of its capital Santiago. More than 2,450 people have died from Chile's 150,000 COVID-19 cases.

"There are a very small number of people who are taking care of the observatory but no observation is being carried out," said Itziar de Gregorio, head of the science office of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) which runs some of the key observatories.

De Gregorio voiced a more optimistic view over the opportunities for stargazing lost to the Earthly health crisis: scientists are likely to get another chance.

"These transitory phenomena are not usually unique. If they occur today, bad luck! But the next year surely many more will come by," he said.

- Stalled probes -

AFP / Martin BERNETTIA supermoon -- when the moon reaches its closest position to the Earth -- rises over Santiago, on April 7, 2020

Astronomers chose the vast Atacama desert for its pristine atmosphere -- there is little rain and low humidity year-round.

With telescopes shut down and antennas switched off, space watchers are instead focusing on processing the myriad data collected during long accumulated nights of observation.

Specialists have "several months" of work to keep them going until the pandemic passes and the planets are opened up to them again, said Caludio Melo, ESO representative in Chile.

"Of course, at any given point new observations will be needed but we cannot know yet when that will be," Melo told AFP.

In some ways, the biggest losers are young scientists working to finish research on doctoral studies, "because they have more critical deadlines," said Carpenter.

The long weeks of standstill mean a lag in their observation requests, he said.

"It will be a significant delay. We observe approximately 4,000 hours every year at ALMA with the 12-meter antenna complex, so if the shutdown lasts six months, it is 2,000 hours of lost observation."