FAA 'made mistakes' with 737 Max oversight, agency chief says


Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Steve Dickson speaks during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Wednesday on Capitol Hill. Pool Photo by Graeme Jennings/UPI | License Photo
June 17 (UPI) -- The head of the Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged Wednesday that the agency and Boeing "made mistakes" that led to two 737 Max aircraft crashing within months of each other and killing hundreds of people.

Members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation ripped into FAA Administrator Steve Dickson during a hearing examining the agency's process of certifying aircraft.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, accused Dickson of not taking responsibility for the FAA's faults when the latter used passive voice to tell lawmakers "mistakes were made."

"So, unknown somebodies made unspecified mistakes for which there were no repercussions," Cruz said. "What mistakes were made and who made them?"

Dickson rephrased his remark.

"The manufacturer made mistakes and the FAA made mistakes in its oversight. The full implications of the flight control system were not understood as design changes were made," he said.

Boeing and individual governments worldwide grounded the 737 Max in spring 2019 after the crashes occurred over the span of about six months.

Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea on Oct. 29, 2018, killing all 189 passengers and crew on board. The plane was en route from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang -- both in Indonesia.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed months later on March 10, 2019, in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, about 6 minutes after takeoff. The crash killed all 157 on board who were en route from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Nairobi, Kenya.

Aviation investigators linked both crashes to a malfunction of the planes' Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, which can affect pitch in an aircraft. When pilots attempted to respond to the system, it caused them to nose dive.
RELATED British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair ask High Court to nix quarantine

Senators at Wednesday's hearing accused the FAA of stonewalling a congressional investigation into the agency's certification process.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said there was a "lack of responsiveness" to the panel's request for documents.

"It's hard not to conclude your team at the FAA has deliberately attempted to keep us in the dark," he told Dickson.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Mass., said that since Dickson took control of the FAA, the "culture of secrecy ... has only been aggravated."

"The fact of the matter is that the FAA has been complicit in these crashes by failing to do more diligent oversight," he said.

The senator said the FAA should do more of the work of evaluating aircraft instead of simply overseeing as manufacturers conduct tests.

As Dickson testified, an attendee raised a sign behind him featuring photos of crash victims.

Michael Stumo, the father of Flight 302 passenger Samya Stumo, testified in the afternoon.

"The first crash should not have happened," he said. "The second crash is inexcusable.

"They gambled, we lost."
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New diamond frog species found in northern Madagascar


Though the coloration of the new species, Rhombophryne ellae, is unlike most other diamond frogs, its red to orange flash markings on its legs are common among hopping amphibians. Photo by Mark D. Scherz

June 16 (UPI) -- Scientists have discovered a new species of diamond frog in the dense tropical forests of northern Madagascar. The new species, Rhombophryne ellae, belongs to a genus that has doubled in diversity over last decade.

The diamond frog was found inside northern Madagascar's Montagne d'Ambre National Park, which is known for its rich biodiversity.

While the national park's flora and fauna are relatively well-studied, its forests continue to offer up previously undescribed species.

In recent years, the park's reptile and amphibian populations have offered scientists a wealth of surprises. Rhombophryne ellae -- described Tuesday in the journal Zoosystematics and Evolution -- is only the latest.

"As soon as I saw this frog, I knew it was a new species," lead researcher Mark D. Scherz said in a news release. "The orange flash-markings on the legs and the large black spots on the hip made it immediately obvious to me.

"During my master's and Ph.D. research, I studied this genus and described several species," said Scherz, herpetologist with the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Germany. "There are no described species with such orange legs, and only few species have these black markings on the hip."

Often, new species look so similar to their relatives that scientists must resort to DNA analysis to confirm two species are genetically -- and taxonomically -- distinct. The new diamond frog species is so visibly distinct, scientists didn't need to wait for the genomic sequencing results -- they knew.

The newly named frog's closest relative is an undescribed frog from Tsaratanana, an area 300 miles south of Montagne d'Ambre National Park.

Though the new species is quite different from most other diamond frogs, he is one of many hopping amphibians to boast red to orange flash-markings. Although the color pattern has evolved dozens of times in frogs, scientists still aren't sure of its function.

Now that Rhombophryne ellae is official in the scientific literature, Scherz and his colleagues will turn their attention to the frog's unnamed relatives. In Madagascar, the work of biological discovery is never-ending.

RELATED Mothering poison frog in Madagascar helps scientists study the maternal brain

"The discovery of such a distinctive species within a comparatively well-studied park points towards the gaps in our knowledge of the amphibians of the tropics," Scherz said.

"It also highlights the role that bad weather, especially cyclones, can play in bringing otherwise hidden frogs out of hiding -- Rhombophryne ellae was caught just as Cyclone Ava was moving in on Madagascar, and several other species my colleagues and I have recently described were also caught under similar cyclonic conditions," he said.

State Department approves $862.3M sale of Sidewinder missiles to Canada


Captain Steve Boatright, an F-16C Fighting Falcon pilot with the 34th Fighter Squadron "Rude Rams", located at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, fires an AIM-9M Sidewinder heat-seeking missile at an MQM-107 "Streaker" sub-scale aerial target drone over the Gulf of Mexico recently. Photo by Michael Ammons/U.S. Air Force | License Photo

June 16 (UPI) -- The State Department announced Tuesday that it had approved a possible $862.3 million sale of 50 Sidewinder AIM-9X Block II Tactical missiles and related equipment to the Canadian government.

"This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the military capability of Canada, a NATO ally that is an important force for ensuring political stability and economic progress and a contributor to military, peacekeeping and humanitarian operations around the world," said DSCA's statement.

According to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the government of Canada requested 50) Sidewinder AIM-9X Block II Tactical missiles; 50 Sidewinder AIM-9X Block II Captive Air Training Missiles, 10 Sidewinder AIM-9X Block II Special Air Training Missiles and assorted related equipment, as well as technical and logistics support, upgrades to the Advanced Distributed Combat Training System to ensure flight trainers remain current with the new technologies and software development.

The prime contractors on this deal will be Raytheon, General Dynamics, Boeing and Collins Aerospace.

In April 2019 Raytheon was awarded a $12.1 million contract for AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles for the United States and 21 allies.

The AIM-9X Sidewinder missile includes advanced infrared-tracking, short-range, air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, and the Block II variant has a redesigned fuse and a digital ignition safety device to enhance ground handling and in-flight safety.

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About 1 in 7 worldwide can't afford food or shelter, survey shows

A displaced girl waits for water at a temporary shelter in Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 29. Gallup's index listed Afghanistan as the nation with the greatest share of citizens in the "high" vulnerability range. File Photo by Hedayatullah Amid/EPA-EFE

June 16 (UPI) -- About 750 million people worldwide are unable to afford food or shelter, or both, according to a new research report published Tuesday.

Gallup reported in its Basic Needs Vulnerability Index that about one in seven adults classify as part of the "high vulnerability" group, meaning they struggle to afford food and/or shelter and don't have any support systems.

The figures, compiled in almost 150 countries last year, said every nation has "high vulnerability" populations. Afghanistan has the greatest share in this group, 50 percent, and several nations -- including Britain, Sweden and Singapore -- have the lowest share at 1 percent.

Gallup's index found that a person's health plays a factor in their vulnerability classification.

"More than four in 10 of the highly vulnerable (41 percent) say they have health problems that keep them from doing activities that people their age normally do," Gallup wrote. "This percentage drops to 29 percent among those who are moderately vulnerable and to 14 percent among those with low vulnerability."

Nearly half of the world's population, 47 percent, is in the "low" vulnerability category -- those who can afford food and shelter and have supporting systems like relatives or friends.

Thirty-nine percent fell into the "moderate" category -- those who, at times, were unable to afford the basics but have friends or family for support.

Other very highly vulnerable populations were found in Benin (49 percent), Malawi (36 percent) and Togo (34 percent). India, home to one of the world's fastest-growing economies, is listed in the "high" category with 30 percent of its population vulnerable.

Five percent of the United States fell into the "high" vulnerability group, tied with Russia, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates.

Gallup surveyed more than 140,000 people in 142 nations to compile the index, which has a margin of error between 1.5 and 5.4 points.
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Researchers baffled by 'completely weird' underwater tornado

May 27 (UPI) -- Researchers said a tornadolike formation caught on camera off the coast of Australia was "completely weird."

Schmidt Ocean Institute researchers were performing live commentary on a live-stream video of a remotely operated vehicle dive in Coral Sea Marine Park, off the Queensland coast, when the underwater tornado appeared on the sea floor.

The commentators described the formation as "amazing," "completely weird" and "really unusual."

Marine geologist Robin Beaman, one of the scientists performing the commentary, said the formation was reminiscent of a benthic storm, which involves waves traveling under the surface and creating turbulence near the ocean floor.

The scientists said they do not know the cause of the whirling water.

Scientists find unique underwater rivers along Australia's continental shelves

Researchers say the scale of underwater rivers along the Australian continental shelves is unprecedented. Photo by palinska/Pixabay

June 17 (UPI) -- Underwater rivers running along Australia's continental shelves are unlike any others in the world, according to a group of scientists at the University of Western Australia. Researchers claim the scale of the underwater rivers is unprecedented.

"This is the most significant discovery for coastal oceanography in recent decades, not only in Australia but globally," Chari Pattiaratchi, professor of coastal oceanography, said in a news release.

Researchers detailed their discovery of these unique underwater rivers this week in the journal Scientific Reports.

The scientists used a fleet of underwater autonomous vehicles, part of Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System, to observe the underwater rivers as they shifted through the seasons.

"The data spanned more than a decade and is the equivalent to spending more than 2500 days at sea," said Tanziha Mahjabin, who completed the research as part of her doctoral thesis at University of Western Australia. "We were able to examine data from different areas of Australia and also look at the seasonal variability."

Scientists typically use satellites to study river plumes, the flow patterns formed where large amounts of freshwater meet bodies of saltwater.

But the large, unique flow patterns found along Australia's continental shelves are hidden beneath the surface, invisible to satellites.

Unlike coastal freshwater inflows in other parts of the world, where freshwater remains buoyant and flows on top of the water, Australia's freshwater is quickly evaporated as a result of its hot, dry summers. As a result, coastal waters are actually denser than surrounding ocean water.

Scientists estimate the underwater rivers are fueled by these differences in density, sediment load and temperature of coastal and deep ocean water masses. As temperature and composition differences in the adjacent water masses shift through the seasons, the rivers ebb and flow in size and strength.

"The coastal ocean is the receiving basin for suspended and dissolved matter that includes nutrients, plant and animal matter and pollutants and represents an important component of the ocean environment, connecting the land to the deeper ocean," said UWA researcher Yasha Hetzel.

According to the study's authors, their findings suggest underwater rivers play an underappreciated role in the transportation of sediments, pollution and marine nutrients along the coasts of continents all over world.

 Floyd's brother tells UN 'black lives do not 

matter' in US

AFP / Fabrice COFFRINIGeorge Floyd's brother calls on the UN to set up an independent commission to investigate the killings of African Americans by police

George Floyd's brother on Wednesday begged the United Nations to help African Americans because "black lives do not matter in the United States", as the UN's rights chief urged reparations for centuries of discrimination.

Philonise Floyd made an impassioned speech via video-link to an urgent United Nations Human Rights Council debate on "systemic racism" in the US and beyond.

Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the "gratuitous brutality" of Floyd's death in police custody encapsulated racism that harmed millions of people of African descent.

She also urged countries to confront the legacy of slavery and colonialism and to make reparations.

The council, based in Geneva, is debating a draft resolution pushing for Bachelet to investigate racism and police civil liberties violations against people of African descent in the United States.

President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the council two years ago.

Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died in Minneapolis on May 25 after a white police officer -- since charged with murder -- pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes.

Amateur video of the incident sparked demonstrations and calls to address systemic racism in the United States and around the world.

Philonise Floyd said his brother had been "tortured to death" as witnesses begged the officer to stop, "showing us black people the same lesson, yet again: black lives do not matter in the United States of America".

"You in the United Nations are your brothers' and sisters' keepers in America, and you have the power to help us get justice for my brother George Floyd."

"I am asking you to help him. I am asking you to help me. I am asking you to help us black people in America."

He urged them to establish an independent international commission of inquiry -- one of the UN's highest-level probes, generally reserved for major crises like the Syrian conflict.

- Probe proposal dropped -

An initial text presented on Tuesday on behalf of 54 African countries had proposed such an inquiry.

But the proposal was dropped, the resolution heavily watered down following stark opposition from Washington and some of its allies.

But the proposal was dropped, the resolution heavily watered down following stark opposition from Washington and some of its allies.

It now calls on Bachelet and UN rights experts to "establish the facts and circumstances relating to the systemic racism, alleged violations of international human rights law and abuses against Africans and people of African descent" by law enforcement in the US and beyond -- especially those incidents that resulted in deaths.

POOL/AFP / MARTIAL TREZZINIUN rights chief Michelle Bachelet urged countries to confront the legacy of slavery and colonialism and to make reparations

The aim, it said, was "to ensure the accountability of perpetrators and redress for victims".

In her statement to the council, Bachelet said Floyd's death had brought to head the sense of outrage felt by overlooked people and the protests were "the culmination of many generations of pain".

"Behind today's racial violence, systemic racism, and discriminatory policing lies the failure to acknowledge and confront the legacy of the slave trade and colonialism," the former Chilean president said.

She stressed the need to "make amends for centuries of violence and discrimination, including through formal apologies, truth-telling processes, and reparations in various forms."

- US call for transparency -

On Tuesday, Trump issued an order to improve policing, calling for a ban on dangerous choke holds -- except if an officer's life is at risk.

The executive order encourages de-escalation training, better recruitment, sharing of data on police who have bad records, and money to support police in complicated duties related to people with mental or drug issues.

However, it stopped well short of demands made at nationwide protests.

Andrew Bremberg, the US ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said his country was open in its commitment to addressing racial discrimination and injustice, citing Trump's executive order.

"We call upon all governments to demonstrate the same level of transparency and accountability," he said.

"Sadly, there are too many places in the world where governments commit grave violations of human rights and practice systematic racial discrimination while many of those assembled in Geneva are silent."

It remains to be seen whether the current draft resolution will pass.

Australia, South Korea and the Netherlands all issued statements in the chamber that were broadly supportive of Washington's outlook.

"We have confidence in their transparent justice systems to address these issues appropriately," Australia's representative said.

The UN Human Rights Council's 47 members are due to vote on the resolution following the urgent debate, which was set to conclude on Thursday.

Wednesday marks only the fifth time in the council's 14-year history that it has agreed to hold an "urgent debate", which is like a special session, but within a regular session of the council.

Brother of George Floyd asks U.N. to take action on violence against black people

Philonise Floyd called on the United Nations to take action to address violence against black people and police brutality during an Urgent Debate on racism Wednesday. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
June 17 (UPI) -- Philonise Floyd urged the United Nations to launch an international probe into the killings of black people in the United States following the police-involved killing of his brother George Floyd.

During the U.N Human Right's Council's urgent debate on racism, Floyd delivered an impassioned plea on Wednesday for the international body to take action in response to police brutality in the United States as exhibited in the killing of his brother by Minneapolis police and violence against protesters who have demonstrated throughout the world in response to his death.

"You watched my brother die. That could have been me," Floyd said in a recording played during the debate. "I am my brother's keeper. You in the United Nations are your brothers' and sisters' keepers in America and you have the power to help us get justice for my brother George Floyd. I am asking you to help him. I am asking you to help me. I am asking you to help us. Black people in America."

U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed opened the debate by saying that George Floyd's death was the "most recent trigger" for the global protests but said that the violence "spans history and borders alike" throughout the world.
RELATED House debates police reform bill; Senate unveils rival proposal



"Today people are saying loudly and movingly, 'enough.' The United Nations has a duty to respond to the anguish that has been felt by so many for so long," Mohammed said. "This cause is at the heart of our organization's identity. Equal rights are enshrined in our founding charter. Just as we fought apartheid years ago, so must we fight the hatred, oppression and humiliation today."

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet issued a similar statement declaring "Time is of the essence. Patience has run out."

Bachelet called for specific institutions and law enforcement agencies throughout the world to be reformed in addition to implementing measures to address "pervasive racism," adding that lethal harm results too often.

RELATED Trump signs executive order for police reforms

"Gratuitous brutality has come to symbolize the systemic racism that harms millions of people of African descent," she said.

Bachelet also said she has been "disturbed by the criminal acts undertaken by a small number of people amid the many peaceful protests around the world" while adding video evidence has shown excessive use of force by police "including during entirely peaceful protests."

Philonise Floyd detailed some of the violence he has witnessed during the protests, which he said was an effort to silence the voices of the demonstrators.

RELATED Family of Rayshard Brooks call for justice, change in policing in Atlanta

"When people dared to raise their voice and protest for my brother, they were tear-gassed, run over with police vehicles, several people lost eyes and suffered brain damage from rubber bullets and peaceful protesters were shot and killed by police," he said. "Journalists were beaten and blinded when they tried to show the world the brutality happening at the protests. When people raise their voices to protest the treatment of black people in America they are silenced; they are shot and killed."

Protesters demand justice in police killing of George Floyd


Doctors and medical care workers march and rally outside the Twin Towers Jail to express outrage at police brutality in Los Angeles on June 13. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

Case cracked: mystery Antarctica

fossil is massive prehistoric egg

CHILEAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY/AFP / HandoutThe fossil that had long baffled scientists is in fact the largest soft-shelled egg ever found, laid some 68 million years ago, possibly by a type of extinct sea snake or lizard

Scientists had nicknamed it "The Thing" -- a mysterious football-sized fossil discovered in Antarctica that sat in a Chilean museum awaiting someone who could work out just what it was.

Now, analysis has revealed the mystery fossil to be a soft-shelled egg, the largest ever found, laid some 68 million years ago, possibly by a type of extinct sea snake or lizard.

The revelation ends nearly a decade of speculation and could change thinking about the lives of marine creatures in this era, said Lucas Legendre, lead author of a paper detailing the findings, published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

"It is very rare to find fossil soft-shelled eggs that are that well-preserved," Legendre, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, told AFP.

"This new egg is by far the largest soft-shelled egg ever discovered. We did not know that these eggs could reach such an enormous size, and since we hypothesise it was laid by a giant marine reptile, it might also be a unique glimpse into the reproductive strategy of these animals," he said.

The fossil was discovered in 2011 by a group of Chilean scientists working in Antarctica. It looks a bit like a crumpled baked potato but measures a whopping 11 by seven inches -- 28 by 18 centimetres.

For years, visiting scientists examined the fossil in vain, until in 2018 a palaeontologist suggested it might be an egg.

- A mammoth find -

It wasn't the most obvious hypothesis given its size and appearance, and there was no skeleton inside to confirm it.

Analysis of sections of the fossil revealed "a layered structure similar to a soft membrane, and a much thinner hard outer layer, suggesting it was soft-shelled," Legendre said.

CHILEAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY/AFP / HandoutThe team believe this egg wasn't from a dinosaur - the types living in Antarctica at the time were mostly too small to have produced such a mammoth specimen

Chemical analyses showed "the eggshell is distinct from the sediment around it, and was originally a living tissue."

But that left other mysteries to unravel, including what animal laid such an enormous egg -- only one bigger has been found, produced by the now-extinct elephant bird from Madagascar.

The team believe this egg wasn't from a dinosaur -- the types living in Antarctica at the time were mostly too small to have produced such a mammoth egg, and the ones large enough laid spherical, rather than oval-shaped, ones.

Instead they believe it came from a kind of reptile, possibly a group known as Mosasaurs, which were common in the region.

- Soft-shelled dinosaur eggs -

The paper was published in Nature along a separate study that argues that it wasn't only ancient reptiles that laid soft-shell eggs -- dinosaurs did too.

For years, experts believed dinosaurs only laid hard-shelled eggs, which are all that had been found.

But Mark Norell, curator of palaeontology at the American Museum of Natural History, said the discovery of a group of fossilised embryonic Protoceratops dinosaurs in Mongolia made him revisit the assumption.

"Why do we only find dinosaur eggs relatively late in the Mesozoic and why only in a couple groups of dinosaurs," he said he asked himself.

The answer, he theorised, was that early dinosaurs laid soft-shell eggs that were destroyed and not fossilised.

To test the theory, Norell and a team analysed the material around some of the Protoceratops skeletons in the Mongolia fossil and another fossil of two apparently newborn Mussaurus.

They found chemical signatures showing the dinosaurs would have been surrounded by soft, leathery eggshells.

"The first dinosaur egg was soft-shelled," Norell and his team conclude in the paper.

Norell's findings may have implications for the fossil once named "The Thing" -- which is now known as Antarcticoolithus, according to a review of the studies published in Nature.

They "could implicate some form of dinosaur as the proud parent," wrote Johan Lindgren of Lund University and Benjamin Kear of Uppsala University.

"Let us hope that future discoveries of similarly spectacular fossil eggs with intact embryos will solve this thought-provoking enigma."

UPDATED
Canada's UN Security Council Bid Fails After 4-Year Campaign
In a contest against Ireland and Norway, Canada came out empty-handed

By Zi-Ann Lum



PICTURE ALLIANCE VIA GETTY IMAGES

Members of the UN Security Council advise on the humanitarian situation in Syria during a meeting on Feb. 27, 2020.


By Zi-Ann Lum


OTTAWA — Canada has lost its bid for a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council after member nations cast secret ballots in New York Wednesday.

The result is a disappointing end to the country’s four-year campaign to return to the UN body since 2000. Election results show Canada received 108 of 192 valid votes, below the two-thirds threshold that’s required to win a seat.

Ireland and Norway, securing 128 and 130 votes respectively, will take their seats at the UN’s most important decision-making body for a two-year term beginning January 2021.

Turnout was high for the much-anticipated election with 192 out of 193 nations participating in the vote.

It’s a major loss for Canada, but for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in particular because of the “ownership” he’s taken in the campaign, according to Adam Chapnick, a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada. 

Time wasn’t on Canada’s side.

“We joined this election extremely late,” the UN security council expert told HuffPost Canada in an interview. “In some ways, we’ve been campaigning with an arm tied behind our back.”

Physical distancing restrictions in the General Assembly hall could also delay voting and tallying results.

The country’s current campaign has been led by Marc-André Blanchard, a lawyer and former president of the Quebec Liberal Party. He was appointed Canada’s ambassador to the UN in 2016.

Recently, Blanchard has embarked on a campaign of physically distant events, arranging bike rides and picnic dinners with diplomats in Manhattan to shore up votes.

Canada will need to win at least two-thirds of support to secure a seat on the UN’s most important decision-making body for a two-year term beginning in January 2021.

Norway and Ireland, which have run longer campaigns, are also competing for the two open seats in the same voting bloc reserved for “Western European and Others Group” countries.

“The Irish have been campaigning for more than a decade. The Norwegian campaign has run twice as long as ours,” Chapnick said.

Canada’s campaign hasn’t been a smooth four-year run, either.

The election of Donald Trump as president in the United States heightened concerns about the North American Free Trade Agreement and deflected Canada’s attention from its Security Council bid for about a year.
JOHANNES EISELE VIA GETTY IMAGES

Canada's ambassador to the UN, Marc-Andre Blanchard speaks to the United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in Venezuela on Jan. 26, 2019 at the United Nations in New York.

Another setback, Chapnick said, was the SNC-Lavalin affair, which shook countries’ confidence in making UN vote swaps with Canada. Ambassadors were uncertain if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government would survive the fall election.

Vote swapping is a common practice among member states to trade support in UN elections.

Despite Trudeau’s bumpy 2019, a political twist gave Canada a competitive advantage in vote swapping early this year.

In February, a cloud of political uncertainty fell over Ireland after an election that took down the incumbent prime minister resulted in a hung parliament.

On Monday, rival Irish parties announced an agreement to form a coalition government — 48 hours before the Security Council vote.

Chapnick said the timing of the outcome ameliorates Ireland’s decade-long bid, throwing a last-minute twist for Canada’s campaign.
Current Security Council described as ‘dysfunctional’

Canada has been on the outside looking in for more than two decades after losing a Security Council vote in October 2010.

Allan Rock, Canada’s former ambassador to the UN in New York between 2003-2006, said the loss in 2010 to Portugal was a rebuke of former prime minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government’s efforts to move away from multilateralism.

Before that, the only time Canada lost an election to the Security Council was in January 1946.

The former Chrétien-era cabinet minister told HuffPost he doesn’t believe the current campaign can be dismissed as a vanity project for Trudeau’s Liberal government.

“I think of it as an opportunity to serve, and being on the Security Council provides that opportunity uniquely, in a way that no other organization can,” Rock said. Canada could bring some much-needed “positive energy” to the Security Council, he said, describing the powerful body as currently “dysfunctional.”

“They find it difficult to get together and adopt resolutions. Russia and China are too frequently using their veto. There’s too little basis for consensus at the table,” Rock said. “For a while, they weren’t even able to agree on how they would meet during the pandemic.”
The Security Council has been missing in action in the pandemic.Allan Rock, former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations

The UN Security Council is made up of five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Every two years, elections are held to fill the rotating 10 non-permanent seats that round out the UN body.

Its dysfunction has been evident in the lack of UN intervention in the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars and the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar. It hasn’t been much help in the world’s response to COVID-19, either.

“The Security Council has been missing in action in the pandemic,” Rock said. “It has not fulfilled a constructive role in coordinating the UN’s response.”

With the apparent inertia that has seized the Security Council, Rock believes there’s an appetite among members to build alliances with Canada to “establish peace and security and to accelerate development.”
Pandemic casts Security Council diplomacy in new light

Wednesday’s election won’t unfold like other ones in recent decades.

Special rules are in place to ensure physical distancing in the UN General Assembly Hall for Wednesday’s vote. Time slots will be given to 193 member countries to enter the venue to cast their ballots.

Canada’s ground game received help this week from Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who arrived in New York by car on Sunday to help Blanchard in the final stretch of the campaign.

Champagne told The Canadian Press “the race is tight” and that he’s made more than 100 calls in the past three weeks to his counterparts around the world and in New York.

“I sense momentum. But obviously you have to be cautious,” he said.

Since the 2015 election, Trudeau has treated the campaign for the UN seat as a marquee item in the Liberal Party’s foreign policy agenda. The prime minister has put significant effort into lobbying Caribbean and African countries in particular.

Readouts from the prime minister’s office in recent days show Trudeau working the phones to reach out to leaders in Saint Kitts and Nevis, Angola, Pakistan, Mexico, and India, among others countries in the campaign’s final push.
SEYLLOU VIA GETTY IMAGES

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri at the "Door of the Journey of No Return" at the Goree Slave House during a visit to Senegal on Goree Island off the coast of Dakar on Feb. 12, 2020.

Earlier this year, Trudeau embarked on a tour of Ethiopia and Senegal to boost Canada’s Security Council bid. Former prime minister Joe Clark was also recruited to help add some clout to the campaign. But some analysts said that trip may have come too late.

Chapnick said Canada’s campaign — focused on strengthening multilateralism, economic security, gender equality, peace, and action on climate change — isn’t much different from what Ireland or Norway are pitching.

But Canada is the best connected of the three countries in a time when multilateralism is struggling, Chapnick said.

He pointed to Canada being a member of the Commonwealth, La Francophonie, and the G7 and G20. “We are better placed to bring more countries together.”

But as long as COVID-19 remains a pandemic, the nature of having a seat in the UN’s most powerful body will look and likely feel different.
POOL VIA GETTY IMAGES

A view of members taking part on screen during an emergency G20 virtual summit to discuss the coronavirus crisis on March 26, 2020.

Like many workplaces around the world adjusting their workflows to the coronavirus pandemic, the Security Council has moved its meetings online. It’s a trend that will likely continue until an effective vaccine for COVID-19 comes to market.

Despite the fact that ambassadors are currently not physically sitting next to each other every day, Chapnick said there’s still diplomatic value in having a seat on the council.

“We’re really struggling to negotiate with the Chinese, the release of the two Michaels,” he said, referring to the two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig who have been detained in China since December 2018. “It couldn’t hurt to have a seat beside a major Chinese diplomat every day for two years at the Security Council.”

Of course, rubbing physical shoulders with someone is currently verboten from a public health perspective. It’s too early to say if the loss of small talk and in-person access between diplomats will remedy or exacerbate the UN body’s current dysfunction.

Members can always take their interactions to private digital rooms, Chapnick said, emphasizing opportunity in a time of scarce interpersonal interactions. “You may have fewer interactions, but those interactions are likely to be more serious and deeper.”

With files from The Canadian Press

https://soundcloud.com/huffpost-follow-up/31-canada-aches-for-redemption-at-the-united-nations

India, Mexico, Norway, Ireland elected to UN Security Council

POOL/AFP/File / Stephane LEMOUTONThe UN Security Council room seen in 2017

The UN General Assembly elected on Wednesday four new members of the Security Council for 2021 and 2022, with Canada losing out again and the battle for the African seat going to a second round.

India, Mexico, Norway and Ireland were chosen as non-permanent members, while Djibouti and Kenya -- both of which failed to receive the two-thirds vote majority required to win -- will go to a second round of voting on Thursday.

Canada was beaten once again for one of the Western seats, by Ireland and Norway, despite a long and star-studded campaign, a result likely to be a blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

In the Asia-Pacific region, India -- which has been trying unsuccessfully to win a permanent seat in an expanded Security Council -- ran unopposed to win 184 votes out of the 192 countries that participated in the election.

The result means that India will now have a seat at the same table as China, just days after the two nations disputed their Himalayan border, trading blame for a brawl that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead.

Mexico, which also ran unopposed, earned 187 votes.

African nations have in the past picked their own candidate but were unable to put forward a single country this time. Kenya received 113 votes against Djibouti, which got 78.

Kenya boasts of enjoying the support of the African Union, but Djibouti says it should have the seat due to Nairobi's past participation on the Security Council and the principle of rotation.

French-speaking Djibouti and English-speaking Kenya are both highlighting their roles in seeking peace on the Horn of Africa, as well as their contributions to UN peacekeeping options.

Kenya has pointed to its welcome to refugees from Somalia and South Sudan, as well as to its support to the two countries' fragile governments.

Djibouti, in turn, notes its strategic location and unusual role as a defense base for diverse countries -- France, the United States, China and Japan -- as well as its contributions in Somalia.

For Europe and the Western seats, the competition was more customary.

Canada -- already stung by a defeat in 2010 during its last bid for the Security Council, when the General Assembly chose Portugal instead -- was dominated by Norway, with 130 votes, and Ireland, which had 128, the minimum number required to win.

Trudeau had invested heavily in the latest Security Council effort, with the defeat potentially causing him political embarrassment at home.

"As we move forward, we remain committed to the goals and principles that we laid out during this campaign," Trudeau said in a statement, adding that Canada would "continue to play a vital role in advancing global cooperation and building a more peaceful, inclusive and sustainable world."

- Celine Dion vs Bono -

Getty Images North America/Getty Images/AFP/File / Michael NagleU2 frontman Bono visits the United Nations in 2008

Hoping to woo delegates, both Canada and Ireland had wielded star power: Celine Dion sang in New York City to promote Canada at the UN, while U2 performed a concert in the Big Apple for Ireland.

"Campaigning for a UNSC seat involves endless lobbying, entertaining and worrying that the ambassador who just promised you a vote is a liar," tweeted Richard Gowan, an expert on the world body at the International Crisis Group.

Fearing fraud or manipulation, the General Assembly did not vote electronically, even though the United Nations is mostly operating virtually until the end of July due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead, each of the 193 delegations had a chance to cast a secret ballot at a designated time scattered throughout the day in the famous Assembly Hall. Each new Security Council member needed to win two-thirds of the votes cast.

The Security Council has 10 non-permanent members in addition to the veto-wielding Big Five -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

The General Assembly also elected Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir as its president for the 2020-21 session on Wednesday.

Bozkir was the only candidate running, but Armenia, Cyprus and Greece -- all of which have historically tense relations with Turkey -- opposed him, meaning he could not be elected by consensus and nations had to cast votes

Trump asked China's Xi for re-election help, claims Bolton
WHAT TRUMP ACCUSED BIDEN OF DOING IN CHINA HE IS GUILTY OF HIMSELF


AFP/File / Jim WATSON, PETER KLAUNZERUS

 President Donald Trump asked his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for help winning the 2020 election, a new book by former adviser John Bolton alleges

Donald Trump pleaded with China's leader Xi Jinping for help to win re-election in 2020, the US president's former national security advisor John Bolton writes in an explosive new behind-the-scenes book, according to excerpts published Wednesday.


Bolton alleges in a blistering critique that Trump's focus on winning a second term was the driving principle of his foreign policy -- and that top aides routinely disparaged the Republican leader for his ignorance of basic geopolitical facts.


In excerpts published by The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, Bolton also claims Trump repeatedly showed a readiness to overlook Chinese human rights abuses -- most strikingly telling Xi the mass internment of Uighur Muslims was "exactly the right thing to do."


"I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my White House tenure that wasn't driven by reelection calculations," Bolton writes of the real estate magnate turned president, who was impeached in December for seeking dirt from Ukraine on his 2020 Democratic election rival Joe Biden.


In a key meeting with Xi last June, Trump "stunningly turned the conversation to the US presidential election, alluding to China's economic capability to affect the ongoing campaigns, pleading with Xi to ensure he'd win," Bolton claims in his upcoming tell-all.


Bolton writes that Trump stressed the importance of US farmers and how "increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat" could impact the US electoral outcome.


"I would print Trump's exact words but the government's prepublication review process has decided otherwise," Bolton says, referring to the requirement months ago that he have his manuscript vetted by US agencies.


In a sign of Trump's anger over the memoir, the Justice Department filed an emergency order late Wednesday seeking a halt to publication, the second time in as many days it has tried to block the book.


Arguing that Bolton failed to allow completion of the vetting, the department urged the court to take action to "prevent the harm to national security that will result if his manuscript is published to the world."


Bolton "broke the law" by divulging "highly classified information," Trump said in a late Wednesday interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity.


He also derided his former advisor, a veteran Washington insider, as "washed up," and mocked Bolton's past support for the US war in Iraq.


In the released excerpts Bolton said that by intervening in cases involving major firms in China and Turkey, Trump appeared to "give personal favors to dictators he liked."


He describes "obstruction of justice as a way of life" in the White House, and says he reported his concerns to Attorney General William Barr.


- 'Morally repugnant' -


The bombshell book, "The Room Where It Happened," is due for release next Tuesday, in the thick of a presidential campaign against Democrat Biden.








AFP/File / SAUL LOEB 

Former national security advisor John Bolton (L) makes a series of startling allegations against US President Donald Trump in his new behind-the-scenes memoir about his time at the White House

The former vice president said that Bolton's revelations show Trump "sold out the American people to protect his political future."


"If these accounts are true, it's not only morally repugnant, it's a violation of Donald Trump's sacred duty to the American people to protect America's interests and defend our values."


The conservative Bolton, himself a controversial figure in US politics, spent 17 turbulent months in the White House before resigning last September.


He declined to testify during the December impeachment process in the House of Representatives, then said in January he would testify in the Senate trial if he were issued a subpoena.


Senate Republicans blocked such an effort by Democrats.


Bolton did not explicitly say whether Trump's newly revealed actions amounted to impeachable conduct but argued that the House should have investigated them.


He also said Democrats committed "impeachment malpractice" by limiting their inquiry to "the Ukraine aspects of Trump's confusion of his personal interests."


Had they looked more widely, Democrats might have persuaded Republicans and other Americans that "high crimes and misdemeanors" had been perpetrated, he wrote.


- World's 'most dangerous' man? -


Bolton depicts a chaotic White House in which even seemingly loyal top aides mocked the president -- while Trump himself allegedly ignores basic facts such as Finland being distinct from Russia.


During Trump's 2018 summit with North Korea's leader, according to excerpts, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slipped Bolton a note maligning the president, saying "He is so full of shit."


Several behind-the-scenes books have emerged in recent years alleging damning Trump details, but Bolton is the highest-ranking official to write one.


Another potentially damaging take looms, this time from within Trump's family.


The president's niece, Mary Trump, releases her memoir, featuring the scathing title "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man," on July 28.


Trump has sought to halt the books, but constitutional experts told AFP it would be unlikely for courts to block their publication.