EU, Turkey clash over Hagia Sophia, Mediterranean drilling

EU IMPOTENT LIKE UN

THE UN WILL HAVE TO SURROUND UNESCO SITES WITH PEACE KEEPERS

TO STOP THEIR NATIONALIZATION

1 of 12 https://apnews.com/3017394f54b5ecc13fc13384a7cfb110
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during a media conference after a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, July 13, 2020. European Union foreign ministers met for the first time face-to-face since the pandemic lockdown and will assess their discuss their relations with China and Turkey. (Francois Lenoir, Pool Photo via AP

BRUSSELS (AP) — Turkey and the European Union clashed on Monday over Ankara’s decision to change the status of Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque and its continued energy exploration in disputed Mediterranean waters.

After their their first face-to-face meeting in months, the 27 EU foreign ministers said that they “condemned the Turkish decision to convert such an emblematic monument as the Hagia Sophia,” EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said.

“This decision will inevitably fuel the mistrust, promote renewed division between religious communities and undermine our efforts at dialog and cooperation,” he said after the meeting of EU foreign ministers.

He said there was “broad support to call on the Turkish authorities to urgently consider and reverse this decision.” Hagia Sophia was originally built in Istanbul as a Christian cathedral, and the pope and others have expressed their sadness and criticism of the move by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas said Monday that the EU was “faced with a challenge and insult” meted out by Erdogan.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu hit back and rejected international intervention concerning its decision to convert Hagia Sophia back into a mosque.

“Hagia Sophia was left as a legacy as a mosque and must be used as a mosque,” Cavusoglu told state broadcaster TRT. “We strongly reject comments that amount to an intervention in Turkey’s sovereign rights.”

Borrell was in Turkey last week where he also discussed Ankara’s disputes with Greece and Cyprus over energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean region. Turkey has dispatched warship-escorted vessels to drill for gas in an area where Cyprus insists it has exclusive rights. The Turkish government has said it’s acting to protect its interests in the area’s natural resources and those of Turkish Cypriots.

Petsas said that Turkish drilling was blatantly contrary to international obligations and international law” and said that Greece would be looking to prepare a list for possible “political, diplomatic and financial” sanctions.

Again, Cavusoglu stood firm.

“If Greece were to turn away from its maximalist ways and agree to a fair sharing (of rights), and if it were to convince Cyprus to a fair sharing of revenues (from the exploration of natural resources), then 80% of our problems would solved,” Cavusoglu said.

Borrell said there were no immediate decisions at Monday’s meeting but that the ministers would revisit the issue at their next meeting in Berlin in August.

Even as the rift between both sides was deepening, the 27 EU ministers couldn’t get that close among themselves either. It was their first in-person meeting since the coronavirus lockdown set in, but because of social distancing rules, there was only room for lots of elbow bumping for a greeting and little reading of lips, since ministers were wearing masks around the meeting table.

___

Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Greece, contributed to this report.

#PRISONINDUSTRIALCOMPLEX

Congress questions private ICE detention center CEOs about pandemic response

July 13 (UPI) -- Four CEOs of private-sector immigrant detention companies defended their response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in front of a congressional subcommittee Monday.

Since the pandemic began, more than 3,000 detainees, 280 contractors and 45 ICE employees have tested positive for COVID-19. Two detainees and five contractors have died of complications after contracting COVID-19, a statement from Chairwoman Kathleen Rice, of the Border Security, Facilitation and Operations Subcommittee.

Rice said transfers between facilities and inadequate medical care are two factors spreading COVID-19 among detained populations.

Members of the House Homeland Security Committee requested testimony from heads of CoreCivic, Geo Group, Management and Training Corp and LaSalle Corrections after the DHS Inspector General issued a June report saying that facilities lacked the space to practice social distancing and lacked space to isolate detainees with symptoms or a coronavirus diagnosis.

More than 80 percent of the 34,000 immigrants in ICE custody are housed at privately run detention facilities. Contractors are paid $130 per day to house detainees.

Rice said ICE officials refused to attend the virtual hearing saying that the White House advised the agency not to testify in Congress unless the hearings were held in person.

CEOs said they worked with ICE to maintain best practices and that employees and detainees were tested regularly for symptoms and were then tested for COVID-19. Employees and detainees had access to masks, and were tested regularly, they said.

Whistleblowers from the Government Accountability Project and about 30 detainees who spoke to The New York Times have said that social distancing in ICE facilities is difficult, as 50-75 detainees are kept in each "pod" and that PPE for detainees is difficult to acquire.

Nearly half of the employees at a CoreCivic facility in Eloy, Ariz., recently tested positive for the virus, where CEO Damon Hininger, CEO of CoreCivic said that masks were "optional" for detainees.

Other committee members had questions about their specific local detention centers.

RELATED Supreme Court blocks Trump's move to end DACA program

"My office has heard reports of dozens and even hundreds of detainees being moved in and out of the Colorado facility with little or no notice to their families of their lawyers," said Joe Neguse, D-Colo.

Neguse asked about a disinfectant called HALT that was allegedly being used by Geo Group contractors in "crowded and confined spaces" in the Aurora, Colo., facility, saying that detainees were complaining of bloody noses and skin rashes.

George Zoley, CEO of Geo Group also denied to Neguse that detainees were asked to "volunteer" to clean common areas under threat of solitary confinement if they refused. The ACLU filed a $5 million class-action lawsuit in 2014 alleging that Geo Group had forced detainees to work as "slave labor" in the kitchens and laundry rooms for $1 per day.

ICE has worked within Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations and reduced the density of detainees to 70 percent in its facilities, said Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., the panel's ranking member.

The federal agency also released 900 detainees across the country who "posed a low risk to public safety," Higgins said.

Higgins complained that ICE contractors were doing their best to work with guidelines set by the CDC and Congress.

"We create ever moving goalposts for hardworking federal employees and contractors who are simply doing their jobs abiding by the laws as prescribed by Congress," Higgins said.

upi.com/7021718

A 51-Year-Old Immigrant Man From Mexico Has Died In ICE Custody After Testing Positive For COVID-19

The death comes more than a month after a Guatemalan man who tested positive for COVID-19 died in ICE custody.

Last updated on July 13, 2020,

Ted S. Warren / AP

A 51-year-old Mexican man has died in ICE custody at a Florida hospital after testing positive for COVID.

Onoval Perez-Montufa, 51, had been in ICE custody since June 15 and was detained at the Glades County Detention Center in Florida before he died on Sunday, ICE said in a statement. Perez-Montufa was a patient at Palm Beach County hospital since July 1 after reporting shortness of breath while in ICE detention.

He tested positive for COVID-19 on July 2, ICE said. The cause of death on Sunday was not immediately known.

Perez-Montufa's death comes more than a month after a 34-year-old Guatemalan man who had tested positive for COVID-19 died in ICE custody at a Georgia hospital in May. That man, 34-year-old Santiago Baten-Oxlaj, had been in ICE custody at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin since early March, the agency confirmed in a statement.

There are currently 883 cases of COVID-19 among the 22,579 inmates in ICE custody.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, medical experts and immigrant advocates have warned that the coronavirus would put detainees at risk. They have pointed to the inherent problems within jails — such as a lack of necessary space to accommodate proper social distancing guidelines — that put people in danger. Advocates have used these arguments as a way to push for more releases.

In March, ICE officials began assessing their inmate population to locate “vulnerable” detainees, including those who are over 60 or are pregnant.

Federal judges across the country have ordered the release of 502 ICE detainees since the beginning of the pandemic, citing the preexisting medical conditions of the immigrants released and the potential for life-threatening complications from COVID-19.


MORE ON THIS
An Immigrant Man In ICE Custody Died After Contracting The Coronavirus

Hamed Aleaziz · May 24, 2020

An Immigrant Who Tested Positive For The Coronavirus Has Died In ICE Custody

Hamed Aleaziz · May 6, 2020

Hundreds Of Immigrant Detainees Considered Vulnerable To The Coronavirus May Be ReleasedHamed Aleaziz · April 7, 2020



Adolfo Flores is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in McAllen, Texas..


Hamed Aleaziz is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in San Francisco.

Sea vegetables could become tasty new nutrition source


Sea asparagus and sea purslane are harvested by Professor Megan Davis (L) and staff as part of an aquaculture study at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. Photo by Megan Davis/Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute

ORLANDO, Fla., July 13 (UPI) -- Aquaculture experts and fish farm operators in Florida say a potential new crop, sea vegetables, could provide a tasty source of nutrition and generate revenue.

The native Florida vegetables that grow in salty areas near the ocean can be cultivated in fish farms using fish waste for fertilizer, according to new research. Such crops could provide a new sustainable and environmentally friendly source of nutrition, researchers say.

"I think there's a huge market for these sea veggies, which are more nutritious than even kale, the most nutritious soil-farmed plant," said Megan Davis, professor of aquaculture at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce, about 120 miles southeast of Orlando.

Davis led a 10-week study this spring to determine the best growing conditions for sea vegetables. Plants in the study were sea asparagus, which looks similar to regular asparagus; sea purslane, harvested for the fleshy leaves on long red stems; and saltwort, a smaller frilly plant.

RELATED Florida indoor farming firm turns pandemic disruption into opportunity

The plants are high in minerals, such as zinc and iodine, and vitamins, but Davis said she is awaiting a detailed nutrition analysis from the harvest.

"Obviously, a lot of people eat seaweed, but I think these sea vegetables appeal to a broader public. They have a crisp salty taste," Davis said.

Besides Florida, the sea vegetables are native to other coastal regions around the world. For the Harbor Branch experiment, they were grown in tanks that also raise fish, shrimp, urchins and oysters.

RELATED Iowa farm group restoring habitat for bees, fish

The vegetables were grown in three different types of hydroponic media -- sand, clay pebbles and only water with nutrients. Davis and other researchers used the waste from the marine life to provide nutrients, or fertilizer.

She said the sand provided the best growth in the study, which received $25,000 in funding from the state's marine-themed specialty license plate sales. One of the plants grew to weigh 2 pounds in 10 weeks.

Companies that farm fish, shrimp and clams said they were impressed with the findings by the institute, which is part of Florida Atlantic University.

RELATED Florida team studies hydroponic hemp as toxic algae remed

Shrimp farmer Robin Pearl said he'd like to add sea vegetables to his product lineup at his company, American Penaeid in Pine Island, Fla., 120 miles south of Tampa.

"We currently sell shrimp to many high-end restaurants, and we'd offer sea vegetables to the chefs who like new, interesting cuisine," Pearl said.

With 100 acres of shrimp tanks, Pearl's company has plenty of shrimp waste to use as fertilizer, he said.

"We've thought about doing this before, but we've been too focused on the business of growing shrimp. Given what we've learned, it might make sense now," Pearl said.

Shrimp are among many farmed marine products that could complement sea vegetables, said Carolina Panoff, sales and marketing manager at Seaventures Clam Co. in Fort Pierce.

Seaventures, founded in 2018, sells young clams to clam farmers. The company plans to grow sea vegetables, Panoff said.

"Sea vegetables look like an incredible market to get into. Seaweed is super healthy, and frankly, it should be available in every grocery store in the near future," Panoff said.

Poll: Most in U.S. wear mask in public 'always' or 'very often'
SURVIVAL OF THE FIT TESTED 

THESE PEOPLE WILL GET THE VIRUS ITS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME
Protesters rally against a mandatory statewide mask order in Ohio, at Edgewater Park in Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday. Photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI | License Photo

MOST AMERICANS ARE NOT AS STUPID AS TRUMP, THE GOP OR THE TRUMP BASE

July 13 (UPI) -- Nearly three-quarters of Americans say they always wear a face mask when in public or do so "very often," a new Gallup poll showed Monday.

The survey examined mask use among respondents and found the numbers vary a bit along different demographics.

According to the poll, 44 percent said they "always" wear a mask away from their home, while 28 percent said they do so "very often."
Eleven percent said they wear a mask in public "sometimes," 4 percent said they "rarely" do and 14 percent said they "never" do.

"Although a broad majority of Americans are wearing masks in public at least very often, fewer are doing so all the time recommended by the CDC and other health officials," Gallup wrote. "Since April, a growing minority of U.S. adults are eschewing mask usage."

Gallup said in another survey last week that 86 percent of respondents said they'd worn a mask in public and 11 percent said they'd never considered it.

Monday's survey found that women (54 percent), Democrats (61 percent) and residents in the U.S. Northeast (54 percent) are most likely to always wear a mask in public. The lowest share (33 percent) was seen in the Midwest.
Researchers said the findings are from the probability-based online Gallup Panel survey that was conducted between June 29 and July 5.

DEVELOPMENT RUSH 

State of emergency called in Arctic after Russian fuel spill

It was the second Russian fuel spill in the Arctic in two weeks 



Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a virtual meeting near Moscow on the remedial action after the diesel fuel spill in Norilsk on June 19. A second spill in the Arctic Sunday caused officials there to call a state of emergency. Photo by Alexei Nikolsky/EPA-EFE

July 13 (UPI) -- The Taimyr District administration declared a state of emergency in the Arctic's Tukhard settlement located in the country's Krasnoyarsk Region Monday after a pipeline lost pressure and released jet fuel into the environment.

The pipeline, owned by the Nornickel Company subsidiary Norilsktransgas, is used to transfer fuel to a tank. It lost pressure Sunday, causing the line to break.

"According to updated information, a total of 55 cubic meters of fuel contaminated over 30 square meters of soil," the district said in a statement. "The fuel has also spread into two bodies of water connected by a stream."

Authorities said the spill was contained and prevented from spreading into the Bolshaya Kheta River with the use of seven lines of containment booms.

The company said 44.5 tons of fuel spilled for about 15 minutes. Nornickel, a mining company, said there was no threat to life or to the health of people in the area, but an internal investigation into what happened has started.

It was the second Russian fuel spill in the Arctic recently. Two weeks ago, 20,000 tons of diesel fuel spilled into a river at a power plant near Norilsk, a town just north of the Arctic Circle. In that case, four power plant employees were arrested on charges of violating environmental regulations.

Norilsk's mayor was also charged with negligence. Sergey Dyachenko, the chief operating officer of Norilsk Nickel, blamed global warming for thawing permafrost beneath it for the spill.

States sue to block deportation of international university students


July 13 (UPI) -- Attorneys general in 18 states sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Monday over a new threat to deport international university students enrolled in online-only classes this fall.

Calling a July 6 Immigration and Customs Enforcement ruling "senseless and cruel," states led by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said the ICE decision imposes "an insuperable burden on our colleges and universities." The higher-learning institutions have until Aug. 4 to provide to ICE a list of every international student and certify that they are attending in-person classes.


Universities will have to choose "between keeping their international students enrolled and protecting the health and safety of their campuses," attorneys general said in filing their complaint. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

Universities have been developing programs to address how and whether students can return to in-person classes based on health recommendations amid the coronavirus pandemic. An earlier March ICE ruling allowed international students to switch to online classes "for the duration of the emergency" the suit said. Non-immigrant student F-1 and M-1 student visas were permitted under the previous rules.

Universities have developed protocols for the 2020 fall school schedule and which classes will be online and in-person, the suit said. Universities will have to choose "between keeping their international students enrolled and protecting the health and safety of their campuses," the complaint said.

RELATED California sues Trump admin over 'absurd' student visa policy

Losing international students will be devastating for university budgets, as they pay higher international tuition, the suit said. States could lose hundreds of billions of dollars in lost tuition, as well as fees for housing and other services, the suit said.

States co-filing the suit include Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. Private universities Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology filed similar lawsuits earlier.

The directive by ICE attacking university systems' bottom line was followed by a tweet Friday by U.S. President Donald Trump attacking the "Radical Left indoctrination" on college campuses.

RELATED Harvard, MIT sue to block ICE from removing student visas for online instruction

"Too many universities and school systems are about radical left indoctrination, not education. Therefore, I am telling the Treasury Department to re-examine their tax-exempt status... and/or Funding," Trump tweeted "...which will be taken away if this propaganda or act against public policy continues. Our children must be Educated, not Indoctrinated!"

RELATED ICE to require students on visas to leave universities that transition to fully online

British army to cut armored vehicles acquired for war in Afghanistan
PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY WAR IS WASTE

Heavily armored vehicles like the Mastiff, pictured, were useful in the Afghanistan war but offering no current advantage and are the next elements on Britain's list of equipment to be sold, British defense officials have said. Photo courtesy of British Ministry of Defense

July 13 (UPI) -- The British army intends to cull massive armored trucks using during the war in Afghanistan because, officials say, they have no practical purpose now, a plan revealed this month indicates.

The blast-proof trucks, designed to withstand roadside explosives, will be removed from service under the new Land Environment Fleet Optimization Plan, Defense Ministry Procurement Minister Jeremy said.

About 733 vehicles will be removed from service and likely sold to defense agencies of other countries, officials say.

Britain purchased thousands of armored vehicles to improve protection for patrol and logistics operations, but by ending its involvement in Afghanistan in 2014, it has little use for them, officials say.

With names like Mastiff, Ridgeback and Wolfhound, the U.S.-made vehicles stand out by their size and armament.

The Defense Ministry notes that the Mastiff is "a heavily armored, six by six-wheel-drive patrol vehicle which carries eight troops, plus two crew. It is suitable for road patrols and convoys and is the newest in a range of protected patrol vehicles being used for operations.

Mastiff has a maximum speed of 90kph [56mph], is armed with the latest weapon systems, including a 7.62mm general purpose machine gun, 12.7mm heavy machine gun or 40mm automatic grenade launcher."

The British Army has already removed over 2,800 vehicles from service as Britain reduces its catalog of military equipment. The next phase of cuts involves the armored vehicles, Quin said on July 2.

Britain's Conservative government, working with a gross domestic product reduced by 20 percent because of the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to shrink the military, which is roughly half the size it was when the Soviet Union fell in 1991.

Since 2010, two light aircraft carriers, two amphibious ships, four frigates, maritime patrol planes and carrier-compatible Harrier jump jets have been eliminated, and the number of service members dropped by 30,000.The army now has 89 fewer 316 Challenger 2 tanks and only about one-third of about 130 self-propelled howitzers available to it in 2010.

Ridgecrest temblors increase chance of San Andreas earthquake


The greater Los Angeles area lies near the San Andreas Fault, which researchers said Monday is at greater risk for an earthquake following two tremblors last year. Photo courtesy of Temblo

July 13 (UPI) -- The Ridgecrest temblors that hit California last year could make a San Andreas earthquake more likely, a new study found.

The likelihood is higher because the 2019 temblors in Ridgecrest, Calif., "stressed the Garlock Fault," and the Garlock Fault links the Ridgecrest faults with the San Andreas fault, researchers said in the study, published Monday in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.

The 6.4-magnitude and 7.1-magnitude Ridgecrest earthquakes caused no deaths and modest damage because they were in a remote desert area of Southern California, but they "could have far-reaching effects," according to researchers.

If another big earthquake ruptures the Garlock, it could cause a chain reaction that triggers a San Andreas earthquake north of Los Angeles, researchers said. The probability of such a rupture in the next year remains low at a 2.3 percent chance, but that's still 100 times higher than previous models have found.

"So, the sky is not falling, co-author Ross Stein, CEO of Temblor, which assesses the risks of earthquakes, told National Geographic. "But it is significantly higher, in our judgment, than what it would have been had the Ridgecrest earthquake not occurred."

FDA fast tracks possible COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, BioNTech

BIG PHARMA RACE FOR $$$$$ PROFITS 

AND MONOPOLY

Pfizer and BioNTech are evaluating at least four experimental vaccines in its BNT162 program, all based on an mRNA, or "messenger RNA," technique. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

July 13 (UPI) -- U.S. pharma giant Pfizer and BioNTech announced Monday that they have received "fast track" designation from U.S. health officials for two COVID-19 vaccine candidates.

The companies said the designation from the Food and Drug Administration -- a process used by reguators to speed the development and review of potential drugs and vaccines -- means a large-scale human trial of their BNT162b1 and BNT162b2 candidates could begin as soon as this month.

"The FDA's decision to grant these two COVID-19 vaccine candidates Fast Track designation signifies an important milestone in the efforts to develop a safe and effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 [the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19]," Pzizer Senior Vice President Peter Honig said in a statement.

The FDA granted fast-track status based on preliminary data from ongoing studies in the United States and Germany, as well as earlier animal studies.

ANOTHER WALL ST. PITCH 

Regeneron to launch Phase 3 trials of antibody 'cocktail' for COVID-19

Pfizer and BioNTech are evaluating at least four experimental vaccines in its BNT162 program, all based on an mRNA, or "messenger RNA," technique -- which, unlike traditional vaccines, does not use an inactivated virus but rather a portion of the coronavirus' own genetic code to trigger production of antibodies.

The initial results of the Phase 1 and 2 studies, published earlier this month, showed that all 24 participants who received lower dose levels of the BNT162b1 candidate generated antibodies against COVID-19.

Some of the antibodies were found to be "neutralizing," or sufficiently powerful to halt the virus. Pfizer called the results encouraging because the vaccine succeeded in activating antibody responses at least as robust as convalescent sera -- the antibody collected from patients who have recovered from COVID-19.

YES BUT NO Health officials: Quick work for COVID-19 vaccine a 'risk we have to take'

The companies said last month they're preparing to produce millions of vaccine doses this year and hundreds of millions in 2021.

Other vaccine candidates have also shown early promise in fighting COVID-19, including potential drugs from Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Moderna and China's CanSino Biologics.

SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/07/postmodern-monopoly-imperialism-as-u.html