Freeport Indonesia workers end protest at Grasberg
Reuters | August 28, 2020

Grasberg mine on the island of New Guinea, one of the world’s biggest sources of copper and gold. (Image: Google Earth.)

Workers at Indonesia’s Grasberg gold and copper mine on Friday ended a protest demanding an easing of a coronavirus lockdown at the mine operated by a local unit of Freeport-McMoran Inc, a workers’ representative and the company said.

Mining operations were disrupted after protesters had blocked access to the world’s second-largest copper mine since Monday, calling on the company to resume a bus service to allow them to travel to a nearby town, and for a bonus payment.

Yonpis Tabuni, a workers’ representative, said by text message that all their demands had been met and the protest had ended.


FREEPORT EMPLOYS 13,000 PEOPLE IN TEMBAGAPURA, THE CLOSEST TOWN TO THE GRASBERG MINE

He shared a video showing workers opening up road blockades, partially shrouded by thick fog and rain, at the mine located at a mountain-top mining complex in the easternmost region of Papua.

“We have reached peace with the management,” said another worker who declined to be named, adding that the company had given them a written memo of the agreement. Freeport Indonesia confirmed on Friday the blockades had been removed after earlier saying the local government had given permission to ease lockdown restrictions.

Riza Pratama, a spokesman for Freeport Indonesia, said on Thursday the company and local government had agreed to ease curbs to allow workers to leave the mine area and visit the nearby town.

Local authorities would allow some workers to leave Grasberg each day after passing rapid test screening for the coronavirus, instead of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, he said.

They would also need to pass a temperature check upon arriving at the nearby town. Pratama said 4,600 workers who had not taken any leave since April would be prioritised. Freeport employs 13,000 people in Tembagapura, the closest town to the Grasberg mine. Of those, 389 had tested positive for the coronavirus and all but 28 had recovered, Pratama said on Wednesday.

(By Agustinus Beo Da Costa, Fransiska Nangoy and Ed Davies; Editing by Martin Petty)

Freeport to ease lockdown in bid to end protest at Grasberg

Reuters | August 27, 2020

Grasberg copper-gold mine Papua province, Indonesia (Image: NASA)

The Indonesian unit of Freeport-McMoran Inc said on Thursday it would ease a lockdown at its Grasberg gold and copper mine after a protest this week by workers angry over not being able to leave the mountain-top mining complex for months.

Mining operations have been disrupted after workers have blocked access to the world’s second-largest copper mine in the easternmost region of Papua since Monday, demanding transport out of the mine resumes and to receive a bonus for working during the pandemic.

Riza Pratama, a spokesman for PT Freeport Indonesia, said the company and the local government had agreed to ease curbs to allow workers to leave the mine area and visit the nearby town, but had yet to reach an agreement with workers on the policy implementation.


FREEPORT EMPLOYS 13,000 PEOPLE IN TEMBAGAPURA, THE CLOSEST TOWN TO THE GRASBERG MINE

Local authorities were allowing some workers to leave Grasberg each day when they passed rapid test screening for the coronavirus, instead of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, he said.

“They have to take rapid test when leaving, but there’s only a limited number of tests at a time and the number of buses is also limited,” he said. “That’s what we are trying to regulate now.”

The workers will have to also pass a temperature check upon arriving at the nearby town.

Pratama said 4,600 workers who had not taken any leave since April would be given priority, but a worker said the protest would go on until there was a written agreement.

“We will open the access only when we have the inter-office (memo) from the management in our hands,” said a worker who declined to be named for fear of repercussions.

The worker said a deadline had been set for 6 pm (0900GMT) for it to be issued, otherwise the protest would continue on Friday.

Freeport employs 13,000 people in Tembagapura, the closest town to the Grasberg mine. Out of these, 389 had tested positive for the coronavirus, with 361 of them now recovered, Pratama said on Wednesday.

(By Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Ed Davies)

Academia needs a reality check: Life is not back to normal
By June Gruber, Jay J. Van Bavel , William A. Cunningham, Leah H. Somerville, Neil A. Lewis, Jr.

Aug. 28, 2020

Academic scientists are facing an ominous start to the academic year. Some universities are welcoming students back to campus with detailed COVID-19 testing and prevention guidelines. Others have suddenly retracted in-person plans, moving to fully online courses as coronavirus cases spiked. “We all should be emotionally prepared for widespread infections — and possibly deaths — in our community,” a professor at Yale University wrote to students in a 1 July email.

The problems don’t end there. Many academics are also grappling with ongoing racial injustices and associated protests, wildfires, and hurricanes. We continue to see widespread effects on mental health, with roughly one-third of Americans reporting symptoms of clinical depression or anxiety. June and her colleague recently described the escalating mental health crisis as the next biggest coronavirus challenge.

We have struggled with our own mental and physical well-being—as well as challenges associated with canceled vacations, lack of child care, the illnesses and death of people close to us, and the mental weight of difficult conversations about racial injustices. We’ve also been worrying about our trainees and the undergraduate students in our classes. The academic and nonacademic job markets have cratered, and some of our colleagues and students have lost internships and job offers as organizations have been forced to cut expenses.

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To be absolutely clear: This. Is. Not. Normal.

And now, with the start of the semester upon us, we continue to receive a massive influx of emails from colleagues detailing service expectations, urgent meetings, new teaching expectations, research disruptions, and complex new policies. We are expected to create malleable teaching plans for in-person and online instruction, oversee the safety of in-person activities, and carry forth with our normal research programs and service duties.

All of this can feel incredibly overwhelming. That’s why we feel strongly that the scientific community needs to take a step back, once again, and recalibrate our expectations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some universities may be reopening. But with all the grim statistics and uncertainty, one thing is clear: Things may not be back to normal for many months to come (if ever). As we adapt our expectations for ourselves and others, we suggest three principles for facing reality during the upcoming semester:
Acknowledge that things are not normal

This is a moment for empathy and understanding. Don’t pretend that things are normal or that your lab can go back to “business as usual.” It’s important to openly discuss what is going on with your group members. As June noted in an earlier column, it is essential to support your own mental health, as well as that of your trainees and colleagues.
The previous Letter to Young Scientists


The team-written Letters to Young Scientists column offers training and career advice from within academia.



How to be an ethical scientist
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If you’re in a position of power, you may want to remind those in your research group that this is a stressful and unprecedented pandemic and that it’s OK for work to be slowed down or postponed altogether. You may also want to advocate for early-career scientists who are afraid to ask for extensions or remote options to reduce their risk of infection.

Consider changing your email signature or syllabus to acknowledge these issues and provide as much flexibility as possible for assignments, lectures, and meetings. Several of us have adjusted our email signatures or created automatic email responses as a small way of reminding people that things are not normal. For example, Jay’s autoemail reply reads, “Due to the coronavirus pandemic and a significant loss of childcare, I will not be able to respond to most requests without losing sleep or my sanity until things return to normal.” In her courses, June has implemented a COVID-19 adjusted syllabus statement to explicitly acknowledge the stressful times students face.

We cannot fully understand everyone’s experiences during this period of crisis. However, by sharing our own vulnerabilities and challenges, we can open the door for discussion. Even a small amount of empathy and accommodation can go a long way.
Respect child care and other personal needs

Six months into the pandemic, many parents are still dealing with the need to care for children at home full-time and to serve as homeschool teachers. Recent research indicates parents may be one of the highest risk groups for mental health distress during these times. This may be especially true for women, who often assume more household or child care duties.

June, Wil, and Jay have young children, and we’ve all been struggling. We consider ourselves to be comparatively privileged parents, with stable and flexible jobs. Our experiences underscore how hard it must be for scientist parents who are in more precarious employment situations.

Be kind to students and colleagues who have children, and who may be barely holding things together. Brainstorm flexible work schedules, provide explicit or default options to turn off their cameras on Zoom calls, and offer frequent check-ins to let them know you are there to support them during this challenging time.
Triage what work is essential and reasonable

Don’t hold yourselves, or your students, to the same standards as 2019. Be reasonable about what you can and cannot accomplish during this tumultuous time. Consider making a list of all your projects and responsibilities; then look that list over and identify what items can be either pushed back or dropped.

After Jay lost his child care and faced a tsunami of additional responsibilities at work, he had to recuse himself from four projects and defer a number of other projects until 2021. June let her lab know that she might be slower than usual in email responses while homeschooling her two young children. There is no shame in saying no to something you simply cannot handle under the circumstances. Indeed, saying no may be the only thing that allows you to focus on and accomplish your more urgent priorities.

We also suggest flexibility on the part of those in power. Faculty members and university administrators should think about changing their expectations for students, postdocs, and others who work under them. If possible, create individualized deadlines that meet people where they are.

Expecting the same output as in previous years, even though many people have less time and more stress than ever, is not a sustainable or humane solution. The world is not normal—so the way we do science cannot be normal either.

Send your thoughts, questions, and suggestions for future column topics to letterstoyoungscientists@aaas.org and engage with us on Twitter.

Read more from Letters to Young Scientists
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doi:10.1126/science.caredit.abe5459


June Gruber

June Gruber is an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

WINDSOR ASSEMBLY PLANT WORKERS TO HOLD VIRTUAL STRIKE VOTE AT MIDNIGHT

GORD BACON

Sign at the FCA Windsor Assembly Plant on the corner of Drouillard Road and Tecumseh Road East in Windsor. (Photo by AM800's Teresinha Medeiros)

Workers at Windsor Assembly Plant are set to vote on a strike mandate, but the union hall will be empty.

More than 6,400 members will vote on whether or not to give Unifor Local 444 the legal right to strike virtually Sunday from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m.

Local President Dave Cassidy says it's going to be a first for the union.

"This is different. We usually meet with our members, talk with our members and we have a lot of face to face meetings, but because of COVID-19 we can't do that," says Cassidy.

Cassidy expects a ratification vote will still need to be held online.

"Instantaneously we'll have the results from it, but it's just a different world. Even when we do get a deal in place, and we will get a deal in place, then we'll have to ratify it the same way, electronically," he added.

With a lot of new faces in the plant, Cassidy made sure everyone understands a strike mandate doesn't mean there will be a job action.

"We've explained it enough, put communications in the facilities. Me and the plant chair spoke yesterday because there is some turmoil inside the plant with all the job changes," says Cassidy. "We have around 500 workers on lay off."

Cassidy says the current collective agreement expires just before midnight on Sept. 21.

He says getting another vehicle in production at the plant will be a major focus.

Talks with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Canada are set to begin Monday in Toronto.

Current Physical Distancing Measures Are Based on 'Outdated Science', Say Researchers

CARLY CASSELLA
28 AUGUST 2020


A one-size-fits-all measure for physical distancing in the time of COVID-19 fails to account for numerous factors that could spread the virus further, more and more experts are coming to agree.


When coughing or shouting, recent systematic reviews have shown respiratory droplets can travel more than a couple metres. In one study, a violent exhalation of air spread some droplets eight metres away (26 feet) in just a few seconds.

A one- or two-metre rule could very well be sufficient in some situations, but scientists in the United Kingdom say we need a more nuanced model.

Right now, they explain, the rules we have don't take into account subtle factors like ventilation, time spent together, indoor or outdoor settings, mask use, or the type of social activity occurring - all of which could impact the spread of the coronavirus.

What's more, distancing rules often don't consider the size of airborne droplets, how much virus the droplets can carry, or how susceptible others are to these viral loads.

Nevertheless, most regulations for this pandemic fall between one and two metres, and the UK has recently reduced theirs to one metre or more.

Critics of stricter measures say we are being too cautious, and while that's probably true in some situations, in other cases, scientists argue we are likely not being wary enough.


"Instead of single, fixed physical distance rules, we propose graded recommendations that better reflect the multiple factors that combine to determine risk," the authors of the new analysis write.

"This would provide greater protection in the highest risk settings but also greater freedom in lower risk settings, potentially enabling a return towards normality in some aspects of social and economic life."

The review joins several other recent critiques of current social distancing rules. In July, hundreds of scientists co-wrote a comment piece urging the World Health Organisation (WHO) to reconsider its advice to "maintain at least one metre (three feet) distance between yourself and others."

"The WHO say that there is insufficient evidence to prove aerosol/airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is happening," one of the comment's authors explained.

"We are arguing that there is insufficient proof that aerosol/airborne transmission does not occur."

To what extent that occurs is another matter, but there's mounting evidence the coronavirus is airborne, even in tiny droplets, so the new analysis from the UK takes a similarly prudent approach.


Some recent reviews have found the risk of being infected with COVID-19 within a metre is roughly 13 percent, whereas beyond a metre, it's only 3 percent.

Still, the authors of this new analysis say estimates are based on flawed and often outdated science, some of which goes all the way back to the 1930s. All those decades ago, we predicted how far respiratory droplets can fly when a human coughs or sneezes. Yet that simple model doesn't examine viral load, different sizes of droplets that can travel over a range of distances, or the type of virus itself.

Without exhaled airflow, for instance, large droplets appear to travel at max two metres away, while small ones succumb to drag and evaporation much sooner. With exhaled airflow, on the other hand, clouds of small droplets have been shown to travel beyond two metres.

A study at a hospital in Wuhan, China even found traces of coronavirus hanging in the air roughly four metres away from patients.

Some infectious disease specialists aren't too worried by this, as smaller doses of airborne coronavirus may not pose as big a threat of infection.

A systematic review of social distancing measures, commissioned by the WHO, found that a metre or more of separation could decrease transmission risk by roughly 10 percent. Yet scientists in the UK argue those data are largely based on other coronaviruses, and only partially account for environmental conditions.

While it's hard to trace back individual infections to their precise source and the distance the person was at, there's reason to suspect respiratory droplets might play a part in the current spread of the pandemic - at least in some situations.

In meat packing plants, for instance, outbreaks have been particularly bad, and the authors say this is probably compounded by higher levels of worker contagion, poor ventilation, cramped conditions, background noise (hence, shouting), and not enough mask wearing.

The same sort of conditions might be expected in a pub or a live music venue, they add. We've already seen cluster outbreaks in gyms, call centres and churches, where people talk, pant or sing loudly.

At a choir practice in the United States, one symptomatic person was actually found to have infected at least 32 other singers, and possibly 20 more cases yet to be confirmed, even though the choir members were socially distancing.

These documented outbreaks require an explanation, the authors argue, otherwise they'll just keep happening.

Even as restaurants and bars reopen, countries like the UK are still telling people to stay at least a metre apart, and that could end up misleading the public, making people feel safer than they actually are in riskier situations.

"Physical distancing should be seen as only one part of a wider public health approach to containing the COVID-19 pandemic," the new analysis concludes.

"It should be used in combination with other strategies to reduce transmission risk, including hand washing, regular surface cleaning, protective equipment and face coverings where appropriate, strategies of air hygiene, and isolation of affected individuals."

The study was published in BMJ.

Power to the people: why clean energy must give more Australians a slice of the pie

Australians are far more welcoming of change than we expect, and are furious at having been shut out of being direct participants

Once operational, wind turbines and solar panels do not require the same level of active human involvement as traditional power stations like coal and gas Photograph: David Gray/Reuters

Ketan Joshi
@KetanJ0
Sat 29 Aug 2020

In August 2015, I spent a cold night at the old TAB Royal Hotel in Manildra (population: 765), near Orange in central New South Wales. It wasn’t familiar territory. A sign behind the bar yelled: “MEN: no shirt, no shoes, no service. WOMEN: no shirt, free drinks.”

My colleague and I, as part of the communications team for the renewable energy company Infigen, were there for an open day talking to community members about the company’s proposed solar farm nearby. The day had been quiet. A few locals wandered in, curious about our work, but mostly wielding questions about how they might get solar on their own rooftops. Our Sydney office staff had booked a more upmarket hotel in a larger town nearby for us, but once we arrived my colleague insisted on cancelling to stay at the Royal, which was only a few hundred metres from the planned site.

“I just want to support the really local businesses, you know,” my colleague told me. It is an important habit. When a solar or windfarm is being built, the people who build it stay nearby, they eat and drink at local shops, and they procure materials and services from local businesses. This is a significant boost for regional towns that, in the past few decades, have suffered a variety of stressors, including drought, and, more recently, a drop in tourism due to bushfires and Covid-19.
The number of jobs in the wind industry has remained steady, even though the number of wind turbines in Australia has increased

Supporting local business is necessary, but insufficient as a tool for ensuring full participation in the clean energy transition. Employment and economic benefits associated with development and construction are significant, but, once operational, wind turbines and solar panels do not require the same level of active human involvement as traditional power stations like coal and gas. Renewable energy is cheap partly because it requires little human intervention, and that low cost translates into lower electricity prices for everybody. It also means more money can be given back to the community in other ways.

Renewable energy jobs rely mostly on new growth, rather than existing projects. But the “jobs” narrative around renewable energy has, problematically, failed to provide clarity about this temporal skew. This is borne out in the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ figures on wind power employment, which show that the number of jobs in the wind industry has remained steady, even though the number of wind turbines in Australia has increased significantly (see graph below).

Photograph: NewSouth Books

The three categories of traditional sharing of benefits from wind power projects – landholder payment, community enhancement funds, and jobs and economic benefits during construction – bring important and positive changes to communities. But together they have been insufficient in addressing a powerful perception of injustice, disconnection and unfairness felt by those living near the big new manifestations of climate action.

Technologies, when built, are fiercely opposed, but are soon welcomed once their benefits are spread more equitably across neighbours. Andrew Dyer pointed out a precedent in the early days of mobile phone towers: “I think there’s lots of parallels. There’s a mobile phone tower 200 metres from our house. I don’t recall any protests or issues about that.”

Renewable energy is, for both wind and solar, a marker of change. Photograph: David Mariuz/AAP

He’s right. Public objections to mobile phone towers, like we saw in clips from the mid 90s, aren’t dominating the nightly news. Things have changed. “I think over time people are more accepting of something they know is a benefit. What’s changed attitudes to towers has been the smartphone – when you realise it’s not just a rich person in their Rolls-Royce with a car phone driving ‘cancer-causing’ mobile phone towers to be erected, it’s actually the thing that gives you Facebook access and lets you see what your nieces are up to, it makes you far more tolerant.”


Is there a way to make renewable energy as directly beneficial to those living nearby as mobile phones have been to those of us plugged into the world via social media? Dyer strikes at the heart of the problem. Renewable energy is, for both wind and solar, a marker of change. It is a physical and aesthetic alteration, as the landscape is transformed within months, in front of the eyes of those who have gazed at the same shapes for decades. It is an ideological change, as our species seeks to capture and utilise its lifeblood – energy – in a totally new way. It is a political change, whether we like it or not.

For so long, the narrative around opposition to renewables was that these people were resistant to change, but I challenge that. I argue that they are, in fact, far more welcoming of change than we expect, and are furious at having been shut out of being a direct participant in it. The benefits of renewable energy are already known by some, but they have not been properly made available to people who have been screaming out for a slice of the pie.


NSW government says renewable energy zone in New England could power 3.5m homes
Read more

In 2012, researcher Nina Hall led a report on behalf of the CSIRO into social acceptance of windfarms in Australia. She pointed to “psychological identification” as a key goal for local responses to renewable energy, as opposed to more passive “approval”.

“Psychological identification” strikes me as something that could be more simply described as love – a passionately happy and optimistic response to being granted the right to actively participate in the process of resolving the biggest problem in the world. “This effectively dissolves the us/them boundary,” wrote Hall and her colleagues.
 

Photograph: NewSouth Books

A paper by community energy researchers Jarra Hicks and Nicky Ison outlined significant opportunities for rural communities in Australia when participation in clean energy significantly increased. “While [community renewable energy] is a new sector in Australia, many opportunities exist for it to contribute to addressing climate change, community development and rural economic health,” they wrote.

The potential for greater participation is vast. Every new technological change required over the coming decade, including the growth of solar and transmission networks, new hydro and new batteries, could be subject to its own wind turbine syndrome–style campaign. Renewable energy needs to earn broader and stronger support from the communities that host it, through better participation and more equitable benefit sharing. Other countries have seized on the task of rapid construction of new forms of electricity generation, but largely avoided the serious and long-lasting delays that stem from community backlash. Australia has so much to learn from their experiences.


This is an edited extract from Windfall: Unlocking a Fossil-free Future, published on 1 September by NewSouth Books. $32.99

CRA Warning: You Might Have to Give Back Your CERB Payments!

Adam Othman
The Motley Fool August 27, 2020

Man with no money. Businessman holding empty walletMore


Suppose you are a Canadian citizen who lost your job due to COVID-19-related reasons. In that case, you might already be collecting the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The government began this fund as part of its COVID-19 response plan and instructed the CRA to distribute $2,000 over four weeks for 16 weeks.

CERB was supposed to last 16 weeks, but the government extended it in June by another eight weeks. If you began collecting CERB when it started, you might have exhausted your CERB period this month. The government announced another extension to the program. Canadians can receive CERB for up to 28 weeks, totaling $14,000.

The second extension to the program is a sigh of relief for many Canadians who continue to remain jobless due to the pandemic. However, you should be aware of the fact that you might not get to keep the CERB money you have received.
The CRA can take back the CERB

There is a chance you might be collecting CERB money without qualifying for it. There is an eligibility criterion that the CRA defined for people to be eligible for the funds. The CRA did not stringently check CERB applicants’ eligibility to speed up the process of delivering funds to people who need it the most.

Due to this relaxed approval process, many people who did not qualify for the benefit slipped through the cracks and received the money they should not have. Over 190,000 people have already returned the CERB because they did not qualify. If you’ve collected the money without checking the eligibility requirements, you might have to pay back the CRA.

Here are some of the factors that qualify you to receive CERB:
You must have earned at least $5,000 in the last 12 months.
You must not have earned more than $1,000 in the last 14 days.
You must not have been re-hired under the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program.
You must not be receiving Employment Insurance (EI) benefits during this period.

Even if you qualify for CERB, the program has an expiry date. You will need to earn income without the government’s help when it ends. Luckily, there are better ways to earn passive income without relying on government support.
Passive-income stream

Creating a dividend income portfolio can help you earn a substantial income. It requires the prerequisite of investing a substantial sum into income-generating assets like Brookfield Renewable Partners (TSX:BEP.UN)(NYSE:BEP) and earning through its dividend payouts.

Storing a stock like Brookfield in your Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) can help you earn a significant amount through dividends without worrying about paying income taxes on your growing wealth. Selecting the right equities to store in your TFSA is critical. You need to consider companies that can provide you with reliable dividends and capital growth if you want to become a wealthy investor.

Brookfield Renewable Partners fits the bill as both a reliable dividend stock and a stock with immense growth potential. BEP operates in the growing renewable energy industry. The industry is expected to grow to $5 trillion in the next five years through investments in renewable energy projects.

Brookfield has a leading position in the renewable energy sector. Founded in 2000, it owns $50 billion worth of assets, almost 5,300 renewable energy-generation facilities, and it is already operating a massive network of renewable energy distribution. The company has a diversified portfolio of solar, wind, and hydropower assets worldwide, and it continues to expand.
Foolish takeaway

Creating a dividend-income portfolio can provide you with significant passive income. A portfolio of robust stocks in your TFSA can grow your wealth without incurring income taxes. At writing, BEP is trading for $62.43 per share, and it pays investors at a decent 3.72% dividend yield. I think it could be an ideal stock to begin building a dividend income portfolio to replace CERB.

The post CRA Warning: You Might Have to Give Back Your CERB Payments! appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

Fool contributor Adam Othman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

SYRIA Landmine explosions | Child dies in Al-Hasakah’s Tal Tamr

On Aug 30, 2020

SOHR activists documented the death of a child in the explosion of an old landmine in Tal Tamr town in the north-western countryside of Al-Hasakah.

Syrian Observatory activists have documented the death of 352 people including 69 women and 104 children, by mines and IED explosions and the collapse of cracked residential buildings in several areas of the Syrian territory in Homs, Hama, Deir Ezzor, Aleppo and the Syrian South since early January 2019.

Old ordnance | Explosion kills and injures nearly 15 civilians in eastern Hama

On Aug 30, 2020

Syrian Observatory activists have documented the killing of a civilian and the injury of 13 others in the explosion of an old landmine in a car they were traveling in, in Al-Hamraa area in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.

Syrian Observatory activists have documented the death of 351 people including 69 women and 103 children, by mines and IED explosions and the collapse of cracked residential buildings in several areas of the Syrian territory in Homs, Hama, Deir Ezzor, Aleppo and the Syrian South since early January 2019.

Among the total death toll, there are 45 persons, including 30 women and five children, were killed during their search and collection of the truffle which grows in the areas that is subjected to heavy rain, and it is sold at very high prices.

WAIT WHAT?

Islamic State group behind Syria oil pipeline attack: US

TRUMP LIES 

On  TUESDAY Aug 25, 2020 DAY 2 OF GOP CONVENTION WERE WE WERE ASSURED THE GREAT LEADER HAD KILLED THE CALIPH OF ISIS AND THE ORG ITSELF

The suspected attack caused a nationwide blackout and is the latest to hit the country’s energy infrastructure

The Islamic State group (IS) was behind an attack on an oil pipeline in Syria that caused a nationwide blackout overnight, a US official said on Monday.

Earlier in the day, Syrian state media cited the nation’s energy minister as saying that the explosion on the Arab Gas Pipeline, between Adra and al-Dhamir, was the result of a “terrorist” attack.

But speaking from Geneva, US Syria envoy James Jeffrey said the incident appeared to bear the hallmarks of an IS attack.

“We are still looking into that. But it was almost certainly a strike by ISIS,” Jeffrey told reporters at the start of UN-sponsored talks of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, using a different name for IS.

Syrian state media published pictures of a night-time blaze it said was caused by the explosion, followed by images after dawn of a mangled land pipeline missing a large chunk.

Damascus residents told AFP they woke up on Monday with no electricity in their homes.

The Syrian government claimed the attack has been conducted by ‘terrorists’ (AFP)

The electricity minister said some power stations had been reconnected and power provided to vital infrastructure, adding that by dawn electricity was gradually returning to several provinces.

The incident was the latest in a string of alleged attacks against the government’s energy infrastructure.

In January, Syria’s government said divers had planted explosives on offshore pipelines in the Mediterranean Sea off the Banias refinery, but that the damage had not halted operations.

Syria’s war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced more than half the pre-war population since it started in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests.

It has also caused the Damascus regime to lose control of key oil fields, resulting in state hydrocarbon revenues plummeting by billions of dollars.

Source: Islamic State group behind Syria oil pipeline attack: US | Middle East Eye

Hydrogen Is Cleaning Up One Of The World’s Dirtiest Industries
By Haley Zaremba - Aug 27, 2020

Acceptance is the first step to recovery. One of the world’s dirtiest industries seems to have taken this tenet of the 12-step program to heart. It knows it has a problem, it knows it has to change, and it’s asking for help. That industry is the high-polluting global shipping sector, which currently runs on one of the most emissions-heavy kinds of fuel known to man--a particularly dirty heavy fuel oil also known as bunker fuel. “If all the ships on Earth were a single country, that country would be the sixth-largest polluter in the world.” This jaw-dropping fact comes from an NPR report from late last year. The shipping industry, by way of its massive scale and its dirty fuel, ranks just behind Japan in its pollution levels. But the shipping sector’s open approach to change makes it pretty unique.

As climate reporter Rebecca Hersher told NPR, “I cover a lot of big pollution-heavy industries as a climate reporter. And shipping has something going for it that's kind of cool, which is that they have publicly acknowledged that they have a problem - they're dirty [...] Second, they're actually trying to change it, which is good.” Putting their money where their mouth is, “Maersk, the largest shipping company in the world, has already promised to go zero carbon by 2050.”

Last year, Oilprice reported on what was then the most promising approach to provide the worldwide shipping industry with a meaner, greener fleet. This would be the implementation of hydrogen fuel cells, a technology that has already been around for decades. Experiments with hydrogen-powered yachts were already underway, and one poll showed that the industry as a whole largely favored the implementation and adoption of hydrogen fuel cells within the next five years.

But the industry has not put all its eggs in one basket. Just this week the Maritime Executive reported on a brand new green shipping fuel option that South Korea is bringing to the table. “A new cooperation of South Korean companies is being formed to develop bio heavy fuel as an alternative for the shipping industry to meet its goal for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,” wrote the Executive in its Monday report.

Korean shipping company HMM (formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine) is at the helm of this initiative, backed by “the participation of the Korea Bio Energy Association, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, and the Korean Register of Shipping to develop and promote the environmentally friendly fuel alternative.” HMM has reportedly already dug into research and development and is already testing bio heavy fuel on large container ships. In making this new partnership, HMM “will seek to expand the testing efforts both onshore and at sea to verify the fuel alternative and its performance.”

This marine biofuel would be created from biomass including “animal and plant oils, along with the production resides from the more common biodiesel fuel.” This reuse, reduce, recycle approach to shipping fuel would make for a much more eco-friendly shipping industry. As HMM has already found the materials as well as tested them out, all that’s left is bringing a product to market. “The partners will work together on R&D efforts to further establish standards for bio heavy oil and to commercialize the fuel through the development of a supply system,” reported the Executive. “If proven successful, the partners believe bio heavy fuel could become an alternative to the current fuels used in the shipping industry.”

South Korea is not alone in its efforts to commercialize biofuel that could clean up the shipping industry. GoodFuels, a company based in the Netherlands recently had success with its own sustainable marine bio fuel oil (BFO) “derived from forest residues and waste oil products.” The Durch company’s BFO was put to the test on a 10-day trial voyage of the 50,000 DWT MR tanker Stena Immortal, operated by Stena Bulk. Stena reported that the BFO “proved to be a technically compliant alternative to the fossil fuel typically used for oceangoing tankers” and that “based on the successful trial, Stena Bulk announced that it is introducing a new low-carbon shipping option for customers. The biofuel will be used within the Stena fleet, but because the company cannot confirm fuel availability on a specific route, customers will instead have the option of buying carbon offset credits by contributing to the overall cost of using biofuel aboard the company’s tankers.”

With the huge South Korean team hot on the tail of Stena and GoodFuels, and the implementation of hydrogen fuel cells likely not far behind that, we could be seeing much greener pastures and bluer waters for the shipping industry very soon.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

Calgary
Costco opens massive new store on Tsuut'ina Reserve, the first on a First Nation in North America

151,000 sq. ft. first to be built on a First Nation in North America

CBC News · Posted: Aug 28, 2020

First Costco on First Nation land opens near Calgary
There is lots of excitement about the massive new store on Tsuut'ina Nation, and that includes from its Calgary neighbours.

Dozens of shoppers were lined up and waiting as Costco opened a new 151,000 sq. ft. store Friday on the Tsuut'ina Nation just southwest of Calgary, its first warehouse to be located on a First Nation in North America.

It's the first anchor tenant in The Shops at Buffalo Run retail centre, part of the Tsuut'ina Nation's 1,200-acre Taza retail, office and tourism development.

The store is located at the new Taza Exchange retail development at 12905 Buffalo Run Blvd., at the corner of the newly built southwest Calgary Ring Road and 130th Avenue S.W.

Tsuut'ina Nation Chief Roy Whitney said he wanted to welcome Calgarians and other visitors onto the First Nation to see what he called a beautiful new store.
WATCH | Take a quick look inside in the video above

"It's going to create opportunities for Calgarians, as well as our own people," Whitney said at the grand opening ceremony Friday morning, where he was joined by provincial Indigenous Relations Minister Rick Wilson among others.

At least 88 new jobs have been created with its opening.

"We welcome Costco to Tsuut'ina, and look forward to strengthening our relationship with our neighbours and encourage them to celebrate the inception of Taza with us," Whitney said in a release before the ceremony.

"It's an honour to be the home of the first Costco on Indigenous land. Today is a momentous day for both the Nation and for southwest Calgary."

The new store features a large selection of specialty departments, including an on-site bakery, fresh meat, produce area, rotisserie chicken section, an optical centre — including an on-site independent optometrist — a hearing aid centre, photo centre, tire centre, large food court, liquor pod, gas station with 18 gas pumps, propane station and pharmacy.

Tsuut'ina Nation Chief Roy Whitney said the opening of the new Costco at the Taza Exchange development marked a great day for his nation and for Calgary. (CBC)

The store includes signage in both English and the Tsuut'ina language, Sarcee, and exterior and in-store landscaping and foliage that pays homage to Tsuut'ina landscapes, including rolling hills and planted greenery.

Dozens of shoppers waited outside and watched the ribbon-cutting ceremony so they could be among the first to see the new store.

Cindy Larsen, who was one of the first in line and lives in Calgary, said the store will not only ease congestion at other busy Calgary Costco locations but it will build more ties between people on the First Nation and in neighbouring communities.

"I think more than anything it will open up this community to people who are wondering what's on this land. I've never been out here so to see all the roadways and stuff out here, I think it will be a great boost for this community."

Costco Wholesale Canada senior vice president David Skinner in a release that with the opening of the company's seventh location in the Calgary area, Costco can provide southwest Calgary with a more convenient shopping experience.

"We are excited to be working with the Tsuut'ina Nation at Taza, and be able to give our valued members, businesses, and the surrounding community the advantage of shopping locally."

Costco is the first anchor tenant in The Shops at Buffalo Run retail centre, part of the Tsuut'ina Nation's 1,200-acre Taza retail, office and tourism development.

"The official opening of S.W. Calgary Costco validates that Taza is open for business," said Taza Development Corp. CEO William Briscoe in a release.

More stores and restaurants at the Taza retail, office and tourism development are scheduled to open in summer 2022.