GREEN FARMING

NFU report imagines possible future of farming in Canada

The National Farmers Union (NFU) released a new report this month, titled Imagine If.... A Vision of a Near-Zero-Emission Farm and Food System for Canada. It details strategies for tackling climate change and meeting global emission targets, presenting what farming could look like in Canada.

"What follows is neither prediction nor projection, but rather a picture of what could be—one possible future among many," reads the report, which is a follow up to their 2019 discussion paper, Tackling the Farm Crisis and the Climate Crisis.

Bess Legault of the Northern Co-Hort in Fort St. John says the report aims to support family farms across Canada, including farmers in the Peace region who have strong roots with the NFU.

“NFU is a family farm focused organization that tries to listen to our members and have a voice, so the average farmer is represented when policy decisions are made on the federal level,” said Legault. "We truly believe there is an ton of capacity for climate change solutions to happen on our agricultural landscape."

Legault says the report highlights a need to focus on soil health to increase biodiversity, produce nutrient dense crops and livestock, and reduce the need for synthetic nitrogen fertilizer.

The report also recommends the adoption of electric tractors to meet climate goals, and a return to traditional farming to reduce carbon footprint.

"It's a vision for the future, but it's based in real time climate science, and soil carbon capture science," Legault. "We do have very progressive producers up here."

Federal legislation aims to curb 30% of all fertilizer use by 2030.

"That's nine growing seasons from now. Knowing that we have many producers of all scales and modalities in the region, a lot of them are very dependent on synthetic fertilizer inputs for their production," said Legault. "We just want to have the federal government step up and support them with knowledge transfer and researchers."

The Peace region is home to the majority of B.C.'s prairie land, says Legault, with the potential to regionally process and store crops, creating food security for northern residents.

Despite the challenges, Legault feels Peace farmers have some distinct advantages, such as regenerative farming, precision agriculture, no-till production, rotational grazing, winter bale grazing, cocktail forages, and cover crop rotations.

“I do strongly believe that these producers need to be supported as they explore finding a carbon balance on their farms because ecology is complex,” said Legault. “We cannot expect our farmers to carry a depth of knowledge in topics that researchers spend decades exploring on top of being skilled agricultural producers specific to their farm or ranch.”

She added that increasing net incomes is also a goal of the report, as family farmers have experienced severe income drops over the last several decades, taking on more land and debt to stay in business.

tsummer@ahnfsj.ca

Tom Summer, Local Journalism Initiative, Alaska Highway News

America's most powerful oil lobby is changing its tune on a carbon tax

By Matt Egan, CNN Business 

The oil industry's most powerful lobbying group announced Thursday that for the first time it will support setting a price on carbon, a significant shift that underlines intensifying pressure on Washington and business to tackle the climate crisis

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© Kena Betancur/VIEWpress/Corbis/Getty Images Vehicles move along the The New Jersey Turnpike Way while a Factory emits smoke on November 17, 2017 in Carteret, New Jersey. The United States is still contributing to the global greenhouse gas emissions as the Trump Administration has dismantled the U.S. foreign-policy to reduce carbon pollution. Political divisions in the United States over climate change have spilled over to the outside world as seen at the COP23 United Nations Climate Change Conference that ends today in Bonn, Germany. (Photo by Kena Betancur/VIEWpress/Corbis via Getty Images)

But the devil will clearly be in the details. The American Petroleum Institute laid out a series of principles that must be met before the century-old group endorses a price on carbon.

The announcement is part of a broader framework unveiled by the API that includes calling for direct regulation of methane, expanded emissions transparency and stepped-up federal spending on energy research.

Advocates of carbon pricing say it is crucial to fighting the climate crisis, as it would accelerate efforts to curb planet-warming emissions and force investors, companies and individuals to bear the cost of pollution.

After years of debate, the API's support for "market-based" carbon pricing is part of an evolution by the group, which is among the most influential trade associations in Washington. The API opposed the last serious effort to impose a price on carbon in 2010, but ExxonMobil, Chevron and other industry leaders have since publicly backed carbon pricing.

"This is a pretty big deal for the industry. There is broad recognition that obviously the country has to do something on climate change," API CEO Mike Sommers told CNN Business in an interview. "We want to be a willing partner with the Biden administration and others in Congress who are serious about taking on this challenge."

The API's reversal on carbon pricing reflects a desire to help shape Washington's response to the climate crisis and set its own terms on how to protect the industry.

"It's a triage response. They are going on the offensive to propose something they can live with rather than be threatened by something that could have greater damage," said Ed Mills, Washington policy analyst at Raymond James. "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu."

Carbon tax is not a slam dunk

Notably, the API is not announcing blanket support for any form of carbon pricing, nor is it supporting a specific proposal.

Instead, the group said it will "advocate for sensible legislation that prices carbon across all economic sectors while avoiding regulatory duplication." The API laid out a series of principles that must be met before lending any support, including that US companies wouldn't be left at a competitive disadvantage globally. Sommers said both a carbon tax and a cap-and-trade program broadly fits within such a framework.

"This shouldn't be punitive against the oil-and-gas industry. We are an emitter, but we are not the only emitter," Sommers said.

Sommers said the API "absolutely" could withhold support for carbon pricing legislation that may emerge from Congress.

"It's not as if we would support any carbon tax or cap-and-trade program that is slapped onto a piece of legislation," Sommers said.

The lobby stressed that oil and gas aren't going away. The International Energy Agency expects both to be leading fuel sources even in 2040 if every nation meets the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Carbon pricing must meet the "dual challenge of continued economic growth while addressing the risks of climate change," the API framework said.

Yellen is strong supporter of carbon pricing

The API's shift on carbon pricing comes after the Business Roundtable, an influential CEO group, changed its tune on the issue last September to say it supports market-based carbon pricing to fight climate change. Exxon, the largest US oil company, previously announced plans in 2018 to financially support a carbon tax.

In January, France's Total quit the API in part because of the lobbying group's stance on carbon pricing.

There is growing momentum — and appetite — in Washington to take bold steps to address the climate crisis.

President Joe Biden has announced a goal of slashing net greenhouse gas emissions to zero in electricity by 2035 — and the entire economy by 2050.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is a strong supporter of carbon pricing. In a written response to questions from lawmakers, Yellen said in January that Biden supports "an enforcement mechanism that requires polluters to bear the full cost" of the carbon they are emitting.

"We cannot solve the climate crisis without effective carbon pricing," Yellen wrote.

UPDATED

Canadian Supreme Court says the federal carbon price is constitutional

OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada says the federal carbon price is entirely constitutional

The split decision upholds a pivotal part of the Liberal climate-change plan, accounting for at least one-third of the emissions Canada aims to cut over the next decade.

Chief Justice Richard Wagner says in the written ruling that climate change is a real danger and evidence shows a price on pollution is a critical element in addressing it.

“It is a threat of the highest order to the country, and indeed to the world,” Wagner wrote for six of the nine judges

Given that, said Wagner, Canada’s evidence that this is a matter of national concern, is sound.

“The undisputed existence of a threat to the future of humanity cannot be ignored,” he wrote.

Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson issued an immediate statement lauding the decision as "a win for the millions of Canadians who believe we must build a prosperous economy that fights climate change."

"The question is whether this decision will put an end to the efforts of Conservative politicians fighting climate action in court, and whether they will join Canadians in fighting climate change."

The onus was on the federal government to prove to the court that this is an issue of national concern that would allow it to take control of the matter rather than leaving it to the provinces.

The majority of the court found the federal government did that, noting all parties, including the provinces challenging the law, agreed climate change is “an existential challenge.”

“This context, on its own, provides some assurance that in the case at bar, Canada is not seeking to invoke the national concern doctrine too lightly," Wagner wrote.

Wagner also wrote provinces can’t set minimum national standards on their own and if even one province fails to reduce its emissions, that could have an inordinate impact on other provinces.

He noted that the three provinces that challenged the ruling also withdrew from the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. That agreement, signed in 2016, agreed to set a national carbon price.

"When provinces that are collectively responsible for more than two-thirds of Canada's total GHG emissions opt out of a cooperative scheme, this illustrates the stark limitations of a non-binding cooperative approach," he wrote.

That left the remaining provinces, responsible for only one-third of Canada's total emissions, "vulnerable to the consequences of the lion's share of the emissions being generated by the non-participating provinces."

He also said climate change in Canada is having a disproportionate impact on the Canadian Arctic, coastal communities and Indigenous territories.

Justice Suzanne Côté dissented in part, agreeing climate change is an issue of national concern but taking issue with the power the federal cabinet gave itself to adjust the law's scope, including which fuels the price would apply to.

Justices Malcolm Rowe and Russell Brown dissented with the entire decision, arguing Canada had not shown that climate change reaches the level of national concern. They objected that the precedent the majority's decision sets would allow Ottawa to set minimum national standards in all areas of provincial jurisdiction.

Wagner pushed back, finding there is a limited scope for national standards that is unchanged by this ruling.

Canada implemented the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act in 2019, setting a minimum price on carbon emissions in provinces that don’t have equivalent provincial prices, a law that was challenged by Saskatchewan, Ontario and Alberta.

The program applies a price per tonne to fuel purchases by individuals and businesses with lower emissions, and on part of the actual emissions produced by entities with large emissions, such as pipelines, manufacturing plants and coal-fired power plants.

The federal fuel-input charge applies in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, while the federal charge for big emitters currently covers only Manitoba and Prince Edward Island.

All other provinces have systems that meet the federal threshold.

The territories adopted the federal fuel charge.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2021.

A quick look at some of the reaction to the Supreme Court carbon tax decision

OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Thursday the federal carbon price is entirely constitutional. Here's a quick look at some of the reaction to the decision:© Provided by The Canadian Press

"We welcome the Supreme Court's ruling, but Canadians are still worried about the climate crisis and the lack of meaningful action from the Liberal government. They’re being asked to do their part, and they want to know it is making a real difference."

— Laurel Collins, NDP critic for Environment and Climate Change

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“Small firms simply cannot afford a further increase in their overall tax burden, especially as many remain in full lockdown or subject to significant COVID-19 related restrictions.”

— Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business

———

“The fact remains that this tax represents higher costs for millions of Canadian families and businesses, causing significant economic pain in exchange for no environmental gain."

— Aaron Wudrick, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

BULLSHIT 80% OF CANADIANS WOULD GET A REBATE 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2021.

The Canadian Press

Canada's top court upholds pillar of Trudeau's plan to fight climate change

By Nia Williams and Steve Scherer 

© Reuters/MARK BLINCH FILE PHOTO: Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau speaks during a Liberal Climate Action Rally in Toronto

CALGARY, Alberta/OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada's Supreme Court ruled in favour of the federal government's carbon pricing policy on Thursday, upholding a central pillar of Prime Minister Justin's Trudeau's climate plan and overriding opposition from some provinces.

The country's top court said climate change is a threat to the country as a whole and upheld the legality of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, which had been challenged by the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

Carbon pricing, often called a carbon tax by opponents, is the lynchpin of the federal government's plan to ultimately reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Ottawa will steadily ramp up the price of carbon to C$170 ($135.08) a ton by 2030, from C$30 a ton currently.

Canada is the fourth-largest oil producer in the world and the fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter on a per capita basis.

"Parliament has jurisdiction to enact this law as a matter of national concern," Chief Justice Richard Wagner wrote in the ruling. "All parties to this proceeding agree that climate change is an existential challenge. It is a threat of the highest order to the country, and indeed to the world."

Under the carbon pricing act, Ottawa can impose a federal levy on provinces that do not have an adequate carbon pricing system of their own. Opposing provinces argued this infringed on their jurisdiction, but the Supreme Court ruled federal intervention was justified.

The ruling was backed by six members of the nine-member court, with three dissenting opinions.

"This decision is a win for the millions of Canadians who believe we must build a prosperous economy that fights climate change," Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in a statement.

Canada needs to cut emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030 to fulfil its international climate commitments, which would involve slashing annual emissions to 511 megatons, compared with 729 megatons in 2018.

The Liberals unveiled a strengthened climate plan last year aimed at reducing emissions to 503 megatons.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said his government would unveil its own climate measures to avoid being subject to the "punitive and ineffective" federal carbon tax.

"Today's decision by the Supreme Court of Canada does not change our core conviction that the federal carbon tax is bad environmental policy, bad economic policy, and simply wrong," Moe said in a statement.

Ontario also released a statement outlining its own environment plan and Alberta did not immediately comment.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CCC) said the Supreme Court ruling provided policy certainty, but concerns remained about the competitiveness of Canadian businesses. "The issue is divisive for many Canadians," said Aaron Henry, a senior director at the CCC.

BULLSHIT

($1 = 1.2585 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Nick Zieminski)

Saskatchewan NDP respond to carbon tax defeat at Supreme Court



Ottawa – The governments of Saskatchewan, Ontario and Alberta suffered a defeat in their battle against the federal carbon tax on March 25 as the Supreme Court of Canada ruled 6-3 against their joint challenge. The ever-increasing carbon tax is the key initiative in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s fight against climate change. By 2030, that carbon tax is supposed to rise to $170 per tonne of CO2 equivalent, after having been introduced at $20 per tonne.

Saskatchewan’s Official Opposition New Democratic Party Leader Ryan Meili responded in an emailed statement. He said: “The Saskatchewan NDP caucus is focused on creating good jobs here in Saskatchewan, and prosperity for our province’s families and businesses. Today’s ruling means that Trudeau’s economy-wide carbon tax will continue to take more from the people of Saskatchewan than they get back, with people living in rural and remote areas being most affected. That’s not right.

“This economy-wide price on carbon is not something that Saskatchewan people, or the Saskatchewan NDP support. Scott Moe chose to maintain the Trudeau carbon tax for two whole years instead of trying to negotiate a better deal.

“With the decision reached today, Scott Moe and the Sask. Party government must act quickly to negotiate a better deal that protects Saskatchewan’s economy and gives working families a break, including:

· Exempts fuel used for grain drying

· Explores all options to limit costs for families

· Ensures rebates leave regular families with more money in their pockets than they pay in carbon tax”

The continued ratchetting up of the carbon tax is also an issue, according to Meili. He said, “The federal government must press pause on its plans to dramatically increase the carbon tax, especially while so many families across the country - not just in Saskatchewan - are struggling coming through the pandemic. Now is not the time to increase costs on working families.

“Justin Trudeau must also acknowledge that the carbon tax disproportionately affects the Saskatchewan economy. With that fact comes a responsibility on the federal government to make dedicated investments that will make a difference here including support for workers in our hard-hit industries and helping to create good sustainable jobs in renewable energy. Saskatchewan has many opportunities in biofuels, geothermal, solar and wind energy, but we need the federal support to kickstart these new industries.

“The people of Saskatchewan know climate change is real, and want to do their part to reduce emissions while creating good jobs for the future in wind, solar, and geothermal. It’s time for Justin Trudeau and Scott Moe to put wrangling aside and get to work - together - on real solutions across the board that will ensure good jobs and prosperity for all of us.”

Brian Zinchuk, Local Journalism Initiative reporter, Estevan Mercury

‘Simply wrong’: Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe reacts to Supreme Court carbon price ruling

Jonathan Guignard 

© Michael Bell / The Canadian Press On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada gave the federal government the constitutional right to impose a carbon tax on provinces.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says the province isn’t changing its stance on carbon pricing following Thursday’s decision by the Supreme Court of Canada to allow the federal government to impose it on provinces.

“The federal carbon tax is bad environmental policy, bad economic policy, and simply wrong,” Moe said in a statement Thursday.

“While the Supreme Court has determined that Prime Minister Trudeau has the legal right to impose a carbon tax, it doesn’t mean he should, and it doesn’t make the carbon tax any less punitive for Saskatchewan people.”

The federal carbon-tax-and-rebate program was introduced in 2018 and laid out a national framework for pricing carbon — one that applies to everyday consumers as well as industrial emitters.

Read more: Canada’s carbon price is constitutional, Supreme Court rules

The Supreme Court of Canada found that climate change poses a real, serious threat to the world and is serious enough to allow the federal government to step in.

“The (Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act) is constitutional,” Chief Justice Richard Wagner wrote in the decision.

“Although this restriction may interfere with a province’s preferred balance between economic and environmental considerations, it is necessary to consider the interests that would be harmed — owing to irreversible consequences for the environment, for human health and safety, and for the economy — if Parliament were unable to constitutionally address the matter at a national level.”

Under the ruling, Ottawa would collect the carbon tax in Saskatchewan, then provide rebates to individual tax filers in the province.

Revenue Canada says the average household of four can expect about $1,000 in rebates for 2020.

Moe warns the decision has “far-reaching implications for federal intrusion into areas of provincial jurisdiction.”

“Saskatchewan will remain vigilant in defending our constitutional jurisdiction from further infringement from this federal government,” Moe said.

“Saskatchewan people have seen the federal carbon tax for what it is — a blunt, ineffective instrument that kills job, threatens the competitiveness of our industries, and penalizes essential, daily activities of families across our province.

“Our government will continue to make every effort to protect Saskatchewan families, workers and businesses from the negative consequences of the federal carbon tax.”

The Saskatchewan NDP shares similar feelings as the province, saying the carbon-tax-and-rebate program will hurt Saskatchewan people.

Read more: Farmers concerned criteria for federal carbon credits may leave them out

“(Thursday’s) ruling means that Trudeau’s economy-wide carbon tax will continue to take more from the people of Saskatchewan than they get back, with people living in rural and remote areas being most affected. That’s not right,” Ryan Meili, Saskatchewan NDP leader, said in a statement Thursday.

“This economy-wide price on carbon is not something that Saskatchewan people, or the Saskatchewan NDP support.”

Meili said Moe should have spent the past two years trying to negotiate a better deal with the federal government rather than fighting against it.

He would like Moe to begin negotiating a deal with Trudeau that would exempt fuel used for grain drying, explore all options to limit costs for families, and offer rebates to families to offset the cost of a carbon tax.

Read more: Is Canada’s carbon tax working? Experts, advocacy groups weigh in

“The people of Saskatchewan know climate change is real, and want to do their part to reduce emissions while creating good jobs for the future in wind, solar, and geothermal,” Meili said.

“It’s time for Justin Trudeau and Scott Moe to put wrangling aside and get to work - together - on real solutions across the board that will ensure good jobs and prosperity for all of us.”

The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce also expressed its disappointment regarding Thursday’s ruling.

VIDEO
Supreme Court of Canada rules federal carbon levy is constitutional


“To be clear, the debate is not, and should not, be whether we need to transition to a lower carbon economy, but how to manage the process,” said Steve McLellan, Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce CEO in a statement Thursday.

“There is a better way forward, the federal government’s pan-Canadian approach to pollution pricing has not recognized the unique challenges present in Saskatchewan; putting undue hardship on our residents and businesses, it is unfortunate that they will continue this approach.”

Moe said he will outline measures the province will take in the months ahead to “protect Saskatchewan people” on Thursday, at the same time addressing climate change.

-With files from Rachel Gilmore

Ikea France on trial over claims it spied on staff, clients

VERSAILLES, France — Ikea’s French subsidiary and several of its former executives went on trial Monday over accusations that they illegally spied on employees and customers.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Trade unions reported the furniture and home goods company to French authorities in 2012, accusing it of collecting personal data by fraudulent means and the illicit disclosure of personal information.

The unions alleged that Ikea France paid to gain access to police files that had information about targeted individuals, particularly union activists and customers who were in disputes with Ikea.

The company fired four executives and changed internal policy after French prosecutors opened a criminal probe in 2012. But at Monday's trial in the Versailles court, lawyers for Ikea France denied any strategy of “generalized espionage."

An Ikea employee and CGT union activist, Hocine Redouane, said at Monday's trial that the company wrongly suspected him of being a bank robber because their investigation system found criminal records involving a bank robber with the same name.

“Such a system can easily slip into abuse,” Redouane said.

Another accusation alleged that Ikea France used unauthorized data to try to catch an employee who had claimed unemployment benefits but drove a Porsche. Another says the subsidiary investigated an employee’s criminal record to determine how the employee was able to own a BMW on a low income.

The former head of Ikea France’s risk management department, Jean-François Paris, acknowledged to French judges that 530,000 to 630,000 euros a year ($633,000 to $753,000) were earmarked for such investigations. Paris, who is among those accused, said his department was responsible for handling it.

Former Ikea France CEOs Jean-Louis Baillot and Stefan Vanoverbeke, former Chief Financial Officer Dariusz Rychert, store managers and police officers are also going on trial.

If convicted, the two ex-CEOs face sentences of up to 10 years in prison and fines of 750,000 euros. Ikea France faces a maximum penalty of 3.75 million euros. The trial is scheduled to last until April 2.

The company also faces potential damages from civil lawsuits filed by unions and 74 employees.

Anne-Solene Bouvier, lawyer for the employees, argued that the case is important for French society as a whole. “The right to privacy for employees should be sacred,” she said.

Ikea France, a subsidiary of Swedish furniture company Ikea, said Monday it has co-operated with French judicial authorities.

“Ikea France takes the protection of its employees’ and customers’ data very seriously,” the company said in a statement. It said it adopted compliance and training procedures to prevent illegal activity after the investigation was opened in 2012.

The lawyer for Ikea France, Emmanuel Daoud, said there was no poof of “a widespread system of spying.” The lawyer for the company’s former human resources director called the case “a fairy tale” invented by union activists.

In France, Ikea employs more than 10,000 people in 34 stores, an e-commerce site and a customer support centre.

___

Nicolas Vaux-Montagny reported from Lyon. Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.

Pope, citing pandemic effect, cuts pay for cardinals, others

VATICAN CITY — Trying to save jobs as the pandemic pummels Vatican revenues, Pope Francis has ordered pay cuts for cardinals and other clerics, as well as nuns, who work at the Holy See.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

In a decree published online Wednesday by the Vatican's official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Francis said that starting in April cardinals' salaries will be reduced 10%. Superiors of the Holy See's various departments, who, with few exceptions, are clerics, will be hit by 8% cuts while lower-ranking priests and nuns will see 3% vanish from their paychecks.


In the decree he signed on Tuesday, the pope noted that the Holy See's finances have been marked by several years of deficit. Worsening those financial woes, the pope wrote, was the COVID-19 pandemic, “which has impacted negatively on all the sources of revenue of the Holy See and Vatican City State.”

The belt-tightening "has the aim of saving current job positions,'' Francis wrote.

Lower-ranking lay-workers at the Vatican aren't affected by the salary reductions, but their pay raises, due every two years, are being temporarily frozen under the austerity measures. The lowest-paid lay workers will still get raise, though.

Bans on tourism by many countries and other pandemic restrictions have severely reduced revenues at the Vatican Museums, which, with its Sistine Chapel, is a perennial money-maker for the Vatican,

The Museums opened for some weeks during the pandemic when the situation in Italy improved. But with tourists from the United States and some other countries banned from entering Italy, the museums' cavernous rooms were eerily uncrowded in the pandemic.

The Museums are currently closed and will stay closed at least through the upcoming Holy Week, which normally is one of Rome's heaviest periods for tourism.

Earlier this month, the Vatican said it has nearly used up its financial reserves from past donations to cover budget deficits over recent years. It has predicted a 50-million-euro ($60 million) deficit for this year.

Pandemic safety measures have seen many churches shuttered or limiting the number of faithful — many of whom leave monetary donations during services — who can enter.

The Vatican's economy minister has said that the dwindled Museums revenue, as well as a drop in what Catholics donate, would contribute to a projected 30% reduction in revenue this year.

The pay cuts also apply to several Vatican basilicas in Rome as well as to the Vicariate, or diocese of Rome, which is under the pope's direction.

Cardinals, other clerics and well as nuns in Rome generally don't have expenses most lay people have, like market-value rents or mortgages, utility and heating bills, since many reside in housing owned by the Vatican or religious orders.

Some cardinals have spacious, well-appointed apartments in historic palazzi in Rome. A cardinal on the Vatican staff could earn close to 5,000 euros (($6,000) monthly, according to those familiar with Holy See hierarchy.

In any case, Francis noted, the salary reductions won't apply to anyone who can document that the cuts will make it “impossible to meet fixed expenses related to their health conditions" or those of close relatives.

Primary teachers' union calls for strike in Paris as COVID-19 surge

PARIS (Reuters) - The main trade union representing French primary school teachers called on Thursday for a strike in Paris over what it says is the government's failure to protect staff and pupils from a third wave of coronavirus infections tearing through the country.

© Reuters/ERIC GAILLARD FILE PHOTO: Coronavirus disease

 (COVID-19) saliva testing in a primary school in Nice

The government has prided itself on keeping schools open during most of the epidemic, while some neighbouring countries have closed theirs for months at a time, but it is coming under mounting pressure to act as cases surge.

"The (education) minister can congratulate himself that schools have stayed open ... but at what price?!" the SNUipp-FSU said in a statement.

The strike would affect Paris and its outer areas, although no date has yet been set, the union said.

The call for a walkout reflects growing concern among many health workers and teachers that the government is not doing enough to slow the COVID-19 spread after President Emmanuel Macron's refusal so far this year to impose a third nationwide lockdown.

Closing schools would be an act of last resort, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Wednesday. Valerie Pecresse, who heads the Ile de France region encompassing Paris and its surrounds, has proposed bringing forward the April school holiday by two weeks.

The latest government data, published on March 19, showed 15,484 schoolchildren tested positive for coronavirus in the preceding week, or 0.13% of all pupils.

The Ile de France, which accounts for nearly a fifth of France's population and 30% of economic growth, is one of the hardest hit parts of France as the virus once again sweeps across Western Europe.

A nightly curfew is in place and restaurant, bars, museums and cinemas are closed across the country. Last week the government closed non-essential stores and limited people's movement in the Paris region and swathes of the north. It says more time is needed to see what impact the tighter curbs will have.

(Reporting by Richard Lough; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Huge ship still blocking Suez Canal like 'beached whale' leaves global trade in a jam

Yasmine Salam and Charlene Gubash and Olivier Fabre 

International efforts to dislodge the skyscraper-sized cargo ship blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal intensified but made little progress Thursday as the maritime traffic jam wreaked havoc on global trade.

© Provided by NBC News

Egyptian authorities said navigation was still “temporarily suspended” after the container got stuck sideways across the canal due to a severe dust storm and poor visibility.

That meant traffic remained at a standstill on a route that accounts for roughly 12 percent of global trade as the shipping saga passed the 48-hour mark.

A fleet of eight large tugboats were dispatched to refloat the jammed container vessel, the Suez Canal Authority said in a statement on Thursday.

Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen, which operates the stranded tanker, announced that two professional rescue teams from Japan and the Netherlands were now helping Egyptian authorities to create a more “effective plan.”

Meanwhile the technical manager of the vessel, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, said it had “intensified efforts” to refloat the ship by sending “specialized suction dredgers” to the site after an attempt this morning failed.

“Another attempt will be made later today,” the statement added.

Tug boats struggle with giant container ship blocking Suez Canal

But experts said that the frenzied flotation efforts could take longer than many would hope.

Peter Berdowski, CEO of Dutch company Boskalis, one of the maritime service providers currently trying to free the ship, said the rescue mission was far from straight forward.

“It is like an enormous beached whale. It's an enormous weight on the sand,” he said, speaking to Dutch TV.

“We might have to work with a combination of reducing the weight by removing containers, oil and water from the ship, tug boats and dredging of sand.”

"We can't exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation," he added.

“We have already seen a jump in the price of oil because of the tankers that are sitting at anchor in the Red Sea,” Laleh Khalili, a professor in international politics at Queen Mary University in London, told NBC News.

Even when rescue efforts are successful, “the backlog of ships could take a week or so to clear,” she added.

At least 150 other tankers have been waiting to pass through the narrow canal since the 400 meter long Ever Given ship got stuck sideways on Tuesday morning, running aground after gusting winds of 30 knots caused the vessel to deviate from its course.

The Suez Canal usually allows 50 cargo ships pass daily between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, providing a vital trade corridor between Europe and Asia.

Photos released by Suez authorities showed a digger removing earth and rock from the canal's bank and around the ship's bow

.

© Suez Canal Authority Image: Taiwan-owned MV Ever Given which is lodged sideways and impeding all traffic across the waterway of Egypt's Suez Canal (Suez Canal Authority / AFP - Getty Images)

“They would try to be removing anything that is easy to remove, but the location where they are stuck is not near a port, it's actually quite a distance away from anything,” Professor Jasper Graham-Jones, a mechanical marine engineer from Plymouth University told Sky News.

“This is where the clear option is lots and lots of tug boats and digging around the sides.”

(Sky News is owned by Comcast, the parent company of NBC News.)

Evergreen said it has “urged the shipowner to investigate” the source of the accident.

The ship's owners apologized on Thursday for the disruption the maritime traffic jam has caused.

“We sincerely regret that this accident has caused a great deal of concern to the ships sailing or scheduled to sail in the Suez Canal,” said the Japanese company Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd.

Nearly 19,000 ships with a net tonnage of 1.17 billion metric tons passed through the canal last year, according to the Suez Canal Authority.

Traffic jams are rare. In 2017 a Japanese container vessel blocked the canal but Egyptian authorities refloated the ship within hours.

"In the long term, this delay may force some re-thinking about ship sizes," said Khalili of Queen Mary University. "And if there are issues associated with who is going to take responsibility for the accident ... that may force a reckoning in shipping ownership structures."

Suez is still remembered for being at the heart of an international crisis in 1956 after Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nassar nationalized the canal, previously in British and French ownership. The move led to an invasion that resulted in humiliation for the western European powers.

Shipping losses mount from cargo vessel stuck in Suez Canal

$400 MILLION PER HOUR IN LOSES SAYS LLOYDS

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ISMAILIA, Egypt — Dredgers, tugboats and even a backhoe failed to free a giant cargo ship wedged in Egypt’s Suez Canal on Thursday as the number of stacked-up vessels unable to pass through the vital waterway climbed to 150 and losses to global shipping mounted.

The skyscraper-sized Ever Given, carrying cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground Tuesday in the narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula. Even with the aid of high tides, authorities have been unable to push the Panama-flagged container vessel aside, and they are looking for new ideas to free it.

In a sign of the turmoil the blockage has caused, the ship's Japanese owner even offered a written apology.

“We are determined to keep on working hard to resolve this situation as soon as possible,” Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. said. “We would like to apologize to all parties affected by this incident, including the ships travelling and planning to travel through Suez Canal.”

As efforts to free it resumed at daylight Thursday, an Egyptian canal authority official said workers hoped to avoid offloading containers from the vessel as it would take days to do so and extend the closure. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to talk to journalists.

So far, dredgers have tried to clear silt around the massive ship. Tug boats nudged the vessel alongside it, trying to gain momentum. From the shore, at least one backhoe dug into the canal's sandy banks, suggesting the bow of the ship had plowed into it. However, satellite photos taken Thursday by Planet Labs Inc. and analyzed by The Associated Press showed the vessel still stuck in the same location.

Lt. Gen. Osama Rabei, the head of the canal authority, said navigation through the waterway would remain halted until the Ever Given is refloated. A team from Boskalis, a Dutch firm specialized in salvaging, arrived at the canal Thursday, although one of its top officials warned removing the vessel could take “days to weeks."

A team from the Boskalis subsidiary SMIT "spent the day doing inspections and doing calculations to assess the state of the vessel and a plan on how to refloat the vessel,” spokesman Martijn Schuttevaer told the AP. He did not offer a time frame.

The Suez Canal Authority said one idea the team discussed was scraping the bottom of the canal around the ship.

Boskalis chairman Peter Berdowski on Wednesday described the ship as “a very heavy whale on the beach.”

“The ship, with the weight it now has, can’t really be pulled free. You can forget it,” he told the Dutch current affairs program “Nieuwsuur.”

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the company that manages the Ever Given, said its 25-member crew was safe and accounted for. Shoei Kisen Kaisha said all the crew came from India.

The ship had two pilots from Egypt's canal authority aboard the vessel to guide it when the grounding happened around 7:45 a.m. Tuesday, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement said.

Canal service provider Leth Agencies said at least 150 ships were waiting for the Ever Given to be cleared, including vessels near Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea, Port Suez on the Red Sea and those already stuck in the canal system on Egypt's Great Bitter Lake.

Cargo ships already behind the Ever Given in the canal will be reversed south back to Port Suez to free the channel, Leth Agencies said. Authorities hope to do the same to the Ever Given when they can free it.

Evergreen Marine Corp., a major Taiwan-based shipping company that operates the ship, said the Ever Given had been overcome by strong winds as it entered the canal, something Egyptian officials earlier said as well. High winds and a sandstorm plagued the area Tuesday, with winds gusting to 50 kph (30 mph).

An initial report suggested the ship suffered a power blackout before the incident, something Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement denied.

“Initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding,” the company said.

In Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters the Suez Canal is part of a crucial international sea lane, and that the Japanese government was gathering information and working with local authorities.

The closure could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Mideast, which rely on the canal to avoid sailing around Africa. The price of international benchmark Brent crude stood at over $63 a barrel Thursday.

Overall, famed shipping journal Lloyd's List estimates each day the Suez Canal is closed disrupts over $9 billion worth of goods that should be passing through the waterway. A quarter of all Suez Canal traffic a day comes from container ships like the Ever Given, the journal said.

“Blocking something like the Suez Canal really sets in motion a number of dominos toppling each other over,” said Lars Jensen, chief executive of Denmark-based SeaIntelligence Consulting. “The effect is not only going to be the simple, immediate one with cargo being delayed over the next few weeks, but will actually have repercussions several months down the line for the supply chain.”

The Ever Given, built in 2018 with a length of nearly 400 metres (a quarter mile) and a width of 59 metres (193 feet), is among the largest cargo ships in the world. It can carry some 20,000 containers at a time. It previously had been at ports in China before heading toward Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Opened in 1869, the Suez Canal provides a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo. It also remains one of Egypt’s top foreign currency earners. In 2015, the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi completed a major expansion of the canal, allowing it to accommodate the world’s largest vessels. However, the Ever Given ran aground south of that new portion of the canal.

The stranding Tuesday marks just the latest to affect mariners amid the pandemic. Hundreds of thousands have been stuck aboard vessels due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, demands on shipping have increased, adding to the pressure on tired sailors.

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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Isabel DeBre in Dubai and Mike Corder at The Hague, Netherlands, contributed.

Jon Gambrell And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press

Colombia ordered to protect raped and tortured journalist

AFP 

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Wednesday ordered Colombia to immediately protect a journalist who has accused the state of complicity in her kidnapping, rape and torture two decades ago.

© Juan BARRETO Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya claims to have suffered persecution and threats since her rape and torture in 2000

"This court considers there to be ... an extremely serious and urgent situation, with the view to suffering irreparable damage, to Jineth Bedoya Lima and (her mother) Luz Nelly Lima," said the court's judges.

The court -- an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (OAS) based in Costa Rica -- is due to rule on Colombia's responsibility for the violence inflicted on World Press Freedom award-winning Bedoya, in 2000.

Now 47, Bedoya suffered a 16-hour ordeal after she was seized by right-wing paramilitaries from outside the La Modelo prison in Colombia's capital Bogota, where she was investigating an arms trafficking network.

She claims the state, including an "influential" police chief, was complicit in her abduction.

Bedoya says she has since suffered two decades of "persecution, intimidation and constant threats."

On Tuesday, the state apologized to Bedoya for failing to properly investigate those threats or a 1999 attack on her and her mother.

However, Camilo Gomez, the director of Colombia's National Agency for Legal Defense of the State, said the evidence was not "sufficient to demonstrate the participation of public agents" in the assault on Bedoya.

On Wednesday, the judges said the "adoption of provisional measures does not imply a decision on the foundation of the controversy ... nor does it conclude state responsibility" for the accusations made by Bedoya.

The two parties have until April 23 to present their final written arguments.

The court's decisions are definitive and unappealable.

jss/vel/fpp/roc/bc/st

AP journalist Thein Zaw released from detention in Myanmar

YANGON, Myanmar — Thein Zaw, a journalist for The Associated Press who was arrested more than three weeks ago while covering a protest against the coup in Myanmar, was released from detention on Wednesday.

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Visibly thinner than before his arrest, Thein Zaw waved and smiled to photographers as he left Yangon’s Insein Prison, notorious for decades for holding political prisoners.

His brothers and best friend took him home, which is an area of Yangon that has been placed under martial law. He told the AP that his mother told him through tears: “We thought we'd never see you again.”

Thein Zaw had earlier said that the judge in his case announced at a court hearing that all charges against him were being dropped because he was doing his job at the time of his arrest.

He said that while in prison he was “worried every day,” and last week he marked his 33rd birthday behind bars.

Despite his relief, he said he was concerned about the many journalists who remain imprisoned.

“Thanks to all who tried so hard for my release," he said. "But one thing that upsets me is that there are some people who are still inside, and I hope that they can get out as soon as possible.”

Thein Zaw's father, Ba Win, greeted him with shampoo because it is local custom that people returning from prison must wash their hair before entering the house. His parents prepared pork curry and fish curry for his first meal at home.

His release was also emotional for lawyer Tin Zar Oo, who said she cried and jumped for joy when the judge announced the charges were being dropped.

“I was so happy. Thein Zaw looked at me, and I was even at a loss for words when they asked me if I had anything to say,” she said. “I hugged Thein Zaw, and we both cried with joy.”

Her client had been charged with violating a public order law that carries a penalty of up to three years’ imprisonment.

He was one of nine media workers taken into custody during a Feb. 27 street protest in Yangon, the country’s largest city, and had been held without bail. About 40 journalists have been detained or charged since the Feb. 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, roughly half of whom remain behind bars.

Authorities have also arrested thousands of protesters since the takeover as part of an increasingly brutal crackdown. On Wednesday, more than 600 demonstrators were released, a rare conciliatory gesture by the military that appeared aimed at placating the protest movement.

The AP and many press freedom organizations have called for the release of Thein Zaw and the other detained members of the press.

“The Associated Press is deeply relieved that AP journalist Thein Zaw has been freed from prison in Myanmar,” said Ian Phillips, AP vice-president for international news. “Our relief is tempered by the fact that additional journalists there remain detained. We urge Myanmar to release all journalists and allow them to report freely and safely on what is happening inside the country.”

Thein Zaw was arrested as he was photographing police, some of them armed, charging down a street at anti-coup protesters. A video shows that although he stepped to the side of the street to get out of their way, several police rushed over and surrounded him. One put him in a chokehold as he was handcuffed and then taken away.

Tin Zar Oo saw her client for the first time since his arrest at a hearing on March 12 at which his pre-trial detention was renewed — and even then it was through a video link.

The International Press Institute, headquartered in Vienna, welcomed the release, saying he "was detained for doing his job as a journalist and should never have been behind bars in the first place.”

“Myanmar must now immediately release all other journalists it is holding," said Scott Griffen, the institute' deputy director. "The military junta must stop all forms of harassment and intimidation of media covering demonstrations against the coup and end restrictions on publication and broadcasting by media outlets in the country.”

The Associated Press

FASCISM IN TURKEY

Turkish police frees politician after detention in assembly

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ISTANBUL — Turkish police on Sunday detained a prominent pro-Kurdish party politician who was staging a days-long protest in parliament. He was released after questioning several hours later.

Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, from the Peoples’ Democratic Party, or HDP, refused to leave parliament after he was stripped of his status and immunity as lawmaker on Wednesday. The party said around 100 police officers entered parliament to detain him. Video of his detention showed police officers dragging him away.

His detention came during a tumultuous weekend in which the Turkish president fired the central bank governor and annulled an international agreement on protecting women from violence. It also follows a heightened crackdown on the HDP.

The party said Gergerlioglu was detained as he was performing his ablutions for morning prayers.

“The police insisted on detaining him, and took him away in his pyjamas and slippers,” the HDP said in a statement.

A statement by the prosecutor’s office, quoted by official Anadolu news agency, said Gergerlioglu was detained for not leaving parliament despite losing his status as lawmaker and for slogans chanted by some people during a protest in parliament Wednesday praising the jailed leader of a Kurdish militant group.

Gergerlioglu, speaking on Periscope after his release, described being forced out of parliament by police detaining him and irregularities during his police statement.

“They fabricated a crime to get me out of parliament,” he said.

Gergerlioglu, the former head of an Islamist human rights association, has exposed several human rights violations in Turkey, including alleged illegal strip-searches of detainees by police. He trained and worked as a pulmonologist but was fired through an emergency decree. He advocated for the tens of thousands of other civil servants who were purged in the aftermath of the 2016 coup attempt.

Gergerlioglu was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to two years and six months in prison for “spreading terrorist propaganda” after he retweeted a 2016 news article about a call for peace by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. An appeals court confirmed the conviction, saying he was “owning” and “legitimizing” the PKK by sharing the link, which included a photograph of armed fighters.

The PKK is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey, Europe and the United States. It has led an armed insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people. A fragile cease-fire and peace talks collapsed in the summer of 2015.

Supreme Court prosecutors have also filed an indictment at the constitutional Court for the HDP’s closure this week and are seeking a five-year ban on 687 members’ participation in politics. It is the latest crackdown on the party, which has seen its former leaders, lawmakers and thousands of activists arrested.

HDP is the second-largest opposition party in parliament, elected with more than 5.8 million votes in 2018. The United States and the European Union have criticized the moves.

The Turkish president's nationalist ally, Devlet Bahceli, had called on the assembly's speaker to remove Gergerlioglu from the building in a series of tweets Saturday, describing him as a separatist.

“The Grand Turkish National Assembly is not the dorms of separatists or the place where fugitives can take refuge. The dagger in the great Turkish nation's heart cannot be allowed to nest or tolerated ... Laying out a bed in parliament is a dark stain on democracy,” he wrote in one tweet.

Gergerlioglu called his detention “immoral," saying it was organized by the speaker of the assembly and ordered by Bahceli.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned to the nationalists to cement his power as president and with a combined majority in parliament.

Zeynep Bilginsoy, The Associated Press