Sobeys' owner partners with Pathway Health on new medical cannabis program

By David George-Cosh

BNN BLOOMBERG

Canadian grocery chain operator Empire Co. is taking its first formal steps to provide cannabis access to its pharmacy customers after announcing a partnership with Pathway Health Corp. to develop a medical marijuana program. 

Pathway will provide pharmacists who work for Empire's pharmacy businesses across a network of grocery chains that include Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, and FreshCo with a certified online training program to educate them on how medical cannabis can be prescribed to patients. 

Pathway will also provide Empire's pharmacists with a management system that can offer medical cannabis assessments to patients and connect them with a physician for further evaluation through either physical or virtual care.

"We believe it is essential for Canadians to have access to support from experienced health-care professionals to help them navigate medical cannabis safely and effectively," said Marie-Claude Vezina, vice president and general manager of Sobeys National Pharmacy, in a statement. An Empire representative wasn't immediately available for further comment on the company's medical cannabis plans. 

Pathway will begin deploying its medical cannabis program throughout Empire-owned pharmacies in Nova Scotia, followed by a rollout across Atlantic Canada and the rest of Canada later this year. 

Medical cannabis usage in Canada has been on the decline since recreational cannabis was legalized in October 2018. There are 292,399 Canadians who had an active medical cannabis prescription as of March 2021, down from a peak of 369,614 in September 2019. The market was valued at approximately $445 million in 2020, representing roughly 15 per cent of the total Canadian cannabis market, according to the Brightfield Group. 

Despite the relatively smaller market size compared to Canada's recreational cannabis space, medical marijuana has drawn interest from large companies like Loblaw Co.'s Shoppers Drug Mart unit which operates an online dispensary for active patients. 

Wayne Cockburn, president of Pathway Health Corp., said in a phone interview that once a pharmacist deems it appropriate for a patient to receive a medical cannabis prescription, they will be connected to a Pathway Health physician. That physician will be able to process a prescription for the patient and then connect them with a licensed Canadian producer to receive their medical cannabis. Under current regulations, pharmacists can’t dispense medical cannabis from a pharmacy. 

"The pharmacist is really the first step. The patient goes there and says, 'You know, I'm having trouble sleeping, I've got pain.' The pharmacist makes an assessment at that point in time and if they think it's appropriate then it goes to the next step. That's where we would come in," Cockburn said.

Cockburn said the partnership with Empire's pharmacy group comes ahead of potential changes to cannabis regulations that would allow the sale of over-the-counter products that only contain cannabidiol (CBD) and not through a regulated or licensed retailer. 

Health Canada established a scientific advisory committee last year following a public consultation process in 2019 that sought feedback from Canadians on allowing certain cannabis products, including CBD-only items, for sale without the need for medical practitioner oversight. It's unclear when Health Canada will make a formal decision on the matter. 

"This is a brand new consumer packaged goods category for [pharmacies] and they're going to have to make shelf space for this. They've got no experience with it at all at this point in time, so they're looking to work with somebody to help them get ready for this," Cockburn said.

POLLUTER NON PAYES ITS YOU AND ME

Oil sands carbon cuts come with US$60-billion bill, loose ends

Robert Tuttle, Bloomberg News

It will cost about US$75 billion (US$60 billion) to zero out greenhouse gases from oil sands operations by 2050, with a good deal of the costs borne by taxpayers and many loose ends yet to be tied up, according to two of the Canadian industry’s top CEOs.

To achieve the goal announced last month, about half of the emission cuts would need to come from capturing carbon at oil sands sites and sequestering it deep underground, which may require as much as two-thirds government capital like in Norway, Mark Little, chief executive office of Suncor Energy Inc., said in an interview. It’s still unclear how and when most of the projects will be implemented, or which agreements will be needed, but it’s clear the industry doesn’t want to do it alone.

Alex Pourbaix, chief operating officer of TransCanada Corp., smiles during the 2017 CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. CERAWeek gathers energy industry leaders, experts, government officials and policymakers, leaders from the technology, financial, and industrial communities to provide new insights and critically-important dialogue on energy markets.

“We haven’t been able to find any jurisdiction in the world where carbon capture has been implemented, where the national government or the state governments are not very significant partners in that investment,” Alexander Pourbaix, CEO of Cenovus Energy Inc., said in the same interview “I don’t think any of us would ever be in a position to go at this on our own. It’s just too significant an undertaking.”

The initiative follows mounting pressure from large, climate-minded investors, many of which have ditched their oil sands holdings. Sitting atop the world’s third-largest crude reserves, the Canadian industry uses carbon-intensive extraction methods that have made it a target of environmentalists. Also at stake are jobs and tax revenues from an industry that represents about 10 per cent of the Canadian economy.

Mark Little, chief operating officer of Suncor Energy Inc., speaks during the 2018 CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. CERAWeek gathers energy industry leaders, experts, government officials and policymakers, leaders from the technology, financial, and industrial communities to provide new insights and critically-important dialogue on energy markets.

“We have one Achilles heel: It’s greenhouse gas emissions,” Little said. “We can bury our heads in the sand and become a victim, or we can actually deal with it.”

The oil sands industry emits almost 70 million metric tons a year of carbon dioxide, about 10% of Canada’s emissions, “so we are a big emitter for sure,” Little said.

The plan to cut those emissions-- which also has the support of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Imperial Oil and MEG Energy Corp. -- will include measures like switching the fuels used at oil sands operations. Cenovus and the other companies are also developing ways to use solvents like propane to help separate the oil from the sand more efficiently and pump more crude with lower steam requirements. Later on, the industry might employ small nuclear reactors to make steam, Pourbaix said.

One of the group’s first big project is to build a carbon dioxide-carrying trunk line along a corridor that links oil sands facilities in the Fort McMurray area and Cold Lake regions of Northern Alberta to a nearby carbon sequestration hub. The trunk line will likely cost $1 billion to $2 billion, and could be in operation by the middle of the decade. But the biggest costs are associated with capturing the CO2, ranging from about $50 a ton for industries that emit high concentrations to “several hundred dollars a ton” for direct capture from the air, Little said.

The plan doesn’t include so-called Scope 3 emissions, the ones generated by cars, aircraft, homes and factories when the fossil fuels produced in the oil sands are burned by the end consumers.

--With assistance from Danielle Bochove.

'Monster incentive' for companies to go green, BMO's Barclay says

Bloomberg Markets A lot of investment is needed for Canada's energy sector transition: BMO Capital Markets CEO

The head of Bank of Montreal’s investment banking arm says companies have a lot of opportunities to profit from the shift towards a green economy, thanks to government sustainability incentives.

BMO Capital Markets CEO Daniel Barclay said in a broadcast interview that a switch towards luring companies into fighting climate change by offering them benefits instead of penalizing them for not doing enough is the most exciting development that’s happened in the green economy transition in the last two years.

“[CEOs are] seeing this as a great opportunity to build their companies, to build the economy, to build the future together,” Barclay said. “When you move to a system which is based on incentives and think ‘I can run my company cheaper if I run it more sustainably,’ then I generate better cash flow, I generate better earnings, I generate -- if it’s a public company -- a better stock price. You actually got a monster incentive today to be green and make transition happen.”

Barclay said that though the transition is at an early stage, and much more investment is still needed, the eventual shift will trigger a major move to new solutions.

“You think about the innovation of the North American economy, the innovation of technology, the innovation of new companies, new industries that are going to rise out of this energy transition and it might be one of the most exciting times to be in our economies,” he said.

 

Feds to begin talks on high frequency rail with Indigenous groups, private sector

The Canadian Press

Parliament Hill stands in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. It makes sense for the U.S. and Mexico to meet bilaterally on Nafta on certain issues and Canada looks forward to rejoining talks on the trilateral pact in the coming days and weeks, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. , Bloomberg

QUEBEC - The federal government says it's taking the first steps in building a long-awaited high frequency rail line along the Toronto to Quebec City corridor.

Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra says the government is now looking to engage with Indigenous groups and the private sector for feedback about the projected line that would connect Quebec City to Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.

Officials are also set to begin dialogue with partner railways to negotiate dedicated routes in and out of the major cities.

Alghabra says the new line will provide more reliable service, aiming to bring Via Rail's on-time arrival performance to 95 per cent from the current average of 67 per cent.

He says the improvements will also allow the number of daily departures to triple and called the upcoming train line one of the largest infrastructure projects in Canada in decades.

The request for proposals for the procurement process is expected to launch this fall.

Colombians held in Haitian president’s murder claim ties to Florida security firm
2021/7/10 
©Miami Herald

VALERIE BAERISWYL/AFP/AFP/TNS

MIAMI — The Miami area is looming ever larger as investigators question the men held in the plot to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.

Seventeen Colombians and two Haitian Americans from South Florida are in custody in Haiti. A person who interviewed the detained Colombians in Haiti told the Miami Herald that the men claimed to have been recruited to do work in Haiti by an under-the-radar firm in Doral called CTU Security. It is run by a Venezuelan émigré, Antonio Enmanuel Intriago Valera.

The Miami Herald visited the company’s offices on Thursday, where a doorbell rang to a phone, and a man declined to discuss the events in Haiti. He did not return phone calls, texts or emails asking about reports of involvement in the monumental developments gripping Haiti. No one answered on Saturday.

Multiple sources in Haiti, requesting anonymity for their safety, have confirmed to the Herald that the detained men said they were hired by CTU, and several of the men indicated they had been in Haiti for at least three months, some longer. It is unclear if they knew or believed CTU leaders were aware of the assassination plot.

The men were hired to provide VIP security, one source in Haiti said, and were paid about $3,000 a month. The two Haitian Americans — previously reported to be James Solages, 35, and Vincent Joseph, 55 — told a judge that they were hired as translators but did not reveal who their employer was, Judge Clément Noël told the Miami Herald.

Solages worked as a maintenance director at a senior-living center in Lantana until this past April 12. Little is known about the other man but documents obtained Saturday show his name may have been reversed in the Haitian proceedings and that it is really Joseph Gertand Vincent. His sparse public footprint shows he was indicted in 1999 for making a false statement on a passport application and given probation.

In another Florida-related development, interim Haitian police director Leon Charles in an interview said that with the help of Colombian authorities now in Haiti the investigation is “moving fast to get some more groups who played a role as the intellectual authors.”

He said the suspects, including the Haitian Americans, confirmed that they worked for a company “based in the U.S .and Colombia. They worked with the two Haitian Americans and a high-profile doctor here.”

Those versions square with what family members of captured Colombians are now saying.

The Colombian station W Radio featured an interview Friday with the wife of captured security man Francisco Uribe, who said he’d been hired by CTU, paid $2,700 and provided travel to the Dominican Republic to work as private security for powerful families. (The Washington Post reported Saturday that Uribe has been under investigation for extrajudicial killings when he was a Colombian soldier.)

Also on Saturday, W Radio interviewed Yenni Capador, sister of another Colombian, Duberney Capador Giraldo, who retired from the army in 2019 and was reported killed this past week in Haiti in a police raid.

The “hypothesis we are all working is that it went wrong and they are unjustly accused of something that my brother did not do,” she told the media outlet. “He lived with his mother and we know he was hired to work with a security company.”

Intriago’s CTU is formally registered as the Counter Terrorist Unit Federal Academy LLC, and was incorporated in Florida in 2019 under his name, and it has filed annual reports in the two successive years. It lists a member named Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, who had run a now-defunct security firm of his own called Taktical Consulting Corp.

Florida licensing records show Intriago is authorized by the state to provide security services and to carry a firearm. He has little other footprint in public records except for a detainer filed against him in 2011. He has several eviction complaints filed by landlords against his company over the years.

Intriago has a website that shows him as a wholesaler and retailer of security equipment.

“As a representative for big and important security and safety device manufacturers around the world our objective is to offer first-class personalized products and services to law enforcement and military units, as well as industrial customers,” the company says in its About Us section.

Known in Venezuelan expat circles in South Florida, Intriago would boast of his police background in the South American country. At times, said one who knew him but did not want to be identified in the widening story, Intriago claimed to have connections to or to have worked directly for U.S. agencies.

A person claiming to have known him back in Venezuela said Intriago worked out of a small Doral office, where he would boast of being a paid mercenary and a coordinator of special forces, but most people did not take those claims seriously.

The source, who demanded anonymity to speak freely, said that Intriago is also known for providing firearms, firearms parts, and military and police equipment such as bulletproof vests.

Public records link him to a small, fenced three-bedroom residence a few blocks off of I-95 near Miami Northwestern High. Venezuela’s voter database shows he remains registered to vote there through the consulate in Miami.

Intriago’s Facebook page provides a bit of a timeline. It shows him appearing to arrive in the United States around 2009 and working initially with alarm systems. His social media presence is largely apolitical except for some postings against the Venezuelan government and one in support of Juan Guaidó, the Venezuelan lawmaker the Trump administration recognized as the oil-rich country’s legitimate leader.

Intriago’s security firm has a limited social media presence and does not appear to have won any federal contracts to provide security or training. His personal Facebook page shows that he offers personal security classes at night for people wanting to protect their families and pitches the services occasionally in posts.

On Saturday, a Herald reporter and photographer rang the doorbell of CTU’s storefront at 2510 NW 112th Ave., tucked in a beige, green and orange corporate office complex. The store, near the Dolphin Mall, had a cargo company, a CCTV camera store, a Realtor and a blinds warehouse nearby. The office unit had a white garage door in the back and a pickup truck parked out front with a CTU bumper sticker. No one answered the door.

A security guard sitting in a golf cart told the Herald that CTU hosts shooting range classes inside and those classes have people constantly coming in and out of the store. She said the company had a class as recently as last Thursday and added the black pickup with a Texas license plate is always parked out front.

At one of the company’s two other listed locations, the office headquarters on 53rd Street, Herald journalists knocked on the door of the listed suite number inside a white office building with black awnings. The suite was identified with a plaque that read Offix Solutions, which is owned by someone who appears to be unaffiliated with Intriago. No one answered the door.

Intriago and his now ex-wife owned a South Florida newspaper company Prensa Libre Newspaper Corp., which corporate records show existed between 2003 and 2009.

There is nothing in Intriago’s public footprint to indicate that he had either the money or the scope to train dozens of private soldiers to raid the private residence of the Haitian president and kill him.

What role Miami and Intriago played directly, or inadvertently, in the Haitian assassination will surely be investigated with the FBI. Haiti has asked for FBI help, in part because of the large number of businessmen and drug gangs that might have had an interest in getting rid of the president.

A team from Colombia is already in Port-au-Prince, dispatched on Friday to collaborate with the Haitian government on how the Colombians became involved in the assassination.

Miami and the Doral enclave have become sort of a Star Wars bar for would-be liberators and for-hire warriors.

A botched coup in May 2020 in Venezuela similarly involved for-hire security men in Florida and some of the plotting traced to the 12th fairway of the Red Course at the Doral resort.

———

(The Miami Herald's Monika Leal contributed to this report.)

Gang boss wades into Haiti turmoil, sees conspiracy behind president's killing

Reuters
July 11, 2021


By Andre Paultre and Sarah Marsh

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) -One of Haiti's most powerful gang leaders said on Saturday his men would take to the streets to protest the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, threatening to pitch the impoverished Caribbean country deeper into chaos.

Jimmy Cherizier, a former cop known as Barbecue https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/haiti-gang-leader-launches-revolution-violence-escalates-2021-06-24 who heads the so-called G9 federation of nine gangs, railed against police and opposition politicians whom he accused of colluding with the "stinking bourgeoisie" to "sacrifice" Moise this week.

"It was a national and international conspiracy against the Haitian people," he said in a video address, dressed in khaki military fatigues and sitting in front of a Haitian flag.

"We tell all bases to mobilize, to mobilize and take to the streets for light to be shed on the president's assassination."

Moise was gunned down before dawn on Wednesday at his Port-au-Prince home by what Haitian authorities said was a unit of trained assassins comprising 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans.

The murder and the still murky plot behind it has caused further political instability in the long-troubled country, prompting the government to call for U.S. and U.N. assistance.

Cherizier said his followers would practice "legitimate violence" and that it was time for "the masters of the system" - business magnates of Syrian and Lebanese descent who dominate parts of the economy - to "give back" the country.

"It's time for Black people with kinky hair like us to own supermarkets, to have car dealerships and own banks," he said.

Some of the magnates had been at loggerheads with Moise.

Fears of worsening clashes had citizens on edge in Port-au-Prince, which has been racked by violence for weeks as gang members battled police for control of streets.

"They really don't have the capacity to handle security," city resident Benoit Jean said. "There aren't enough cops."

Tension has been fanned by questions about the government's account of Moise's killing, with families of at least two of the Colombians saying they had been hired as bodyguards.

Earlier on Saturday, Moise's widow Martine Moise, who was wounded in the attack, accused shadowy enemies of plotting his assassination to thwart democratic change.

"They sent mercenaries to kill the president at his home with members of his family because of roads, water, electricity and the referendum as well as elections at the end of the year so that there is no transition in the country," she said.

Jovenel Moise had spoken of dark forces behind years of unrest - rivals and oligarchs angry about what he called his attempts to clean up government contracts and politics - and proposed a referendum to change Haiti's constitution.

The referendum, scheduled for Sept. 26 along with presidential and legislative elections, could abolish the prime minister's position, reshape the legislative branch and strengthen the presidency. Critics called it a power grab.

Moise's killing has clouded those plans and led to political disarray in Haiti, triggering the requests for foreign help.

The United States said it has no plans to provide Haiti with military assistance for now https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombian-suspects-haiti-presidents-killing-arrived-via-dominican-republic-2021-07-09, while the request to the United Nations would need Security Council authorization.

INVESTIGATION

Haitian officials have not provided a motive for the assassination or explained how the killers got past Moise's security detail.

None of Moise's guards were injured in the attack, Mathias Pierre, the elections minister, told Reuters.

Seventeen of the men suspected of involvement in his assassination were captured after a gun battle with Haitian authorities in a suburb of Port-au-Prince, while three were killed and eight are still at large, police say.

The detained Colombians said they were recruited to work in Haiti by Miami-based company CTU Security, run by Venezuelan emigre Antonio Enmanuel Intriago Valera, the Miami Herald reported.

Calls and emails to CTU Security were not immediately answered on Saturday. Intriago could not immediately be reached for comment.

The sister of Duberney Capador, 40, a Colombian killed in the firefight with Haitian police, told Reuters in a video https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombian-ex-soldier-killed-haiti-was-hired-bodyguard-sister-says-2021-07-10call on Saturday that the retired soldier had been offered work in security for high-profile people.

Jenny Carolina Capador said her brother messaged her on the day of Moise's death, saying: "We got here too late; unfortunately the person we were going to guard ... we couldn't do anything."

Colombia's foreign ministry said late on Saturday it was providing consular assistance to the detained Colombians.

The ministry posted on Twitter that it would work with Haitian authorities to repatriate the remains of the two deceased Colombians, who died in what it called "confused circumstances."

POWER STRUGGLE

Late on Friday, the man Moise whom appointed prime minister just before the assassination claimed the right to lead Haiti, pitting him against acting head of state Claude Joseph, whose government has so far managed the response to the killing.

Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon who Moise named prime minister on Monday, told Reuters it was he who held power, not interim Prime Minister Joseph, and that he was forming a government.

"After the president's assassination, I became the highest, legal and regular authority because there was a decree nominating me," he said.

Henry said his government would create a new electoral council which would determine new dates for elections to be held "as soon as possible."

But Henry has yet to be sworn in, and Joseph, who was named interim prime minister in April, has stayed put.

The power struggle has created confusion over who is the legitimate leader of the country's 11 million people.

Elections Minister Mathias Pierre said acting premier Joseph would keep that role until the Sept. 26 vote.

Meanwhile, Haiti's Senate, which currently comprises just a third of its usual 30 senators, nominated its head https://www.reuters.com/article/us-haiti-president-senate/haitis-senate-says-its-head-should-replace-assassinated-president-idUSKCN2EG00K, Joseph Lambert, on Friday to act as the interim president, a document reviewed by Reuters showed.

(Reporting by Andre Paultre in Port-Au-Prince, Sarah Marsh in Havana, Luis Jaime Acosta and Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota; Writing by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Paul Simao, Jonathan Oatis and Daniel Wallis)

U.S. Airstrikes in Syria and Iraq: Legal Authorities and Presidential War Powers

July 8, 2021

Late on Sunday, June 27, the Biden administration authorized U.S. airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militias along the Iraq-Syria border. This was the Biden administration’s second airstrike along the Iraq-Syria border, and the strike comes as Congress is debating changes to existing Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMF). This article unpacks known details of the strike, some of the legal issues involving the claimed authorities under international and domestic law, and how these justifications relate to ongoing debates on AUMF reform and presidential war powers. While the Biden administration refrained from using either the 2001 or 2002 AUMFs in its recent airstrikes, its exclusive reliance on executive power places stress on Article II constitutional authorities and underscores the need for an updated AUMF. The reliance on Article II authorities becomes particularly concerning if the United States continues airstrikes as part of an escalating tit-for-tat response to attacks on U.S. troops and facilities in the region, attacks that have only continued in the past week.

Q1: What were the airstrikes, and why were they conducted?

A1: The airstrikes targeted “operational and weapons storage facilities” at three locations, two in Syria and one in Iraq, near the towns of Al Bukamal and Al-Qa’im along the shared border between the two states. F-15E and F-16 aircraft carried out the strikes that reportedly killed four Iraqi fighters with the Iranian-aligned proxy Hashd Al-Shaabi. This strike closely follows the form of the Biden administration’s first authorized use of force on February 25, which was conducted by F-15E aircraft targeting nine facilities used by Iranian-backed militia groups located in Abu-Kamal, Syria, on the Iraqi border.

The Biden administration stated that the facilities targeted on June 27 had been used by Iranian-backed militia groups, including Kata’ib Hezbollah and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, to conduct a series of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and rocket attacks against U.S. facilities and personnel stationed in Iraq. The specific attacks were detailed in the White House’s subsequent letter to Congress, issued as consistent with the War Powers Resolution.

Several of the militia UAV attacks have been previously reported on and fit within the broader pattern of Iranian-backed militias using rocket attacks and drones to target U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq. The White House’s recent letter stated that the attacks have injured and threatened U.S. and coalition personnel, although no deaths were mentioned.

Q2: On what legal authorities were the strikes conducted?

A2: The primary legal justifications are laid out in a Department of Defense (DOD) statement from June 27, the president’s letter to Congress on June 29, and a June 29 letter to the UN Security Council from the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

The statements claimed the strikes exercised the United States’ inherent right of self-defense under international law, as laid out in Article 51 of the UN Charter. Under domestic law, the DOD statement argued that the airstrikes were conducted pursuant to the president’s Article II constitutional authority to protect U.S. military personnel. The president’s letter also refers to this authority, claiming that the strikes were conducted “pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct United States foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive.” Both the domestic and international legal justifications are consistent with the Biden administration’s legal justifications used for its February 25 strike against Iranian-backed militias operating in eastern Syria.

Q3: Can these airstrikes be considered self-defense under international law?

A3: The claim that the airstrikes were exercising the inherent right of self-defense raises several legal questions regarding what qualifies as self-defense under international law, and there is an ongoing debate among legal scholars on whether the previous strikes in February qualified as self-defense. While some argue that the airstrikes in response to attacks by Iranian-backed militias fall within defensible interpretations of the inherent right of self-defense, others hold that they are unlawful because the strikes come after the attacks, being effectively an armed reprisal if there is not a threat of imminent or ongoing attack. Skepticism about claims of self-defense is warranted, especially as this justification has become increasingly common since the establishment of the UN Charter.

In its public statements, the Biden administration took pains to address these concerns by emphasizing that the June 27 strikes were not in response to an isolated attack but rather in response to an “ongoing series of attacks” that have “escalated in recent months” and military action was taken to “disrupt and deter such attacks.” In making this argument, the president’s letter details the recent pattern of escalating attacks:

Rocket attacks:
Balad Air Base on April 4, April 18, and May 3, 2021
Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center on May 2, 2021
Al‑Asad Air Base on May 4 and May 24, 2021

UAV attacks:
S. facilities in Erbil on April 14, 2021
Al-Asad Air Base on May 8, 2021
Bashur Air Base on May 10, 2021
S. facilities near Baghdad International Airport on June 9, 2021

Highlighting this pattern of repeated attacks helps establish their ongoing nature and strengthens the justification that the airstrikes were made in self-defense.

The statements further stress the significance of sending an unambiguous signal to deter future attacks. The White House letter was explicit that the strikes were to “deter the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iran-backed militia groups from conducting or supporting further attacks on United States personnel and facilities” and was “directed at facilities used by groups involved in these ongoing attacks for weapons storage, command, logistics, and UAV operations.” These statements make it clear that the strikes were aimed to deter and dissuade future attacks, while also targeting the militia’s facilities in an effort to disrupt and degrade their ability to continue launching UAVs and rockets. By characterizing the strikes as being in part a deterrent against future attacks, the Biden administration does wade into thornier issues of anticipatory self-defense and whether any future attacks qualify as an imminent threat. However, taken in combination with the effort to demonstrate the ongoing nature of the attacks, the Biden administration strengthened its case that the airstrikes strikes were defensive in nature.

Q4: Did the targeted states provide consent for the United States to strike targets within their borders?

A4: Neither Iraq nor Syria have said they consented to the airstrikes taking place on their territory. While the White House does not claim that the airstrikes were conducted at the invitation of Iraq, the DOD statement did note that the United States was “in Iraq at the invitation of the Government of Iraq for the sole purpose of assisting the Iraqi Security Forces in their efforts to defeat ISIS.” Iraq has since condemned the strike in harsh terms as a violation of international law. This lack of consent was previously raised by some scholars as an issue with the Biden administration’s first strike on February 25, which took place in Syria without its consent.

Absent the target states’ consent, the unwilling or unable test is often used, which holds that states are allowed to use force against threatening non-state groups in sovereign states either unwilling or unable to suppress them. This principle has experienced growing support internationally, and the United States has explicitly supported it in the past. The Biden administration mentioned the test in its previous letter to Congress for the February 25 airstrikes, and while it may apply this time, the test is notably absent from the most recent letter to Congress for the June 27 airstrikes.

Q5: How do the recent airstrikes relate to current debates on AUMF reform?

A5: Neither the Biden administration’s June or February strikes invoked the 2002 nor 2001 AUMFs, which are currently being debated by Congress. The White House has since doubled down on its domestic Article II authority for conducting the airstrikes, while simultaneously affirming its desire to work with Congress on AUMF reform to “update authorization parameters and legislation.”

Because one of the targeted facilities was in Iraq, the absence of any reference to the 2002 AUMF authority is particularly notable. The 2002 AUMF, passed by Congress before the 2003 invasion of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, authorizes the use of force against the “continuing threat posed by Iraq.” This was subsequently used by the Obama administration as part of the legal basis for its campaign against ISIL and by the Trump administration for its strike against Qassem Soleimani on January 3, 2020. The absence of any reference to this authority is consistent with Biden’s commitment to updating AUMF authorities and support of legislation recently passed by the House to repeal the 2002 AUMF. The Biden administration’s Statement of Administrative Policy (SAP) further made it clear that there are no ongoing military operations that use the 2002 AUMF. The 2002 AUMF thus remains the low-hanging fruit in the attempt to reform AUMF authorities. That is not to say that efforts at repeal are insignificant. The successful repeal of the 2002 AUMF would be the first repeal of wartime authorities in 50 years.

The 2001 AUMF, which authorized the use of force against the terrorist groups behind the 9/11 attacks, was also not cited in either the February 25 or June 27 strikes. The 2001 AUMF undergirds much of U.S. counterterrorism operations but is outdated and has been subject to expansive interpretations over the past 20 years to include a number of groups with little or no ties to those behind the 9/11 attacks. This makes the 2001 AUMF the most important authority to update and reform, which the president has agreed to in principle.

Q6: Are Article II constitutional authorities adequate for these airstrikes?

A6: By not citing the 2002 or 2001 AUMF authorities, the president is relying exclusively on his own Article II executive authority for these airstrikes against Iranian-backed proxies.

While it is admirable that the president is not continuing to stretch congressional authorizations enacted nearly 20 years ago against different actors, the exclusive reliance on Article II puts more pressure on executive authority. Article II authority has generally been interpreted by presidential administrations to allow short, limited uses of force, but the reliance on executive authority without congressional authorization invites pushback from Congress, especially as U.S. involvement becomes more substantial and drawn out. The recent airstrikes do fall short of other more prominent examples of force authorized under Article II authority that include, as John Bellinger noted in recent testimony before Congress, using force in Somalia in 1992, Haiti in 1994, Bosnia in 1995, and Libya in 2011. While the February and June airstrikes may still fall within Article II authority, this position may become unsustainable if the strikes escalate into a more substantial and prolonged conflict.

This is a real risk if the airstrikes continue and evolve into an ongoing campaign against Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria. While the DOD statement explicitly states that the strikes were a “deliberate action designed to limit the risk of escalation,” UAV and rocket attacks by Iranian-backed militia are likely to continue. U.S. troops located in northeast Syria came under rocket fire the day after the airstrikes, and U.S. troops and facilities in Iraq and Syria have since come under continued and escalating rocket and UAV attacks this past week. By engaging in a tit-for-tat response, the United States may become involved in a pattern of limited uses of force that stretches Article II authorities and effectively constitutes a campaign of military action without authorization from Congress.

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) expressed this concern, stating that while the Biden administration may have the authority to defend U.S. forces, “repeated retaliatory strikes against Iranian proxy forces are starting to look like what would qualify as a pattern of hostilities under the War Powers Act. Both the Constitution and the War Powers Act require the president to come to Congress for a war declaration under these circumstances.”

Congress should continue to follow these airstrikes closely for potential escalation. As congressional leaders consider AUMF reform, they should also ask for the Biden administration’s view on where the threshold is for when a number of airstrikes reach a level that requires congressional authorization for the use of force.

Overall, the recent strikes by the Biden administration do not have the same escalatory significance as last year’s strike on Soleimani or involve the same legal stretch as invoking the 2002 AUMF. However, they do underscore the need for updated AUMF authorities to reflect current threats, contemporary actors, and present geopolitical realities.

Adam Saxton is a research associate with the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

Critical Questions is produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues. Its research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary. CSIS does not take specific policy positions. Accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in this publication should be understood to be solely those of the author(s).

Man's robotic arm works faster with high-tech sense of touch
By Dennis Thompson, HeathDay News


Nathan Copeland, pictured, is learning to operate a robotic arm as the first human to have electrodes implanted in the sensory cortex of his brain. Photo courtesy of HealthDay News

The robot hand extends toward a small cube, guided by signals from electrodes implanted in the brain of partially paralyzed patient Nathan Copeland.

In surprisingly smooth fashion, Copeland's mind directs the robot hand to pick up the cube and move it to another part of the table.

The process works so well -- at speeds approaching those of average folks -- because for the first time, a patient guiding a robot arm can feel the object they are picking up.

Copeland, 34, is the first human to have electrodes implanted in the sensory cortex of his brain. The robot hand delivers tactile feedback to his brain, informing him whether he's got a good grip on whatever object he's trying to manipulate.

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"I could see the hand was touching the object, but I also had that extra reassurance and confidence that I definitely had made contact and I was applying a certain amount of pressure," said Copeland, who lives in Dunbar, Pa. "I knew if I went to lift the object off the table, it wouldn't fall out of my grasp."

Provided this sensory feedback, Copeland dramatically slashed the amount of time it took him to use the robot hand to pick up and move objects in lab experiments, said Jennifer Collinger, an associate professor with the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.



Guiding the arm by sight alone, Copeland completed these sort of tasks in about 20 seconds, on average, Collinger said.

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"When he had sensory feedback, that was cut in half, to 10 seconds," Collinger said. "It wasn't a small improvement. It was quite dramatic. He was actually able to do this many times under 5 seconds, which is considered normal time for an able-bodied person."

New technology For years, researchers working on brain-computer interfaces have focused on planting electrodes in the motor cortex, the part of the brain that guides movement.

They proved that signals from the motor cortex could be interpreted by a computer and used to guide objects like robot arms or cursors on a computer screen.

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Now they're focusing on another important part of movement -- the information that the brain receives back from limbs in motion.

Any time an average person reaches for a mug of coffee, their brains are flooded with feedback data that allow them to pick it up properly. They feel when they make contact with the mug so they don't knock it over; they adjust their grip based on the weight of the mug.

"The sensory piece of what we do as humans to make that happen is really important," said David Putrino, director of rehabilitation innovation at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "It's difficult to perform a task like that without having constant sensory feedback about where your hand is in space, if your hand is grasping the object too soft, too hard."

Six years ago, bioengineers implanted an array of electrodes in both the motor and sensory cortexes of Copeland's brain. A 2004 car accident at age 18 left Copeland with limited use of his arms.

The electrodes lead to two jacks protruding from the top of Copeland's skull. Computer cables screw into the jacks, which are otherwise covered with caps, and relay information back and forth from Copeland to a robot arm sitting at his side.

The electrodes placed in the motor cortex track about 200 channels of information heading out from the brain, Collinger said.

"We look at the way that neurons are firing as a population, and turn that into control signals for a robotic arm, so the participant can reach and grasp and orient the hand in the work space to pick up objects and move them around," Collinger explained.

Meanwhile, the sensory cortex electrodes are being fed information gathered by the robot hand regarding the object being handled.

"We can then turn that information into stimulation patterns that are played through electrodes that are implanted into the somatosensory area of the brain, the area that typically receives tactile input from your hand," Collinger said. "Here is really the first time that we put those two components together to see how sensory feedback might improve motor control in the context of a brain-computer interface."

"The sensations I feel really depend on which electrodes they stimulate," Copeland said. "They can range between pressure or tingles, warmth, sometimes a tapping, and then I usually feel them at the pads at the base of my fingers."Groundbreaking, but work to do

It's not easy picking something up by sight alone, said Copeland, who spent years practicing that way with the robot arm before his sensory electrodes were added to the process.

"Before, when I didn't have stimulation, I would be able to see the robotic hand touching an object but sometimes I would go to lift it off the table and it would fall out or be in the hand awkwardly, so I would spent extra time making sure I actually had hold of something before I started to move it," Copeland said.

Experts said this research, reported this month in the journal Science, is an important advance in prosthetics technology.

"It has long been known that motor prosthetics need to take into account the external world in order to offer improved performance," said J. Luis Lujan, an associate professor of neurologic surgery at Mayo Clinic. "The work of this research team further demonstrates the importance of tactile and visual feedback in the control of movement, whether of an individual's own limbs or robotic devices."


However, the experts said this technology will not be available in the mainstream anytime soon.

"There's a lot of industry interest in this area that I hope will accelerate the process, but there's definitely still a lot of work to do," Collinger said.

For example, the technology needs to be less invasive and easier to connect to the machines it will guide, Collinger and Putrino said.

"This is a first step in a technology that's incredibly invasive. It requires open brain surgery. You're implanting electrodes that have a limited useful life span in the brain tissue," Putrino said. "It's a long way to go before this is being used mainstream in the home."

For his part, Copeland didn't expect much personal gain from his participation.

"There is a portable tablet I have here at the house now that can be used to do basic stuff like draw or play games, because I can control a cursor on the screen" using his interface, Copeland said. "When I joined the study, I knew it was never going to give me back function, and it was never going to be a forever thing for me.

"It's literally the beginning of research. I just hope that through me spending my time trying to push the science forward, someone down the road that has an injury like mine and some sort of condition that limits their function, that this technology can help them in the future," he said.


More information

The University of Pittsburgh has more about brain-computer interfaces.

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

South Korean nuclear expert to join IAEA task force on Fukushima

Japan's decision to dump treated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has been met with opposition from neighboring countries but South Korea said Friday it approved the inclusion of a Korean scientist to an IAEA task force. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

July 9 (UPI) -- Seoul confirmed a South Korean national is included in a group of experts on an International Atomic Energy Agency task force reviewing the planned discharge of treated wastewater from a nuclear power plant in Fukushima.

South Korea's foreign ministry and other government agencies said in a joint statement Friday that nuclear expert Kim Hong-suk of the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety will be on the monitoring team.

Kim also is an adjunct professor of nuclear and quantum engineering at University of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and a Korea representative at the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, Newsis reported Friday.

"We will do our best to solve the problem of contaminated water at the Fukushima nuclear power plant while placing the highest priority on public health and safety," Seoul said. "We will not compromise on any measures that may harm the health of our citizens."

Japan's decision to dump treated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has been met with opposition from neighboring countries, including South Korea and China. Taiwan and Russia also expressed concerns earlier this year.

The IAEA said Thursday it would work with the Japanese government to monitor the discharge after the complaints. The two sides are to cooperate in "reviewing the safety and regulations of the water discharge," Japan's foreign ministry said, according to Kyodo News.

South Korea said Friday the inclusion of a Korean representative on the U.N. task force is "very meaningful." The group includes experts from the United States, France and China. The government said that it would be stepping up monitoring of coastal waters after the discharge, including near southern Jeju Island and near the disputed islets of Dokdo in the East Sea, reports said.

Japan disclosed plans to release the treated water into the ocean in April. Tokyo has defended the policy and has said the discharge will have "zero environmental impact."

South Korean candidate under fire for wavering on universal basic income



South Korea’s economy is at the center of a debate among presidential candidates ahead of an election in March 2022. File Photo by Kim Hee-Chui/EPA-EFE

July 9 (UPI) -- A dispute over universal basic income is casting a shadow over South Korean presidential candidates of the ruling Democratic Party as they face a political opposition enjoying a surge in popularity.

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung, a member of the ruling party, is coming under criticism for allegedly changing his position on universal basic income. Lee "pledged" to make the policy a priority if elected president, but more recently has been wavering on the idea, News 1 reported Friday.

Lee said last Friday that he "cannot say" that the plan would be his No. 1 promise to the public, after committing to the idea for weeks, the report said. Lee already has implemented small cash payments to financially needy people in his province during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lee's alleged hesitation made him the target of his fellow Democrats on the debate stage Monday. Rival politicians, including former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said that Lee's will was "shaken" and that he should apologize to the public for his change of position.

Chung, who resigned from office to launch his presidential campaign, said Friday in Busan that job creation and not checks from the government is the answer.

South Korean youth want to work and are not looking for guaranteed income, Chung said.

The country "is experiencing wealth inequality as home prices rise," Chung said. "Many young people have lost their hopes and dreams."

Prices of apartments have skyrocketed in cities like Seoul and Busan under President Moon Jae-in.

South Korea's opposition conservatives have said the government's policies are a failure. The People Power Party has been rising in surveys as dissatisfaction grows among voters.

A poll from Gallup Korea released Friday indicates the main opposition has surpassed the ruling party in approval ratings. The PPP, led by 36-year-old newcomer Lee Jun-seok, had an approval rating of 32%, slightly higher than the 31% rating for Democrats.

The main opposition is leading for the first time since 2016, when former President Park Geun-hye came under investigation for corruption, according to Segye Ilbo.