Brazilian President supports Cuban demonstrations, signs privatization of Eletrobras
Wednesday, July 14th 2021 
Bolsonaro has chosen in order to maintain a certain popularity among his most loyal fans to stage motorcycle caravans in several cities

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Tuesday expressed his support for the Cuban people protesting against their living conditions under the Communist Government of Miguel Díaz-Canel.

”I support the movements for freedom in Cuba. I want to see if (former President Luiz Inácio) Lula (Da Silva) does the same,” said Bolsonaro.

“Lula is a criminal who cannot go out on the streets and is with almost 60% of the intention to vote. In order not to be like Cuba we have to avoid electoral fraud in the 2022 elections,“ he added.

Bolsonaro criticized the Communist regime. He stressed that ”Cuban medicine is a sham” and recalled that 15,000 Cuban doctors who were working in Brazil with an agreement with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) decided to leave before he took office.

“In order not to be like Cuba, we must have the auditable vote,” he said, insisting on the need to change the electronic ballot box system that Brazil has used since 1996.

Opposition politicians and media outlets have maintained that Bolsonaro's objections to that system were unfounded.

In another geopolitical move along the same lines, Foreign Minister Carlos França, Tuesday released a statement supporting Juan Guaidó in Venezuela, whom Brazil still considers the country's interim president.

Since he took office in 2019, Bolsonaro has aligned himself with the United States and Israel to maintain the economic embargo against Cuba at the United Nations and now seems to have taken the flag in favor of opponents of the government of President Miguel Díaz Canel.

Bolsonaro has reportedly suffered a loss in his popularity down to 24%, especially due to his peculiar handling of the coronavirus pandemic and is now believed to be unable to beat Lula in next year's elections, according to pollstersd Datafolha.

Over the weekend, a survey has found that 63% of the population considers Bolsonaro incapable of governing and that he is repudiated by 59% for the October 2022 elections.

In this context, the president said that he “shits” on the Senate committee investigating the pandemic (CPI), where its members have accused him of 'health genocide' and that his profile of “myth” against corruption that spread in the 2018 campaign began to blur. He is also being investigated by the STF for malfeasance.

The president admitted on Monday night that he had received a complaint from a documented ally of overpricing in the purchase of Covaxin vaccines and that he did not make the complaint. He argued that he passed the papers on to then Health Minister General Eduardo Pazuello.

Bolsonaro has chosen in order to maintain a certain popularity among his most loyal fans to stage motorcycle caravans in several cities, while the opposition took to the streets to demand his impeachment, which has been halted by his ally and House of Deputies Speaker Arthur Lira.

There is also a conflict between CPI head Senator Omar Aziz and the heads of the three armed forces. The crossing of complaints and threats has escalated so much that Tuesday afternoon Bolsonaro had meeting with STF Chief Justice Luis Fux. The magistrate invited him to seal a defense agreement for the institutions. Upon exiting the meeting, Bolsonaro was once again irritated and angry with one of the journalists who questioned him.

To avoid losing the control, shouting, ordered everyone to pray the Our Father. With apparent health problems, he told his followers that he suffered suffering from hiccup attacks.

Lula did adress the Cuban crisis, but like Argentine President Alberto Fernández, he drew the spotlight onto the US trade embargo: ”Americans have to stop with that grudge; the blockade is a way of killing human beings who are not at war. What is the United States afraid of? I know what one country is trying to interfere with another; (President Joseph) Biden should take advantage of this moment to announce on television that he is going to adopt the recommendation of the UN countries and end this blockade,” Lula said on social media.

Also Tuesday Bolsonaro signed into law the privatization of Eletrobras and vetoed social protection for the workers who are being laid off in the process, which had been approved by Congress. Following the change of hands of the electricity company, consumers fear rates will rise up to 15 percent, while government officials have estimated that under the new management they might fall up to 7.36%.

Privatization has come at a difficult time for hydroelectric power in Brazil, its main source, as a result of the worst drought in the last 91 years in the southern and southeastern basins of the country, including that of the Paraná River.

According to the new law, Eletrobras stock is to be listed on the São Paulo Stock Exchange, and the State will keep 4 to 5% of the shares.

Bolsonaro has also banned those to be dismissed from acquiring shares of the company at a discount price as part of their severance pay and has also stricken the clause that allowed them to be employed by other energy-related companies or public entities.

The President also vetoed a provision whereby the Senate should evaluate the directors of the National Electric System Operator, the one responsible for coordinating the entire generation and transmission network of the country.

The sale of Eletrobras is carried out through a share package, as also happened with the service station giant of the oil company Petrobras, called BR Distribuidora, today in the hands of investment funds that own the majority of the shares.

The first attempt to privatize Eletrobras had been between 2016 and 2018 during the administration of Michel Temer, whose agenda for the sale of public assets was deepened with the arrival of Bolsonaro with his Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, an ultra-liberal from the Chicago School of Economics that vindicates Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Augusto Pinochet, for whom he worked in Chile in the eighties.

Argentine Health Ministry needs 10,000 wooden penises for educational purposes
Saturday, July 17th 2021 

The items are to be used in training people on how to use protection from STDs

Argentina's Health Ministry has called for tenders to purchase a large assortment of items, including 10,000 wooden human penises for educational purposes, it was reported.

Other needs to be fulfilled at the State's expense are 10,000 dispensers of condoms, which will be manufactured in such a way that they can be hung in public buildings and 10 thousand turquoise briefcases, stamped and with ribbons to the tone, together with the replicas of the male genitalia packed in one hundred boxes of one hundred units each, according to the ministry's website.

Also among the condition to be fulfilled by bidders is that the sculptures be neatly polished and measure around 17 centimeters.

The items will reportedly be used for sexual education activities and will entail a disbursement of AR $ 13,371,100 (the US $ 138,964, at the official exchange rate).

As explained in resolution 35 of 2021, the request for the materials was made by “the Directorate of Response to HIV, STIs, Viral Hepatitis and Tuberculosis” and will be ”intended for the general population and health professionals, to be distributed in Primary Health Care Centers (CAPS), Health Regions, Provincial and Municipal Programs and other establishments throughout the country.”

Despite the technical explanations and justifications, the news went virals and memes filled social media Friday as soon as it became known.

Access to Health Secretary Sandra Marcela Tirado had given the green light on June 24 to a request from the Directorate of response to HIV, STIs, viral Hepatitis and Tuberculosis for the purchase of materials to promote sexual health, which included the purchase of 10,000 polished wood penises, which was spotted by the Buenos Aires daily La Nación and made public Friday.

Through resolution 35 of 2021, Tirado indicated that the purchase of “the requested supplies will ensure wide availability of promotional materials whose purpose is to raise awareness and prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and other ITS within the framework of Law No. 23,798.″

Tirado then authorized “the call for Public Tender No. 80-0023-LPU21, for the acquisition of promotional materials, consisting of condom dispensers, wooden penises and briefcases, requested by the Directorate of response to HIV, STI, Viral Hepatitis and Tuberculosis, intended for the general population and health professionals, to be distributed in Primary Health Care Centers (CAPS), Health Regions, Provincial and Municipal Programs and other establishments throughout the country.”

The tender was published July 1 and the deadline for bids was last Tuesday. Four companies are vying to supply the Argentine government with the product.

Meanwhile, Minister Carla Vizzotti is on a tour of England, trying to reach new agreements and exchanges regarding anticoronavirus policies.

But the Ministry nevertheless explained to La Nación that “In response to preliminary studies that reveal a deterioration in the indicators related to sexually transmitted diseases during the pandemic, the Ministry of Health of the Nation calls for a public tender (0023/2021) for the acquisition, within the framework of the implementation of Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE) and health strategies to ensure compliance, of educational kits with materials for conducting training.”

“The educational kits for promotion and prevention contain condoms, a dispenser for accessibility of condoms and briefcases where the elements for training are transported, including wooden penises, lubricating gel and communication materials [...] The materials are intended for teams that work in the field, whether in health, education or community institutions,” the Ministry said in a press release given to La Nación.

“No province buys this type of input. The planned monthly distribution is 800 kits. The material is distributed through provincial programs. Among the bidders for the acquisition of the kits, there is a maximum offer of 14 million and another smaller offer, for 4 million. In case of acquiring them, the Ministry of Health will opt for the lowest offer,” the statement went on.

“The amount to be acquired —which was consolidated from the distributions made in previous years— is because they are distributed to around 5,200 health providers and to other government teams and organizations that work with the ESI (sexual education), buying is also related to the possibility of taking preventive policies to as many places as possible by placing these resources close to people, including civil society organizations and other government agencies in the preventive response to HIV and other STIs,” the Ministry explained.

The release also specified that “in preliminary studies, a decrease in the use of condoms is observed during the pandemic, for this reason, it is necessary to plan intervention policies with educational measures, promotion and post-pandemic assistance. Furthermore, in our country, more than 98% of infections are caused by unprotected sex.”

“The current situation in our country concerning the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, such as syphilis, shows an increase in diagnoses, especially in the cases of adolescents and young people. All this determines the need for policies of prevention in Sexual Health, sustained and of national impact [...] In relation to the use of condoms, so that their use is adequate, training and health education are carried out for young people and adolescents. This is why material is needed so that, through Comprehensive Sex Education, the proper use is transmitted,” the authorities detailed.

Dinosaur-era egg nests found in Argentine Patagonia

Saturday, July 17th 2021 - 

Scientists have rescued 73 eggs and more “continue to appear”

The Argentine University of Comahue Friday announced the discovery on its campus of dinosaur-era egg nests. The 73 specimens found are birds 85 million years old from the Cretaceous period.

A “nesting site” with more than 70 dinosaur-era eggs was found within the campus of the National University of Comahue (UNCo), in Neuquén, during a monitoring carried out by the Museum of Natural Sciences due to the future construction of new buildings in that place.

Scientists from the university pointed out that the eggs had been rescued to a protected area.

Researcher Juan Porfiri told Télam that they had decided to “carry out a monitoring of a sector of the university campus where new constructions are going to be executed in a very rich fossil deposit where we have found snakes and crocodiles and where we believe there is much more to be done.”

The scholar also explained that “we proposed before the works began, as there is paleontological risk, to do the monitoring in that sector where in previous years we had worked and found fossils.”

He added that “when they cleaned the place they found a nesting area that has many eggs from which we have rescued 73 so far and they continue to appear.”

Porfiri specified that what they found “is a nesting site that is 12 meters long by 5 meters wide.” He also explained that the eggs found at the university were of birds, some 85 million years old, from the Cretaceous period. “They are approximately 5 centimeters from end to end in an elliptical shape, with an extremely smooth shell unlike other dinosaur eggs that have appeared in the city of Neuquén that are rough, round and larger,” he went on.

The geological formation of the finding is called “Bajo de la Carpa” and “85 million years ago it was a place with dunes and small lagoons with a semi-arid climate,” explained Porfiri. Rescue efforts will continue in the coming weeks, although many of the materials found are on the site and others have been collected and have already been added to the Museum's collection.

Porfiri stressed that “there are several studies done on these bird eggs, but there are always new contributions through studies that are being made to know well why they are deposited, what form of deposit they have and, in turn, advance in some other types of investigations.“

”The paleontological site of the entire university campus is extremely important because fossil materials always appear,” he explained. Porfiri mentioned fossils found of “Notosuchio” crocodiles, or the “Alvarezsauros”, a family of dinosaurs which first surfaced “at the university campus and then their relatives began to appear in Mongolia, Canada and other parts of the world.”

Students from the UNCo's Geology department participate in the research project. They have been also involved in other initiatives with the Museum of Natural Sciences and the Secretariat for University Policies. “They are university volunteers specializing in paleontology and today they are faced with this opportunity to work on this project,” said Porfiri. The work team is coordinated by Porfiri and his paleontologist colleague Domenica dos Santos.

(Source: Telam)

Chinese Mining company pledges to invest US $ 34 million in lithium plant in northern Argentina
Tuesday, July 6th 2021 - 09:15 UTC
Full article

Ganfeng Lithium is arguably among the largest in the world in the production of lithium and batteries.

A local subsidiary of China's Ganfeng Lithium has purchased a 23-hectare property in the General Güemes Industrial Park in the northwestern Argentine province of Salta, it was announced.

The company reportedly plans to achieve a production capacity of 20 thousand tons of lithium chloride per year under the local franchise Litio Minera Argentina, which is expected to generate 195 jobs.

The Chinese firm has pledged to invest US$34 million in their new plant, which is expected to be operational in five years.

“Today we are moving forward with the acquisition from the province of 23 hectares of land in the General Güemes Industrial Park, which will be used for the construction of a lithium chloride industrial plant,” said Simón Pérez Alsina, Vice President of Litio Minera Argentina.

Ganfeng Lithium is arguably among the largest in the world in the production of lithium and batteries.

The documents related to the purchase of the land to settle the factory were signed Monday by Pérez Alsina on behalf of the developers and Pablo Outes, Coordinator of Liaison and Political Relations of Salta's provincial government.

“It is important the impulse that we can give from the State as an incentive and the control that we exercise over the companies, in the hiring of local workers and the support to SMEs, so that they become suppliers for this activity,” said Outes.

It is estimated that the plant will be fully operational in approximately five years and that the construction process of this industry will have an enormous economic impact at the local level since the vast majority will demand local suppliers.

Pérez Alsina concurred, adding it was company policy to hire local suppliers and labour.

Salta Secretary of Industry, Commerce and Employment Nicolás Avellaneda, highlighted that in the last ten days this is the second company to have purchased a property in the Güemes Industrial Park. “We are satisfied because it is an investment of US $ 34 million and this will bring greater investments, which in the coming years will be reflected,” he said.

Avellaneda also explained that the bidding documents which will allow the construction of the Multimodal Logistics Node in Güemes, adjacent to the Industrial Park and the Free Trade Zone, are to be finalized soon.

“The Logistics Node is approved and endorsed by the World Bank, as an industrial and commercial strategic point for the entire northern region of Argentina and the mining industry will be a part of this great project,” he said.

The Güemes Industrial Park is projected as one of the most important industrial development poles in the Northwest, due to its strategic position within the bi-oceanic corridor.

The realization of the Logistics Node will facilitate logistics and distribution of goods, both for domestic and international trade, while the Dry Port will allow exports directly from the NOA.

ARGENTINA

Paraná river reaches historic lows; worst part far from over
Friday, July 16th 2021 - 

“Clearly there is a climate change,” said Bordet

The Paraná River had descended yet another three centimeters over the last 24 hours in front of the former capital of Argentina named after it (1853-1860) for a total of 17 centimeters below sea level.

It is a key waterway for the export of agricultural items from the Argentine port of Rosario as well as Paraguay's access to the ocean. The current situation is the worst ever for navigation since it reached -1.40 meters in 1944.

The current downspout keeps the river way below its average of 3.10 meters in July by the city of Paraná, currently, the capital of the province of Entre Ríos, where the river reached 0.50 meters in 1971, and 0.0 in 1970 and 2020.

Argentina's National Water Institute (INA) has forecast that a “clearly unfavorable outlook as of September 30 persists, with a certain probability of extending into the subsequent four months, at least.”

The INA also pointed out that July will be “especially critical” for “water intakes for urban consumption, for cooling power generation plants and industrial processes.” It also warned about problems in “river navigation, fish fauna, bank stability” and “exposure to fires on banks and islands.”

Entre Ríos Governor Gustavo Bordet explained that the current situation “generates a lot of concern, it is a historical downspout that impacts drinking water and this is the most urgent thing that concerns us today, in addition to the environmental” issues.

Bordet also explained he was in permanent touch with local mayors along the river bank. He added that “clearly there is a climate change, fundamentally in the headwaters of the rivers with deforestation, and with a change in the soils and in the cropping systems that modify the environmental conditions.”

Entre Ríos Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock of Entre Ríos Lucio Amavet told Télam that the downspout ”had a strong impact on collectors, filleters, transporters and more than 3,000 families of fishermen who make a living from it“, registering ”the lowest export quota of the last 15 years.“

”It is a level never reached, we in Paraná [city] have no memory of something similar and beyond the economic damages, it is an environmental pain that will take years to recover,“ historian, poet, and singer-songwriter Roberto Romani told Télam.

Romani, the author of some 25 books, called on ”the State, the teaching profession, the media, and families to try to convey what it means to live around the river and its importance” once this historic downspout is overcome.

(Source: Télam)

Charges filed against former Argentine President Macri for helping overthrow Evo in Bolivia
Saturday, July 17th 2021 - 

Macri said he was sure of his innocence

Argentine prosecutors have agreed to file charges against former President Mauricio Macri and several senior officials for allegedly supporting the overthrowing of Evo Morales in November 2019.

Former Ministers Patricia Bullrich (Security) and Óscar Aguar (defence) as well as then Argentine Ambassador to Bolivia, Normando Álvarez García are among the accused, together with top-ranking Gendarmería Nacional (Border Guard) chiefs.

Prosecutor Claudio Navas Rial has called for an investigation into whether there was “aggravated smuggling,” due to which he has for now not given in to pressure from the current Government of President Alberto Fernández to demand from Macri a report on the calls between him and the other defendants.

The charges are about the “illegal shipment of weapons and ammunition to Bolivia perpetrated on November 12, 2019, by the national government headed by former President Macri, with the participation of high authorities of the National Executive Power,” it was reported Friday in Buenos Aires.

Macri has said he was “calm” in the face of the accusations against him and sure of his innocence. The complaint is nothing more than “a story, an operation, a mixture of malice and hallucinations of Kirchnerism,” he added.

According to the Bolivian Foreign Ministry of the Government of Luis Arce, the alleged shipment took to La Paz on November 13, 2019, and contained 40,000 cartridges of rubber bullets, five sprays of tear gas, 50 CN gas grenades, 19 CS gas grenades. and 52 HC gas grenades.

Current Argentine Justice Minister Martín Soria also explained that as a result of the accusations, the Bolivian authorities might request Macri's extradition as well as that of all the others involved in the case.

Meanwhile, Bolivian authorities have announced the finding of 29,600 anti-riot bullets allegedly sent by Macri. “The cartridges are undoubtedly Argentine,” Bolivian Police Chief Jhonny Aguilera told the Buenos Aires daily Página 12.

Aguilera also pointed out that the Bolivian Police officer who had received the weapons from the National Gendarmerie had already been identified.

The official also explained the ammunition had been discovered in a police warehouse not far from La Paz.

Earlier this week, Bolivian authorities disclosed what they claim is a thanks note from then Bolivian Air Force Chief Jorge Terceros Lara to the Argentine ambassador upon reception of rubber bullets, grenades and pepper spray.

Macri is currently in Switzerland due to his involvement within football's ruling body FIFA.

According to current Argentine Security Minister Sabina Frederic, the Gendarmería Nacional élite “Alacrán” group which was sent to Bolivia during the uprising against Morales does not use anti-riot weapons but rather lethal weapons, which would explain why the ammunition found remained in storage.

The week after the arrival of the Argentine group there were two massacres, that of Sacaba and that of Sakata.

In the smuggling complaint, Argentina's government has hinted that the ammunition might have been used there.

The case is now under study by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) - created through an agreement between Bolivia and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

Navas Rial is the prosecutor in the two smuggling cases (one submitted by the national government and the other by Eduardo Freiler), which are likely to be merged into one at some point.

China rejects any further investigation to COVID-19 origins at the Wuhan lab
Saturday, July 17th 2021 - 

WHO chief Tedros called on Beijing to be transparent, open and cooperate on a second phase of the investigation, to definitively eliminate the lab leak hypothesis.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian empathically rejected the theory of the virus leak from the virology lab in Wuhan.

China openly rejected the World Health Organization request for more information, and transparency, regarding an investigation into the origins of the COVID 19 pandemic.

WHO is also under strong pressure to organize an in depth investigation into the pandemic's origin, given the modest results of the organization's team sent to China's Wuhan province last January, where the disease was first reported.

Earlier this week WHO chief Tedros admitted that during the first phase of the investigation, the team of independent international experts did not have access to the raw data of the outbreak of the disease and the suspicion of a lab leak of the virus in China was further reaffirmed.

Tedros thus called on Beijing to be transparent, open and cooperate on a second phase of the investigation, to definitively eliminate the lab leak hypothesis.

However Beijing on Friday pointed out that China had allowed “access to the original data that needed special attention”, although admitting that some of the information “involves personal privacy”.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian also empathically rejected the theory of the virus leak from the virology lab in Wuhan.

He added that the team of experts visiting China “had agreed that the hypothesis of a lab leak had led to the virus outbreak is extremely unlikely”, and warned that “the issue should not be politicized”.

Beijing's reaction to such hypothesis has been to blast any such suggestion as politically motivated and unscientific.

But even with ex president Trump's aggressiveness on the issue out of the field, such an option has again resurfaced and Tedros said further investigation could help rule out completely such hypothesis.

Last May president Joe Biden ordered US intelligence agencies to investigate the origin of the pandemic including the hypothesis of a lab leak, which was one of former president Trump's favorite arguments to pound on Beijing. However at the time it was discarded believing it was an extreme right conspiracy theory.

However the hypothesis has again regained headlines following on reports from three scientists at the Wuhan Virology Institute who became seriously ill after visiting a bats' cave in Yunnan.

The theory of a natural origin of the virus, supported by WHO experts and Chinese scientists during their first investigation in Wuhan, argues that the virus from the bats jumped to human beings through some other animal.

Tedros at his conference in Geneva also mentioned that the Delta variant which surfaced in India and has rapidly spread to other countries has become the dominant strain in parts of Europe and the United States, and underlined that the pandemic is far from over.

Sprawling Oregon wildfire, largest of dozens in U.S., continues to grow
By Deborah Bloom and Steve Gorman
METRO US
Posted on July 16, 2021

Firefighters deal with extreme conditions as Bootleg Fire expands, in Orego

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (Reuters) -A sprawling wildfire raging mostly unchecked for over a week in southern Oregon forced firefighters into retreat for a fourth straight day as it expanded to become the state’s fifth largest blaze in more than a century, forestry officials said on Friday.

The Bootleg fire, the biggest among dozens of wildfires flaring across the tinder-dry landscape of the Western United States, has scorched more than 241,000 acres – an area exceeding the land mass of New York City.

Ironically, heavy smoke shrouding much of the region from the fires may act to slightly blunt the effects of yet another heat wave expected this weekend in the Rockies, extending to parts of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado.

The Bootleg blaze has been burning through drought-parched timber and brush in and around the Fremont-Winema National Forest since erupting on July 6 near Klamath Falls, about 250 miles (400 km) south of Portland. The cause is under investigation.

Flames have destroyed at least 21 homes and 54 other structures, authorities said. On Friday, the Oregon Department of Forestry listed 5,000-plus homes as threatened, about 3,000 more than a day earlier.

That figure represents a greater number of communities potentially in harm’s way as the blaze expands, said agency spokesman Marcus Kauffman. Still, fewer dwellings were in immediate danger, especially along the fire’s southern flank where crews had more success.

Consequently, the number of homes under mandatory evacuation declined by about half to just over 200 on Friday, while about 2,700 were placed on stand-by alerts.

Strike teams have carved containment lines around 7% of the fire’s perimeter. But extreme fire growth fueled by low humidity, dry vegetation and gusty winds forced firefighters to withdraw from leading edges of the blaze for a fourth consecutive day on Friday, officials said.

“The Bootleg fire perimeter is more than 200 miles long. That’s an enormous amount of line to build and hold,” incident commander Rob Allen said in a statement.

ANOTHER HEAT WAVE

Allen said hot, dry, windy conditions were expected to worsen over the weekend, while meteorologists forecast the arrival of yet another major Western heat wave, the fourth since early June.

This one, roasting portions of the Northern Rockies and High Plains through Monday, will emanate from a high-pressure ridge building over the Desert Southwest, said National Weather Service meteorologist David Lawrence.


That high-pressure dome may help pull some much-needed moisture into Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and southern Idaho, Lawrence said. A potential downside, however, is the increased chance of dry lightning storms forming in central and northern California ahead of any rain that may fall there, he added.

More than 1,900 firefighters and a dozen helicopters as well as airplane tankers and bulldozers were assigned to the Bootleg fire as demand for personnel and equipment across the Pacific Northwest strained available resources.

The Bootleg ranked as the largest by far of 70 major active wildfires listed on Thursday as having burned more than 1 million acres in 12 states, the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, reported. It also stood as the fifth largest on record in Oregon since 1900, according to state forestry figures.

As of Wednesday, the center in Boise put its “national wildland fire preparedness level” at No. 5, the highest of its five-tier scale, meaning most U.S. firefighting resources are currently deployed somewhere across the country.

The situation represented an unusually busy start to the annual fire season, coming amid extremely dry conditions and record-breaking heat that has baked much of the West in recent weeks.

Scientists have said the growing frequency and intensity of wildfires are largely attributable to prolonged drought and increasing bouts of excessive heat that are symptomatic of climate change.

Nearly 70 National Weather Service stations across the West have posted all-time high temperatures this summer, and several hundred record highs for specific dates have also been set, Lawrence said

The Bootleg fire is so large that it generates its own weather. Towering pyrocumulus clouds form from condensed moisture that is sucked up through the fire’s smoke column from burned vegetation and the surrounding atmosphere, and can spawn lightning and high winds.

The sudden “collapse” of one such cloud on Friday spread embers to the east of the main fire zone, prompting additional evacuation notices for two communities, Allen said.

(Reporting by Deborah Bloom in Klamath Falls, Ore.; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by David Gregorio and Leslie Adler)

Firefighters deal with extreme conditions as Bootleg Fire expands, in Oregon

Thousands evacuated as raging wildfires spread in Oregon and US West

Issued on: 17/07/2021 - 

Fire from the Bootleg Fire illuminates smoke at night near Bly, Oregon, July 16, 2021. 

© Payton Bruni, AFP


Firefighters scrambled Friday to control a raging inferno in southeastern Oregon that’s spreading miles a day in windy conditions, one of numerous wildfires across the US West that are straining resources.

Crews had to flee the fire lines late Thursday after a dangerous “fire cloud” started to collapse, threatening them with strong downdrafts and flying embers. An initial review Friday showed the Bootleg Fire destroyed 67 homes and 117 outbuildings overnight in one county. Authorities were still counting the losses in a second county where the flames are surging up to 4 miles (6 kilometers) a day.

The blaze has forced 2,000 people to evacuate and is threatening 5,000 buildings that include homes and smaller structures in a rural area just north of the California border, fire spokeswoman Holly Krake said. Active flames are surging along 200 miles (322 kilometers) of the fire’s perimeter, she said, and it’s expected to merge with a smaller, but equally explosive fire by nightfall.

The Bootleg Fire is now 377 square miles (976 square kilometers) — larger than the area of New York City — and mostly uncontained.

“We’re likely going to continue to see fire growth over miles and miles of active fire line,” Krake said. “We are continuing to add thousands of acres a day, and it has the potential each day, looking forward into the weekend, to continue those 3- to 4-mile runs.”

The inferno has stymied firefighters for a week with erratic winds and extremely dangerous fire behavior, including ominous fire clouds that form from superheated air rising to a height of up to 6 miles (10 kilometers) above the blaze.

“We’re expecting those same exact conditions to continue and worsen into the weekend,” Krake said of the fire-induced clouds.

Early on, the fire doubled in size almost daily, and strong winds Thursday again pushed the flames rapidly. Similar winds gusting up to 30 mph (48 kph) were expected Friday.

Dry conditions and heat waves

It’s burning an area north of the California border that has been gripped by extreme drought, like most of the American West.

Extremely dry conditions and heat waves tied to climate change have swept the region, making wildfires harder to fight. Climate change has made the West much warmer and drier in the past 30 years, and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

The blaze was most active on its northeastern flank, pushed by winds from the south toward the rural communities of Summer Lake and Spring Lake. Paisley, to the east of the fire, was also at risk. All the towns are in Lake County, a remote area of lakes and wildlife refuges with a total population of about 8,000.

The Bootleg Fire is one of at least a dozen major fires burning in Washington state, Oregon and California as a siege of wildfires takes hold across the drought-stricken West. There were 70 active large fires and complexes of multiple fires that have burned nearly 1,659 square miles (4,297 square kilometers) in the US, the National Interagency Fire Center said.

In the Pacific Northwest, firefighters say they are facing conditions more typical of late summer or fall than early July.

About 200 firefighters were battling but had little control over the 17-square-mile (44-square-kilometer) Red Apple Fire near the Washington city of Wenatchee renowned for its apples. The flames were threatening apple orchards and an electrical substation, but no buildings have been lost, officials said.

In California, the Tamarack Fire in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest quickly grew to 2.5 square miles (6.5 square kilometers) on Friday, prompting evacuations in the Markleeville area in Alpine County. The blaze prompted the cancelation of Saturday’s “Death Ride,” a 103-mile (165.76-kilometer) bicycle ride in the so-called California Alps over three Sierra Nevada mountain passes.

(AP)

 

Europe floods: Death toll rises above 150

17 Jul, 2021

The death toll from disastrous flooding in western Europe rose above 150 as rescue workers toiled to clear up the devastation and prevent further damage.

Police said that more than 90 people are now known to have died in western Germany's Ahrweiler county, one of the worst-hit areas, and more casualties are feared.

A destroyed house is seen in Erftstadt-Blessem, Germany. Photo / AP

On Friday, authorities gave a death toll of 63 for the whole of Rhineland-Palatinate state, where Ahrweiler is located.

Another 43 people were confirmed dead in neighbouring North Rhine-Westphalia state, Germany's most populous, and 20 others were killed across the border in Belgium.

By Saturday, waters were receding across much of the affected regions, but officials feared that more bodies might be found in cars and trucks that were swept away.

A woman walks up the stairs in her damaged house after flooding in Ensival, Vervier, Belgium. Photo / A

A man looks at a car that is covered in Hagen, Germany. Photo / AP

Debris of houses and trees surround houses in Schuld, Germany. Photo / AP

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier planned to travel Saturday to Erftstadt, southwest of Cologne, where a harrowing rescue effort unfolded on Friday as people were trapped when the ground gave way and their homes collapsed.

 

UN Agrees To $6 Billion Peacekeeping Budget, Narrowly Averting Shutdown

By Giulia Campos on June 30 2021 

United Nations members convene to discuss $6 billion budget to their 12 peacekeeping operations.

United Nations member states agreed on Tuesday to a $6 billion budget to avert a shutdown of global peacekeeping missions. 

The 193-member U.N. General Assembly budget committee agreed to the peacekeeping budget for the year through June 30, 2022. It will formally be adopted on Wednesday. 

There are currently 12 peacekeeping operations led by the Department of Peace Operations, most of which are in Africa and the Middle East. These operations are crucial in the maintenance of international peace and security.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said if they missed their June 30 negotiation deadline, missions would be severely limited and unable to carry out such measures as protecting civilians, helping tackle COVID-19 and supporting political efforts and mediation. T

The United States is the largest contributor to the peacekeeping budget, responsible for about 28%. China follows with 15.2% and Japan at 8.5% of contributions.