Rio Tinto-led plan for major lithium mine stirs protests in Serbia

Reuters | August 26, 2021 | 

The Jadar project has an estimated production capacity of 55,000 tonnes per year.(Image courtesy of Rio Tinto.)

Four years from now, fields in the Jadar river valley in western Serbia where Djorjde Kapetanovic grows corn and soy to feed his cattle will be turned into a waste dump for Europe’s biggest lithium mine.


Rio Tinto in July committed $2.4 billion to its Jadar project as global miners push into metals needed for the green energy transition, including lithium, which is used to make electric vehicle batteries. The Jadar project, once completed, would help make Rio a top 10 lithium producer, just as demand for EVs booms.

Opposition to the project is growing, however, because of concerns about possible environmental damage and protest rallies have become more frequent. In April, thousands gathered in Belgrade to protest against widespread pollution in the Balkan country and against the lithium mine near Loznica, 142 km (88 miles) southwest of the capital.

Once it reaches full capacity, the mine is expected to produce 58,000 tonnes of refined battery-grade lithium carbonate per year. That would make it Europe’s biggest lithium mine in terms of production, Rio said.

In the village of Korenita, dairy farmer Kapetanovic said the mine, if opened, could leave him without income. Part of his land where he grows crop to feed his animals will be turned into a dump for mining waste, known as tailings, with compensation from the company.

LITHIUM IS CENTRAL TO THE EUROPEAN UNION’S PLANS TO SECURE AN ENTIRE SUPPLY CHAIN OF BATTERY MINERALS AND MATERIALS AS THE USE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES INCREASES

Other areas of his land, his house and a cattle shed will be outside the mine, leaving Kapetanovic worried about exposure to possible pollution.

“Who would want to buy products made on the outskirts of the mine?” said Kapetanovic, who produces 10 tonnes (22,000 lb) of meat and 90,000 litres (23,775 gallons) of milk per year, making him one of the bigger producers in the Loznica area.

Rio Tinto Serbia CEO Vesna Prodanovic said the Anglo-Australian miner would meet all European Union and Serbian environmental regulations, including on the treatment of wastewater.

“There’s simply no way for the construction to start without securing licences (and) if all those (EU standards) are not adhered to,” she said in an interview.

“We take into account precipitation levels, prescribed dust levels. We take into consideration everything there is in the field. We are making all studies and tests to get clear data about what is the current situation in the area.”

One study, commissioned by Rio on the mine’s environmental impact, concluded the mine should not be built as it will cause “irredeemable damage to the biosphere”, an abstract obtained by Reuters found.

“The implementation of the planned activities, especially the disposal of industrial waste, will significantly impair biodiversity in the entire area of the planned works,” the study by Belgrade University’s Faculty of Biology said.

“In … primary zones of (the mine’s) influence, there will be complete and direct destruction of habitats with the disappearance of all organisms that inhabit them.”

Rio said the biodiversity study was part of a wider feasibility study and it would conduct further research to “support the most advanced and most expensive solutions in nature protection, which would minimise the impact”.
Economic boost

Lithium is central to the European Union’s plans to secure an entire supply chain of battery minerals and materials as the use of electric vehicles increases.

Serbia, which sits on the world’s 11th largest lithium reserves, is working its way through the accession process to join the EU.

For its own economy, the Jadar project is one of Serbia’s biggest foreign investments to date and could help to tackle rising unemployment in the Balkan country.

Rio said the project would create about 2,100 construction jobs and inject approximately 200 million euros ($235.32 million) per year into the domestic supply chain.

Energy minister Zorana Mihajlovic told Reuters that Serbia aimed, like the EU, to secure the entire production chain, including a potential battery plant and an electric vehicle plant.

Rio’s Serbia CEO said the company’s studies estimated the project would add 1 percentage point to Serbia’s $51.4 billion annual GDP. It would also boost Loznica’s municipal budget by 60-70% annually, she said.

In June, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who is under fire for supporting the project, said a referendum would be held to allow people to decide whether it should go ahead.

The absence of further details on the referendum has worried opponents. In July, Loznica municipal assembly, which is dominated by Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party and its allies, formally gave a green light for mine construction by approving a new municipal plan for land allocation.

Contacted by Reuters, the president’s office had no immediate comment.

Rio has bought nearly half of the land required for the mine, which will be spread over roughly 387 hectares.

Some $100 million of Rio’s investment has been earmarked for environmental protection, but activists say that is insufficient to compensate for potential damage.

One major concern for environmentalists is Rio’s plan to put

waste dumps in the Korenita and Jadar rivers valley, an area prone to flash flooding.

In 2014, Korenita river flooding caused a closed mine’s tailings dam to overflow, spilling toxic waste onto agricultural land.

Rio Tinto said it planned to convert the liquid waste into “dry cakes” to make it easier and safer to store and is planning for once-in-a-millennium floods in its construction.

($1 = 0.8499 euros)

(By Ivana Sekularac and Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Amran Abocar and Barbara Lewis)

SQM told to resubmit compliance plan as lithium scrutiny grows

Bloomberg News | August 26, 2021 |

Dried up brine pool on the Atacama salt flats, northern Chile, property of SQM the world’s second largest lithium producer. (Image courtesy of Ferrando | Flickr.)

SQM has been asked to resubmit a compliance plan for extracting brine from a salt flat in northern Chile, a process on which its lithium expansion plans depend.


The world’s no. 2 producer of the battery metal has 15 business days to address technical observations related to the impact of removing the solution from the Atacama salt pan and its system for monitoring pumping levels, environmental agency SMA said in a document dated August 19.

The process relates to charges that SQM had overdrawn brine, which led to a $25 million compliance plan that was approved by the SMA in 2019 but then blocked by a court in a win for indigenous and environmental activists. The SMA’s resolution last week includes observations from the Toconao community and grants a request by the Socaire community to also be party to the sanctioning process, said Cristobal De La Maza, who heads the agency.

While probably just a minor setback in a years-long process, the SMA’s requests underscore heightening scrutiny of the environmental and social impact of producing materials needed for the clean-energy transition.

SQM has laid out plans to reduce its use of fresh water and brine pumping rates even as it expands output to cater to an expected tripling of demand in a rechargeable battery boom.

“We received comments from the authority on the presentation we made last October, so now it’s up to us to deliver the proposal with the requested improvements,” said the Santiago-based company formally known as Soc. Quimica & Minera de Chile SA.

(By James Attwood, with assistance from Eduardo Thomson

Labor tensions are ratcheting up again in Chile

Bloomberg News | August 26, 2021 |

Codelco’s Salvador mine. (Image courtesy of Codelco | Flickr)

A growing number of copper workers in top producer Chile are digging in for a bigger share of the metal windfall, increasing the prospect of further supply disruptions.


Just this week, a union at a mine owned by JX Nippon Mining & Metals and plant workers at Codelco’s Andina operation rejected new wage offers, opting instead to continue their strikes. A Cerro Colorado union urged members to snub BHP Group’s final proposal, describing it as “abusive,” and Codelco’s best offer to workers at its Salvador mine was labeled as “unacceptable” by the union.

There’s still time to prevent strikes at Cerro Colorado and Salvador, but the rhetoric suggests it will be a hard task. The four mines represent about 2.2% of global production. While one of the market’s biggest supply threats was neutralized earlier this month with a deal at BHP’s Escondida, talks are only just beginning at Codelco’s top mine, El Teniente.

For now, copper traders are focused on how the Federal Reserve intends to pare stimulus. But physical factors may come back into the spotlight at a time of tight supplies.

To be sure, brinkmanship, eleventh-hour deals and stoppages have characterized previous collective bargaining cycles in Chile, with Escondida hit with a 44-day strike in 2017. Producers can also limit the impact of industrial action by undertaking maintenance work. Codelco, for example, said Tuesday that it can still produce slightly more than last year despite disruptions at Andina.

But the typical tensions of renewing contracts are being inflamed by the current highly profitable copper prices and Chile’s broad-based social justice movement that has plugged into an uptick in resource nationalism globally. Workers are also looking to be rewarded for their sacrifices in keeping mines operating during the pandemic. A bumper bonus package granted to Escondida workers caught the attention of other unions.

At the same time, companies are striving to keep labor costs in check in a cyclical business facing pricier inputs and falling ore quality. In the case of state-owned Codelco, there’s an added responsibility to feed state coffers at a time of increased spending on social services, with the company taking into account each mine’s productivity in wage talks.

(By James Attwood)

Union at BHP’s Cerro Colorado calls on workers to reject contract offer

Reuters | August 25, 2021 

Cerro Colorado mine in Chile. (Image by Zwansaurio | Flickr Commons)

The workers’ union at BHP’s Cerro Colorado copper mine in Chile has called on its members to reject a final contract offer by the company, paving the way for a strike at the small deposit, the group’s leadership told Reuters.


The labor tensions come shortly after a court ordered the mine to cease pumping from a reservoir that supplies it with fresh water, citing environmental concerns and slowing progress on a key mine maintenance project.

Union leader Marcelo Franco said BHP had used the regulatory issues it faces as an excuse to lowball workers with an inadequate contract proposal.

“We are calling to vote for a strike,” Franco said.

If the union rejects the contract, Chilean law allows the parties to request government-led mediation for up to 10 days in an effort to reach an agreement and stave off a strike.

BHP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The global miner recently struck a deal with workers at its massive Escondida mine that resulted in record-breaking benefits, an outcome that will likely raise the bar at Cerro Colorado and elsewhere in world top copper producer Chile.

Cerro Colorado, a small mine in BHP’s Chilean portfolio, produced about 1.2% of the South American nation’s total copper output in 2020.

(By Fabian Cambero and Dave Sherwood)

 

COVID-19 and masking impact emotional labor performance

by David Bradley, Inderscience

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

We are emotional beings and this matters deeply in our personal lives but also in our working lives, perhaps nowhere more so than in the face-to-face service industries. New research in the International Journal of Quality and Innovation, has looked at the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on what is commonly referred to as "emotional labor performance," the workplace management of emotions that are integral to a worker's performance

Niamh Lafferty and Sarah MacCurtain of the Kemmy Business School at the University of Limerick in Castletroy, Limerick, Ireland, and Patricia Mannix McNamara of the School of Education there, explain that the emergence of a global pandemic caused by an airborne virus meant that the public and workers alike have been for many months now obliged to wear a face covering, a protective mask, to reduce the risk of spreading the disease and to some extent catching it.

"By the nature of emotional labor, employees rely on both the ability to read service users' emotions and the ability to express appropriate emotional displays in response," the team writes. "In simpler times, employees could assess non-verbal expressions of emotion through facial recognition and respond with facially recognizable emotions evidenced in expressions such as a smile or one of concern," they add.

A face covering obviously precludes the normal appreciation of visual cues, such as smiles and frowns that we expect of our interactions with other people. This "new normal" has led to significant modifications to the interactions between service users and the people providing a service.

The new normal represents uncertainty and struggle for so many people. There are major challenges that have arisen in the time since we first recognized the pandemic nature of the virus formally known as SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes, COVID-19. However, from the perspective of those researching emotional labor, the widespread wearing of face coverings actually presents a new research opportunity to better understand the interactions between provider and user in ways that are not possible when facial expressions are wholly visible to each party in such an interaction.

"This mask-wearing time provides an exceptional opportunity to test [the] relevance, significance, and impact [of emotional labor] in a way that previously could never have been achieved," the team writes.When faces are partially covered, neither people nor algorithms are good at reading emotions

More information: Niamh Lafferty et al, Donning the mask: the impact of Covid-19 on emotional labour performance, International Journal of Quality and Innovation (2021). DOI: 10.1504/IJQI.2021.117187

Provided by Inderscience 

Batman cloak-like chainmail switches from flexible to tough on command

When jammed, the chainmail particles stiffen into a fabric that can support a load 50 times its weight.

 by Tibi Puiu

ZME
August 26, 2021

Credit:Caltech.

Researchers at Caltech and JPL have devised a new smart material that can instantly morph from fluid and flexible to tough and rigid. The material’s configuration is inspired by chainmail armors and could potentially prove useful in exoskeletons, casts for broken limbs, and robotics.

This modern chainmail sounds mighty similar to Batman’s cloak, which drapes behind the superhero at rest but stiffens into a glider when he needs to make a fast escape. However, unlike the DC movies, the technology was initially inspired by the physics of vacuum-packed coffee.

Coffee inspiration

“Think about coffee in a vacuum-sealed bag. When still packed, it is solid, via a process we call ‘jamming’. But as soon as you open the package, the coffee grounds are no longer jammed against each other and you can pour them as though they were a fluid,” Chiara Daraio, a professor of mechanical engineering and applied physics at Caltech, explained.

While individual coffee grounds or sand particles only jam when compressed, sheets of linked rings can jam together under both compression and tension. Starting from this idea, Daraio and colleagues experimented with a number of different configurations of linked particles and tested each using both computer simulations and 3-D printing.

Testing the impact resistance of the material when unjammed (soft). Credit: Caltech.

Testing the impact resistance of the material when jammed (rigid). Credit: Caltech.

Although it doesn’t lead to the stiffest configuration, the researchers settled on an octagonal shape of the chainmail links. The best stiffness effect is achieved with circular rings and squares, which is actually the design used in ancient armors. However, these configurations are also much heavier due to the denser stacking of the links. The octagonal configuration is the most optimal one in terms of both stiffness and lighter weight.

The chainmail is made from linked octahedrons. Credit: Catech.

During one demonstration, 3-D printed polymer chainmail was compressed using a vacuum chamber or by dropping weight to control the jamming of the material. The vacuum-locked chainmail remarkably supported a load more than 50 times its weight.

When stiffened the chainmail can support 40 times its own weight. Credit: Caltech.


“Granular materials are a beautiful example of complex systems, where simple interactions at a grain scale can lead to complex behavior structurally. In this chain mail application, the ability to carry tensile loads at the grain scale is a game changer. It’s like having a string that can carry compressive loads. The ability to simulate such complex behavior opens the door to extraordinary structural design and performance,” says José E. Andrade, the George W. Housner Professor of Civil and Mechanical Engineering and Caltech’s resident expert in the modeling of granular materials.

The modern chainmail fabrics have potential applications in smart wearable clothing. “When unjammed, they are lightweight, compliant, and comfortable to wear; after the jamming transition, they become a supportive and protective layer on the wearer’s body,” says Wang, now an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

In parallel, the researchers are working on a new design consisting of strips of polymers that shrink on command when heat is present. These strips could be woven into the chainmail to create objects like bridges that fold down flat when required. The two materials joining together could use prove highly useful when incorporated into robots that can morph into different shapes and configurations.

US offshore oil workers flee as storm approaches Gulf of Mexico
Reuters | August 26, 2021 

Shenzi Petroleum development in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. (Image courtesy of BHP Billiton.)

U.S. energy companies on Thursday began airlifting workers from Gulf of Mexico oil production platforms and moved vessels from the path of what could become a devastating hurricane by the weekend.


A storm brewing in the Caribbean Sea is forecast to grind through the main oil-producing region of the Gulf. It could become a major hurricane ahead of landfall on the central Gulf Coast, the National Hurricane Center said. Hurricanes with winds of up to 111 miles (178 km) per hour are classified as major and can bring devastating damage onshore.

BP PLC, BHP, Chevron, Equinor and Royal Dutch Shell have begun removing workers from offshore facilities, spokespeople said. BHP, Shell and Chevron are beginning with non-essential staff while Equinor said it is preparing to move workers off its Titan platform.

BHP and BP said they have begun to shut in production at offshore platforms. Chevron said its production remained at normal levels on Thursday. Occidental Petroleum and Hess Corp said they are monitoring weather conditions.

U.S. Gulf Coast gasoline prices rose in the past two sessions because of concerns around the storm, traders said.

Gulf of Mexico offshore wells account for 17% of U.S. crude oil production and 5% of dry natural gas production. Over 45% of total U.S. refining capacity lies along the Gulf Coast.

Exxon Mobil Corp said it was preparing its 520,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Baton Rouge, Louisiana refinery for severe weather, but operations were normal on Thursday.

Phillips 66 operations at refineries in Lake Charles and Alliance, Louisiana, “will be adjusted based on the storm’s progression,” spokesman Bernardo Fallas said.

The preparations comes nearly four years to the day after Hurricane Harvey hit the Gulf Coast and dumped several feet of rain in areas of Texas.

“This storm has the potential for rapid increases in intensity before it comes ashore” because of extremely warm waters off Louisiana, said Jim Foerster, chief meteorologist at DTN, which provides weather advice to oil and transportation companies.

“Water temperatures are 85 degrees to 88 degrees Fahrenheit (29-31 degree Celsius), that’s anomalously high, 3 to 5 degrees higher than it normally would be,” said Foerster. Its projected path over warm waters will mean it drops heavy rains that cause onshore flooding, he said.

(By Sabrina Valle, Erwin Seba, Gary McWilliams and Liz Hampton; Editing by Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio)

US Capitol Police officers sue Trump over January 6 riot

The suit alleges Trump incited the Capitol attack and that he conspired to prevent the certification of the presidential election.

TRUMP GIVING WHITE POWER SIGN JAN 6,2021

Seven US Capitol Police officers accuse US President Donald Trump of inciting the January 6 riot in a new lawsuit [File: Jim Bourg/Reuters]

26 Aug 2021

A group of seven US Capitol Police officers are suing former President Donald Trump accusing him of conspiring with far-right groups and intentionally sending a violent mob on January 6 to disrupt the congressional certification of the election.

The suit filed on Thursday in federal court in Washington, DC, alleged Trump “worked with white supremacists, violent extremist groups, and campaign supporters to violate the Ku Klux Klan Act, and commit acts of domestic terrorism in an unlawful effort to stay in power”.
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The suit was filed on behalf of the seven officers, five of whom are Black, by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. It names the former president, the Trump campaign, Trump ally Roger Stone and members of the far-right groups the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who were present at the Capitol and in Washington on January 6.

The 71-page suit lays out in detail the officers’ arguments that Trump and his supporters conspired in the months leading up to January 6 “to prevent Congress from certifying the election results through the use of force, intimidation, and threats”.

The suit also describes racial epithets directed at the officers during the riot, as well as injuries they suffered “from being physically struck by attackers and from exposure to noxious pepper spray, bear spray, fire extinguishers, and other pollutants sprayed by attackers”.

Other similar cases have been filed in recent months by Capitol Police officers and Democratic members of Congress.

A report last week by the Reuters news agency, however, revealed that the FBI has found scant evidence that the attack was the result of an organised plot to overturn the presidential election result.

The FBI, at this point, believed the violence was not centrally coordinated by far-right groups or prominent supporters of then-President Donald Trump, Reuters reported, according to four current and former law enforcement officials who have been either directly involved in or briefed regularly on the wide-ranging investigations.

The sources told Reuters that FBI investigators did find that cells of protesters, including followers of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys groups, had aimed to break into the Capitol. But they found no evidence that the groups had serious plans about what to do if they made it inside, the sources said.

Congressional investigation

A House committee has started to investigate in earnest what happened that day, sending out requests Wednesday for documents from intelligence, law enforcement and other government agencies. Their largest request so far was made to the National Archives for information on Trump and his former team.

The requested documents are just the beginning of what is expected to be a lengthy, partisan and rancorous investigation into how the mob was able to infiltrate the Capitol and disrupt the certification of Biden’s presidential victory, inflicting the most serious assault on Congress in two centuries.

In a statement Wednesday evening, Trump accused the committee of violating “long-standing legal principles of privilege”.

“Executive privilege will be defended, not just on behalf of my Administration and the Patriots who worked beside me, but on behalf of the Office of the President of the United States and the future of our Nation,” Trump said.

Committee members are also considering asking telecommunications companies to preserve phone records of several people, including members of Congress, to try to determine who knew what about the unfolding riot and when they knew it. With chants of “hang Mike Pence,” the rioters sent the then-vice president and members of Congress running for their lives and did more than $1m in damage, and wounded dozens of police officers.

The demands were made for White House records from the National Archives, along with material from the departments of Defense, Justice, Homeland Security and Interior, as well as the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The committee so far has heard from police officers who were at the Capitol on January 6. In emotional testimony, those officers spoke of how afraid and frustrated they were by the failure of law enforcement leaders to foresee the potential for violence and understand the scope of planning by the Trump backers.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

US Palestine solidarity activists rally against Bennett’s visit

A meeting between Naftali Bennett and Joe Biden was moved to Friday amid turmoil in Afghanistan.

Pro-Palestinian activists gather near the White House to protest the visit by Israeli Prime Minister Neftali Bennet, August 26 [Ali Harb/Al Jazeera]

By Ali Harb
26 Aug 2021

Washington, DC – Dozens of Palestinian rights advocates have gathered near the White House to denounce a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to Washington.

Waving Palestinian flags and chanting against the occupation, the demonstrators on Thursday called on President Joe Biden to uphold his campaign promise to advance human rights globally.
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Biden was set to meet Bennett at 11:30 (15:30 GMT) but the bilateral talks were moved to Friday as the White House turned its attention to the situation in Kabul where two explosions killed and wounded people outside the airport.

“The US is sending this message of moral authority, moral responsibility, but then they don’t do anything when the Israelis commit violence against Palestinians,” Yousef Abdelfattah, a 24-year-old protester, told Al Jazeera.

The activists invoked Israeli efforts to forcibly displace Palestinian families from their homes in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah and the blockade on Gaza, where Israeli forces have wounded dozens of protesters this week.

They urged Biden to end the “blank cheque” policy to Israel.



Laura Albast, an activist with the Palestinian Youth Movement, one of the groups that organised the protest, said Biden has failed to deliver on his promise of conducting a human rights-centred foreign policy.

“But we’re here to stay, and he will listen to us whether he likes it or not,” she said.

Bennett told the New York Times earlier this week that his government will not proceed with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to annex large parts of the West Bank.

“This government will neither annex nor form a Palestinian state, everyone gets that,” he said, citing the delicate balance in his coalition cabinet that spans across the ideological spectrum in Israeli politics.

Albast, however, said de-facto annexation is continuing, even if it is not formally announced, noting Israeli policies against Palestinians in East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in 1980.


“The families in Sheikh Jarrah are still under threat of losing their homes, and houses in Silwan have already been demolished, including small businesses of Palestinians,” she told Al Jazeera.

The Biden administration regularly calls for “equal measures” of freedom for Israelis and Palestinians, but it has categorically rejected suggestions of restricting or conditioning the annual $3.8bn in military aid to Israel.

The president and his top aides have also avoided publicly criticising the Israeli government.

Dozens of Palestinian rights advocates gather in front of the White House, August 26

 [Ali Harb/Al Jazeera]

Before a meeting with Bennett on Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the American-Israeli partnership is “unshakable”.

The State Department later released a statement saying Blinken reiterated Washington’s commitment to Israel’s security.

“The Secretary also emphasized that Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve equal measures of freedom, prosperity, and dignity, which is important in its own right and as a means to advance prospects for a two-state solution,” the statement said.

A senior administration official told reporters earlier this week that Biden will promote the two-state solution in his talks with Bennett.

“We’ve had very constructive discussions with this new government on the set of issues regarding Israel-Palestinian peace,” the official said.

“President Biden believes a negotiated two-state solution is ultimately the only way to ensure Israel’s future [as a] democratic and Jewish state.”

At the protest on Thursday, Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an advocacy group, said by hosting Bennett and refusing to condemn Israeli policies, Biden is letting down the voters seeking justice, who elected him.

“I remind President Joe Biden today that he’s breaking his promise that he will honour and promote and defend human rights … Justice for people here is no different than justice for people in Palestine,” Awad said.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

The Photos That Show Everything Wrong With Our Current Moment

The Caldor Fire is closing in on Lake Tahoe. Firefighters are doing everything they can to battle the blaze while... people just golf?

By
Brian Kahn
Yesterday 11:25AM

A golfer wears a face mask as he practices his putting at the smoke-shrouded Lake Tahoe Golf Course in South Lake Tahoe, California.

Photo: Rich Pedroncelli (AP)

The Caldor Fire is California’s latest megafire in a wildfire season from hell. It’s among a number of unchecked blazes, but this one hits slightly different because it’s encroaching on the Lake Tahoe basin.

The fire has continued to march eastward from its ignition point in the El Dorado Forest, engulfing more than 450 structures along the way. The fire front now sits roughly 13 miles (21 kilometers) from South Lake Tahoe, a tourist hot spot. As 2,531 firefighters battle the blaze, it appears to be business as smoke-choked usual in Tahoe.

Images show people in the resort town, casinos, and surrounding recreation spots acting out some semblance of normal life even as ash rains down and fires burn ever-closer. The above photo captures the surreal hell as a man plays golf in a mask to keep smoke or covid-19 (or both) at bay.

A green golf course in California is also, of course, a symbol of what’s wrong with the West right now. The region is gripped in a profound megadrought, fueled by the climate crisis, that has primed forests to burn. It’s also triggered water supply cuts to parts of the region. Reservoirs in the state have plunged to record lows, causing a dropoff in hydropower production and widespread fish dieoffs as waterways become too warm for salmon to navigate.

The putting green in the midst of apocalypse is only one of the profoundly unnerving images that define our times and the increasingly weird juxtapositions between everyday life and losing everything. Let’s take a tour through the corner of California’s hell.

Start slideshow

Sports cars, drugs, death: Thai police colonel investigated

David Rising
The Associated Press Staff
Thursday, August 26, 2021

Three of five police officers who are accused of jointly murdering a suspect are brought to Nakhon Sawan Provincial Court to request a remand in Nakhon Sawan province, Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Surat Sappakun)

BANGKOK -- A Thai police colonel known as “Jo Ferrari” due to his collection of fine cars, who was wanted on suspicion of involvement in the death of a detained drug dealer who was allegedly being shaken down for cash, turned himself in on Thursday amid a nationwide manhunt.

Police officials said Col. Thitisan Utthanaphon turned himself in at a police station in Saen Suk, a coastal village southeast of Bangkok. Another suspect, Lt. Thoranin Matwanna, was apprehended in a town southwest of the capital.

“I apologize that this has happened,” National Police Chief Suwat Janyodsuk told reporters at a news conference late Thursday. “We never release anyone who did wrong without punishment.”

He said little more about the case, but gave the apprehended colonel an opportunity to address reporters by telephone and answer questions.

Thitisan defended his actions, denying any part in a shakedown and insisting he was attempting to get information from the drug dealer about where he had stashed his main supply of methamphetamine.

“Since I've been in the police I have never been involved in corruption,” the colonel said. “I did not have any intention to kill him. I just wanted to do my work.”

Thai media have reported that Thitisan had a collection of 29 luxury automobiles worth more than 100 million baht ($3 million), some of which he kept at a home in Bangkok worth about 60 million baht ($1.8 million).

One of the cars found at the house, a yellow Lamborghini, was purchased by Thitisan from a car company that was involved in a tax evasion investigation two years ago, the police Department of Special Investigation said. Thitisan was not charged in that case.

Police on Thursday did not immediately say what charges Thitisan is being held on.

Earlier in the day, five other suspects, including a major and a captain, were brought before a judge who ordered them held without bail on charges of dereliction of duty, torture and murder.

Thitisan, who was chief of the station in Nakhon Sawan province, disappeared shortly before a video surfaced on social media that appears to show him directing the deadly assault on the suspect.

Police started investigating the case only after a well-known lawyer, Decha Kittiwittayanan, published an account of it on his Facebook page on Sunday.

Decha said he had received a complaint from a junior policeman in Nakhon Sawan who said that police had arrested two drug suspects, the 24-year-old man and his female companion, with more than 100,000 methamphetamine tablets.

The policemen first demanded 1 million baht ($30,560) from the suspects, which they agreed to pay for their release, according to the account. But then Thitisan demanded double that amount and ordered his subordinates to cover the male suspect's head with a plastic bag and beat him until he agreed, said the junior policeman, whose name was not revealed.

When the suspect died, Thitisan allegedly ordered his men to take the body to the hospital and tell the doctor the death was caused by a drug overdose. The junior policeman said the woman was released but told not to say anything about it, and that Thitisan paid the victim's father to remain silent.

The initial police response to the furor over the story posted by the lawyer was to transfer Thitisan to another post.

On Tuesday, however, a video clip of the incident was shared on the Facebook page of another lawyer, Sittra Biabanggerd, who said he had received it from a police officer at the Nakhon Sawan station where all but one of the suspects worked.

It shows the male suspect in handcuffs being led into a room, his head covered with a black plastic bag.

He is then assaulted and thrown to the floor by officers who put more bags on his head. One of them appears to briefly kneel on him until he goes limp.

Allegations of police brutality and corruption are not uncommon in Thailand, and Human Rights Watch called Thursday for a transparent, outside investigation.

“A prosecution fully independent of the Thai police is needed if there is any hope of justice,” said Brad Adams, the group's Asia director.

“Successive Thai governments have a long history of failing to ensure accountability for even the most ghastly police abuses against people in custody,” he said.

Associated Press reporters Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul and Tassanee Vejpongsa contributed to this report.

Thai police chief accused of killing suspect in custody is arrested

Manhunt for Thitisan Utthanaphon followed allegation he tortured suspect to death to extort money

Thitisan Utthanaphon (left) at a press conference at which he admitted

 using violence during interrogation, but said he had been trying to obtain information. Photograph: Royal Thai Police Handout/EPA

Ryn Jirenuwat and Rebecca Ratcliffe in Bangkok
Thu 26 Aug 2021 

A Thai police chief accused of torturing and killing a suspected drug dealer while in custody, allegedly in an attempt to extort tens of thousands of pounds, has been arrested following a manhunt.

Thitisan Utthanaphon, 39, who has been removed from his position as superintendent of Muang police station in Nakhon Sawan, north of Bangkok, is accused of trying to extract 2m baht (£44,463) from the suspect. He disappeared days before a video of the incident went viral on social media, but was detained by police on Thursday.


The woman on a mission to expose torture in Thailand’s troubled south

As police searched Thitisan’s home this week, Thai media showed footage of his vast, luxury estate, including a collection of expensive sports cars. He reportedly owns 29 cars worth more than 100m baht (£2.2m), which have earned him the nickname “Jo Ferrari”.

At a press conference held after his arrest, Thitisan, who was dialled in to speak to media, admitted using violence during the interrogation but said he had only been trying to obtain information about potential criminal activities. “I must testify that I didn’t have any intention to kill him. My intention was to work, to work for the people, and prevent people’s children from getting addicted to drugs,” he said.

Kissana Phathanacharoen, deputy spokesperson for Royal Thai police, said two other officers had been arrested on Thursday in relation to the case, and that a further five were arrested on Wednesday. “Disciplinary actions have also been taken against those seven police officers,” he said.

In his comment, Thitisan said: “For my subordinates, I take all responsibly [for what they did] because I ordered them. They have nothing to do with this. They tried to stop me. I take all the responsibility.”

He denied suggestions that he had been trying to extort money, stating: “We did it because it is for our job. Money isn’t involved.” He added: “Never once in my police life I have ever been corrupted.”

A recording of the interrogation shows an officer placing multiple plastic bags over the head of a handcuffed man. The man is then pushed to the floor. Police later try to revive him by carrying out CPR and pouring water on his face, but are not successful.

The man has been named by Thai media as Jeerapong Thanapat.

When Jeerapong died, Thitisan allegedly ordered officers to tell doctors the death was caused by a drug overdose, according to an account of the incident posted on Facebook by a prominent lawyer, Decha Kittiwittayanan, who said he had been contacted by intermediaries for at least one anonymous whistleblower.

The officers had tried to report the incident internally, Decha told Thai media, but no action was taken. They shared their accounts with him because they wanted the story to be made public and forwarded to the national police commissioner, he said. “They made complaints to various places. They made complaints to local media, few [well known] Facebook pages, and supervisors but nothing was done,” he said.

Footage was also sent to a different lawyer, reportedly by a junior officer who wanted the matter investigated. It was shared widely on social media, prompting public outrage and calls for reform.

Thai police already face growing criticism over its use of force, including rubber bullets, to control recent anti-establishment demonstrators in Bangkok. The response to recent protests has been disproportionate, according to rights groups, who also warn the case involving Jeerapong is far from isolated.

“This is not the first death in custody in this country. It is just one that has been caught on camera,” said Pornpen Kongkachonkiet, director of Cross Cultural Foundation, a human rights group.

“Trust in the police among the public is at rock bottom. This is yet another reminder of the urgent need for an end to police impunity and for the police force to demonstrate to the public – who pays their salaries – that they work for them,” Pornpen said.

Human Rights Watch has said the case should be a wake-up call for Thai police, and that an independent investigation was needed. “Successive Thai governments have a long history of failing to ensure accountability for even the most ghastly police abuses against people in custody,” said Brad Adams, the Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

CATHOLIC CHURCH SEXUAL ABUSE IS ABOUT THE FAILURE OF ABSTENINCE 

The challenge of sexual abuse: What has happened since the February 2019 Summit

AND ITS COVER UP

Pope Francis addresses the 2019 Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church
VATICAN

In February 2019, Pope Francis invited the presidents of every episcopal conference to the Vatican for a Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church to address the issue of the sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy. A similar meeting focusing on the region of Central and Eastern Europe will take place in Warsaw from September 19-22. In this article, Fr Federico Lombardi puts this regional meeting into the context of the Church journey thus far.

By Father Federico Lombardi, SJ

The Church must confront the challenges present in today’s world, the most fundamental being the faith and the proclamation of the God of Jesus Christ, with all the grandiose cultural and anthropological transformations present. There are also specific challenges, however, that profoundly influence the life of the Church and its evangelizing mission. One of the most critical challenges that has emerged in the last few decades, is that of the sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy. This has undermined the Church’s credibility and, therefore, its authority and its capacity of proclaiming the Gospel credibly. It has cast the shadow of inconsistency and insincerity over the Church as an institution, and on the entire community of the Church as a whole. This is indeed extremely serious.

Over time and with experience, beginning with the sexual abuse of minors – which is the most serious – we have learned to broaden the perspective to include various aspects. Thus, today, we often speak of abuse suffered by “vulnerable” persons. And we know the abuses sustained are not only sexual, but also abuse of power and conscience, as Pope Francis has often stated.



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24/02/2019
Pope Francis: Protecting children. Eradicating abuse

In addition, it is necessary to remember that the problem of abuse, in its various manifestations, is a general problem in human society, in the countries we live in and on the various continents. It is not a problem exclusive to the Catholic Church. Rather, those who study the issue objectively and as a whole, have seen that there are different regions, places, and institutions where it is dramatically widespread.

At the same time, it is only right that the Church look specifically at the problem since, as has already been noted, its credibility and constancy is at stake. The Church has always insisted on its teaching regarding sexual behavior and respect for the human person. Therefore, even if we know that this is not a problem that exists exclusively in the Church, we must be absolutely serious about it and understand that it has a terrible impact in the context of ecclesial life and on the proclamation of the Lord’s Gospel.

In particular, what is at stake is the depth and truth of relationships between people whose dignity is to be profoundly respected. As Christians and as Catholics, we pride ourselves on recognizing the primacy of the dignity of the person who is the image of God. So, the abuse of a person, the lack of respect, considering others as objects, not being attentive to their sufferings, and so on, is a sign that something specific and fundamental is missing in our faith and in our vision of the world.

In the latest reform of the Church’s penal code, there is an aspect that might seem purely formal, but is instead very significant from this point of view. The crimes of sexual abuse were inserted under the heading of offences “against human life, dignity and liberty”. They are not “scandalous” actions or deeds considered “unworthy of the clergy”. Rather, the emphasis is placed on the Church’s understanding that the dignity of the person is central and must be respected because we are and as God’s image. This is absolutely fundamental. The fact that a conversion is taking place and we have begun to more seriously listen to and respect each individual person, even the smallest and weakest, is one of the most important steps on the journey in our time toward the conversion and purification of the Church to regain its credibility.
The 2019 Meeting: responsibility, accountability, transparency


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26/02/2020
The Protection of Minors meeting a year on: An Irish perspective

Without going through the entire history of the tragic events and the Church’s response regarding the sexual abuse of minors, we can, for simplicity’s sake, begin with the February 2019 Meeting. It was convened by the Pope as a global moment, in which the entire Church (represented by members of every Episcopal Conference, in which representatives of institutes of consecrated men and women also participated), gathered together to become aware of and dedicate itself to continue to more effectively embrace the path of renewal.

The organization of that Meeting revolved around three main points (the Acts were subsequently published in the book published by Libreria Editrice Vaticana entitled Consapevolezza e purificazione – Awareness and Purification).

First of all, becoming aware of and embracing responsibility for the problem, of the issues connected to the sexual abuse of minors and others; the importance of profound and compassionate listening and understanding, which leads to the openness to participate in the consequences, the suffering, the seriousness of what has happened and is happening. Listening and compassion form the starting point in forming the conviction that needs to be adopted. Then, of course, there is the need for justice to be done for crimes that have harmed others. Another aspect is that of prevention so that such crimes never be committed again, or at least, that becoming more and more rare, this tragic reality can be controlled. This implies the formation of all who work within the ecclesial community, and specifically, the formation of competent people who can act as reference points for dealing with the problem. In short, awareness and responsibility in facing the issue go together.

Another very important and crucial point is accountability so as to overturn the culture of covering up or concealing the problem. One of the tragic aspects of this crisis is that it has brought a serious situation to the surface, to the awareness of the public (even though at times people knew what was happening) – a way of dealing with the sexual abuse of minors that had become systemic, often interpreted as “natural”, kept in the shadows or swept under the carpet, due to embarrassment or to defend the honor of the families or the institutions involved, and so on. This tendency to hide the issue needs to be replaced by the tendency to be accountable for what has been done, even by those in leadership roles. This tendency to cover abuse up was so widespread at every level, even more serious when done by those in positions of responsibility (superiors of communities, bishops, etc.). Thus, bringing things to the light and making sure that everyone is accountable for their actions, is a way to make sure that we are moving toward transparency, responsibility and justice – another absolutely necessary step forward in the process.

The third point that was talked a lot about during the Meeting was transparency, which is a consequence of the first two. This does not only mean admitting that crimes were and still are being committed, talking about them and focusing on them. Certainly, facing the truth of the facts is essential. But transparency also means knowing and making known what is being done in response, what the procedures are by which the Church, in all of its manifestations, is facing and dealing with the issue, what measures it is taking, what the verdicts are regarding those who are guilty, and so forth. In this way, both the ecclesial and civil community becomes aware not only of the faults and crimes committed, but also of the journey the community is consciously engaged in by which it is responding to this problem.
Important steps taken since the 2019 Meeting


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09/05/2019
New norms for the whole Church against those who abuse or cover up

But if the Meeting in 2019 was supposed to be a common point of departure, it needs to be recognized that subsequently many steps were taken by the Pope and Church leadership that implemented all of the main tasks identified during that Meeting. What are they?

Firstly, already by the end of March, Pope Francis issued an Apostolic Letter promulgating new laws and guidelines pertaining to the Vatican and the Holy See which broadened the perspective beyond the abuse of minors to include “vulnerable persons”. Then on May 9, 2019, he promulgated a very important new law for the entire Church, the Motu Proprio Vos estis lux mundi – “You are the light of the world” – in which the Pope legislated that an office be organized in every diocese to receive reports and to initiate the canonical procedures in response to the sexual abuse of minors. In addition, he also established that every priest and religious who becomes aware of such abuse is obliged to report it. The Pope also extended an invitation to members of the laity to report such abuse as well. Now, all priests and men and women religious are obliged in conscience to report cases regarding the sexual abuse of minors that they are made aware of; this obligation applies not only to minors, being the most serious, but applies also to other vulnerable persons or other abuses that include the use of violence. Once again, members of the laity are also invited to do so. In order to report abuse, the offices established to receive the reports must be publicized.

This is one of the most decisive steps. Of course, it needs to be ascertained whether all of this is being implemented. However, the law is already in place for the entire Church. It is an absolutely fundamental step the Pope took, probably the most important in the last twenty years regarding this issue. Furthermore, the same law instituted a process that involves the reporting of superiors at the highest levels – superiors general of institutes of consecrated life, bishops and cardinals – not only those accused of sexual abuse of minors, but also those who cooperate(d) in “covering it up”. Therefore, concrete steps toward responsibility and accountability have been radically implemented.



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17/12/2019

The Pope abolishes the pontifical secret in cases of sexual abuse

Yet another step taken leading toward greater transparency took place in December 2019 when Pope Francis abolished the “papal secret” that previously covered cases of the sexual abuse of minors. This allows clearer and easier collaboration to take place between ecclesiastical and civil authorities than had previously been the case. Finally, the famous Vademecum that had been developed was published in July 2020. This document was a direct request brought to the February 2019 Meeting, and had been indicated early on in the Meeting by Pope Francis as one of the Meeting’s first objectives. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith compiled it. Although not containing anything new, it is a well-presented document that presents in an orderly manner and clearly explains what every bishop or other person in authority needs to know and what they need to do in different situations. It is an extremely necessary tool, even though it did not receive a lot of attention when it was published. It was, however, a key suggestion requested by the participants in the 2019 Meeting that was accomplished.

Even more recently, on the Solemnity of Pentecost 2021, Pope Francis promulgated a reform of Book VI of the Code of Canon Law. This portion of Canon Law contains a summary of the Penal Sanctions in the Church. The new version rewords and reorganizes the previous version in such a way that the new norms established throughout the years dealing with the sexual abuse of minors and other issues are now contained in a well-organized way in the Code of Canon Law. Prior to this date, the legislation remained “scattered” throughout a whole series of documents and other types of interventions.

It can now be confirmed beyond a doubt that all the things we expected from the Pope and the Holy See in the aftermath of the 2019 Meeting have been accomplished.

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10/11/2020
McCarrick Report: a sorrowful page the Church is learning from

But something else can be added. In this same period, in November 2020 to be exact, the voluminous “McCarrick Report” was published by the Vatican Secretariat of State. Ordered by Pope Francis himself, this investigation revealed the details regarding the grievous scandal that rocked the Church in the United States and throughout the world, and how it was possible that someone guilty of such abuse could have climbed to the heights of ecclesiastical responsibility as the Cardinal Archbishop of Washington, DC. The publication of this report can also be considered a painful, but very courageous, step in the direction toward transparency and demonstrates the desire to account for crimes and to own responsibility even at the highest levels of the Church.

Thus, we are before an enormous, difficult and painful problem, that touches the Church’s very credibility. Although this is true, it is not at all true that nothing has been done or that nothing, or next to nothing, is being done. On the contrary, it can be unhesitatingly stated that the universal Church has faced and is facing the problem, that it has taken necessary steps to establish norms, procedures and laws to deal with it correctly.

The next steps forward: from norms to practice

Of course, this does not mean that everything has been done, because as we know, it is one thing to establish norms or create a framework, and quite another to change the situation, by enforcing them. The upcoming September Conference of the Church in Central and Eastern Europe in Warsaw on the protection of minors and vulnerable persons is, in fact, taking this direction. Every geographic and ecclesiastical area possessing certain commonalities from the historical and cultural point of view need to reflect on where they are and need to identify what needs to be done concretely to effectively enforce the guidelines of the universal Church at the local level.

This has been done in other geographic regions. For example, a large conference for Latin America was held in Mexico about a year ago. The pandemic interrupted many other plans and caused delays. However, conferences are being planned, or have already taken place, on various continents, conferences similar to that planned for the countries making up Central and Eastern Europe. These regional meetings are also necessary steps on the common journey of the universal Church applied specifically to geographical, cultural and ecclesial regions.

To conclude, much has been done at the general and normative levels, in addition to gaining concrete experience. In some areas more has been done, and in other areas, less. Meetings are necessary for the circulation of knowledge and insight into the concrete and efficacious ways to face the problem. We are on a journey and we will remain on the journey. But the road on which it is necessary to move quickly and without uncertainties is now substantially and sufficiently delineated. This road must be taken to heal suffering, apply justice, prevent future abuse, restore trust and credibility within the ecclesial community and in the Church’s mission for the good of the world.

SEE NOT A WORD ABOUT ABSTENINCE