Fuel crisis hinders media coverage in Lebanon

A house and vehicles belonging to the owner of a gas tank that exploded were burned in Akkar, northern Lebanon. Photo by EPA-EFE

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Without gasoline, electricity and reliable Internet, covering the news in Lebanon has become a daily struggle for journalists and media institutions.

Lebanon's fuel crisis, which worsened in the past month with a gradual reduction of state subsidies on imports, has severely impacted most sectors. Hospitals, bakeries and businesses have been forced to reduce activities or shut down.

Waiting in long lines at gasoline stations to fill tanks and searching for diesel to power private generators have become daily tasks for most, media outlets and journalists included.

Newspapers, websites and TV and radio stations are exerting tremendous effort to keep operations going and enable journalists to cover developments on the ground.

They are supplying journalists with gas to get to work or to report a story from the field, adjusting their shifts and asking them to work online from home whenever possible.

Their other main concern is securing an interrupted power supply to keep broadcasting, as the state electricity company, Electricite du Liban, is barely able to provide more than 2 to 3 hours of power a day and diesel fuel is becoming scarce.

Nabil Ismail, chief photographer at the leading An Nahar newspaper, has been forced to limit his photo coverage to the most important events.

"We are very much affected by the fuel crisis. We used to tour the streets all day long...not anymore," Ismail told UPI, explaining how he spends long hours most days at the gas station, trying to persuade the station's owner to fill his motorcycle tank by showing his press card or taking photos of a large crowd of motorists cramming the station.

It's worse for journalists trying to fill car gas tanks.

Only the essentials

Up to 60 percent of An Nahar's journalists can no longer work from their offices in downtown Beirut.

"Most of them are now working from their homes, as they have no gasoline to come to work," Ismail said. "Our photo coverage dropped by 50 percent ... myself and the five other photographers are covering only the essential news."

To cover the Aug. 15 explosion of a fuel tank in Tleil in the northern Akkar region, which killed more than 30, Ismail shared a taxi with photographers from three international news agencies. They had to pay 3 million Lebanese pounds (around $150 at the black market rate) for the trip.

Two days ago, only a few journalists and photographers showed up to cover an explosion at a factory in Burj Brajneh in Beirut's southern suburbs that killed four people.

"The situation today is much more difficult than the war times... We didn't face then such a humiliation," Ismail said.

Shafiq Taher, Beirut office director of the London-based Al Araby al Jadeed media outlet, has been trying to ease the pressure on his 50 employees, mostly journalists, by adjusting working shifts, supplying them with UPS (uninterruptible power supply) and battery backups to work from home, sometimes securing some gasoline and even considering a solar solution to power their main office.

"This is all to keep our operations going... but we are unable to cover the events properly with such conditions," Taher told UPI. "So we are obliged to rely on our stringers in the region to send news and photos, but it is not the same ... when our professional reporters and stringers are dispatched from Beirut and handle the coverage themselves."

Stress is not just related to the acute fuel crisis and work problems. Journalists, like most in Lebanon, are suffering from the deteriorating living conditions, spending much time to secure essentials for their family, searching pharmacies and bakeries for medicine and bread, finding ways to help their children overcome the trauma of long hours without electricity.

"Most are depressed, and many asked to be moved to our offices outside Lebanon," Taher said. "At the end, we are all human beings and have responsibilities as parents first."

No time to give up

The New TV television station has managed to maintain its local and satellite broadcast, giving priority to its news and field reporting.

"We are still able to secure that most of our news teams come to the station or go on field reporting," NTV public relations manager Ibrahim Halabi told UPI. "We need gasoline for our cars and diesel fuel for our generators... So far, we are getting the supplies needed from fuel companies and stations we used to deal with."

Halabi said the network is also providing some gasoline for the journalists and reporters who must report daily. Others who work from home have to struggle with severe power cuts and unreliable Internet connections.

"If things get worse, and the government lifts completely the fuel subsidies by the end of September, with the price of 20 liters jumping to more than 300,000 LL as expected, I doubt our employees could afford to pay for gasoline anymore," he said.

Assad Maroun, general manager of the Voice of Lebanon radio station, said it is not the time to give up, despite the country's extremely difficult conditions.

"We are doing everything possible to continue operating and broadcast to all the regions by securing diesel fuel to our transmitting stations and studios, relying on our multi-skills team, with longer shifts and less working days, as well as more in-house coverage," Maroun told UPI.

Ayman Mhanna, executive director of the Beirut-based Samir Kassir Foundation's SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom, voiced concern over the impact of the crisis on the journalists and their ability to cover news properly.

"Whenever journalists cannot be on the ground, the quality of reporting and the ability to verify facts is reduced," Mhanna told UPI, referring to "very dangerous events taking place across the country" while "the physical presence of journalists is no longer what it was."

He emphasized that it is the duty of the media to inform, and people must have access to information, but "that is at stake" and "something particularly dangerous" with Lebanon heading for general elections next spring.

"People really need high-quality verified journalism to know the truth and so to hold those behind mismanaging the crisis accountable," Mhanna said.

PUSHERS
Judge approves Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan; Sacklers to pay $4.3B



Under the terms of the bankruptcy, the Sackler family would lose control of Purdue and pay $4.3 billion of their personal fortune in installments over the next 10 years, but will be given immunity from any future lawsuits. File Photo by Justin Lane/EPA-EFE

Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Federal bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain approved a bankruptcy settlement Wednesday requiring the Sackler family to pay $4.3 billion and forfeiting ownership of Purdue Pharma for their role in the nation's opioid crisis.

The family and pharmaceutical company have been blamed for fanning the flames of the opioid crisis that's led to untold deaths and overdoses in the United States. Some hold the Sackler family personally responsible, saying they got rich while people died.

Drain said during Wednesday's hearing the plan will lead to the creation of a new company that will make Oxycontin and opioids under much safer governance. He said the oversight and safety systems in place under the new company "should serve as a model to similar companies."

Under the terms of the bankruptcy, the Sackler family would lose control of Purdue and pay $4.3 billion of their personal fortune in installments over the next 10 years, but will be given immunity from any future lawsuits.

While 15 states signed on to the bankruptcy agreement, other states refused, saying the Sackler family should be held responsible beyond the deal in some shape.

The plan's supporters say the deal will end lengthy and costly litigation that could continue for years without a guarantee of success. They say the plan would pump billions into drug treatment and healthcare programs that will benefit those with opioid addiction.

House oversight committee Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to reject the bankruptcy deal. There have been some reports indicating that the Department of Justice may get involved.

Purdue initially filed for bankruptcy in 2019 in response to thousands of lawsuits that argued the company was responsible for worsening the opioid crisis in the United States through its marketing efforts for OxyContin, which entered the market in 1995.

NASA's Mars simulation participants face 'slight risk of death' JUST A TEENY WEENY ITSY BITSY...

An illustration depicts a Mars habitat on the Red Planet. Image courtesy of ICON Technology


Sept. 2 (UPI) -- NASA won't send astronauts to Mars for at least a decade, but the agency said interest is running high in applying for a year's stint in a simulated home base on the Red Planet.

The space agency's simulation is to begin in fall 2022 inside a 3D-printed habitat at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Applications are due Sept. 17.

And being chosen for this simulation seems as difficult as making the grade for a seven-month journey to the Red Planet.

To be picked as one of four men and women who will live in NASA's simulated Mars habitat, candidates must jump through a complex series of hoops, much like astronauts do.

RELATED NASA plans yearlong Mars simulation to test limits of isolation


Participants must be 30 to 55 years old and healthy. They also must have at least a master's degree in science or engineering, or similar professional or military experience in some cases. Physicians would fit the bill, too.

The application process begins on NASA's website, and includes a strong warning.

"Risks of participating ... may include loss of privacy or confidentiality, minor discomforts ... and physical injury or a highly unlikely chance of death," NASA notes its description of the application process.


Selection may take up to 18 months, with trips to Johnson Space Center for tests and in-person interviews.

Such simulations are viewed widely as vital to any attempt to explore Mars, said Robert Zubrin, founder of the non-profit space exploration advocacy group, The Mars Society.

"Any competent military does field exercises, in which the troops go out and learn how to use the tanks and helicopters and coordinate activities when nobody is trying to kill them," Zubrin said. "It follows that any serious space agency these days must do simulations for a trip to Mars."

But a year in isolation could result in dramatic shifts in the human psyche, Lisa Stojanovski, a science communicator and participant in a 2018 Mars simulation in Hawaii, told UPI.

"Between eight months and 12 months you kind of see the long-term effects," Stojanovski said. "Something in the human mind kind of clicks over I think -- becomes ingrained."


Those who have the required background are then ushered through a series of online questions to determine if they will move further in the process. Some of those questions are:

"Are you willing to go for extended periods (up to one year) with restricted social media contact?"

"Are you willing to perform daily or weekly cognitively and physically demanding tasks?"

"Are you willing to consume processed and prepackaged spaceflight foods for a year with no input into the menu?"

Are you willing to follow daily prescribed exercise protocols? Are you willing to follow daily scientific protocols?

After that, candidates will undergo medical evaluations, psychological testing and psychiatric screening to determine fitness for long-term isolation, regular exercise and difficult tasks such as simulated spacesuit walks or fixing failed equipment.

Participants also will be required to grow greens indoors to supplement stored food, according to NASA.

While isolation is one issue Mars travelers may endure, the bigger problem is the work required, Zubrin said. He said he knows this because The Mars Society runs three-month Mars simulations on a remote island in Canada and at high elevations in Utah.

"For any trip to Mars, you will have a group of highly trained, highly motivated people. They may be isolated ... but they will be excited and busy, so I think NASA's focus on [isolation] is a little off base," Zubrin said.

Many vaccinated health workers who get COVID-19 are exposed at home, study finds

Many vaccinated healthcare workers who test positive for COVID-19 are exposed to the virus at home, a new study has found.

NOSE NOT COVERED NO GLOVES 

 File photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 1 (UPI) -- More than half of healthcare workers vaccinated against COVID-19 who later tested positive for the virus were exposed to an infected member of their household, a study published Wednesday by JAMA Network Open found.

Fifteen of 27 vaccinated health workers in the study were infected after being exposed to the virus at home, as opposed to on the job, at which many treated patients with COVID-19 wore protective equipment to limit spread, the data showed.

However, the 27 cases were the only ones identified among more than 5,300 vaccinated health personnel, an infection rate of 0.5%.

Conversely, 69 of 690 unvaccinated staff later tested positive for the virus, according to the researchers.

Although the study focused on healthcare workers, its findings "are very important to everyone's daily behavior [in] that the vaccine's protection is not absolute -- when the exposure is close and prolonged," study co-author Dr. Yonatan Oster told UPI in an email.

"With positive household members, the risk of getting infected is high," said Oster, acting head of the infection prevention and control unit at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.

Based on their findings, the researchers believe even vaccinated people exposed to the virus through an infected member of their households should be subject to quarantine to limit further spread

Although studies of vaccine effectiveness against earlier strains of the virus found that they offered more than 90% protection against severe illness, more recent data suggest they provide less than 70% protection against the Delta variant.

The new study analyzed infect rates and virus exposures among staff at Hadassah Medical Center, according to the researchers.

As of March 31, 5,312 medical center employees had received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, while 690 remained unvaccinated.

Eight of the 27 vaccinated workers who tested positive for COVID-19 were assigned to a department that treated virus patients.

However, based on contact tracing, only two of these 27 positive cases among vaccinated staff could be linked with on-the-job exposures.

Among vaccinated staff who tested positive for the virus, the most common symptoms were nasal inflammation, sore throat, cough and loss of sense of taste or smell.

Only one of the 27 COVID-19 cases among vaccinated workers required hospital treatment, they said.

None of the staff members in the study -- both vaccinated or unvaccinated -- had died from the virus as of the end of March.

The study covered the period immediately before the rise of the Delta variant of the coronavirus in Israel.

"The healthcare workers in our study were exposed mainly outside of the hospital," Oster said.

"The risk in household exposures is much higher, even for vaccinated persons, since we usually don't use the protective measures at home [such as] masking and distancing," he said.

White House unveils new efforts to increase affordable housing in U.S.

Officials said President Biden's agenda calls for construction and rehabilitation of more than 1 million affordable housing units and reducing the burden of rent on American families. File Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 1 (UPI) -- The White House announced on Wednesday new efforts to increase affordable housing in the United States amid a crisis that's being exacerbated by COVID-19.

President Joe Biden's administration said the new steps will create, preserve and make available nearly 100,000 additional affordable homes to buyers and renters over the next three years. The measures are focused on helping those in the lower- and middle-class.

The measures include launching partnerships and financing through Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration and a focus on selling federally-owned properties to individuals, families and non-profits, as opposed to investors.

One of the major goals is increasing the number of quality rental units.

"Even before the pandemic, 11 million families, or nearly a quarter of renters, paid more than half of their income on rent," the White House said in a statement. "President Biden believes this is unacceptable. Rent should be affordable for working families."

Officials said Biden's agenda calls for construction and rehabilitation of more than 1 million affordable housing units and reducing the burden of rent on American families.

The White House said it would also prefer to see state and local governments create a better climate that promotes affordable homes.

Wednesday's announcement came amid a housing crisis in the United States driven by a lack of available and affordable homes in some markets and exacerbated by COVID-19.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week struck down a national eviction ban that allowed renters struggling to make payments, as a result of the pandemic's economic impact, to stay in their homes.

Biden's administration is urging the legal community to help renters stave off evictions, particularly in certain areas of the country.

The White House announcement came one day after an industry report said U.S. housing prices rose in June by the largest year-to-year increase in more than three decades.

Southwest Airlines pilots suit says carrier broke labor law, union contract

The pilots say in their complaint, filed in federal court in Dallas, that Southwest changed working rules and pay rates without negotiating with the union. 

File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Pilots for Southwest Airlines are suing the carrier over working conditions that they say changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, violated their labor agreement and were implemented without their approval.

The Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association filed the lawsuit against the airline earlier this week.

The pilots say in their complaint, filed in federal court in Dallas, that Southwest changed working rules and pay rates without negotiating with the union.

They specifically cited changes to an "emergency extended time off" policy that gave pilots the option to take leave without pay. The union said the airline didn't have the authority to withhold pay without negotiations.

The union also said Southwest began mandatory coronavirus quarantines for some pilots, without pay, from December to June under an Infectious Disease Control Policy.

The suit is seeking an injunction against the changes and a return to compliance with the union's collective bargaining agreement.

Southwest has denied the accusation that it violated federal labor laws and says the changes it made required no union involvement.

"Southwest Airlines, like the rest of the industry, has been forced to respond to the unpredictable challenges presented by the global COVID-19 pandemic," Russell McCrady, Southwest vice president of labor relations, said, according to CNBC.

"The airline disagrees with SWAPA's claims that any COVID-related changes over the past few months required negotiation."

The lawsuit details the risk of exposure to COVID-19 pilots take while on the job, and that the airline wasn't receptive to solutions pilots proposed to save the company money.

RELATED Airlines, banks interrupted online after 2nd web outage in past week

In December, Southwest gave a furlough warning to almost 7,000 workers, including 1,200 pilots after a deal to cut wages by 10% stalled.

Southwest CEO Gary Kelly subsequently announced that there would be no furloughs or pay cuts with the extension of the federal Payroll Support Program. It would have been the first time in Southwest's 50-year history that the airline had ever issued involuntary dismissals or cut salaries.

Record sturgeon catch on Fraser River ‘a lifetime moment’ for ex-NHL goalie and friends

Former NHL goalie Pete Peeters of Sturgeon County, Alta. (no less) and friends caught the 11 1/2-foot fish on Aug. 15

THIS IS OGOPOGO, FLAT HEAD LAKE MONSTER, CHAMPY, #CRYPTID #CRYPTOZOOLOGY

Author of the article: Patrick Johnston

Publishing date: Aug 30, 2021 • 

Jake Driedger (left) and Pete Peeters with the massive sturgeon they reeled in with the help of guide Kevin Estrada on the Fraser River near Chilliwack on Aug. 15 PHOTO BY KEVIN ESTRADA /Sturgeon Slayers

All week, Pete Peeters had been joking to his fishing guide that he had made people famous.

The former National Hockey League goalie won the Vezina Trophy as the circuit’s best goaltender in 1982-83 with the Boston Bruins, but prefers to make note of goals he gave up to Mario Lemieux or to Wayne Gretzky.

Lemieux scored his first NHL goal on Peeters, while Gretzky scored goals 46, 47, 48 and 49 in his 39th game of the 1981-82 season, when Peeters was a Philadelphia Flyer. The Great One scored goal No. 50 in the same game — setting a record that is likely never to be matched — but into an empty net.

“And then he said, ‘Now I’ve made you famous,'” Kevin Estrada explained with a laugh this week.

Estrada is a fishing guide — Sturgeon Slayers is his company — and earlier this month had Peeters and a group of friends out on the Fraser River, north of Chilliwack, when the group snagged something special: A sturgeon bigger than anything that’s been measured in modern history.

The fish’s fork-length was a B.C. record: 352 cm (or 11 feet, six inches). Its girth was 141 cm (55 inches) and was estimated to weigh 890 pounds. Other recent claims to similar sizes have been dismissed upon further review, Estrada said.

“I couldn’t fathom how big these fish were,” Peeters said from his home in Alberta. “Even when the fish came up, it was hard to believe.”

Kevin Estrada (blue shirt on the left), Jake Driedger (white shirt, front, second from left), former NHL goalie Pete Peeters (grey hat, front right) and brothers Bryant and Barry Bowtell (back row). The group snagged a sturgeon bigger than anything that’s been measured in modern history. PNG

The retired goalie lives in — if you can believe it — Sturgeon County, just north of Edmonton. A remarkable coincidence, though Peeters notes the area is better known for trout fishing.

Also on the boat were Jake Driedger, who traded off on the rod with Peeters to reel in the giant, as well as Barry and Bryant Bowtell. All four men are from Alberta.

“Canadians like them have kept our small business alive during COVID and we are very appreciative of all our resident Canadians who have helped us crawl through this,” Estrada said.

The measurements were confirmed by another guide, Steve Forde of Reel Sturgeon Adventures. And Estrada said he had been in touch with the Guinness Book of Records people as he believed it was a likely world record, too.

“Very rarely do you see something that is this big, over 11 feet,” Estrada told Postmedia. “Something this big could take well over 100 years to get to this size. It’s a lifetime moment. It’s hard to put into words.”

It took about 25 minutes for the group to reel in the sturgeon. Sturgeon bigger than 150 cm (just under five feet) don’t get lifted out of the water, but anglers are allowed to hold and pose with the fish in the water.

“It wasn’t slimy like the trout we have out here … it felt like a damp snake,” Peeters said.

Peeters’ group actually got a special bonus, Estrada said.

“We were actually in some clear water so we got to see the whole fish,” he said. “You don’t often get to see them in their full glory … it was magnificent to see.

“I had tears in my eyes. I’ve been fishing this river since I was 15 years old … We’ve had some spectacular fish, some very memorable fish over the years, but never anything this big.”

Credit conservation efforts over the past two decades for allowing this sturgeon to grow so big, Estrada said. The sturgeon fishery has been strictly catch and release since the early 2000s.

Alongside his business, Estrada has been a director for the Fraser Valley Angling Guides Association, an advocate to government about sustainable fishing on the Fraser River and helping the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation with a project to tag and track the local sturgeon population, which has had local school children out on the water to help.

“We have to be more sustainable going into the future,” Estrada said.

Salmon fishing, especially net fishing, is a huge risk to the health of sturgeon.

“Those nets are targeting salmon, which are between 60 and 100 cm, and that is also where we also see a decline in the population of sturgeon, it’s between that size range,” he said. “As we get older we’re going to have a big population missing unless we change very quickly to more sustainable practices.”

SEE   https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=FRESH+LAKE+MONSTER

#KASHMIR    IS  #INDIA'S  #GAZA

India locks down Kashmir after top separatist leader’s death

By AIJAZ HUSSAIN

1 of 15

A paramilitary soldiers stands guard in a closed market area in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021. Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader and one of the severest critics of Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, died late Wednesday. He was 92. Authorities announced a communication blockade and the restriction of public movement, a common tactic employed by Indian officials in anticipation of anti-India protests. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout Thursday in disputed Kashmir after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region’s defiance against New Delhi.

Geelani, who died late Wednesday at age 92, was buried in a quiet funeral at a local graveyard organized by authorities under harsh restrictions, his son Naseem Geelani told The Associated Press. He said the family had planned the burial at the main martyrs’ graveyard in Srinagar, the region’s main city, as per his will but were disallowed by police.

“They snatched his body and forcibly buried him. Nobody from the family was present for his burial. We tried to resist but they overpowered us and even scuffled with women,” said Naseem Geelani.

The Press Trust of India news agency reported that officials buried Geelani’s body and disallowed any mass funeral in anticipation of anti-India protests.

As most Kashmiris remained locked inside their homes, armed police and soldiers patrolled the tense region. Government forces placed steel barricades and razor wire across many roads, bridges and intersections and set up additional checkpoints across towns and villages in the Kashmir Valley.

Authorities cut most of cellphone networks and mobile internet service in a common tactic employed by India in anticipation of mass protests.

Geelani spearheaded Kashmir’s movement for the right to self-determination and was an ideologue and staunch proponent of merging Kashmir with Pakistan. HE strongly opposed any dialogue with New Delhi, a position rejected outright by successive Indian governments who often dubbed him as a hardline politician.

Geelani was also the face of Kashmir’s civilian defiance against Indian rule. He led a faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, a conglomerate of various Kashmiri political and religious groups that was formed in 1993 to spearhead a movement for the region’s right to self-determination.

The group used civil disobedience in the form of shutdowns and protests as a tactic to counter Indian rule.

For many in Kashmir and beyond, Geelani was an enduring icon of defiance against India.

Farmer Mohammed Akbar said Geelani’s death filled him with remorse but also anger after he learned Geelani’s body was buried quietly by authorities who excluded Kashmiris and his extended family from participating in the last rites.

“They are looking at ways to humiliate us,” Akbar said as he held his grandson in his arms. “They are even scared of dead Geelani.”

Pakistan was observing a day of official mourning and flags flew at half staff on orders by Prime Minister Imran Khan, and its foreign ministry condemned the non-public burial by Indian authorities.

“Pakistan strongly condemns the barbaric act of snatching of the mortal remains of the iconic Kashmiri leader” by Indian police, the ministry said in a statement in Islamabad.

It said the Indian government was “so afraid of Syed Geelani and what he stood for that they have now resorted to this inhuman act even after his passing away. This shows the degree of callousness on part of the Occupation Forces.”

Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan, which claim the region in full but rule only parts.

Rebels have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or become an independent country.

New Delhi accuses Pakistan of sponsoring Kashmiri militants, a charge Pakistan denies. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.

Tensions were renewed in the region in 2019 after New Delhi stripped Kashmir’s semi-autonomy, scrapped its statehood and removed inherited protections on land and jobs. Authorities have since brought a slew of new laws, which many critics and Kashmiris likened to the beginning of settler colonialism.

___

Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

IT'S CALLED MATERIEL

A windfall for the Taliban as it seizes vast amounts of weapons and military equipment

David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen 

As the Taliban settles into power in Afghanistan, it has seized an arsenal of military equipment that in some cases surpasses certain parts of the inventory of western militaries such as the Canadian Forces.

© Provided by Ottawa Citizen The Taliban have seized large amounts of Afghan military equipment such as this armoured vehicle shown operating outside Kabul in 2013.

Taliban fighters held a victory parade in Kandahar city on Wednesday, showing off dozens of U.S.-made armoured vehicles and other weapons that it captured during its lightning-speed victory over the Afghan army and police. A U.S.-made Black Hawk helicopter, trailing a Taliban flag, was also flown over the city to highlight the insurgents’ ability to operate more sophisticated equipment.

As the U.S. retreated from Afghanistan, it tried to disable at least some of the gear.

Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, told journalists that 70 armoured vehicles, 27 Humvee trucks and 73 aircraft were disabled before troops left Kabul. “Those aircraft will never fly again,” he said. “They’ll never be able to be operated by anyone.”

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told CNN the only usable gear left at the airport included some fire trucks and fork lifts.

But there are dozens of other key bases around Afghanistan that are now in the hands of the Taliban and, with that, tons of military equipment.

The Afghan army operated more than 600 armoured vehicles, similar to the Canadian Forces Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicles. In contrast, the Canadian Forces has around 500 TAPVs.

The Afghan military also had more than 22,000 Humvees, 150 mine-proof vehicles, 8,000 transport trucks, 160 M113 armoured vehicles, more than 350,000 assault rifles, 64,000 assorted machine guns, 120,000 pistols and more than 170 artillery pieces, according to various reports. Also left behind were 33 transport helicopters, more than 30 Black Hawk choppers and another 40 light helicopters. In addition, there were around 65 assorted fixed-wing aircraft. The current state of the arsenal is not known.

How long that equipment will remain operable is open to question. The U.S. spent more than $500 million on 16 military transport aircraft for the Afghan military. But by 2013 the planes sat derelict in Kabul because of a lack of spare parts.

A Department of National Defence official said Wednesday only limited amounts of Canadian equipment was left in Afghanistan and that was years ago. That did not include weapons or large vehicles.

But Canada continued to fund Afghan security forces even after the military officially left in 2014, earmarking $330 million for that initiative.

 Canada’s former military installation, Camp Nathan Smith, in Kandahar city, was turned over to Afghan security forces but abandoned in late 2013. DAVID PUGLIESE/Postmedia

The Taliban are also now in control of large amounts of infrastructure built and paid for by western taxpayers. The Kandahar base, once home to thousands of Canadian military personnel, was captured intact.

Canada spent an estimated $50 million on the Dahla Dam project that the Canadian government declared a success. The dam still doesn’t function properly and needs hundreds of millions of dollars to be completed.

The Dahla Dam project was one of Canada’s more controversial aid programs in Afghanistan. Some $10 million of the budget went for security provided by an Afghan company whose owner was convicted of drug-related crimes and accused of being an interpreter for the Taliban.

When Canadian soldiers pulled out of Kandahar in 2011, they left Camp Nathan Smith — the former base for Canada’s provincial reconstruction team — to the Americans. A year later the U.S. turned it over to the Afghans. By the end of 2013 it was abandoned.

A similar pattern followed the withdrawal of Russian troops from Afghanistan in 1989. The Soviets had embarked on a much more ambitious aid program than the U.S. and NATO, building thousands of kilometres of roads, tunnels, bridges, schools, apartment buildings and military bases.

But, with the Taliban in charge, much of the infrastructure fell into disrepair.

One of the bridges is still intact, however. In February 1989, the Soviet army used the “Friendship Bridge” linking Afghanistan to Uzbekistan to complete its retreat from Afghanistan. Last week, troops from the NATO-trained Afghan national army used the same bridge to escape from the Taliban.

JUST IN TIME PRODUCTION

Philips to start replacing millions of respiratory devices

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch health technology company Philips on Wednesday said it would start repairing and replacing millions of respiratory devices in the United States and most of its other markets this month, to address potential health risks caused by the machines

 Reuters/EVA PLEVIER FILE PHOTO: Dutch health technology company Philips presents the company's financial results for the fourth quarter in Amsterdam

The company in June recalled up to four million of its respiratory devices and ventilators, as it said a foam part might degrade and become toxic, potentially causing cancer.

Philips said it had received authorisation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the rework of the affected DreamStation device, allowing it to replace the sound abatement foam with a new material.

More than half of the affected machines have been sold in the U.S. and the full replacement effort will take about a year, Philips said.

Philips shares have lost about 15% of their value since the recall, as investors fear the possible costs of a number of class action lawsuits that have been launched over the affair.

Philips has set aside 500 million euros ($590 million) in provisions for the recall operation in the first half of 2021.

($1 = 0.8478 euros)