California winemakers take wildfire-fighting into their own hands

Randy Dunn checks the hose on a fire truck he has purchased to protect his vineyard from California wildfires 

Nick Otto AFP

Issued on: 05/09/2021

Napa (United States) (AFP)

Water tanks, fire trucks and helicopters: California's Napa Valley winemakers are buying their own equipment to protect their property and their pricey vintages from wildfires.

A historic drought driven by man-made global warming has left large tracts of the western United States parched and highly vulnerable to fires.

That includes the world-renowned vineyards that dot central California, producing billions of dollars in wine every year.

And with fires spreading at an alarming rate -- 2021 is shaping up to be the most destructive year on record -- firefighting resources are stretched thin.

"I know that CalFire cannot be everywhere at the same time and that has shown constantly, not only here but in the rest of California," said Randy Dunn, who founded his 200-acre (80-hectare) winery in 1979, referring to the state's firefighters.

"So I feel strongly that, if you have some protection and you stay here, that you got a chance. If you leave, then I think your chance has really dwindled."

Dunn already owned a vintage 1946 fire truck -- old, but still functional -- and has just bought a newer one.

The siren doesn't work, but its hoses are fine, though so far they have not been battle tested -- it's more of something he has been using for fun with his grandchildren.

But he is confident he would be able to use it if a fire breaks out on his property.

Randy Dunn (L) and his son Mike check on their vines at their Central California vineyard Nick Otto AFP

Its purchase was prompted by a close call last year when the Glass Fire scorched more than 67,000 acres of Napa and Sonoma counties -- prime wine-producing country.

"It was about a mile from here," he told AFP pointing to the west, where dried-out pines cling to the dusty earth.

- Smoke-infused vintage -

Wildfires are a part of the natural forest cycle, burning away old vegetation and spurring new growth in their wake.

But their reach, intensity and regularity is increasing across the region, as the planet warms and weather patterns change.

Each fire season brings new worries over how much will burn this year, and how far the wind will carry the embers.

Winemakers like Dunn know that they have to work hard to protect their land.

He has spent thousands of dollars to clear brush and forest around the property.

But the cost pales in comparison with the insurance premium, which has gone up more than five-fold this year to $550,000.

For Mike Dunn, Randy's son, the land management is vital to the fight to protect the vineyards.

The second fire truck adds peace of mind.

"If you have defensible space like we do, it certainly doesn't hurt to have some sort of method to spray any possible (fire) startup.

A scorched hillside from last year's Glass Fire is seen near Angwin, California 

Nick Otto AFP

"If something came shooting over here, we can put it out."

"We've done a lot of work maintaining the forest undergrowth, I think that's really, really important, more so than owning fire trucks."

The Dunn estate produces tens of thousands of bottles of wine each year, matured in casks from Burgundy, France in an on-site cellar.

Each one usually sells for between $85 and $140.

Last year's smoke-infused vintage had to be turned into box wine, and fetched the equivalent of just $6 a bottle.

"The two evacuations last year and the proximity of the fire and the resulting ruined vintage... it's just terrifying," says Mike Dunn.

"It's a way of life that's being threatened."

- Solutions -

With fires raging across California, the Dunns are not alone in fretting if the fire service will have the resources to protect them -- even with the recent addition of a dedicated helicopter and high-tech fire-detection cameras.

Neighbor Michael Rogerson, a relative newcomer to the area and chief executive of an aircraft company, is offering another private-sector solution to worried vintners.

Michael Rogerson, a chief executive of an aircraft company, has two retro-fitted ex-military helicopters that he wants to use for fighting fires 

Nick Otto AFP

He has two retro-fitted ex-military helicopters that he wants to provide as dedicated fire-fighting machines.

"Right now, we're finishing equipping the helicopters and we expect that they would be out in this region in about two weeks," he said.

"We would hope to be able to demonstrate it and show it to CalFire and the US Forestry Service and also to the Napa community, that this is a great solution for them."

With just a few weeks to go until the grape harvest, Randy Dunn is hoping that such solutions will not be needed, and that he won't have to press his engines into action -- at least not for fighting fires.

"We've used the old one for great squirt gun fights with the kids," he says.

"They get their high powered squirt guns, I get my hose."

© 2021 AFP

Berlin universities (almost) banish meat from canteens

Berlin students are pushing for less schnitzel and more beets and lentils in their lunch menus, in an effort to fight climate change.


Berlin universities have almost banished meat from menus


Marinated soy strips in curry and vegetarian dumplings are some of the meals that will be introduced during the new semester at Berlin universities in October 2021.

The 34 student canteens in Berlin, which are run by student support group Studierendenwerk, have revised their menu to now offer 68% vegan and 28% vegetarian meals while only 4% containing meat or fish. The canteens cater to the students of 20 universities.

Students demand climate-friendly meals

Daniela Kummle of Studierendenwerk told DW that they have used the last one and a half years of the pandemic to revise the menu in the canteens so that their offer is more climate-friendly, before adding that they get regular feedback from students asking for more climate-friendly offers.

Student organizations have increased pressure for climate-friendly options

She said the menus change every semester with the new generation of young students so they keep an eye on social and ecological developments, and current trends.

During the pandemic, a number of canteens were open for a click and collect service, as most students were left to work from home.

There are currently 510 meals available, 341 vegan (and 288 of them are also gluten-free)

145 vegetarian (108 of which are also gluten-free), 12 with fish and 12 with meat. Studierendenwerk has also started running two food trucks offering lunch at some of the student residences.

Plant-based products make up the vast majority of the ingredients used by the canteens. Kummle said the procurement of fresh vegetables and fruit depends specifically on seasonal factors.

"In summer, we are able to get more fresh products from regional farmers than in winter," she said. "For our so-called 'Klima-Essen' (a climate-friendly vegan meal), we use ingredients specifically with a low ecological footprint."

The meat and fish offered in the meals meet the requirements of Studierendenwerk existing labels for sustainable agriculture and sustainable fishing.

Canteen meals in Berlin are organized by student organizations

Out with the old, in with the new

Traditional German cuisine is usually heavy on meat, with schnitzel, bratwurst and pork knuckles. But the livestock sector is responsible for the equivalent of 7.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide every year, roughly 14.5% of all human-caused emissions.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) notes that about 65% of the sector's emissions can be linked to cattle in the form of beef and dairy production.

But it's not just emissions that are a problem for the planet: Animal husbandry dominates about three-quarters of agricultural land, pollutes water and drives deforestation, particularly in the Amazon rainforest.

This is not the first time the students have wanted more climate sustainable meals. In 2010, Germany's first vegetarian university canteen was opened on the campus of the Free University.

Later in 2019, a vegan canteen was opened on the campus of Berlin's Technical University, which has been a huge success, more than double the number of visitors than expected.

The Humboldt University in Berlin is also planning to become climate neutral by 2030 by designing a sustainable and climate-neutral university. The Technical University is aiming for climate neutrality by 2045.

Watch video 04:34 Pioneer of vegetarian cuisine: Star chef Andree Köthe

GERMANY

Grannies for Future: Youth have 'no chance' without old people

When the scale of the climate crisis was brought home to Cordula Weimann, she decided to make some changes. She used to drive a sports car and take flights on vacation. Then she launched the Grannies for Future movement


Cordula Weimann says older people have a big role to play in safeguarding the future of the planet

Cordula Weimann didn't opt for a quiet retirement. Instead, the 62-year-old grandmother has embarked on a mission to educate her fellow seniors about their impact on the planet.

"Of course, we older people have been contributing to [climate change] for a long time," she says in an interview with DW's environment podcast, On the Green Fence.

"But you are only really guilty if you know that what you are doing is wrong. And we had not been told just how devastating our consumerism is to this planet. You can't blame us for that."

Listen to audio 30:18 How young and old see the climate crisis

The Leipzig-based mother of three — who also has three grandchildren — founded Omas for Future (Grannies for Future) in 2019 in support of the global youth climate movement, Fridays for Future.

"I said to myself, 'If the old people don't get on board, the youth won't have any chance of making it.' And that's how Omas for Future came about."

With the group, she's hoping to raise climate awareness among the older generations and motivate them to take concrete steps to shrink their carbon footprints — for the sake of their kids' and grandkids' future.
Talkin' 'bout my generation

Germany's aging population means older citizens will have the biggest say in the upcoming federal elections on September 26. Of the 60.4 million eligible voters, only 15% of them are under the age of 30. Around 60%, on the other hand, are over 50.

"It's really a sad fact that we grandmas and grandpas decide about the future of our children — not only with the election, but also with our daily consumer behavior," Weimann says.

"It is certainly also a fact that when the children are out of the house and retirement is just around the corner, many older people say, 'Now I'm going to treat myself.' And then they travel the world more, drive the big car, and consume things that they wouldn't have otherwise treated themselves to."

Weimann, whose open, friendly face is framed by shoulder-length silver hair, is speaking from experience. Before turning to environmental activism, she was an entrepreneur based in the city of Paderborn, renovating old buildings and turning them into homes. She had a convertible sports car and took flights when she went on holiday. With three children and a career, her thinking was, "'If I already work so much, then I want to have something from it — to treat myself.' The more I worked, the more I needed this balance. I also thought it was chic to ride in a convertible."

The Omas (and Opas) for Future take part in climate campaigns around the country

So what changed?

Weimann grew up in the Lower Rhine region in Germany's west, and says she's always cared about the environment and nature. But, in recent years, the more she learned about how her consumption and lifestyle were harming the planet, the more she saw the need for change. She remembers reading some particularly sobering numbers in 2017 that brought the gravity of the crisis into sharp focus.

"I didn't know how immense the species extinction is, that 75% of the flying insects are gone, 68% of our songbird species have been reduced," she says. "I didn't know that in concrete numbers."

Weimann says she now lives in a carbon-neutral, wooden house in Leipzig. She also ditched her sports car for an electric one. She doesn't purchase new clothes anymore as a rule, eats little meat and buys organic produce as much as possible. She also doesn't fly, even though she has children abroad.

"And if I were forced to fly for whatever reason, I would certainly compensate by investing in carbon offsetting projects," she adds.

Watch video 01:23 The grandmas fighting climate change

Changing minds and behaviors

It's been a gradual transition. Now Weimann is trying to help others in her age group do the same. But she admits there are some challenges, for example, convincing a generation that has already lived through — and solved — previous crises such as the Cold War and the hole in the ozone layer that climate change is different.

"And that's exactly the danger, because this time it's really serious! It's not just global warming; it's also our species' extinction, which may threaten us even more if we don't stop it immediately."

Since she launched the movement, 40 regional Omas for Future chapters have been set up across Germany. And despite the "Omas" in the name, they encourage Opas, or grandpas, to get involved as well.

The group attends climate rallies and runs campaigns to reach out to older citizens, who aren't as active on social media as younger people. Weimann also hosts a podcast with tips for how to live a more climate-friendly life — for example, by switching to green electricity or recycling clothing.

Watch video02:32Young environmentalists profit from knowledge of elders 

'We have to build bridges' between generations

Unlike the Fridays for Future movement, which emerged in August 2018, the Omas put less emphasis on lobbying for policy change, and more on the power of individual actions. Weimann also stresses that it's not about apportioning blame or taking things away from people.

"Omas for Future don't advocate veganism, which is championed by some of the young. Of course, we should eat far less meat. But we aren't dogmatic and say everyone must be vegan," she says.

"Attacking somebody and telling them what to do is problematic. But having said that I can also understand the anger of young people. We have to build bridges, come together and talk on a personal level without fear."

While the climate movement is often seen as being dominated by young activists, Weimann says it's not so black and white. The Omas for Future movement is proof of that.

Weimann would like to see the group continue to grow — and not just in Germany — to spread the message that spurred her to take action in the first place: "What drives me is the love I have for my children. And what I can do now for them and their future is to save as much as I can."

You can listen to the latest episode of On the Green Fence, featuring Omas for Future founder Cordula Weimann, here or wherever you get your podcasts.

CARTOONS FOR FUTURE: AN EXHIBITION BANGS THE DRUM FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Unfair assignment of tasks
The stork can hardly believe his eyes — what is in the huge bundle the raven is carrying? Turkish cartoonist Menekse Cam, who brought the exhibition "Cartoons for Future" to Turkey, has named her drawing "Clean the World."     12345678

Haiti racing to rebuild schools destroyed in earthquake

Issued on: 05/09/2021 -

An aerial view of Haiti from a US Navy aircraft in September 1, 2021 

John BELLINO US NAVY/AFP

Port-au-Prince (AFP)

Haiti is struggling to send children back to class amid the devastation of the earthquake last month that killed more than 2,200 people and destroyed tens of thousands of buildings, including many schools.

It is a logistical and humanitarian challenge in the disaster-prone country -- the poorest in the Americas -- one that never fully recovered from the huge quake in 2010 that killed more than 200,000 people and caused billions in damage.

Classes for most students, initially scheduled to start September 6, have been pushed back by two weeks. And they have been postponed until October 4 in the three southern departments hardest hit by the 7.2 magnitude quake of August 14.

In those areas, many families lost everything.

Word of the delayed start to the school year launched a countdown for aid workers, who have raced to help the very needy people in the southern departments.

- Schools destroyed -

"Of the 2,800 schools in the three affected areas, 955 have been assessed by the government with support from UNICEF, and the first results show that 15 percent of them were destroyed and 69 percent were damaged," Bruno Maes, head of UNICEF in Haiti.

"It is going to be a race against time because it is just a few weeks to set up protective, safe learning shelters for children in these three departments so they do not miss another school year," Maes said.

The 2019-2020 school year ended in March of last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The following school year was then disrupted for many Haitians by widespread violence from powerful street gangs.

Children play cards at a school in the Haitian town of Chardonnieres that has been turned into a shelter for people left homeless by an August 14 earthquake 

Reginald LOUISSAINT JR AFP

In late 2020 and early this year, gang members carried out many kidnappings for ransom, abducting children or teachers near schools in the capital Port-au-Prince.

About 150 kilometers (90 miles) from Port-au-Prince, the crime wave largely spared Camp-Perrin, but the area was hard hit by the quake.

- Promises unkept -

Welcoming children back to school is a particular headache for private schools, which account for 80 percent of the schools in Haiti.

"We have students who have not yet paid their tuition for the 2017-2018 school year," said Maxime Eugene, a teacher at Mazenod high school. "We cannot send them home and make them miss a year of school over money," he said.

The quake destroyed every classroom in that well-known Catholic school.

Soldiers have cleared away the debris but school officials are still waiting for help to get the scholastic year going.

"Promises have been made to us but they have not yet been kept," said Eugene.

Desks at a school in the town of Camp-Perrin that was damaged in the quake, 

as seen on August 24, 2021 

Richard Pierrin AFP

"If we get tents in time we can be ready for the start of school on October 4, because we were able to salvage the furniture," added Eugene. He insisted he is optimistic despite the prospect of having to teach on the school's football field.

The L'Asile district, tucked away in the mountain range that runs across Haiti's southern peninsula, was among the worst off after the August 14 quake, leaving residents desperate.

"The building might be ready, but I personally do not know how I am going to get back to work," said Brenus Saint Jules, an elementary school principal whose home was destroyed in the temblor.

The day after the quake, a neighbor lent him a pair of pants. And he spent the next 10 nights sleeping in the back of a truck with his wife and two grown children, along with four other people left homeless.

- 'Mentally ill' -

Saint Jules, 60, now lives under a crude shelter made of sheet metal. He can barely think about the coming school year.

The stress and drama of recent weeks have left him feeling "mentally ill," he said. "I spend my time thinking about how I am going to recover."

A teacher for more than 30 years, Saint Jules takes consolation from the fact that the school he has overseen for 12 years was only damaged and not altogether ruined. Still, he is a mess.

"I have become poor like the people who do not work," he said. "It is really hard from a human standpoint."

He continued: "But from a material standpoint, if the building is repaired, if the government intervenes to help parents, to help teachers, we can open the school on October 4."

And that despite the fact that Saint Jules, like most of his 400 students, now lives outdoors.

© 2021 AFP

'Champion of Auschwitz': The boxer who brought hope

The story of Polish boxer Tadeusz Pietrzykowski, who was interned at the Nazi German death camp Auschwitz, has inspired a new film

Issued on: 05/09/2021 

 JANEK SKARZYNSKI AFP/File

Warsaw (AFP)

Polish boxer Tadeusz Pietrzykowski was known for his ability to dodge blows. Still, the odds were against him when he fought his first bout at the Nazi German death camp Auschwitz.

Severely emaciated, Prisoner Number 77 was up against a much heavier German inmate -- a "kapo" who oversaw other prisoners.

"From around me I got warnings and gestures that I was crazy: 'He'll kill you, destroy you,'" he said in his official account for the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum after the war.


"But there was no time to think... There was bread to be won. I was hungry, my friends were hungry," said Pietrzykowski, the pre-war Champion of Warsaw in the bantamweight class.

His courage paid off.

With a successful left jab to the face, the 23-year-old Pietrzykowski drew blood from the kapo, Walter Duening.

The loser chose not to seek revenge for his loss and instead rewarded the boxer nicknamed Teddy with a loaf and some meat.

Pietrzykowski went on to fight dozens of matches at Auschwitz, winning all but one or two, thereby scoring special privileges that ensured his and others' survival.

Little known even in Poland, Teddy's story has inspired a movie, "The Champion of Auschwitz," which recently had its premiere at home and will hit theatres abroad later this year.

- Sports at Auschwitz -

"It's an incredible story since very few people know there was boxing at Auschwitz, that there were sporting events," said Piotr Witkowski, the actor who plays Duening in the film.

Witkowski told AFP that the boxer was a danger for the Germans "because he became the inmates' hope that it was possible to win against the system, to win against the evil Nazis".

Pietrzykowski, who was Catholic, was sent to Auschwitz in June 1940 as a political prisoner after being caught trying to reach France to join the Polish army that was forming there.

Pietrzykowski would fight dozens of boxing matches at Auschwitz, winning all but one or two, thereby scoring special privileges that ensured his and others' survival

 Wojtek RADWANSKI AFP

He was put on the first mass transport to the death camp.

Nearly a year into his internment, he was offered the chance to fight Duening.

The Germans had grown tired of only sparring each other for fun and were looking for other opponents.

"There was cheering from both Poles and the German prisoners. It was an interesting event, something new at Auschwitz. So this bout set off matches between inmates of different nationalities," said Renata Koszyk, curator of a new exhibition on sports at Auschwitz, which runs until March at the museum on the site of the former camp.

"Generally though, sports weren't a widespread phenomenon at Auschwitz. Most inmates were so exhausted from daily work that they couldn't afford to expend extra effort and sometimes didn't even have the strength to walk over to watch," she told AFP.

Those who did catch the boxing matches included Nazi SS officers, who even placed bets on the winner.

- 'Bravery, benevolence' -

In exchange for providing entertainment, Pietrzykowski received various perks.

Not only was he able to secure an easier work assignment and added calories for himself, he also shared whatever extra food he received, according to testimonials from fellow inmates.

The leeway he enjoyed as a star boxer at the camp enabled him to procure medication for others, pass information and fulfil other assignments for the resistance movement.

"My father lived, fought, and demonstrated this bravery and benevolence for his fellow inmates... and was helped in return too," his daughter Eleonora Szafran told AFP.

Eleonora Szafran, the daughter of Pietrzykowski, has recently published a book featuring his wartime memories 

Wojtek RADWANSKI AFP

When Pietrzykowski was lying sick with typhus at the camp hospital, word spread that the SS officers were planning to select patients to send to the gas chambers.

To save the boxer's life, his friends smuggled him out and hid him.

Szafran's book "Mistrz" ("Champion") has just been published featuring Pietrzykowski's wartime memories -- among them, his assassination attempt against the camp's commandant and horrifying scenes he witnessed of Nazi brutality.

A million Jews died at Auschwitz-Birkenau, along with tens of thousands of others including Catholic Poles, Roma and Soviet prisoners of war, between 1940 and 1945.

- 'Do the right thing' -

Pietrzykowski survived -- both Auschwitz and a couple of other concentration camps -- and tried to restart his boxing career after the war but was foiled by illness.

Actor Piotr Glowacki, who plays the boxer in the film 'The Champion of Auschwitz,' said he hoped moviegoers would be inspired to 'have the courage to follow Teddy's example and do the right thing' 

Wojtek RADWANSKI AFP

He went on to become a beloved school gym teacher, pursuing his lifelong passion for painting on the side, and died in 1991 in his seventies.

The actor who portrayed him, Piotr Glowacki, said he hoped moviegoers would be inspired to "have the courage to follow Teddy's example and do the right thing."

"To defend those who are segregated because of their race, nationality, sexual orientation, views... To side with the oppressed," he said.

© 2021 AFP

Living in a sea of trash: Roma fight environmental racism in Romania

Roma communities driven from Romania's booming city of Cluj-Napoca say the authorities treat them like human garbage. Pollution from a nearby landfill is damaging their health, say locals.

Linda Greta Zsiga is fighting for environmental justice for the Roma community in Pata Rat


Beside the airport on the outskirts of Cluj-Napoca, one of Romania's fastest growing cities, lies an enormous landfill site. As you fly in, it's easy to miss the multicolored roofs scattered between rolling green turf and mounds of waste. But at ground level, the area is teeming with life. Horse-drawn carts cross paths with empty garbage trucks returning to the city. Barefoot children run between makeshift wooden houses, and crows circle overhead.

This is Pata Rat, the country's biggest landfill and long one of its most glaring environmental sins. For decades, pollution leached from untreated waste and garbage fires blazed, occasionally killing the occupants of those wooden shacks.

Under pressure from the EU, the city began work on closing the site in 2015. Some 2.5 million metric tons (2.8 million US tons) of waste, accumulated over 70 years and covering an area the size of 27 football pitches were turfed over, and at the end of 2019, the local authorities declared Pata Rat "history."

Yet for the 1,500 Roma people still living here, Pata Rat is very much alive. And so is the environmental hazard on their doorstep. Two "temporary storage" landfills set up beside the old one in 2015 are still growing steadily, and experts say the old waste was never properly dealt with.

"This was not an ecological landfill; it was not built in line with European standards," Ciprian-Valentin Nodis, a researcher from northern Romania and founding member of the "Interethnic Association of Dumitrița."

"All these toxic substances went into the soil, into the groundwater. Everything in the area is polluted."

'Temporary' landfills next to the original Pata Rat dump have been steadily growing for the last five years and more

Driven from the city

The Roma residents of Pata Rat began to arrive in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some were driven by poverty to move to the landfill and work as waste pickers, but most have come in successive waves of evictions since Cluj-Napoca began to see a real estate boom in the 2000s. The last was in 2010, when local authorities evicted 350 inhabitants from Coastei Street near the city center.

Linda Greta Zsiga remembers the cold December morning when she and her family were woken by police, city officials and bulldozers at their door. Just two days before, they and 75 other Roma families living on the street had been given notice of their eviction. Their new home was to be a complex of small, modular units nestled between Pata Rat's existing camps.

Linda Greta Zsiga says the Romanian authorities have treated her community like garbage

Zsiga says the Roma community on Coastei Street was well integrated. They had been there for generations, they paid rent and utilities on their publicly owned homes, and their children attended local schools and kindergartens. Yet suddenly they were being dumped on the city's trash heap. "They considered us garbage, not humans," Zsiga says, "and they thought we deserve to live there."

Europe's largest ethnic minority exposed to environmental hazards

Responding to a survey last year, seven out of 10 Romanians said they don't trust the Roma. Between 20% and 30% said Roma people have too many rights, that the state should be allowed to use violence against Roma, or that discrimination and hate speech against the Roma should not be punished.

Listen to audio 09:35 Living Planet: Vlad Odobescu reports on environmental racism against Roma

Such attitudes are not unique to Romania. Across Europe, racism against the continent's largest ethnic minority results in denial of basic civil rights, exclusion from employment and public services, and — perhaps most strikingly — the marginalization of Roma communities to areas that lack adequate water, sanitation and waste management.

Often, these sites are also in hazardous locations. A study published last year by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) on ""environmental racism against Roma communities in Central and Eastern Europe," found that the Roma were "disproportionately exposed to environmental degradation and pollution stemming from waste dumps and landfills, contaminated sites, or dirty industries."

Cramped, dirty and cut off

Arriving at Pata Rat, Zsiga found her extended family — 12 people altogether — crammed into a 16-square-meter (172-square-foot) room. Space was so cramped, they had to keep most of their belongings outside. They shared a single toilet and cold-water shower with the inhabitants of three other similarly overcrowded rooms.

Zsiga remembers gazing out of her window across a sea of garbage. "There were no doves, no trees," she says. "I love nature."

A 2012 report by the UN Development Programme found that 22% of adults there suffered from chronic disease or some form of disability. Researchers documented a high incidence of skin infections, asthma, bronchitis, high blood pressure and heart and stomach problems, and a report by the European Roma Rights Centre found that over two years following their eviction, reported health problems more than doubled among the Coastei community.

The oldest camp at Pata Rat is called 'Dallas' after the US soap opera. Driven by poverty, Roma began arriving here in the late 1960s as waste-pickers.

The EEB study describes one of the major factors in environmental racism against the Roma as forced eviction from "places with high economic value." The Coastei community wasn't given a reason for their eviction. But Zsiga has no doubt why they were moved. "They wanted to 'clean' Cluj of Roma," she says. "Now very few Roma still live in the city."

The municipality of Cluj-Napoca told DW that they are cleaning up Pata Rat and providing health and other services to the community. They also stated that they are trying to prevent evictions and are partners in a program providing housing for 30 families, although they are not providing funding to the scheme.

Waste-pickers put out of business

There isn't any solid health data from Pata Rat since the landfill was covered over, but an NGO worker in the area said respiratory diseases remain common, including among children. And economically, the closure of the dump has made life in Pata Rat even harder.

Adela Ludvig, a 28-year-old mother of four, has lived beside the landfill for as long as she can remember. Her home is built from plywood with a roof made of an old canvas advertising banner — scrap materials collected from the dump. These days, her "villa," as Ludvig calls it, has a view onto a chemical waste dump covered in blue plastic foil and protected by barbed wire.

Adela Ludvig and her children outside the home she built from scrap materials found on the landfill

Ludvig used to collect plastic bottles and foil, cans and cardboard. She says a local recycling company paid the equivalent of €0.12 ($0.14) for a kilo (2.2 pounds) of plastic, meaning she could make €40 in a day. "I could buy food," she says, "or medicine, when the children needed it."

But the new "temporary" dumps are fenced off. When the landfill closed, waste-pickers like Ludvig were left without work. "People were crying with hunger," she says.

Ludvig and her children — she has a fifth on the way — now live on the €220 she gets in child benefits each month. The nearest source of water is several hundred meters (yards) away and she has to visit it four or five times a day to meet her family's needs. They have access to a power generator but cannot afford to pay for gasoline.

Pata Rat communities fight back

A year after the landfill was declared "history," the major of Cluj-Napoca promised that the Pata Rat camps would "disappear by 2030" — without giving any indication of what is to happen to the 350 families living there. But well before his announcement, residents had been taking matters into their own hands.

In 2012, Zsiga and others from Coastei camp set up an association that's working with other NGOs to campaign for housing solutions for Pata Rat, and suing the authorities over the evictions. They are currently awaiting a decision on their case from the European Court of Human Rights.

The grassy meadows of Pata Rat might look picturesque, but environmental scientists warn that the site is still contaminated by untreated waste

And thanks to an initiative supported by Norway Grants (by which the Norwegian government funds social projects in southern and eastern Europe), 35 families from Coastei were moved to Cluj-Napoca or nearby villages between 2014 and 2017.

Zsiga, her partner and children now live in a three-room apartment in the city. But she hasn't turned her back on Pata Rat. Her siblings and their families still live there, and she's working at the site to support another 30 families who will move in a second stage of the initiative. "I wish that no one is left in Pata Rat," Zsiga says. "No one deserves to live there."

Swiss march for same-sex marriage ahead of referendum

Switzerland is due to hold a vote this month on the legalization of same-sex marriage. Conservative politicians had called for the referendum to "protect traditions."



Thousands marched to support the "yes" vote in the upcoming referendum

Tens of thousands of people turned up at the Zurich Pride March to demand same-sex marriage be legalized in Switzerland ahead of a referendum due on September 26.

Swiss Lawmakers had voted to legalize marriage for LGBTQ+ couples in December. But conservative politicians raised enough signatures to take the matter to a national referendum.

Marching for the 'yes' vote

With the slogan, "You can do it. Marriage for everyone now," the Pride march organizers saw an avalanche of support in the Zurich march.

Public broadcaster SRF said around 20,000 people took part in the rallies, including 70 LGBTQ+ organizations from around the country.

The Pride march was cancelled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic

Organizers said it was "the most important sociopolitical vote in decades" — in a country used to large-scale referendums, which occur about four times a year.
What is the amendment?

The Swiss parliament backed same-sex marriage by 136 votes to 48 in the lower house, and 24 to 11 in the Council of States, Switzerland's upper house, on December 18, 2020.

The amendment to the Swiss Civil Code replaces the words "bride" and "groom" with either "two people" or "the engaged."

It allows lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people to marry, instead of just getting civil unions — as has been the case to date.

Opponents say that marriage should be reserved for a man and a woman only, so that children can have a traditional father and mother.

According to a poll by Swiss gay rights group Pink Cross, 82% of the Swiss population supports same-sex marriage.

The law follows the recognition of LGBTQ+ marriage in many European countries like Germany, Austria, France and the Netherlands. The EU has slammed countries going in the opposite direction like Hungary and Poland.

jc/fb (dpa, AP)

Anonymous Myanmar photographer wins major photojournalism award


Issued on: 05/09/2021 -

A worker hangs photos for the exhibition 'Anonymous photographer in Myanmar' ahead of the 'Visa pour l'Image' international photojournalism festival in Perpignan, France RAYMOND ROIG AFP/File

Perpignan (France) (AFP)

A Myanmar photographer won the top award Saturday at photojournalism's biggest annual festival for his coverage of the troubled nation's pro-democracy protests and bloody military crackdown.

The photographer, who remained unnamed for security reasons, scooped the Visa d'Or for News, the most prestigious award handed out at the "Visa Pour L'Image" festival in Perpignan, southwestern France.

Mikko Takkunen, the Asia photo editor for The New York Times, collected the prize on behalf of the photographer.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power in a February 1 coup, with near-daily protests and a huge civil disobedience movement.

"He is probably the strongest photographer in the country. He is extremely happy and honoured to win this prize," Takkunen said.

Takkunen said the photographer dedicated the prize to his peers in his country who are working under extremely difficult conditions.

His photographs portray civilian protesters armed with stones, soldiers firing live bullets and grieving families mourning their dead.

Across Myanmar, more than 1,000 civilians have been killed in the ongoing military crackdown, according to an advocacy group.

The press has been squeezed as the junta tries to tighten control over the flow of information, throttling internet access and revoking the licenses of local media outlets.

The anonymous photographer said in a message that he was "on the streets every day since February 1.

"I encountered many difficulties, working between bullet shots, tear gas and deafening grenades."

"On the ground, we stopped working with helmets marked PRESS as we realised the soldiers were targeting photographers," he said.

Among the others nominated was Greek photographer Angelos Tzortzinis from AFP for his work on the last days that migrants and asylum seekers spent at the Moria refugee camp on the island of Lesbos, which was cleared after devastating fires.

Also nominated was American Erin Schaff from The New York Times for photographs depicting the storming of the US Capitol in Washington.

Indian Danish Siddiqui from Reuters was nominated for his work on the health crisis following the coronavirus pandemic in his country.

Siddiqui was killed in July while covering fighting between the Taliban and Afghan forces.

© 2021 AFP

HOME TO AL JAZEERA

Afghan crisis cements Qatari global influence

Issued on: 05/09/2021 - 

A Qatar Airways aircraft prepares for take off from Afghanistan's capital Kabul, a day before Taliban fighters entered the city

 Wakil KOHSAR AFP/File

Doha (AFP)

Political leaders have flocked to Doha and some countries have moved their Kabul embassies to Qatar, all praising their host for its key role in the airlift out of the Afghan capital.

Tiny Qatar has seized the moment, cementing its outsize global influence and reputation as a neutral mediator after winning the trust of all sides in Afghanistan's forever war.

Qatar invited the Taliban to open a political office in Doha in 2013, with then US president Barack Obama's blessing as conflict in Afghanistan raged.


It went on to host talks between Washington and the Taliban that concluded in 2020 with a troop withdrawal agreement, followed by direct negotiations between the former insurgents and Afghan government.

Doha's long-standing hotline to the Taliban ultimately helped Qatar burst onto the world stage as the lynchpin of efforts to evacuate desperate Afghans and foreigners -- and now the push to reopen Kabul airport.

"The Qataris have earned a reputation as honest brokers who are willing to help multiple warring parties to a find a way to end these conflicts," said Colin Clarke, senior research fellow at the Soufan Center.

"I think what Qatar got out of it was a growing recognition that Doha is the place to make a deal. It has grown into the Geneva of the Middle East, a place where warring parties can meet on neutral territory."

- Indispensable to allies -

In little more than a week, the Arabian desert peninsula will have welcomed the foreign ministers of Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Britain and the US.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, due in Doha on Monday, has already expressed "profound gratitude" for Qatar's evacuation of foreigners and Afghans vulnerable to reprisals from the Islamist hardliners.

Political leaders have flocked to Doha and some countries have moved their Kabul embassies to Qatar KARIM JAAFAR AFP/File

Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab lauded the dramatic airlift, in which Doha has served as a key transit stop, saying "the biggest operation of its kind in our living memory (was) in no small part because of the cooperation of our Qatari friends".

While in Doha, where Britain has relocated its Kabul embassy, Raab described Qatar as "an influential player" and its ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani as a "friend".

The Gulf nation has been working with the Taliban to quickly reopen Kabul's airport, closed since the departure of US troops, and it hopes to see the establishment of humanitarian aid corridors.

At the height of evacuation operations, Qatar's ambassador to Afghanistan personally escorted Americans and vulnerable Afghans to the airport.

His efforts to accompany a number of young Afghan women, for whom access to education under the Taliban is not assured, was seen as a powerful gesture.

Qatar's meteoric rise on the world stage is all the more striking because until January the gas-rich emirate was at loggerheads with its neighbours.

Saudi Arabia, along with the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, cut ties with Doha in 2017, accusing it of backing Islamist groups and Iran, charges which Qatar denied.

- 'Limit to Qatar's influence'? -

Despite its regional rehabilitation at a January summit, Qatar's growing role has not been without challenges.

French website Intelligence Online claimed senior Qatar commanders "would have been convinced of the Pashtun insurgents' willingness to share power" with the now-ousted government.

"Doha has watched with surprise the total disconnect between the promises of the political representatives (of the Taliban) in exile and the realities on the ground."

Several observers have also raised questions about the longevity of Qatari influence following the spectacular Taliban victory.

David Roberts, an associate professor at King's College London, questioned whether the Taliban negotiators in Doha "will be able to retain important places in the Taliban apparatus back home, and whether they will have control".

"That will be the limit of the Qatari endgame," he told AFP.

"I imagine that the phone lines between Washington, D.C. and Doha have been red-hot in the past few days. The apparatus in the State Department and the Pentagon, they know that Qatar has now had years of contacts that can be potentially used and leveraged."

On a sceptical note, however, Michael Rubin, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, accused Doha of providing the Taliban with international legitimacy as well as access to international finance.

"There is a limit to Qatar's influence," he said.

"Attention can be addictive, and Qatar is both an addict for attention and a country in search of relevance."

© 2021 AFP

#LEGALIZEDRUGS    #LEGALISEDRUGS

Could the Taliban form an alliance with Mexico's drug cartels?

As the Taliban take control of Afghanistan, they will further tighten their grip on opium poppy cultivation. This in turn will have an impact on the global drugs trade and in particular Mexico's powerful cartels.



A huge proportion of global heroin stems from poppies grown in Afghanistan


Afghanistan and Mexico might appear distant from one another on a world map and are also separated by major historical, sociological and religious differences. But the Taliban and the Mexican cartels are united by the fact that they are both financially dependent on drug trafficking and use extreme violence to expand their political power and control of territory. Ahead of the elections in Mexico in June, numerous candidates were threatened and killed by the cartels, which supported other candidates and bought votes more openly than ever before.


The Mexican drug cartels are notoriously violent

In 2009, renowned experts had already presented evidence to the US Congress of the global perils posed by the Taliban and Mexico's cartels as "transnational drug-trafficking organizations" at a US Congress hearing, pointing out dangerous similarities that have only increased since then.
Afghanistan, Mexico and Myanmar control 95%

Roughly 95% of the world's opium poppies are cultivated in Afghanistan, Mexico and Myanmar, with all the illegal production and trafficking of heroin and other opiates that this entails. In Mexico, drug cartels are responsible for this and have the support of government officials. In Afghanistan, according to US and UN documents, producers are in direct contact with the Taliban. They also were complicit with the government — including the US-backed one. Experts at the US Congress hearing in 2009 estimated that 50% of Afghanistan's GDP that year stemmed from the proceeds of the illegal drugs trade.


Often Afghan farmers cannot afford to cultivate other crops than poppies

The Taliban have always had an ambiguous attitude: Consumption of opiates is banned but not the cultivation and sale of opium poppies. According to a US State Department report released early this year, most opium production in Afghanistan was taking place in regions already under Taliban control or at least their influence. It said that the Taliban derived a considerable income from the trade, pointing out that this fueled conflict, undermined the state of law, encouraged corruption and was also a contributing factor to drug abuse in the country.

A UN report published in April corroborated these findings and drew a direct link between the Taliban and opium poppy cultivation. It said that the total area under opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan had increased between 2019 and 2020 from 163,000 to 224,000 hectares (402,780 to 553,500 acres). Moreover, though 21 hectares had been eradicated in 2019, none had been in 2020.
Could rivals work together?

The international narcotics business has spawned a number of cartels in Mexico. The Sinaloa Cartel is currently the fastest-growing one and controls the land where poppy cultivation is most profitable. It is thus a potential rival for the Taliban. But the fact that the cartel and the Islamist group serve different markets means that they could actually complement each other.


Opium poppy production is illegal in Mexico but highly lucrative

According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Sinoloa Cartel almost has a monopoly on the US heroin market. The Pentagon believes it to be present in 60% of the world's countries from EU and West African states to India, China and Russia — all nations where drugs from Afghanistan are also sold. For the moment, the Mexican cartel is mostly responding to demand for South American-made cocaineand synthetic drugs. But it would not be the first time that organizations, which are actually in competition, came together to increase their profits and political influence.

Translated from a German adaptation of a Spanish text written by the Mexican journalist and author Anabel Hernandez, who has been living in Europe ever since receiving threats in her home country. In 2019, she won the DW Freedom of Speech Award.