'Really alive': France unveils wrapped Arc de Triomphe

Issued on: 16/09/2021 - 

Bulgarian-born Christo had dreamt of wrapping the war memorial since living nearby in the 1960s 

GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT AFP

Paris (AFP)

President Emmanuel Macron was set to unveil a strange and spectacular sight in Paris on Thursday: the entire 50-metre-high Arc de Triomphe wrapped in fabric, fulfilling the long-held dream of late artist Christo.

After weeks of preparation, the finishing touches are being put to the transformation of one of France's most iconic monuments ahead of its opening to the public this weekend.

At a press conference earlier in the day, Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot called it "a posthumous testament to an artistic genius" and "a wonderful gift to Parisians, to the French, and to all art-lovers."

The imposing war memorial has been wrapped in 25,000 square metres (270,000 square feet) of silver-blue recyclable polypropylene.

It is the signature of Christo, the Bulgarian-born artist who died last year, who had dreamt of sheathing the monument since renting a nearby apartment in the 1960s.

Despite completing other major public works during his lifetime, including wrapping the oldest bridge in Paris in 1985 and the German parliament in 1995, the Arc de Triomphe project never materialised before his death.

The completion of his vision -- and that of his co-designer and wife Jeanne-Claude -- has been overseen by his nephew Vladimir Javacheff in coordination with the Pompidou museum and French authorities.

"Christo always said the hardest part is getting the permissions," Javacheff told reporters with a smile.

"When you realise that this is really alive, for me and for my team, when you realise this fragility, this beauty, it is quite amazing."

Christo left meticulous plans and drawings for fulfilling the work before his death in 2020 GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT AFP

Protective barriers will be removed on Saturday, allowing the public to get up close to the transformed monument.

The wrapping will then stay in place until October 3.

- 'A living object' -

Not everyone has welcomed the project.

Architect Carlo Ratti, a friend of Christo, wrote last week that it was wrong to waste so much fabric at a time when the fashion industry was responsible for such high levels of carbon emissions.

Javacheff countered that the entire fabric is recyclable, along with half the metal used for scaffolding.

The wrapping will stay in place until October 3 GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT AFP

For Christo, who left sketches and photo montages of his plans, the vision was that the Arc would become "like a living object stimulated by the wind and reflecting the light".

The monument, which was built by Napoleon to commemorate fallen soldiers during his military campaigns, has recently been restored after being defaced by anti-government "yellow vest" protesters in December 2018.

He died of natural causes at his home in New York in May last year.

© 2021 AFP

Goodbye, darkness: Light pollution has increased 49% over past 25 years, study finds

Earth's night sky really isn't as dark as it used to be.

© A. Sánchez de Miguel/ESA/NASA 

London at night, as seen from the International Space Station. Different colors are visible, showing different lighting technologies.

In fact, according to a new study, global light pollution has increased by at least 49% over the past 25 years.

"The global spread of artificial light is eroding the natural night-time environment," said study lead author Alejandro Sánchez de Miguel of the University of Exeter in the U.K.

"This study provides clear evidence not only of how bad light pollution has become as a global problem, but also that it is continuing to get worse, and probably at a faster and faster rate," he added, in a statement.

The study found increases in light pollution were most pronounced in Asia, South America, Oceania and Africa.

It also details what it calls the "hidden impact" of the transition to solid-state, light emitting diode (LED) technology.

LEDs emit more blue light than previous lamp technologies, the study said, but satellite sensors are "blind" to this blue light and so underestimate the level of light pollution. Correcting for this, the study authors say the actual increase in the power emitted by outdoor lighting, and thus of light pollution, may be as high as a whopping 270%.

This is likely the case in Europe and North America, where satellites appear to be detecting a leveling off or even a decrease in light pollution.

"To take the U.K. as an example, if you ignore the effect of the switch to LEDs – which has been extensive – you get the false impression that light pollution has recently declined," said Sánchez de Miguel. "However, correcting for this effect shows it has really increased, and potentially very markedly.

"Contrary to popular belief, the installation of 'broad white' LED streetlights, whilst potentially providing some energy savings, has increased light pollution and also the impacts on organisms such as moths," he said.

A study earlier this year, also from the University of Exeter, found that animals such as moths can be confused by artificial nighttime lights, which can affect their place in the food chain.

Many other studies have indicated that light pollution, from streetlights and other sources, can have major impacts on the natural environment. Such pollution is likely to have played a role in the massive declines of insect populations in some areas.

The International Dark-Sky Association suggests the increased and widespread use of artificial light adversely affects the environment, our health and safety, and energy consumption.

"There is no clear scientific evidence that increased outdoor lighting deters crimes," according to the IDSA. In addition, research suggests that "artificial light at night can negatively affect human health, increasing risks for obesity, depression, sleep disorders, diabetes, breast cancer and more."

The purpose of the association, which was not affiliated with the study, is "to protect the night from light pollution," according to its website.

Ruskin Hartley, executive director of the association, said in a statement that the transition to LED lighting has contributed to the increase in light pollution.

"Without concerted action to reverse this trend, the impact on the natural environment will accelerate," Hartley said, "further exacerbating the biodiversity crisis, wasting energy and meaning a whole generation will grow up in perpetual twilight."

The study was published in the journal Remote Sensing.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Goodbye, darkness: Light pollution has increased 49% over past 25 years, study finds

US cigarette giant seals takeover of inhaler maker

Philip Morris has invested more than $8.0 billion in smoke-free products since 2008 FABRICE COFFRINI AFP/File

Issued on: 16/09/2021 
London (AFP)

US cigarette firm Philip Morris International on Thursday clinched a controversial takeover of British breathing inhaler manufacturer Vectura, despite fierce opposition from health campaigners and medical groups.

The Marlboro-maker agreed in July to pay £1.0 billion ($1.4 billion, 1.2 billion euros) as part of a broader push into healthcare.

Philip Morris International on Thursday said it had since won the necessary support from investors and secured regulatory approvals.

The acquisition is part of PMI's plans to expand beyond tobacco and nicotine and into a broader healthcare company.

"We have reached an important milestone in our acquisition of Vectura," PMI chief executive Jacek Olczak said in a statement.

The group has identified respiratory drug delivery as a key focus, under broader plans to generate at least $1.0 billion in annual net revenues from nicotine-free products by 2025.

"We are very excited about the critical role Vectura will play in our Beyond Nicotine strategy and look forward to working with Vectura's scientists and providing them with the resources and expertise to grow their business to help us achieve our goal," added Olczak.

Since 2008, the cigarette giant has invested more than $8.0 billion in smoke-free products, such as vaping, which it says is less harmful than smoking.

However, the Vectura takeover has faced heavy criticism from charities and medical groups.

More than 20 organisations, including anti-smoking charities and public health groups, together wrote to Vectura management urging it to reconsider the takeover on ethical and practical grounds.

Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of both Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation, accused Vectura of seeking a quick profit.

"Vectura has sold out millions of people with lung disease, and instead prioritised short-term financial gain over the long-term viability of Vectura as a business," she said.

"Vectura is now owned by a tobacco company, and this could cause considerable problems, such as the firm being excluded from research and clinical networks."

She added that it "creates perverse incentives for Philip Morris International to sell more of its harmful products so they might then profit again through treating smoking-related diseases".

© 2021 AFP

Marlboro maker Philip Morris takes control of asthma inhaler maker Vectura

Simon Freeman
Thu, 16 September 2021, 

Death: Eric Lawson in an advert for Marlboro cigarettes

Marlboro cigarette firm Philip Morris International (PMI) today sealed its controversial £1.1 billion takeover of asthma inhaler maker Vectura.

PMI has hoovered up a 29% stake in the health firm buying shares on the open market and received acceptances from another 45.6% to control of 74.8% of shares, it said today.

That is well above the 50% takeover threshold but just shy of the 75% required to delist Vectura from the London Stock Exchange.

The tobacco giant said: “All remaining conditions to the offer have been satisfied or, where applicable, waived. Accordingly… the offer has become unconditional in all respects.”

Hold-outs have been granted two weeks to accept the 165p-a-share bid.

If and when PMI has collected more than 90% of acceptances, minority shareholders will be obliged to fall into line in a squeeze-out.

PMI, which outbid US private equity firm Carlyle in a high-profile battle for control of the Chippenham-based medical manufacturer, said: “Shareholders who have not yet accepted the offer are urged to do so as soon as possible.”

CEO Jacek Olczak hailed the buy-up was “an important milestone” as the group diversifies away from cigarettes toward ‘wellness’ products.

That view is far from universal with the US tobacco giant’s bid sparking outcry among public health experts and medical charities.

Sarah Woolnough, the CEO of Asthma UK, today called on public health minister Jo Churchill to intervene.

Woolnough said: ““Vectura has sold out millions of people with lung disease, and instead prioritised short-term financial gain over the long-term viability of Vectura as a business.

“Vectura is now owned by a tobacco company, and this could cause considerable problems, such as the firm being excluded from research and clinical networks.

“It creates perverse incentives for Philip Morris International to sell more of its harmful products so they might then profit again through treating smoking-related diseases.

“We call on the Government to stand by its commitment to the World Health Organisation framework convention on tobacco control to prevent this happening.”

AJ Bell’s Danni Hewson said: “"Despite the ethical outcry, Vectura shareholders have succumbed to Big Tobacco’s big pockets.

"However good Phillip Morris’ intentions the bottom line is with this acquisition it’s playing both sides, making money from tobacco which makes people sick and inhalers which help them feel better.

“This takeover has been uncomfortable. It’s posed difficult questions and many people won’t like the answer that’s been delivered."

Major investors today maintained a public silence over the deal. Axa, TIG Advisors and Berry Street, who between them hold 11% per cent of Vectura’s shares, had previously given irrevocable undertakings of support for Carlyle's rival offer.

SEE 

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2021/09/uk-city-comment-esg-goes-up-in-smoke-at.html

Kremlin critic Navalny's allies say vote Communist to hurt ruling party

Wed, 15 September 2021



Kremlin critic Navalny's allies say vote Communist to hurt ruling party

FILE PHOTO: Leonid Volkov, chief of staff of Navalny's team, hold a news conference in Berlin

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny urged Russians on Wednesday to vote for the Communist Party at a parliamentary election this week, part of a tactical voting campaign meant to hurt the ruling United Russia party.

Navalny's "smart voting" campaign is designed to consolidate the votes of those who oppose United Russia, which currently holds three-quarters of the seats in the lower house of parliament and dominates Russian political life.

The initiative is one of the few remaining levers for Navalny, who is serving two-and-a-half years in prison for alleged parole violations, which he says are trumped up.

His movement was branded "extremist" in the run-up to the Sep. 17-19 vote, and a law signed by President Vladimir Putin in June barred members of such groups from running for office.

"Millions of people in Russia hate United Russia," said Navalny ally Leonid Volkov in a video accompanying a list of candidates Navalny's allies say have the best chance of defeating United Russia in different electoral districts.

"Explain to everyone who isn't satisfied with what is going on in the country that they need to go and vote in these elections."

The bulk of the candidates Navalny's allies support are from the Communist Party, Russia's second most popular party. It currently has 43 lawmakers in the 450-seat legislature. Navalny's allies recommended Communist candidates in 11 of the capital's 15 districts.

After Navalny's allies published their list, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, a Putin ally, published his own list of recommended candidates in the city.

"I head the United Russia party list in Moscow and call on you to vote for this party," Sobyanin wrote on his website.

Putin, who has been in power as either president or prime minister since 1999, helped found United Russia but is not a member.

In the run-up to the vote, Putin approved higher salaries and one-off payments to military and law enforcement personnel. He pledged similar measures for pensioners.

Kremlin critics say the measures are designed to boost support for United Russia. The Kremlin says the support measures have nothing to do with the vote.

Man hands himself in nearly 30 years after escaping prison - because COVID made him homeless


Wed, 15 September 2021



A fugitive who is alleged to have used a hacksaw blade and bolt cutters to escape from prison nearly 30 years ago has given himself up - because a city's COVID lockdown made him homeless.

Darko Desic walked into a police station in Sydney because his work as a handyman had been hit by the Australian city's coronavirus restrictions.

Now 64, he surrendered at Dee Why Police Station on Sunday and was denied bail when he appeared in court on Tuesday, charged with escaping from lawful custody in 1992, according to a police statement.

The charge carries a potential seven-year prison sentence.

Sydney's lockdown, which started in June, had cost Desic his cash-in-hand work as a labourer and handyman, police sources told Sydney's Daily Telegraph and Australian Broadcasting Corp.

"He slept on the beach on Saturday night and said, 'stuff it, I'll go back to prison where there's a roof over my head'," a source told the newspaper.

Desic was aged 35 when he escaped from a prison in Grafton, 390 miles north of Sydney, during the night of 31 July-1 August 1992.

Police allege he used tools, including a hacksaw blade and bolt cutters, to cut through his cell window bars and a perimeter fence.

He had served 13 months of a three-and-a-half-year sentence for growing cannabis.

Born in the former Yugoslavia, Desic told police he escaped from jail because he thought he would be deported once he had served his sentence, the newspaper reported.

He feared he would be punished for failing to do his compulsory military service in his former country, which has since broken up into several nations.

It is not clear to which country he could be deported, although he is not an Australian citizen.

The newspaper said immigration officials gave up looking for him and in 2008 granted him residency in Australia.

Desic told police he had spent his entire time at large at Sydney's northern beaches in the suburb of Avalon and, according to the newspaper, had never come to the attention of police in that time.

He maintained a low profile but was once mentioned on Australia's Most Wanted, a true crime TV programme, after someone reported seeing him at Nowra, 120 miles south of Sydney.

Eternal motherly love? Extinct spiders found protecting offspring in 99-million-year-old fossils

Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY 

A mother's love is eternal. Or at least encapsulated in a fossilized tree resin that's 99 million years old. Adult female spiders – now extinct – were discovered protecting their already-hatched spiderlings in recently mined amber in Southeast Asia, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

© Courtesy of the Royal Society Publishing Photographs of inclusions in Burmese amber.

The tree resin the spiders were found in had hardened, locking up the arachnid mothers with their offspring in several chunks. The discovery is considered the oldest evidence of maternal care in spiders, according to the journal.

Study co-researcher Paul Selden, a professor of Geology at the University of Kansas, said the fossil records provided "physical evidence through these little snapshots" of maternal love that now exists in other arthropods but records of it are rare.

"The female holding onto an egg sac with little tiny spiderlings inside – that's exactly the position that you would find female spiders guarding their eggs," Selden told Live Science. "So, it really is a typical female spider behavior caught in an instant by this fossilization process."

The spiders discovered were of the lagonomegopidae family, which is extinct but can be distinguished by a large pair of eyes on the front corners of the head. Spiders as a species have a long history and first appeared during the Carboniferous period 359 million to 299 million years ago, according to Live Science.

 

© Painted by Xiaoran Zuo, courtesy of Royal Society Publishing Ecological reconstruction of a female lagonomegopid spider guarding her egg sac.

One image shows a large female spider with part of an egg sac under her, revealing the maternal care that existed in the Northern Hemisphere during the Cretaceous period – spanning 145 million to 66 million years ago.

Other pieces of amber reveal a group of tiny spiderlings that had just hatched, with a female lagonomegopid spider guarding her egg sac from harm. Once the spiderlings hatched, they stayed together and were guarded by their mother, illustrated by the leg fragments from the same piece of amber.

Seeing more spiders in the house? Don't panic, there's a reason, experts say

The study's authors said: "Parental care refers to any investment by the parent that enhances the fitness of their offspring, and often at a cost to the survival and future reproduction of the parent. Its evolution represents a breakthrough in the adaptation of animals to their environment and has significant implications for the evolution of sociality."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Eternal motherly love? Extinct spiders found protecting offspring in 99-million-year-old fossils

Squirrels Share Personality Traits with Humans, Study Finds: 'Individuals Matter'

Squirrels may be much smaller than us, but the fun-sized furry rodents may have more in common with humans than we previously thought.

© Provided by People Getty

Greta Bjornson 16 hrs ago

A new study conducted by University of California, Davis scientists and published in Animal Behavior this month reveals that squirrels share some personality traits expressed in humans, The Guardian reports.

The study found that squirrels express four traits — activity, sociability, boldness, and aggressiveness — which affect their movement, access to resources, and use of space in nature. Researchers conducted tests on the animals to determine that in some cases, "being more social could save an individual's life," according to an online UC Davis report on the study.

Scientists focused on golden-mantled ground squirrels specifically for the study, which is the first to document personality in the species. Although the animals are not endangered, researchers found that "understanding how an animal's personality influences use of space is important for wildlife conservation," the UC Davis website stated.

 

© Provided by People Getty

RELATED: Austin Firefighters Save Squirrel Who Got Its Head Stuck in a Tree: 'Not an April Fools' Joke

Lead study author Jaclyn Aliperti told UC Davis she and her colleagues used four tests to determine personality in squirrels: novel environment, which placed the animals "in an enclosed box with gridded lines and holes"; mirror, which set the squirrels in front of a mirror image of themselves; flight initiative, in which researchers slowly approached squirrels in a wild setting to time how long before they ran; and behavior-in-trap, which observed caught unharmed squirrels in traps.© Getty Researchers at UC Davis found that squirrels exhibit the traits of activity, sociability, boldness, and aggressiveness

The findings revealed that the bolder squirrels benefited from their behavior, obtaining "larger core areas where they concentrated their activity." The bold animals also moved more quickly, were "more aggressive," "more active," and "had greater access to perches," where the animals can keep an eye out for potential predators.

RELATED: NASA Engineer Builds Impressive Obstacle Course to Stump Seed-Stealing Squirrels

Aliperti told UC Davis, "This adds to the small but growing number of studies showing that individuals matter."

She added, "Accounting for personality in wildlife management may be especially important when predicting wildlife responses to new conditions, such as changes or destruction of habitat due to human activity."

While golden-mantled ground squirrels are considered to be asocial, according to the study, "within this asocial species, individuals that tend to be relatively more social seem to have an advantage."

Aliperti, who worked on her study while earning a Ph.D. in ecology at UC Davis, told the university's website she sees the UC Davis squirrels "more as individuals" rather than a whole species. "I view them as, 'Who are you? Where are you going? What are you up to?' versus on a species level," she explained.

"Animal personality is a hard science, but if it makes you relate to animals more, maybe people will be more interested in conserving them," Aliperti added.

Rainbow-colored fly species named after RuPaul


Drag culture's far-reaching influence on society was affirmed on Wednesday, when Australian entomologists announced they have named a fly species after RuPaul -- the titan of drag queens.

© BBC/RuPaul's Drag Race UK/Bryan Lessard/CSIRO Opaluma rupaul was named in tribute to the the fiercest drag queen of them all, RuPaul.

By Hannah Ryan, CNN 

The soldier fly, whose Latin name is Opaluma rupaul, is adorned with bold rainbow colors and is bound to catch the attention of anyone that comes across it -- much like the drag icon herself.

Bryan Lessard -- also known as "Bry the Fly Guy" in scientific circles -- of Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), is responsible for naming the species and he says there were myriad reasons why he chose the moniker.

"I'd been watching a lot of 'RuPaul's Drag Race' when I was examining the specimen under the microscope, so it was on my mind!" Lessard told CNN. "And I really wanted to give this group of flies a memorable name because it needs the attention -- the first specimen of this RuPaul fly was collected over a hundred years ago and sat neglected in a museum collection until someone with the knowledge of that group came along to name and document them."

Many of the 13 new soldier flies Lessard named are from areas affected by Australia's devastating 2019-2020 bushfires -- which is part of the reason he wanted to give at least one of them a name no one would forget.

"These species would have burnt and no one would have cared if I hadn't given them a name," Lessard said.

The RuPaul fly is just one of 150 new species to be named by CSIRO recently -- and it isn't the only one to be named after a pop culture figure.

The organization has also named three newly discovered, rare beetles after characters from Pokémon -- the Japanese anime series that spawned an entire franchise of video games, toys and trading cards. The beetles are named Binburrum articuno, Binburrum moltres and Binburrum zapdos after three rare Pokémon: Articuno, Moltres and Zapdos.

And, 10 years ago, Lessard bestowed the name of another giant of popular culture upon another fly. He named the Scaptia beyonceae fly after the "Queen Bee" herself -- Beyoncé -- in a move that he said was deemed in "poor taste" by some more traditional entomologists but which led to an increase in interest in the species.

Lessard says part of the reason why the CSIRO is giving attention-grabbing names to insect species is to encourage greater interest amongst the public in invertebrates and to highlight the important role they play in biodiversity.

"Usually, it's the cute and cuddly koalas that get all the attention when it comes to conservation efforts," Lessard explained. "And the invertebrates are ignored -- despite the fact they're the essential workers of the ecosystem that pollinate native flowers and agricultural crops that are grown to give us food. If we didn't have that service from invertebrates, the world would be a terrible place."

Beyond inspiring greater interest in invertebrates and encouraging the next generation of entomologists and scientists to seek out new species, Lessard also hopes that naming the soldier fly after an LGBTQ+ icon like RuPaul will let young LGBTQ+ people know that there are other gay scientists out there and that there is a place for them in the world of science.

"As a gay scientist, it took me a long time to feel comfortable in my own skin in a very traditional field of science -- in entomology," Lessard said. "I think it's really important for the next generation of LGBTQ+ scientists to know that they're being represented in the workplace, as we give the names of legends in the community to memorable species."

© Bryan Lessard/CSIRO Opaluma rupaul is difficult to miss, thanks to its sparkling appearance

.

© Bryan Lessard/CSIRO Opaluma rupaul is characterized by its iridescent colors.

Covid lockdown in Vietnam could keep coffee prices 'relatively high' through 2022

Yen Nee Lee 11 hrs ago

Coffee prices could stay "relatively high" through 2022 due to constrained supply from major producers Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia, said Fitch Solutions.

 
Brazil waves of frost and drought that damaged many of its crops, while restrictions to fight Covid-19 in Vietnam caused coffee exports to fall.

Vietnam, the world's second-largest coffee exporter, is battling its worst Covid outbreak since the start of the pandemic.

© Provided by CNBC Pots of coffee bean are seen at a coffee shop in Hanoi, Vietnam on August 15, 2012. Vietnam is one of the world's top coffee producers and exporters.

Vietnam's Covid-19 lockdown has constrained the global supply of coffee — and coffee prices could remain "relatively high" through 2022, said Fitch Solutions.

The Southeast Asian country is the world's second-largest coffee exporter. The country is battling its worst Covid outbreak since the start of the pandemic, and a lockdown in its exporting hub Ho Chi Minh City has affected overseas shipments of coffee and other goods.

In August, Vietnamese coffee exports fell 8.7% from July to 111,697 tonnes, Reuters reported, citing customs data. Between January and August, Vietnam exported 1.1 million tonnes of coffee — 6.4% lower than a year ago, but coffee export revenue rose 2% to around $2 billion, said the news agency.

The fall in Vietnam's exports and production slumps in other top producers have boosted global coffee prices. Benchmark arabica coffee futures have jumped by around 45.8% this year, while robusta futures have surged 52.2%, according to Refinitiv data.

© Provided by CNBC

Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer, experienced waves of frost and drought that damaged its crops. Bad weather also affected Colombia's harvest, and the emergence of the "mu" coronavirus variant in the country could lead to prolonged restrictions and labor shortages that worsen production, Fitch Solutions said in a report last week.

"At the same time, we think that demand, at least in Europe and the US, will pick up in the coming months as the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions should enable coffee shops to re-open," it added.

The consultancy raised its 2021 forecast for the average price of arabica coffee from $1.35 per pound to $1.60 per pound. It also revised upward its projection for 2022 from $1.25 per pound to $1.50 per pound.

Covid in Vietnam

Vietnam — which shares a border with China — reported only 1,465 Covid cases and 35 deaths last year, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. But the country's cumulative cases exploded to more than 635,000 as of Tuesday, with over 15,900 deaths, the data showed.

Like many of its Southeast Asian neighbors, Vietnam is struggling to contain the highly infectious Covid delta variant. Only 5.7% of Vietnam's population has been fully vaccinated, official statistics compiled by Our World in Data showed.

Authorities on Monday announced a two-week extension of restrictions in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's business hub and Covid outbreak epicenter, Reuters reported.

Vietnam plays an important role in the global manufacturing supply chain. Movement curbs and factory closures to fight Covid have hit the country's manufacturing production and exports — affecting global supplies of goods from coffee to clothing and semiconductors.

Major sports apparel makers Nike, Under Armour and Lululemon; as well as chipmaker Samsung Electronics are among global companies that have faced disruptions in Vietnam.

Outlook for coffee

Covid restrictions could soon be progressively lifted, so disruptions to Vietnam's coffee exports are likely short-lived, said Fitch Solutions.

Brazil's coffee production should also bounce back "fairly quickly," provided adverse weather doesn't return, added the consultancy.

That means global coffee supply could start to rebound in the 2022/2023 season, with average annual price for arabica declining to $1.20 per pound in 2023, projected Fitch Solutions.

"Ongoing government support schemes will support production in many key Latin American and Asian producers, including Colombia and Vietnam," said Fitch Solutions.

"At the same time, growth in consumption seems to be peaking in many of the major key consumers, such as the EU-27 and Japan."

Hundreds of land defenders were killed in 2020, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg

At least 227 land and environment defenders were killed in 2020, making it the deadliest year on record — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg, according to a report released by international NGO Global Witness this week.

That is more than four people killed per week and likely an undercount, the group stated. The report identifies several high-level findings, including that nearly three out of four killings were in the Americas, and a third of all lethal attacks were against Indigenous peoples. Colombia was named the deadliest with 65 deaths, while Mexico and the Philippines were ranked second and third, respectively, with 30 and 29.

Canadian animal rights activist Regan Russell, who was hit by a transport truck while protesting outside a slaughterhouse in Burlington, Ont., is the only person outside the Global South to be included in the death toll. The driver was reportedly charged with careless driving.

“It might feel morbid to record and analyze each death of a land and environmental defender. But it’s important to understand what connects these seemingly disparate cases — the water defenders murdered in northern Mexico to the South African grandmother shot dead outside her home seemingly for rejecting the expansion of a nearby coal mine,” the report reads.

“It may sound simplistic, but it’s a fact worth considering — the process of climate breakdown is violent, and it manifests not just in violence against the natural world, but against people as well.”

The report says the violence, like the climate crisis itself, has three “core truths”: its impacts are unequal, business is responsible, and governments cause and fail to stop it.

MiningWatch Canada’s Jamie Kneen says only focusing on deaths can hide a lot of harm.

“They can be intimidated, attacked, anything short of being killed and they don't make the list,” he said.

“When you look at pipeline protests, or Grassy Narrows, or any number of places, the weakness of looking at how many people got killed as an indication of how bad things are shows up… Lots of lives can be destroyed without anyone getting shot.”

Jen Moore, associate fellow at the Washington-headquartered Institute for Policy Studies, says Canadians should be concerned about increasing violence around the world, in part because Canadian mining companies play a disproportionately large role in the global mining system.

“You've got over 1,000 mining companies that list on Canadian stock exchanges –– far more than any other stock exchange in the world –– because of the ease at which they can get financing,” she said.

A study from the Justice and Corporate Accountability Project, published in 2016 and updated in 2017, found 28 Canadian companies linked to violence in Latin America between 2000 and 2015. The report identified 44 deaths, 30 of which it considered “targeted,” as well as 406 injuries, 90 per cent of which occurred during protests. That study also found more mining companies active in Latin America are based out of Canada than any other, at 41 per cent.

“The mining industry has a very close friend in the Canadian state, and has ease of access to capital in Canada, which I think is what has given rise to such a disproportionate role for Canada in the globalized mining industry,” said Moore.

Moore said Canadian mining companies are effectively exporting a model of resource extraction developed at home.

“There is a real neo-colonial face to mining activities in the Global South, and I think Indigenous peoples and affected communities are the first to identify that,” she said.

Canadian firm Tahoe Resources was sued in a British Columbia court by seven Guatemalans who claimed they were shot in 2013 by private security forces while protesting the Escobal silver mine. Escobal is now owned by Vancouver-based Pan American Silver, which bought Tahoe in 2019 and inherited its legal battles. Pan American settled but the terms remain confidential. The company now calls the silver mine a “catalyst” for growing shareholder value in an investor presentation.

A Xinka land defender named Julio David Gonzalez Arango, who was protesting the Escobal silver mine, was nearly shot to death in Guatemala in January.

“Julio David Gonzalez Arango was shot and wounded in his home by armed assailants. In the following days, Juan Eduardo Donis, Pablo Adolfo Valenzuela Lima, and Edwin Alexander Reynoso Bran, members of the peaceful resistance, received death threats,” reads a letter signed by Moore, alongside representatives from MiningWatch Canada, Earthworks, and others, sent to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

“Then, on Feb. 7, Xinka leader and Xinka Parliament employee Luis Fernando Garcia Monroy was threatened by a supporter of the mine near his home. Finally, in April, armed individuals fired three shots at the home of two Xinka representatives involved in the consultation process.”

Pan American says it condemns the violence, and that its human rights policy “specifically commits to respect and not interfere with anyone who (acts) to promote or protect human rights through peaceful and lawful means.”

The president of the Shuar Arutam people, Josefina Tunki, says she has faced death threats for opposition to Vancouver-based Solaris Resources, which is trying to develop a major copper mine in Ecuador.

A letter dated Aug. 26 sent to Canadian Ambassador to Ecuador Sylvie Bédard, with 137 organizations signed on, says the Shuar Arutam people are concerned with “corporate abuses,” including “community division, intimidation, and death threats against our president.”

The letter calls on Canada to condemn the alleged threat, and outline steps that will prevent future threats, among other actions.

"As this matter is under judicial review, we are not in a position to comment specifically on it at this time," said Lama Khodr, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada.

“It's not a bad apples kind of thing, it's actually fairly consistent and much too widespread for comfort,” said Kneen of Canadian mining companies.

Solaris Resources did not return multiple requests for comment.

John Woodside, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer