US fire crews wrap giant trees in blankets to save them from blaze

Issued on: 17/09/2021 - 

The French Fire burns in the Sequoia National Forest near Lake Isabella, California, US August 26, 2021. © David Swanson, Reuters

Text by: NEWS WIRES

The world's biggest trees were being wrapped in fire-proof blankets Thursday in an effort to protect them from huge blazes tearing through the drought-stricken western United States.

A grove of ancient sequoias, including the 275-foot (83-meter) General Sherman Tree -- the largest in the world -- were getting aluminum cladding to fend off the flames.

Firefighters were also clearing brush and pre-positioning engines among the 2,000 ancient trees in California's Sequoia National Park, incident commanders said.

"They are taking extraordinary measures to protect these trees," said park resource manager Christy Brigham, according to The Mercury News.

"We just really want to do everything we can to protect these 2,000- and 3,000-year-old trees."

Millions of acres (hundreds of thousands of hectares) of California's forests have burned in this year's ferocious fire season.

Scientists say man-made global warming is behind the yearslong drought and rising temperatures that have left the region highly vulnerable to wildfires.

On Thursday, two fires were looming down on the park's Giant Forest, home to five of the world's largest trees, including the General Sherman.

Around 500 personnel were engaged in battling the Paradise Fire and the Colony Fire, which together have already consumed 9,365 acres of woodland since they erupted from lightning strikes on September 10.

The enormous trees of the Giant Forest are a huge tourist draw, with visitors travelling from all over the world to marvel at their imposing height and extraordinary girth.

While not the tallest trees -- California redwoods can grow to more than 300 feet -- the giant sequoias are the largest by volume.

Smaller fires generally do not harm the sequoias, which are protected by a thick bark, and actually help them to reproduce; the heat they generate opens cones to release seeds.

But the larger, hotter blazes that are laying waste to the western United States are dangerous to them because they climb higher up the trunks and into the canopy.

(AFP)

 

California wildfire threatens world's largest tree

Firefighters are rushing to save General Sherman and a grove of around 2,000 other sequoias. They are hoping the Giant Forest will survive unscathed.

    

Firefighters have wrapped General Sherman in special fire-proof blankets

Firefighters wrapped the base of the world's largest tree in a fire-resistant blanket on Friday in an attempt to protect it from a wildfire burning in California's Sierra Nevada region.

General Sherman, which is the largest in the world by volume at 52,508 cubic feet (1,487 cubic meters), is in Sequoia National Park's Giant Forest in a grove of around 2,000 gigantic old-growth sequoias.

Some other sequoias, the Giant Forest Museum and other buildings were also wrapped for protection, fire spokeswoman Rebecca Paterson said.

The Colony Fire, one of two burning in Sequoia National Park, was expected to reach the Giant Forest within days, fire officials said.

But the fire did not grow significantly on Thursday as a layer of smoke reduced its spread in the morning, fire spokeswoman Katy Hooper said.

The Sequoia National Park has closed to visitors and firefighters are rushing to protect the trees from wildfires

How are the sequoias being protected?

Fire officials are using aluminum wrapping that can withstand intense heat for short periods.

Federal officials say they have been using the material for several years throughout the US West to protect structures from flames.

A national interagency fire management team is overseeing efforts to fight both the Colony Fire and the Paradise Fire. They have carried out operations to burn away vegetation and other fuel that could feed the flames near the giant trees.

"Hopefully, the Giant Forest will emerge from this unscathed," Paterson said.

Fighfighters race to try and protect trees and structures in the Sequoia National Park

Climate change and giant sequoias

Giant sequoias are naturally adapted to fire. The intense heat from wildfires releases seeds from their cones and creates clearings that allow young sequoias to grow.

But the extraordinary intensity of recent wildfires can overwhelm the trees.

That happened last year when the Castle Fire killed an estimated 7,500 to 10,600 large sequoias, some of which were thousands of years old, according to the National Park Service.

Historic drought and heatwaves tied to climate change have made wildfires harder to fight in the American West.

Scientists say climate change has made the region much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive

US firefighters optimistic over world's biggest tree



Issued on: 18/09/2021 -

Sequoias are the largest trees in the world, growing dozens of metres tall

 and with a thick trunk MARK RALSTON AFP/File

Los Angeles (AFP)

Firefighters battling to protect the world's biggest tree from wildfires ravaging the parched United States said Friday they are optimistic it can be saved.

Flames are creeping closer to the majestic General Sherman and other giant sequoias, as man-made climate change worsens California's fearsome fire season.

"We have hundreds of firefighters there giving it their all, giving extra care," Mark Garrett, communications officer for the region's fire department, told AFP, of the operation in Sequoia National Park.

Crews are battling the spreading Paradise and Colony fires, which have so far consumed 4,600 hectares (11,400 acres) of forest since they were sparked by lightning a week ago.

The blazes are threatening Giant Forest, a grove of around 2,000 sequoias that includes five of the largest trees on the planet -- some up to 3,000 years old.

General Sherman, the world's biggest tree, has been wrapped in foil to protect it from flames 

Handout NATIONAL PARK SERVICE/AFP

The biggest of them all, the General Sherman stands 83 meters (275 feet) tall.

On Thursday, General Sherman was wrapped in fire-proof blankets -- aluminium foil intended to protect its giant trunk from the worst of the flames.

By Friday, managers felt they had the upper hand, thanks in part to clearing of undergrowth and controlled burns that starve the fire of fuel.

"I think the most challenging part is the terrain here," said Garrett.

But "we haven't seen explosive fire behavior; it really slowed down and gave us a chance to get ahead of it."

Around 600 personnel are involved in the fight.

"We have folks up in the Giant Forest protecting structures and preparing everything.

The fire-proof cladding that firefighters are using is the same material they deploy to protect vulnerable homes Handout NATIONAL PARK SERVICE/AFP

"The fact is that they've been prescribed burning for the past 25 or 30 years so it is really prepared."

Millions of acres of California's forests have burned in this year's ferocious fire season.

Scientists say global warming, stoked by the unchecked use of fossil fuels is making the area ever-more vulnerable to bigger and more destructive wildfires.

The enormous trees of the Giant Forest are a huge tourist draw, with visitors traveling from all over the world to marvel at their imposing height and extraordinary girth.

While not the tallest trees -- California redwoods can grow to more than 300 feet -- the giant sequoias are the largest by volume.

Smaller fires generally do not harm the sequoias, which are protected by a thick bark and often only have branches 100 feet above the ground.

But the larger, hotter blazes that are laying waste to the western United States are dangerous to them because they climb higher up the trunks and into the canopy.

© 2021 AFP

Activists confront Singh over NDP's environmental stance on Fairy Creek, TMX

Olivia Stefanovich - 

© Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks with Fairy Creek protesters following a morning media availability in Toronto on Thursday. They challenged him to take a firm stance against old-growth logging.

NDP Leader Jagmeet was challenged by a small group of young environmentalists on Thursday following a media availability in Toronto over his positions on old-growth logging at Fairy Creek in British Columbia and the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

The group from Climate Justice Toronto unrolled a banner that said "Support Fairy Creek" and demanded he support an end to all old-growth logging in B.C.

"He's going to lose votes in B.C. if he doesn't take a firm stand on this," said Niklas Agarwal, a 25-year-old climate activist from Toronto.

"This needs to be integral if he wants to win the youth vote."

Singh wouldn't unequivocally lend his support to the group's cause.

If he did, Singh would put himself at odds with NDP Premier John Horgan, whose government is letting old-growth logging continue, though it has approved the request of three First Nations to defer logging in part of their territories that includes Fairy Creek.

The Fairy Creek watershed is one of Vancouver Island's last remaining unprotected old-growth stands of coastal temperate rainforest with some trees up to 2,000 years old.

The area is in the traditional territory of the Pacheedaht, Huu-ay-aht and Ditidaht First Nations, who in June issued the declaration to defer old-growth logging in the area for two years while they make plans to manage their resources.

Pacheedaht's chief and council support the logging and have condemned the actions of protesters even though some members support the blockades.


© Adam van der Zwan/CBC

Earlier this summer, RCMP and old-growth logging demonstrators stand face-to-face in silence before police pushed the group back to access a tree structure a demonstrator was harnessed to.

Singh countered the arguments by Climate Justice Toronto activists by stating he is a fierce defender of Indigenous rights and a decision about logging can't be made without First Nations' input.

"You wouldn't take away the rights of Indigenous people," Singh said to the group.

"We can't come in, as settlers, and tell them what to do."
Logging company in court this week

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau was also challenged by protesters over Fairy Creek logging during an earlier campaign stop in Vancouver.

The Fairy Creek protest is now the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history. As of this week, organizers say more than 1000 arrests have been made by RCMP enforcing a court injunction against the protests.

Demonstrators arrived at the site about one year ago to prevent Surrey-based logging company Teal-Jones Group from working.

A subsidiary of the company, Teal Cedar Products, is in hearings this week at the B.C. Supreme Court asking for a one-year extension to the injunction.

Lawyers representing a number of protesters are challenging Teal Cedar's application this week too, arguing the extension shouldn't be granted due to the severity of climate change.

The company obtained the injunction against the protesters on April 1, which the RCMP have enforced since mid-May amid criticism of excessive use of force and obstruction of the press.

Singh spoke out against police force tactics that escalate violence during a Sept. 1 virtual town hall with B.C. residents.

Singh is pledging $500 million to support Indigenous-led stewardship programs to help protect old-growth forests and advance reconciliation.

Agarwal commended the commitment, but urged Singh to be bolder and take a clear stance on what the NDP would do with the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

Singh sidestepped a question on Thursday about whether he believes Canada can meet its emission targets with the expansion project operating.

While Singh says he does not support TMX, he has not committed to stopping the project.

Instead, Singh said he would assess TMX because the NDP does not have all the details about what the federal government owns and how to find the best path forward.

"It's really disappointing because in the last election, he was very firm in his stance against TMX so to see him backsliding," Agarwal said.

"Jagmeet claims to be about youth. He films TikToks about us. He does sound bites about us. But does he actually speak to our issues?"

Ongoing protests, arrests at Fairy Creek

 over logging 'not working,' says judge

NANAIMO, B.C. — A British Columbia Supreme Court judge suggested Thursday he will consider new options to address the future of an injunction against blockades by people opposed to logging old-growth trees on part of Vancouver Island.

Justice Douglas Thompson expressed concern about the situation that's unfolding in the Fairy Creek area north of Port Renfrew after hearing from lawyers representing protesters and the RCMP.

B.C. forestry company Teal Cedar Products Ltd. has applied to the court to extend by one year the injunction order against protest blockades. The injunction expires on Sept. 26.

"Perhaps, the only thing everybody agrees upon right now is what's being done is not working," said Thompson, who instructed lawyers to come to court Friday prepared to discuss the structure of the injunction.

He said he will not deliver a decision Friday on the company's application and his ruling will come after Sept. 26.

About 1,000 people have been arrested in the Fairy Creek area since May when the RCMP started to enforce an earlier B.C. Supreme Court injunction against blockades erected in several areas near logging sites.

The court heard from lawyers representing the protesters who argued people from all walks of life with environmental concerns are being treated like terrorists by police and the company.

A lawyer for the Mounties said police are being tasked with enforcing a court injunction under increasingly difficult circumstances.

"My overall point will be that there is nothing here to lead this court to the conclusion that there is a general problem with the way the RCMP is enforcing this injunction," said lawyer Donnaree Nygard, who represents the Mounties on behalf of the Attorney General of Canada.

She said a video that shows an RCMP officer stomping on a protester's guitar was "probably unnecessary," but throughout the injunction period there is not enough information "to find or imply the RCMP acted inappropriately in those situations."

Nygard cited a court affidavit filed by RCMP Chief Supt. John Brewer, who is a senior officer at Fairy Creek, saying "this is the most complex operation he has been involved in. He says the ground shifts every day."

Lawyer Elizabeth Strain showed the court videos and photographs of police allegedly unsafely removing protesters from trees and ditches, and pulling off face masks of people at the blockades before dousing them with pepper spray.

The protesters include youth, teachers, retired scientists, doctors, lawyers and students with fears about climate change who want to protect the trees. They are being treated like terrorists, she said.

"These people are not terrorists," said Strain. "They are regular people who have come down to protest. These are people who are terrified for the future. They are being met with militarized police force."

Thompson told Strain the videos "rankled" him at times because the protesters appear to be employing tactics purposely designed to make enforcement of the injunction more difficult.

But he later expressed concern to Nygard about seeing video of police removing a young woman's face mask and spraying her with pepper spray.

"At some level, don't I have to reach a conclusion about the way they are enforcing the court order?" Thompson asked.

Lawyer Matthew Nefstead, representing several members of the Rainforest Flying Squad protest group, said granting the injunction extension should be denied because it could be viewed by the police as granting them further powers.

Teal Cedar lawyer Dean Dalke told the court Tuesday the blockades are impeding the company's legal rights to harvest timber and alleged the actions of the protesters pose dangers to employees and the RCMP.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2021.

Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press

CN fined $2.5 million for spraying pesticides near the Skeena River in B.C.

PRINCE RUPERT, B.C. — Canadian National Railway Co. has been fined $2.5 million for spraying pesticides along a rail corridor that runs along the Skeena River in British Columbia.

Environment and Climate Change Canada says the railway pleaded guilty in Prince Rupert provincial court on Wednesday to a charge of violating the Fisheries Act by using pesticides in or around waters frequented by fish.

The government says enforcement officers observed a spray truck discharging a mist in August 2017 as it moved along the rail corridor between Terrace and Prince Rupert.

An inspection and investigation later confirmed that the pesticides sprayed along the rail line were harmful to fish.

The government says the fine will go to its environmental damages fund which is used to support projects that will benefit the environment.

CN will also be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2021.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CNR)

The Canadian Press

Spanish officials fear volcanic eruption on La Palma

The island of La Palma in the Canaries was hit by an "earthquake swarm," with officials warning magma is building up under the Cumbre Vieja volcanic chain.



Experts said the volcanic chain has been growing in height due to magma buildup

Thousands of small earthquakes have hit the Canary island of La Palma in recent days while growing stronger and moving closer to the surface, according to the regional government.

The Spanish island is the home of the Teneguia volcano in the Cumbre Vieja national park.

A team of volcanologists warned that an eruption could be possible in the coming days, according to a report in the El Pais daily on Thursday.

The team noted that magma was seeping into the volcanic chain, raising its peak by some 6 centimeters (2.4 inches).

"What's most likely is that the magma has found a way toward the surface and it is very likely that it will end up reaching it," said Luca D'Auria, the head of the Volcano Monitoring Department at the Canary Islands Volcano Institute (Involcan).

Locals told to prepare emergency bags

The "earthquake swarm" is also expected to escalate, according to officials. However, volcanic experts said there were no clear signs of an imminent eruption.

"There still has not been a large earthquake that opens a path for the magma," said Maria Jose Blanco, the head of the National Geographic Institute (IGN) in the Canary Islands.

The government has already raised the eruption alert level and instructed people in the area to prepare light luggage with their mobile phones, important documents and any necessary medication in case of evacuation.

The island of La Palma has around 83,000 residents and is not a popular tourist destination. Its Teneguia volcano last erupted in 1971, the last surface eruption to happen on Spanish soil.

Ten years ago, a series of similar but less powerful tremors hit the nearby island of El Hierro, culminating with an underwater volcanic eruption.

dj/wd (Reuters, dpa, AFP)

Threat of volcanic eruption puts Spanish island on alert


MADRID (AP) — A series of small earthquakes in Spain’s Canary Islands has put authorities on alert for a possible volcanic eruption, with one official saying Thursday there is “intense seismic activity” in the area off northwest Africa.

Authorities have detected more than 4,200 temblors in what scientists are calling an “earthquake swarm” around La Palma island since last Saturday. An earthquake swarm is a cluster of quakes in one area during a short period and can indicate an approaching eruption.

But officials said they had no indication an eruption was imminent, and a scientific committee monitoring the activity said that the number of tremors and their magnitude had fallen Thursday.

Even so, the Scientific Committee for the Special Civil Protection Plan and Emergency Response for Volcanic Risks warned there could be a rapid, renewed surge in quakes and kept the public warning level on yellow, according to private Spanish news agency Europa Press.

Volcano warnings are announced in accordance with the level of risk, rising through green, yellow, orange and red.

The committee reported that ground depressions up to 10 centimeters (4 inches) deep have formed — an occurrence often attributed to magma movements.

Before a volcano erupts, there is a gradual increase in seismic activity that can build up over a prolonged period.

The Canary Islands Volcanology Institute said that by Thursday 11 million cubic meters (388 million cubic feet) of molten rock had been pushed into Cumbre Vieja, a dormant volcanic ridge on La Palma where the last eruption was in 1971. The strongest quake so far was a magnitude 3.4 one, according to the institute.

La Palma has a population of around 85,000 people.

The institute has is telling staff on the island to monitor any changes, including testing the water in wells.

The Canary Islands are a volcanic archipelago made up of eight islands. At their nearest point to Africa, they are 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Morocco.

The Associated Press

Australia at heart of Indo-Pacific alliances to counter China

Issued on: 17/09/2021

This combination of file photos shows Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (L) speaking during a press conference in Canberra on August 17, 2021; and China's President Xi Jinping (R) speaking at Macau's international airport on December 18, 2019. © AFP
Text by:NEWS WIRES
3 min
Listen to the article

Australia finds itself as the common link in a new mesh of global alliances centred on the Indo-Pacific that are all but in name aimed at countering China's rising military power and economic clout.

Canberra's 70-year-old defence alliance with Washington already commits Australia to act in response to an attack on U.S. forces in the Pacific, analysts said.

A new defence partnership, AUKUS, with the United States and Britain to share nuclear-powered submarines is significant not only for increasing Australia's deterrence capabilities, but also focussing Britain on the region, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday.

The European Union's strategy to boost its Indo-Pacific presence, outlined on Thursday, will seek trade deals with Australia and Taiwan and closer maritime ties with Australia, Indonesia and Japan to keep open sea routes.

Morrison will travel to Washington on Monday for the first face-to-face meeting of leaders of the Quad, a grouping of India, Japan, Australia a

The scope of the talks, spanning freedom of navigation, critical technology and COVID-19 recovery, has grown swiftly since it was revived.

The Quad was put on ice a decade ago by Canberra because of the objections of China, its largest trading partner, to the group's naval exercises.

However, in 2021 Australia has become a case study for other nations of the potential for Chinese economic coercion. The treasurer recently advised exporters to diversify away from China because of Beijing's actions to target the Australian economy.

Head of the ANU National Security College, Rory Medcalf, said amid accelerating concerns about China: "Australia has crossed a strategic Rubicon, bitten the bullet, nailed its colours to the mast".

The AUKUS partnership and Quad will overlap as central to Australia's security, he said.

Rotating US troops in Australia

In radio interviews on Friday, Morrison said that contrary to China's objections, Australia's new security grouping was about ensuring stability in the region.

"We just want to ensure that right throughout the region there can be free movement of goods and services and maritime traffic and air traffic, and the rule of law applies," he said.

What happened in the Indo-Pacific was of concern to the rest of the world, he said.

"It isn't just the United States. It's the United Kingdom becoming a more significant partner with Australia on defence, one, but also, having their focus on this part of the world."

Australia and the United States agreed on Friday to increase the number of U.S. troops rotating through Australia, as well as aircraft and logistics support for U.S. naval vessels and submarines.

Director of Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre, Ashley Townshend, said the United States was leveraging Australia's strategic geography, and rotating U.S. submarines through Western Australia more regularly for maintenance would allow them to expand operations in the region.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd said in a television interview the government needed to clarify whether the United States expected that Australia's nuclear-powered submarines would be deployed to support it any conflict over Taiwan or the South China Sea.

The United States said on Friday there is no reciprocal requirement.

"There has already been an expectation that Australia would join the United States and others - especially Japan - in discouraging or facing future military adventurism from China, over Taiwan, the South China Sea, the East China Sea," said Medcalf.

The new announcements increased Australia's capability for deterrence, he said.

"Australia's geography will allow the alliance to disperse and gather its forces in a way that America's frontline island bases like Guam cannot," he said.

(REUTERS)

Australia at centre of Indo-Pacific alliances to counter China, a risky move?

Issued on: 17/09/2021 - 

Video by:Andrew HILLIAR
Australia finds itself as the common link in a new mesh of global alliances centred on the Indo-Pacific that are all but in name aimed at countering China's rising military power and economic clout.

US in damage control mode: Biden angers France, EU with new Australia, UK initiative

Issued on: 17/09/2021 -

Video by:Wassim Cornet
President Joe Biden’s decision to form a strategic Indo-Pacific alliance with Australia and Britain to counter China is angering France and the European Union. They’re feeling left out and seeing it as a return to the Trump era. The security initiative, unveiled this week, appears to have brought Biden’s summer of love with Europe to an abrupt end.

AUKUS alliance: French embassy says Washington gala canceled after 'stab in the back'

Issued on: 17/09/2021 - 

France called off a gala at its ambassador's house in Washington scheduled for Friday, its US embassy said, following a new defense alliance that resulted in the US supplying Australia with submarines instead of France. The event was supposed to celebrate the anniversary of a decisive naval battle in the American Revolution, in which France played a key role. FRANCE 24's Kethevane Gorjestani tells us more.

AUKUS: Australia decides to die for USA's war with China

 Author`s name Lyuba Lulko

 16.09.2021 22:20

The Asia-Pacific region is about to fall for an arms race in connection with Australia's decision to acquire nuclear submarines under a new pact with the United States and Great Britain, which local environmentalists call 'floating Chernobyls'.

Unprecedented deal

On September 16, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison unveiled an agreement on the transition to nuclear-powered submarines with the help of the United States and Great Britain. However, Australia decided to refuse from its earlier agreements with France.

The deal to acquire nuclear submarines, concluded under the new AUKUS pact, used to be considered unthinkable from both political and practical points of view. Canberra did not even expect either the United States or the UK to share their nuclear technology, and feared public outcry against the presence of nuclear facilities in a nuclear-free country.

Australia will now become the only country in the world that does not possess nuclear weapons, but has nuclear submarines.

Morrison said that they would be designed over the next 18 months and built in Adelaide. Officials said that the new submarines would be quieter and more powerful than Australia's existing submarine fleet and that they would deter China's ambitions in the Far East.

'Floating Chernobyls' will put Australia on the line of fire

Adam Bandt, the leader of the Australian Greens, said that the decision to procure nuclear submarines from the US and the UK was "one of the worst security decisions in decades."

"It's a dangerous decision that will make Australia less safe by putting floating Chernobyls in the heart of our major cities," he told the ABC on Thursday.

The prime minister, he added, will need to explain what may happen in the event of an accident at a nuclear reactor in the center of an Australian city.

In his opinion, escalating tensions between China and Australia will increase the risk of a nuclear war, which will put Australia on the line of fire.

As a regional power, Australia should stick to an independent course to de-escalate the conflict in the region, the politician also noted.

He hopes to veto the deal in the parliament with the help of the Labor Party.

Australia counts on US victory in war with China

Hugh White, a Professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University, said that one should expect China's response to the deal. Such a major deal, he said, will change Australia's approach to the region. The trilateral pact would serve US interests by giving the key ally more powerful submarines in the Pacific. In the escalating rivalry between America and China, Australia supports the United States and hopes that the Americans will win, Professor White believes. At the same time, he added, if one looks 10 or 20 years ahead, USA's dominance over China does not seem to be possible.

The expert explained that the trilateral nature of the deal is based on the fact that the UK needed permission from the US to deliver top-secret nuclear technology. This showed how seriously America is determined to flex its muscles in the Asia-Pacific region.

China warns Australia

Australia's relations with China have become increasingly strained after Canberra demanded an investigation into the causes of the COVID pandemic, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. China responded by banning exports of coal, copper and sugar from Australia.

A senior Chinese diplomat, deputy ambassador of China to Canberra, Wang Xining, warned Australia in April by saying that a superpower is "not a cow that can be at first milked and then slaughtered."

"China is not a cow. I don't think anybody should fancy the idea to milk China when she's in her prime and plot to slaughter it in the end. So we are open for collaboration and cooperation, but we'll be very strong in defending our national interest,” Wang Xining said. "Australia connived with the United States in a very unethical, illegal, immoral suppression of Chinese companies,” he said.

US builds Asian version of NATO

Andrey Koshkin, an expert at the Association of Military Political Scientists, told Pravda. Ru, that the Americans did not like it when suddenly Australia "began to be courted by the French."

According to the expert, the United States wants to make Australia to be on duty to guard Antarctica and oppose China.

"The world is changing so dynamically, so Australia may eventually agree to run errands for the USA," Andrey Koshkin told Pravda. Ru.

A quadripartite agreement between Japan, the United States, India and Australia is to be signed on September 24. When signing the agreement, the countries will pledge to join their forces against China and partly Russia as well.

"The United States of America is drawing Australia into the process of creating the Asian version of NATO. The ultimate goal of this project is to contain China and, to a certain extent, Russia in the Far East," the expert noted.

China will stand up against Asian NATO bloc

China is already outraged about the prospects for military-political alliances to appear in the Indo-Pacific region.

"China will defend itself. Indonesia is already outraged. New Zealand says that it will not let those submarines pass, and there will be other reactions coming from Asia soon, because the focus of attention of the United States of America is shifting from the European continent to the Asian one," Andrey Koshkin said in an interview with Pravda.Ru.

Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern said Thursday, September 16, that the country would not lift the ban on nuclear vessels entering its waters after Australia decided to build a fleet of nuclear submarines in partnership with the United States and Britain.

"Certainly they couldn't come into our internal waters. No vessels that are partially or fully powered by nuclear energy is able to enter our internal borders," she said. "This is not a treaty level arrangement. It does not change our existing relationship including Five Eyes or our close partnership with Australia on defence matters," she added.

China's reaction to AUKUS

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called US actions "highly irresponsible." According to him, Canberra is "solely responsibility for the current difficult situation."

The deal seriously undermines regional peace and stability, intensifies the arms race and undermines the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, the Chinese official said. The international community, including neighboring countries, has good reasons to doubt Australia's sincerity, he noted.

An editorial published in China's Global Times, described the pact as "another hostile signal" to China.

It is worthy of note that China has six nuclear-powered submarines art the moment, but this number will be increased to 16 by 2040.

Editor: Dmitry Sudakov

Читайте больше на https://english.pravda.ru/world/149212-australia/

Theresa May suggests Aukus pact could drag UK into war with China

The former prime minister questioned whether the deal would force Britain into conflict if Beijing tries to invade Taiwan
Mrs May was responding to a Commons statement on the deal from Boris Johnson

By Arj Singh
Deputy Political Editor
September 16, 2021 5:57 pm(Updated 9:07 pm)

Theresa May has questioned whether the UK could be dragged into war with China if it invades Taiwan following the signing of a new defence pact with the US and Australia.

The former prime minister asked Boris Johnson what the “implications” of the deal’s commitment to preserving security and stability in the Indo-Pacific were in the event of an incursion by Beijing into Taiwan.

The ground-breaking deal will see the three allies co-operate on the development of a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines for the Australian navy.

It is being seen as an attempt to check China’s growing military assertiveness in the region, including towards Taiwan.

In the Commons, Mrs May asked the Prime Minister: “What are the implications of this pact for the stance that would be taken by the United Kingdom in its response should China attempt to invade Taiwan?”

Mr Johnson replied: “The United Kingdom remains determined to defend international law and that is the strong advice we would give to our friends across the world, and the strong advice that we would give to the government in Beijing.”

In a separate exchange, the PM also insisted Aukus is “not intended to be adversarial toward any other power”.

But writing for i, another former Tory leader, Iain Duncan Smith, said: “Prior to Aukus, China had taunted Taiwan that, ‘when the war comes’ Taiwan could not count on US support. This was reinforced by near daily incursions of Taiwanese airspace by Chinese military aircraft.

“The Aukus pact is a good response to this taunt and shows that the UK and US – and I hope other free countries that will follow – will not allow China’s aggressive behaviour to go unchecked.”

Ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was less enthusiastic about the deal, tweeting: “Starting a new cold war will not bring peace, justice and human rights to the world.”

The Guardian view on the Aukus defence pact: taking on China

Editorial

The agreement between the US, UK and Australia strengthens old ties as a new era unfolds in the Indo-Pacific region

Australia's prime minister, Scott Morrison, is flanked onscreen by Boris Johnson and Joe Biden for the Aukus announcement. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/EPA

Thu 16 Sep 2021 

No one – least of all Beijing – believes the denials. The new defence pact between the US, UK and Australia is unmistakably aimed at containing China. The question is how substantive it will prove to be. The initial project – Canberra’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines, with Washington and London’s help – is prompted in part by growing Australian frustration over its troubled contract for French-made vessels. But it opens the way for greater military cooperation and is to be underpinned by wide-ranging collaboration on areas such as cyber-security, artificial intelligence and quantum computing, which China is pursuing intensively.

Joe Biden appears to be realising Barack Obama’s pledge of a pivot to Asia, with US capacity freed by withdrawal from Afghanistan, and China’s behaviour ringing alarm bells internationally. The Aukus pact binds the UK and Australia more closely to the US position, and should augment US military power in the region (though France, Europe’s most significant Indo-Pacific player, is openly furious). Though Boris Johnson has highlighted the promise of UK jobs, a White House official described the deal as a “downpayment on global Britain”.

Three years ago, Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, insisted Canberra need not choose between Beijing and Washington. Now he seems to have judged that China has made the choice for him, given the punishing trade war, the treatment of Australian citizens, mammoth hikes in military spending (albeit from a lower base than the US) and its broader behaviour. Donald Trump’s presidency gave China an opportunity to strengthen relationships with US allies; the pandemic gave it an opportunity to rebalance towards cooperation. Instead, it accelerated course with Wolf Warrior diplomacy, trade pressure, clashes with India and more frequent incursions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone, and upped the ante in the South China Sea.

The result is growing coordination among anxious nations. The anglophone “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing nations have increased cooperation; Australia and the US have worked more closely with India and Japan in the “Quad”; the UK invited India, South Korea and Australia (as well as South Africa) to the G7. At US prompting, Nato has taken a stronger line on China.

A firm and unified response to China’s actions by democratic nations is both sensible and desirable. Whether the new pact will restrain it – or prompt it to boost its military even further, pursue closer relations with Russia, and intensify other forms of pressure – remains to be seen. Beijing’s attacks on “cold war mentality” are about perception, not just rhetoric. This week we learned that the top US military officer reportedly called his Chinese counterpart fearing that Beijing believed the Trump administration was preparing to attack. Mr Biden may believe he can pursue “extreme competition”, confronting Beijing in some areas and engaging it in others, but China clearly disagrees. It sent a junior official to meet John Kerry for climate change talks. Reportedly, Xi Jinping did not respond to the president’s proposal of a face-to-face summit.

While many herald Aukus as a momentous step, this is not a treaty but a statement of intent, with even the details of the submarine agreement 18 months away. Setting aside that project (and the real concerns it might open the door to proliferation), we cannot yet tell how significant the pact will be. Faith in US commitments is shakier in the wake of Mr Trump. What is certain is that this further sharpens the divide between China and the west.

#AUKUS

Biden shuns EU with Asia-Pacific power play

Paris is furious at what it is slamming as a betrayal.

French President Emmanuel Macron gets out of the new French nuclear submarine "Suffren" 

| Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images

BY STUART LAU, JACOPO BARIGAZZI AND DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
September 16, 2021 4:17 pm

It was the worst possible day for the EU — and its defense heavyweight France — to learn that they're not in the geostrategic big league when it comes to countering China's rise in the Asia-Pacific region.

Only hours before EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was due to unveil Europe's own woolly Indo-Pacific strategy on Thursday, he was outplayed in a hard-power move by America, Britain and Australia. The three countries announced a landmark pact that would allow cooperation on top military technology and allow Canberra to build nuclear-powered submarines.

It was doubly infuriating for the EU camp that Brexit Britain was the only European ally invited to the top table.

This Asia-Pacific power shift is an especially bitter blow to France, which now looks to set to lose out on a multibillion-dollar submarine supply deal with Australia. It's the worst transatlantic blow-up since the Iraq war in 2003, and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said: "It's a stab in the back. We had established a trusting relationship with Australia, and this trust was betrayed."

Unsurprisingly, France immediately doubled down on calls for Europe to forge a course of "strategic autonomy" with less reliance on U.S. technology and the American military.

The promise of trilateral U.S.-U.K-Australia cooperation on anti-China technologies such as artificial intelligence will also sting in Brussels. Later this month, the EU and U.S. are due to meet for talks in Pittsburgh on precisely that theme — aligning technological standards.

The chief problem is that America has shown increasing signs of frustration with the EU's softer approach to China. Regardless of incoming U.S. President Joe Biden's wariness, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron raced to finalize a landmark investment agreement with China at the end of last year. While American diplomats want the Pittsburgh talks to focus on forging tech ecosystems that box out China, European officials are at pains to play down any anti-Beijing dimensions of tech cooperation.

Yet France will almost certainly be the immediate diplomatic flashpoint. Paris is questioning the new three-way alliance (AUKUS) in relation to the contractual rights of its own diesel-electric submarine deal. "This is not over," Le Drian said. "We’re going to need clarifications. We have contracts."

In a joint statement with his defense counterpart, Florence Parly, Le Drian directed his ire directly at Washington.

"The American decision, which leads to the exclusion of a European ally and partner like France from a crucial partnership with Australia at a time when we are facing unprecedented challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, be it over our values or respect for a multilateralism based on the rule of law, signals a lack of consistency which France can only notice and regret," the two ministers said.

Is France an Indo-Pacific player?

For France, which was the first EU country to adopt an Indo-Pacific strategy in 2018 and went on to persuade Germany, and the whole of EU, to follow suit, the latest developments could well lead to a rethink about its strategic positioning.

"It's a big blow to Macron and France's position of itself as a major Indo-Pacific partner," said Hervé Lemahieu, director of research at Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based think tank.

Benjamin Haddad, who leads the Atlantic Council think tank's Europe Center, said: "It’s stunning honestly, and [there] will be an earthquake in Paris. ... [It] will leave long-term damage on the French defense and political establishment — more than a 'normal' diplomatic spat."

An EU-based diplomat, however, said that the European fallout would be mostly confined to France, and the EU's Indo-Pacific strategy reached well beyond the military dimensions. "Germany, for instance, has been trying to talk about trade diversification [away from China] under the Indo-Pacific strategy," he said.

In fact, in a sign of continued regional goodwill, Germany on Thursday announced a new stop in Darwin in northern Australia for its Bayern frigate that is now on course to the South China Sea.

"It’s a reality check on the geopolitical ambitions of the EU," another diplomat said. While on the one hand there's a bad optic that the EU and its member countries "somehow don't manage to be seen as a credible security partner" for the U.S. and Australia, "we shouldn’t make too much of the Indo-Pacific strategy: The EU is not a Pacific player."

While France recalibrates its relations with Australia, Japan offers a useful diplomatic lesson. Even though it was rejected for a defense contract with the Australians — and the deal ultimately went to the French — Tokyo successfully maintained solid ties with Canberra to face the common Chinese rival in the region.

"Japan and Australia have bridged those periods of tension and mistrust," said Lemahieu. He added that India, with which France also has a good relationship on security, could play a constructive role in ensuring that the EU is not entirely frozen out.

Borrell also insisted on Thursday that there was no question of Europe being excluded as a regional player. "The EU is already the top investor, the leading development cooperation provider and one of the biggest trading partners in the Indo-Pacific region," he said.

Transatlantic tempest

It's hardly as if Biden weren't already trying to put out fires in Europe given the precipitous and chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The U.S. president's foreign policy team has been in overdrive to contain the fallout from the departure, which has dented America’s reputation worldwide but especially among European allies who dutifully backed the pullout decision.

In recent days, in a bid to shore up alliances, Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan has telephoned Romanian Foreign Minister and National Security Advisor Bogdan Aurescu, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and Hiski Haukkala, secretary general and chief of cabinet for Finnish President Sauli Niinistö.

Back in Brussels, the show must go on.

Confronted by a barrage of questions about the new Indo-Pacific alliance — which technically has nothing to do with the EU — Borrell didn't hide his "regret" about the American move.

Still, Borrell was also eager not to let the French reaction dominate the EU's newfound geopolitical interest.

He cautioned against "dramatized" sentiments and vowed full support for the EU's cooperation with "the Quad" — the anti-China security alliance of the U.S., Australia, Japan and India.

And he implored his audience: "Don’t put into question our relationship with the United States that has been improving a lot with the new administration."

For now, however, it's a plea that has yet to land in Paris.

After Australia arms deal flop, EU launches Indo-Pacific plan


FILE PHOTO: Picture shows European Union flags fluttering outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels

Robin Emmott
Thu, September 16, 2021

By Robin Emmott

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union set out a formal strategy on Thursday to boost its presence in the Indo-Pacific and counter China's rising power, pledging to seek a trade deal with Taiwan and to deploy more ships to keep open sea routes.

The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell insisted the strategy was also open to China, particularly in areas such as climate change, but diplomats told Reuters that deeper ties with India, Japan, Australia and Taiwan were aimed at limiting Beijing's power.

Borrell also said Wednesday's agreement 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-security-biden-asia/china-fumes-over-australias-nuclear-sub-pact-with-u-s-britain-idUSKBN2GB2BN

 between the United States, Australia and Britain to establish a security partnership for the Indo-Pacific, in which the EU was not consulted, showed the need for a more assertive foreign policy.

He said the EU was eager to work with Britain on security but that London had shown no interest since it left the bloc, expressing regret that Australia had cancelled a $40 billion submarine deal with France.

"We must survive on our own, as others do," Borrell said as he presented a new EU strategy for the Indo-Pacific region, talking of the "strategic autonomy" that French President Emmanuel Macron has championed.

"I understand the extent to which the French government must be disappointed," he said.

The EU's chairman, Charles Michel, said the U.S. accord with Australia and Britain, "further demonstrates the need for a common EU approach in a region of strategic interest."

Following an initial plan in April, the EU set out seven areas in which it would increase influence in the Indo-Pacific, in health, security, data, infrastructure, the environment, trade and oceans. [nL8N2QI2MB]

The plan may mean a higher EU diplomatic profile on Indo-Pacific issues, more EU personnel and investment in the region and a security presence such as dispatching ships through the South China Sea, or putting Europeans on Australian patrols.

"Given the importance of a meaningful European naval presence in the Indo-Pacific, the EU will explore ways to ensure enhanced naval deployments by its member states in the region," the document said.

Trade talks with Taiwan are likely to further irritate China, the EU's second-largest trading partner, after Lithuania deepened ties with the island. China considers fiercely democratic, self-ruled Taiwan part of "One China", to be united with the mainland eventually, and is regularly angered by any moves which suggest the island is a separate country.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Bernadette Baum)


Factbox-EU priorities in Indo-Pacific shift to counter China


FILE PHOTO: attendant walks past EU and China flags ahead of the EU-China High-level Economic Dialogue in Beijing

Thu, September 16, 2021

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union set out a formal strategy on Thursday to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific and counter China's rising power, although Australia's decision to cancel an arms contract with France may complicate cooperation. [L1N2QI0R7]

Here are the main focus areas of the EU's strategy:

- TRADE: The EU will work to finalise trade negotiations with Australia and New Zealand, seek a deal with India and strengthen stronger ties with countries where it already has a trade deal, such as South Korea. The EU will also pursue a trade and investment agreement with Taiwan.

- CLIMATE CHANGE: The EU aims to help the transition towards green energy in the Indo-Pacific region, making renewable hydrogen a priority.

- OCEANS: Promising a greater diplomatic presence, the EU aims to help uphold the United Nations Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to prevent overfishing in the region, offering expertise in protecting marine areas, weather forecasting and limiting pollution of the seas.

- DIGITAL: The EU wants to start talks with Japan, South Korea and Singapore on deeper cooperation on data flows, data-based innovation and allowing more digital trade. It also wants to work more closely with India on emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and fifth-generation mobile networks.

- INFRASTRUCTURE: The EU wants to collaborate with Japan, India and Austria on transport links, particularly in aviation and maritime sectors, as well as ensuring that development banks and export agencies link the bloc more closely to Asia. The EU on Wednesday launched a new plan to rival China's Belt and Road infrastructure strategy, which it calls "Global Gateway".

- SECURITY AND DEFENCE: The EU, the world's largest trading bloc, will seek closer maritime ties with Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Japan, promising more naval deployments to patrol trade routes that China considers its own. It is also sending military advisers to EU delegations in the region.

- HEALTH: The EU wants to help poorer countries in the Indo-Pacific to secure access to COVID-19 vaccines. The EU also wants to develop cooperation to secure supply lines for medicines and medical equipment, reducing reliance on China.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Right-wing media is subverting American democracy with continued election lies

A new poll shows a huge majority of Fox News and other right-wing media viewers believe the election lies they are constantly being told

Audrey Bowler / Media Matters

WRITTEN BY ERIC KLEEFELD
PUBLISHED 09/16/21 

An alarming new poll finds that among Americans who trust Fox News or other far-right media sources such as One America News, 76% falsely believe the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump — a number far out of kilter from the American mainstream.

Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent reported on the poll from the Public Religion Research Institute, which found that only 29% of Americans believe that the election was stolen, compared to 69% who correctly answered that it was not. Furthermore, 56% of respondents said Trump deserved “a lot” of the blame for the January 6 insurrection, when a mob of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s victory.

Sargent further asked the pollster to break out the numbers according to media consumption habits. In addition to the finding that 76% of right-wing media consumers believed the election was stolen, only 12% of those respondents gave Trump a lot of the blame for the January 6 riot.

“When future historians seek to explain the United States’ perilous slide toward authoritarianism in the 21st century, they will grapple with the role played in all these events by Fox News and the right-wing media,” Sargent wrote. “Simply put, those actors are helping Donald Trump and his movement threaten democracy, in a way that will likely continue getting worse.”

As Media Matters has previously documented, right-wing media outlets played a key role in Trump’s efforts to subvert the election results, frequently telling their viewers that Trump had won the election or pushing other lies in an effort to discredit Biden’s clear victory. And in the months after the insurrection, these same right-wing outlets worked to rewrite the history of that event and cover up the criminal acts that took place.

More recently, right-wing media outlets have continued to peddle lies about the election.

Fox News is now facing multibillion-dollar lawsuits against the network from two prominent voting machine companies for the network’s role in helping to spread Trump’s claims that they had artificially changed votes. Meanwhile, the network has legitimized the election lies in subtler ways, with hosts either refusing to disavow them or trying to paper over what the network had done.

Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo referred to the January 6 riot as a “peaceful protest.” (Months earlier, Bartiromo had also given Trump a platform to continue to lie about the election.)

Fox News host Pete Hegseth refused to answer a guest asking him to say that Trump had lost the election, saying: “I’m not — don't really feel any obligation to answer anything for you.”

In an interview with Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), Fox News anchor Bret Baier attempted to whitewash the network’s role — and his own — in having helped to spread Trump’s election lies in late 2020.

Baier also helped to cover up the motives of a man who caused a bomb scare in Washington, D.C., and spouted right-wing conspiracy theories including about the election. Baier told viewers that the suspect’s “motive remains unknown” — even after the suspect had livestreamed his false claims and social media videos showed the suspect having taken part in a “Stop the Steal” march.
When Trump appeared for a phone interview in August, the network initially edited out his election lies from the version that was posted online. Then, following condemnation from Trump’s spokesperson, the network posted a second version with the lie put back in.

One of the worst offenders has been the far-right channel One America News. In addition to the role it played in propagandizing for Trump’s election lies in late 2020, on January 6 itself the network’s White House correspondent argued that the “protesters” shutting down Congress provided justification for then-Vice President Mike Pence to stop the count of the Electoral College votes.

In the weeks and months that followed that attack, the network’s hosts have argued that it’s “possible” Biden “wasn't actually elected by the people,” continued to push claims that computer systems changed votes, claimed that the country does not have a legitimate executive branch, and said that “there were a lot of dead people that voted in the last election.”

And just in recent months:
The network aired over 30 hours of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s “cyber symposium,” which sought to offer proof that the election was stolen.
The network later hosted Lindell for an interview in which he promised a second symposium and speculated that Trump could be reinstated into office “this fall — I hope in September.”
Even after being sued by a prominent election systems company, the network has continued to promote lies that Trump really won the election.
OAN host Natalie Harp has rbegun promoting right-wing claims of “unknown” votes that were lost and never counted, even though she has also previously claimed there were tens of thousands of extra votes in Arizona.
The network’s hosts and commentators have openly fundraised for the Arizona Senate’s “forensic audit” of the ballots in the state’s largest county, aiming to spread these audits throughout the country.
OAN commentator Pearson Sharp has speculated that the audits would lead to the mass executions of election officials.

Newsmax also told its viewers to be “suspicious” about the election results and spread claims about voting machines changing the results. (The network is now also being sued.) The network also promoted various methods of overturning the Electoral College results, or even sending the military into the states, and repeatedly pushed the idea that Trump might still prevail. And on January 6, the network’s hosts also suggested that “leftist groups” and philanthropist George Soros were really behind the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In recent months:
The channel ran ads for Lindell’s “cyber symposium” over 170 times in a single week and, in a further publicity stunt, sent a correspondent to picket Fox News for having refused to run the ad.
Newsmax host Greg Kelly has said: “I still have concerns about the election of 2020, and it's okay to have concerns, all right?” Kelly also praised Lindell for being “committed to finding out what really happened in the 2020 election.” (What really happened: Joe Biden won.)
Just this week, Newsmax host Grant Stinchfield claimed that “President Trump would still be in office” were it not for a “mail-in ballots scheme” by Democrats.

Why Some FDA Scientists Are Arguing Against COVID Boosters

Matthew Herper and Helen Branswell
STAT
Sep 15

A vial of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. (Robyn Beck/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)

Food and Drug Administration scientists have expressed skepticism about the need for additional doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for all people who have received it.

The assessment by the agency’s staff, included in documents released Wednesday, sets up a high-stakes debate over who will need an additional booster dose — and when they will need it — at the meeting of experts being convened by the Food and Drug Administration on Friday.

In the documents, the FDA’s own scientists seemed to strike a skeptical position about the need for widespread booster shots. Overall, they said, “data indicate that currently US-licensed or authorized COVID-19 vaccines still afford protection against severe COVID-19 disease and death in the United States.”

Other data released Wednesday, both in briefing documents for the Friday panel and by other researchers, add to the swirling debate over a question that will affect millions of people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 around the world: If the effectiveness of the vaccine wanes, do people need to top it off with an additional dose? If so, when should that happen given that much of the world has not received a first dose of vaccine yet? And should that decision vary by age and by whether people have other health conditions that could make Covid worse if they do become infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus?

On one side are drug companies and some researchers, who point to data showing the efficacy of the vaccines to protect all infections is waning and that a third shot will provide additional protection. On the other are those who point out that these vaccines are still keeping people out of the hospital and preventing them from dying, indicating that a booster is not needed yet.

The advice of the FDA’s advisory panel on the matter will not be binding, but the agency is likely to consider it. If the FDA authorizes a booster dose, the decision on whether to give them broadly will be taken up by a separate advisory committee convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There has been no date set yet for a meeting of that group, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

Still, any decision by the FDA that limits the approval for booster shots, or even expresses hesitancy about how they should be used, will be seen as a rebuke to the Biden administration, which in August took the unusual step of unveiling a plan to offer boosters to the U.S. population, ahead of decisions from the FDA and the CDC.

Among those who have challenged the need for boosters at this point are two senior FDA officials who recently announced they will retire from the agency this fall, a move seen to be motivated by their disagreement with the administration on the booster question. Marion Gruber and Phil Krause, director and deputy director, respectively, of FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review, were also co-authors of a paper published Monday in The Lancet that argued against the need for booster shots for the general public at this time.

In the briefing documents made available Wednesday, Pfizer argued that the effectiveness of its vaccine is declining and that a third dose would return efficacy to the 95% level seen in clinical trials.

Recent data from Israel showed the efficacy of the vaccine against infection with SARS-CoV-2 dropped from 95% in January to 39% in June. In an analysis of Pfizer’s own Phase 3 trial, which resulted in the vaccine’s approval, the incidence of breakthrough cases was higher among patients who received their second dose before December 2020 than in those who received their second dose after March.

The company also released new data from a study conducted by Kaiser Permanente in Southern California that showed the waning efficacy is likely due to the vaccine becoming less effective over time, not because the new Delta variant is more resistant to the vaccine.

In the Kaiser data, the efficacy of the vaccine at preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection with the Delta variant dropped from 93% for those vaccinated less than one month to 53% for those vaccinated more than four months ago. For other variants, this drop was from 97% to 67%. At this point, about 88% of SARS-2 viruses detected globally are from the Delta family.

However, the vaccine still did a very good job preventing hospitalizations in this dataset, reducing hospitalization by 93% in cases infected with the Delta variant.

“It should be recognized that while observational studies can enable understanding of real-world effectiveness, there are known and unknown biases that can affect their reliability,” FDA scientists state in their report. “Due to these biases some studies may be more reliable than others. Furthermore, US-based studies of post- authorization effectiveness of [the vaccine] may most accurately represent vaccine effectiveness in the US population.”

The FDA documents assessed questions about the safety of giving a third dose of the vaccine, noting that for some issues, there are no answers. For instance, it is not known if a third dose would trigger elevated rates of myocarditis and pericarditis, a side effect seen mainly in males under the age of 40.

“It is currently not known if there will be an increased risk of myocarditis/pericarditis or other adverse reactions after a booster dose of Comirnaty. These risks and associated uncertainties have to be considered when assessing benefit and risk,” the agency’s scientists wrote. Comirnaty is the brand name of Pfizer’s vaccine.

Meanwhile, an analysis of vaccine efficacy from the United Kingdom — the first country to begin vaccination with the vaccines developed in the West — gives further ammunition to those who have argued that booster shots for all are not warranted at this time.

The analysis from Public Health England, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, found protection against hospitalization and deaths remains high for the Pfizer jab, even among older adults who are healthy.

“Given the sustained high [vaccine efficacy] against hospitalization and death, the additional benefit of a third dose against these more serious outcomes is limited in the current epidemiological situation,” the authors of the British study concluded. They added that vaccine efficacy “may, however, continue to wane over time and it is likely that booster doses may have a bigger impact on the more severe outcomes with longer intervals between the second and third doses.”

The most significant waning of protection is occurring in people aged 65 and older who have significant health issues, the paper said. It is based on a comparison of the vaccination status of nearly 1.5 million people who tested positive for Covid-19 to nearly 3.3 million people who tested negative for the virus.

“We found that waning was greatest among individuals in clinical risk groups, suggesting that this group should be prioritized for boosters, whenever they are recommended,” the authors said.

Despite the findings, Britain’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization recommended Wednesday that everyone who was at the front of the line when the country began its vaccine rollout last December should receive a booster shot, once six months had passed since their second jab.

Those listed as being at the head of the priority list for boosters in the U.K. are those living in long-term care facilities, adults 50 years of age and older, front-line health care workers and social workers, people 16 to 49 years old with underlying health conditions that put them at high risk of developing severe disease if they contract the virus, and adults who live with immunocompromised people.