In Russian Far East city, discontent smolders amid election

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Election posters and billboards are displayed Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, in the Russian city of Khabarovsk, in the country's Far East. The parliamentary and local elections will be closely watched to gauge how much anger against the Kremlin remains in the region, where its popular governor was arrested last year, causing mass protests.

​(AP Photo/Igor Volkov)


KHABAROVSK, Russia (AP) — The handful of demonstrators gathering each evening in Khabarovsk are a shadow of the masses who took part in an unusually sustained wave of protests last year in the Russian Far Eastern city, but they are a chronic reminder of the political tensions that persist.

The demonstrators have been demanding the release of the region’s popular former governor, Sergei Furgal, who was arrested last year on charges of being involved in killings.

Now, his Kremlin-appointed replacement, Mikhail Degtyaryov, is on the ballot for governor in the three days of regional voting that concludes Sunday. The regional election is taking place at the same time that Russians are voting for members of the State Duma, the national parliament.

The race for governor is being closely watched to gauge how much anger remains in the region, located seven time zones and 6,100 kilometers (3,800 miles) east of Moscow.

“The region really worries the Kremlin because they don’t want a repeat of those incidents (last years’ protests) of course. Khabarovsk is now under close supervision,” said Andrei Kolesnikov of the Carnegie Moscow Center think tank.

Three other people are on the ballot for governor, but supporters of Furgal and others in the city of about 600,000 complain they are insignificant candidates who were allowed to run to give the appearance of a democratic and competitive race.

“Whoever posed even the smallest threat was barred from running, and they left only spoiler candidates,” said 64-year-old protester Zigmund Khudyakov.

Notably, United Russia — the country’s dominant political party and loyal backer of President Vladimir Putin — is not fielding a candidate for governor in Khabarovsk. Nor is Russia’s second-largest party, the Communists.

Degtyaryov, a member of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, is widely believed to be backed by the Kremlin with both advice and money.

The man who wanted to run on the Communist ticket was kept off the ballot because he was unable to get enough signatures from officials. That aspiring candidate, Pyotr Perevezentsev, told The Associated Press that municipal authorities in some districts had been told by their superiors whose nominating petitions to sign.

“People representing the presidential administration curated these elections,” he said.

Separately, Furgal’s son Anton says he was kept off the ballot for the national parliament. “There is an opinion that if my last name had been Ivanov, for example, I would likely be allowed to run,” he said.

Degtyaryov rejects such claims.

“As head of the Khabarovsk regional government, I am obligated to ensure transparent, legal, free and fair elections, and we are following all of these provisions,” he said on a recent televised question-and-answer session with residents.

The weeks of protests that arose after Sergei Furgal’s arrest in July 2020 appeared to catch authorities by surprise. Unlike in Moscow, where police usually move quickly to disperse unsanctioned rallies, authorities didn’t interfere with the unauthorized demonstrations in Khabarovsk, apparently expecting them to fizzle out.

A Liberal Democratic Party member, Furgal won the 2018 regional gubernatorial election even though he had refrained from campaigning and publicly supported his Kremlin-backed rival.

His victory was a humiliating setback for United Russia, which also lost its control over the regional legislature.

While in office, Furgal earned a reputation as a “people’s governor,” cutting his own salary, ordering the sale of an expensive yacht bought by the previous administration, and offering new benefits to residents.

His arrest, which was shown on Russian TV stations, came after the Investigative Committee, the nation’s top criminal investigation agency, said he was accused of involvement in the murders of several businessmen in the region and nearby territories in 2004 and 2005. During interrogation in Moscow, Furgal denied the charges, according to the Tass news agency.

Ultranationalist lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a veteran politician with a reputation for outspoken comments and also a member of the Liberal Democrats, once called Furgal “the best governor the region ever had.”

FILE - In this July 18, 2020, file photo, thousands of demonstrators turn out for an unsanctioned protest in the city of Khabarovsk, Russia, in the country's Far East in support of Sergei Furgal, the governor of the region. The posters read, "Freedom for Sergei Furgal, I am, we are Sergei Furgal," "Give us Furgal back, "Call Furgal home." The demonstrators demanded his release after his arrest on charges of being involved in killings. (AP Photo/Igor Volkov, File)

A small group of demonstrators hold posters reading "Degtyaryov, go to the bathhouse!!!" and "I'm, we are Sergei Furgal" in Khabarovsk, Russia, in the country's Far East, on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. A few demonstrators each evening gather in a persistent reminder of the mass protests last year demanding the release of Furgal, the region's former governor, who was replaced by the Kremlin with Mikhail Degtyaryov. (AP Photo/Sergei Demidov)

Furgal’s arrest brought hundreds, and then thousands, of people into the streets of Khabarovsk in a regular Saturday protest. A year later, the rallies — albeit much smaller — continue.

Local activists say that’s because of sustained pressure from authorities interested in ensuring Degtyaryov wins the election.

Under new rules enforced by police who monitor and film the protests, the rallies are restricted to 10 people at most. Officers disperse anything larger.

The protesters say they are pressured at work and at university, with some adding that they lost their jobs after being seen at the demonstrations.

Many wear T-shirts with the face of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny, while others carry signs depicting Furgal or denouncing the new governor.

“We constantly live in fear because any day we can be arrested,” said Denis Pedish, a 47-year-old education worker who says he now comes to protests with a packed bag of essentials in case he is detained.

“It’s difficult. But people have hope and faith and are actively fighting the lawlessness of the authorities and the lawlessness of the elections, which are a laughingstock for the world to see,” Pedish said.

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Anna Frants and Olga Tregubova in Moscow contributed reporting.

Aluminum wrap used to protect homes in California wildfires

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In this Sept. 2, 2021 file photo a cabin partially covered in fire-resistant material stands behind a property destroyed in the Caldor Fire in Twin Bridges, Calif. Aluminum wraps designed to protect homes from flames are getting attention as wildfires burn in California. During a fire near Lake Tahoe, some wrapped houses survived while nearby homes were destroyed. The material resembles tin foil from the kitchen drawer but is modeled after the tent-like shelters that wildland firefighters use as a last resort to protect themselves when trapped by flames. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong,File)


RENO, Nev. (AP) — Martin Diky said he panicked as a huge wildfire started racing down a slope toward his wooden house near Lake Tahoe.

The contractor had enough time to do some quick research and decided to wrap his mountain home with an aluminum protective covering. The material that can withstand intensive heat for short periods resembles tin foil from the kitchen drawer but is modeled after the tent-like shelters that wildland firefighters use as a last resort to protect themselves when trapped by flames.

Diky, who lives most of the time in the San Francisco Bay Area, bought $6,000 worth of wrapping from Firezat Inc. in San Diego, enough to cover his 1,400-square-foot (130-square-meter) second home on the edge of the small California community of Meyers.

“It’s pretty expensive, and you’d feel stupid if they stopped the fire before it got close,” he said. “But I’m really glad we did it. It was pretty nerve-wracking when the flames came down the slope.”

The flexible aluminum sheets that Diky affixed to his $700,000 home are not widely used because they are pricey and difficult to install, though they have saved some properties, including historic cabins managed by the U.S. government.

Fire crews even wrapped the base of the world’s largest tree this week to protect it from wildfires burning near a famous grove of gigantic old-growth sequoias in California’s Sequoia National Park. The colossal General Sherman Tree, some of the other sequoias in the Giant Forest, a museum and some other buildings also were wrapped amid the possibility of intense flames.

It comes after another aluminum-wrapped home near Lake Tahoe survived the Caldor Fire, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Diky’s home, while neighboring houses were destroyed.

The wrapping deflects heat away from buildings, helping prevent flammable materials from combusting. It also keeps airborne embers — a major contributor to spreading wildfires — from slipping through vents and other openings in a home. With a fiberglass backing and acrylic adhesive, the wraps can withstand heat of up to 1,022 degrees Fahrenheit (550 Celsius).

Until about a decade ago, most wildfire damage was blamed on homes catching fire as flames burned nearby vegetation. Recent studies suggest a bigger role is structure-to-structure fires that spread in a domino effect because of tremendous heat that causes manufactured materials to burst into flames.

The company where Diky bought his wraps gets about 95% of its sales from the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service. Firezat Inc. founding president Dan Hirning estimates the Forest Service has wrapped 600 to 700 buildings, bridges, communication towers and other structures in national forests this year alone.

Firefighters on social media liken the wraps to a “big baked potato.” One who helped install some said he felt like he was “wrapping Christmas presents.”

Forest Service officials say they have been using the wraps for several years throughout the American West to protect sensitive structures. At Lake Tahoe, they have wrapped the Angora Ridge Lookout, a nationally registered historic fire lookout tower, said Phil Heitzke, an agency battalion chief.

“Many times, Forest Service structures are wrapped well in advance of the fire,” he said in a statement. Crews often can then focus on protecting other buildings or other work.

Firezat sells fire shield rolls that are 5 feet (1.5 meters) wide by 200 feet (61 meters) long for about $700 each. Installation by a contractor typically costs thousands of dollars.

“People think we should be selling tons of these things, but it’s not as much as everybody thinks,” Hirning said. Despite the cost, he said a building won’t burn unless “fire falls right on it.”

A mechanical engineering professor at Ohio’s Case Western Reserve University published 10 years of research about protective wraps in the Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering journal in 2019, saying they “demonstrated both remarkable performance and technical limitations.”

The aluminized surface blocked up to 92% of convective heat and up to 96% of radiation, Fumiaki Takahashi said.

The wrapping is most effective if a wildfire burns past with exposure of less than 10 minutes, he said. It’s less effective in areas with high-density housing, where spreading infernos can burn for hours without being stopped by firefighters.

The wraps “show promise in being effective, but further research is needed to develop more efficient yet still lightweight” protection against severe fires, Takahashi said in an email. He said he wouldn’t recommend them for everyone because they require proper installation.

“But once the installation methods are established (like a standard), I would,” he wrote. “There have been multiple successful stories for saving historic cabins by the U.S. Forest Service.”

Hirning said most of individual buyers he’s had over the years are looking to protect “really expensive cabins, really expensive homes, resorts, etc.” They include homeowners on $5 million lots in Malibu, California, who are asked to sign an agreement that the Forest Service isn’t responsible for protecting their property in some cases.

FILE - In this Sept. 1, 2021 file photo Martin Diky's home completely wrapped in fire-resistant material to protect the property against the approaching Caldor Fire in Meyers, Calif. Diky decided to order $6,000 worth of aluminum protective covering to wrap his home near Lake Tahoe in June as the last big wildfire roared through the Sierra dozens of miles southwest of the forested alpine waters. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong,File)

A Wyoming rancher once put Hirning on a conference call with a fire commander and insurance adjuster who was going to reduce his rates if he wrapped a cabin worth about $1.5 million.

“Often it’s people who can’t get fire insurance or their insurance has been dropped. They want to wrap it to protect their investments that way,” he said.

Diky suggests getting extra help putting up the wrapping.

“They recommended three people could do it in 3.5 hours. I brought four contractors with me and worked all day into the night ... busted our butt for 12.5 hours,” he said.

As far as sales taking off as a result of recent wildfires, Hirning emphasized that it’s “an extremely seasonable business.”

“The first five years, new competitors were coming on each year. And at the end of each year, I got a phone call: “Would you be interested in buying our inventory?”’ he said.

Once it starts raining and snowing, he says he often doesn’t sell anything for nine months straight. That could change, however, as climate change contributes to more intense weather and more destructive, nearly year-round wildfire seasons.

#ECOCIDE

World on 'catastrophic' path to 2.7C warming, warns UN chief

Issued on: 17/09/2021 - 

UN chief Antonio Guterres on September 17, 2021 warned a failure to slash global emissions is setting the world on a "catastrophic" path to 2.7 degrees Celsius heating. 

© Fabrice Coffrini, AFP
Text by:NEWS WIRES
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A failure to slash global emissions is setting the world on a "catastrophic" path to 2.7 degrees Celsius heating, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Friday just weeks before crunch climate talks.

His comments come as a United Nations report on global emissions pledges found instead of the reductions needed to avoid the worst effects of climate change, they would see "a considerable increase".

This shows "the world is on a catastrophic pathway to 2.7-degrees of heating," Guterres said in a statement.

The figure would shatter the temperature targets of the Paris climate agreement, which aimed for warming well below 2C and preferably capped at 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

"Failure to meet this goal will be measured in the massive loss of lives and livelihoods," Guterres said.

Under the landmark 2015 Paris deal, nations committed to slash emissions, as well as to provide assistance to the most climate-vulnerable countries.

But a bombshell "code red" for humanity from the world's pre-eminent body on global warming in August warned that Earth's average temperature will be 1.5C higher around 2030, a decade earlier than projected only three years ago.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that emissions should be around 45 percent lower by 2030 compared with 2010 levels to meet the 1.5C goal.

The UN said on Friday that current pledges by 191 countries would see emissions 16 percent higher at end of the decade than in 2010 -- a level that would eventually cause the world to warm 2.7C.

"Overall greenhouse gas emission numbers are moving in the wrong direction," said UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa in a press conference.

But she said there was a "glimmer of hope" from 113 countries that had updated their pledges, including the United States and European Union.

These new pledges, known as Nationally Determined Contributions, would see their emissions reduced 12 percent by 2030 compared to 2010.

Big emitters

With only 1.1C of warming so far, the world has seen a torrent of deadly weather disasters intensified by climate change in recent months, from asphalt-melting heatwaves to flash floods and untameable wildfires.

The Paris deal included a "ratchet" mechanism in which signatories agreed to a rolling five-year review of their climate pledges in which they are supposed to display ever greater ambition for action.

But many major emitters have yet to issue new targets.

That includes China -- the world's biggest emitter -- has said it will reach net zero emissions by 2060, but has not yet delivered its NDC that would spell out emissions reductions by 2030.

Meanwhile new targets from Brazil and Mexico were actually weaker than those they submitted five years ago, according to an analysis by the World Resources Institute.

The UN report was a "damning indictment" of global progress on climate, particularly by G20 nations, responsible for the lion's share of emissions, said Mohamed Adow, who leads the think tank Power Shift Africa.

"They are the countries which have caused this crisis and yet are failing to show the leadership required to lead us out of this mess," he said.

Time to 'deliver'

Another issue on the table at the Glasgow summit will be a pledge as yet unfulfilled -- the pledge by wealthy nations to provide annual climate funding of $100 billion from 2020 to poorer countries, who bear the greatest impact of warming.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on Friday said progress was "disappointing", with developing countries receiving $79.6 billion in 2019.

It warned that the target for 2020, which saw the world shaken by the Covid-19 pandemic, would be missed.

"The fight against climate change will only succeed if everyone comes together to promote more ambition, more cooperation and more credibility," said Guterres.

"It is time for leaders to stand and deliver, or people in all countries will pay a tragic price."

(AFP)

UN: Climate pledges put world on ‘catastrophic pathway’

FILE - In this Jan. 30, 2020 file photo, a ThyssenKrupp coking plant steams around the clock for the nearby steel mill in Duisburg, Germany. The cuts in greenhouse gas emissions pledged by governments around the world aren't enough to achieve the headline goal of the Paris climate accord, according to a United Nations report published Friday. The U.N. climate office said it reviewed all the national commitments submitted by Paris pact signatories until July 30 and found that they would result in emissions of planet-warming gas rising nearly 16% by 2030, compared with 2010 levels. 

(AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)


BERLIN (AP) — The world is on a “catastrophic pathway” toward a hotter future unless governments make more ambitious pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the head of the United Nations said Friday.

A new U.N. report reviewing all the national commitments submitted by signatories of the Paris climate accord until July 30 found that they would result in emissions rising nearly 16% by 2030, compared with 2010 levels.

Scientists say the world must start to sharply curb emissions soon and add no more to the atmosphere by 2050 than can be absorbed if it is to meet the most ambitious goal of the Paris accord — capping global temperature rise at 1.5 Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) by 2100.

“The world is on a catastrophic pathway to 2.7 degrees (Celsius) of heating,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

Experts say the planet has already warmed by 1.1 C since pre-industrial times.

“We need a 45% cut in emissions by 2030 to reach carbon neutrality by mid-century,” Guterres said.

Some 113 countries including the United States and the European Union submitted updates to their emissions targets, also known as nationally determined contributions or NDCs, by the end of July. Their pledges would result in a 12% drop in emissions for those countries by the end of the decade — a figure that could more than double if some governments’ conditional pledges and assurances about aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050 are translated into action.

“That’s the positive side of the picture,” said U.N. climate chief Patricia Espinosa, whose office compiled the latest report. “The other one is more sobering.”

Dozens of countries, including major emitters such as China, India and Saudi Arabia, failed to submit new pledges in time for the report.

Espinosa called for leaders at next week’s annual U.N. gathering in New York to put forward stronger commitments in time for the global body’s upcoming climate summit in Glasgow.

“Leaders must engage in a frank discussion driven not just by the very legitimate desire to protect national interest, but also by the equally commanding goal of contributing to the welfare of humanity,” she said. “We simply have no more time to spare, and people throughout the world expect nothing less.”

Espinosa added that some public pledges, such as China’s aim to be carbon neutral by 2060, haven’t yet been formally submitted to the U.N. and so weren’t taken into account for the report. An update, which would include any further commitments submitted by then, will be issued shortly before the Glasgow summit, she said.

Still, environmental campaigners and representatives of some vulnerable nations expressed their disappointment at the findings.

“We must ask what it will take for some major emitters to heed the scientific findings and deliver our world from a point of no return,” said Aubrey Webson of Antigua and Barbuda, who chairs the Association of Small Island States. “The findings are clear – if we are to avoid amplification of our already devastating climate impacts, we need major emitters and all G20 countries to implement and stick to more ambitious NDCs and make strong commitments to net-zero emissions by 2050.”

Jennifer Morgan, the executive director of Greenpeace International, said meeting the Paris goal would only be possible with “courageous leadership and bold decisions.”

“Governments are letting vested interests call the climate shots, rather than serving the global community,” she said. “Passing the buck to future generations has got to stop — we are living in the climate emergency now.”

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Follow AP’s climate coverage at https://apnews.com/Climate

US JUSTICE IS AN ASS

Judge: Prosecutors can’t show Rittenhouse link to Proud Boys

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Kyle Rittenhouse appears in court for a motion hearing in Kenosha, Wis., on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. Rittenhouse traveled from his home in Antioch, Ill., about 20 miles (32 kilometers) to Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020, after seeing a post on social media for militia to protect businesses. Rittenhouse faces multiple charges in the August 2020 shootings in Kenosha. (Sean Krajacic/The Kenosha News via AP)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A judge ruled Friday that prosecutors can’t argue that a man who shot three people during a protest against police brutality in Wisconsin is affiliated with the Proud Boys or that he attacked a woman months before the shootings, bolstering his position as he prepares for a politically charged trial.

Kyle Rittenhouse is set to stand trial beginning Nov. 1 on multiple counts, including homicide. The 18-year-old argues he opened fire in self-defense after the men attacked him. Prosecutors say they have infrared video from an FBI surveillance plane that shows Rittenhouse followed and confronted the first man he shot.

Kenosha was in the throes of several nights of chaotic demonstrations after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black man who was paralyzed from the waist down. Rittenhouse traveled from his home in Antioch, Illinois, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) to Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020, in response to a call on social media to protect businesses there.

Rittenhouse shot Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz with an AR-style semiautomatic rifle, killing Rosenbaum and Huber and wounding Grosskreutz. Conservatives across the country have rallied around Rittenhouse, raising $2 million to cover his bail. Black Lives Matter supporters have painted him as a trigger-happy racist.

During a hearing Friday on several motions, Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger asked to argue at trial that Rittenhouse subscribes to the Proud Boys’ white supremacist philosophies and violent tactics. Binger pointed out that Rittenhouse was seen at a bar with members of the white nationalist group’s Wisconsin chapter in January and traveled to Miami days later to meet the group’s national president.

Binger also asked the judge to allow evidence that Rittenhouse attacked a woman in June 2020 as she was fighting his sister. He also wants to show jurors video from 15 days before the shootings in which Rittenhouse said he would like to shoot some men he thought were shoplifting from a pharmacy.

Binger said Rittenhouse’s affiliation with the Proud Boys, the fight and the video show Rittenhouse’s propensity toward violence. He described Rittenhouse as a “chaos tourist” and “teenage vigilante” who came to Kenosha looking for trouble.

Rittenhouse attorney Corey Chirafisi countered that none of the events are relevant to the shootings. Nothing shows Rittenhouse was connected to the Proud Boys on the night of the protest or that the shootings were racially motivated, Chirafisi said, pointing out that Rittenhouse and the men he shot were white.

Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder agreed with the defense about the June fight and interactions Rittenhouse has had with the Proud Boys. He deferred a decision on the pharmacy video but said he was inclined to exclude it.

It was during discussion about that video that Binger said prosecutors have infrared surveillance footage that he said shows Rittenhouse chasing Rosenbaum, who was the first person Rittenhouse shot.

Rittenhouse attorney Mark Richards maintained it was Rosenbaum who started chasing Rittenhouse, yelling out, “Kill him!” He said Rosenbaum cornered Rittenhouse in front of a row of cars in a parking lot and threw a bag at him before trying to grab Rittenhouse’s gun.

Binger said the surveillance footage shows Rittenhouse chasing Rosenbaum with a fire extinguisher before Rosenbaum turned to confront him. Binger said Rosenbaum was probably trying to push the barrel of Rittenhouse’s rifle away.

After Rittenhouse shot Rosenbaum, people in the streets began chasing him. Video from the night of the protests shows Rittenhouse shot Huber after Huber hit him with a skateboard and tried to grab his gun. Grosskreutz then approached Rittenhouse with a gun and Rittenhouse shot him.

Schroeder denied a defense request to argue that Rosenbaum was trying to steal Rittenhouse’s rifle because Rosenbaum was a sex offender and couldn’t legally possess a firearm.

He delayed ruling on defense requests to dismiss a charge that Rittenhouse possessed his gun illegally because he was a minor and to allow testimony from an expert on police use-of-force. He set another hearing for Oct. 5.

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Associated Press writers Michael Tarm in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Doug Glass in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

CAPITALI$M IS ADDICTION

Use of OxyContin profits to fight opioids formally approved

FILE - This Feb. 19, 2013, file photo shows OxyContin pills arranged for a photo at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. A judge formally approved a plan Friday, Sept. 17, 2021 to turn OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma into a new company no longer owned by members of the Sackler family and with its profits going to fight the opioid epidemic. A U.S. bankruptcy court judge signed the plan Friday, more than two weeks after giving it preliminary approval. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)

A judge formally approved a plan Friday to turn OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma into a new company no longer owned by members of the Sackler family and with its profits going to fight the opioid epidemic.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain officially confirmed the reorganization Friday, more than two weeks after he announced he would do so pending two largely technical changes to the plan presented by the company and hashed out with lawyers representing those with claims against the company.

His confirmation took more than six hours to read in court earlier this month, and the written version is 159 pages long, full of reasoning that appeals courts can consider later. Several states among other parties have already appealed the decision.

The deal resolves some 3,000 lawsuits filed by state and local governments, Native American tribes, unions, hospitals and others who claimed the company’s marketing of prescription opioids helped spark and continue an overdose epidemic linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. in the last two decades.

The plan will use company profits and $4.5 billion in cash and charitable assets from members of the Sackler family to pay some individual victims amounts expected to range from $3,500 to $48,000, and help fund opioid treatment and prevention programs across the U.S.

Members of the Sackler family are also required to get out of the opioid business worldwide in time.

Millions of company documents, including communications with company lawyers, are to be made public.

The changes are to take effect when the bankruptcy process is finalized; the earliest that could be is in December.

The attorneys generals from the states of Connecticut, Maryland, Washington and the District of Columbia, as well as the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee have all announced appeals. Their chief objection is that members of the wealthy Sackler family would be granted protection from lawsuits over opioids.

For many people in recovery from opioid addictions or who have lost loved ones to overdoses, the deal is infuriating.

Ellen Isaacs, a mother whose son died from an overdose, filed court papers requesting Drain not accept the plan. At a hearing on Monday, she gave a passionate some sometimes tearful 40-minute speech on her request. Like other activists, she asserted that Sackler family members — who have never been charged with criminal wrongdoing — are getting away with crimes, and that politicians and courts are not doing enough to end the opioid epidemic.

“The attorneys are playing games on paper and humans are dying,” she said.

Drain said the money from the settlement would help avert more deaths, even if it will come too late for Isaacs’ son.

“I did not become a judge to get things wrong,” he told her.

He stood by his confirmation of the plan.

At the hearing, Drain also said he would approve a request from Purdue to use nearly $7 million to start setting up the funds that will distribute settlement money to victims, government entities and others. He also, for the third year, approved a plan of incentive payments for Purdue executives if they meet certain goals.

US Study: Rising number of parents refuse HPV vaccine for adolescent children



Growing numbers of parents and caregivers are refusing the HPV vaccine for their adolescent children, according to a study of the newest data available. File Photo by rawpixel/Pixabay

Sept. 17 (UPI) -- An increasing number parents in the United States are refusing to vaccinate their adolescent children against HPV because of concerns about the safety of the shot, a study published Friday by JAMA Network Open found.

Just over 23% of parents surveyed in 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, said they would not have their adolescent children inoculated against HPV, or the human papillomavirus, citing safety concerns, the data showed.


Three years earlier, 13% of responding parents said they would reject the vaccine on behalf of their children.

The increase in HPV vaccine refusal coincided with a 33% decline in the number of vaccine-related side effects reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the same period, according to the researchers.

"This growing perception that the vaccine is not safe seems unfounded when we look at vaccine safety surveillance data," study co-author Kalyani Sonawane told UPI in an email.

"The HPV vaccine has been around for more than a decade -- it can prevent six HPV-associated cancers. Multiple studies suggest that it is safe" said Sonawane, an assistant professor of management, policy and community health at UTHealth School of Public Health in Houston.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, with 43 million cases in 2018 alone, the CDC estimates.

RELATED HPV vaccination is lowering U.S. cervical cancer rates

Most of these infections occur in people in their late teens or early 20s, and those with the virus are at increased risk for cancers of the vagina, penis, anus and throat, given that it is spread through sexual contact, according to the agency.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the first HPV vaccine, Gardasil, in 2006, before green-lighting an improved version, called Gardasil 9, in 2014.

The newer version of the vaccine is designed to protect against nine types of HPV, and it has been shown as nearly 90% effective at preventing persistent infection, genital warts, vulvar and vaginal precancerous lesions, cervical precancerous lesions, and cervical cancer, according to the FDA.

RELATED Too few young men have received HPV vaccine, experts say

The CDC recommends HPV vaccination at age 11 or 12, and those who are not inoculated by that age recommended to get the shot until age 26.

While the vaccine has been approved for use by people up to age 45, the agency recommends people older than 26 discuss it's necessity with their doctors.

Up to two-thirds of those eligible to receive the HPV vaccine in the United States have done so, the CDC estimates, though public health officials believe that about 80% will need to be inoculated to limit the spread of the virus, Sonawane said.

For this study, Sonawane and her colleagues analyzed data on more than 39,000 responses to a national survey of parents and caregivers that assessed their attitudes toward vaccination for their children.

They focused on survey responses collected between 2015 and 2018, and compared them with reports of vaccine-related side effects recorded by the CDC over the same period.

Over the four-year period, HPV vaccine hesitancy rose in 30 states, with the largest increases -- more than 200% -- seen in California, Hawaii, South Dakota and Mississippi.

Parental attitudes toward vaccines, such as the measles-mumps-rubella shots currently recommended for children, have remained relatively consistent in recent years, with nearly 90% supporting their use, according to Pew Research.

However, over the past year, vaccine hesitancy has been at the forefront of the pandemic response in the United States, as more than half of the respondents to another Pew survey feel that there is too much pressure on people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Just under 64% of those eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine nationally are fully vaccinated, CDC figures show.

While the new data on HPV vaccine hesitancy predates the COVID-19 pandemic, some researchers have suggested that overall vaccine hesitancy in the United States has played a role for those not yet vaccinated against the coronavirus.

"Vaccine hesitancy was acknowledged as one of the top 10 threats to public health by the World Health Organization in 2019 and anti-vaccination communities in the U.S. are more active than ever," Sonawane said.

"We believe that exposure to misleading claims regarding HPV vaccine safety on online forums and through mainstream media might have led to an increase in HPV vaccine hesitancy," she said.

Google honors green tea researcher Michiyo Tsujimura with a new Doodle



Google is paying homage to educator and biochemist Michiyo Tsujimura with a new Doodle. Image courtesy of Google

Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Google is celebrating educator and biochemist Michiyo Tsujimura, who researched the nutritional benefits of green tea, with a new Doodle.

Google's homepage on Friday features artwork of Tsujimura studying green tea inside of a lab. The Doodle was created in honor of her 133rd birthday.

Tsujimura was born on this day in 1888 in the Okegawa, Saitama Prefecture of Japan. She studied Japanese silkworms at Hokkaido Imperial University in 1920 before she transferred to Tokyo Imperial University to study the biochemistry of green tea.

Tsujimura worked with Dr. Umetaro Suzuki, who had previously discovered vitamin B1. The duo found that green tea contained high amounts of vitamin C.

Tsujimura isolated catechin, a bitter ingredient of tea in 1929 and then later isolated the more bitter compound tannin. The findings helped her form her doctoral thesis titled "On the Chemical Components of Green Tea."

The researcher graduated as Japan's first woman doctor of agriculture in 1932 and became the first Dean of the Faculty of Home Economics at Tokyo Women's Higher Normal School in 1950.

A stone memorial made in honor of Tsujimura is located in Okegawa City.

Russian art trove and its tortured history comes to Paris

Issued on: 18/09/2021 - 12:08Mikhail and Ivan Morozov, born into a textile dynasty in the 1870s, went to Paris and came back with treasures that were barely recognised as such at the time, including French painter Pierre Bonnard 

GEOFFROY VAN DERHASSELT AFP

Paris (AFP)

The line-up at the Louis Vuitton Foundation's new exhibition in Paris reads like a who's who of artistic giants from the Belle Epoque: Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet, Matisse, Cezanne...

What is most surprising is that they all come from one collection -- a pair of Russian brothers from the late 19th century who just happened to have an absurdly good eye for who would become the geniuses of their generation.

Mikhail and Ivan Morozov, born into a textile dynasty in the 1870s, went to Paris and came back with treasures -- Manet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Rodin -- that were barely recognised as such at the time.

Indeed, Mikhail was the first to bring Van Gogh and Gauguin paintings to Russia.

Some 200 of their portraits, sculptures and photographs will be on show at the Louis Vuitton Foundation from Wednesday, on loan from Russian museums.

They had a torturous route through the 20th century -- surviving revolution and years hidden away after World War II.

The new exhibition in Paris has also had its troubles, delayed three times by the pandemic and finally starting a year late.

But it promises to be another successful borrowing from the Russian archives, following the museum's mammoth success with the Shchukin exhibition in 2016-17.

That show -- a similar treasure trove compiled by a contemporary of the Morozov brothers -- drew 1.29 million visitors to the Louis Vuitton Foundation, which it said made it the most successful show in France for half a century.

No doubt much attention will go to the work by Van Gogh, who gets a room apart for his little-known late work "Prisoners Exercising", featuring a familiar ginger-haired figure staring at the viewer, a self-portrait snuck into the grim setting.

- Exile and recovery -

Mikhail Morozov's high living brought him an early death at 33, though he had already amassed 39 masterpieces.

His brother Ivan picked up the baton and became one of the world's great collectors.

But it all came crashing down with the Communist revolution of 1917 in Russia.

Ivan was reduced to being "assistant curator" of his own collection as his home became a state museum, before soon fleeing into exile.

Later, the paintings were sent into hiding in the Ural mountains when the Nazis invaded in 1941.

They spent years out there, fairly well preserved by temperatures that often fell to minus-40 degrees, and it was only in the late 1950s that the Soviet government dug them out and sent them to the Tretyakov, Pushkin and Hermitage collections.

"The Morozov Collection: Icons Of Modern Art" is at the Louis Vuitton Foundation until February 22.

© 2021 AFP

'Frankenstein' first edition sells for a record $1.17 million at auction



Auction house Christie's said an 1818 first edition of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" sold for $1.17 million in an auction, said to be a new world record for a printed work by a woman. Photo courtesy of Christie's

Sept. 15 (UPI) -- A first edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein set a new world record for a printed work by a woman when it was auctioned for $1.17 million.

The three-volume copy of Frankenstein, which still bears its original boards from its 1818 printing, had been projected to sell for $200,000 to $300,000 by auction house Christie's, but the sale closed with a top bid many times that estimate

The sum was reported by Fine Books Magazine to be a new world record for the highest price fetched by a printed work by a woman.

Christie's said the edition was one of only 500 printed in Frankenstein's first run, and the copy sold was the first to be offered for auction since 1985.

Sotheby's to auction only remaining first-run, private copy of U.S. Constitution



The Goldman Constitution is seen at Sotheby's in New York City on Friday. The auction house estimates the document will fetch $15-$20 million on Nov. 23. 

Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 17 (UPI) -- The only remaining copy of the original printing of the U.S. Constitution in private hands is expected to fetch up to $20 million when it heads to auction in November, Sotheby's announced Friday.

The auction house in New York City put the historical document on display Friday to mark Constitution Day, 234 years after it was written. The document will be on display through Sunday.

Philanthropist and educator Dorothy Tapper Goldman, who is the only private owner of a first-edition copy, is selling it to benefit her foundation, which is dedicated to educating the public on democracy.

"The Goldman Constitution ranks as one of the most rare and coveted historical documents that has ever come to auction," said Selby Kiffer, international senior specialist in Sotheby's Books and Manuscripts Department.

"To present a document of this significance in an auction during Sotheby's Evening sales this November spotlights how critical the Constitution remains as a foundational source for our understanding of democracy and the American spirit, which will always have universal appeal that transcends categories."

The Goldman Constitution is seen at Sotheby's in New York City on Friday. Philanthropist Dorothy Tapper Goldman, who is the only private owner of a first-edition copy, is selling it to benefit her foundation, which is dedicated to educating the public on democracy. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

The auction house estimates the Goldman Constitution will fetch $15-$20 million. It's one of only 11 known copies of the official printing of the document that was produced for delegates of the Constitutional Convention and the Continental Congress.

The document will go up for auction Nov. 23, followed by a group of another 80 constitutional and related documents. An online sale starting that night and running Dec. 2 will include more rare works.

Goldman said her copy of the Constitution was one of her husband's "dearest possessions."

"When it passed to me, I felt an incredible sense of responsibility to care for it, to share it, and to promote our nation's Constitutional principles," she said.

"Through the sale of the collection, we look forward to continuing to contribute to our mission of civics education and a greater understanding of the founding documents."