More than 50 migrants died in 2021 while crossing Panama jungle

Issued on: 07/10/2021 

Haitian migrants cross the jungle of the Darien Gap, near Acandi, Choco department, Colombia, heading to Panama, on September 26, 2021, on their way trying to reach the US. From Acandi, they started on foot -- and armed with machetes, lanterns and tents -- the dangerous trek of at least five days to Panama through the Darien jungle, battling snakes, steep ravines, swollen rivers, tropical downpours and criminals often linked to drug trafficking. 

Raul ARBOLEDA AFP

Panama City (AFP)

More than 50 migrants have died since the start of the year while trying to cross the Panama jungle in an effort to reach the United States, the Panamanian prosecutor's office said Wednesday.

"The Institute of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Sciences of Panama has registered 53 migrant deaths in different circumstances in the province of Darien," Jose Vincente Pachar told AFP.

This figure is far higher than in previous years, when between 20 and 30 bodies on average were found in the Darien Gap, a 1,430,000-acre (575,000-hectare) stretch of jungle on the border of Panama and Colombia.

The jungle corridor is the most dangerous stage of the journey to the United States, as migrants face not only natural threats such as snakes and difficult terrain, but also criminals who routinely rob and rape travelers.

It is "very possible the number of deaths will increase," because the flow of migrants through the Darien Gap has surged in 2021, Pachar warned.

Since the start of the year, about 70,000 people have crossed the Darien Gap, according to Panamanian authorities -- a number almost equivalent to the previous five years combined.

While the number of migrants crossing the jungle dropped considerably in the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, the influx is on the rise again.

On September 24, Panama's attorney general's office reported that 10 bodies, including two children, had been discovered.

Colombia on Tuesday asked Panama to "facilitate" entry into its territory for underage or pregnant migrants in order to prevent them from trying to cross the Darien Gap.

© 2021 AFP

BOYS FROM BRAZIL
Brazil police find stash of Nazi material in home of suspected child abuser
Issued on: 07/10/2021 -

Handout picture released on October 6, 2021 by Rio de Janeiro Civil Police showing Nazi uniforms found inside the house of a man suspected of molesting a 12-year-old boy in the Vargem Grande neighbourhood, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. - RIO DE JANEIRO CIVIL POLICE/AFP

Rio de Janeiro (AFP)

Police in Rio de Janeiro found a vast collection of Nazi uniforms and memorabilia in the home of an alleged child abuser, along with several weapons, officials said Wednesday.

The 58-year-old suspect, identified as Aylson Proenca Doyle Linhares, was arrested Tuesday after a couple from his neighborhood reported him for abusing their 12-year-old son, said police commissioner Luis Armond, who is leading the investigation.

FETISHIST
Police found "monstrous material" pertaining to Nazism, including insignias, documents, uniforms, flags and even a membership card for the Nazi party featuring the suspect's photo. Images released by the police show that among the hundreds of items of Nazi memorabilia were several framed photos and busts of Adolf Hitler.

Daggers and nine firearms were also found, including a rifle and a machine gun, as well as a large stash of ammunition.

Linhares was charged with illegal possession of weapons, racism and pedophilia, after police also found photos of minors, Armond said.

The man told police his collection was worth between 2.5 million and 3 million euros (between $2.9 and $3.5 million), "although that is unverifiable," the commissioner added.

Police obtained a warrant to arrest the man and search his home after an investigation revealed that Linhares had also tried to abuse at least two other minors, Armond said.

© 2021 AFP

Fast-rising politician pushes rebirth of war-scarred Iraqi city

Issued on: 07/10/2021 -

Mohammed al-Halbussi hails from the province of Anbar and is hoping to be re-elected in the October 10 poll 

Sabah ARAR AFP

Ramadi (Iraq) (AFP)

With a five-star hotel, malls and other real estate projects, the Iraqi city of Ramadi, ruined by more than a decade of war, is witnessing a construction boom led by the parliamentary speaker.

Mohammed al-Halbussi, trained as a civil engineer and who cultivates an image of dynamism, hails from the province of Anbar and is hoping to be re-elected in the October 10 national poll.

Supporters say the vote here will be akin to a plebiscite in favour of a new term for Halbussi, and his movement, whom they credit for pushing Ramadi's nascent economic revival after it was left in rubble following the battle to defeat the Islamic State (IS) group.

Sunni Muslim majority Ramadi is the capital of Anbar, a vast desert province west of Baghdad that covers a third of the country and extends to the borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

After the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, insurgents in Ramadi and nearby Fallujah fought some of the toughest battles against American forces.

A decade later, Anbar's Sunni tribes rose up against the Shiite-led Baghdad government, which many in the province accuse of marginalisation.

Then, IS jihadists captured Fallujah and Ramadi, before government forces reconquered the cities from the end of 2015.

- Marina, swimming pools -

Since then, Ramadi has strived to erase its bloody past and rebuild, with projects driven by Halbussi aimed at boosting the economy and wooing investors.

Halbussi, 40, travels frequently about the region, trading his elegant suits for jeans during field visits to shepherd the projects in Anbar province.

Along the banks of the Euphrates River, workers are busy finishing construction of Ramadi's first five-star hotel, complete with a Euphrates riverfront marina and swimming pools.

The 15-storey, 184-room hotel estimated to cost $60 million is a joint venture between the municipality and private investors.

Candidates' billboards rise above impecabbly paved avenues adorned with new lamps and lawns in the once-ruined city Sabah ARAR AFP

Its builder, Hatem Ghadbane, praised the local authorities but reserved his plaudits for Halbussi.

"He deserves all the credit for construction projects underway in Anbar province, as well as for political stability and security," Ghadbane said.

- 'Smoke and mirrors' -

Over the years Halbussi has been known to maintain good ties with the Baghdad federal government while cultivating relations with regional powers.

In September, he travelled to the United Arab Emirates for talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and a few days later he met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo.

"He has climbed up the political and administrative ladder quickly as he went from a parliamentarian to governor to speaker all in his 30s," said Iraqi political analyst Hamzeh Hadad.

Halbussi attained the speaker's post with support of the pro-Iran bloc.

"He has moved up so fast... he has gone against the old guard of Sunni politicians. And he managed to unite them against him," Hadad said.

Portraits of Halbussi, with his slick black hair, and candidates from his Taqadom ("Progress" in Arabic) party have been plastered all across Ramadi, rivalling those of challengers from the Azm coalition comprising traditional Sunni figures.

The candidates' pictures rise above impeccably paved avenues adorned with new lamps and lawns. City work crews can often be seen touching up a sidewalk or street, but not everyone is impressed.

Iraqis search for survivors in the rubble of a bombed house in Ramadi on February 22, 2007 after an airstrike and battle between US Marines and insurgents

 BASEM AL-ANBARI AFP

Iraqi journalist Amr Alkubaisi, who is close to Azm, has denounced the Halbussi-led projects as mere "smoke and mirrors".

Taqadom, he wrote on social media in September, is "a personal project" trying to promote itself by pushing "medium-size projects like the tarring of roads".

- Challenges -

Challenges abound. The main public hospital, for example, is functioning but awaits the conclusion of restoration work -- while a new private hospital with sophisticated equipment opened in April.

Anbar governor Ali Farhan al-Dulaimi, who is running with Taqadom, said a series of projects are planned, including an international airport for Ramadi.

Ramadi municipality head Omar Dabbous is proud of his city's economic revival and he, too, credited Halbussi for being a driving force behind efforts to attract investments.

"We hope he will stay at the top of the pyramid (and win a second term) in order to follow up on what he and his team have started," Dabbous said.

The analyst Hadad said it would be "very difficult to predict" if Halbussi can win a second term as speaker.

"But if ever someone were to do so, it is Halbussi."

© 2021 AFP

Peru president names environmentalist as new PM

Issued on: 07/10/2021 

TEN GALLON SOMBRERO AKA SOME BIG HAT

Mirtha Vasquez replaced Guido Bellido -- a hardline leftist and political novice, 

whose appointment was controversial from the start - 

PRESIDENCIA DEL PERU/AFP

Lima (AFP)

Peru swore in an environmental activist as prime minister Wednesday, replacing a controversial leftwing figure in the politically tumultuous South American nation.

The country's current leftist leader Pedro Castillo came to power in July facing a lengthy to-do list, including constitutional reform, but battled to get his cabinet approved and narrowly staved off political collapse earlier this year.

He gave no reason over his decision to remove Guido Bellido -- a hardline leftist and political novice, whose appointment was controversial from the start -- and replace him with Mirtha Vasquez.

Hours later, Castillo swore in the environmental and human rights activist as his new PM, a move seen as a sop to the moderate wing of the informal leftist coalition that supports him.

"For God, for this country of women and men who everyday fight to live with dignity, without discrimination, and who promote real changes, yes, I swear!" Vasquez, 46, said during the ceremony which was not attended by her predecessor.

Under Peruvian law, the prime minister's resignation automatically triggers that of the entire cabinet.

The president's reshuffled government brings together politicians across the political spectrum from the radical Peru Libre, to the more moderate Juntos por el Peru.

Vasquez -- who headed Congress between November 2020 and July 2021 -- belongs to the leftist Frente Amplio.

Castillo, a former rural schoolteacher, called for "unity" from the country's economic, political and social sectors to "achieve common objectives" -- such as reactivating the economy.

He later tweeted, "The new stage in the #GobiernoDelPueblo seeks to promote dialogue, governance and teamwork. Our great objective is to fight for the most vulnerable and we are going to achieve it."

- Political uncertainty -

Castillo's July appointment of electronic engineer Bellido was immediately tricky.

Peruvian media reported the 41-year-old was investigated by prosecutors for allegedly defending terrorism with statements made shortly after taking up his seat in parliament in June.

Peruvian media reported the 41-year-old was investigated by prosecutors for allegedly defending terrorism with statements made shortly after taking up his seat in parliament in June  BULLSHIT CHARGES

ERNESTO BENAVIDES AFP/File

In comments to the Inka Vision online news outlet, he appeared to defend people who supported the Shining Path Maoist guerrilla group that fought the state between 1980-2000 and is designated a terrorist organization by Lima.

In August, Castillo seemed to have staved off a political crisis when the right-wing dominated congress approved his cabinet following a bitter debate.

Until then, Peru had been in a state of political uncertainty since the beginning of the year, when the electoral campaign got underway.

The country has suffered years of political upheaval, and a series of corruption scandals saw three different presidents in office in a single week last November.

Seven of the South American nation's previous 10 leaders have either been convicted or are under investigation for graft.

And Castillo's victory over right-wing populist Keiko Fujimori in June's second-round presidential run-off took six weeks to be confirmed after delays in validating the results.

UK cracks down on climate change activists before UN summit

Issued on: 07/10/2021

Climate change activists have mounted a series of high-profile protests in recent months

 JUSTIN TALLIS AFP

London (AFP)

Britain is eager to brandish its environmental credentials before the upcoming COP26 summit, but it is grappling at the same time with mounting protests from climate activists.

Direct action group Extinction Rebellion has brought cities to a standstill and vowed to do the same at the UN climate change conference in Glasgow later this month.

In recent weeks, a previously unheard-of offshoot, Insulate Britain, has also caused gridlock on motorways and main roads, sparking scores of arrests and a court injunction.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday called the protesters a "confounded nuisance" and welcomed moves for "new powers to insulate them snugly in prison where they belong".

The government is keen to lead the way on reducing carbon emissions and ensure new binding targets to cut global warming are met at the summit.

But it is also takes its cues from a largely right-wing British press that is increasingly hostile towards the activists and calls them an "eco-mob" and "enviro-idiots".

Both Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain have been accused of putting lives in danger with their tactics, which have included protesters gluing themselves to the tarmac and sitting in front of rush-hour traffic.

Public anger has mounted after a group called Insulate Britain began disrupting rush-hour traffic

 JUSTIN TALLIS AFP

On Monday, footage showed one desperate driver begging to be let through a protest in south London so she could follow an ambulance carrying her mother to hospital.

- Beards and woolly hats-

When Extinction Rebellion founder Roger Hallam was asked whether he would block an ambulance carrying a dying patient, his reply was simply: "Yes."

But other activists disagree.

"We are heartbroken by all of this. We're not going out there to stop ambulances getting through," said Tim Speers of Insulate Britain.

Speers, 36, from Cornwall, in southwest England, bears little resemblance to the media caricature of an environmentalist -- a bearded, woolly hatted "crusty" as Johnson has called them.

Protesters say they are not the stereotypical environmentalists that the government and some media like to portray

 JUSTIN TALLIS AFP

Clean-shaven, fast-talking and a former professional poker player, Speers said he left his old life behind to fight climate change through civil disobedience.

"As soon as they come out with a meaningful statement that they will get on with their job, they will meet their own targets, I will get off the road," he said.

"I cannot sit by while this government completely fails the citizens it is obliged to protect."

Britain has seen many environmental protests in the past, like the ones over infrastructure projects such as a road bypass near Newbury, western England, in the 1990s.

Daniel Hooper, nicknamed "Swampy", was one of the activists who tried to block construction by tunnelling under that site, and he re-emerged earlier this year on another protest in London.

He has been on trial with other campaigners, including the children of a millionaire landowner and publisher, for trying to prevent construction of the HS2 high-speed railway line.

The HS2 Rebellion group spent days in tunnels they secretly dug near the Euston mainline terminal.

On Monday, Speers was outside London's Royal Courts of Justice as more than 100 protesters from the group were served with an injunction against blocking roads.

The government has successfully obtained injunctions to prevent Insulate Britain blocking rush-hour traffic on motorways and main roads

 JUSTIN TALLIS AFP

Some sported beards and woolly hats, but most were drawn from a diverse range of backgrounds, from parents and their children, to the elderly and even members of clergy.

Retired IT consultant Janine Eagling, 60, said that after 30 years of environmental campaigning she joined Insulate Britain because of the need for urgent action.

- 'No tomorrow' -

"We're in a worse position than ever. We're emitting C02 like there's no tomorrow, which, if we carry on like this, then literally there will be no tomorrow," she said.


ARE WE HAVING FUN YET --- RIOT COPS LEARN HOW TO RIOT

ALL FUN AND GAMES UNTIL SOMEBODY GETS HURT

Police Scotland have been training for public disorder during the COP26 climate change summit, when tens of thousands of protesters are expected 

Jane Barlow POOL/AFP

"It may seem extreme that we're disrupting people in their everyday lives... (but) Insulate Britain has got one simple demand."

Home Secretary Priti Patel on Tuesday announced new measures to deal with Insulate Britain, which wants all British homes to be environmentally efficient, and others.

She said she would not tolerate "eco-warriors trampling over our way of life and draining police resources" as she announced maximum penalties for motorway disruptions and plans to criminalise interference with infrastructure.

Insulate Britain blasted Patel and other ministers as "cowards", warning that blaming campaigners would do more harm than good in the long run.

"Shooting the messenger can never destroy the message: our country is facing the greatest risk ever and our government is failing us", they said.

Confrontation could be on the cards in Glasgow, with a planned rally of 50,000 to 100,000 people during the summit.

Police Scotland, which is deploying some 10,000 officers every day of the two-week meeting, has said it will facilitate peaceful demos and "unlawful protest to a point".

Police security measures for COP26 include mounted and river patrols in Glasgow Andy Buchanan AFP

But it has warned action may have to be taken "when the protest starts to impinge on the ability of conference to operate".

© 2021 AFP

15 years on, editors warn time up for justice in Politkovskaya murder

Anna Politkovskaya, a fierce critic of Putin and the Kremlin's brutal wars in Chechnya, was gunned down on October 7, 2006

 MAXIM MARMUR AFP/File

Issued on: 07/10/2021 

Moscow (AFP)

Russians were set Thursday to commemorate the killing of top journalist Anna Politkovskaya 15 years ago on President Vladimir Putin's birthday, while her newspaper warned time had run out to name the mastermind of the murder.

Politkovskaya, a fierce critic of Putin and the Kremlin's brutal wars in Chechnya, was gunned down on October 7, 2006, in the entrance hall of her Moscow apartment block. She was 48 years old.

Falling on Putin's birthday, the killing of a top investigative reporter -- who worked for Russia's top independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta and contributed to Western publications including the Guardian -- sent shockwaves around the world.

"Fifteen years after the murder of our journalist, the statute of limitations on the crime has expired. By law, only a court can extend it," Novaya Gazeta wrote on the eve of the anniversary.

"Otherwise, the masterminds will go unpunished."

The commemorative events at Novaya Gazeta's editorial offices come amid an unprecedented crackdown on the opposition and independent media, with authorities imprisoning Russia's top opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

In 2014, a court sentenced two men to life in prison for Politkovskaya's killing and handed lengthy prison terms to three others involved.

Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, a Chechen man who was found guilty of organising the hit, died in 2017 in a penal colony where he was serving a life sentence.

But 15 years on, investigators have yet to say who ordered the apparent contract killing, and Novaya Gazeta says the authorities have no real interest in pursuing the investigation any further for political reasons.

Politkovskaya's office at Novaya Gazeta has been preserved to honour the slain reporter.

In 2018, the European Court of Human Rights condemned Russia for failing to take adequate steps to find those who ordered Politkovskaya to be killed.

Judges concluded that Russian investigators should have explored possibilities that the crime was ordered by "agents of Russia's FSB domestic secret service or of the administration of the Chechen Republic".

Politkovskaya won numerous awards for her reports and books, and several awards were established in her name.

© 2021 AFP

General Motors CEO Mary Barra elected as first woman to lead the Business RoundTable

Anne Stych, Staff Writer, Bizwomen
Sep 30, 2021

General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra speaks at an April 16, 2021, press conference at the Tennessee State Museum announcing a $2.37 billion battery factory in Spring Hill.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra has been elected chair of the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs of America’s leading companies.

Barra, who will be the first woman to lead the Roundtable in its nearly 50-year history, will begin a two-year term on January 1, 2022. She joined the association in 2017 and currently serves as chair of its education and workforce committee.

Barra will succeed Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart, who will remain an active member of the board of directors after completing his term on December 31.

“It is an honor to be elected chair of Business Roundtable,” Barra said. “I appreciated Doug’s leadership as the Roundtable navigated through many challenges including our response to Covid-19 and leading toward economic recovery as well as our work to advance racial equity and justice. I look forward to continuing to help advance policies that offer greater economic growth and opportunity for all Americans.”

Under Barra’s leadership, GM envisions a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. She is focused on improving the customer experience and strengthening GM’s core vehicle and services business, while also working to lead the transformation of personal mobility through advanced technologies like connectivity, electrification and autonomous driving.

Barra became CEO of General Motors (NYSE: GM) in 2014 after more than 30 years at the company. She has said her focus is on improving the customer experience and strengthening GM’s core vehicle and services business while also leading work on technologies including connectivity, electrification and autonomous driving.

Barra will return for a second year to deliver the opening keynote speech at CES (formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show), to be held in person in Las Vegas and online from Jan. 5 to 8, 2022.

Watch her CES 2021 keynote speech here.

Duterte nemesis and drug-war critic Leni Robredo to run for Philippine presidency

Issued on: 07/10/2021 - 

Leni Robredo said she would 'defeat the archaic and rotten style of politics'. © Maria Tan AFP,

Text by: NEWS WIRES


Philippines Vice President Leni Robredo, an arch-rival of President Rodrigo Duterte and staunch critic of his deadly drug war, said Thursday she will run for the top job, becoming the leading opposition candidate in a crowded election field.

Robredo has been under pressure from supporters and opposition groups to join the 2022 presidential race, but she has been well behind the front runners in opinion polls.

Analysts say the even-tempered former congresswoman could struggle.

"I will fight, we will fight," Robredo, 56, said, declaring herself a presidential candidate.

"We will defeat the archaic and rotten style of politics."

President and vice president are elected separately in the Philippines. Robredo quit Duterte's cabinet less than six months after he was sworn in, after a presidential aide told her she had been barred from its meetings.

Her decision comes after her nemesis Ferdinand Marcos Jr, son and namesake of the country's former dictator, said Tuesday he would run for the top job.

Robredo narrowly defeated Marcos Jr for the nation's second-highest office in 2016, dealing a blow to the political aspirations of the powerful clan as they sought to rehabilitate their image.

Marcos Jr -- an ally of Duterte and a defender of the narcotics crackdown that has killed thousands of people -- fought a nearly five-year legal battle challenging the vote, but lost in February when the Supreme Court rejected the protest.

Marcos Jr was in second place behind Duterte's daughter, Sara, in a recent Pulse Asia Research poll, though she has denied plans to run.

Robredo was a distant sixth, trailing boxing great Manny Pacquiao and celebrity mayor Francisco Domagoso, who have confirmed they will seek the presidency; and Senator Grace Poe, who has not.

Most of the top candidates have supported the drug war, which is being investigated by the International Criminal Court as a possible crime against humanity.

'All my strength'

Robredo, originally a lawyer for the disadvantaged, rose to fame as the wife of Jesse Robredo, a respected cabinet member in former president Benigno Aquino's administration.

When her husband died in a plane crash in 2012, public clamour encouraged her to enter politics.

Robredo, who has three daughters, served a single term in the House of Representatives before her successful bid for the vice presidency.

"My promise is to give all my strength, not only until the election but until the very end to fight for the Philippines that we dream of," Robredo said Thursday.

University of the Philippines political science professor Jean Franco told AFP: "It is going to be an uphill climb but her running sends a strong statement in itself that there is a genuine opposition to Duterte and the return of another Marcos to the presidency."

Duterte has repeatedly attacked Robredo since taking power in 2016 on a promise to rid the country of drugs.

Among other things, she opposed Duterte's plan to bring back the death penalty and his decision to allow the embalmed body of Ferdinand Marcos to be buried at the national heroes' cemetery.

So far, more than 40 candidates have registered to run for president in the May election, but the field will narrow significantly in the coming months.

Election season kicked off this month, the candidates flocking to the offices of the elections commission to file their nominations.

The process launched a typically noisy and deadly seven months of campaigning for more than 18,000 positions, with the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic downturn caused by lockdowns expected to dampen the atmosphere.

(AFP)

#MMIW

Panel tackles issue of missing, slain Native Hawaiian women
By AUDREY McAVOY

Ashley Maha'a sits in a park in Honolulu on June 22, 2021. “I’ve met so many people on the mainland, and so, so, so many of them have told me that when they were being trafficked nationally, they would be flown here for a period of time and work here when things were slow, because the demand is so high,” Maha'a says. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)


HONOLULU (AP) — At first, he was just a boyfriend. He gave Ashley Maha’a gifts and attention. But then he gave her drugs and became controlling and abusive. He would punish her for breaking ambiguous, undefined “rules,” only to later say he was sorry and shower her with flowers and lavish presents.

After a while, he led the Honolulu high school senior — a 17-year-old minor — into Hawaii’s commercial sex trade.

“I shouldn’t be here with everything that was going on. I should be dead. And the majority of the people who are in my situation are missing or dead,” said Maha’a, who is Native Hawaiian.

Maha’a got out of that world years ago and is now a married mother of four. But it’s on her mind as she joins a new task force studying the issue of missing and murdered Native Hawaiian women and girls. She reminds herself of her plight every day so she can fight for others similarly trapped and vulnerable.

The panel, created by the state House earlier this year, aims to gather data and identify the reasons behind the problem. As of now, few figures exist, but those that do suggest Native Hawaiians are disproportionately represented among the state’s sex trafficking victims.

Its work comes amid renewed calls for people to pay more attention to missing and killed Indigenous women and girls and other people of color after the recent disappearance of Gabby Petito, a white woman, triggered widespread national media coverage and extensive searches by law enforcement. Petito’s body was later found in Wyoming.

Several states formed similar panels after a groundbreaking report by the Urban Indian Health Institute found that of more than 5,700 cases of missing and slain Indigenous girls in dozens of U.S. cities in 2016, only 116 were logged in a Justice Department database.

Wyoming’s task force determined 710 Indigenous people disappeared there between 2011 and September 2020 and that Indigenous people made up 21% of homicide victims even though they are only 3% of the population. In Minnesota, a task force led to the creation of a dedicated office to provide ongoing attention and leadership on the issue

The Urban Indian Health Institute’s report didn’t include data on Native Hawaiians because the organization is funded by the Indian Health Service, a U.S. agency that serves Native Americans and Alaska Natives but not Native Hawaiians. The Seattle institute didn’t have the resources to extend the study to Hawaii, Director Abigail Echo-Hawk said.


State Rep. Stacelynn Eli stands for a portrait in Nanakuli, Hawaii on June 21, 2021. The Hawaii House of Representatives earlier this year passed a resolution, sponsored by Eli, creating a state task force to gather data on missing and murdered Native Hawaiian women and girls and to identify reasons for the problem. Eli says she knows of friends and classmates who were trafficked and doesn’t want her nieces to face the same thing because no one knew enough to take action. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)

It’s not the first time Native Hawaiians have been sidelined in the broader national conversation. The federal government’s efforts to tackle the problem of missing and murdered Indigenous women often focus on Native Americans and Alaska Natives — in part because it has authority over major crimes on most tribal lands, and Native Hawaiians don’t have such lands in the same sense as many other U.S. Indigenous communities. An Interior Department spokesman said it instead works to support and collaborate with state programs in the islands.

Yet Hawaii faces many of the same challenges as other states, including a lack of data on missing and murdered Indigenous women. The precise number of nationwide cases is unknown because many have gone unreported or have not been well-documented or tracked.

Public and private agencies don’t always collect statistics on race. And some data groups Native Hawaiians with other Pacific Islanders, making it impossible to identify the degree to which Hawaii’s Indigenous people are affected. About 20% of the state’s population is Native Hawaiian.

Its task force is being led by representatives from the Hawaii State Commission on the State of Women and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, a semi-autonomous state agency directed by Native Hawaiians. The panel also includes members from state agencies, county police departments and private organizations.

Khara Jabola-Carolus, executive director of the commission and co-chairperson of the task force, suspects its work will show Hawaii’s large tourism industry and military presence fuel sex trafficking. Money to be made from these sectors gives people an incentive to take girls and women from their families, she said.

“It’s not like someone is kidnapped off the street. It’s that person is enticed and convinced to cut off their family if they’re a child, or a teenager,” Jabola-Carolus said.

Advocates for Native American and Alaska Native women and girls say sex trafficking affects them as well, particularly in areas with high populations of transitory male workers.

Maha’a said the extent of the commercial sex industry in Hawaii also is illustrated by the number of girls and women brought to the islands from other states.

“I’ve met so many people on the mainland, and so, so, so many of them have told me that when they were being trafficked nationally, they would be flown here for a period of time and work here when things were slow, because the demand is so high,” Maha’a said.

Advocates say a number of systemic issues contribute to the problem. Native Hawaiians have the highest poverty rate — 15.5% — of any of the five largest racial groups in Hawaii, which is also one of country’s the most expensive places to rent or own property.

The history of colonization has torn Native Hawaiians from their land, language and culture, similar to Indigenous communities in other states.

Rosemond Pettigrew, board president of Pouhana ’O Na Wahine, a grassroots collective of Native Hawaiian women advocating against domestic and sexual violence, said land is family, and not being connected to it severs Native Hawaiians from their past.

“When you separate yourself from what you know or what you believe, and you’re no longer on land, then you’re left where you don’t know where you come from and who you are, and your identity becomes lost,” she said.

Echo-Hawk, of the Urban Indian Health Institute, said Hawaii’s task force is “monumental” and necessary to understanding the full scope of the problem.

She suspects some of its biggest obstacles will be in getting cooperation from law enforcement agencies and not having dedicated funding. Lawmakers didn’t allocate the panel any money, so its members are relying on existing resources to do their research. The most successful state task forces had funding, Echo-Hawk said.

It will be important for the task force to recognize the problems are rooted in government policies, said Paula Julian, senior policy specialist with the Montana-based National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center. The solutions for Native Hawaiians, meanwhile, must come from Native Hawaiians, she said.

Pettigrew said she’d like to see resources put into prevention. For example, Hawaii’s public schools could teach students about healthy relationships, starting as early as elementary grades. Lessons could address dating once students get to middle and high schools.

State Rep. Stacelynn Eli, a Native Hawaiian and a Democrat who sponsored the resolution creating the task force, said she has friends and classmates who were trafficked. She doesn’t want her nieces to face the same thing because no one knew enough to take action.

“We are surviving, and I would like to see our people get to a point where we are thriving. And I think we won’t get to that point until we know for sure that we are protecting our Native women and children and holding those who try to harm them accountable,” she said.

The panel is expected to produce reports for the Legislature by the end of 2022 and 2023.

‘Astounding’ – Dow plans major petrochemical expansion, net zero shift in Alberta


Dow intends to upgrade the complex from natural gas to plastic to make it the world’s first net zero-carbon petrochemical plant.


Geoffrey Morgan
Publication date:
October 6, 2021 • 

The Dow Chemical Co. office building in Midland, Michigan, in December. 9, 2015. Photo by Jeff Kowalsky / Bloomberg Files

CALGARY – Dow Chemical Co. plans to triple the size of an Alberta petrochemical plant and transition the facility to net zero emissions in a major project that experts believe will cost more than $ 10 billion, marking the largest investment of capital in the province in 15 years.

Dow announced Wednesday that it planned to build a 1.8 million tonnes per year ethane cracker at its existing Fort Saskatchewan petrochemical complex near Edmonton and also triple the facility’s ethylene and polyethylene production.

At the same time, the Midland, Michigan-based company intends to upgrade the complex from natural gas to plastic to become the world’s first net-zero-carbon petrochemical plant by capturing the facility’s gases and pumping them to an existing plant. carbon pipeline.

“This investment builds on Dow’s strong leadership position and enables us to meet the growing needs of customers and brand owners seeking to reduce the carbon footprint of their products,” said Dow President and CEO Jim Fitterling. , it’s a statement.

The company’s board of directors has yet to formally approve the project and Dow did not provide a cost estimate for the project. But experts believe it is expected to cost between $ 6 billion and $ 10 billion, given the prices associated with similar projects in other jurisdictions.

“They haven’t given a dollar figure, but it’s not going to build a polyethylene ethane cracking plant for less than $ 6 billion, I don’t think, and I would expect it to be significantly more,” he said. Bob Masterson, CEO of the Chemical Industry Association of Canada, which represents petrochemical companies.

“If we look at a similar facility, the Shell facility in Pennsylvania, we are seeing a $ 10 billion investment for ethylene cracker and polyethylene production,” he said, adding that Dow’s announcement is “absolutely amazing news. and positive. “for Alberta

Masterson said the last ethane cracker built in Canada was completed 20 years ago, when Dow and Nova Chemicals Corp. teamed up to build one at a plant in Joffre, Alta.

Alberta officials did not disclose any details about Dow’s expected investment, but said it represents the largest capital investment in the province in 15 years, meaning it would likely dwarf the $ 5 billion cost of the $ 5 of Inter Pipeline Ltd. 1 billion from Heartland’s propane-to-plastic petrochemical complex.

“Today’s announcement from Dow is fantastic news for Alberta’s economy. If this project moves forward, it could represent one of the largest job-creating investments in Alberta in more than a decade, ”Alberta Prime Minister Jason Kenney said in the same statement.

“In choosing Alberta to host the world’s first net zero carbon ethylene plant, Dow highlights our growing global leadership in emission reduction technology such as carbon capture utilization and storage, and Alberta is open to business”.

The UCP and the former NDP government have sought to attract additional petrochemical investment through tax incentives, including a 12 percent cut in capital costs, as part of an economic diversification effort away from investment purely in oil and gas. gas.

Alberta’s associate minister for natural gas, Dale Nally, declined to say what incentives were offered to Dow for the project, but said the province has received additional submissions for petrochemical projects.

“Our goal is to take the petrochemical industry and grow it by $ 30 billion by 2030 and this is a giant step in that direction,” Nally said of the Dow announcement.

During the Dow investor presentation, Fitterling said Alberta “is clearly a pioneer” in carbon capture and that the company chose to build the project and upgrade to net zero in the province due to the existing carbon capture infrastructure and carbon pipeline, government incentives and carbon taxes.

“In Canada, right now, carbon is priced at $ 40 per ton. It’s going to hit over $ 100 a ton in the time frame we’re talking about this investment, and there’s an existing carbon trunk line that we’ve contracted to be able to take our CO2, so you’ve got it. infrastructure in place, ”Fitterling said.

He said the company supports a “market-based pricing” for carbon in the United States that would lead to similar investments in the United States.

“It is working in Europe. It is working in Canada. We think it can work here, but we have to move a little further on the policy, “Fitterling said.

Dow plans to spend $ 1 billion a year to “decarbonize its global asset base in a gradual, site-by-site approach.”

The additional ethane cracker is also expected to increase Alberta’s natural gas demand by between 200 million cubic feet a day and 400 million cf / d, said Cameron Gingrich, managing director of Calgary-based consulting firm Incorrys.

“We are sending a lot of gas in the pipeline with a lot of ethane in the gas,” he said.