Enslaved Black Man Created World’s Most Popular  Whiskey


Dora Mekouar
VOA

October 17, 2021 

Bottles of Jack Daniel's whiskeys are displayed at Rossi's Deli in San Francisco.

Jack Daniel's is the world's most popular whiskey brand, but until recently, few people knew the liquor was created by Nathan "Nearest" Green, an enslaved Black man who mentored Daniel.

"We've always known," says Debbie Staples, a great-great-granddaughter of Green's who heard the story from her grandmother. … "He made the whiskey, and he taught Jack Daniel. And people didn't believe it … it's hurtful. I don't know if it was because he was a Black man."

But people believe it now — in large part because Brown-Forman Corporation, owner of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, has acknowledged the foundational role Green played in the brand's development.

"The truth of the matter is, Nearest Green was the first head distiller of Jack Daniels whiskey," says Matt Blevins, global brand director for Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey. "We're very proud of this story and are very committed to amplifying it and acknowledging that. In the past, we did not amplify it the way that we could have in earlier eras, but we're about the future and moving forward."

America's first-known Black master distiller

The story begins in Lynchburg, Tennessee, current home of the Jack Daniel Distillery. In the mid-1800s, Green's slaveholders hired him out to a local preacher named Dan Call. Green, who had a reputation as a skilled distiller, made whiskey for Call, using a sugar maple charcoal filtering process that is believed to have originated in West Africa. Daniel, a boy who worked for Call, became Green's apprentice and learned the special technique that gave the Tennessee whiskey its smooth taste.

After emancipation in 1863, when all enslaved people were freed, Daniel purchased Call's distillery and hired Green as Jack Daniel Distillery's first master distiller.

"The best knowledge that we have is that they had a mentor-and-mentee sort of a relationship, and I would say, a friendship," says Blevins. "The stories that have been passed down [talk] about the care that Jack Daniel took to always acknowledge … the Green family."

Historic photo of Jack Daniel (in white hat) seated next to George Green, the son of Nathan "Nearest" Green.

There are no known pictures of Green, but there is one of Daniel with Green's son, George, sitting next to Daniel, rather than being relegated to the back.

"That photograph shows the respect that they had for one another and for their families," says Stefanie Benjamin, an assistant professor of tourism management at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. "To be not only allowed in that photograph, but also positioned in the foreground and sitting right next to Jack Daniels himself."

Search for the truth

Green's role in the history of the brand was uncovered by a writer and entrepreneur named Fawn Weaver, who became fascinated by Green's unheralded contribution to the world's most popular whiskey. After extensive research, including interviews with Green's descendants, Weaver shared her documentation with the company.

"I was very pleasantly surprised when they embraced my research and updated their records to reflect that," Weaver told VOA via email. "I think it said a lot about the character of their company that they moved that quickly to course correct."

Jack Daniel's has incorporated Green's contributions into the official history of the brand, but Weaver has gone a step further. She invested $1 million of her own money to establish Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, which is now the fastest-growing independent American whiskey brand in U.S. history.

Fawn Weaver (center in red) with her leadership team at Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, including master distiller Victoria Eady Butler (far left), the great‐great‐granddaughter of Nearest Green. (Photo courtesy Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey)

The company's master distiller is Victoria Eady Butler, Green's great‐great‐granddaughter.

"Uncle Nearest is the most-awarded American whiskey or bourbon of 2019, 2020 and 2021, and the fact that it is the bloodline of Nearest Green blending and approving what goes into our bottles is something I marvel at regularly," Weaver says. "Victoria is an absolute natural when it comes to blending, and to watch her work is to see something pretty darn close to perfection."

Family business

Seven generations of Green's family have worked at the Jack Daniel Distillery, a tradition that continues today with Staples and two of her siblings. But the Green family did not benefit when the Daniel family sold the Jack Daniel distillery to Brown-Forman for $20 million in 1956.

"Although they [the Green family] were very well off in terms of finances [in the 1800s] in that time, they were not the owners or co-owners of the Jack Daniel distillery," Benjamin says. "And so, those millions of dollars have been passed down through generations of the Jack Daniel family, and not necessarily the Green family."

Maturing barrels of whiskey in a barrel house on the grounds of the Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee. (Photo courtesy Jack Daniel's)

Weaver's Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey has joined forces with Jack Daniel's to launch a program that provides support, expertise and resources to African-American entrepreneurs entering the spirits industry.

Staples says her family is thrilled their great-great-grandfather is finally being recognized.

"It's kind of mind-boggling … and we are so proud," Staples says. "And to think that from here to Africa, that recipe goes all the way back. And to think that he played such an important role in establishing this company. It sometimes seems unreal. It really does."

Because of Weaver's tenacity, Green's story, although left untold for more than a century, will not be lost to history. But that's not the case with so many other stories of Black achievement and contributions to the nation.

"Part of telling his story and sharing his legacy is to give credit and to give attention to a person who, if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have the Jack Daniel whiskey as we know it today," Benjamin says. "It showcases yet another example of how formerly enslaved people, Black people, African American people who have really built this country, are left out of the dominant narrative that we tell."

US National Security Advisor Met Representatives of Myanmar's Shadow Gov't

October 26, 2021 
Reuters

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Aug. 23, 2021.
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U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met on Monday with representatives of Myanmar's National Unity Government (NUG), set up by opponents of army rule, the White House said late on Monday.

In the virtual meeting, Sullivan reiterated continued U.S. support for the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar and discussed ongoing efforts to restore the country's path to democracy with NUG representatives Duwa Lashi La and Zin Mar Aung, the White House said in a statement.

Sullivan expressed concern over the military's violence and said, "the U.S. will continue to promote accountability for the coup", according to the White House.

Protests and unrest have paralyzed Myanmar since the Feb. 1 coup, with the military accused of atrocities and excessive force against civilians. The junta blames the unrest on "terrorists" allied with the shadow government.

Recognizing Myanmar's junta as the country's government would not stop growing violence, the outgoing United Nations special envoy on Myanmar said earlier on Monday.

Sullivan expressed particular concern over the recent arrest of pro-democracy activist Ko Jimmy and noted the United States will continue to advocate for his release, according to the statement.

Sullivan and the NUG officials also discussed the COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar and ongoing U.S. efforts to provide humanitarian assistance directly to the people of Myanmar, the statement added.

POTUS IS POTUS NO MATTER WHO IS IN THE ROLE

 

Just How Does Biden Differ From Trump On Palestine? – OpEd

 October 26, 2021  

By Ramzy Baroud

When Joe Biden was declared the winner of the US presidential election last November, expectations in Ramallah were high. A Biden administration, in contrast to the brazenly pro-Israel Trump leadership, would surely be much fairer to Palestinians, the thinking went at the time.

Unsurprisingly, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was one of the first leaders to enthusiastically congratulate Joe Biden. In contrast, then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waited a relatively long time before offering his congratulations, hoping, perhaps, that his close friend and staunch political ally Donald Trump would succeed in reversing the outcome of the poll.

Almost a year later, however, one struggles to understand the Palestinian euphoria of last year and the absence of criticism of the current US administration for failing to reverse most of the pro-Israel decisions enacted by Trump. The latter’s unwarranted steps included the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the relocation of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, in violation of international law.

So why does the PA leadership remain largely silent regarding the fact that the Biden administration, despite its rhetoric about peace and dialogue, maintains the same degree of commitment to Israel as Trump did? The short answer is money.

Indeed, the only tangible step that the Biden administration has taken in the past year has been the restoration of funds that Trump withheld from the Palestinians, thus reversing a nearly 30-year US policy of — together with other “donor countries” — bankrolling the PA.

On the political front, there is little else to report. The Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, although expected to be reopened by Biden after its abrupt closure by the Trump administration in September 2018, remains closed. Additionally, the US Consulate in East Jerusalem, which was also shut down by a Trump decision, remains “a major point of contention” between Israel and the US, according to the US news website Axios.

As soon as the Biden administration declared its intention to reopen its mission in Palestine, top Israeli officials poured into Washington to prevent even this symbolic Palestinian gain from taking place. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett raised the issue with Biden during their White House meeting in August, requesting that he refrain from carrying out such a move and, instead, open the consulate in Ramallah, the Times of Israel reported.

In September, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid warned Washington that reopening the US mission in East Jerusalem was a “bad idea,” alluding that such a decision could lead to the collapse of Israel’s fragile coalition.

The subject also topped the agenda of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Lapid during their meeting in Washington this month. “I don’t know how to hold this coalition together if you reopen the consulate,” Lapid told his US counterpart, according to Israeli officials and as reported by Axios.

To avoid a confrontation and to buy time for the Israeli government, Blinken proposed a committee made up of US and Israeli officials to “discuss the issue with maximum discretion.”

The Israeli government is using the current fractious ruling coalition as a pretense to defer the US decision on the consulate, hinting that if the US moves the embassy before the government budget passes in November, the government will dissolve, thus ushering in the ominous possibility of Netanyahu’s return.

It is expected that the joint US-Israeli committee will not be formed until the budget vote, and even then it is unclear if Washington will succeed in persuading Israel to respect Biden’s decision.

Notably, while the matter of the consulate should concern Palestinians most, no Palestinian official will be included in the exclusive and secretive Blinken-Lapid talks. More bizarrely, the PA does not seem to mind, as we are yet to witness a public outcry by Abbas and his officials. This is, of course, typical PA behavior, for as long as US funds are again finding their way to PA coffers, all other issues seem to be of little or no urgency.

However, even if a political compromise is found and a US Consulate finally re-established, how will this alter the reality on the ground?

Since 1994, the US Consulate has served a largely symbolic role, one that mattered most to the PA. It hardly altered the political equation on the ground in favor of Palestinians. In a telling and surreal reference to the consulate, Noga Tarnopolsky wrote in the Los Angeles Times in 2019: “The consulate was known for hosting one of the liveliest parties on Jerusalem’s annual schedule, a July 4 gala held on the front lawn.”

A short distance away from the scene of these parties, hundreds of Palestinian families are either being evicted or face the risk of eviction by the US-funded Israeli police and army. Meanwhile, a bit farther away, Israel’s apartheid wall continues to segregate occupied Palestine on the basis of race, ethnicity and religion. One is justified, then, in believing that the reopening of the US mission would do little to change this horrific status quo.

The Biden administration is proving to be nothing but a facade for the same policies enacted by the Trump leadership. But this time the PA, for self-serving reasons, does not seem to mind.

US President Joe Biden. Photo Credit: Screenshot White House video

Ramzy Baroud

Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an internationally-syndicated columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story (Pluto Press, London), now available on Amazon.com

Winds of war

By Yara Hawari
October 26, 2021

After the establishment of the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords in the 1990s, the Palestinian civil society took over the leading role in exposing and challenging the crimes of the Israeli regime. Thus, Palestinian civic organisations emerged at the forefront of the Palestinian struggle, which is what put them in Israel’s crosshairs.

More recently, in the last decade, there have been coordinated efforts led by various non-governmental groups working in tandem with the Israeli ministry of strategic affairs to target and defame Palestinian NGOs which work on Palestinian human rights.

The terror designation effectively criminalises the work of the six NGOs and allows the Israeli regime to close down offices, seize assets, arrest staff and even prohibit funding or public expressions of support for their activities. It could also make third parties and foreign partners apprehensive about engaging with these organisations and their work.

While this designation is an escalation, it is not the first time the Israeli regime has falsely applied the terrorism label to Palestinian organisations or individuals. The label is frequently bandied about by Israeli officials and Israel’s supporters to discredit and defame those who document Palestinian rights violations and those who resist such violations. The tactic is simple and can be quite effective.

For example, last year the European Union began implementing a funding clause requiring Palestinian beneficiaries of its financial support to vet all individuals working for them to ensure they are not involved with any Palestinian political party on its ‘terrorist list’. Considering that a considerable number of Palestinian political parties are on the list, the move amounts to political persecution.

This coordinated attack on Palestinian civil society has also included allegations of misuse of funds or corruption in a bid to try and pressure international funders to withdraw their financial support. It has also involved regular raids on NGO offices to intimidate their staff and partners and disrupt their work.

In July, for example, Israeli security forces broke into the office of Defense for Children International. The NGO, which works with Palestinian children detained by Israel, reported that Israeli soldiers took computers and files relating to some of the cases it is working on. Addameer has also faced countless raids on its offices over the years which have seen damage and theft of equipment and files. In the face of ever-escalating abuse and intimidation by the Israeli regime, these organisations and others have continued to work for the benefit of the Palestinian people.

Although various international bodies and figures have come out against the terror designation and in support of the work that these NGOs do, it is not enough.

Excerpted: ‘Why Israel is trying to criminalise Palestinian civil society’

Aljazeera.com

ROFLMAO

Canada's climate leadership will help at UN talks in Glasgow, British envoy says

By Mike Blanchfield |October 25th 2021

British High Commissioner to Canada Susannah Goshko is seen at Earnscliffe, the British High Commissioner's residence in Canada, in Ottawa on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. 

File photo by The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Britain's new envoy to Ottawa says Canada still has credibility as a reliable partner on fighting climate change despite a domestic rise of greenhouse gas emissions in recent years.

Susannah Goshko, the newly arrived British high commissioner to Canada, says the current Trudeau government has shown "huge leadership" on the international stage in the fight against climate change.

That's because Canada has doubled its financial commitments to climate financing and raised its emissions-reductions targets, which is putting pressure on other countries, Goshko said


Goshko offered the assessment in a wide-ranging interview as the United Kingdom prepares to host what are seen as pivotal United Nations climate talks in Scotland next month, known as COP26.


Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced criticism from his political opponents and from environmental groups during the recent federal election because Canada's carbon emissions actually rose from 2015 to 2019, the most recent years for which data is available.

While new Liberal policies might have driven down emissions in the two years since then, the current data has fuelled the narrative that Canada's reputation on fighting climate change has been diminished since Trudeau's 2015 participation in the Paris climate agreement in the weeks after he won power.

Not so, in Britain's view, said Goshko.

"I think that there's no question it's hard to do what needs to be done to reach our climate goals. A transition to a net-zero economy is really, really tricky. And I think the important thing, as far as Canada is concerned, is the commitment is there," said Goshko.

Net zero is the term that means no new emissions would be added to Earth's atmosphere, with nature or technology capturing any that are produced.

Canada pledged this year to reach net zero by 2050, and has also raised its emissions-reduction targets from 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, to 40 to 45 per cent.

Those new commitments, as well as Canada's partnership with Germany to help deliver US$100 billion in financing to poorer countries to help them fight climate change, mean that "Canada's shown huge leadership," Goshko said.

British envoy seeks Canada's climate change help at UN talks in Glasgow. #COP26 #ClimateChange

"It's the kind of leadership we need because we need all countries now to really be stepping up on those commitments if we're to make COP a success."

Goshko said it's crucial that China, as the world's largest emitter, play a role in COP26 but her government is still waiting to find out whether President Xi Jinping will be joining the estimated 120 world leaders in taking part in the opening of the meeting in early November.

Despite China's voracious appetite for energy, including the coal-fired variety, Goshko said it is also the world's largest investor in renewable energy, which makes it a valuable partner in fighting climate change.

Goshko has had a front-row seat to Britain and Canada's fraught engagement with China in recent years. She served two years as the principal private secretary to the recently departed British foreign minister Dominic Raab.

She witnessed first-hand the personal friendship that Raab and his former Canadian counterpart, François-Philippe Champagne, forged during in-person meetings in London before and after the onset of the pandemic. Raab was enthusiastic to pursue a deeper alliance with Canada especially given Britain's departure from the European Union, said Goshko.

That manifested itself in supporting Canada in countering China's imprisonment of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, which only ended in September after nearly three years. Raab was an early supporter of Canada's international effort to create a declaration against arbitrary detention by states, she said.

And Canada was an eager participant in international efforts to criticize China for human rights violations in Hong Kong and bring in sanctions over abuses in its Xinjiang province against Muslim Uyghurs, she said, undaunted by the fact China was holding two of its nationals in apparent retaliation for the arrest of Chinese executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition warrant.

"I can't think of a time where we came to Canada and said, 'We'd like to do something on this,' and the answer was no," said Goshko.

Goshko also played down any suggestion that Britain snubbed Canada by forming a new alliance, known as AUKUS, with Australia and the United States. The alliance is designed to help Australia acquire a fleet of nuclear submarines to cope with the rising regional influence of China.

France was angered by the move, but Trudeau has shrugged it off, saying Canada has no interest in nuclear submarines.

Britain's military and security co-operation with Canada remains strong in other areas, including its collaborations through NATO in eastern Europe as a counterweight to Russia, and a recent agreement to deepen co-operation in the Arctic, she said.

Goshko said Britain's alliance with Canada in the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network (with Australia, the United States and New Zealand) remains a top priority that does not clash in any way with AUKUS. All members of the Five Eyes are continually working to strengthen its capability.

"I don't see AUKUS in any way, intention, in conflict with the Five Eyes," she said. "There's no sense for us that one comes at the expense of the other."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2021.

UK

Steps to youth climate action: power to the young people!

Lewis-HedleyOctober 26, 2021

Unearthing climate activism

Having recently turned thirteen, I’m well accustomed to the messages given to children about climate change from a young age: Reduce, reuse, recycle, conserve energy and reduce food waste. Sometimes we’re told how – by switching off the lights we aren’t using or changing to reusable water bottles – and we try our best where we can to do so. That’s all that we, as young people, can do. Right?

70% of 18-24-year olds in the UK who’ve grown up with these messages now experience eco-anxiety. This is because we’ve been conditioned to understand we are powerless when it comes to climate action, but the facts are telling us that we aren’t doing enough. In the news, nature documentaries, online and even on the radio, scientists are telling us about the forest fires in Australia or the every-day extinction of hundreds of species. No wonder so many of us worry about our futures when all we think we can do is recycle our plastic fruit punnets while the world is burning around us.

The pupils I see at the eco club I run in school are there because they want to make a difference. But we find ourselves thinking more about what we can do as a school to reduce our carbon footprint, and we can all agree it’s hard to come up with practical ideas that will make a big impact when we don’t realise that we, as children, have power too.

The concept of youth action for climate change has only recently become more mainstream, with youth strikes making the news more regularly, and support growing for taking time off school to join the rallies. I think it would be a lot easier for young people to realise that we can make hope for ourselves and get involved with these opportunities if everyone would consider Rebecca Solnit’s comparison of any activist movement to the Arab Spring. Here’s a quote from her book, ‘Hope in the Dark’:

“After a rain mushrooms appear on the surface of the earth as if from nowhere. Many do so from a sometimes vast underground fungus that remains invisible and largely unknown. What we call mushrooms mycologists call the fruiting body of the larger, less visible fungus. Uprisings and revolutions are often considered to be spontaneous, but less visible long-term organizing and groundwork – or underground work – often laid the foundation.”

This is an encouraging theory, but can be hard to apply to real action without a few ideas to start you off on your underground fungus-growing revolution. So I want to offer other young people three easily doable steps to make our own opportunities and as a consequence, our own hope. All you’ll need is some ignorance! (bear with me) – to ignore the voice in your head telling you it’s a stupid idea, or that no one will take you seriously. Anyone can do that.

Write a letter – for young people and for all ages

Writing a letter or email to your local MP, the Environment Secretary, the Prime Minister or another person in a position of power whose mind you want to change is a perfect first step to building up hope, and your underground fungus of climate action. (If you skipped the introduction to get to the list – no judgement here, we all do it – I’d recommend you read it now to avoid confusion when it comes to fungus-growing references) You can follow a hyperlink to the gov.uk contact pages for each MP by clicking their name.

Join a local strike

For this, you must find the fungus!: the organisation behind the strikes. For joining in with other young people in our local area, you can contact North Tyneside Youth Strike For Climate. There are so many opportunities and events to get involved with when you find groups like this.

Share your message

Simply bringing up a conversation about climate action can build links and present new ideas. Spread the word on social media, email and messaging apps with this illustrated copy of Steps to Youth Climate Action. This is the most important step for adults too. Share this article and document with the young people and children you know: They’re the ones most capable of taking these actions.

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Gwen Lewis-Hedley is at Valley Gardens Middle School and with North Tyneside Youth Strike for Climate

CAPITALI$M IN SPACE FOR BILLIONAIRES

Blue Origin wants to build a space station for ‘exotic hospitality’

By Trevor Mogg

October 25, 2021

Not content with 10-minute tourism rides to the edge of space, Jeff Bezos now wants to take a giant leap all of his own and build a commercial space station in low-Earth orbit.

Blue Origin, the spaceflight company founded by Amazon boss Bezos in 2000, revealed the ambitious plan at the International Astronautical Congress in Dubai on Monday, October 25.

Similar to the International Space Station (ISS), Blue Origin’s orbiting outpost, called Orbital Reef, would host astronauts from around the world and be used to conduct science experiments in microgravity conditions. But a slick video (below) released by the company suggests the station would also be used as in-space manufacturing facility and provide accommodation for space tourists as part of an “exotic hospitality” service, as Blue Origin is calling it.

Blue Origin isn’t taking on the task alone, with Colorado-based Sierra Space and aerospace giant Boeing, among other companies, planning to join forces to help create what’s being described as a space-based “mixed-use business park.”

Orbital Reef would be about as large as the large as the ISS and host up to 10 people at a time. And with the ISS now 20 years old and likely to be decommissioned within the next 10 years, Blue Origin’s facility would arrive in time to replace the aging satellite, with deployment hoped for toward the end of this decade.

Commenting on the plan, John Mulholland, Boeing VP and program manager for the ISS, described Blue Origin’s plan as an exciting project as it doesn’t duplicate the exiting space station, “but rather goes a step further to fulfill a unique position in low Earth orbit where it can serve a diverse array of companies and host non-specialist crews.”

But the challenges to make Orbital Reef a reality are immense. Cost is the obvious one, with Blue Origin and Sierra Space yet to release an estimate of how many billions of dollars it will take to achieve their shared goal. Some of the funding could come from NASA, which is looking at proposals from a number of companies for an ISS replacement. But Blue Origin appears intent on moving ahead with its plan with or without help from NASA.

Also, Blue Origin is yet to perform an orbital flight, with its single-stage New Shepard rocket only going as far as the Kármán line 62 miles above Earth before returning to Earth minutes later. The company is, however, preparing the maiden test flight of New Glenn, its first orbital rocket, for some time next year. New Glenn is a heavy-lift rocket and so could be used to carry sections of Orbital Reef into orbit.

Blue Origin said it wants to provide “an end-to-end service: transportation and logistics, leased space for any purpose, assistance with system hardware development, robotic and crew-tended operations and servicing, and habitation amenities.”


It said that experienced customers would be able to “simply link up their own modules through standard interfaces,” while newbies would have access to specialist help to enable them to realize their goals.

It added: “Orbital Reef expands access, lowers the cost, and provides everything needed to help you operate your business in space. A growing commercial ecosystem in Earth orbit will unlock the potential for new discoveries, unimagined products, and new forms of entertainment, and promote a new level of interconnected global awareness.”

Asia suffered hottest year on record in 2020: UN

India and other Asian countries have suffered deadly heatwaves in recent years

 Chandan Khanna AFP/File

Issued on: 26/10/2021 

Geneva (AFP)

In its annual "State of the Climate in Asia" report, the UN's World Meteorological Organization said every part of the region had been affected.

"Extreme weather and climate change impacts across Asia in 2020 caused the loss of life of thousands of people, displaced millions of others and cost hundreds of billions of dollars, while wreaking a heavy toll on infrastructure and ecosystems," the WMO said.

"Sustainable development is threatened, with food and water insecurity, health risks and environmental degradation on the rise."

The report comes days before COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference being held in Glasgow from Sunday to November 12.

The report also laid bare the total annual average losses due to climate-related hazards.

China suffered an estimated $238 billion, followed by India at $87 billion, Japan with $83 billion and South Korea on $24 billion.

But when the size of the economy is considered, the average annual losses are expected to be as high as 7.9 percent of gross domestic product for Tajikistan, 5.9 percent for Cambodia and 5.8 percent for Laos.
Prolonged displacement

Increased heat and humidity are forecast to lead to an effective loss of outdoor working hours across the continent, with a potential cost of many billions of dollars.

"Weather and climate hazards, especially floods, storms, and droughts, had significant impacts in many countries of the region," said WMO chief Petteri Taalas.

"Combined, these impacts take a significant toll on long-term sustainable development."

Many weather and climate-related displacements in Asia are prolonged, with people unable to return home or integrate locally, the report said.

In 2020 floods and storms affected approximately 50 million people in Asia, resulting in more than 5,000 fatalities.

Floods continued to hit Asian countries including China in 2021 

- AFP/File

This is below the annual average of the last two decades (158 million people affected and about 15,500 fatalities) "and is testimony to the success of early warning systems in many countries in Asia", with around seven in 10 people covered.

Asia's warmest year on record saw the mean temperature 1.39 degrees Celsius above the 1981–2010 average.

The 38.0 C registered at Verkhoyansk in Russia is provisionally the highest known temperature anywhere north of the Arctic Circle.
Glaciers shrinking

In 2020, average sea surface temperatures reached record high values in the Indian, Pacific and Arctic Oceans.

Sea surface temperatures and ocean warming in and around Asia are increasing more than the global average.

They have been warming at more than triple the average in the Arabian sea, and parts of the Arctic Ocean.

Arctic sea ice minimum extent (after the summer melt) in 2020 was the second lowest on the satellite record since 1979.

Mountains like the Himalayas support glaciers vital to regional water cycles 

PRAKASH MATHEMA AFP/File

There are approximately 100,000 square kilometres of glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau and in the Himalayas -- the largest volumes of ice outside the polar regions and the source of 10 major Asian rivers.

"Glacier retreat is accelerating and it is projected that glacier mass will decrease by 20 percent to 40 percent by 2050, affecting the lives and livelihoods of about 750 million people in the region," the report said.

"This has major ramifications for global sea level, regional water cycles and local hazards such as landslides and avalanches."

A quarter of Asia's mangroves are in Bangladesh. However, the tropical storm-exposed country's mangroves decreased by 19 percent from 1992 to 2019, the report said.

© 2021 AFP

Desperate Algerians ready to die at sea to reach Spain

The number of Algerians arriving on Spain's southeastern coast or the Balearic Isles has soared

 JORGE GUERRERO AFP

Issued on: 26/10/2021 -

Almería (Spain) (AFP)

"I'd rather die at sea than stay in Algeria," says Khaled Dih, his eyes dark, and his Nike trainers soaked and full of sand, after landing on a beach at Almeria following a six-hour crossing from Oran.

It was one of around 50 boats that day which made the dangerous crossing from the Algerian coastline which lies 200 kilometres (120 miles) to the south, officials and NGOs said.

"There is nothing there, no work in the bled," Dih said, using a North African word meaning "the old country", dragging on a cigarette as he adjusted his ponytail.

Dih chose his 21st birthday to leave, following in the footsteps of thousands of others prepared to risk everything, and then torched their identity papers on arrival to avoid being sent back.

Small boats used by migrants to cross sea are stored in an open-air warehouse in Almeria 

JORGE GUERRERO AFP

In Arabic, they are known as "harraga" -- or "those who burn".

At least 309 migrants, 13 of them minors, have died in the western Mediterranean since the start of the year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Dih says the boat was travelling at high speed, bouncing off the water, leaving him stiff and bruised after a night crossing in the freezing cold.

"You couldn't do anything... so I just thought about my parents and my friends," says the amateur boxer and fan of French rappers PNL.

Bruised, exhausted, but alive

Sat outside the bus station, he is shattered. He has not slept for three nights since leaving Annaba, his hometown on the Algerian coast near the Tunisian border.

From there he travelled 900 kilometres (560 miles) west to the port city of Oran and paid 4,500 euros ($5,200) for passage to Spain -- the equivalent of many months' salary.

Police escort newly-arrived migrants to a Centre for Temporary Assistance for Foreigners (CATE) in Almeria 

JORGE GUERRERO AFP

Now he's waiting for a bus to Barcelona from where he will try and enter France, like most of the harraga.

"I don't speak Spanish... I have family and friends in France so I can't stay here all on my own," he explains.

The number of Algerians arriving on Spain's southeastern coast or the Balearic Isles has soared in recent months.

A confidential document compiled by the Spanish authorities and seen by AFP, shows 9,664 Algerians have illegally entered Spain since the start of the year, or 20 percent more than last year.

According to Frontex, the agency which protects the EU's external borders, Algerians are the largest group of foreigners entering Spain illegally -- and the third-largest in Europe.

On the Algerian side, 4,704 migrants have been stopped trying to leave in 2021, more than half of them in September, the Algerian Defence Ministry says.

And in a new twist, more and more women and children are risking their lives to make the crossing.

"Harraga families is a new phenomenon," says Said Salhi, deputy head of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights.

Among recent travellers were "mothers and babies, pregnant women and people with disabilities... which shows us something about the extent of despair" in Algeria, he said.

Save the Children said it had taken in more than 100 minors who had arrived in September on the coast of Andalusia, the southern region around Almeria.
Family anguish

Back home in Algeria, there is anguish for the families left behind, says Francisco Jose Clemente Martin, 24, who works for CIPIMD, an NGO that tries to trace migrants who have died or gone missing at sea.

Every day, he is in contact with relatives, sometimes having to send them photos of the dead so they can be identified.

A Spanish coast guard boat patrols off the coast of Almeria

 JORGE GUERRERO AFP

"The families are desperate for news," he told AFP, saying the calls are often marked by "screams, weeping and desperation. Many mothers end up in hospital from the stress. It's a lot for them to take in".

Ahmed Bensafia, a 28-year-old who arrived in Almeria a year ago from a town near Algiers, said he didn't tell his family he was leaving "so as not to worry them".

He said he had no other choice but to leave because "wages are so low" that even after working all day, "you can't be sure you can afford to eat dinner".

But with hindsight he admits he would advise other youngsters "not to risk their lives" as he did.

Even if they manage to avoid the Spanish police, migrants still face a long journey fraught with hardship before reaching family and friends in France.

In early October, three were killed and one seriously hurt when they were hit by a train near Saint-Jean-de-Luz, southwestern France.

They were resting on the tracks to avoid the police when they were caught unawares by the first train of the day, local officials said.

Two days after landing on the Almeria beach, Khaled Dih managed to reach the Spain's northern border and cross into France.

"I'm relieved," he told AFP.

© 2021 AFP

Rescued from extinction, bison rediscover Romania mountains

The bison had all but been driven out of Europe by hunting and the destruction of its habitats 

Daniel MIHAILESCU AFP/File

Issued on: 26/10/2021 -

Armenis (Romania) (AFP)

They are signs of the success of a project to reintroduce bison to this region after a centuries-long absence, key to keeping the hairy giants off lists of critically endangered species.

Bison had all but been driven out of Europe by hunting and the destruction of its habitats, but their reappearance in Romania has brought back a key component of the region's ecosystem.

Under gentle autumn sunshine on the edge of a centuries-old wood, young forest warden Matei Miculescu is on the lookout for members of the Carpathian herd.

The animals can be hard to spot, having been tempted further into the forest by the abundant vegetation and the possibility of extending their habitat.

Miculescu says the animals are thriving in the forest, in contrast to captivity which "creates the risk of inbreeding" and weakens their chances of survival.

Nowadays, around 6,000 bison, Europe's largest mammal and a distant cousin of the American buffalo, can be found on the continent.

Most of them are on the Polish-Belarussian border where efforts to revive the population got underway in the 1950s.

Romania welcomed bison back in 2014 in the southwestern Armenis region, more than 200 years after it was last seen there.

Born in captivity in other parts of Europe -- where they had been given names like Kiwi, Bilbo and Mildred -- they were transferred to Romania in 16 separate stages.

Cutting human links

Thanks to successful reproduction in the wild, "around 105 bison now live freely in the Tarcu mountains and have settled in well," says Marina Druga, head of the project led jointly by the WWF and Rewilding Europe.

"In the past two years, there haven't been any deaths in their ranks," says Druga, explaining that the goal is to get to a population "of 250 individuals in five years' time".

Nowadays, around 6,000 bison, Europe's largest mammal and a distant cousin of the American buffalo, can be found on the continent 

Daniel MIHAILESCU AFP/File

The programme is well established: first the animals spend several weeks being re-acclimatised to life in the wild and are only then released and left to fend for themselves.

They can currently be found making use of around 8,000 hectares in a protected area which stretches over 59,000 hectares.

The southern Carpathians present ideal conditions: "a vast region with a thinly spread human population and no intensive agriculture," says Wanda Olech-Piasecka from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Since 2014 there have been 38 bison calves born in the area.

"Without them, the project would have no future," says Miculescu, who recognises each of the creatures by their horns of the colour of their fur.

But those running the project have resisted giving the calves names.

Since they have been born in the wild, all links with humans should be cut, explains Druga.

Architects of the forest

The WWF says the next step to make the population viable in the long term will be to introduce bison into other parts of the Carpathians and establish a network of populations.

Over the long term, the animals need a large habitat in order avoid conflict over territory with human populations or within their own herds.

Their reappearance in Romania has brought back a key component of the region's ecosystem 

Adrian PICLISAN AFP/File

Along with benefitting the bison themselves, advocates say that this example of "rewilding" is also a boon for the wider ecosystem, bringing benefits for some 600 species from microorganisms to large carnivores.

"They change the landscape and architecture of the forest by stopping the spread of invasive tree species, spreading seeds for hundreds of plants and creating paths smaller animals use to access food," explains Druga.

Weaker or sick members of the herd can themselves serve as prey for wolves or bears, who in turn will be less likely to stray into human settlements in search of food, a problem which has grown in recent years in Romania.

Even those who watch them closely have sometimes been surprised by the effects the bison's presence can have.

"Birds collect discarded bits of fur to isolate their nests while frogs can use bison hoof prints to jump from one pond to another," says Miculescu.

© 2021 AFP

GERMANY
Post-Merkel parliament debuts, smashing diversity ceiling

Social Democrat Baerbel Bas, shown next to Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, is expected to become the third woman speaker of the Bundestag

 John MACDOUGALL AFP

Berlin (AFP)

Angela Merkel will remain caretaker chancellor until a new government is in place while the body that will elect her successor, the Bundestag lower house of parliament, will convene having swollen to a record 736.

The September 26 general election left the centre-left Social Democrats as the biggest party, whose candidate Olaf Scholz is working toward cobbling together a ruling coalition by early December.

But while the top job is expected to pass from Germany's first female chancellor to a man, the Bundestag's powerful speaker Wolfgang Schaeuble is set to hand off the podium to Baerbel Bas -- only the third woman to hold the post.

Meanwhile the new-look Bundestag boasts a number of firsts for the EU's most populous nation, although activists say it still has far to go to truly reflect the rich tapestry of German society.

The first-ever black woman MP, Eritrean-born Awet Tesfaiesus, 47, will take her seat among the Greens' parliamentary group.

Having arrived in Germany at age 10, Tesfaiesus went on to become a lawyer and has devoted her career to defending the rights of immigrants and asylum seekers.

"We need diversity in this country," she told AFP. "We need people who have been victims of racism to be better represented."

- 'Latent racism' -

During her mandate, Tesfaiesus said she wants to fight the "label" of foreigner that sticks to her despite her German passport.

"You feel latent racism everywhere," she said.

"When I'm looking for an apartment, when the postman comes into my law office and talks with my secretary because he automatically thinks she's my superior..."

Tesfaiesus told local media she launched her political career as a consequence of a racist attack in Hanau near Frankfurt in February 2020, when a far-right gunman shot dead nine people at a shisha bar and a cafe.

She joins Senegalese-born Karamba Diaby, a Social Democrat who was until now Germany's only black MP, and his party colleague Armand Zorn, who emigrated from Cameroon at the age of 12 and just won his first direct mandate in parliament.

The number of foreign-born deputies or those with at least one parent born abroad has climbed to 83, making up 11.3 percent of the Bundestag, up from 8.2 percent in the last assembly.

"We are helping to wake up the political scene," Deniz Nergiz, head of the Federal Council on Immigration and Integration, which promotes political participation in immigrant communities, told AFP.

"There is also for the first time a refugee elected in the (former communist) east of the country," where the number of foreign-born Germans is significantly smaller.

Also among the newly elected is Lamya Kaddor, who teaches religion courses about Islam in schools in the Ruhr Valley -- a subject hotly debated in recent years in Germany.

At the same time, the Greens, who are expecting to serve as junior partners in the new government, touted at least three dozen of their deputies under the age of 35. MP Ricarda Lang tweeted a photo of them on the steps of the parliament building with the tagline: "There's some new kids in town."

'Far behind'

But despite its broader representation, the Bundestag, with its overwhelmingly white and male makeup, still lags in mirroring the modern face of Germany.

Nergiz said parliament was still "far behind" the 26 percent of people of foreign origin "across German society".

The same is true for women in the ranks of the MPs, even after 16 years with Merkel as the first woman chancellor at the helm. They make up only 24 percent of deputies, up from 20 percent previously.

The gender figures vary widely among the parties with seats in the Bundestag, with the Greens boasting a 59 percent majority of women, including two transgender women: Tessa Ganserer and Nyke Slawik.

By contrast the far-right Alternative for Germany only has 13 percent of women among its ranks.

© 2021 AFP