Australian pro footballer Josh Cavallo announces he is gay

(CNN)Australian professional footballer Josh Cavallo announced on Wednesday that he is gay in a video message released by his A-League club Adelaide United.

"I'm a footballer and I'm gay," Cavallo said in the emotional video titled 'Josh's Truth.' "All I want to do is play football and be treated equally.

"I know there are other players living in silence," the 21-year-old added. "I want to help change this, to show that everyone is welcome in the game of football and deserves the right to be their authentic self."

The video was accompanied by a statement posted to Cavallo's Twitter account.

His announcement means that Cavallo is the only current openly gay top-flight male footballer.

"Being a gay closeted footballer, I've had to learn to mask my feelings in order to fit the mold of a professional footballer," Cavallo wrote. "As a gay footballer, I know there are other players living in silence.

"I want to help change this, to show that everyone is welcome in the game of football, and deserves the right to be their authentic self."

Barcelona star defender Gerard Piqué took to Twitter to offer his support to Cavallo, tweeting: "I want to thank you for this step that you take. The world of football is far behind and you are helping us move forward."

Cavallo follows former A-League player Andy Brennan, who in 2019 became the first Australian professional male football player to publicly come out while playing.

In 2014, former Germany international Thomas Hitzlsperger came out as gay the year after he announced his retirement from football.

American international Robbie Rogers announced he was gay when retiring from professional football in February 2013, but subsequently returned to the sport with MLS club LA Galaxy three months later and went on to win the MLS Cup.

Matias Grez contributed to this report

Australian gay footballer Cavallo ‘overwhelmed’ by support

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The 21-year-old, who plays for Adelaide United in Australia’s A-League, said on social media on Wednesday: “I’m a footballer and I’m gay.”

His decision to go public won plaudits throughout the footballing world, with legendary Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic tweeting: “You are a champion. Football is for everyone. Big respect.”

Antoine Griezmann, Marcus Rashford, Raphael Varane, Gerard Pique and David de Gea all tweeted their support.

“Huge respect to Josh for doing this,” tweeted Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson.

“It’s courageous and shares an important message that everyone deserves to be themselves no matter what.”

Major clubs including Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan all applauded Cavallo, while Spanish giants Barcelona thanked him for “taking a huge step forward”.

“Your courage contributes to normalising diversity in the world of sports,” Barcelona said.

Cavallo, who has represented Australia at under-20 level, said he was stunned by the response.

“I want to get a message across to the world to show that it doesn’t matter who you are, what you believe in or what culture or background you come from, everyone is accepted in football,” he told Sky Sports.

“It should be based on your talent, not on what you look like or believe in.

“At the end of the day we are in 2021 and it’s time to change this in football. To have this day today, I’m so overwhelmed and happy with the response I’ve received.”

Despite football’s immense popularity worldwide only a few footballers have ever come out as gay, mostly after they retired to avoid the prospect of taunts from the terraces.

The first professional player to come out while still playing was Britain’s Justin Fashanu in 1990, but he never found acceptance in the game and hanged himself in 1998.

A charity set up by Fashanu’s family last year released a letter from an unnamed gay player in the English Premier League which highlighted how little football’s culture had changed.

The player said his situation was “an absolute nightmare”, adding: “I feel trapped and my fear is that disclosing the truth about what I am will only make things worse.”

Cavallo, whose emotional video announcing he was gay has been viewed nearly seven million times in less than 24 hours, said he hoped his decision would inspire others.

“As the game of football keeps expanding, I want to help evolve the game even further and let other players in my situation feel that they’re not alone,” he said.

His coach at Adelaide United, Carl Veart, said it had been a tough decision for the young player given “the stigma that has gone with it (being gay) in our sport”.

“I’ve been looking forward to this day since Josh told me. I am so happy for him and so proud that he could do that,” Veart said.

Italy: Senate rejects anti-homophobia law

The law would have made homophobia a crime that is treated similarly to racism. Right-wing lawmakers were particularly opposed to the proposal.



Polling shows that the law had popular support in Italy

The Italian parliament on Wednesday rejected a broad anti-homophobia law.

The law would have made homophobia a crime that is treated similarly to racism, allowing for prison sentences for offenders. It sought to punish acts of discrimination and incitement to violence against gay, lesbian, transgender and disabled people.

In the Senate, the upper chamber of the Italian legislature, 154 lawmakers voted against the bill, while 131 voted in favor.

The right-wing Northern League and the Brothers of Italy parties, as well as the Vatican, were the most vocal opponents to the proposed law.

How did proponents react?

The bill passed the lower chamber, the House of Representatives, in autumn 2020. The two right wing parties opposed to the law forced a vote in the Senate after critics and proponents failed to reach a compromise.

Five Star party leader, former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, said it was clear that some members of parliament had not progressed as far as the rest of Italian society.

Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio of the Five Star Movement said it was a "disgrace" that the law failed, and said gay people were still discriminated against in Italy. Social Democrat Labour Minister Andrea Orlando also described the outcome as a "disgrace for the country."

Leader of the Social Democrats Enrico Letta said people who wanted to turn Italy back in time had won this round, "But the country feels otherwise. And that will soon become clear."

Why were people opposed to the law?

Critics of the law said it endangered freedom of expression and could lead to supposed gay propaganda in schools.

The Vatican lodged a rare formal diplomatic complaint against the proposed law in June, alleging that it breached the Concordat, the bilateral treaty between Italy and the Holy See. It said the law may lead to Catholics being prosecuted for expressing opinions in favor of traditional heterosexual family structures.

League leader Matteo Salvini said proponents of the bill had failed to reach support of critics due to their inflexibility on the law's contents.

"They said no to all compromise proposals, including those proposed by the Holy Father (Pope Francis), by associations and by many families," Salvini said.

Parliament is blocked from reopening discussions on the proposed law for the next six months, making it almost impossible to approve it before the legislature expires early in 2023.

LGBTQ rights group Arcigay says it records more than 100 hate crime and discrimination cases each year. But attempts over the past 25 years to punish acts of homophobia and transphobia have failed.

A July poll found that the law had the backing of 62% of Italians

aw/wd (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Living and working on Georgia's largest garbage dump

Environmentalists fear pollution from the Gonio landfill is seeping into the air, soil and waters of the Black Sea. But government plans to close it have left many waste pickers worrying about an uncertain future.


Workers risk their health for little pay rummaging through the trash


"Look at what we have done to our Earth," said Gocha Dumbadze, walking across the mountain of household and industrial rubbish known as the Gonio landfill. Seagulls screech overhead as a truck dumps bags of food scraps, cans, engine oil and broken glass. The stench of burning waste fills the air. A herd of cows chew on plastic bags.

The dump lies 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Batumi, Georgia's second-largest city, sometimes referred to as Las Vegas on the Black Sea for its casinos. What began in the mid-1960s under the Soviet occupation as an unofficial dumpsite has now grown to cover roughly 300,000 square meters (74 acres) and tower 12-15 meters (nearly 50 feet) into the air.

The skyline of Batumi, Georgia’s second-largest city on the Black Sea, is visible behind the trash heap

Dumbadze, a 34-year-old day laborer and community activist, lives directly beside the landfill in a shack he built with material from the dump. Twenty other families also stay here to earn money from waste picking. Most are driven there by poverty or gambling debts. Others have fled uncertainty in Abkhazia, a Russian-backed breakaway republic of Georgia.

"It's an ecological disaster," said Dumbadze, pointing to a bright green pond they use as a water source. He believes the well is polluted by the landfill and said local children became ill after playing next to the water.

Community activist Gocha Dumbadze fights for better safety standards on the rubbish dump

Polluting the air, soil and sea

The country generates 1,117,396 metric tons of waste annually, which ends up spread among 33 landfills and 1,100 illegal and unregulated dump sites. Last year 83,838 tons of trash from the surrounding southwestern region of Adjara were dumped on Gonio, which is the responsibility of Batumi municipality and operated by LLC Sever, a waste collection company.

But according to the World Bank, Gonio — which like many landfills in the country lacks proper management and is not compliant with EU sanitary standards — is currently the largest and most dangerous dumpsite in Georgia.

Some decades ago, 70-year-old Natela Beridze and her husband owned and farmed cows. When people started dumping trash on Gonio, she said agriculture near the area became impossible as the land and the water became toxic. "But no one has helped us," said Beridze, adding the couple turned to picking trash to support themselves.

Runoff from the rubbish dump is used as a water source

"The Gonio landfill is one of the main polluters in the region. It pollutes the air, soil and sea," said Kakha Guchmanidze, an independent ecologist and waste management specialist. According to Guchmanidze, the landfill has never been equipped with appropriate waste management systems such as a lining, incinerators, methane oxidizing filters, treatment stations for toxic materials or even simple fencing and enclosures.

Toxic water has been found leaking into the nearby Chorokhi Delta, a valuable ecosystem and important area for migratory birds that flows into the Black Sea. Sea animals, including iconic species such as bottle-nosed dolphins and sturgeons — already threatened by overfishing and habitat degradation — are impacted by increasing pollution.

The residents of the illegal landfill have built their shacks from materials found on the dump

Unmanaged landfills can also have severe consequences for the climate. The gas produced when organic waste decomposes is made up of 40-60% methane, which is significantly more potent for global warming than carbon dioxide. The decay of organic trash contributes to approximately 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN Environment Program.

Picking waste for pennies

The dump is also a public health concern. Up to a hundred people work on the landfill as day laborers, often without protective equipment or health insurance.

"The work is very dangerous," said Mirza, as he searched for bottles, metal, aluminium and copper. He sells them for €5.45 ($6.30) per bag to a recycling company in Batumi. Like many of the workers, he bears scars and burns from rummaging through toxic waste.

Pollution from the trash stopped Natela Beridze and her husband from farming

"There are no sanitary standards on the landfill, and it is really urgent to close it down as soon as possible," said Tornike Kutchava, Adjara's deputy minister of finance and economy. He confirmed that toxic water is leaking into the Black Sea and that hazardous material may end up in the food system.

UNICEF reported in 2019 that 80% of children in the Adjara region had dangerously elevated levels of lead in their blood and suggested a potential link with hazardous sites such as landfills in the country.

Animals such as cows roam the dump chewing on plastic rubbish

Government promises

In 2009 the Adjaran government announced plans to close the Gonio dumpsite. In 2015, it received €3 million ($3.4 million) from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and €4 million ($4.6 million) from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency to build a new solid waste disposal facility.

According to Kutchava, the new site in Tsetskhlauri, around 45 kilometers north of Batumi, is under construction and will open in 2022. It will comply with EU environmental standards and be outfitted with, for example, a methane gas collection unit.

Waste management is a critical component of the central government's promise for greener growth. Georgia's national commitment is to reach 50% plastic recycling by 2025, the same target as the European Union, and 80% plastic recycling by 2030.

Since 2019, all municipalities in Georgia are required to have a waste separation system in place. But according to ecologist Guchmanidze, this has not materialized. "A gradual transition to the principles of a circular economy would be the best solution for sustainable waste management," he said.

Toxic fumes are released when trash is burned at the landfill

While Mirza believes in the benefits of recycling, he fears that the new government plant — which is too far away for him to travel to every day — will take away his income. He wants to stay working at the landfill, even if it is dangerous.

Dumbadze has little trust in official promises and said no one has come to talk with the people at the landfill. People such as Dumbadze, who are living on the Gonio landfill, are not included in government plans or entitled to compensation, according to a spokesperson of the Ministry of Finance and Economy in Adjara.

"We will stay with nothing, and just continue to live on the trash dump," predicts Dumbadze, who stands with Mirza next to a fire burning tires and plastic, emitting acidic-smelling black smoke.

THE UGLY FACE OF PLASTIC POLLUTION

The age of plastic

Plastic is lightweight, durable — and wildly popular. We've produced 8.3 billion metric tons of the material since mass production began in the 1950s. Because it doesn't easily biodegrade, much of what we've made now lives in landfills like this one on Nairobi's outskirts. Rubbish pickers there hunt for recyclable plastics to earn a living. But a lot of plastic also ends up in the ocean ...12345678

Saudi releases Shiite ex-death row prisoner al-Nimr: rights group


An undated handout picture released by reprieve.org on September 23, 2015 shows Ali al-Nimr, who received a Saudi death sentence that was later commuted (AFP/HO)

Wed, October 27, 2021

Ali al-Nimr, a Saudi from the Shiite minority who received a death sentence that was later commuted, was released on Wednesday after years in prison for taking part in anti-government protests.

"Ali al-Nimr, a young man detained since 2012 for participating in protests when he was a child, and who previously faced a death sentence, has been released today," ALQST for Human Rights said on Twitter.

Also on Twitter, his sister said that, "after ten years, my brother is free, thank God".

Ali al-Nimr is a nephew of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr who was executed by Saudi Arabia in 2016, leading to a rupture of diplomatic relations between Riyadh and Tehran.

Ali al-Nimr was handed a death sentence along with two other under-age Saudis from the Shiite community in 2012, after taking part in protests against the Sunni ruled kingdom.

In April 2020 the authorities said that the kingdom would stop imposing death sentences on people guilty of crimes committed when under the age of 18.

The reform comes in a country which has one of the highest execution rates in the world.

ht/feb/dwo/it

'Water, shade and rest': Extreme heat threatens US workers, economy

Author: AFP|

Update: 28.10.2021

Farmworker Irma Gomez picks cilantro in Lamont, California, where drought and wildfires have been fuelled by the hottest summer she has seen in nearly a decade in the state / © AFP

Irma Gomez has worked in California's Central Valley, one of the world's most productive agricultural regions, for nearly a decade -- but she has never experienced a year as hot as this one, so hot that a colleague collapsed and died in the fields.

"It's worrying," Gomez says. "It could happen to any of us."

Rising temperatures are increasingly threatening workers in the United States, endangering their health as well as their performance

And that has major economic consequences for the entire country, according to two recent studies.

The United States already loses an estimated $100 billion annually due to heat-related dips in productivity, says a report by the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation's Resilience Center, a Washington DC-based think tank.

If no action is taken to curb global warming, losses will reach $200 billion by 2030 and $500 billion by 2050, the study says.

"When you are slowed down and you need to have a break to have cold drinks and get in the shade, you produce less," says Kathy Baughman McLeod, director of the Resilience Center.

Farm foreman Rene Carrillo holds freshly picked cilantro while standing on a barren harvested field in Lamont -- heat-related dips in productivity can affect a farm worker's income, experts say / © AFP

The first impact of such slowdowns is on workers' income.

"In many fields like agriculture, workers are paid hourly or paid by the piece," says Kristina Dahl, co-author of a study conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a non-governmental organization specializing in issues such as global warming.

"So if the workers are getting that time out and not being compensated for it, then that has implications for their financial well-being as well."

Gomez, 37, said there has been less work this year because of the heat -- and it has affected her basic needs, like her ability to pay for housing.

Unable to work eight-hour days, she received $1,700 a month this summer, $700 less than the same period last year. For her, the difference is equivalent to a month's rent.

- Everyone affected -

A farm worker picks grapes in Lamont, California / © AFP

As the heat continues to rise, breaks will only become more frequently necessary, warns the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Three million workers in the United States experience at least one working week each year in temperatures above 37.7 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit), where heat puts them at risk.

If current weather patterns continue, by the middle of the century, some 18.4 million people will be working more than a week in such extreme conditions -- which means more breaks to protect health.

"Everyone, no matter what job they have, is going to feel the effects of that drop in productivity," says Dahl.

After all, the people working in that heat are the ones who are outside "planting and harvesting our food, they are delivering our packages, they are maintaining our buildings, roads and bridges," she says.

Working in too much heat slows down movement. It causes fatigue, confusion, fainting and, in the most severe cases, a rise in body temperature that can be fatal.

It is estimated that in California alone, "hotter temperatures may be causing upwards of tens of thousands of workplace injuries each year," warns economist Jisung Park, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

To protect herself from the sun, Gomez wears a long-sleeved T-shirt and trousers, as well as a cap and head scarf.

On this autumn day, she has also donned a face mask because of the smoke from forest fires, which blanket the sky in a dense ochre haze.

- Deadly heat -

Farm workers increasingly need water, shade and rest as temperatures rise due to global warming, experts say / © AFP

The two studies agree that the priority is to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit the rise in temperatures.

But while waiting for this to be achieved, they advocate taking care of workers.

"It really boils down to, give workers three things: water, shade and rest," says Dahl.

"Most people don't know but heat is killing more Americans than any other climate hazards," says Baughman McLeod.

Both experts see the need for a federal law that provides for paid breaks, in addition to protective measures.

"The objective is that the workers don’t have to choose between their health and their paychecks," says Dahl.

In September, the White House announced it would consider regulations to protect workers -- but the process takes time.

California, Minnesota and Washington are the only states in the country with regulations. On very hot days, companies are required to provide water and shade for workers. And in extreme temperatures, they must stop work altogether.

In rural areas, one alternative to this is for workers to harvest at night or in the early hours of the morning.

But this creates other challenges.

Gomez, for example, loses days when she cannot find a babysitter for her youngest daughter in the early hours of the morning.

Now she is relieved that the summer temperatures are behind her, but she fears for the future.

"We don't know what next year will be like," she says.

Benin artist condemns 'hypocrisy' of leaders on climate

Josue MEHOUENOU
Wed, 27 October 2021

Benin artist Romuald Hazoume says politicians who downplay or deny global warming as "absolutely irresponsible" and in "denial". (AFP/Yanick Folly)


Benin artist Romuald Hazoume has drawn an international following with works that are emblematic of waste and regeneration -- masks made from recycled materials such as jerrycans, for instance.

With the UN's COP26 summit looming in Glasgow, he hopes to use this platform to sound a warning over Africa's inaction to the threat from climate change.

Climate change is "already a reality" on the continent, the 59-year-old sculptor and artist told AFP in an interview.

"Our leaders have the courage to run for office, but they lack courage when it comes to facing the reality," he said.

Political leaders who minimise or deny global warming are "absolutely irresponsible" and "in denial," said Hazoume.

"In Africa, there cannot be this hypocrisy, this bad faith, because the reality (of global warming) is already here," he said, speaking from his lush garden in Cotonou, the small coastal nation's economic capital.

Steps away from his house, on the long golden beach of Fidjrosse, known as the "fishing route", sea level rise has been an issue for several years, said the artist.

"Air and water temperatures are going up. When we look at our shoreline, we see plenty of seaweed, which wasn't the case before."

- 'Survival' -

"In Benin, we have many waterways, and every year we suffer from the impact of floods (...) We have to stop heading straight into a wall," the artist said.

Countries in Africa are particularly vulnerable to climate change that also worsens food insecurity, poverty and displacement, according to a United Nations report.

If nothing changes, up to 118 million extremely poor people will be exposed to drought, floods and extreme heat by 2030, according to the UN.

"With the rise of sea levels, we have islands that will disappear. Some populations will be erased from planet earth," said Hazoume.

"We don't have a choice, it's a question of survival."

While often critical of governments, Hazoume, who has used waste in his art since the 80s, remains optimistic.

In Benin, for example, there have been improvements in waste management in the country's cities in the past five years.

"Roads are cleaned every night, and we no longer have trash clogging gutters, so that gives me hope," he said.

- 'Real polluters' -

During the rainy season, many cities on the continent become flooded and difficult for traffic, including in neighbouring Nigeria's Lagos, the largest city in sub-Saharan Africa.

Often the most vulnerable people living in informal settlements suffer the most, and sometimes lives are lost.

But "we can succeed, with willpower," said Hazoume. "African countries can fight back, instead of always casting themselves as victims."

Five years ago, the artist attended COP22 in Marrakesh, in Morocco.

"I was meant to speak, but I was so angry, seeing what was happening, with big polluters giving lessons to smaller countries," he said.

"How many factories do we have in our small countries? The real polluters, we know who they are."

But the outspoken artist also called on individuals to assume their own responsibilities, starting with recycling at home and not throwing out litter on the streets.

"We must also recognise what we are responsible for," said Hazoume, "and not accuse others."

cma-aml/lhd/pma/lc/ri

No tilling, no chemicals in S.African farmer's revolution

Vum AFP|Update: 28.10.2021

Danie Bester is a champion of 'regenerative farming' -- smarter use of crops and less tilling to help control weeds and retain soil moisture and nutrients / © AFP

It's spring in South Africa, and Danie Bester's tillers are rusting in a corner of his farm.

Freshly-turned earth stretches for miles on other farms as his neighbours prepare their fields.

"I'm still playing golf," said 37-year-old Bester.

He might sound like Aesop's grasshopper, wasting away the spring days while the ants next door work.

But he's actually made a radical decision to overhaul the way he farms, using techniques that are both better for his soil and for adapting to climate change.

"My seed beds are already growing, and my weed control is already going," he said. "So I don't have to do that amount, big amount of preparation, like the other guys are doing."

His farming style has a fancy name -- regenerative agriculture. But it's a simple idea.


Bester, centre, checks soy seeds ahead of planting on his 1,100-hectare spread / © AFP

Instead of dousing the fields with pesticides, installing irrigation systems and churning the earth with heavy tillers, Bester grows cover crops during the off season.

Cattle graze on the plants, dropping dung as added fertilizer on his 1,100-hectare (2,700 acres) spread, 90 kilometres (55 miles) southeast of Johannesburg.

The result: worms do the work of oxygenation that machines do elsewhere, while the untilled, shaded soil retains moisture and nutrients -- and weeds are kept under control.

His technique remains rare in South Africa, which has the most industrialised farms on the continent. Most use large-scale monoculture farming reliant on chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

But in addition to being climate-smart, Bester's corn and soy yields are among the highest in the country, earning him national awards that he hopes will inspire others to make the change.

"It's like a small seed you have to plant. The other guys start seeing the success (and) they will catch on," said Bester.

South Africa's climate is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, according to experts, meaning changes to farming are crucial.

"As globally we overshoot 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), we'll be at three degrees... that's going to bring major stresses to the commercialised and globalised food system," said activist Vishwas Satgar with the Climate Justice Charter Movement.

South Africa is already a dry country, and widespread irrigation is not a viable option.


Healthy soil: Bester says his fields are in better shape than on farms doused by chemicals / © AFP

Bester's fields are rich without artificial watering. He pulls out a stalk, revealing a bit of fungal growth and a wriggling earthworm -- creatures not found on farms doused with pesticides, he said.

"There are going to be challenges in the future that are not going to be solved by chemical agriculture," said Peter Johnston, a climate scientist at the University of Cape Town.

Across Africa, small farmers use traditional practices less damaging to the environment.

- 'Look into the future' -

With a real pressure to improve harvests to feed growing populations, farmers are encouraged by agro-chemical companies to use particular seeds that require chemical pesticides and fertilizers, Johnston said.

Those methods can resist the changing climate, but at cost.

"Industrial agriculture traditionally always gets to the point where it doesn't really regard the soil as a resource anymore, the soil is just a holder for plants," Johnston said.

"That is not a holistic look at the way agriculture should be."

Over time, those techniques mean the soil keeps less moisture and produces less nutritious crops, Johnston said.

"We've got to get the soils back to what they were a hundred years ago. We've destroyed everything," Bester said. "The longer the soil will be healthy, the longer we will be able to produce food."


Bester's tillers are lying unused -- regenerative farming entails turning over the soil as little as possible / © AFP

Change doesn't happen overnight.

Bester spent years testing his soil quality, managing his fields in blocks of five square metres (54 square-metres), and learning by trial and error.

The payoff isn't just high yields, Bester said, but ensuring the land will remain fertile for his two young children.

"You have to look really far into the future to make sure you're (making) the right decisions," he said.

Bester's neighbours are starting to catch on.

Tilling is becoming less common, he said.

"It's only going to get worse if we don't change," he said. "We need to conserve now."

‘Never seen anything like it’: astronaut on 2021 climate disasters

 by Editorial Staff

 

 October 28, 2021

  

This screengrab made available by the European Space Agency (ESA) on September 3, 2021 shows French astronaut Thomas Pesquet delivering a speech in a pre-recorded meassage from space which will be broadcast on September 5 during the “Giant Dictation (Dictee Geante)” event held in Paris. – Pesquet will read to the participants an excerpt from Marguerite Duras’ book “Un barrage contre le Pacifique (The Sea Wall)”. 

Pesquet recently finished up his second mission at the International Space Station, an experience that made him appreciate Earth’s fragility like never before.

He spoke to AFP ahead of the UN climate summit kicking off on October 31, sharing his hopes and fears for the planet.

– What images strike you the most? –

The massive storms, and the forest fires. I have never seen anything like it, incredibly huge fires with plumes of smoke visible from space for days and days.

In this file photo taken on November 09, 2018 businesses continue to burn under a darkened smokey sky in Paradise, north of Sacramento, California. (Photo by Josh Edelson / AFP)

It was striking to think about the energy it gave off and the damage it caused for people unfortunate enough to be in its path.

We had never seen so many extremely impressive tropical storms — you could practically see into the eye of the cyclone. They’re walls of clouds with phenomenal power, coming more and more often and causing more and more destruction.

– Does the Earth seem fragile? –

Yes, absolutely. Seeing the planet from the window of your space craft makes you think. You only have to see it once: you can spend two days in space and just getting that distance, seeing the fragility of the atmosphere, that thin bubble that makes life possible in the vacuum of space, that incredible oasis — it changes your life.

When you see changes over the long term — sometimes you need more than five years to see it — you can’t help but feel concerned.

That’s why I became an ambassador for the (UN’s) Food and Agriculture Organization, and an advocate for many environmental causes.

– What worries you the most? –

The idea that we might not succeed in reaching an agreement at an international level, and that economic concerns dominate over environmental ones.

It’s a completely short-sighted approach. Over the long-term, profits are directly threatened by climate change. When you see the Great Barrier Reef not included on the list of endangered sites because of Australian government pressure, you think the priorities are wrong and we’re in trouble.

A crown of Thorns Starfish at Swains Reef – part of the Great Barrier Reef off the east coast of Australia in the South Pacific Ocean (Photo by Scott Ling / Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies / AFP)

The first thing to do is listen to the experts who have dedicated their lives to providing solutions on a local, regional, national and global level. We have to try to put solutions in place.

The most urgent task at hand is to decarbonise. You have to prioritise renewables and carbon-free energy. And that takes restrictive measures and international commitments for which countries can be held accountable. That’s what COP26 is all about.

Source: Thai PBS World

Women show the way as India pushes ‘eco-miracle’ seaweed


In this photograph taken on Sept. 24, 2021, a woman works on seaweed after harvesting from the waters off the coast of Rameswaram in India's Tamil Nadu state.

 (Photo by Arun Sankar/ AFP)

AFP
October 28, 202106:33

India is the world’s third largest carbon polluter, behind China and the US, and has yet to set a target date for its emissions to reach net zero

RAMESWARAM, India: Draped in a colorful saree and shirt, Lakshmi Murgesan dives into the azure waters off India’s southern coast to collect seaweed, which is being hailed by scientists as a miracle crop that absorbs more carbon dioxide than trees.

India is the world’s third largest carbon polluter, behind China and the US, and has yet to set a target date for its emissions to reach net zero.

But authorities are looking into how seaweed farming could help reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions, reverse ocean acidification and improve the marine environment, as well as providing a sustainable livelihood for marginalized coastal communities.

“I am doing this for my children... It requires a lot of hard work, but I am able to earn good profits from about four months of work,” said Murgesan, who makes 20,000 rupees ($265) each month farming the fibrous macroalgae.

“I would not have been able to educate my children but after doing this, I could send my children to college,” she added, smiling as she emerged from the waters in Rameswaram, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

M. Ganesan, a government marine scientist, said seaweed provides a possible way forward as coastal habitats and wetlands absorb five times more carbon than terrestrial forests.

“It is a miracle crop in many ways, it is eco-friendly, it doesn’t use land or fresh water. It absorbs carbon dioxide dissolved in water during photosyntheses and oxygenates the entire marine ecosystem,” Ganesan told AFP.

India, which has an 8,000-kilometer (5,000-mile) coastline, is now aiming to boost production from the current 30,000 tons to more than one million tons each year by 2025.

Globally, seaweed production was worth around $12 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow to $26 billion by 2025, with China and Indonesia having 80 percent of the market share.

Murgesan is part of a team of women who work together to cultivate fronds of seaweed on bamboo rafts, before harvesting and drying them.

The tropical waters of Tamil Nadu form an ideal environment — with one raft yielding up to 200 kilos (440 pounds) in around 45 days.

The product is then sent for sale in markets nationwide as well as the US and Australia through AquAgri, a private company that promotes algal cultivation in India.

Popular in East and South East Asian cuisine, seaweed is also used in medicine, cosmetics, bio-fertilizer and bio-fuel.

“Seaweed has major use as a crop bio-stimulant for increasing productivity and making the crop more resilient to climate induced stresses. It’s also used as a major ingredient in meat and food processing,” Abhiram Seth, managing director of AquAgri, told AFP.

And while it has not been traditionally popular in India, in July the government announced some $85 million in subsidies for seaweed farming initiatives over the next five years.

Seaweed cultivation is already common in Japan, China, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Interest is growing in Australia, which has outlined a plan to develop a $100 million industry by 2025.

Seth said there was potential to benefit both the environment and farmers like Murgesan.

“Seaweeds clean up the water. At the same time seaweed cultivators get a sustainable income without having to relocate to urban areas to find work,” he explained.

Seaweed does not require fertilizer, freshwater, or pesticides. Kelp, one of the most commonly farmed types, grows at a rate of 61cm (two feet) a day.

They absorb an estimated 173 million metric tons of carbon each year — the same annual emissions as New York State, according to a 2016 paper in Nature Geosciences.
And a recent study by the University of California found that mixing red seaweed in animal feed could help reduce methane emissions.

“We now have sound evidence that seaweed in cattle diet is effective at reducing greenhouse gases and that the efficacy does not diminish over time,” Ermias Kebreab, director of the World Food Center, said in the research.

As well as absorbing carbon dioxide when it is alive, when it dies and drops to the seafloor, seaweed also keeps carbon in the sediment, Ganesan added.

However scientists say there can be downsides to farming it.

“Overharvesting seaweed has its drawbacks because it forms the food for many reef dwelling creatures like sea urchins and reef fish,” said marine biologist Naveen Namboothri, from Dakshin Foundation, adding that extraction could disturb the reef

.
Conscious of these risks, Murgesan and the other farmers work for only 12 days a month and don’t harvest during the main fish breeding season, between April and June.

Seaweed farmer Vijaya Muthuraman, who never went to school, relies on traditional knowledge.

“We only grow as much as we need and in a way that doesn’t harm or kill the fish,” she said, sitting on the shore after the day’s toil, the gentle surf rising and ebbing behind her.

The dangers of getting hurt by the rocky sea bed or stung by jellyfish always lurk for the women, but they appeared undaunted, laughing and chatting away their worries.

“We face a lot of hazards but this work has given me and my family some dignity,” she said, adding: “Our living standards have improved and now others in my village also want to become seaweed farmers.”

In this photograph taken on Sept. 24, 2021, a woman dives to harvest wild seaweed from the waters off the coast of Rameswaram in India's Tamil Nadu state. (Photo by Arun Sankar/ AFP)

In this photograph taken on Sept. 24, 2021, a woman collects seaweed in the waters off the coast of Rameswaram in India's Tamil Nadu state. (Photo by Arun Sankar/ AFP)

In this photograph taken on Sept. 24, 2021, a woman harvests wild seaweed in the waters off the coast of Rameswaram in India's Tamil Nadu state. (Photo by Arun Sankar/ AFP)

In this photograph taken on Sept. 24, 2021, a woman works on seaweed after harvesting from the waters off the coast of Rameswaram in India's Tamil Nadu state. (Photo by Arun Sankar/ AFPNext
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Camilla condemns how society has come to believe 'violence against women is normal'

Thursday, October 28th, 2021 5:02am

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The Duchess of Cornwall has condemned the way society has come to believe that "violence against women is normal", asking: "How many more women must be harassed, raped or murdered?"

In the most powerful speech of her royal life Camilla spoke of her sympathy for the families of Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa and other victims, and the "unimaginable torment" the women had suffered.

She made the comments at an event hosted by Women of the World (WOW) at the Wellcome Collection in London, where she was also joined by Carrie Johnson, the prime minister's wife.

Launching WOW's Shameless festival, encouraging activism against sexual violence, which takes place in London next month, Camilla said: "We need to get the men in our lives involved in this movement.

"We do not, in any way, hold all men responsible for sexual violence. But we do need them all on board to tackle it. After all, rapists are not born, they are constructed.

"And it takes an entire community - male and female - to dismantle the lies, words and actions that foster a culture in which sexual assault is seen as normal, and in which it shames the victim.

"So let us all leave here today and try and get the men in our lives to participate in building a 'shameless' society. Because how many more women must be harassed, raped or murdered before we truly unite to forge a violence-free world?"

The first royal to talk in detail about the high profile deaths of women in recent months, she said: "This country has been appalled and saddened by the loss of women to violence this year.

"On average, one woman is killed by a man every three days. Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa, Wenjing Lin, Geetika Goyal and Bennylyn Burke are names which, with all the others, must never be forgotten.

"Each one of these women endured unimaginable torment - and their loved ones who are left behind continue to suffer in the wake of their deaths."

Royal aides said the duchess had personally invited Carrie Johnson to the reception because of her own commitment to campaigning on the issue of sexual violence.

Three years ago she bravely waived her right to anonymity to reveal that she had been a victim of 'black cab rapist' John Worboys, thought to be Britain's most prolific sex attacker.

She described how she was a 19-year-old student when she was offered a lift in 2007 by the rapist. She believes her drink was spiked as she remembers very little else, and was among 14 women who gave evidence against Worboys in 2009.

Highlighting the impact of sexual violence against women through rape and domestic violence has been a key focus of Camilla's work for a number of years, but a previous sense of caution or nervousness about giving voice to her concerns appears to have been replaced by a greater sense of determination to speak out against the shame felt by victims and survivors.

U.K. women boycotting clubs, pubs amid reports of drink spiking, needle injections

'Girls Night In' accounts on social media gather thousands of followers

The Associated Press · Posted: Oct 27, 2021 

Young women across the U.K. are boycotting nightclubs and pubs Wednesday as university towns and cities join in a national 'girls night in' protest after increasing reports of drink spiking and students being drugged by needle injections. (Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock)

Young women across the U.K. are boycotting nightclubs and pubs Wednesday as university towns and cities join in a national "girls night in" protest after increasing reports of drink spiking and students being drugged by needle injections.

The online campaign, which has gained momentum in university cities including Bristol, Brighton and Nottingham, wants to raise awareness about women's safety and demand more urgent action by the government and nightclubs to prevent "date rape" drugs from being brought into clubs.

"Girls Night In" accounts organizing boycotts in British cities this week have gathered thousands of followers on social media.

The protests came after a sharp rise in recent months of reports of drink spiking and needle "spiking" — where women report being injected with drugs in the back or in the leg at nightclubs — as students return to campuses after a long spell away due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Girls Night In on Instagram: “Team Nottingham x #girlsnightin https://linktr.ee/charli.smith

The National Police Chiefs' Council said there have been 198 confirmed reports of drink spiking in September and October across the U.K., and 24 reports of people being injected while on nights out.

Police in Nottingham, central England, said last week that extra officers were being put on patrol on the weekends to ensure people could enjoy a safe night out.

The force said that since Oct. 2, 14 women and a man have alleged being spiked "by something sharp, as opposed to a traditional method of contaminated alcoholic drinks."

PHOTOSHundreds mourn slain London teacher Sabina Nessa at vigil, denounce violence against women

Student Zara Owen, 19, told the BBC that she blacked out soon after arriving with friends at a nightclub in the city earlier this month.

She said she had no recollection of what happened that night, but woke up with a pain in her leg before she discovered a pin prick.

Media City, Manchester

zaraowen_

so incredibly honoured and humbled to have been able to have the opportunity to appear on @bbcbreakfast this morning where i spoke about the horrendous spiking by injection and my story. i hope this can cause some impact and we can see change in the near future. i wish everyone who was involved with me appearing on the show in the studio in manchester a huge thank you

please sign the petition in my bio, every signature helps.

i don’t own the rights to the first photo,

zara owen on Instagram: “so incredibly honoured and humbled to have been able to have the opportunity to appear on @bbcbreakfast this morning where i spoke about…”

In Brighton, the southern England seaside city, detectives said they were investigating six reports of women being injected during the past week.

Police were carrying out unannounced checks through the night, and all reports were being taken "incredibly seriously," said Chief Superintendent Justin Burtenshaw, commander for Brighton and Hove.

Anyone who believed they may have been a victim of spiking should let police or bar staff know immediately so they could be tested for potential drugs before their effects wane, he added.

People line up outside a nightclub in Brighton, England, on July 18. 

(Chris Eades/Getty Images)

Organizers of the boycott said on Instagram that "spiking has become an epidemic."

"Never before have we heard of so many students waking up with no memory of what had happened the night before," read the message. "This is not getting `black-out drunk,' this is getting drugged and is something that can be changed."

How to prevent drugged drinks? Mandatory training for bar staff deemed necessary

On Wednesday, a 29-year-old man appeared in court in the city of Manchester charged with rape after a woman reported that her drink had been spiked during a night out in September.

An online petition calling for nightclubs to be required to thoroughly search people on entry has garnered almost 170,000 signatures.