Cancer-causing air pollution forecast at 44 times annual level in Ont. First Nation, docs show

By Carolyn Jarvis Global News
Posted November 15, 2021 

2:10 Newly revealed data from the Ministry of Environment, disclosed last week following questions from Global News, shows a startling forecast for a chemical linked to cancer - up to 44 times the annual level - in the northern part of Aamjiwnaang First Nation in Ontario.

After a prolonged battle with the provincial government, an Ontario First Nation has finally obtained critical air pollution data — previously held in secret — showing alarming levels of a cancer-causing chemical in the air.

Newly revealed data from the Ministry of Environment, disclosed last week following questions from Global News, shows a startling forecast for benzene pollution, a chemical linked to cancer, up to 44 times the annual level in the northern part of the First Nation.

Members of Aamjiwnaang First Nation, located along the Michigan border, said the Ontario government has been stonewalling them and withholding crucial data for years in what amounts to a “disrespectful” partnership that has treated them as less than equal.

“When we’re talking with the ministry and the province about nation to nation and reconciliation, if we can’t even get a minister to answer our letters, it speaks to the commitment of the government,” said Aamjiwnaang’s environment coordinator Sharilyn Johnston.

READ MORE: Ontario enviro watchdog, First Nation demand health study after ‘Chemical Valley’ investigation

Aamjiwnaang had been asking the government for the benzene data for months, and for other air pollution reports since 2017. Community members were also anxiously awaiting a new government regulation to reduce sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions from nearby petroleum plants.

Both the reports and the proposed SO2 regulation were released last week following questions from Global News.

“The only reason that he shared any of the data is because of the pressing by (Global News),” said Aamjiwnaang Chief Chris Plain.

Health concerns in Chemical Valley go back years

Aamjiwnaang First Nation lies on the south side of Sarnia and is surrounded by heavy industry.

The area is known as Chemical Valley: a cluster of more than 50 registered polluters — some located mere steps from the homes in Aamjiwnaang.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW ADVERTISEMENT


For years, the people living here have suspected the high level of pollution was making them sick. A study published last spring by an Ontario health research institute indicated that air pollution is likely contributing to a higher risk of asthma in kids in the region.

View image in full screen

Other serious health concerns — including cancer cases — have remained anecdotal in the absence of hard data.

A 2017 Global News investigation, in partnership with the Toronto Star and the Institute for Investigative Journalism, exposed a pattern of industrial leaks and spills in the Sarnia area and revealed the stories of residents who believed it was making them sick.

Just two days after the investigation was made public, the provincial government announced it would launch a health study that the community had been requesting for a decade.

23:05  Toxic Secret: A troubling trend of leaks and spills in the Sarnia area – Oct 14, 2017

The stakes of the health study are high.

Should it prove a connection between elevated air pollution levels and adverse health impacts, oil and chemical companies — the lifeblood of Sarnia — could be forced to invest millions to renovate their plants.

The financial cost, some speculate, could jeopardize Ontario’s competitive advantage, putting jobs at risk.

A spokesperson for the Environment Ministry said the Sarnia Area Environmental Health Project will “enhance our understanding of the links between environment and health.” It is slated to be completed this spring.

The people of Aamjiwnaang were eager to see the underlying data.

READ MORE: Are industrial spills in Canada’s ‘Chemical Valley’ making people sick?

In 2017, the provincial government, then led by Kathleen Wynne, assured the Aamjiwnaang First Nation that it would be included in the project, which the government said would “improve the relationship with Ontario’s Indigenous communities.”

The Ford government also reiterated its importance.

“People can count on us to make sure that the health study gets done, obviously in partnership with the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, with the town, with the health authorities,” former environment minister Rod Phillips said in 2018.

While the Ministry of the Environment has kept the First Nation regularly updated on the project, until last week it withheld key air pollution data informing the health study.

“This is just the continuation of the Canadian legacy of putting Indigenous people, people of colour, at a lower place,” said Janelle Nahmabin, chair of Aamjiwnaang’s environment committee, who goes by the spirit name Red Cloud Woman.

The recently released benzene data is part of the health study’s air exposure review, which is meant to identify the hazards, evaluate exposures and characterize risks.

Five priority chemicals were identified by the ministry for inclusion: benzene and 1,3 butadiene, which are known carcinogens, as well as sulphur dioxide, which can cause respiratory distress.

2:10 Ontario enviro watchdog, First Nation demand health study after ‘Chemical Valley’ investigation – Oct 15, 2017

All five chemicals were modelled by the Ministry of the Environment — a projection of pollution levels based on combined industrial emissions and weather patterns.


Global News was able to obtain part of that modelling data, under freedom of information legislation. The data indicated sulphur dioxide levels at much higher concentrations than most Canadian cities.

The maximum annual average of sulphur dioxide over three years was forecast to be as high as 11 parts per billion (ppb) in Sarnia’s industrial heart and five to six ppb in north Aamjiwnaang, which is located close to a petroleum plant.

Toronto, by contrast, had an annual SO2 level of 0.3 ppb for the last year data was reported.

View image in full screen

The Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standard for SO2, a non-enforceable standard, is five ppb annually, and is being lowered to four ppb annually in 2025.

“These are very high levels,” said Scott Grant, an air pollution engineer who retired from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and is now consulting with Aamjiwnaang.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW ADVERTISEMENT


“There have been a number of studies going back into the early 2000s that demonstrate an increased level of hospitalizations and increased level of mortality, even with these higher levels of SO2 on a long-term basis. This is a significant concern.”

READ MORE: A year after Ontario promised change, toxic emissions still spilling into Sarnia

On Oct. 27, Global News contacted the Ministry of the Environment seeking information about sulphur dioxide and its health effects. On Nov. 1, there was a follow-up request for more data and an interview with the minister — which was not granted.

On Nov. 9, however, the ministry proposed a new regulation for sulphur dioxide.

If it is approved, heavy emitters would be required to reduce SO2 levels by 30 per cent by early 2022 and would have to reduce emissions by up to 90 per cent by the end of 2026. It would also allow the province to fine a company up to $100,000 for contravening the new requirements.

“Our facilities in Ontario, near Aamjiwnaang, are decades behind in terms of air pollution control,” Grant said.

“There are cost-effective solutions that have already been proven in the United States that could be applied here.”

The proposed regulation also stipulates that companies will have to share emissions data with local municipalities and First Nations.

‘Tired of empty words’

Among the other documents disclosed to the First Nation this week: an air monitoring report that shows the government had been aware of how severe the benzene exposures were for years.

The emissions report was published in 2017 by a Swedish firm hired by the ministry to conduct specialized air monitoring using “state of the art” infrared and laser techniques.

It measured the air quality at 18 different locations in the Sarnia area and found benzene levels outside two of the industrial plants which neighbour Aamjiwnaang up to 10 times Ontario’s hourly benchmark. The report also zeroed in on the specific sources of the emissions.

Aamjiwnaang had been asking the government for this report for four years.

“It is unconscionable as to why the Ministry would fail to produce a report to Aamjiwnaang First Nation,” Aamjiwnaang Chief Chris Plain wrote to Environment Minister David Piccini on July 13, 2021.

Currently, benzene emissions have been reduced in parts of Aamjiwnaang, but they are still well above Ontario’s stringent air quality standard.

An independent analysis by Global News found the annual benzene level in 2020 at a government air monitor on the north side of Aamjiwnaang was still seven times Ontario’s Ambient Air Quality Criteria — a threshold established to protect health.

Environment Ministry spokesperson Gary Wheeler said that level is a 50 per cent reduction from 2019 and the government has taken action by issuing orders, requiring an industrial plant across from Aamjiwnaang to reduce its benzene emissions.

For Red Cloud Woman of Aamjiwnaang, the continued pollution and the lack of partnership is environmental racism.

In an era of reconciliation with Indigenous communities across Canada, she said the rhetoric of rebuilding relations rings hollow.

“We’re tired of empty words. We want action.”

Large UK earthquake sees homes rocked and startled residents forced awake at 2am

Residents in Lochgilphead, Scotland, and neighbouring towns have reported significant tremors after a 3.1 magnitude earthquake startled residents in the early hours of this morning


Ethan Blackshaw
William Walker

News Reporter
16 NOV 2021

The epicentre is thought to be just outside of Lochgilphead, northwest of Glasgow in Argyll

A significant earthquake has rocked homes and woken people up in Scotland, with locals reporting serious shaking.

It registered 3.1 on the Richter scale and caused widespread disturbance at around 2am on Tuesday morning.

The epicentre is believed to be near the town of Lochgilphead, northwest of Glasgow in Argyll, and shaking has also been reported in Oban, Inveraray and Tarbert.

Nearby residents said their homes shook during the tremor, reports The Mirror.

One said: "I'm in Tarbert Argyll. I've never felt one that big, everything in my room shook."

Another said: "Argyll earthquake was around 7km from Lochgilphead and felt widely across Argyllshire. Possible 4.2 magnitude which would make sense for reported duration."

The quake has struck the idyllic west coast of Scotland (Image: Getty Images)

Scotland shaken by early-hours earthquake
I

The earthquake's epicentre was 11 miles north west of Lochgilphead

People in the west of Scotland have been shaken by an earthquake in the early hours of the morning.

The earthquake, with a magnitude of 3.3, happened just before 02:00.

Its epicentre was about 11 miles (18km) north west of Lochgilphead in Argyll and Bute, and 88 miles (142km) north west of Glasgow, according to the United States Geological Survey.

More than 30 people reported the tremor, from as far away as Edinburgh and Ballycastle in Northern Ireland.

The agency said the quake happened six miles (10km) below the Earth's surface.

Where and why earthquakes occur in Scotland

Rosemary Neagle, who lives on a farm in Kilmartin Glen near Lochgilphead, said the noise of the tremor was so loud that she initially thought something had exploded in one of her sheds.

She told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "It kept on intensifying and the house vibrated. It rumbled on for about 10 seconds afterwards, so it was quite frightening.

"I have experienced them before here but never to that extent. The house has never shook like that in the past."


Some Scotland football fans have cheekily claimed the quake may have been caused by events at Hampden Park, where the men's national football team beat Denmark 2-0.

Stephen Fenwick tweeted: "Earthquake in western Scotland? Probably earth tremor caused by several hundred thousand Glaswegians celebrating Scotland's historic 2-0 win over Denmark last night."

Data from the British Geological Survey shows that between 200 and 300 earthquakes are detected in the UK every year, with tremors of between 3.0 and 3.9 magnitude happening on the mainland once every three years on average.

The overnight earthquake registered on all the seismographs across Ireland.

Dr Martin Möllhoff, director of Seismic Networks in Dublin at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, said it was the first felt earthquake that had been anywhere in Ireland since one was recorded close to the Irish border in County Donegal in 2019.

"It is a little bit exciting because this does not happen so often and most people think there are no earthquakes in Ireland," he said.

Pfizer agrees to let other companies make its COVID-19 pill


FILE - The Pfizer logo is displayed at the company's headquarters in New York, on Feb. 5, 2021. In a statement on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021, drugmaker Pfizer Inc. said it has signed a deal with a U.N.-backed group to allow other manufacturers to make its experimental coronavirus pill, in a move that could make its treatment available to more than half of the world’s population.

 (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

LONDON (AP) — Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. has signed a deal with a U.N.-backed group to allow other manufacturers to make its experimental COVID-19 pill, a move that could make the treatment available to more than half of the world’s population.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Pfizer said it would grant a license for the antiviral pill to the Geneva-based Medicines Patent Pool, which would let generic drug companies produce the pill for use in 95 countries, making up about 53% of the world’s population.

The deal excludes some large countries that have suffered devastating coronavirus outbreaks. For example, while a Brazilian drug company could get a license to make the pill for export to other countries, the medicine could not be made generically for use in Brazil.

Still, health officials said the fact that the deal was struck even before Pfizer’s pill has been authorized anywhere, could help to end the pandemic quicker.

“It’s quite significant that we will be able to provide access to a drug that appears to be effective and has just been developed, to more than 4 billion people,” Esteban Burrone, head of policy at the Medicines Patent Pool, said.

He estimated that other drugmakers would be able to start producing the pill within months, but acknowledged the agreement wouldn’t please everyone.

“We try to strike a very delicate balance between the interests of the (company), the sustainability required by generic producers and most importantly, the public health needs in lower and middle-income countries,” Burrone said.

Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will not receive royalties on sales in low-income countries and will waive royalties on sales in all countries covered by the agreement while COVID-19 remains a public health emergency.

Earlier this month, Pfizer said its pill cut the risk of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% in people with mild to moderate coronavirus infections. Independent experts recommended halting the company’s study based on its promising results.

Pfizer said it would ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulators to authorize the pill as soon as possible,

Since the pandemic erupted last year, researchers worldwide have raced to develop a pill to treat COVID-19 that can be taken at home easily to ease symptoms, speed recovery and keep people out of the hospital. At the moment, most COVID-19 treatments must be delivered intravenously or by injection.

Britain authorized the Merck’s COVID-19 pill earlier this month, and it is pending approval elsewhere. In a similar deal with the Medicines Patent Pool announced in October, Merck agreed to let other drugmakers make its COVID-19 pill, molnupiravir, available in 105 poorer countries.

Doctors Without Borders said it was “disheartened” that the Pfizer deal does not make the drug available to the entire world, noting that the agreement announced Tuesday also excludes countries including China, Argentina and Thailand.

“The world knows by now that access to COVID-19 medical tools needs to be guaranteed for everyone, everywhere, if we really want to control this pandemic,” said Yuanqiong Hu, a senior legal policy adviser at Doctors Without Borders.

The decisions by Pfizer and Merck to share their COVID-19 drug patents stands in stark contrast to the refusal of Pfizer and other vaccine-makers to release their vaccine recipes for wider production. A hub set up by the World Health Organization in South Africa intended to share messenger RNA vaccine recipes and technologies has not enticed a single pharmaceutical to join.

Fewer than 1% of Pfizer’s COVID-19 shots have gone to poorer countries.

__

Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

Images and video of flooding, mudslides in B.C.

Christy Somos

CTVNews.ca Writer

Published Monday, November 15, 2021 

Flooding in Merritt, B.C., is seen in this still taken from video (Big Power Films/CTV News)

TORONTO -- An intense storm slamming the West Coast has left a trail of devastation and chaos in British Columbia, with flooding, mudslides and evacuation orders issued to try to ensure public safety.

The entire city of Merritt was evacuated by officials when floodwaters “inundated” bridges and shut down the local sewage treatment plant.

Torrential rain caused mudslides, flooding, and rockslides and forced highway closures between B.C.’s Lower Mainland and Southern Interior, with some homes in Merritt evacuated overnight. An expanded evacuation order was issued after 10 a.m. local time urging nearby Nicola Valley community members to leave the area.

Dozens of homes in the district of Okanagan-Similkameen were evacuated Sunday night, and landslides and flooding hit the city of Abbotsford, with several roads cut off as a result of the weather.

Track flood watches and warnings across B.C.

Thousands of residents on Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands were without electricity Monday, with downed trees and flooding cutting off electricity.

Transportation has been stymied across parts of the provinces, with ferries and public transit routes cancelled and highways closed due to safety concerns around road and bank instability.

Photos and videos from across the province show the scale of the storm’s aftermath and the repercussions as rain continues to fall in some areas and evacuation orders continue to be issued.

Strong winds overturned a tent in Metro Vancouver (Shane McDonald via Storyful)

A front door bell camera captured the rising floodwaters in Merritt, B.C. (Jared Thomas via Storyful)

Twitter footage shows a flooded highway near Abbottsford, B.C. (Anthony Gwillim via Storyful)

Video shows vehicles in floodwaters on 16th Avenue and Courtenay Street in Vancouver early Monday morning, Nov. 15. (Stuart Chase via Storyful)

Footage shows raging waters slamming along a bridge in Merritt, B.C. (Jamie Caccia via Storyful)

Vancouver is now completely cut off from the rest of Canada by road

There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada.

The Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley are now completely cut off from the rest of British Columbia and the country by road.

Photo Credit: Linda Corscadden
The southbound lanes of the Coquihalla Highway have been completely washed out near Othello Tunnels.

Flooding and mudslides had closed most routes between the coast and BC Interior over the past 24 hours, but the back route through Whistler on Hwy 99 remained open this morning.

That changed shortly after 11 am, when DriveBC reported that a mudslide 42 kilometres south of Lillooet had shut down Hwy 99 as well.

The only way to drive between the coast and the rest of Canada at this time is through the United States.

However, Washington is also seeing highway closures due to the inclement weather and residents would need a COVID-19 test to re-enter Canada.

Here’s a full list of mainland BC highways currently closed:

• Hwy 1 between Hope and Lytton
• Hwy 1 between Lytton and Spences Bridge
• Hwy 3 between Hope and Manning Park
• Hwy 3 between Princeton and Keremeos
• Hwy 3 near Fernie
• Hwy 5 between Hope and Merritt
• Hwy 7 on both sides of Agassiz
• Hwy 7 between Maple Ridge and Mission
• Hwy 11 between Mission and Abbotsford
• Hwy 93 between Radium Hot Springs and the BC-Alberta border
• Hwy 99 between Pemberton and Lillooet

Damage to BC highways, including the
Coquihalla, is still being assessed

Highway damage extensive

Cindy White - Nov 15, 2021  | Story: 351594

UPDATE 5:00 p.m.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth could not say how long some highways might be closed after mudslides and flooding cut off most routes between the Southern Interior and the Lower Mainland.

Extensive damage is reported on several routes , including the Coquihalla Highway, where whole portions of road were reportedly washed away.

Geotechnical assessments are underway. There have been aircraft out looking at exactly the state of the damage.

Farnworth said on some highways it may be as simple as removing debris and ensuring the road is good for vehicle traffic to go through again.

“In the case of the Coquihalla, I have not seen a detailed report on that, but from what I have heard, there does appear to be a significant issue on one side of the highway. Obviously we’re going to have to wait for the full geotechnical reports on that before we’re able to say, look, it’s going to be open in X amount of days or X amount of weeks.”

The new threat is strong wind and in the Interior, colder air.

“On the highways, the freezing levels are going to drop. So, even if you’re not dealing with snow because you’re not dealing with precipitation any more, we’re dealing with something like a flash freeze warning Not quite at that level, but still I believe there will be some localized freezing of the water that has fallen, said Armel Castellan, Warning Preparedness Meteorologist with Environment Canada.

A new highway closure will take effect on Highway 1 this evening in the Fraser Valley.

The highway will be closed starting at 7 p.m. PST between Highway 11 and No. 3 Road, due to the flood warning on the Sumas River.

---

UPDATE 3:05 p.m.

The province will be giving another live update on the flooding at 4 p.m. PST.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth will be joined by officials from Emergency Management BC, the River Forecast Centre, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, and Environment and Climate Change Canada.

---

UPDATE 12:40 p.m.

A new mudslide has reportedly come down on Highway 12 south of Lillooet.

DriveBC said crews were on their way to assess the slide, reported about 25 kilometres south of Lillooet. Highway 12 connects the community to Lytton.

---

UPDATE 12:15 p.m.

A portion of the Trans-Canada Highway has reopened between Sicamous and Revelstoke.

Hwy 1 was closed in the area due to rocks on the road, but they have been cleared.

However, DriveBC is still cautioning travellers that driving conditions are constantly changing and you should drive with care and watch for debris on roadways.

---

UPDATE 11:35 a.m.

Two more B.C. highways have been closed.

Highway 99 is off limits in the Lillooet area due to a new mudslide. It is closed from Lil'wat Pl to Texas Creek Rd for 44.6 km.

To the east, Highway 93 is shut because of flooding. It’s closed between the end of Highway 93 and St. Joseph St for 93.9 km (British Columbia and Alberta Border to Radium Hot Springs).

---

UPDATE 10:50 a.m.

Photos circulating on social media suggest it will be days before the Coquihalla Highway is restored.

A photo taken near the Othello Road exit shows a large chunk of Highway 5 completely washed out by the adjacent river.

This morning Minister of Safety Mike Farnworth said he was unable to comment on the status of the highway when asked about the photos.

There is believed to be multiple slides on the Coquihalla, with the Ministry of Transportation sharing an video update on the slide at Mine Creek Road.

---

ORIGINAL 10 a.m.

The rainfall totals are staggering, and it’s still coming down in many parts of B.C., causing widespread flooding and washing out highways, leaving dozens of people trapped.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth held a Monday morning news conference to update the situation.

Environment Canada said 225 millimetres of rain had deluged the community of Hope since the storm began Saturday and 180 millimetres had fallen around Agassiz and Chilliwack.

The District of Kent, which includes Agassiz, issued a local state of emergency after landslides severed Highway 7.

Farnworth said 80 to 100 people were trapped in their vehicles between two slides on Highway 7. Others are stuck on parts of Highway 3 and Highway 5.

He said Canada Task Force 1, a heavy urban search and rescue team, has been dispatched to the scene on Highway 7, but the weather could hamper rescue efforts. Helicopters might have to be used to get some people out, but high winds in the forecast could make that difficult.

As of this morning, closures continue on the Coquihalla, Fraser Canyon and Hope-Princeton highways to the coast as well as on the Trans-Canada Highway to Alberta, between Revelstoke and Golden.

Highway 5, The Coquihalla Highway, is closed by a mudslide south of the Great Bear Snowshed with no estimated time of reopening available. Damage is reported to the highway. Farnworth said geotechnical experts will be flying over the area to assess the extent of the damage, and until that happens, they won’t know how long it will take to get the route reopened.

Farnworth added that Highway 1 could open west of Hope at 5 p.m. Many travellers had to spend the night in the town, without electricity, which was knocked out by landslides.

A travel advisory is in effect between Golden and Revelstoke, with a closure west of Revelstoke due to rockfall. Travel is not recommended unless absolutely necessary, DriveBC advises.

On Highway 3, there is flooding at Princeton, and the highway is closed. An assessment is in progress.
Highway 5A at Princeton is also closed due to flooding.

In southeastern B.C., a closure has ended on Highway 93 between Radium Hot Springs and Banff, but a snowfall travel advisory remains in effect.

Highway 3 between Fernie and Elko is closed due to flooding. A detour is in place.

Environment Canada said rain along the coast and snow in the eastern part of the province wasn't expected to let up until sometime later Monday. About 50 centimetres blanketed Highway 1 through the Rogers Pass and another 25 centimetres was expected.

"The snow level is expected to briefly rise to near Rogers Pass this afternoon, and snow may change to rain," said the weather office post. "However, rain will change back to snow this evening and additional accumulations are possible before the snow eases to scattered flurries late tonight."

Forecasters also warned of powerful winds over Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland and the southwest Interior later in the day — with gusts up to 90 km/h — which could add to power outages that affected more than 16,000 customers, mainly in the eastern Fraser Valley, on Sunday night.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Armel Castellan noted the rainfall over the past 24 to 36 hours in some parts of the province is more than the entire total for a typical November, which is usually one of the wettest months.

Argentina’s far right and far left make big gains in congressional elections

Ruling Peronist party lost majority as Javier Milei turned notoriety into votes and a Trotskyist party got third largest vote share

Javier Milei of the Liberty Advances party addresses supporters in Buenos Aires on Sunday.

 ‘Free souls: thank you for you roar,’ he said. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images


Uki Goñi in Buenos Aires
Mon 15 Nov 2021

Argentina’s political system is braced for an earthquake after parties on the extreme left and right made big gains in weekend midterm congressional elections, putting an end to decades in which the country’s populists and conservatives wrestled for power.

Sunday’s vote saw the Peronist Front for Everyone coalition of President Alberto Fernández lose its majority in Congress for the first time in almost 40 years and lose its stronghold of Buenos Aires province to the center-right coalition Together for Change.

Nationally, the Trotskyist Leftist Worker Front (FIT) won the third largest share of the votes, but it was the sudden rise of the far-right libertarian Liberty Advances party that dominated local coverage of the results.

The party’s wild-haired leader, Javier Milei, has refused to be vaccinated against Covid, denies climate change is real, and describes himself as a “lion”.

Milei rose to fame last year with on-air boasts of his sexual prowess, eventually converting media notoriety into votes and peeling away support from Together for Change, the conservative party of former president Mauricio Macri, who hopes to return to the presidency in 2023.

“Free souls; thank you for your roar,” Milei said after wining 17% of the vote in the capital city of Buenos Aires – previously unheard of for a third party in the nation’s capital. “This is a historic event. Being a liberal is no longer shameful in Argentina.”

As if to confirm the party’s maverick image, a victory celebration on Sunday night was overshadowed by the behaviour of an armed party bodyguard who flashed his weapon at a heckler.

The party’s congressional seat winner, Victoria Villarroel, looked on impassively as the bodyguard stormed on to the stage before her, pulled back his coat and unclipped his holster in what appeared to be a threat, before he was removed by party officials.


Chile far-right candidate rides anti-migrant wave in presidential poll

Villarroel, who campaigns for the release of the jailed torturers and murderers of Argentina’s 1976-83 dictatorship, said: “They’ve taken the bread from our mouths, they’ve stepped on our heads with taxes and regulations. Today is the victory of the common people.”

The party’s success was hailed by far-right groups across the region which have found growing political success with a mixture of climate-skeptic, Covid-denialist, nationalist and militarist messages.

“The triumph of Javier Milei in Argentina is great news for Latin America. Argentina is a great country and for decades it has been ravaged by populism and incompetence. Enough of abuse and corruption!” tweeted José Antonio Kast, the far-right candidate in Sunday’s presidential elections.

The arrival of new far-right and far-left faces in congress is likely to add further uncertainty to a scenario in which President Fernández has lost his quorum in the senate.

Myriam Bregman. Photograph: Esteban Osorio/Pacific Press/Rex/Shutterstock

Fernández’s Peronist Front for Everyone and the conservative Together for Change coalition ran neck and neck in Argentina’s main electoral district, the province of Buenos Aires with 15 million of Argentina’s 45 million inhabitants, both obtaining 15 seats in the lower house of congress. Another far-right party led by the economist José Luis Espert won three seats and the leftwing FIT two.

FIT meanwhile emerged as the third political force nationwide, with about 6% of the national vote, previously unheard of for a leftist party, gaining congressional seats in a number of provinces.

“There’s been a growth on both the right and on the left,” said Myriam Bregman, elected as a lower house legislator for the city of Buenos Aires. “It’s evident that there is a sector that is starting to see the left as a way out of the economic and social situation, because the left is now the third national political force,” Bregman added.

'Drained of power': Argentina's Peronists face identity crisis 

after midterm rout

Eliana Raszewski and Nicolás Misculin

Mon., November 15, 2021

By Eliana Raszewski and Nicolás Misculin

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -Argentina's Peronist ruling coalition is teetering on the brink of political crisis, with President Alberto Fernandez facing a fight for control after voters abandoned his party in bruising midterm elections, sapping his power in Congress.

The party, a mix of center-left moderates allied with the president and a powerful hard-left faction around Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, now has a dilemma: concede ground to work with the opposition, swerve left - or split down the middle.

"The government has serious problems. It is a president who is totally drained of power," said Mariel Fornoni from political consultancy Management & Fit. "The coalition is broken."

The Sunday vote https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentines-vote-midterm-trial-by-fire-president-fernandez-2021-11-14 saw the Peronists lose their majority in the Senate for the first time since 1983, with a number of provinces swinging sharply away from the government of Fernandez, who swept to power in 2019.

The loss hobbles his government's ability to push through legislation in Congress, hitting plans for judicial reform and adding complexity to talks over a new $45 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund, which needs lawmaker approval.

Alberto Ramos at Goldman Sachs said in a note that the defeat could leave the ruling party weakened and that "internal dissent over policy direction could grow further," potentially impacting moderate voices like Economy Minister Martin Guzman.

"Losing control of Congress implies the government would have to negotiate with a stronger and re-energized opposition that could lead to a noisy and volatile policy-making process," he said.

In a message recorded after the defeat, President Fernandez struck a moderate tone, saying he would call for dialogue with the opposition, redouble efforts to solve the IMF debt, put a economic plan to Congress and take aim at inflation.

However, he played down suggestions of reining in public spending, that many see as vital amid tough economic conditions.

"It is necessary to get the state accounts in order, but never at the cost of an adjustment in spending. The adjustment was tried repeatedly in Argentina and only deepened inequality and poverty," he said.

The IMF said through a spokesman that they "continue to work" on a plan that tackles "Argentina's most pressing economic and social challenges, including high inflation, which disproportionately hurts the most vulnerable."

POLITICAL COST

The government has a long list of crises to solve.

Inflation is running at over 50% annually, poverty is above 40%, and the peso currency trades at some 200 per dollar in informal markets that have blossomed amid capital controls, double the official exchange rate of 100 pesos per dollar.

Some foresee a faster devaluation of the currency to bring the two rates closer together and to match rising prices.

"In December or a bit earlier, the pace of the official devaluation is going to accelerate to prevent the dollar from lagging too far behind inflation," said Roberto Geretto, an economist at Fundcorp.

Talks with the IMF over a new deal have also dragged, amid divisions within the government. Many Argentines blame the lender for worsening previous economic crises.

Julio Burdman, a political analyst from the Electoral Observatory, said, however, that the opposition would likely get on board with the deal.

"I think the agreement with the IMF does not depend on politics," he said. "There is no one interested in Argentina not signing an agreement."

(Reporting by Nicolás Misculin and Eliana Raszewski in Buenos Aires; Additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos in New York; Editing by Adam Jourdan, Robert Birsel and Rosalba O'Brien)

Milk, meat and might: in Somalia, 'the camel is king'






Milk, meat and might: in Somalia, 'the camel is king'In Somalia the camel is celebrated in songs and folklore, a symbol of status and prosperity, and exchanged in marriage or to settle feuds (AFP/EDUARDO SOTERAS)

Nick Perry
Tue, November 16, 2021, 

The nomad was thirsty, and the journey into the Somali desert would be long and taxing.

Turning to one of his beloved camels, Ali Abdi Elmi squeezed fresh milk into a wooden urn, and took a deep drink.

"I have five children, and we all depend on camel milk to survive," said Elmi, passing the pot to one of his sons, who took a swig of the rich brew.

Camels still produce milk during drought, sating nomads who can go a month in the dry lands consuming nothing else (AFP/EDUARDO SOTERAS)

For many Somalis, the camel is a gift from the gods: a source of milk and meat, a beast of burden in the desert and -- as climate change spurs extreme weather in the Horn of Africa -- insurance in times of crisis.

An animal of haughty and cantankerous repute, in Somalia the camel is celebrated in songs and folklore, a symbol of status and prosperity, and exchanged in marriages or to settle feuds.


'Climate change is forcing nomads to travel greater distances to find water and grazing land for their prized beasts (AFP/EDUARDO SOTERAS)

In this overwhelmingly rural society of 15 million, the rearing of camels and other livestock underpins an economy devastated by war and natural disaster that ranks among the world's very poorest.

The livestock industry is the main contributor to economic growth in Somalia and in normal years accounts for 80 percent of exports, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Camels are far outnumbered by sheep and goats, which wander Hargeisa in northern Somalia with their owner's phone numbers scrawled on their sides, should they get lost and need returning.

But at seven million beasts, there are more camels in Somalia than almost anywhere else, and they don't just confer respect on their owners -- they fetch much higher prices.

"We don't have crude oil in this country. Camels are our crude oil," said Abdi Rashid, a trader clad in aviator sunglasses and tan safari suit at Hargeisa's biggest livestock market.

- Cultural icon -

An impressive specimen can carry a $1,000 (860 euros) price tag, said Khosar Abdi Hussein, who oversees the market where camel milk is sold fresh and even camel urine -- believed to have health benefits -- is bottled.

A sale is made by locking hands under the checkered shawls carried by herders.

The number of knuckles tapped and fingers grasped determines the price -- a tradition to ensure negotiations are kept private.

The transaction is completed by a mobile money transfer, a modern touch to an ancient way of doing business.

"Camels are important to Somali culture because one is always considered wealthy, or can rise in social status, by the number of camels they have," said Hussein, who stressed that he had nine of his own.

But in Somalia, where nearly seven out of 10 live in poverty according to the World Bank, few can afford one camel, let alone many.

Elmi is among the two-thirds of Somalis dependent on livestock, and though he isn't making lucrative deals at the city market, his camels are a godsend in other ways.

Camels still produce milk during drought, sating nomads who can go a month in the dry lands consuming nothing else.

"The milk is good for us, because camels graze from trees with medicinal properties that help combat diseases," said Elmi, a wiry 40-year-old with skin leathered by the sun.

In lean times, he can still buy essentials for his family by selling milk to vendors in Hargeisa, where fresh bottles are available daily on the streets.

In a real pinch, a camel can be slaughtered and its meat sold in town, where it is a local delicacy.

- Harsh life -

The pastoral life is a difficult one, made more so by increasingly erratic rainfall over the Horn of Africa, a region US scientists say is drying faster now than at any other time in the past 2,000 years.

Nomads are being forced to travel greater distances to find water and grazing land for their prized beasts, whose reputation as 'ships of the desert' is being sorely tested by a changing climate.

Thousands of camels and other livestock drowned when Cyclone Gati -- the strongest tropical storm to ever make landfall in Somalia -- turned deserts into seas in late 2020.

Two years earlier, a prolonged drought thinned herds in some parts of the country by 60 percent, the FAO said.

The loss of livestock invariably spells hunger in Somalia, and destitute herders have fled to cities by the millions in recent years as life on the land has become unsustainable.

In the northern region of Somaliland, local authorities want to resettle people along its Gulf of Aden coastline -- an inconceivable prospect for some hardy desert folk.

"I don't see our way of life changing anytime soon," said Khosar Farrah, a grizzled 68-year-old who has been herding camels for half a century.

Hussein, too, couldn't picture nomads taking up fishing in a hurry: "Here, the camel is king," he said, chuckling.

np/amu/pvh

Beethoven-Loving Donkeys Clean Up Turkish Town

Tuesday, 16 November, 2021 - 

A municipal worker guides a rubbish-carrying donkey through the narrow streets of the old town of Mardin,

 southeast Turkey Adem ALTAN AFP

Asharq Al-Awsat

The sun peeks over the horizon of the medieval Turkish city of Mardin as a herd of cream-colored donkeys begins its day job collecting rubbish before relaxing to classical music in the evenings.

Guided by city workers, the animals carry waste bags, winding through the narrow alleys of the city, built on a cliff overlooking what was once Mesopotamia, 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Syria.

"We have been using them to clean the city for centuries. They are the only ones who can access these narrow streets," says Kadri Toparli who works for the Mardin old town cleaning team.

"Otherwise, it would be impossible to do this work."

With names like Gaddar (Cruel), Cefo (Indulgent) and Bozo (Pale), reflecting their personalities and features, the forty or so donkeys "have the status of municipal employees," Toparli explains.

"They work like us, eight hours a day, with a break after four hours in the middle of the day."

In the evenings, as they wind down from a long day that involves climbing at least 150 steps, the donkeys relax to music while vets care for them in their stables.

"We take care of them. Every evening, we play classical music or traditional melodies for two hours," Toparli says.

"We see that they are happier when we play a piece of Beethoven," he quips.

At the start of the 20th century, when Mardin had just 20,000 people, the donkeys would carry the ashes produced from wood and coal heaters.

Today, the old town alone has 60,000 residents, generating nearly 10 tonnes of waste every day.

"We have mini-vehicles which we call 'garbage taxis'. We use them as well, but they are not as efficient," says Abdulkadir Tutasi, the mayor of the old town, AFP reported.

Efforts to phase out the reliance on donkeys fits in with the growing sensitivity shown to animal welfare in Turkish society in recent years.

In January 2020, Istanbul banned horse-drawn carriages from the Princes' Islands, a rustic archipelago at the entrance to the Bosphorus popular with weekend visitors.

The carriages, once emblematic of the nine hilly islands, were replaced with electric vehicles.

To ward off potential criticism, Mardin's old town officials say they are working with animal rights organizations to monitor the donkeys' working conditions.

Happy retirement

Toparli goes to great lengths to treat his donkeys with care and respect.

"They are very intelligent animals. They know their zone by heart," he says. "Often, we don't need to guide them back to their stables."

Recruited at the age of six, the donkeys are retired with great fanfare when they reach the age of 14 or 15.

There is an official ceremony, with a plate of watermelon offered to the pension-age donkey instead of a cake, which is seen as too unhealthy.

They spend their golden years in a local animal shelter, enjoying a well-deserved rest.

According to the mayor, Mardin has served as a model for European cities, particularly those in France and Italy, which have used donkeys for municipal services in areas difficult to reach by car.

"Plus it's ecological," Tutasi says.

"The donkeys don't pollute."

Rare eagle sighting in Atlantic Canada like palm tree in the tundra, expert says

Hina Alam
The Canadian Press
Monday, November 15, 2021


A Steller's sea eagle is shown in this recent handout photo taken through a telescope near Falmouth, N.S. A rare eagle that is a long, long way from home in Nova Scotia has birdwatchers in this part of the world both flummoxed and spellbound. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Phil Taylor


The unusual odyssey of a rare eagle from Russia onto Texas, Quebec and finally Nova Scotia has birdwatchers both puzzled and spellbound.

This Steller's sea eagle has trekked almost halfway around the world from its home about 8,000 kilometres away on the eastern coast of Russia.

Phil Taylor, a biologist at Acadia University, spotted the eagle on his way home after lunch with a colleague on Nov. 3, on the banks of the Avon River near Falmouth, N.S.

"And there was this bird. Just sitting there on the mud," he said in an interview. "It's quite a remarkable bird, very easy to identify."

This bird is bigger than a bald eagle, with white shoulders and tail and a large orange bill. It has wingspan of up to 2 1/2 metres and can weigh up to 10 kilograms.

The Steller's sea eagle is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and about 6,000 remain in the wild, usually in Japan, China, Korea and on the eastern coast of Russia.

"It's very distinctive, and I immediately recognized it because the same individual bird was seen earlier in New Brunswick, this year in July," Taylor said.

Nick Lund, a network manager for Maine Audubon, who has been tracking the eagle's travels, said the bird was first spotted in Denali National Park in Alaska last August, which is "unusual but not crazy" because it's on the other side of the Arctic Ocean.

It disappeared for a few months before showing up in Texas this spring and then turned north to Quebec, Lund said.

"That seemed to make more sense to people," Lund said. "Because that was sort of in the same band of latitude, as you know, Russia and Alaska give or take, and so it sort of made sense."

The eagle's next stop was New Brunswick and now it's been spotted in Nova Scotia.

The bird has been photographed at every stop and the photos have been compared to ensure it is the same one, he said.

While it's impossible to know exactly what path the bird took, Lund said it is likely that the eagle covered a number of provinces and states across the continent.

"And so it's kind of remarkable to think about a bird this large making its way unseen over all that distance," he said.

Taylor said the eagle hasn't been spotted since Nov. 4, but he's not worried because it has disappeared for some lengths of time before showing up again.

It usually feeds on fish but can also eat deer, ducks or other small animals, he said.

"There's a lot of places it can be and even though it's big, it could be in the back of some little valley somewhere," he said.

"Or it could be heading to New York or heading to Saint John, New Brunswick, or who knows. We really don't know."

Lund said he is hoping the bird shows up in Maine.

"We're sitting out there with fish on the coastline, dangling them so it'll fly over to us," he said laughing.

While it is not unusual to find a smaller feathered creature such as a hummingbird or warbler on a wayward course, Lund said there's no precedent for finding a Steller's sea eagle in Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and certainly not Texas.

"It would be like a Canadian arborist finding a palm tree growing on the tundra, or a fisherman finding a blue whale in their local pond."

Scientists use the term "vagrancy" to describe birds such as this Steller's sea eagle that fly outside their normal range, he said.

Vagrancy could be caused because birds migrated the wrong way, were blown off-course by winds or are looking for a better habitat, he noted.

"Completely anthropomorphically, sometimes I like to think the birds are just sort of explorers for their native species," he said with a chuckle.

"They like seeing the globe so they can bring back tales of adventure to their home range. But that's probably not true."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2021.

New Zealand woman 'held hostage by a possum'

IT'S EATING A SANDWICH!

A Dunedin, New Zealand, woman called police for help when she found herself "held hostage by a possum" that would charge at her whenever she went outside.

Photo by leausmith/Pixabay.com


Nov. 15 (UPI) -- A New Zealand woman had to call the police for help when she found herself "being held hostage by a possum" in her home.

The University of Otago post-graduate student said she was unpacking her car at her home in Dunedin's North East Valley when she felt something run up her leg.

"I pulled it off me, thinking it was a cat, and then I saw it was a possum," the woman told the Otago Daily Times.

The woman said she fled into her house, and every time she tried to go outside, the possum would reappear and charge at her.

Animal control officers referred her to police, but the woman said she was having trouble getting through to the Dunedin Central Police Station, so she called the emergency number to report: "I'm being held hostage by a possum."

Sgt. Craig Dinnissen said an officer arrived at the woman's home and was speaking with her through a window when the possum climbed the officer's leg.

The officer was able to stun the possum using the beam of his flashlight, and the animal was placed in a box with some dried pet food.

Dinnissen said the officer relocated the possum to an area far from the woman's home. The sergeant said the possum's behavior was unusual and theorized the animal may have been formerly kept as a pet or may have just recently been separated from its mother.