Al-Maliki says UN vote on Palestine’s sovereignty over natural resources proves Israel’s isolation

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad al-Maliki

RAMALLAH Saturday, November 20, 2021 (WAFA) – Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad al-Maliki said today that the overwhelming UN vote in favor of a resolution affirming Palestinian sovereignty over their natural resources proves the fact that Israel and those who support it are isolated.

Al-Maliki told the official Voice of Palestine radio that the resolution reaffirms that Israel is violating international law by destroying, exploiting and/or disposing of the Palestinian natural resources, and urged the international community to hold Israel to account for these illegal practices.  

Meantime, Al-Maliki described the Israeli occupation's decision to allow visits by Israeli school students to Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem as "very dangerous", calling on the international community to act against the violations of the Israeli occupation.

Al-Maliki called on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to to dispatch an ad-hoc committee to monitor the Israeli occupation’s violations against the holy sites, prevent any changes and keep the historical and religious status quo there.

Yesterday, al-Maliki praised the vote which affirms the rights of the Palestinian people and their sovereignty over their natural resources, including land, water and energy resources.

The top Palestinian diplomat called on Israel, the occupying power, to “cease the exploitation, damage, cause of loss or depletion and endangerment of the natural resources of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”

He also called on the international community to "work to compel the occupation to implement international resolutions and to ensure the freedom of the Palestinian people to benefit from their natural resources and their right to demand compensation for exploiting, damaging, losing, depleting or endangering their natural resources.”

M.N

United Nations passes resolution in favor of Palestinians’ sovereignty over their natural resources

November 20, 2021 - 10:21 AM News Code : 1200274 Source : Pars TodayLink: 

The United Nations has overwhelmingly adopted a resolution, which grants Palestinians permanent sovereignty over their natural resources in the Israeli-occupied territories, including al-Quds.

The United Nations has overwhelmingly adopted a resolution, which grants Palestinians permanent sovereignty over their natural resources in the Israeli-occupied territories, including al-Quds.

On Thursday, the Economic and Financial Committee of the UN General Assembly, also known as the Second Committee, endorsed a draft resolution entitled “Permanent Sovereignty of the Palestinian People in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East al-Quds, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources” by 157-7 votes, with 14 abstentions, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

The United States, Israel, Canada, Nauru, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau voted against the motion.

The UN resolution reaffirms that Israel's construction of the Separation Wall and illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and strategic Syrian Golan Heights constitutes a violation of international law, and deprives Palestinian people of their natural resources.

It demanded the Zionist entity to abide by the decision of the International Court of Justice regarding the illegality of building the apartheid wall.

The resolution went on to demand “that Israel, the occupying power, cease the exploitation, damage, cause of loss or depletion and endangerment of natural resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East al-Quds, and in the occupied Syrian Golan.”

The resolution also called on the Israeli regime to halt the dumping of all kinds of waste materials and all those by the illegal Zionist settlers in the occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories, which gravely threaten water and land resources of civilian populations, and pose environmental, sanitation and health threats to locals.

It also pointed to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which was adopted on December 23, 2016, and calls on world states to distinguish in their dealings between Israeli communities and Palestinian lands occupied by Israel.

The resolution then called on the UN Secretary-General António Guterres to present at the next meeting a report on the implementation of the resolution, and the Israeli regime's exploitation of Palestinian natural resources in the occupied territories.

Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, hailed the resolution for his part, and said the move confirms once again the international community's support for the full rights of the Palestinian nation.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said, “Voting in favor of this resolution affirms the rights of the Palestinian people and their sovereignty over their natural resources, including land, water and energy resources.”

Maliki called on Israel to “stop exploiting the natural resources in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

Palestinian prisoner completes 41 years behind Israeli bars without court decision on appeal

The New Arab Staff
20 November, 2021

The longest serving Palestinian prisoner in Israel was jailed for the first time in 1978


The Israeli court recently held a session on an appeal Barghouti made three years ago but no decision has been made, according to reports [Getty]

The longest serving Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jail, Nael Barghouti, has began his 42nd year behind bars on Saturday, as he still awaits an Israeli High Court ruling over his fate, WAFA news agency report.

The prisoner, from Ramallah's village of Kobar, filed an appeal for his release three years ago after being jailed in 1978 for "resisting Israeli occupation", the Palestinian Authority's news agency said.

Barghouti, who Israel released from Prison alongside dozens of others in a 2011 exchange deal, was re-arrested in 2014 as Israel "violated" the terms of the deal and re-instated his original life sentence plus 18 years, after making Barghouti complete an additional 30 months in prison.

"Barghouti’s attorney filed a petition with the Israeli High Court three years ago demanding the release of his client based on the terms of the exchange agreement which states that Israel cannot re-arrest freed prisoners and re-instate their sentence," WAFA stated.

"The Court recently held a session on the appeal but no decision has been made yet," the news agency reported.

Barghouti is among many Palestinians detained for opposing Israeli forces, who also detained over 230 Palestinian children in the first three months of 2021, according to the Palestinian Prisoner Society.

Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have also gone on hunger strikes in recent months in protest of their arbitrary detentions and dire prison conditions.

These include Miqdad Qawasmeh, 24, a prisoner who ended a 113-day hunger strike earlier this month after Israeli authorities agreed to release him at the end of his current administrative detention order, the Palestinian Prisoners Media Office - Asra Media -confirmed.

FAA memo reveals more Boeing 787 manufacturing defects, including contamination of carbon fiber composites
2021/11/19
© The Seattle Times

A new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, built for American Airlines, is seen moving along the runway at Paine Field in Everett, Washington in November 2020. - Mike Siegel/Seattle Times/TNS

SEATTLE — The litany of manufacturing defects on the 787 Dreamliner is expanding as Boeing engineers take apart planes and discover new or more widespread issues, an Federal Aviation Administration internal memo indicates.

The FAA memo, which was circulated internally Monday and reviewed by the Seattle Times, points to new concerns about a previously unreported defect caused by contamination of the carbon fiber composite material during fabrication of the large structures that make up the 787’s wing, fuselage and tail.

The memo also adds detail about the small out-of-tolerance gaps that have been discovered throughout the airplane structure: at the joins of the large fuselage sections, at a forward pressure bulkhead and in the structure surrounding the passenger and cargo doors.

The FAA memo, which lists safety conditions affecting airplanes currently in service worldwide, states that these tiny gap defects are thought to be present in more than 1,000 Dreamliners. These are not considered an immediate safety concern but could cause premature aging of the airframe.

“We’re looking at the undelivered airplanes nose to tail, and we have found areas where the manufacturing does not conform to the engineering specifications,” a Boeing spokesperson said Friday. “None of these issues is an immediate safety-of-flight issue.”

Those planes currently in service can be inspected and reworked later during routine maintenance, the spokesperson said.

However, complicating the process, the FAA memo states that Boeing doesn’t have the detailed configuration data on each plane to know which may have the defects.

It’s unclear if coming up with fixes that will satisfy the FAA will further delay resumption of 787 deliveries into next year.

Such a delay could increase the total cost to get the 787 program back on track above Boeing’s previous $1 billion estimate and would risk an accounting write-off in the fourth quarter.

Contamination of composite material

The internal FAA memo relates how, early this year, Boeing reported to the FAA that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan — which builds the jet’s carbon composite wings — had discovered contamination of the composite material during fabrication that could potentially weaken the epoxy bonding that gives the structure its strength.

In the fabrication process for composites, carbon fiber tape impregnated with epoxy resin is laid on a mold, then hardened in a high-pressure oven called an autoclave.

Bags are placed around the composite material to create a vacuum, and a thin sheet may be placed between the composites and the mold to facilitate release when it comes out of the autoclave. The contamination occurred because some of the bagging and release materials contained polytetrafluoroethylene — commonly known by the brand name Teflon.

The use of PTFE, which left a residue after removal, did not comply with Boeing’s manufacturing specifications.

Initial tests conducted by Boeing and reported to the FAA in April showed a positive outcome: although the bond strength was reduced, it was still within the design limits.

However, the memo includes a new update from late last month, in which Boeing told the FAA that the same contamination has now been found at other major suppliers and affects not only the wing but also the fuselage and tail.

In addition, further tests of small pieces of the composites now indicated that the strength of the contaminated material in some cases was below the allowed design limits.

Boeing last month suggested to the FAA an approach to evaluating the integrity of the bonds in the affected structures. But the FAA isn’t convinced. It responded that the proposed evaluation method is not approved and not validated by testing.

“The FAA will investigate,” the memo states.

Boeing’s communications team said Friday it did not immediately have details on the contamination issue and could not comment on that specific issue before press time.

An FAA spokesperson said, “We don’t comment on ongoing discussions with manufacturers.”

Fixing tiny gaps at the airplane doors

The FAA memo also highlights the discovery of small gaps in the structure surrounding the passenger and cargo doors in the aft fuselage section, built by Leonardo in Italy.

This is another instance of the tiny gaps that have been discovered in the airplane structure during final assembly, previously found at the major fuselage section joins and at the forward pressure bulkhead, a dome-shaped structural barrier behind the plane’s nose that is crucial to maintaining air pressure within the cockpit and passenger cabin.

Like those previous instances, the gaps in the structure around the aft fuselage doors result from waviness in the composite material at the joins.

The FAA notes that these discrepancies between the manufactured structure and the engineering specification are the result not of bad workmanship by mechanics, but of imprecision in the robotic equipment used to fabricate the airplane’s structures.

Such gaps, which may occur in metal airplanes, too, are typically filled with small pieces of material called shims during assembly. But somehow the gaps were missed during the building of the airplane sections by Boeing suppliers.

The lack of shims can cause the skin fasteners to pull away, the FAA said.

The FAA memo notes that Leonardo relies on mechanics to inspect their own work when they assemble the structures, with limited or no oversight by quality inspectors. And it states that the Italian supplier had two formal notices of missed inspections for surface waviness in 2018 and two more in 2020.

In an update this month, the FAA said that although Boeing provided a presentation contending that the gaps in the structure around the aft fuselage doors were within engineering requirements, it did not provide detailed manufacturing data on the condition of assembly of each plane.

The memo declares the FAA “skeptical.”

As it awaits FAA approval of an inspection method, Boeing is going ahead with fixes on some planes.

The Boeing spokesperson said that its engineers had been trying to come up with a standard procedure to remove the doors and inspect the surrounding structure that would satisfy the FAA, but that because this was taking too long it had begun reworking some initial planes.

“We have been trying to determine a door removal and inspection approach to see can we plan a nondestructive inspection method to determine what we need to do going forward. That’s taken more time,” the spokesperson said. “So we have started rework on the door structure just in the near term, to try to be able to move forward with certain airplanes.”

Meanwhile, Boeing has paused assembly of the aft fuselages in South Carolina while it sorts out the problem.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report Friday the latest issue with the structure around the door. The Journal cited unidentified people familiar with the plans saying that it is increasingly likely that Boeing won’t resume delivering 787s until “February or March at the earliest.”

1,000+ airplanes

The FAA memo reviewed by the Seattle Times also provides updates on another 787 defect problem: the use of an incorrect alloy of titanium in certain fittings installed in fuselage sections made by Leonardo in Italy.

Parts with this incorrect metal included fuselage frame and floor beam fittings and were installed on more than 450 Dreamliners. Boeing identified the most critical installation as the floor-beam-to-fuselage-frame fittings at the side of body area where the wings attach.

The FAA said this could produce an unsafe condition if two or more adjacent fittings had used the wrong titanium alloy. Two aircraft with this immediate safety concern were identified: both All Nippon Airways jets that were parked in Victorville, California.

ANA agreed to keep the aircraft grounded while Boeing fixed them. That work was completed as of last month.

Finally, the memo notes that the FAA is still evaluating Boeing’s proposal to use statistical sampling to determine which airplanes are affected by the lack of shims and tiny gaps at the joins.

The memo states that more than 1,000 airplanes currently flying are affected and that the FAA is concerned about the lack of detailed assembly data on every airplane. Boeing submitted its proposal for inspections and indicated that the process would not require FAA approval.

“We firmly disagree,” the memo states. This standoff over what level of inspections is appropriate remains the major stumbling block to Boeing resuming 787 deliveries.

 

30 arrested after central London bridge is blocked by supporters of jailed Insulate Britain campaigners

Up to 250 people who had marched from London’s Royal Courts of Justice took part sit-down demonstration, blocking off Lambeth Bridge

By Jaymi McCann

November 20, 2021 

A major bridge in central London was blocked during a march in support of nine jailed Insulate Britain campaigners.

In full view of a heavy police presence, up to 250 people who had marched from London’s Royal Courts of Justice took part sit-down demonstration on Saturday afternoon, blocking off Lambeth Bridge.

Uniformed officers stood at the scene as traffic was diverted, with the Metropolitan Police saying this was “for the safety of all”.

On Saturday evening police urged the remaining protesters to leave.

Thirty people were arrested at the demonstration.

Referring to Public Order Act conditions imposed on the protest, the Metropolitan Police said: “Lambeth Bridge has now been reopened. 30 arrests were made for breach of S14 conditions.”

Read More

Insulate Britain: Nine protesters jailed for breaching High Court injunction with M25 blockades

The Met said the group have “no identified organiser” and “warm clothing, food, seats” and if they fail to leave, could face arrest.

A Met Police tweet earlier said: “We have put conditions under the Public Order Act for a protest at Lambeth Bridge and request all protestors leave the bridge. Officers are also dealing with an off-shoot protest at #Vauxhall Cross.”

The demonstrators made speeches, sang songs, ate lunch and chanted slogans.

Scotland Yard said there had been no arrests by 4pm, when a large number of protesters moved off the bridge.

Cheers had broken out earlier as campaigners told the crowd that the nine jailed Insulate Britain climate activists are “political prisoners” and will not be the last to be locked up.

The nine protesters were jailed this week for breaching an injunction designed to prevent the road blockades which have sparked anger among motorists and others affected by the protests.

Extinction Rebellion said Saturday’s sit-down protest was to break the injunction granted to National Highways, in solidarity with the at least 34 people who have broken these injunctions so far, including those who were jailed this week.

Gabriella Ditton, 27, an animator from Norwich, Norfolk, was among those who took part in the Saturday’s demonstration. She said she has been arrested six times with Insulate Britain, including once for breaking the injunction.

Gabriella Ditton among climate protesters blocking Lambeth Bridge (Photo: Helen William/PA Wire)

She said: “I expect to go to prison at some point for at least six months because I am not going to be apologetic about this.

“I have known for a couple of years that the only thing that is going to serve us is civil resistance. I have faith in people coming together.

“Solutions to this crisis exist, we just need the political will to do it.”

Zoe Cohen, 51, said she had travelled from her home in Warrington, Cheshire, to take part in the demonstration, because she is “angry, distraught and grieving for the huge amount of nature that we have already lost”.

She said that “ordinary people should not have to do this and risk prison” and added that “any disruption is microscopic to the suffering of millions of people who are dying now across the world due to this crisis”.

Insulate Britain began a wave of protests in September and supporters have blocked the M25, roads in London including around Parliament, roads in Birmingham and Manchester and around the Port of Dover in Kent.

In a warning directed to police at the protest, Gully Bujack said: “These streets are ours and we will put one foot in front of the other, and dare you to stop us.”

She added: “You can jail the resistor but not the resistance.”

The group, watched closely by uniformed officers, then set off towards Westminster, chanting “power to the people”.

Read More

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Cheers rang out as one campaigner told the crowd that “good people have a duty to disobey bad laws”.

Insulate Britain said it was not involved with setting up the event, which was described by those who took part as community-led.

The nine protesters were sentenced at the High Court on Wednesday after they admitted breaching an injunction by taking part in a blockade at junction 25 of the M25 during the morning rush hour on October 8.

Ana Heyatawin, 58, and Louis McKechnie, 20, were jailed for three months while Ben Buse, 36, Roman Paluch-Machnik, 28, Oliver Rock, 41, Emma Smart, 44, Tim Speers, 36, and James Thomas, 47, received four-month sentences.

Ben Taylor, 37, was given a longer sentence of six months “to deter (him) from committing further breaches”, after his submissions to the court on Tuesday were described by Dame Victoria Sharp as “inflammatory” and a “call to arms”.

Supporters of the nine jailed Insulate Britain climate activists take part in a demonstration on Lambeth Bridge (Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire)

The judge, sitting with Mr Justice Chamberlain, said there was no alternative to custodial sentences given that the group’s actions were so serious and they had made it clear they intended to further flout court orders.

Insulate Britain has said it intends to continue the protests until the Government agrees to insulate homes.

The High Court has so far issued five injunctions to prevent protesters from blocking roads. They include four injunctions granted to National Highways, banning demonstrations on the M25, around the Port of Dover and on major roads around London, and one to Transport for London (TfL).

TfL was granted a civil banning order aimed at preventing protesters from obstructing traffic on some of the capital’s busiest roads.

Those who breach the injunctions could be found in contempt of court and face a maximum penalty of two years in prison or an unlimited fine.

Further High Court committal proceedings are expected to be issued against other Insulate Britain protesters relating to protests on October 27.

Additional reporting from Press Association.

Why China and India aren’t the climate villains of COP26

Saturday, November 20th 2021 -

Providing 37% of the world’s energy, coal is the single largest source of electricity generation globally

By Daniel Parsons and Martin Taylor (*) – The Glasgow Climate Pact urges countries to “accelerate efforts towards phasing down”, rather than “phasing out”, coal power that isn’t mitigated by carbon capture and storage.

This subtle change to the text surfaced at the end of COP26, the latest UN climate change conference, at the insistence of India and China. So are these two countries to blame for the summit’s disappointing outcome, as many are suggesting?

Largely formed from plants and animals buried in the Carboniferous period 359 to 299 million years ago, fossil fuels like coal and natural gas are found on every continent. But their global distribution is not even – India and China have significant coal resources, but comparatively little natural gas.

Providing 37% of the world’s energy, coal is the single largest source of electricity generation globally. It is projected to remain the leading energy source into the 2030s, particularly because its use in India in China is still growing.

The UK has reduced its carbon emissions by switching from coal power to natural gas. Coal generated 41% of the country’s electricity in 2012, while natural gas made up 25%. A decade later, coal is almost non-existent in the UK’s energy mix and natural gas is the largest source.

Over half of the 30% reduction in the UK’s carbon emissions during the past decade were due to this switch from coal to gas, with the rest driven by a rapid increase in renewable generation.

Why natural gas burns cleaner than coal is due to a quirk of chemistry. The amount of CO₂ produced when a given fuel is burned is largely a function of the elements it’s comprised of. Natural gas is mostly carbon and hydrogen. This combination has a very high energy content relative to other fuels, and so, it produces relatively less CO₂ emissions for each unit of energy-burning it generates.

Impurities such as sulphur, which are common in coal, increase how much CO₂ is generated for each unit of heat. This means even the highest quality coal produces double the CO₂ emissions of natural gas per unit of energy.

Energy demand is closely linked with productivity. As economies like China and India rapidly grow and develop, their energy demand is expected to rise in tandem. But their ability to follow the UK in switching from coal to natural gas as a primary source of electricity generation is limited because they have comparatively less natural gas. The UK produces over half its natural gas from the North Sea and has made a lot of progress in ditching coal.

Per person, emissions in both China and India are still substantially lower than in almost all developed countries. India’s per-person emissions are less than one-quarter of the global average, and roughly one-tenth of those of the US. Close to a quarter of all carbon emissions come from manufacturing products that are exported and consumed in other countries. Textiles and clothes exported from India and South Asia account for over 4% of global emissions.

Labelling India and China as the chief villains of COP26 is a convenient narrative.

The financial aid which rich countries promised yet failed to deliver as part of the Paris Agreement signed in 2015 was supposed to help developing countries dump coal for cleaner sources of energy. And while the world berated India and China for weakening the Glasgow Climate Pact’s coal resolution, few questioned the fossil fuel projects being floated in developed nations, like the UK’s Cambo oilfield and the Line 3 oil pipeline between Canada and the US.

Switching from coal to gas offers a quick and partial win for reducing CO₂ emissions, but doing it depends on geology and geography. A rapid switch to renewable energy sources is easier when energy demand isn’t growing as fast like it is in rapidly developing countries. These countries need financial assistance from richer countries to make that leap. Until that is delivered, developed countries have no right to lay the disappointment of COP26 at the feet of China and India.

(The Conversation)

(*) Daniel Parsons, Professor of Sedimentology and Director, Energy & Environment Institute, University of Hull. Martin Taylor, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Energy and Environment, University of Hull

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Greensill: £335m of taxpayer money at ‘increased risk’ due to ‘woefully inadequate checks’ on firm

Former prime minister David Cameron is reported to have earned $10 million (£7.2m) from his two-and-a-half years’ part-time work for Greensill Capital before it collapsed in March

Former Conservative prime minister David Cameron lobbied on behalf of the finance firm before its collapse earlier this year (Photo: Victoria Jones/PA Wire)

By Poppy Wood
November 20, 2021 

​​Hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money could be at risk due to failures by the Government-owned British Business Bank to properly scrutinise collapsed lender Greensill Capital, according to a new report.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found that the Bank failed to carry out sufficient due diligence into Greensill, the finance firm that former prime minister David Cameron lobbied for, meaning that “up to £335m of taxpayer money is at increased risk”.

The committee questioned why the Bank was “insufficiently curious” about reports that implied Greensill was close to collapse and said checks on the lender were “woefully inadequate”.

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It also criticised the British Business Bank for striking the “wrong balance” between “making decisions quickly” during the pandemic and “protecting taxpayer interests”.

The British Business Bank approved Greensill as a lender for both the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) during the pandemic.

Greensill loaned £400m under CLBILS, the maximum it was permitted to lend, and £18.5m under CBILS.

But in March 2021, Greensill filed for insolvency. Its collapse triggered a series of investigations examining the financier’s close links with the Government and Mr Cameron.

The saga marked the first in a series of renewed calls to ban MPs and former politicians from lobbying, and cast a fresh spotlight onto the “revolving door” between politics and business.

According to BBC Panorama, leaked documents revealed that Mr Cameron earned $10 million (£7.2m) from his two-and-a-half years’ part-time work for Greensill before it collapsed.

The former Conservative prime minister reportedly made $4.5m after-tax when he cashed in Greensill shares in 2019. This was on top of his $1m-a-year salary as an adviser and a $700,000 bonus in 2019.

Earlier this year, it emerged that Mr Cameron sent a slew of WhatsApps, texts and emails to ministers, officials and the Bank of England in attempts to secure Greensill access to Government-backed Covid support schemes.

Mr Cameron has maintained that he did not know about the perilous financial state of the company when he lobbied for it to be given taxpayer support.

In its report published today, the PAC found that “a lack of information-sharing across Government” had “once again hampered sound decision-making in government’s response to the pandemic and allowed Greensill access to taxpayer-funded schemes”.

Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, chair of the PAC, said: “The British Business Bank only had to read the papers to be aware of serious questions about Greensill’s lending model, over-exposure to borrowers, and its ethical standards – yet it didn’t really start to delve into those issues until the problems were clear and hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money was already at risk.

“It professed itself ‘very surprised’ to discover where these taxpayer-backed loans had gone on its watch, in contravention of its own lending and accreditation rules.”

The British Business Bank said: “The National Audit Office (NAO) concluded in July 2021 that the British Business Bank appropriately applied a streamlined version of its established process when it accredited Greensill Capital (UK) Limited as a lender under the Covid-19 business support schemes.

“Between March 2020 and March 2021, the British Business Bank accredited 116 CBILS lenders, 27 CLBILS (Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme) lenders and 28 BBLS (Bounce Bank Loan Scheme) lenders to provide essential access to finance for more than 1.6m businesses.

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“A less streamlined accreditation process would have meant fewer lenders would have been accredited and fewer businesses would have received the critical emergency finance they needed during the pandemic.

“The NAO also found that it was to the bank’s credit that its post-accreditation monitoring and audit processes picked up a potential issue quickly, as they were designed to do.

“The bank’s investigation into Greensill Capital’s potential breaches of the scheme rules for CLBILS is ongoing.”

A Government spokesperson said: “The government was not involved in the decision to accredit Greensill. The decision was taken independently by the British Business Bank, in accordance with their usual procedures.”

'A night full of screams' highlights Africa's climate change impacts

Kristin Palitza Nov 15, 2021

© Kate Bartlett/dpa

Climate change is abstract to many, but not those living in large swathes of Africa. Five of the 10 countries most affected by climate change are there, and many of their residents are fighting for their lives amid worsening storms, floods and drought.

Blantyre, Malawi/Maputo (dpa) - The night when her husband died in the floodwaters has been etched into her memory, says Malita Tembo.

The members of the family were torn out of their sleep when the wall of their clay hut in the village of Nyachikadza, in southern Malawi, caved in. They were pelted by rain from a storm, which was later given the name Idai, and which UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called "one of the worst weather-related catastrophes in the history of Africa."

It only took a couple of hours in March 2019 for Idai to destroy the village and large areas in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Bringing extreme rains and wind gusts of up to 195 kilometres per hour (km/h), the World Bank estimated it wreaked damages of 2 billion dollars. More than 3 million people were affected; more than 1,000 died.

"It was a night full of screams, as one house fell after the other," says Tembo through tears.

The government eventually set her up with a tent, a parcel of land, two sacks of grain and fertilizer, but that wasn't enough to restart. Now the 27-year-old mother of two small children fights for survival every day.

"We are now struggling to eke out a living," she says.

Five of the 10 countries most affected by climate change are in Africa, according to the environmental organization Germanwatch. Mozambique, in the continent's south, is the worst affected worldwide, followed by neighbouring Zimbabwe.

Malawi, to Mozambique's south, as well as Niger, in the west, and South Sudan, on the Horn of Africa, are also in the top 10.

The impact of climate change is particularly fatal for poor countries, since their governments lack the means to either prepare for catastrophes or to launch rebuilding projects. It's not uncommon for whole regions to lie in ruins for many months, if not years.

When that happens, key infrastructure like water and power supplies are disrupted. Diseases spread and ruined crops mean a cycle of hunger.

That's what happened to Francisco Joao Amade, who lost everything he owned when Idai struck his home in Macomia District, in northern Mozambique. A few weeks later, Cyclone Kenneth followed, literally ripping the roof off of his house.

Packing wind speeds of 200 km/h and flood surges 2.5 metres high, it also brought destruction to Tanzania and the Comoros.

Since then, Amade has been living with his wife, three children and multiple relatives in a narrow room in a small hut that he set up out of wreckage. A smallholder, he has replanted some banana stands and sugar cane, but only earns enough to get a few sacks of rice, some oil and soap for his family.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, about 118 million people will experience drought, flooding and extreme heat in Africa through 2030. The continent is heating up faster and worse than the global average, even though the 54 countries there put out less than 4 per cent of all greenhouse gases globally.

The combination of climate change and the coronavirus pandemic has already brought Malawi to its knees, warned President Lazarus Chakwera ahead of the COP26 climate change conference in Scotland.

"For us in Malawi, it means urgent investments in climate change adaptation," he told state TV broadcaster MBC. He is hoping for help from the West to finance these projects.

Things aren't much better in Zimbabwe, which is also dealing with years of financial crisis.

"If climate change continues at its current rate, thousands of Zimbabweans will lose their jobs, homes or even their lives," tweeted President Emmerson Mngangagwa recently.

After Idai, the country was also hit by cyclones Eloise and Chalane. Many Zimbabweans have had to run for their life multiple times.

Enita Mauraye knows the problems. Living in the small eastern Zimbabwean city of Chimanimani, she has been living in a Red Cross tent city for two years now.

Her 5-year-old daughter disappeared in the floods Idai brought. Instead of going to school, her three surviving sons try to help her support the family by doing odd jobs. The government promised to build new homes, but that's nothing more than a promise, she says. Mauraye has given up hope of a better life.

To the north, Niger suffers alternating floods and drought. More than 210,000 people were affected a few weeks ago when the Niger River burst its banks. Half of them were children.

Abdou Aziz Soumana, a farmer who lives in Kiskisoye, near the capital, Niamey, lost his entire rice crop.

"We have no idea how we're supposed to survive," says the 54-year-old father of eight with desperation. The changes in the weather have been catastrophic, with harvests getting worse every year, he says.

"We didn't believe in climate change for a long time, but now we think that it really does exist."

Highland earthquake was 'quite unusual', says expert

The earthquake which hit Scotland was "quite unusual" because people could actually feel it, a seismologist said.

By Alison Campsie
Saturday, 20th November 2021, 

The earthquake was felt in Roybridge, Lochaber, on Friday. PIC: Jim Barton/geograph.org.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) reported a 2.2 magnitude earthquake just outside Roybridge, near Spean Bridge, in the Highlands on Friday around 9.30pm.

It was the second quake to hit the country in less than a week.

The earthquake, which had a depth of 7.5km, was described by Glenn Ford, the BGS seismic analyst on call at the time of the tremor, as "absolutely tiny" when compared with other quakes seen around the world.

But he said this one was unusual as only around 10% of earthquakes are felt at all.

Mr Ford said: “In UK terms, because we are a very low seismic area, we only perhaps get about 15 earthquakes a year of this size or greater, so it's quite unusual in that respect.

"We get about two to three hundred earthquakes every year somewhere in the United Kingdom area, so the fact that this one was actually felt was unusual because approximately 90% of them are so small nobody actually perceives them."

One person who did feel it was Iain MacDonald, who was staying in the village at the time of the tremor.


He said: "It was about 9.30pm and I felt the tremor, but I heard it much more. It was really quite loud, like a train rumbling past the house.

"To me it seemed like a train rumbling past. I knew what it was straight away, I have heard it before and felt the tremor before."

The quakes was 17 billion times smaller than the earthquake which devastated Japan in 2011, said Mr Ford.

He added: "You literally wouldn't look up from your coffee or your newspaper for an earthquake that size in California or Japan."

He added there were a number of factors as to why people felt earthquakes in the UK, including size and depth.

"The other type is time of day. Because people are not used to earthquakes in the UK, they put a small earthquake, because it could just be a small tremor, down to traffic noise, so if somebody is in a very remote area like this which occurred last night there is much better opportunity to actually feel it because they are nice and still, it was late at night, and probably in a sedentary position," Mr Ford said.

"Normally if the roads had been busy or you're near a motorway, you'd just put it down to traffic,” he added.

A 3.1 magnitude earthquake was reported by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) on Tuesday just before 2am, with its epicentre some 11 miles north-west of of Lochgilphead, 88 miles north-west of Glasgow.

More than 30 people reported to the USGS that they had felt the tremor, with reports coming from as far as Edinburgh and Ballycastle in Northern Ireland.

The agency said that quake happened 10km below the Earth's surface.

As for the recent quakes in Scotland, Mr Ford said there had "obviously been a little bit of stress built up in that area".

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

Earthquake Scotland: Reports of tremors of west Scotland earthquake coming from as far as Edinburgh and Northern Ireland

Residents of western Scotland received a bump in the night after an earthquake shook the region in the early hours of Tuesday.

By Trevor Marshallsea
Tuesday, 16th November 2021

A quake with a magnitude of 3.1 occurred just before 2am with its epicentre some 11 miles north-west of the town of Lochgilphead, 88 miles north-west of Glasgow, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.

More than 50 people reported to the USGS that they had felt the tremor, with reports coming from as far as Edinburgh and Ballycastle in Northern Ireland.

The agency said the quake happened 10km below the Earth's surface.

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

In August of 2017, Scotland experienced its biggest earthquake in years, which had a magnitude of 4.1. It occurred in Moidart, but was felt widely across the northwest of Scotland.

The epicentre of the earthquake was located some 11 miles north-west of the town of Lochgilphead, however, tremors were felt as far as Edinburgh and Ballycastle, North Ireland.

Tennis players take on Communist Party: Where is Peng Shuai?


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FILE - China's Peng Shuai serves to France's Caroline Garcia during their second round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, on May 31, 2018 in Paris. China's Foreign Ministry is sticking to its line that it isn't aware of the controversy surrounding tennis professional Peng Shuai, who disappeared after accusing a former top official of sexually assaulting her. A ministry spokesperson said Friday that the matter was not a diplomatic question and that he was not aware of the situation. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)


Some of the world’s most famous tennis players, distraught by the disappearance of colleague Peng Shuai, are challenging China’s Communist Party to get answers.

So far it’s a standoff with little visible impact as tennis greats like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal — joined by tennis governing bodies, human rights groups, retired players, and several athletes’ lobbies — try to turn their profiles into power.

Peng, a two-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1 in doubles, disappeared after making allegations of sexual assault over two weeks ago against former vice premier Zhang Gaoli, who was a member of the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee and a lieutenant of General Secretary Xi Jinping.

Athletes may sense a pressure point.

China is just 2 1/2 months from hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics, which is facing a diplomatic boycott over allegations of crimes against humanity involving at least 1 million Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities. NBA player Enes Kanter has been the most outspoken in defense of the Uyghurs, calling Xi a “brutal dictator.”

Peng’s case is unique. She is a star athlete and has a platform and credibility that few other women in China share. The effort to silence Peng reflects the Communist Party’s determination to squelch criticism of its leaders and to prevent any organized public response.

Athletes are especially sensitive politically because they are well-known and admired. The ruling party publicizes their victories, especially those of a three-time Olympian such as Peng, as evidence it is making China strong again.

China’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly disavowed any knowledge of the case. Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told media on Friday the issue is “not a diplomatic question and I’m not aware of the situation.”

Peng wrote a lengthy social media post on Nov. 2 in which she said she was forced to have sex three years ago with Zhang. The post was quickly deleted from Peng’s verified account on Weibo, a leading Chinese social media platform. But screenshots of the explosive accusations were shared on the internet.

Athletes have been weighing in ever since.

“She’s one of our tennis champions, a former world No. 1, and clearly it’s concerning. I hope she’s safe,” Federer told Sky Italia on Saturday. “The tennis family sticks together and I’ve always told my children as well that the tennis family is my second family. … I just want her to be OK and that she’s safe and that we hear something hopefully soon.”

Nadal told the French newspaper L’Equipe, “The most important thing is to find out whether she is OK. All of us in the tennis family hope to see her back with us soon.”

French tennis player Nicolas Mahut said he won’t play in China if the situation isn’t resolved, and he added that the International Olympic Committee needs to do more.

“It’s really embarrassing to not speak out. They should say something a few months before (the) Olympics in China,” Mahut said. “I hope they will do something soon.”

Players have been emboldened by the unequivocal support of the Women’s Tennis Association and its chairman and CEO Steve Simon, who has threatened to pull the WTA’s events out of China. That means almost a dozen next year, including the WTA final.

“There’s too many times in our world today when you get into issues like this that we let business, politics, money dictate what’s right and what’s wrong,” Simon said in an interview on CNN.

“And we’re definitely willing to pull our business and deal with all the complications that come with it because ... this is bigger than the business.”

A statement from Wimbledon said the sport’s most prestigious tournament is “united with the rest of tennis in the need to understand that Peng Shuai is safe.”

“We have been working in support of the WTA’s efforts to establish her safety through our relationships behind the scenes,” the All England Club added.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman tweeted: “We are deeply concerned by reports that tennis player Peng Shuai appears to be missing, and we join the calls for the PRC to provide independent, verifiable proof of her whereabouts. Women everywhere deserve to have reports of sexual assault taken seriously and investigated.”

Liz Throssell, a spokeswoman for the U.N. human rights office in Geneva, said Friday it was calling for “an investigation with full transparency into her allegation of sexual assault.”

Global Athlete, an advocacy group, has asked the Switzerland-based IOC to suspend the Chinese Olympic Committee until Peng’s safety is guaranteed.

“The IOC must use its substantial leverage to ensure that the international community is provided proof of Peng’s whereabouts,” Global Athlete head Rob Koehler said.

Despite Peng being a former Olympian, the IOC has remained quiet. A sports business, it derives 91% of its income from selling broadcast rights and sponsorships. But it prefers to cast itself as a non-government organization whose role is to defend high-minded ideas like “promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity,” which appears in its Olympic Charter.

Emma Terho, the newly elected head of an IOC’s Athletes’ Commission that is supposed to represent the interests of Olympic athletes, issued a brief comment on Saturday and said “we support the quiet diplomacy” approach favored by the IOC.

The IOC always says athletes are its first priority, but there is growing pressure from some athletes to get a larger slice of the IOC’s billion-dollar pie.

“Experience shows that quiet diplomacy offers the best opportunity to find a solution for questions of such nature,” the IOC had said in an earlier statement. “This explains why the IOC will not comment any further at this stage.”

It also said it has received assurances that Peng is “safe.”

The World Olympians Association declined to issue a statement. It claims to represent 100,000 living Olympians. It was founded by Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., who heads the IOC preparations for the Beijing Olympics which begin Feb. 4. IOC President Thomas Bach is the honorary president.

“The IOC has more leverage than any other organization with the pending Winter Olympic Games,” Koehler of Global Athletes wrote to AP. “They need to use that now. Athletes going to these Games are watching how the IOC will protect athletes.”

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AP reporters Joe McDonald in Beijing and Andrew Dampf in Turin, Italy, contributed to this report.

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More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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More AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports




Photos of missing Chinese tennis star posted online


Peng Shuai of China wipes her face during the women's singles match against Samantha Stosur of Australia on the second day at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, on July 3, 2018. China's Foreign Ministry is sticking to its line that it isn't aware of the controversy surrounding tennis professional Peng Shuai, who disappeared after accusing a former top official of sexually assaulting her. A ministry spokesperson said Friday that the matter was not a diplomatic question and that he was not aware of the situation. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland, File)


BEIJING (AP) — An employee of Chinese state TV has posted photos of missing tennis star Peng Shuai online in a new effort to dispel concern about her disappearance after she accused a senior leader of sexual assault.

The photos appeared Friday on Twitter, which cannot be seen by most internet users in China. The state TV employee, Shen Shiwei, wrote they were on Peng’s account on the WeChat message service with the comment, “Happy Weekend.”

The ruling Communist Party faces mounting appeals from tennis stars and the sport’s professional tour to prove Peng, a three-time Olympian and former No. 1-ranked women’s doubles player, is safe and let her speak freely.

Meanwhile, the editor of a newspaper published by the party said Peng would “show up in public” soon.

The controversy is politically awkward as the Chinese capital prepares to hold the Winter Olympics in February. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Friday denied knowing about the outcry over Peng’s disappearance.

Peng, 35, hasn’t been seen in public since posting a statement on social media this month accusing Zhang Gaoli, a former member of the party’s Standing Committee, the ruling inner circle of power, of forcing her to have sex despite repeated refusals.

Shen works for CGTN, the English-language arm of China Central Television that is aimed at foreign audiences. His Twitter post came after CGTN this week distributed a statement it said came from Peng that retracted the accusations against Zhang.

The editor of Global Times, an English-language newspaper published by the Communist Party, said on Twitter he had confirmed from unidentified sources that the photos “are indeed Peng Shuai’s current state.”

“In the past few days, she stayed in her own home freely and she didn’t want to be disturbed,” wrote the editor, Hu Xijin. “She will show up in public and participate in some activities soon.”

The photos showed Peng with a gray cat and holding a panda figurine in what appeared to be a private home with stuffed animals lined up behind her. There was no indication when the photos were taken.

Steve Simon, the chairman and CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association, reacted Saturday to a video purporting to show the tennis player at a restaurant.

“I am glad to see the videos released by China state-run media that appear to show Peng Shuai at a restaurant in Beijing. While it is positive to see her, it remains unclear if she is free and able to make decisions and take actions on her own, without coercion or external interference. This video alone is insufficient,” Simon said.

“As I have stated from the beginning, I remain concerned about Peng Shuai’s health and safety and that the allegation of sexual assault is being censored and swept under the rug. I have been clear about what needs to happen and our relationship with China is at a crossroads.”

Simon has threatened to pull the WTA’s events out of China. That means almost a dozen next year, including the WTA Finals.

Emma Terho, the chair of the International Olympic Committee Athletes’ Commission, tweeted Saturday that the body “is very concerned about the situation of three-time Olympian Peng Shuai.”

“We support the quiet diplomacy approach that is being taken and hope it will lead to the release of information about the whereabouts of Peng Shuai and confirmation of her safety and well-being,” Terho added.

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More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Biden mulls reversing Trump rules on western grouse species

By MATTHEW BROWN

November 19, 2021

 In this April 20, 2013 file photo, male Greater Sage Grouse perform their mating ritual on a lake near Walden, Colo. The Biden administration is considering new measures to protect the ground-dwelling bird that was once found across much of the U.S. West. It has lost vast areas of habitat in recent decades due to oil and gas drilling, grazing, wildfires and other pressures. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration on Friday said it will consider new measures to protect greater sage grouse, a bird species once found across much of the U.S. West that has suffered drastic declines in recent decades due to oil and gas drilling, grazing, wildfires and other pressures.

The announcement of a range-wide evaluation of habitat plans for greater sage grouse came after the Trump administration tried to scale back conservation efforts adopted when Biden was vice president in 2015.

A federal court blocked Trump’s changes. But Biden administration officials said the attempt set back conservation efforts — even as the chicken-sized bird’s habitat was further ravaged by wildfires, invasive plants and continued development.

Disagreement over the region’s sage grouse is longstanding and often bitter, and any new restrictions the administration adopts against energy or agriculture is sure to further inflame tensions. Republican-run states and industries that profit off public lands have clashed with wildlife advocates over how much space the birds need to survive.

Many environmentalists insisted that the 2015 conservation plans didn’t go far enough because of loopholes that allowed grazing and drilling on land that sage grouse need. Opponents said they hobbled economic progress.

Biologists say wide buffers from drilling and other activities are needed to protect sage grouse breeding areas where birds engage in elaborate annual mating rituals.

Bureau of Land Management Deputy Director Nada Culver said “everything’s on the table” as the agency launches its evaluation of sage grouse habitat, with no set deadlines for action.

“From changes to the buffers, to how we manage energy development, to how we manage every other activity....we are evaluating it and we are looking for input on what are the most important things to look at,” Culver said.

Officials also will look at how climate change is adding to pressures on sage grouse. Culver pointed to data showing wildfires burned almost 10,700 square miles (28,000 square kilometers) of the bird’s habitat since 2016. The vast majority of the fires were on federal lands.

Greater sage grouse once numbered in the millions across all or portions of 11 Western states. Populations have dropped 65% since 1986, government scientists recently concluded.

In 2010, wildlife officials said drastic habitat losses meant protections for sage grouse had become warranted for under the Endangered Species Act. However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not take any action at the time, saying other species took priority.

In 2015, the wildlife service determined protections were no longer needed after other federal and states officials adopted sweeping land management plans meant to halt or reverse the species’ decline.

The plans were billed as a compromise, but some components unraveled after Trump took office in 2017 and states sought changes to the documents that critics said would hurt grouse.

The quirky birds with long tail feathers are known for elaborate courtship displays in which males puff up air sacs in their chests to make an odd popping sound.

Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester said he believed land bureau director Tracy Stone-Manning — a former aide to the lawmaker — would pursue a collaborative, balanced approach that will keep sage grouse from becoming an endangered species.

But Western Republicans — including Montana’s Gov. Greg Gianforte and Sen. Steve Daines and Wyoming’s Gov. Mark Gordon and Sen. Cynthia Lummis — criticized the Biden administration action. They said states should be given deference to manage wildlife and federal lands kept open for energy exploration and grazing.

“Wyoming knows how to manage the greater sage grouse, and I’m very concerned that greater federal control will do nothing for the birds, but be devastating for ranchers and energy producers,” said Lummis.

Gordon noted that Wyoming has more sage grouse than any other state and said “no changes are necessary.”

Daines said state and local conservation efforts needs to be protected from “federal overreach,” while Brooke Stroyke, a spokesperson for Gianforte, said Montana already has a plan that balances conservation and rural economies.

In May, federal officials in response to a court order said that they would consider bans on new mining to help the birds.

A ban proposed under former President Barack Obama was dropped by the Trump administration. The affected lands totaled 10 million acres (4 million hectares) in Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming.

The land bureau has resumed that process. It will consider the original proposal and additional options, spokesperson Alyse Sharpe said.

The order to take a new look at mining came in a lawsuit from environmentalists. The judge faulted the Trump administration for ignoring prior science on the issue.

Erik Molvar with plaintiff Western Watersheds Project said falling back on the Obama-era plans would not work, because they allowed too much disturbance of sage brush habitat, he said.

“The Obama administration did their best to please all the different ends of the political spectrum. But in the end they didn’t please anybody and they didn’t give the sage grouse the habitat they needed,” Molvar said.

Kathleen Sgamma with the Western Energy Alliance, a group representing oil and gas companies, said Friday’s move by the administration came as no surprise.

“Sage grouse has been a political football for decades,” she said. “The back and forth continues.”

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Follow Matthew Brown on Twitter: @MatthewBrownAP