Daughter of first American astronaut to launch on Blue Origin flight

Good Morning America co-anchor Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest 

daughter of NASA asronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to travel to space.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is set to blast its third private crew to space on Saturday, this time including the daughter of the first American astronaut.

The spaceflight will last roughly 11 minutes, launching from the company's base in Texas and soaring to just beyond the internationally-recognized boundary of space, 62 miles (100 kilometers) high.

The six-member crew will unbuckle and enjoy a few minutes' weightlessness before the spaceship returns to Earth for a gentle parachute landing in the desert.

The launch date was pushed back because of high winds, but is now set for 8:45 am local time (1445 GMT) on Saturday.

Laura Shepard Churchley, whose father Alan Shepard became the first American to travel to space in 1961, will be flying as a guest of Blue Origin.

The company's suborbital rocket is in fact named "New Shepard" in honor of the pioneering astronaut.

Michael Strahan, an American football Hall of Famer turned TV personality, is also a guest, while there are four paying customers: space industry executive and philanthropist Dylan Taylor, investor Evan Dick, Bess Ventures founder Lane Bess, and Cameron Bess.

Lane and Cameron Bess will become the first parent-child pair to fly in space. Ticket prices have not been disclosed.

Blue Origin's suborbital rocket is called New Shepard in honor of the pioneering astronaut.

"It's kind of fun for me to say an original Shepard will fly on the New Shepard," Shepard Churchley, who runs a foundation that promotes science and raises funds for college students, said in a video. "I'm very proud of my father's legacy."

Alan Shepard performed a 15-minute suborbital space flight on May 5, 1961, just under a month after the Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, orbiting the planet.

Shepard, who died in 1998, went on to be the fifth of twelve men to have set foot on the Moon.

Previous Blue Origin flights have flown the company's billionaire founder Bezos as well as Star Trek actor William Shatner to space.

Bezos, who made his fortune with Amazon envisages a future in which humanity disperses throughout the solar system, living and working in giant space colonies with artificial gravity.

This, he says, would leave Earth as a pristine tourism destination much like national parks today.

The year 2021 has been significant for the space tourism sector, with Virgin Galactic also flying its founder Richard Branson to the final frontier, and Elon Musk's SpaceX sending four private citizens on a three-day orbital mission for charity.

The industry's predicted growth means that, starting from next year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Friday it will stop awarding astronaut wings badges to commercial space travelers, though it will continue to recognize them on its website.

"The Astronaut Wings program, created in 2004, served its original purpose to bring additional attention to this exciting endeavor," said FAA Associate Administrator Wayne Monteith, in a statement.

Daughter of first American in space on next Blue Origin flight

© 2021 AFP

In the groove: Congolese rumba fans aim at coveted UN culture list


Congolese rumba pioneer Papa Wemba. His death in 2016 triggered an outpouring of grief (AFP/JUNIOR D.KANNAH)

Laudes Martial MBON in Brazzaville and Annie THOMAS in Kinshasa
Sat, December 11, 2021, 11:47 PM·4 min read

The band strikes up the rumba, and the dance floor in Kinshasa fills with couples who sway to its slinky, sensual rhythm.

Rumba is a music that has an international following, especially for its brassy Cuban version.

But in Congo, the guitar-driven local variant has a deep and passionate following, and devotees hope that next week the genre will be declared a world cultural treasure.


The Democratic Republic of Congo and its smaller neighbour, the Republic of Congo, are jointly pushing for the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to inscribe their rumba on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

If so, it will join Cuban rumba, Jamaica's reggae music, Finland's sauna culture, the hawker food of Singapore and other cherished human innovations.

"This is a moment we have been waiting for impatiently," said Jean-Claude Faignond, who manages the Espace Faignond dance bar, a legendary hangout in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo.

"Is rumba an intangible heritage?" he asked, before replying: "It's pure happiness -- immortality."

"Rumba is a passion shared by all Congolese... It reaches into all areas of national life," said Professor Andre Yoka Lye, director of the National Institute of Arts in DR Congo's capital Kinshasa and president of a "joint commission for the promotion of Congolese rumba".

Rumba is "a unifier, bringing people together, as well as the past and present."

- Out of Africa... and back -

The story of the rumba is rooted in the days of the slave trade.

Africans who were captured and transported to the Americas had no possessions when they arrived, but brought with them their culture and their music.

Once there they crafted the musical instruments they had played back home -- "percussion instruments, membranophones, idiophones and also the African piano, the xylophone," explained Gabriel Kele, head of musicology at DR Congo's National Museum.

As time went by, "the instruments evolved," said Kele.

As did the style of music, which shifted towards jazz in North America and rumba in South America.

Eventually the music came home.

It returned to Africa, often disseminated by traders or travellers who brought 78 rpm records with them, and was adopted and adapted by local musicians.

Congolese rumba in its modern form dates back around a century, but started to hit its stride in the 1940s, spreading like wildfire in Kinshasa and in Brazzaville, its sister across the Congo River.

It's a music of cities and bars, of meetings and nostalgia, of "resistance and resilience," of "sharing pleasure" -- a music with its own way of life and dress codes, Professor Yoka said.

In the musicologist's office, a well-used and weather-beaten instrument sits on a shelf.

"This is Wendo's first guitar," Yoka explained reverently.

The instrument was played by Wendo Kolosoy (1925-2008), whom devotees refer to as the "father" of Congolese rumba. His 1948 song "Marie-Louise", with its spangly guitar hook, is a classic of the genre.

- Love and politics -

Sung mainly in Lingala, rumba songs typically are about love -- but political messages have also been a feature.

For many Congolese, the music became intertwined with decolonisation from France and Belgium.

The 1960 hit "Independence Cha Cha" performed by Joseph Kabasele and his African Jazz Orchestra spread beyond the two Congos, becoming an unofficial anthem of African independence.

There have also been less glorious periods of the Congolese rumba, when the music was exploited as propaganda by those in power.

"There have sometimes been deviations," Yoka acknowledged.

Congolese music is rooted in oral traditions and person-to-person contact, which explains why it is so lively and quick to evolve.

But because the culture is not codified, it tends to gets little international recognition, which explains the push for UNESCO acknowledgement, say those promoting the bid.

Rumba's history is fluid -- it's a tale of return and renewal, said Yoka.

One of its greatest practitioners, Papa Wemba, "The King of Rumba Rock," died in 2016, but the genre remains strong.

"Koffi Olomide is rumba, Fally Ipupa is rumba.... Even those who are more restless, such as Werrason and JB Mpiana, are nostalgic about returning to their roots," said Yoka, rattling off the names of modern rumba maestros.

On the floor of her restaurant Quick Poulet in Kinshasa, 65-year-old Maman Beki, wearing a long yellow dress with gold embroidery, is dancing away.

Her steps are sure, her movements natural and effortless.

Kinshasa's famous nightlife is restricted these days by the anti-Covid curfew, which starts at 11pm. But every Friday and Saturday, a band livens up the evening at Quick Poulet.

Beki says she got her passion for the music from her father, who won rumba-dancing competitions in his prime.

"I love to dance," she says in between songs, "It's in the blood."

lmm-at/bmb/pvh/ri/dl

Ali's grandson Nico Ali Walsh improves to 3-0


Sat, December 11, 2021,

Nico Ali Walsh lands a punch in his middleweight victory over Reyes Sanchez at Madison Square Garden (AFP/Sarah Stier)

Nico Ali Walsh won his third fight of 2021 with a majority decision over the previously unbeaten Reyes Sanchez in a non-title middleweight fight on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Ali Walsh, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, has been busy in the ring since turning pro four months ago. He improved to 3-0 by winning the four-round fight on two of the three judges' scorecards. One judge gave Ali Walsh all the rounds while another scored it even, 38-38. The third judge had it 39-38.

Ali Walsh said he was thrilled to be fighting in the iconic arena where his grandfather battled Joe Frazier for the heavyweight championship in March 1971.

"It is amazing," the 21-year-old Ali Walsh said. "This (Garden) is a piece of history. Just to be in here, let alone fighting here, is a big honor."

Ali Walsh easily won the first round, backing up Sanchez by letting his hands go and landing combinations. He hit Sanchez with a solid overhand right late in the second round that hurt the fellow American fighter. Sanchez managed to finish the second round and then delivered his best round of the fight in the third.

Ali Walsh tried to get the knockout in the fourth but Sanchez proved to be a evasive target as the fight went to the scorecards.

Ali Walsh beat Jordan Weeks by a TKO in his pro debut in August in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Two months later he won by another TKO over James Westley in Atlanta.

gph/bb

'Monster' Inoue: Japan's unbeaten boxer with dynamite in his fists

Andrew MCKIRDY
Sat, December 11, 2021


Naoya Inoue (left) battles to victory over Nonito Donaire in an epic 2019 World Super Series final (AFP/Kazuhiro NOGI)

Naoya Inoue's nickname is "Monster" and with good reason -- he is regarded as one of boxing's best pound-for-pound fighters and has won all his 21 bouts, 18 by knockout.

The reigning WBA and IBF bantamweight world champion made his Las Vegas debut last year with a typically devastating knockout win and fights back home in Japan for the first time in two years on Tuesday.

Thailand's Aran Dipaen is expected to pose few problems at a sumo hall in Tokyo for the ferocious-punching 28-year-old Inoue, who has set his sights on unifying all four major bantamweight belts next year.

"I want to win in a way that completely exceeds expectations," Inoue said ahead of the fight with Dipaen, the IBF's sixth-ranked challenger, who has a 12-2 record with 11 knockouts.

"I don't want to let him touch me. I don't want to let him even graze me."

Inoue, who comes from a boxing family, burst on to the scene as an amateur and has blitzed his way through opponents since turning professional in 2012.

Although he is a star in Japan, his limited exposure in the US means he is still something of an enigma overseas.

After knocking out Australia's Jason Moloney in the seventh round of an eye-catching Las Vegas debut in October 2020, he returned there in June this year to dispatch Michael Dasmarinas of the Philippines inside three rounds, again by KO.

- 'Generational talent' -

Veteran American promoter Bob Arum -- who signed Inoue to his Top Rank stable to fight in the US -- had no doubts the Japanese fighter is set for global stardom.

"Naoya Inoue is a generational talent, the sort of fighter who comes around once a decade," said Arum -- who has worked with greats from Muhammad Ali to Manny Pacquiao in a legendary career spanning half a century.

"He will be a major star stateside in no time. You are looking at an all-time great who is entering the prime of what will be a historic career."

Inoue took up boxing at an early age.

His father Shingo is a former amateur while his younger brother Takuma is a fellow professional with a 15-1 win-loss record and has held the WBC interim bantamweight title.

Naoya Inoue started his career at light flyweight, capturing the WBC crown in only his sixth professional fight.

He vacated the title to challenge Argentine WBO super flyweight champion Omar Narvaez, and knocked him out in the second round.

Inoue moved up to bantamweight and claimed the WBA belt in his first title fight, before winning the World Boxing Super Series in November 2019.

His epic final victory over Filipino veteran four-weight world champion Nonito Donaire in a brutal contest was voted fight of the year by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

It was the first time Inoue had been seriously tested in his professional career.

He suffered a fractured right eye socket and double vision early in the fight before battling back to floor Donaire in the 11th round and seal a unanimous points win.

- Quiet perfectionist -

Dipaen is unlikely to give him a similar workout in Tokyo, but stronger challenges lie ahead as Inoue eyes a bout against another Filipino, WBO champion John Riel Casimero, next year.

Inoue is a perfectionist who regularly proclaims himself unsatisfied with his performances, even after blowing opponents away.

He might be a "monster" in the ring, but Inoue is quiet and mild-mannered away from boxing. He married his childhood sweetheart and has three children.

Inoue has ambitions of a move up in weight class once he has finished steamrolling the bantamweight division.

Inoue's focus remains solely on a successful defence of his WBA and IBF belts on Tuesday.

"There are lots of expectations on me for this fight, but if I get caught up in the atmosphere, where everyone wants me to knock him out early, I won't actually be able to box," local media quoted him as saying of the Dipaen contest.

Whatever lies ahead, should he win as expected, Inoue will continue to do it his way.

"I want to approach each match the same, regardless of who my opponent is," he said. "You have to keep a cool head."

amk/pst/dh

Video captures tornado swirling across US state; over 100 feared dead in storm | VISUALS

As many as 100 people are feared dead after a swarm of tornadoes tore through the US heartland on Saturday, flattening buildings and setting off a scramble to find survivors beneath the rubble.


India Today Web Desk 

New Delhi

December 12, 2021

Tornado sweeps across US states(L); Debris from destroyed buildings and shredded trees littered the ground in the tornado's wake (Credit: AP photo/Twitter)

As many as 100 people are feared dead after a swarm of tornadoes tore through the US heartland on Saturday, flattening buildings and setting off a scramble to find survivors beneath the rubble.

Saying the disaster was likely one of the largest tornado outbreaks in US history, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state of Kentucky, the hardest hit by the calamity.

The unseasonal stormfront devastated the small town of Mayfield it tore apart a candle factory, crushed a nursing home, derailed a train and smashed an Amazon warehouse. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said upwards of 70 may have been killed when a twister tore through the middle of the state, adding that the number may eventually 100 across 10 or more counties.

Emergency workers sifted through the wreckage left behind in the tornado’s wake. Debris from destroyed buildings and shredded trees littered the ground; twisted metal sheeting, downed power lines and wrecked vehicles lined the streets. Windows and roofs were blown off the buildings that were still standing.


About 40 workers had been rescued at the candle factory in Mayfield, which had about 110 people inside when it was reduced to a pile of rubble. It would be a "miracle" to find anyone else alive under the debris, Governor Beshear said.

"The devastation is unlike anything I have seen in my life and I have trouble putting it into words," Beshear said at a press conference.

‘LIKE A BIG BOMB EXPLODED’

Video and photos posted on social media showed brick buildings in downtown Mayfield flattened, with parked cars nearly buried under debris. The steeple on the historic Graves County courthouse was toppled and the nearby First United Methodist Church partially collapsed.

"We've got some siding and roof damage here, but just across the road there's a brewery that half of it is gone. It's just totally gone, like a big bomb exploded or something," Justin Shepherd, a coffee shop owner in Bowling Green, Kentucky, told Reuters.

Six people were killed in the collapse of the Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois, with another injured worker airlifted to a hospital, fire Chief James Whiteford said. Investigators searched the rubble throughout the day for additional victims and 45 people survived.

Governor Bill Lee on Saturday toured tornado-torn parts of western Tennessee in which four people had been killed.

In the neighbouring state of Arkansas, one person was killed and five seriously injured when a tornado tore through a nursing home with 90 beds in Monette.

Another person was killed when a twister destroyed a Dollar General Store and laid waste to much of the downtown area in Leachville, Arkansas. "It really sounded like a train roaring through town," said Lt. Chuck Brown of the Mississippi County Sheriff's Office.

‘A HISTORIC EVENT’

The genesis of the tornado outbreak was a series of overnight thunderstorms, including a super cell storm that formed in northeast Arkansas. That storm moved from Arkansas and Missouri and into Tennessee and Kentucky.

Unusually high temperatures and humidity created the environment for such an extreme weather event at this time of year, said Victor Gensini, a professor in geographic and atmospheric sciences at Northern Illinois University.

"This is an historic, if not generational event," Gensini said.

(With inputs from AP and Reuters)

Tornadoes: devastating but still not well understood

"Tornadoes are nature's most violent storms"

A tornado rips through a residential area after touching down south of Wynnewood,

 Oklahoma on May 9, 2016. (AFP/Josh Edelson)

Robin LEGRAND
Sat, December 11, 2021, 

Tornadoes are a frequent and often devastating weather phenomenon most commonly seen in the United States, but meteorologists are still unable to say exactly how they originate.

"The US typically has more tornadoes than anywhere else in the world, though they can occur almost anywhere," according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

Hardest hit are Great Plains states like Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, though they are also common in many other states, all east of the Rocky Mountains.


- Origins -

Scientists still struggle to pinpoint the precise way in which these powerful storms form.

"Much about tornadoes remains a mystery," according to the National Severe Storm Laboratory, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). "They are rare, deadly and difficult to predict, and they can deal out millions or even billions of dollars in property damage per year."

What is known is that they generally result from so-called "supercell" thunderstorms characterized by extremely powerful updrafts, according to NOAA.

"Within the storm, a strong vertical wind shear causes a horizontally rotating cylinder of air. The updraft lifts the rotating cylinder within the supercell. The rotating cylinder of air narrows, becoming stretched, and spins faster and faster, forming a tornado."

The NWS notes: "Tornadoes develop extremely rapidly, and may dissipate just as quickly. Most tornadoes are on the ground for less than 15 minutes."

- Devastation -

"Tornadoes are nature's most violent storms," according to the NWS, with winds that can reach nearly 300 miles per hour (500 kph). They can wreak devastation on a path more than one mile wide and 50 miles long -- or longer.

The devastating tornado that killed dozens in Kentucky on December 11, 2021 stayed on the ground for 227 miles, said Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. That would be a record, if confirmed.

On average, tornadoes claim 50 lives in the US each year, NOAA said.

The spring of 2011 brought the deadliest spate of tornadoes in recent history, with more than 580 people losing their lives in April and June. They caused damage estimated at $21 billion.

After a tornado passes, scientists evaluate its strength based on the damage inflicted and on measurements of wind speed.

They then classify it using the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale, which assigns ratings from EF-0 to EF-5. EF-0 means "light" damage and wind gusts of 65 to 85 mph, while EF-5 signifies gusts of over 200 mph and "incredible" damage. (Before 2007, the original Fujita scale used ratings of F-0 to F-5.)

- Survivors' tales -

The NWS has gathered first-person accounts from tornado survivors like William, a resident of Smithville, Mississippi, who was at home "watching the news" when a powerful storm struck in 2011.

He heard a local meteorologist say "the storm was coming to Smithville and I just stood there watching, waiting, looking at the TV and thinking this isn't gonna happen.

"About 30 seconds later, the power went out and the entire house shook for a minute and then stopped and I thought it was over, so I was about to get up from my floor when the shaking began again and wouldn't stop this time. I felt the pressure drop and as the shaking got louder, I got worried.

"Then it felt like the house exploded. I woke up one hour and a half later in a field a quarter mile away from the house with cuts to my body and a deep cut to my head."

Michelle, a resident of the small Oklahoma town of Skiakook, survived a 1991 twister.

"The noises I heard during the tornado hit was indescribable. I do remember hearing nails squeak out of boards as they were being forced out...," she said.

"When it was all over, the tornado that hit our town was measured F4. It leveled several of the brick homes in that neighborhood...

"I have rheumatoid arthritis so the intense low pressure temporarily disabled me. I couldn't walk.

"It was the absolute most frightening experience I have ever been through."

rle/bbk/dw

UK
Government plans to bury power lines underground in wake of Storm Arwen
THE USA NEEDS TO DO THIS TOO

Olivia Rudgard
Sat, December 11, 2021

The Government will consider putting power lines underground to make the energy system more resilient in the face of storms - Phil Noble/REUTERS

Power lines could be buried underground to preserve them from the effects of bad weather under plans being considered by the Government in the wake of Storm Arwen.

A review launched this week will examine ways to make the energy system more resilient after thousands of people in Scotland and the north of England were left without power for more than a week in the aftermath of the storm.

Ongoing National Grid projects are burying cables in National Parks and other areas valued for their natural beauty to remove the visual impact of pylons.

Campaigners called for more cables to be buried to protect them from the effects of storms.

Putting local lower-voltage cables underground can cost more than £150,000 per kilometre, with high-voltage pylon lines costing even more.

The Government said the measure would be considered as part of the review, set to report its findings in March next year.

Public ‘prepared to pay more’ on energy bills to remove pylons

Tom Fyans, the director of campaigns and policy at countryside charity CPRE, said: “Electricity pylons are one of the original blots on the landscape and surveys repeatedly show the public are prepared to pay a little more on their energy bills to remove them from our most treasured landscapes, such as National Parks.

“Measures such as undergrounding power cables instead are a win-win, in terms of improving the view and reducing the risk of disruption to supply due to storms and extreme weather conditions, which, with the climate emergency, are likely to increase in both severity and frequency.”

A spokesman for BEIS said: “Our review into how energy operators responded to Storm Arwen will consider a wide range of options, including putting more electricity cables underground.

“This is so that we can ensure our system, which has had £60 billion of investment by gas and electricity networks in the last eight years, is as resilient as possible.

“Extensive plans are underway to address the risks associated with climate change and we are working very closely with the energy industry to ensure they are prepared for future severe weather conditions.”
Managing trees more cost-effective than 'undergrounding'

Dave Openshaw, a director at energy consultancy Millhouse Power, said that other measures including insulated lines and managing trees were more cost-effective, as storm disruption is usually caused by trees falling on lines.

“The first preferable option would be to divert the line clear of the trees if you can’t clear the trees themselves.

“If you are going to ‘underground’ you’ve got to think about undergrounding a significant part of the circuit.

“But then you’re probably looking at a completely different route, because you don’t want to be damaging tree roots when you underground the line. So you might be diverting the line through an underground route, along the highway, and picking up the line at a different point.

“Some of that can be done. It is extremely expensive, and it would be pretty much a last resort. There’s probably better ways of spending the money to benefit the majority of customers.”

Randolph Brazier, the director of innovation and electricity systems at industry group Energy Networks Association, said: “There’s a balance that needs to be maintained when it comes to putting electricity cables underground, which depends on how we keep costs down for bill payers and the impact on the land itself.

“It’s important that electricity networks continue to work with local communities to help find the solution that’s right for them.”

Wildlife concerns blunt Germany's green power efforts



According to a study, the German network will be expanded by only 120 kilometres in 2021 -- a third less than in 2020 (AFP/John MACDOUGALL)

Florian CAZERES
Sat, December 11, 2021

Germany is expanding its power grid to aid the transition to renewable energies, but local residents in some areas are holding up the process over concerns about wildlife.

"I am not saying that the energy transition is not necessary. But we don't want these pylons," Hartmut Lindner, 75, told AFP.

Lindner has been campaigning for 15 years against a planned high-voltage power line in the Schorfheide-Chorin nature reserve, a few kilometres from Berlin.


Energy company 50Hertz is planning to install around 115 kilometres (71 miles) of new lines between the towns of Bertikow and Neuenhagen, replacing an existing network of smaller pylons.

The new network is intended to supply the region with wind energy produced in northern Germany.

But it could pose a threat to "thousands of species of birds, some of them endangered" in the nature reserve, according to Lindner, a retired teacher.

Together with several hundred local residents, Lindner started a campaign in 2008 to oppose the project.

After years of public consultations and discussions, he is unhappy about the "lack of response" from 50Hertz, which has refused to change the route of the line and began construction work earlier this year.

- 12,000 kilometres -

Lindner is one of a growing number of Germans fighting against the construction of electricity pylons near their homes, a trend that risks slowing down the transition to renewables.

The country is planning to phase out both coal and nuclear energy in the coming years, with renewables such as wind energy playing an increasingly important role in keeping the lights on.

"The problem is that wind energy is produced largely in the north, while many needs, especially industrial ones, are in the south. This electricity must therefore be transported using new networks," Dierk Bauknecht, an expert at the Oeko-Institut research centre, told AFP.

To meet these needs, the German government has launched more than one hundred new power line projects over the past few years spanning 12,000 kilometres, according to official figures from the economy ministry.

And the trend looks set to continue, with Germany's new ruling coalition of the Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats aiming for renewables to make up 80 percent of the energy mix by 2030.

- 'Too slow' -

But the construction work on new power lines has been "too slow" due to "procedures" and "local resistance to these projects", Bauknecht said.

According to a study by energy price comparison company Check24, the German network will be expanded by only 120 kilometres in 2021 -- a third less than in 2020.

If nothing is done to speed up the process, Germany could "miss its objectives in terms of ecological transition", Bauknecht said.

In a bid to address the problem, Berlin introduced new rules last year that simplify the bureaucratic procedures required for the approval of power lines and limit the possibilities for appeal.

But Lindner and his fellow campaigners, backed by environmental association NABU, still won a key legal victory this summer leading to the temporary suspension of construction on a section of the 50Hertz line.

A court will decide next year whether 50Hertz can continue with construction as planned or whether it must yield to the campaigners' demands that it be rerouted or moved underground to protect the region's biodiversity.

Such solutions have so far been ruled out by 50Hertz, which considers them too expensive.

50Hertz did not immediately reply to AFP's requests for comment.

In a field a few kilometres from Lindner's house, the huge pylons have already been built. But he still has hope of saving the wetlands a few hundred metres away, along with the birds that inhabit them.

"We must protect this unique place," he said.

fcz-fec/hmn/imm/tgb

'Smooth ride': UAE taxis drive towards autonomous future



Self-driving TXAI in Abu Dhabi (AFP/Giuseppe CACACE)More

Dana Moukhallati
Sat, December 11, 2021, 9:00 PM·2 min read


Mustafa sits motionless behind the wheel, upturned hands in his lap, as his taxi drives itself, bringing the United Arab Emirates closer to an autonomous future.

The "safety officer" is part of a trial for driverless cabs in the capital Abu Dhabi, where customers can be picked up and dropped off at nine pre-determined spots on Yas Island.

It's been a "smooth ride" so far, said Mustafa, with no incidents that required any major intervention.

"In the past few days, we've had most customers order taxis from the mall or hotel," he told AFP.

Bayanat, a branch of the Abu Dhabi-based Group 42 tech company, last month launched the trial of four driverless vehicles, two electric and two hybrid, under the name TXAI.

A second phase will include at least 10 vehicles and multiple locations across Abu Dhabi, the company said. Customers can order the vehicles using the TXAI app.

Robotaxis have been tested at various locations around the world in recent years, but commercial use of the vehicles has so far been tentative.

Last month, autonomous cabs were rolled out in Beijing, but also with a safety officer in the driver's seat in case of an emergency.

Hasan al-Hosani, CEO of Bayanat, said removing the safety officers would be a major step.

"The milestone to move from L3 (where a safety officer is present) to L4 (without a safety officer) would be a big one," Hosani told AFP.

"The vehicles are already operational... We are collaborating with the authorities to further expand our operation area geographically, as well as to upgrade to L4 level."

Abu Dhabi is not the only member of the UAE eyeing a driverless future.

Neighbouring Dubai says it wants 25 percent of all of its transport driverless by 2030, cutting costs, pollution and accidents.

Dubai aims to launch a small fleet of self-driving taxis by 2023, according to state media, with plans to reach 4,000 by 2030.

The shift is expected to hit taxi drivers, the vast majority Asian migrant workers, in a country where foreigners make up 90 percent of the 10-million population.

The UAE last month approved a temporary licence to test self-driving cars on the roads, but there is no federal legislation yet governing autonomous vehicles.

This remains one of the biggest obstacles.

"This technology is new and regulations pertaining to safety and other operational aspects are being developed in real time," said Hosani.

dm/th/jsa/hc

German carmakers race to retrain workforce for electric age



Robots mount doors on an ID.3 Volkswagen electric car. Germany's pivot to electric vehicles means carmakers are racing to retrain their workforces 

(AFP/RONNY HARTMANN)

Sophie MAKRIS
Sat, December 11, 2021

After her apprenticeship at Volkswagen, Michelle Gabriel was a master at welding, cutting, bending and stretching metal, but just a few years later it's not chassis but software frameworks she's piecing together after a speedy change of career.

The 24-year-old's professional journey reflects the transformation the auto sector is undergoing, moving away from its traditional focus on building combustion engines to developing software.

Germany's new government led by Olaf Scholz, which took office on Wednesday, wants to speed up this pivot with the aim of having 15 million electric vehicles on its roads by 2030 from just over 500,000 today.

But the upheaval being caused by the electric revolution is putting in doubt the livelihoods of thousands of employees in jobs where their skills may no longer be needed.

Managers are now confronted with the challenge of preparing their workforce to build the car of tomorrow.

A fully automated production line at Volkswagen's Wolfsburg headquarters. The German car giant has launched a programme to retrain workers as software developers 

(AFP/John MACDOUGALL)

- Cognitive faculties -

Despite thinking the welding work during her apprenticeship was "super", Michelle Gabriel could not imagine entering a profession that "could disappear in five years", she told AFP.

But "construction mechanic was a job already in the process of disappearing when I finished my training," said Gabriel, who like all apprentices began work on the factory line.

When the auto giant presented her with the opportunity to join its "Faculty 73" programme, intended to train software developers, Gabriel signed up.

Open to Volkswagen employees as well as outside applicants -- who must sit a series of tests but do not need a degree -- the new kind of apprenticeship is the storied carmaker's response to the need for new skills.

Electric cars require fewer employees to assemble units on the factory line and more IT technicians and electrochemists to develop the batteries that power them.

With around 100 students a year, the Faculty 73 programme launched in 2019 at Volkswagen's flagship plant in Wolfsburg in the north of Germany. Yet the initiative still will not cover the manufacturer's needs for new skilled workers.

- Digital drive -

That has prompted Volkswagen, like many other German carmakers and their suppliers, to launch an unprecedented internal drive to update existing roles.

Depending on the employee, the digital course could last between a few weeks and a year, time enough to acquire the knowledge needed.

"There are masses of people that we have to get qualified and we will not achieve it using just traditional methods," said Ralph Linde, director of the Volkswagen Group Academy.

Instead of teaching in classrooms, Volkswagen is using online resources that can be rolled out on the scale necessary, without which Volkswagen "would not be able to manage this big task", Linde told AFP.

The group plans to offer employees a personalised online platform to identify potential career development opportunities.

One issue, Linde conceded, is that "rapid technological developments" mean it is sometimes difficult to anticipate what skills the group's workers will need even in the next year or two.

Electric vehicles and the increasing role of software in the auto industry represent a "fundamental paradigm change" for workers, even if it "does not mean fewer jobs overall but different ones", said Johannes Katzan, a representative for the IG Metall union in the states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

In all, including its vast web of suppliers, the car industry in Germany employs 830,000 individuals directly and 1.3 million indirectly.

Experts' estimates for how many of these jobs may be threatened by the digital switchover vary from 180,000 to as many as 288,000.

Yet a report by the Fraunhofer Institute, commissioned by VW last year, found that massive layoffs could be avoided -- on condition that it accelerated its training programmes.

smk-sea/hmn/tgb

DAESH IS A SAUDI FRONT GROUP

Canadian man pleads guilty to joining ISIS, serving as translator

Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A Saudi-born Canadian man has pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to charges he fought for the Islamic State and played a key role in the militant group's recruitment efforts.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III of the Eastern District of Virginia accepted the plea deal entered by Mohammed Khalifa, 38, on Friday.

Prosecutors said Khalifa traveled to Syria in 2013 and joined ISIS, swearing his allegiance to leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Due to his proficiency in both English and Arabic, Khalifa provided narration and translation for about 15 videos created by ISIS, some of which depicted scenes of violence, executions and attacks. In two videos, he's shown executing two Syrian soldiers.

During his time with the group, the ISIS Media Bureau was also responsible for releasing images and videos showing the slayings of James Foley and Steven Sotloff, U.S. journalists who were taken hostage.

The Justice Department said he fought with the group until 2019, when he was captured by members of the Syrian Democratic Forces. They handed him over to the U.S. government for prosecution.

Khalifa is scheduled to be sentenced April 15, facing up to life in prison.

Canadian Man, Narrator of Daesh Propaganda Videos, Pleads Guilty

© AP Photo / Militant website

The former Canadian IT worker was captured by Syrian Defence Forces in 2019 and held overseas until he was brought to Virginia earlier this year to face charges.

A Canadian citizen, Mohammed Khalifa, suspected in the United States of assisting the Daesh* terrorist group has pleaded guilty.

The 38-year-old Canadian had confessed to conducting executions for Daesh on two occasions, the US Department of Justice said.

Also, according to the Department of Justice, Khalifa took part in the hostilities in Syria on the side of the terrorists.

“In addition to serving as a fighter and executing two Syrian soldiers on behalf of ISIS, Khalifa served as a lead translator in ISIS’s propaganda production and the English-speaking narrator on multiple ISIS videos,” the US Department of Justice said, as quoted by Global News.

According to court records, Khalifa left Canada for Syria in 2013.

Prosecutors said that Khalifa narrated two Daesh propaganda videos: "Flames of War" in 2014 and "Flames of War II" in 2017.

The former Toronto IT worker was collaborating with Daesh terrorist group between 2013 and 2019.

Khalifa was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In Toronto, he graduated in Computer Systems Technology from Seneca College and worked for Kelly Services, a temp agency, which placed him with IBM. In 2013, he began listening to online lectures from a radical Islamic preacher.

*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia

THEY ARE SUNNI JIHADIS FOLLOWING SAUDI WAHABIST IDEOLOGY

Turkish lira collapse piles misery on northern Syria

AFP , Sunday 12 Dec 2021

Mohammed al-Debek, a schoolteacher in northern Syria, is on strike: the currency devaluation in neighbouring Turkey has slashed the value of his salary by two-thirds.

Hana al-Yasbu, a displaced Syrian widown currently living in a camp in northern Syria near the village of Tarhin in an area under the control of Turkish-backed factions in the northern countryside of Aleppo, huddles under a cover with her children, on December 5, 2021. (Photo by AFP)

His town of Al-Bab lies in a northern area of war-torn Syria that in recent years has turned into a de facto Turkish protectorate.

Related

 Turkey lira crashes as Erdogan warns of 'economic war'

 Turkish lira sinks as central bank cuts interest rate

 Turkish lira drops to new low after harsh interest rate cut

Because the Turkish lira is now the main currency in the area, its recent nose-dive has heaped further pain on the people living there.

"My salary in 2017 was worth 160 dollars, but today it is worth 50 dollars, a fraction of its value," the 33-year-old told AFP outside the washed-out yellow walls of his school.

"It's barely enough to pay the rent."

Ankara does not only have military control of the border region, but most of the products available on the markets and even the mobile phone operator are also Turkish.

Areas of northern Syria run by Turkish-backed rebel groups switched to the lira as the main currency last year, replacing the massively devalued Syrian pound.

The lira has lost 45 percent of its value against the dollar this year alone and Debek's purchasing power has plummeted, as has everybody else's in the region.

"After the collapse of the lira, I was forced to look for a second job after school," he said.

His new afternoon job in a bookshop earns him another $40 but that still leaves him short of the $200 he says he needs to make ends meet.

Turkey directly administers several districts of northern Syria and, to seal its presence in the area, has invested heavily in education, health and other sectors.

Sleep hungry

The region's economic fate is inextricably tied to Turkey's and the lira's sharp fall in recent weeks piled more misery on an enclave whose inhabitants are already scarred by war.

A recent UN report on the humanitarian situation cited estimates that "97 per cent of the population, even those that are in employment, are living in extreme poverty".

Inflation is soaring just as fast as it is in neighbouring Turkey, with basic food items such as bread selling at record prices and purchasing power at its lowest ever.

And when the price of a bag of flatbread stops rising, locals say, the amount of bread inside goes down.

Ahmed Abu Obeida, an official with the region's chamber of commerce who also owns a company importing food products from Turkey, acknowledged that consumption had slumped.

"The demand for basic materials has decreased, and the citizens in general cannot afford basic things such as their daily needs in food, medicine and heating," he told AFP.

Hanaa al-Yasbu, a 36-year-old woman who was widowed in an air strike five years ago and has since been living in a camp for war-displaced people, is one of them.

She usually earns around 20 Turkish lira a day by harvesting wheat and potatoes, enough to keep her five children warm and fed.

With her daily income now worth just a dollar and a half, Hanaa has to venture into the countryside to find firewood.

"I dream that I have about 50 lira a day to buy food for my children to feed them, so they do not sleep hungry," she said.