Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Five more Guantanamo detainees approved for release

The US government has approved the release of five more prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay military prison, according to documents posted online this week by the Defense Department.

© Paul HANDLEY A sign for Camp Justice, where trials are held for detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba.

Three of the five detainees were from Yemen, one was from Somalia, and the fifth from Kenya.

They have spent a collective 85 years in the prison opened two decades ago for so-called "war on terror" detainees in the wake of the September 11, 2001 Al Qaeda attack on the United States.

Never charged, detainees now approved for release -- decided after case reviews in November and December -- total 18 of the 39 men still held in the prison facility at the US Naval Base in Cuba.

Those newly approved for release are Somali Guleed Hassan Ahmed (also called Guled Hassan Duran); Kenyan Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu; and Omar Muhammad Ali al-Rammah, Moath Hamza al-Alwi, and Suhayl al-Sharabi of Yemen.

Nicholas Kamm

Demonstrators in front of the White House calling for the closure of the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on January 11, 2022, the 20th anniversary of the opening of the facility.

The Pentagon's Periodic Review Board found that all did not present, or no longer presented, a threat to the United States.

But like the others approved, their releases could be delayed as Washington seeks arrangements with their own or other countries to accept them.

- Repatriation challenge -

Currently the United States will not repatriate Yemenis due to the civil war in the country, or Somalis, whose homeland is also mired by domestic conflict.

The release approvals indicated an accelerated effort by the administration of President Joe Biden to resolve the situations of the 39 in Guantanamo, after his predecessor Donald Trump effectively froze action.

Tuesday marked the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo prison, and brought calls from international human rights groups to shut it down, accusing the United States of arbitrary detention of hundreds of people and the illegal torture of dozens.

On Monday a group of UN human rights experts called for Washington to "close this ugly chapter of unrelenting human rights violations."

Writing on the Lawfare website, US Senator Dianne Feinstein said those detainees facing trial, including September 11th mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, could be tried in US civilian courts rather than the secretive and troubled military commissions system.

"Now that the US's war in Afghanistan is over, it's time to shut the doors on Guantanamo once and for all," Feinstein said.

- Mental health -

Of the 39 men still at Guantanamo, 10 are in the process of standing trial, mostly still in preliminary proceedings; two have pleaded guilty to terror-related charges; and nine remain in limbo, neither charged nor yet granted release.

Some of the nine, Guantanamo defense attorneys say, have mental health problems that make it hard to present a case for release to the boards or arrange a future life in their home countries or elsewhere.

Khalid Ahmed Qasim, whose case was reviewed in December, was denied release even though the Pentagon authorities in charge of the reviews acknowledged that he was not a significant person in Al-Qaeda or the Taliban and did not pose a significant threat.

But they indicated that he frequently would not comply with officials at the Guantanamo prison and lacked plans for his future if he was released.

The board "encourages the detainee to immediately work toward showing improved compliance and better management of his emotions," it said.

It asked his attorneys to produce a plan "regarding how his mental health conditions will be managed if he were to be transferred" out of Guantanamo.

pmh/crs/dw

AFP

East Africa’s Oldest Modern Human Fossil Is Way Older Than Previously Thought

Analysis of ash from a massive volcanic eruption places the famed Omo I fossil 36,000 years back in time

Brian Handwerk
Science Correspondent

January 12, 2022

The remote Kibish Formation, in southern Ethiopia, features layered deposits more than 300 feet thick that have preserved many ancient human tools and remains. Céline Vidal

At a remote region in southwestern Ethiopia, the Omo River and its long-vanished tributaries have laid bare rugged bluffs and hillsides, exposing a layer cake of ancient sediments and the trapped remains of early humans. Before the Covid pandemic, Céline Vidal and colleagues journeyed to this site known as the Kibish Formation to work in scorching temperatures up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit, picking through the ashes of ancient volcanic eruptions to learn more about some of the oldest members of our species.

“It was an adventure,” says Vidal, a volcanologist at the University of Cambridge, who studies how ancient eruptions impacted climate and civilizations. “This is the part of science that online life isn’t ever going to replace.”

One of the reasons Vidal and colleagues came to the site was to learn about Omo I, one of the oldest known examples of Homo sapiens. Using geochemical clues to match the layer of volcanic ash blanketing the fossil to a specific volcanic eruption, they discovered Omo I is 36,000 years older than previously believed. Ash from an enormous eruption of the Ethiopian Rift’s Shala volcano was put down atop the sediment layer containing the Omo I fossil approximately 233,000 years ago, which means that Omo I and her kind lived here at least that long ago.

“Each eruption has a unique geochemical composition, a kind of fingerprint which we can use to try to figure out exactly which eruption on the Ethiopian Rift would have created a layer of volcanic ash,” Vidal explains. “We found a match for the ash layer that covers the fossils, so we know which eruption produced that ash and the age of that eruption.”

The findings, published this week in the journal Nature, show that Omo I had to be older than the layer that later fell from the sky to rest atop her remains, but they don’t reveal her maximum age. It may later be possible to determine the oldest possible date for Omo I if the team can similarly identify another volcanic layer from below the fossil.

Geologist Amdemichael Zafu, a study coauthor, in front of the deposits of the 233,000-year-old eruption of Shala. Céline Vidal

Famed paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey and colleagues found Omo I near the southern Ethiopian town of Kibish in 1967. Originally, scientists dated freshwater mollusk shells found with the skull to conclude that that the remains were about 130,000 years old. They also saw from the beginning, quite clearly, that the skull’s flat face, prominent chin and high forehead were distinctly modern, and that this ancient person should be classified as a member of our own species.

For more than half a century the fossil has been known as one of the oldest existing Homo sapiens skulls anywhere in the world. (The partial skull and skeleton were considered the oldest until the 2017 discovery of 300,000-year-old skull, jaw and tooth fragments from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco.) In 2005, radioactive dating study pushed back the age of the fossil skull significantly, to 195,000 years ago. But today’s study now suggests that Omo I is actually tens of thousands of years older

A reconstruction of the Omo I skull discovered by Richard Leakey and colleagues in 1967.

The Natural History Museum / Alamy Stock Photo

The era in which Homo sapiens likely first appeared and gradually evolved in Africa, between about 360,000 years ago and 100,000 years ago, was one of cataclysmic volcanic activity. Enormous eruptions rocked the region, depositing thick layers of ash that would have made some localities uninhabitable. Because changing environments sometimes pushed early humans to adopt new behaviors and tools, these eruptions might have actually played a part in shaping evolution here. Perhaps they caused groups of ancient humans to move around, encountering one another and exchanging everything from genes to technologies before separating again.

More certainly, the volcanic ash helped to create a record of what occurred during the turbulent era.

At the Kibish formation, researchers were stumped by a massive layer of ash, more than six feet thick, just above the sediments where Omo I and other fossils were found. At a distance of nearly 200 miles away from the nearest ancient volcano, the ash was flour-like, so fine that it lacked enough large crystals to be used for radiometric dating, which provides an age by measuring how much of the mineral’s radioactive potassium has decayed into radioactive argon. “This material just wasn’t suitable for the type of techniques we normally use,” Vidal explains.

But Vidal and colleagues were able to determine the age of the eruption that deposited the ash by sampling rocks closer to their volcanic sources, in places where ashy debris contained plenty of larger crystals suitable for radiometric dating.

“It’s really neat work to be able to go to the volcanic complexes, and collect samples right from the source, and connect them chemically in a very precise way to what was found at the fossil site itself,” says Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program, who wasn’t involved with the study.

Dates for important fossils like Omo I are extremely important for scientists who are piecing together an evolutionary timeline of Homo sapiens. They provide a solid framework to help track changes in evolution, like human appearance, or in behavior, like tool technologies. They also lend context to events like dramatic climate shifts that may have helped to drive those adaptations. “In any given region, it’s useful to establish the earliest appearance of something that looks very, very much like a H. Sapiens skull,” says Potts. “And that’s Omo I.”

Omo I’s fascinating skull shape shows that humans living in eastern Africa 230,000 years ago had already evolved to the point that they looked much like ourselves. But that’s not the whole story. Leakey’s team found a second set of remains at the site, dubbed Omo II, which appears to be the same age but has a quite different and more archaic look that has sparked debate on whether it’s truly a Homo sapiens.

From about 350,000 to 160,000 years ago the human fossil record shows a mixing and matching of different traits, in different times and places, some of which are more primitive and others more modern. This paradigm makes the remains of Omo I and Omo II particularly interesting, Potts notes, because such variation can be seen side by side.

“Whether it may be the same gene pool, or two neighboring groups of hominins, this basis for the combining of archaic and modern looking traits is sort of encapsulated by what happened to be two fossil individuals collated at Kibish by Richard Leakey in the 1960s,” Potts says. “As is true for many animals, the origin of our own species wasn’t an event but a more gradual process that took place over time.”

Brian Handwerk | READ MORE
is a science correspondent based in Amherst, New Hampshire.

US to hold largest-ever offshore wind farm auction next month

Only one offshore wind farm is currently fully operational in the United States: the Block Island Wind Farm, pictured, which was completed at the end of 2016 off the state of Rhode Island and capable of producing 30 megawatts

(AFP/DON EMMERT)

Wed, January 12, 2022

The US government announced Wednesday it will auction more than 480,000 acres off the coasts of New York and New Jersey to build wind farms as part of its campaign to supply renewable energy to more than 10 million homes by 2030.

Offshore wind developers will bid February 23 on six areas in the New York Bight -- the most lots ever offered in a single auction -- which could generate between 5.6 to seven gigawatts of energy, enough to power two million homes, the Interior Department said.

"We are at an inflection point for domestic offshore wind energy development. We must seize this moment -- and we must do it together," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.

The auction will be the first under President Joe Biden, whose administration aims to build as many as to seven major offshore wind farms and review plans for at least 16 others along the US coasts.

The effort is part of Washington's fight against climate change, and the Biden administration says the wind investment would cut 78 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions and create tens of thousands of jobs.

The auction comes after the state governments of New York and New Jersey announced plans to install 16 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2035, the largest such commitment in the country, the Interior Department said.

Only one offshore wind farm is currently fully operational in the United States: the Block Island Wind Farm, completed at the end of 2016 off the state of Rhode Island and capable of producing 30 megawatts.

cs/hs

Andrea Jenkins Is Nation's First Trans City Council President

Trudy Ring
Tue, January 11, 2022

Andrea Jenkins

Andrea Jenkins has been elected president of the Minneapolis City Council, making her the first out transgender person to hold such a post in the U.S.

Jenkins’s fellow council members elected her unanimously Monday, the Star Tribune reports. She has been a council member since 2017 and was previously vice president. She was the first trans person elected to a major city’s governing body and one of the first out trans people of color elected to any office in the nation.

The city has many challenges ahead, including racial justice and police reform in the aftermath of Black man George Floyd’s killing by police in 2020 and the economic inequalities that have been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have a whole lot of work to do,” Jenkins said after the vote, according to the Star Tribune. She also highlighted the diversity of the council. “We represent a diversity of thought, of ideas and solutions to the most pressing issues of our time,” she said.

Annise Parker, president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund and Victory Institute, released the following statement about Jenkins’s election: “As major cities face unprecedented challenges wrought by the pandemic and incidents of police brutality, Andrea leads her constituents and our country with the calm but steely determination the moment calls for. The unanimous vote from her colleagues is a recognition of that leadership. Andrea is an elected official who serves all, but relentlessly champions those most marginalized, bringing an unmatched ability to spark empathy across divisions and communities. Minneapolis will be a better city with her as president and her history-making election will inspire more trans people to run and lead.”

Trans swimmers faced off in an Ivy League meet, and the results upended transphobic arguments against their participation

Meredith Cash
Tue, January 11, 2022

Lia Thomas (center) lines up alongside fellow Ivy League

swimmers for a freestyle event.

Hunter Martin/Getty Images

The University of Pennsylvania hosted a swim meet featuring two trans competitors on the women's side.

Yale's Iszac Henig and Penn's Lia Thomas faced off in a closely-watched 100-yard freestyle event.

The results challenged many of the transphobic ideas used to argue against their participation.

Transgender athletes' participation in women's sports has been the hot-button issue of hot-button issues in recent years.

But for all of the arguments over whether it's fair for trans athletes to compete in women's sporting events, there are scant concrete examples available for either side to cite.

This weekend, an Ivy League swim meet received outsized attention for providing just that. Two trans swimmers — the University of Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas and Yale's Iszac Henig — faced off head-to-head, and the results challenged many transphobic talking points used to argue against their participation.

Thomas (center) prepares for a race.

Hunter Martin/Getty Images

In a closely-watched 100-yard freestyle event, Henig — who identifies as a man but has not yet undertaken a hormonal transition — finished first and bested the next-fastest swimmer by more than one and a half seconds. But Thomas, who has been at the center of controversy in recent weeks for her perceived biological advantage, touched the wall 3.27 seconds after Henig to take sixth place in the race.

Related video: Medical treatments for transgender people in US can cost over $100K

For the first three years of her college swimming career, Thomas competed for the Quakers' men's swimming team, according to SwimSwam. But after coming out as a trans woman, the Austin, Texas native spent two years transitioning and working with the NCAA and Ivy League to comply with rules that would allow her to compete in women's competitions.

Thomas participates in an Ivy League swim meet.Hunter Martin/Getty Images

The NCAA requires trans women to complete at least "one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment" before competing in women's events, according to the association's policies for transgender participation. Though Thomas has fulfilled that prerequisite, many scrutinized her participation in women's events due to her recent dominance in the pool.

Just this week, the Ivy League needed to issue a statement of support for Thomas after calls for her exclusion from competition reached a fever pitch. In an Instagram post published January 7, the conference reiterated its "unwavering commitment to providing an inclusive environment for all student-athletes while condemning transphobia and discrimination in any form."

But on Saturday, Thomas struggled in her race against Henig. The Bulldogs junior freestyle and butterfly specialist is also trans, but unlike Thomas, he has not switched over to the competition that more closely aligns with his gender identity.

Instead, Henig has chosen to continue competing with Yale's women's team — as he's done since arriving in New Haven in 2018. Though he's gotten top surgery, Henig's put off hormone treatment to comply with NCAA regulations.

But the delay has decidedly put him "in a weird position," as he wrote in The New York Times last June.

"As a student-athlete, coming out as a trans guy put me in a weird position," Henig wrote. "I could start hormones to align more with myself, or wait, transition socially, and keep competing on a women's swim team. I decided on the latter."

"I value my contributions to the team and recognize that my boyhood doesn't hinge on whether there's more or less testosterone running through my veins," he added. "At least, that's what I'll try to remember when I put on the women's swimsuit for competition and am reminded of a self I no longer feel attached to."

Despite the added challenge, Henig has done well for himself in the pool this year. In addition to his 100-yard freestyle victory over Thomas and others, Henig won the 50-yard free and broke a 32-year pool record in the process.

And aside from her sixth-place finish, Thomas had a successful showing Saturday as well. On her Senior Day, Thomas won the 200-yard free by nearly two seconds and narrowly beat a teammate for first in the 500-yard free.

'Ohioans are ready for diverse leadership:' State elects first openly transgender public official

Anna Staver, The Columbus Dispatch
Tue, January 11, 2022,

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Dressed in blue and yellow, the colors of the Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools' board of education to which he was elected, Dion Manley raised his right hand and became Ohio's first openly transgender public official.

"I really think Gahanna deserves a lot of credit," Manley said. "They've been inclusive and open as a district. I've seen that in the years I've lived here, and the voters choosing to be a voice for diversity and moving forward is really special."

Manley, who works in optometry, said his daughter Lila's experience in the district inspired him to run for office. She's a senior at Gahanna Lincoln High School and her teachers really impressed him.

"They've done so much for my daughter that I will do anything to show my appreciation and give back in what small way I can," Manley said.

Not a 'two-sides issue': Transgender people exist. Why is there a debate over whether they should have rights?

Dion Manley is the first openly transgender person to win elected office in Ohio. He is going to be in the Gahanna school board starting in January. Dion poses for a photo outside his work in Westerville on December 12, 2021.

He did consider what running as an openly transgender candidate might mean, but Manley said the whole experience was a pleasant surprise. People were open and welcoming to his candidacy just like they were when he moved to the Columbus suburb from San Francisco 15 years ago.

"I can’t even tell you how that felt in being out and visible in such a widespread manner," he said. "Not just because I'm trans but because I'm a regular Joe. A working-class single parent."

Manley, 65, is also the fifth openly transgender man to win an election in the country, according to an LGBTQ political action group called Victory Fund.

Members of Ohio's LGBTQ community described Manley's swearing-in as a joyous moment after a year marked by opposition in the Ohio Legislature.

Republicans introduced bills to ban transgender girls from playing on female sports teams and limit the medical care transgender kids receive. They also inserted language into the state budget giving doctors permission to decline treatments for religious reasons.

"To have a parent who happens to be trans in the room, I think that’s really helpful in the conversation about trans students in schools," TransOhio Board Chair James Knapp said. "I think that’s really paramount now."

And Maria Bruno, who directs public policy for Equality Ohio, said Manley's "groundbreaking electoral victory is proof that Ohioans are ready for diverse leadership," and she thinks he will be "invaluable in continuing to build an inclusive environment for all students in Gahanna schools."

Equality Act: Stalled legislation leaves LGBTQ community continuing to build its own safe places

Manley said he's honored to be that voice for his community, but at the end of the day, he's just a parent who happens to be transgender.

"He’s very humble, so I think the spotlight and attention are surprising to him," said Kara Coates, who also ran and won a seat on the Gahanna school board this November.

And she didn't worry too much about whether the community would support him.

"Dion has a very authentic personality," she said. "He means what he says and has a passion for public education and his community. I knew if people got to meet Dion, they would see how he would add value to the school board."

Representation: 'Jeopardy' contestant Amy Schneider wants to 'send a positive message to the nerdy trans girl'

He's a guy who loves kayaking, dining out with friends and band concerts.

"I love going to school plays," Manley said. "We have a great theater program at the high school."

He also wants to increase the trade school and apprenticeship opportunities for Gahanna students. College isn't for everyone, Manley said. The kids who want a career after graduation deserve to be prepared too. And that's what he told people when he knocked on their doors and asked for their votes.

"By far my experience has that been people love my daughter and support me as a dad," Manley said. "They see I'm a good dad, and that’s what matters."

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: First openly transgender Ohio public official sworn in on school board

Canada has committed to halt financing to the oil and gas industry. To understand what that really means, watch for the fine print

A global movement to permanently separate the oil and gas industry from the public purse appears to be gaining momentum, with an overarching objective of repurposing funds to promote renewable energy

MATTHEW MCCLEARN

PUBLISHEDJANUARY 10, 2022

Mexican state oil firm Pemex's Cadereyta refinery on the outskirts of Monterrey, Mexico on April 20, 2020. Export Development Canada has provided 19 loans to Mexico’s state-owned oil company over 15 years, totalling somewhere between $3-billion and $5.7-billion.DANIEL BECERRIL/REUTERS

Of all the recipients of Canadian government support in recent years, Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) ranks among the strangest. Export Development Canada, a Crown corporation, provided 19 loans to Mexico’s state-owned oil company over 15 years, totalling somewhere between $3-billion and $5.7-billion (EDC only discloses ranges, not precise amounts). The Indian Oil Company received somewhere between $190-million and $425-million. Petrobras, Brazil’s state-owned oil company, got at least $1-billion.

State-owned enterprises control most of the world’s oil reserves and are heavily supported by their own governments, so their need for Canada’s money wasn’t obvious. EDC’s objective was to entice these oil giants to make purchases from Canadian suppliers.

Providing that kind of support just got a whole lot more complicated. At last year’s UN COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, Canada joined 23 other countries in committing to end certain types of support for foreign oil and gas activity by the end of 2022. During a news conference, Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson said Canada would also end public financing of “domestic” fossil fuel projects, reiterating an election campaign pledge made by the Liberal Party.

Ottawa pledges to end financing for foreign fossil-fuel projects in 2022

A global movement to permanently separate the oil and gas industry from the public purse appears to be gathering steam, with an overarching objective of repurposing funds to promote renewable energy. A phalanx of supportive prominent organizations include the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Bloomberg reported in December that the Biden administration had sent a cable to U.S. embassies ordering “an immediate halt to new federal support for coal plants and other carbon-intensive projects overseas.” And 13 member countries of the World Trade Organization (including the European Union, Norway and Britain, but not Canada) issued a joint statement seeking “the rationalization and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.”

Canada is the world’s fourth-largest oil producer and exporter. Ottawa’s generosity is difficult to measure precisely, but large loans and investments for pipelines and liquefied natural gas terminals are recent examples. Oil Change International, an NGO that tracks fossil fuel subsidies, reported that from 2018 to 2020, Canada’s support for fossil fuels averaged US$11-billion annually, the highest among G20 countries.

“Per capita, we’re often the worst,” said Julia Levin, senior program manager for climate and energy with Environmental Defence, a Toronto-based organization. “But to be the absolute worst, with a much smaller economy and much smaller population, is even more shameful.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s mandate letter to new Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, dated Dec. 16, ordered him to “develop a plan to phase out public financing to the fossil fuel sector, including by federal Crown corporations.” But if federal officials and industry lobbyists are perturbed, they’re not showing it. And EDC said it can meet the 2022 deadline.

In part, that’s probably because EDC’s support has already been in transition for several years. More importantly, the fine print hasn’t been written yet. While the manner in which Ottawa assists the industry seems likely to change, it’s unclear whether that will result in a net reduction in overall support.
Canada: a world leader in fossil fuel finance

Preferential tax treatment is a popular support channel. In December, the Parliamentary Budget Officer issued a report that showed that federal income tax deductions for costs relating to finding, acquiring and developing resource properties were the most significant deductions for the fossil fuel sector. They amounted to between $1.3-billion and $2.4-billion in foregone tax revenues annually from 2015 to 2019.

The IEA dubs these “consumption subsidies.” According to its data, the leading providers include Iran, China, India, Saudi Arabia and Russia. Canada’s numbers seem tiny by comparison. The office of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement that the federal government has “phased out or rationalized” eight tax measures supporting the fossil fuel sector since 2007.

Where Canada stands out is in so-called “direct transfers,” typically through EDC. Its main activity is providing or guaranteeing loans that benefit Canadian exporters. Bronwen Tucker, Oil Change International’s public finance campaign manager, said this support is worth more than raw numbers would suggest: EDC provides better borrowing rates than private banks do, and its involvement reduces risk for private financiers, especially on large infrastructure projects.

“Having a government or multiple government institutions involved really helps projects go forward,” she said, especially “those projects [that] have much less social licence and are having trouble getting to the finish line.”

In 2008, EDC’s mandate was broadened to support domestic business. It also administers the Canada Account, separate from its own books, which is used to provide financing the Minister of International Trade deems to be in the national interest. Used in combination, these powers made EDC an important conduit for emergency relief to the oil and gas sector during tough times – and to megaprojects Ottawa wants to advance.

The Globe and Mail assembled a database of nearly 20,000 EDC and Canada Account transactions between 2001 and the end of 2020. The Globe’s analysis shows that oil and gas customers consistently ranked among the clients that EDC has funded most generously: Trans Mountain Pipeline, Enbridge, TransCanada Pipelines (now TC Energy) and Husky Energy are among those that received a minimum of $1-billion each.

Enbridge, for example, was listed as the beneficiary in more than 30 EDC transactions this century, collectively worth at least $3.5-billion. In addition, EDC has provided a minimum of around $4.1-billion to recipients identified only as “Various Canadian Exporters-Oil & Gas.”

In a statement, Enbridge said EDC has primarily supplied “backup credit facilities that in the majority of cases were not used. EDC is one of our smallest lenders currently and we have relationships with nearly 50 banks globally.”

EDC has gradually reduced assistance to oil and gas in recent years. In a statement, it said that by the middle of 2021, its support amounted to “less than half of 2020 levels,” continuing a downward trend over several years. Certain activities seem to have ceased altogether: Pemex and Indian Oil Co. received their last EDC dollars in 2017.

EDC's support for the oil and gas sector has declined

EDC also said it had “divested many existing international loan assets and ceased new support to existing international business relationships,” which halved its international fossil fuel assets in just a few years.

Other institutions are moving faster, however. According to Oil Change International, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank drastically decreased their financing directed to oil and gas, and will reach near zero by the end of this year.
Watch the fine print

History has shown that sweeping commitments about fossil fuel subsidies mean little until key terms are defined.

In September, 2009, G20 leaders met at a summit in Pittsburgh in the aftermath of the financial crisis. They agreed to “phase out and rationalize over the medium term inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.” That, they claimed, would reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by one-10th

Any celebration was premature. First, there was that “medium term” language. It wasn’t until late 2015 that Canada’s environment minister, then Catherine McKenna, was tasked with fulfilling the commitment. Her department set a 2025 deadline.

The term “inefficient” proved even more crucial. The department’s review, as described in a 2019 discussion paper, identified 36 measures that might be considered “subsidies.” But upon close inspection, it found that just four actually met that definition. Of those, none were deemed to be inefficient. (That contrasts starkly with the U.K. Climate Change Committee’s position, which recently declared it “does not consider that any fossil fuel subsidies should be classed as ‘efficient’ in the U.K.”)

Echoing EDC’s thinking, the department also concluded the Crown corporation’s financings and services didn’t qualify as subsidies because they were provided “on commercial terms” and were not specifically directed at the fossil fuel sector. Using these definitions, Ottawa’s obligations seemingly amounted to very little. At COP26 in Glasgow last year, Mr. Wilkinson moved the deadline closer by two years.

With that history in mind, it’s worth parsing Ottawa’s latest commitments carefully.

In Glasgow, Canada declared it would “end new direct public support for the international unabated fossil fuel sector by the end of 2022.” The term “international” is key. In a statement, EDC said it provided about $800-million in direct financing to international companies and projects in 2020. That’s a fraction of its overall oil and gas support.

The word “unabated” could also prove significant. “That’s a sneaky loophole,” Ms. Levin said. “That word ‘unabated’ leaves a window open for governments to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to support this oil and gas refinery because there’s a promise of one day attaching carbon capture technology.’” Carbon capture is largely untested and controversial: While proponents applaud the prospect of locking away carbon emissions underground, critics regard the technology as a dangerous facilitator of the status quo.

As for Mr. Wilkinson’s commitment to end “domestic” support, even fewer details are available. Ian Cameron, a spokesperson for his office, said details will be forthcoming.

What’s clear is that EDC shows no intention of abandoning the oil and gas sector, which it has long regarded as “a critical element of Canada’s economy.” According to Natural Resources Canada, the sector directly employs 176,500 people, and accounts for 5.3 per cent of GDP. From EDC’s perspective, the more important fact is that it represents nearly a quarter of Canada’s exports.

It seems more likely that EDC will pivot to supporting industry efforts to reduce emissions, such as carbon capture. “We are turning our focus to working with our Canadian customers,” EDC said in a statement, “to help them innovate to lower their emissions, while increasing our support for businesses aligned with a low-carbon transition.”

International pressure remains a wild card. Vanessa Corkal, an Ottawa-based policy adviser on energy transitions for the International Institute for Sustainable Development, predicted the federal government’s latest promises will have more impact than the 2009 commitment, mainly because pressure from Canadian voters and governments of other countries has increased.

“The global conversation has shifted,” she said. “Canada, in order to catch up and be considered a climate leader, has to move faster and more boldly.”

RALPH KLEIN DEJA VU
Alberta willing to go to court to oppose handgun ban as feds weigh options for gun control
Elise von Scheel 6 hrs ago

Alberta won't sign on to any handgun ban options Ottawa may offer, and says it's willing to take the fight to court if provincial firearms jurisdiction is disregarded.

The federal Liberal government planned to give municipalities the ability to implement a ban but has adjusted since the last election to focus on working with provinces.

Alberta's United Conservative government has long opposed many of the firearm measures proposed by the federal government, saying banning handguns would disproportionately punish law abiding gun owners and fail to adequately tackle the illegal use of firearms.

The Liberal government proposed legislation last year to give municipalities the power to ban handguns as part of a bill that would have introduced a range of further gun control measures in Canada.

That bill died when the election was called in the fall, but November's speech from the throne indicated a slightly different approach: Leaving the decision on a handgun ban with the provinces.

"The government will now put forward measures like a mandatory buyback of banned assault-style weapons, and move forward with any province or territory that wants to ban handguns," the speech read

As the feds tweak their approach, Alberta's position remains unchanged.

© Peter Evans/CBC Justice Minister Kaycee Madu says Alberta will go through the courts, if necessary, to prevent the federal government from intruding on provincial jurisdiction.

"The federal Liberal government should focus on keeping illegal firearms out of our Canada, and out of the hands of criminals — instead of targeting law-abiding Albertans," Justice Minister Kaycee Madu's office said in a statement.

"Alberta will challenge any invasion of provincial jurisdiction in this area, through the courts, if needed."

Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino spoke to those concerns at a committee in December.

"I want to assure hunters, farmers and target shooters that nothing we are doing is intended to diminish their lawful recreational activities. At the same time, we have a responsibility to work together to reduce gun violence. We cannot risk another shooting at a school, a place of worship, or at a police officer, or on women, or on any innocent life. Public safety is our top priority. Protecting human life must come above all else."

Provinces have some authority over certain firearms measures, but most of it is controlled at the federal level.

The provincial legislature passed a private member's bill in the spring of 2021 that prohibits municipalities from unilaterally passing firearms bylaws. Saskatchewan has passed similar legislation

© Mike Symington/CBC 'I'm not sure this was the issue that Calgarians were asking of their municipal government,' says Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek, who spent most of 2021 campaigning for the city's top job.

Calgary's mayor says banning handguns is not a pressing issue for city council to approach the province about.

"This is about the federal Liberals deciding to deal with the provincial governments regarding an issue that is primarily federal and provincial," Mayor Jyoti Gondek's office wrote in a statement to CBC News.

"Having just campaigned for 10 months, I'm not sure this was the issue that Calgarians were asking of their municipal government."

Gun violence in Canada has risen in the last few years and Alberta has been no exception to the uptick in firearm homicides.

The Edmonton and Calgary metropolitan areas recorded the largest increase in homicides among all census areas in Canada, according to Statistics Canada — a large number of them committed with firearms.

Edmonton saw a 97 per cent increase in the rate of firearm-related homicides, while Calgary saw a 48 per cent increase (47 and 39 total homicides, respectively, in 2020).

Handguns remain the most widely used firearm in homicides across the country, a trend observed since the early 1990s, Statistics Canada said.

© CBC Mount Royal University justice studies professor Doug King says the focus should be on preventing illegal firearms from coming into Canada.

"Most of those firearms are not registered, have come into Canada illegally or are being held illegally by the person who has them. So a ban on any kind of firearm is not going to impact those people," said Doug King, a professor of justice studies at Mount Royal University.

"I think you've got to put more emphasis on trying to prevent the illegal firearms from coming into the country."

The federal government has also reportedly been preparing a $1-billion dollar program to help provinces ban handguns.

King says if half that money was given to Canadian border services, it would likely do more to reduce illegal gun activity.

"I do worry that we're going to erode the national standard," he said. "You regulate firearms on a national basis, not on a city basis or provincial basis."

Some criminal law experts had said the federal plans introduced last year wouldn't properly tackle smuggling, illegal use of guns or gang activity, while people connected to the women killed in the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of betraying victims of firearms violence by not going far enough on measures like firearms buybacks.

European archaeologists back in Iraq after years of war

European archaeologists back in Iraq after years of warMartin Sebastian Gussone from the German Archaeological Institute reviews his notes at Iraq's ancient site of Al-Hirah (AFP/Qassem al-KAABI)

Guillaume Decamme
Tue, January 11, 2022,

After war and insurgency kept them away from Iraq for decades, European archaeologists are making an enthusiastic return in search of millennia-old cultural treasures.

"Come and see!" shouted an overjoyed French researcher recently at a desert dig in Larsa, southern Iraq, where the team had unearthed a 4,000-year-old cuneiform inscription.

"When you find inscriptions like that, in situ, it's moving," said Dominique Charpin, professor of Mesopotamian civilisation at the College de France in Paris.

The inscription in Sumerian was engraved on a brick fired in the 19th century BC.

"To the god Shamash, his king Sin-iddinam, king of Larsa, king of Sumer and Akkad," Charpin translated with ease.

Behind him, a dozen other European and Iraqi archaeologists kept at work in a cordoned-off area where they were digging.

They brushed off bricks and removed earth to clear what appeared to be the pier of a bridge spanning an urban canal of Larsa, which was the capital of Mesopotamia just before Babylon, at the start of the second millennium BC.

"Larsa is one of the largest sites in Iraq, it covers more than 200 hectares (500 acres)," said Regis Vallet, researcher at France's National Centre for Scientific Research, heading the Franco-Iraqi mission.

The team of 20 people have made "major discoveries", he said, including the residence of a ruler identified by about 60 cuneiform tablets that have been transferred to the national museum in Baghdad.

- Archaeological 'paradise' -

Vallet said Larsa is like an archaeological playground and a "paradise" for exploring ancient Mesopotamia, which hosted through the ages the empire of Akkad, the Babylonians, Alexander the Great, the Christians, the Persians and Islamic rulers.

However, the modern history of Iraq -- with its succession of conflicts, especially since the 2003 US-led invasion and its bloody aftermath -- has kept foreign researchers at bay.

Only since Baghdad declared victory in territorial battles against the Islamic State group in 2017 has Iraq "largely stabilised and it has become possible again" to visit, said Vallet.

"The French came back in 2019 and the British a little earlier," he said. "The Italians came back as early as 2011."

In late 2021, said Vallet, 10 foreign missions were at work in the Dhi Qar province, where Larsa is located.

Iraq's Council of Antiquities and Heritage director Laith Majid Hussein said he is delighted to play host, and is happy that his country is back on the map for foreign expeditions.

"This benefits us scientifically," he told AFP in Baghdad, adding that he welcomes the "opportunity to train our staff after such a long interruption".

- 'Cradle of civilisations' -

Near Najaf in central Iraq, Ibrahim Salman of the German Institute of Archaeology is focused on the site of the city of Al-Hira.

Germany had previously carried out excavations here that ground to a halt with the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Equipped with a geomagnetic measuring device, Salman's team has been at work in the one-time Christian city that had its heyday under the Lakhmids, a pre-Islamic tribal dynasty of the 5th and 6th centuries.

"Some clues lead us to believe that a church may have been located here," he explained.

He pointed to traces on the ground left by moisture which is retained by buried structures and rises to the surface.

"The moistened earth on a strip several metres (yards) long leads us to conclude that under the feet of the archaeologist are probably the walls of an ancient church," he said.

Al-Hira is far less ancient than other sites, but it is part of the diverse history of the country that serves as a reminder, according to Salman, that "Iraq, or Mesopotamia, is the cradle of civilisations. It is as simple as that!"

gde/hc/hkb/fz/pjm

Bulgarian Pomaks keep traditional wedding rite alive

Jan 11, 2022

AFP News Agency

The marriage of Nefie Eminkova, 21, and her fiancé Schaban Kiselov, 24, is an extravaganza of bright colours, flowers, feasting and dancing. But the bride, who comes from Bulgaria's Pomak minority, can see none of it. Her eyes must remain tightly closed until a Muslim priest blesses the couple. The newly-weds are following an age-old traditional winter wedding rite that their tiny community, nestled in the southern Rhodope mountains, was forced to abandon during communist era but has been revived since the fall of the regime in 1989. The ritual spans across two whole days, starting with a lavish display of the bride's dowry. It comprises "everything you can think of" that a new family might need, Nefie explains.

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