Girl named world's youngest opera singer at age 7


Victory Brinker, 10, was named the world's youngest opera singer by Guinness World Records on Sunday, and the record-keeping organization said she achieved the record by participating in eight professional performances at age 7. 

Photo courtesy of Guinness World Records

March 28 (UPI) -- Guinness World Records announced a young performer has been dubbed the world's youngest opera singer after performing as a professional at age 7.

The record-keeping organization said Victory Brinker earned the record at the age of 7 years and 314 days after participating in eight professional performances at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre's Lights and Legends show in 2019.

The Latrobe, Pa., performer, now 10, also made history on July 6, 2021, when she became the first America's Got Talent performer to receive a Golden Buzzer from all four judges.

"I was an early talker and started singing at age 2. Between age 2 and 3, I was memorizing entire CDs with good pitch. I was always singing," Brinker told Guinness.

Brinker said she became interested in opera shortly before her 6th birthday, when she was introduced to the art form by her mother.

"I love the challenge of the difficult arrangements, the technique required to sing, all the runs, and the different languages all the arias are written in," she said.

Brinker was invited on Lo Show Dei Record, Guinness' Italian TV series, and she was surprised with her record certificate during the show on Sunday.

Nearly 30% of adolescents, teens in U.S. have prediabetes, study finds


More and more adolescents and teens in the United States have prediabetes, a sign many of them are on the path to full-blown diabetes, a new study suggests. 

File photo by Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock

March 28 (UPI) -- Nearly 30% of adolescents and teens in the United States meet the criteria for prediabetes, an analysis published Monday by JAMA Pediatrics found.

This includes just over 40% of young people who are obese, the data showed.

In addition, those age 12 to 19 years who live in poverty are more likely to have prediabetes, the prevalence of which in this age group more than doubled since 1999, researchers said.

Between 2015 and 2018, the last period included in the analysis, 28% of adolescents and teens had prediabetes, up from 12% between 1999 and 2002, according to the researchers.

"These numbers are striking, and it's pretty clear that, if we don't do something to bring down these numbers, we are going to see a significant increase in diabetes in the United States," study co-author Junxiu Liu told UPI in a phone interview.

"Parents and others responsible for children's diets must do more to ensure they receive adequate nutrition and reduce their sugar intake," said Liu, an assistant professor of population health science and policy at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

Increasing physical activity among young people can also reduce their risk for prediabetes and diabetes, she said.

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About 35 million people in the United States have either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, the American Diabetes Association estimates.

However, nearly 100 million adults have prediabetes, which is defined as having elevated blood sugar levels that fall below the threshold for full diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In addition, as many as one in five adolescents and teens ages 12 to 18 years have prediabetes, based on earlier agency estimates.

Earlier studies have found that obesity increases the risk for diabetes among children.

For this study, Liu and her colleagues analyzed data from nearly 6,600 people ages 12 to 19 years who responded to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a CDC-led survey that is conducted every two years to assess nutrition and health trends nationally.

Based on responses collected between 1999 and 2002, the prevalence of prediabetes among those ages 12 to 19 years in the United States at that time was just under 12%, the data showed.

By 2003 to 2006, that figure had grown to just over 15% before rising again to about 23% for the 2007 to 2010 survey period, the researchers said.

It declined slightly to just under 23% during the 2011 to 2014 survey period before increasing to 28% in the 2015 to 2018 period, they said.

"This is all before the COVID-19, when research suggests that physical activity declined among young people," Liu said.

"This is an important message for parents and caregivers, as well as public health leaders, that we need to pay more attention to diet and exercise in young people," she said.

US House committee launches Russia-related probe into Credit Suisse


House lawmakers have asked Credit Suisse for documents concerning it asking investors to destroy documents that may be pertinent to Russian sanctions.

 File Photo by Ennio Leanza/EPA

March 29 (UPI) -- The House oversight and reform committee announced it has launched an investigation into global investment bank Credit Suisse over its alleged connections to Russian oligarchs.

The committee sent a letter Monday addressed to Credit Suisse's chief executive, Thomas Gottstein, requesting information about recent reports that his company instructed hedge funds and other investors to destroy documents concerning yachts and private jets owned by its clients.

These allegations, the committee said, raise concerns over the financial firm's compliance with sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies targeting Russian oligarchs over their country's invasion of Ukraine.

The committee said it was "particularly concerned" that the bank's directive to destroy documents concerning its clients' yachts, private planes and other such assets is in connection to Switzerland -- a historically neutral country when it comes to international conflict and where the company is based -- stating it will impose sanctions against Russia along with democratic nations.

The letter also pointed to another report that states the bank sold off risk related to a $2 billion portfolio of loans backed by private yachts and planes -- assets that may be owned by Russian oligarchs targeted by sanctions.

"Credit Suisse's action raises significant concerns that it may be concealing information about whether participants in the securitization deal, including both Credit Suisse and investors, as well as owners of underlying assets, such as yachts and private jets, may be evading sanctions imposed by the United States and the international community in response to Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine," the committee said.

It has asked Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-largest bank, to provide it with communications on loans backed by yachts and private jets, documents and other information provided to investors related to its portfolio backed by yachts and such assets, a list of participating investors in the securitization deal and other related information.

The documents are to go back to January of 2017 and they are to be provided to the committee by April 11, it said.

UPI has contacted Credit Suisse for comment.

In early March following publication of reports that it may have committed wrong doing, Credit Suisse issued a statement explaining it had requested non-participating investors to destroy documents related to the November 2021 risk transfer transaction as stipulated in their non-disclosure agreement.

The documents, it said, did not contain client names or asset identifiers.

"Following the successful closure of the transaction, Credit Suisse requested non-participating investors to destroy documents relating to the matter, as stipulated in the NDA," it said. "Reminding parties to destroy confidential information is good housekeeping and good data hygiene."

"The transaction and the request to non-participating investors to destroy confidential data are entirely unrelated to the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe," it added.

The company said its Russia net credit exposure is about $1.1 billion, including about $900 million in derivatives and financing exposures, trade finance exposures and other loans as well as about $200 million in its two Russian subsidiaries.

Russia invaded Ukraine Feb. 24 to widespread condemnation and was met with sanctions that have already taken a toll on its economy.

Days before the invasion, Credit Suisse was accused of poor business practices after accounts worth more than $100 billion were leaked.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project said dozens of the accounts belonged to "dubious characters," including an Algerian general accused of torture as well as a Serbian drug lord.

Credit Suisse rejected the accusations.


Sponsored

Ukraine war: French companies in Russia under pressure to leave

French companies in Russia are increasingly coming under pressure to exit the country. But leaving is not an easy decision and could even be counterproductive for the West, say some economists.


Leroy Merlin operates about 100 DIY stores across Russia

As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy undertook his virtual tour through the parliaments of the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany over the past few weeks, he mostly asked for more weapons and jets to fight the Russian army invading his country.

In his video address to the French parliament last Wednesday, though, the 44-year-old also targeted specific French companies.

"French firms should leave Russia," Zelenskyy urged, as always dressed in a khaki T-shirt and with the yellow-blue Ukrainian flag in the background.

"[Carmaker] Renault, [supermarket chain] Auchan and [DIY chain] Leroy Merlin have to stop being the sponsors of the Russian war machine — values are more important than profits," he added.

Then he called for a worldwide boycott against Renault.
Not an easy decision

But leaving Russia is not an easy decision. And affected companies — and some economists — say it could even be counterproductive for the West.

Carmaker Renault announced a few hours after Zelenskyy's speech that it would stop activities at its only factory in Moscow, and "rethink" its 68% stake in Russia's Avtovaz, the manufacturer of traditional Russian car brand Lada.

"We have been monitoring the situation since the start of the invasion and now decided that we could no longer maintain our activities in Russia — also because the war is likely to drag on," a Renault spokesman told DW.

He added that Renault leaving Russia had far-reaching consequences. The group, of which the French government holds a 15% stake, has lowered this year's profit forecast from 4% to 3%. And the future of its 45,000 employees in Russia is now up in the air — even though the company continues to pay their wages for the time being.
Biggest foreign employer in Russia

The human factor will also be part of the equation when other French companies ponder their options in Russia. France's firms are the country's biggest foreign employer, according to figures from the French Economy Ministry — with 500 subsidiaries in sectors like energy, wholesaling or the food industry that employ a total of 160,000 staff.

"French companies are often active in the labor-intensive services sector, as opposed to their German or French counterparts," Julien Vercueil, an economist specialized in Russia and post-Soviet States and vice president at the Paris-based National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations, told DW.

Renault has warned that the company's withdrawal from Russia would have severe consequences

Leroy Merlin, for instance, has roughly 100 stores and 45,000 employees in Russia. The group is facing headwinds for maintaining its activities on Russian soil, also through demonstrations in France and Poland. Even Leroy Merlin's own Ukrainian staff are demanding that the company leave Russia; they launched an online petition after a recent bomb attack on a store in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, killed eight people.

But Leroy Merlin's parent company, Adeo, argued against a departure in a recent press release. "We carry responsibility for our staff and their families," the group wrote. It added that leaving could even be counterproductive: "It would mean premeditated bankruptcy and expropriation of our assets, which would boost Russia's finances."
'A huge present for the oligarchs'

Energy giant TotalEnergies, not mentioned in Zelenskyy's recent speech but also present on Russian soil, has invoked the same argument.

"Us leaving the country would be a huge gift for the oligarchs," the company told DW. The group will stop buying Russian oil by the end of this year, but continue to purchase Russian gas.

TotalEnergies lacks alternatives to replace what, at 17%, is the biggest share of its worldwide gas purchases. And although the company announced it would make no additional investments, it plans to maintain its stakes in half a dozen Russian firms totaling €13 billion ($14.3 billion).

TotalEnergies has stakes in half a dozen Russian firms totaling €13 billion ($14.3 billion)

Yannick Jadot, candidate for the Green Party in France's upcoming presidential election, has accused TotalEnergies of being "[Russian President] Putin's accomplice in its bombardment of civilians."

The group's CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, reacted with outrage. "I'm an angry boss," he said in an interview with French radio network RTL adding that such language was "extremely grave" and "an insult." TotalEnergies is now suing Jadot for libel.

For the moment, the international sanctions on Russia don't mean European companies will have to leave the country. And the French government doesn't seem to want to make that decision for them.

"I have asked companies active in the sectors concerned by the sanctions to follow the rules set out by France," said French President Emmanuel Macron at recent NATO and G7 meetings in Brussels. "But my position is that companies should decide by themselves [whether they should maintain their activities in Russia]."

'This is about defending European values'

Russia specialist Verceuil understands the government's restraint. "If companies employing a lot of staff withdraw their business from Russia, there's a risk Putin will use this for his propaganda and say 'Look, they want to punish you – the West is anti-Russian'," he said.

"That could unite the Russian population with its president," he added.

Edouard Simon, head of research for security matters and European defense at the Paris-based Institute for International and Strategic Relations, adds that the international allied nations have to thoroughly gauge the effectiveness of sanctions. "It's a fine line — the sanctions need to harm Russia more than Europe and France," he told DW.

French supermarket chain Auchan was also targeted by the Ukrainian president, who said the firm should leave Russia

Simon thinks this explains the West's reluctance to impose an energy embargo. "It would have a huge economic impact on Europe and governments will want to prevent that, especially the French one in the times of a presidential election campaign," he said.

But Olivier Marty, a lecturer in European economics at Paris university Sciences Po, said the West should be willing to shoulder that burden. He points to a set of measures France recently decided and which are aimed at compensating the negative effects of the sanctions. They include subsidies for energy purchases and furlough.

"If push comes to shove, other European countries will also have to put forward such measures," he said. "After all, this is about defending European values."

Edited by: Hardy Graupner

Heineken announces it is leaving Russia over war in Ukraine

An image of a Heineken beer bottle on the conveyor belt during production in Den Bosch, The Netherlands on September 3, 2013. The Dutch beer maker said Monday it was pulling out of Russia. File Photo by Marco de Swart/EPA

March 28 (UPI) -- European brewing company Heineken on Monday became the latest business to announce it is pulling out of Russia over the country's invasion of Ukraine, which is now more than a month old.

The company said it was "shocked and deeply saddened" about the war and how it is continuing to intensify.

"We earlier announced that Heineken stopped new investments and exports to Russia, ended the production, sale and advertising of the Heineken brand, and announced that we will not accept any net financial benefits or profit from our business in Russia," the company said in a statement from its Amsterdam headquarters.

"Following the previously announced strategic review of our operations, we have concluded that Heineken's ownership of the business in Russia is no longer sustainable nor viable in the current environment. As a result, we have decided to leave Russia."

More than 300 companies have said they have plans to close stores, reassign staff or stop selling products in Russia since the invasion began on Feb. 24. Even commercial giants like McDonald's, Starbucks and Coca-Cola have said they are ending sales and shuttering stores.

"We aim for an orderly transfer of our business to a new owner in full compliance with international and local laws," Heineken said. "To ensure the ongoing safety and wellbeing of our employees and to minimize the risk of nationalization, we concluded that it is essential that we continue with the recently reduced operations during this transition period."

Heineken said it will guarantee the salaries of its 1,800 Russian-based employees through 2022 and will try "to safeguard their future employment."

"Upon completion of the transfer, Heineken will no longer have a presence in Russia," the company said. "We continue to hope that a path to a peaceful outcome emerges in the near term."

Minneapolis teachers OK deal to end strike; Sacramento schools still closed


Minneapolis teachers were back in the classroom Monday following their union's vote to approve a tentative deal ending a 14-day strike. 

Photo by Nick Youngson/Alpha Stock Images

March 28 (UPI) -- Public school teachers in Minneapolis returned to work Monday after approving a new labor deal but educators in Sacramento, Calif., remained on the picket lines following weekend talks.

Minneapolis teachers began the week back in the classrooms in a "transition day" to prepare for Tuesday's return of the district's 28,700 students after members of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers voted to ratify a tentative contract agreement.

Some 76% of the district's teachers voted to accept the tentative agreement, as did 80% percent of school aides, or educational support professionals, officially ending the two-week work stoppage.

The strike was the first by Minneapolis educators since a 20-day strike in 1970.

RELATED Tentative agreement reached in Minneapolis teachers strike

"These historic agreements include significant wage increases for ESP and nation-leading protections for teachers of color, including exemptions from the excess and layoff process and more," Federation officials said in a statement.

"In addition to improving our students' learning conditions by adding more counselors, social workers, nurses, and specialists, this strike also helped set the conditions for significant change within MPS and how it approaches its work," they added.

Under the deal, all support staff will get a raise of at least $2 per hour -- with some getting as much as $4 more per hour -- thus accomplishing a key union goal of bringing most ESPs closer to an annual salary of $35,000, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

RELATEDMinneapolis teachers strike reaches 14th day

Support staff will also receive $6,000 bonuses under the deal, while teachers will receive a $4,000 bonus and pay raises of at least 2%, the union said.

In Sacramento, meanwhile, classrooms remained closed Monday after striking teachers and the union representing support staff met with Sacramento City Unified School District negotiators during a weekend session.

School district officials said the two sides "continued to make progress in negotiations" in a session that lasted well into the evening. The talks were scheduled to resume early Monday.

RELATEDTeachers, education professionals strike in Minneapolis


The strike, which began Wednesday, has kept 40,000 students away from the classrooms.

The school district is offering teachers a 2% raise, one-time bonuses and increased pay for substitutes and nurses -- up significantly from a December proposal calling for a 1% pay cut and lower healthcare spending, according to the Sacramento Bee.

IT'S NOT THE BREED, IT'S THE OWNER
Owners may play big role in dogs' problem behaviors, researchers say
By Dennis Thompson, HealthDay News

New research suggests that owners are often at fault for their dogs'
problematic behavior.
Photo by Free-Photos/Pixabay

Chasing light shimmers reflected onto a wall. Obsessive licking or chewing. Compulsive barking and whining. Pacing or tail chasing.

Nearly one in three pet dogs suffer from these ADHD-like repetitive behaviors -- and researchers now suspect that an animal's home life could be the cause.

A study involving thousands of Finnish pet dogs found that certain factors make a canine more likely to develop repetitive behaviors, including: Belonging to a first-time dog owner.Living in a larger family.Being the only dog in a family.Getting little exercise.

"Environmental factors that potentially increase stress in a dog's life, such as a low amount of exercise or larger family size, may increase the probability of repetitive behavior," said lead researcher Sini Sulkama. She is a doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki in Finland.

RELATED Scientists find cause of swallowing disorder in German shepherds


These repetitive behaviors can range from the annoying to the actively harmful.

Dogs can injure themselves by licking or chewing a paw, or break a tooth lunging at a glimmer of light on a wall, said Erica Feuerbacher, an associate professor who studies domestic dog behavior at the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in Blacksburg, Va.


Feuerbacher herself ran into such trouble while transporting a rescue Belgian Malinois, because she didn't know that the dog was a "light chaser."

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"We had just had her loose in the back of my car, kind of tethered but not in a crate," Feuerbacher recalled. "And my phone flashed, caught a light, and she leapt into the driver's seat -- while I was driving! I had a mesh barrier up between the front seats and the back of the car, but she launched herself over it!"

She added: "Luckily [my husband] was able to catch her and restrain her. We pulled over right after that and he sat in the back with her the rest of the way" to keep her settled, so those lights didn't cause an accident.

For the study, Sulkama and her colleagues gathered questionnaire data on almost 4,500 Finnish pet dogs and their owners.

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About 30% of the dogs in the study engaged in repetitive behaviors, the researchers found, and the likelihood of these behaviors was associated with a dog's home and lifestyle.

For example, dogs that are their owner's first canine companion are 58% more likely to develop repetitive behaviors than ones that belong to veteran dog owners, results show.

"In the case of first-time owners, they may provide inconsistent training, which could increase stress," Sulkama said. "Or the inexperienced owners may not detect abnormal repetitive behavior as early as experienced owners. Then it is more likely that the behavior becomes more common with repetition."

Dogs that live with one person fare better, and are 33% less likely to engage in repetitive behaviors than those in a family of three or more people.

But dogs that did not live with another dog were 64% more likely to have repetitive behaviors.

"In larger families, the environment may be noisier and busier, life can be more stressful and predispose dogs to perform repetitive behavior," Sulkama said. "It is also possible that in single-person households, owners have more time to spend with their dogs and give them attention, such as playtime, petting and exercise that can also reduce stress."

Physical activity was a big help in preventing repetitive behaviors.

Dogs getting less than one hour of exercise per day were 53% more likely to have these behaviors than dogs that exercise one to two hours daily 85% more likely than dogs with two to three hours of exercise and twice as likely as dogs that get more than three hours a day, the study results showed.

"Physical activity may prevent anxiety disorders, at least in humans, and exercise can be used as a treatment to improve stress resilience and decrease anxiety," Sulkama said. "It is possible that exercise prevents frustration and stress in dogs, too."

Certain breeds are more likely to engage in repetitive behaviors, the study authors said. These include German Shepherds, Chinese Crested Dogs, Pembroke Welsh Corgis and Staffordshire Bull Terriers.

Other breeds were less likely to have repetitive behaviors - Smooth Collies, Miniature Schnauzers, Lagotto Romagnolos and Jack Russel Terriers.

"I know some people really just want a specific breed -- I think being aware of the behavioral risks of certain breeds is really important, just as important as being aware of the health risks for certain breeds," Feuerbacher said.

"If you're a first-time dog owner and you're dead set on a German Shepherd, make sure you really understand the breed and maybe educate yourself a little more," she continued. "And then take the dog through a lot of training and get a lot of outside support."

People who have a dog with repetitive behaviors can help calm them down by getting them lots of exercise and mental stimulation, Feuerbacher said.

"Enrichment" activities to work your dog's brain can include giving them puzzle toys that dispense treats, or hiding favorite objects around your house and asking your dog to find them, she said.

"All owned dogs can use more enrichment," Feuerbacher said. "Even if you think your dog's not at risk, providing lots of enrichment opportunities for them would be great."

The new study was published this month in Scientific Reports.

More information

The ASPCA has some examples of enrichment activities for dogs.

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Study: Helium leaking from Earth's core hints planet formed inside a solar nebula

LIGHTER THAN AIR PLANET
SOUNDS LIKE DONALD DUCK

Nebulae such as the Lagoon Nebula, imaged by the Hubble Telescope are the primary sources of helium-3 in the universe. The amount of helium leaking from the Earth's core suggests the planet formed inside a solar nebula, researchers said Monday.

 Photo courtesy of NASA/ESA


March 28 (UPI) -- A rare isotope of helium gas is leaking from the Earth's core, which suggests the planet formed inside a solar nebula, according to a study published Monday in AGU Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.

The rare isotope, helium-3, has been measured at the Earth's surface in smaller quantities, but until now scientists were unsure what part of the planet's inner layers the gas was coming from.


Now, researchers from the University of New Mexico say the Earth's core is actually the major source of the gas.

Helium-3 is made primarily in nebulae -- massive, spinning clouds of gas and dust that formed the early solar system.

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Since most of the gas can be traced back to the Big Bang formation of the universe billions of years ago, the leak adds to evidence that the Earth formed inside a solar nebula.

The Earth would have had to form inside a solar nebula to get high concentrations of helium-3 at its core, researchers explained.

Roughly 2,000 grams of helium-3 leak from the Earth's core each year, which lead study author Peter Olson said is "about enough to fill a balloon the size of your desk."

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"It's a wonder of nature, and a clue for the history of the Earth, that there's still a significant amount of this isotope in the interior of the Earth," Olson, a geophysicist at the University of New Mexico, said in a press release.

Olson said the leaking of other nebula-created gases, such as hydrogen, at similar rates and locations could be a "smoking gun" for the core as the source.

The researchers modeled helium during two main stages, including during early formation of the Earth, when the planet accumulated the gas, and after the Moon formed, when the planet lost helium.

RELATED Earth, moon aren't oxgyen twins


Around 4 billion years ago, an object one-third the size of Earth hit the planet, re-melting its crust and allowing much of the helium to escape -- an escape that continues to this day, researchers said.

Olson said researchers plan to keep looking for other nebula-created gases to support the new theory about Earth's leaky core, but noted "there are many more mysteries than certainties."

A voice for Iranian women struggling against oppression

The most powerful men in Iran fear Masih Alinejad. On her social media channels, she gives a voice to Iranian women in their struggle against oppression.

The political activist Masih Alinejad has to be accompanied by personal security wherever she goes — even in the United States. The journalist and author’s fight for women’s rights and against compulsory veiling laws is dangerous in her native Iran and abroad. US authorities believe that Iran's secret service is trying to kidnap Alinejad in order to take her to Tehran. But, despite living in a safe house with her family, she won’t be silenced. 

"I'm an Iranian journalist and activist. And I always say that basically I'm a troublemaker for the oppressors in (the) Islamic Republic." — Alinejad

Political activist Masih Alinejad

Alinejad has more than 7 million social media followers around the world — including in Iran. She uses her fame to support Iranians opposing the Islamic Republic, making their voices heard around the world. In Iran itself, the media is tightly controlled and heavily censored. Many Iranians, especially women, turn to Alinejad to voice their resistance and opposition to the Iranian regime. 

"I'm giving them a voice and my social media. You can see I have more than 7 million followers — more than the ayatollahs in Iran. So I'm not an actress, I'm not a model, I'm an activist. So people actually use my platform to break the censorship, to send their message to the rest of the world. And that is scares the government in Iran." — Alinejad

My Stealthy Freedom

In 2014, Alinejad started the Facebook campaign My Stealthy Freedom. In opposition to Iran’s compulsory veiling laws, she posted a photo of herself without a hijab. Countless Iranian women followed suit, and by the end of 2016, the Facebook page had received over 1 million likes.

Alinejad says she is giving women "a voice and my social media"

In 2017, Alinejad, who lives in self-imposed exile, started the campaign #WhiteWednesdays: Every Wednesday, women would post photos of themselves wearing white headscarves or pieces of white clothing as symbols of protest against a law that forces women to wear headscarves. In Iran, women who do not abide by this law risk being beaten, arrested or sentenced to many years in prison.

"Five women of White Wednesdays campaign are in prison, and, unfortunately, some of the Western media keep silent about them. And, instead of actually asking for their release, they're saying: 'So don't you feel guilty that these women are in prison?' No. Those who actually lash(es) people for expressing themselves should feel guilty. Those who execute people in Iran should feel guilty."  — Alinejad

Using social media for political activism

Alinejad won't give up. After the 2019 Iranian protests, also known as Bloody November, she started the next campaign: "My camera is my weapon."

Alinejad says supporters are "using their cameras to express themselves"

"It means when the government harass(ed) you or arrest you or bully you, you have your camera. You can expose them and mothers of those people who got killed in Iran protests. They're using their camera to express themselves. And the regime is as scared of this campaign because this is how people are gaining their voice back." — Alinejad

Alinejad called the women participating in the campaign and revealing their faces freedom fighters who are risking their lives in order to topple the Iranian regime, no matter the consequences.

"The regime actually made a new law and saying that if anyone sent videos to Masih Alinejad will be charged up to 10 years prison. That didn't work. I still get bombarded by videos from people who are brave enough to challenge the laws in Iran." — Alinejad

Family members arrested 

Like many Iranian activists in exile, Alinejad and her family are subjected to intimidation by the Iranian secret service. Her mother has been interrogated, her brother has been arrested and sentenced to multiple years in prison. The Iranian regime is trying to break her resistance, says Masih Alinejad, because they know that many Iranians support her. 

Alinejad says Iran's government sent kidnappers to adopt her from her home in Brooklyn

"They do different tactics to censor me, like making me feel guilty, making me feel miserable, scaring people from sending videos to me or sending someone to kidnap me here from my house in Brooklyn, in New York. These are the tactics that the regime are using to keep the people of Iran silent." — Alinejad

The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center human rights organization estimates that more than 500 Iranians have been abducted or assassinated by the regime. Many of those reported missing have never been found.

In the United States, a new bill was unveiled to impose mandatory sanctions against Iranian regime agents involved in the surveillance, harassment, kidnapping or assassination of Iranian or US citizens critical of the Iranian regime. The bill, called the "Masih Alinejad Harassment and Unlawful Target Act", was even named after Masih.

Alinejad said she would will continue to fight for Iranian women’s rights and oppose the Iranian regime.:

"They kicked me out from Iran, but they couldn't take Iran out of me." — Alinejad

AUDIOS AND VIDEOS ON THE TOPIC

Masih Alinejad opposes Iran’s compulsory veiling laws 

  

The true cost of fracked US 'freedom gas'

Hydraulic fracturing is banned across most of Europe, but, as the EU turns to the US for an alternative gas supply, how much fracked fuel will slip in through the side door?

More LNG gas is set to be shipped into Europe. But at what climate cost?

"We think that we can switch to another vehicle, but we are still driving towards the abyss," said Andy Gheorghiu, a Germany-based anti-gas and -fracking campaigner, after US President Joe Biden and EU head Ursula von der Leyen announced a gas deal to reduce the European Union's dependence on Russian energy.

An extra 15 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) — sourced largely from hydraulic fracking wells that have mushroomed across the United States — will now land on Europe's shores from across the Atlantic this year.

This is only about one-third of the gas that Germany alone piped in from Russia in 2022. But activists fear that substituting Russian gas with LNG will not only fail to ensure energy security; it will also threaten longer-term climate goals.

"[This] agreement puts the EU and the US on a misguided and dangerous path by fast-tracking new infrastructure to import fossil gas into Europe," said Murray Worthy, gas campaign leader at the environment NGO Global Witness. "Building new import terminals would mean locking in fossil gas imports for years to come, long after the EU needs to quit this climate-wrecking fuel for good."

Concerns are also growing about the immediate climate impacts of LNG fracked from shale deposits deep under the ground.

Though fracking is banned across much of Europe due to its environmental impact, including the use of chemicals that contaminate groundwater, the EU has been happy to source fracked gas from the US.

Fracked gas and climate-wrecking methane leakage

For campaigners, the push to ramp up "freedom gas" has severe climate implications because of LNG's high methane emissions.

Noting that methane's global heating impacts are about 85 times higher than CO2 over a 20-year period, Gheorghiu said little had been done to tackle the diverse sources of "supply-side" methane leaks on both sides of the Atlantic.

Nonetheless, the US-EU agreement announced on Thursday was careful to couple the goal of diversifying gas supplies with "climate objectives."

The deal aims to "reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of all new LNG infrastructure and associated pipelines, including through using clean energy to power onsite operations, reducing methane leakage, and building clean and renewable hydrogen-ready infrastructure."

Yet, if Russian gas is simply to be replaced in the short-to-medium term, natural gas is likely to retain its mantle as the second-largest source of CO2 emissions after coal in the European Union.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Gheorghiu said, inconsistent regulations have made some US states a "wild west" for the fracking industry.

In Texas, for example, high emissions from so-called methane flaring often go unregulated, allowing leakage from the tens of thousands of wells in the Permian Basin, which stretches into New Mexico — its gas reserves have been labeled "some of the dirtiest in the world."

Indeed, a 2019 study attributed a decade of growth in global atmospheric methane emissions to the fracking boom in the United States. It concluded that shale-gas production in North America may be responsible for "over half of all of the increased emissions from fossil fuels globally" in the previous decade.

The European Union's imported LNG is also being used as a feedstock for plastics and fertilizers, Gheorghi said. With import contracts often locked in for up to 20 years, such fossil fuel availability will be a disincentive to decarbonize these high emission raw material sectors, the campaigner said.

1.5-degree target threatened by LNG exports

Researchers Amanda Levin and Christina Swanson, from the US-based Natural Resources Defense Council, have concluded that US attempts to ramp up LNG production and exports could scupper any chance of limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 F).

They describe the "rapidly expanding" export of LNG as a "bridge" to the clean-energy transition — gas emissions are about 50% lower than coal — will "lock in fossil fuel dependence, making the transition to actual low-carbon and no-carbon energy even more difficult."

The climate impact of LNG will double when extraction, transport, liquefaction and re-gasification are added to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of gas burning, the researchers note.

The 130 to 213 million metric tons (143-235 short tons) of new GHG emissions in the US generated by a tripling of exports between 2020 and 2030 will be like putting up to 45 million more fossil fuel-powered cars on the road annually — it will also reverse the 1% annual GHG decline achieved in the past decade, according to the authors.

LNG will still not replace Russian gas

Though German Economy Minister Robert Habeck has also been in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this month trying to find more gas alternatives, analysts say limited supply and soaring global demand make it difficult to massively increase the LNG flow to Europe.

Meanwhile, necessary infrastructure such as terminals will take two to three years to construct, making the European Union's goal of cutting Russian gas imports by two-thirds by year's end unlikely.

For climate campaigners, fossil fuel energy is a key driver of war and needs to be phased out and replaced by renewable energy.

"More investment and reliance on fossil fuels is music to the ears of despots and warmongers all over the world who recognize this is an energy system that benefits them," said Global Witness' Murray Worthy. "If Europe truly wants to get off Russian gas, the only real option it has is phasing out gas altogether."

"We have the unique historical chance and obligation to choose now for a radical shift of the way we generate and consume energy," Gheorghiu said. "But the solution our trans-Atlantic governments presented was nothing but business as usual."