Ethiopia: Tigray civilians targeted in 'crimes against humanity,' says report

Tigrayans are being targeted with ethnic cleansing in the contested Western Tigray zone, according to a new report by human rights groups. The onslaught of rape and killings amounts to "war crimes," they added.



Rape has been used as a weapon of war, according to the report


Tigrayans in Ethiopia are facing a relentless campaign of ethnic cleansing being carried out by security forces from the neighboring Amhara region, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.

The two rights groups in a joint report released Wednesday detailed how Tigrayan civilians in the disputed Western Tigray Zone of the country are allegedly being killed and subjected to various forms of sexual violence and abuses, including rape.

Some of these Tigrayans also faced mass detentions and forcible movements, a campaign that — along with the other reported abuses mentioned — "amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity," said the rights groups in a statement.

The report also alleged that newly-appointed officials in Western Tigray and the security forces from the neighboring Amhara region had some support and possible collaborations from the Ethiopian federal forces to carry out the alleged atrocities.

A Tigrayan refugee rape victim, who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray, sits for a portrait in eastern Sudan in March 2021

Laetitia Bader from Human Rights Watch told DW in a phone interview, "This report looks at the last 17 months of abuses in the Western Tigray Zone, which is along contested area at the border with Tigray with Sudan and with Eritrea and the Amhara region."

More than 400 people, including Tigrayan refugees in Sudan, were interviewed by researchers from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Tigrayan and Amhara residents who suffered or witnessed abuses were also interviewed.

According to the new report, researchers consulted medical and forensic reports with court documents, satellite imagery, and photographic and video evidence corroborating accounts of grave abuses.

Bader explained that the researchers "looked at the first waves where there were war crimes committed including by the Ethiopian federal government."

They then "looked at a whole range of abuses including widespread of sexual violence, massive incarceration and horrific life-threatening detention conditions, deprivation of people's means of survival," she added.

How 'ethnic cleansing' was carried out

According to the rights groups in several towns across Western Tigray, signs were displayed ordering Tigrayans to leave, and locally appointed administrators discussed at open meetings how to remove Tigrayans.

The report quoted a Tigrayan woman from Baeker town describing how members of Fanos, an irregular Amhara militia "kept saying every night, 'We will kill you… Go out of the area'."

Another Tigrayan woman told researchers that while she was being gang-raped by men, a militia member told her: "You Tigrayans should disappear from the land west of [the Tekeze River]. You are evil and we are purifying your blood."

The report alleged that there were also pamphlets giving Tigrayans 24-hour or 72-hour ultimatums to leave or be killed.

A 63-year-old farmer from Division village told the rights groups that he watched as a group of men destroyed his home. One of the men told him: "This is not your land. You have nothing to claim here."

Tigrayans who failed to leave the region were then arrested to face long-term detention and abuse in overcrowded facilities, the report said.

Ethiopian security forces patrol at street after the Ethiopian army took control of Hayk town of Amhara city from the TPLF in Ethiopia on December 16, 2021

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said they believe thousands of Tigrayans are still held in life-threatening conditions today.

According to the report, Amhara militia have also been arresting local residents of the town of Adi Goshu for detention.

Members of the Amhara Special Forces are detailed in the report as having rounded up and summarily executed about 60 Tigrayan men by the Tekeze River.

According to witnesses who spoke to the rights groups the few men who survived believed the killings were a revenge attack after the Amhara forces suffered heavy losses during fighting with Tigrayan forces the previous night.

"When they shot at us, I fell first and then I saw also when the others in front of me were shot and fell," said a 74-year-old survivor was quoted in the report to have said. "And the people behind me fell on me and covered me… After that, they said, ‘The Tigrayans don't die easily, shoot again'."

Who is behind the 'ethnic cleansing' campaign?

The report specifically mentioned the local authorities in Amhara region as the main force driving the alleged ethnic cleansing campaign in the Western Tigray region.

"Our report finds that the ethnic cleansing campaign was led by the Amhara regional government forces administration with the complicity and often in the presence of federal government forces," Bader said.

She also explained that their findings implicate some Eritrean forces involved in some of the targeted arrests of the Tigrayan civilians.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are calling for high-level officials who led this campaign to be brought to book and punished for violating international humanitarian laws.

The conflict in the Tigray region broke out in November 2020 when the federal government army in Addis Ababa started fighting forces from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

For the last 17 months, there has been no signal of the war ending with the resultant humanitarian crisis worsening.

Ten semi-autonomous federal states make up Ethiopia but they are organized along ethnic lines. Ethnic violence has been on the rise in recent years and the current conflict has heightened tensions.

Last November, a report by Amnesty International alleged that TPLF fighters carried out killings and gang-rapes targeting women.

That same month, a joint investigation by the UN and Ethiopia said all sides fighting in the conflict committed a range of human rights violations thatmay amount to war crimes.

Ethiopian officials deny claims

The report said both Ethiopian federal forces and Amhara authorities have denied allegations of ethnic cleansing in Western Tigray.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are calling on the Ethiopian federal government and its international and regional partners to take concrete steps to protect all communities in Western Tigray.

They are calling for the immediate release of Tigrayans arbitrarily detained there, and also allow for protection monitoring.

"The response of Ethiopia's international and regional partners has failed to reflect the gravity of the crimes that continue to unfold in Western Tigray," said Agnes Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, in a statement.

"Concerned governments need to help bring an end to the ethnic cleansing campaign, ensure that Tigrayans are able to safely and voluntarily return home, and make a concerted effort to obtain justice for these heinous crimes.”

On March 24, the government announced a humanitarian cease-fire. The rights groups said regardless of any truce or ceasefire, Ethiopia's federal and regional authorities should allow unhindered, independent, and sustained humanitarian assistance.

Isaac Mugabi contributed to this article.

Edited by: Stephanie Burnett

Peru suspends Lima curfew

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo has ended a curfew in two Peruvian cities seven hours earlier than previously announced. The curfew was imposed amid mass protests sparked by skyrocketing fuel and fertilizer costs.

Authorities say the protests have caused roadblocks and 'acts of violence'

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo announced the end of the a curfew in the capital city, Lima, and the port city of Callao seven hours earlier than expected.

"I would like to announce that, as of this moment, we are overtuning the curfew," Castillo said, while urging Peruvians stay calm amid protests.

Following the announcement, Peru's interior ministry released a statement calling on citizens to protest "peacefully"  and to avoid "disturbing public order."

Why did Castillo impose a curfew?

Peru's Castillo had on Tuesday imposed a curfew in the two cities in an attempt to curb ongoing protests in the country.

People have been demonstrating against rising fuel and fertilizer costs brought on by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

Authorities said the protests have erected roadblocks and carried out "acts of violence," as toll booths were burned, shops were looted, and some demonstrators clashed with the police.

Protesters had also set fire to tires and blocked the Pan-American Highway, Peru's most important north-south transport and traffic route.

At least four people have been killed, the government said. 

In a televised speech, Castillo said that "in view of the acts of violence" a "declaration of citizen immobility" would last from from 2:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5. 

Peru is also experiencing increased food prices

Peru is currently also experiencing a rise in food prices. It has issued an emergency declaration for its agricultural sector due to the rising fertilizer prices.

What sparked the protests?

Over the weekend, Peru's government announced it would remove a fuel tax. However, protests continued on Monday, with truckers and passenger carrier drivers demonstrating on the streets in Lima and some regions in the north. 

Castillo also issued a decree approving a 10% increase in the monthly minimum wage.

However, the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers, a union, said the hike was insufficient. The organization has called for another protest march on Thursday. 

Peru has been struggling with a longtime economic crisis. In March, inflation hit a 26-year high, driven by rising fuel and food prices.

The protests pose a new challenge to Castillo, who survived a second impeachment attempt by Congress last month during his eight-month tenure. 

tg, sdi/wmr  (AFP, Reuters)

BAN BLSPHEMY LAWS

Nigeria sentences atheist to 24 years for blasphemy

A FREE THINKER

Mubarak Bala, in detention for two years, pled guilty to 18 charges of blasphemy. Activists in the country called the sentence, "a sad day for human rights in Nigeria."

Mubarak Bala has spent two years in solitary confinement awaiting trial over 'blasphemous' Facebook posts in Nigeria

A Nigerian court on Tuesday sentenced Mubarak Bala, an atheist, to 24 years in prison for blasphemy.

"This court hereby sentences Muhammad Mubarak Bala to 24 years … This will take into consideration the time he served awaiting trial," said Judge Faruk Lawan in Kano, Nigeria.

Bala, a former Muslim and the president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, was arrested in April 2020 for what authorities said were social media posts blasphemous toward Islam. 

"The Humanist community in Nigeria is utterly shocked by the sentencing of Mubarak Bala for 'blasphemy.' It is utterly disgraceful that a court in this 21st century could convict an individual for making innocuous posts on Facebook," wrote Leo Igwe, a board member of the organization Humanists International.

"Today is a sad day for humanism, human rights and freedom in Nigeria. The sentencing of Mubarak Bala is a stark violation of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief. We urge the authorities in Nigeria to ensure that this judicial charade does not stand," Igwe added.

The supposed crime of blasphemy typically involves the perceived insult of a deity or deities. Its place in Nigeria's legal code, as in multiple countries around the world, dates back to British imperial rule.

Bala could have faced execution at Sharia court

Prosecutors in the West African country's predominantly Muslim northern state of Kano said Bala had insulted the Prophet Muhammad and Islam in Facebook posts which they claimed sought to, "cause a breach of the public peace."

Bala had long maintained his innocence but surprised his legal team Tuesday by pleading guilty to 18 charges of blasphemy.

The presiding judge halted the trial to grant counsel the opportunity to speak to Bala to "be sure he was under no influence or intimidation" and understood "the implication of his plea."

Bala told the court he was "pleading for mercy and leniency," adding: "The intention of the posts was not to cause violence but I have realized they are capable of causing violence. I will take care in the future."

Supporters fear he was coerced by Nigerian authorities and questioned the state's motives, raising issues of a flawed process.

During his nearly two years in detention, Bala was reportedly put in solitary confinement where he was denied health care and forced to "worship in the Muslim way," according to his lawyer.

Authorities in Kano insist the trial was fair, stating that Bala is welcome to appeal its decision.

The trial was conducted in a secular court. Had he been tried in one of Nigeria's Islamic Sharia courts he could have faced the death penalty.

Friends of Bala voiced continued support for him, his wife Amina and their young son Sodangi

'A day of shame' for Nigerian authorities say humanists

Humanists and atheists in Nigeria are now "potential criminals who can easily be thrown in jail just for expressing their views. Humanists have become endangered citizens of Nigeria," Leo Igwe said.

"The thoughts of the whole global humanist movement are with our friend Mubarak, his wife, and his baby son. This is a day of shame for the Nigerian authorities, who have imposed an unthinkable punishment on an innocent man," wrote Andrew Copson, president of Humanists International.

"For two years Mubarak's fundamental rights to liberty and a fair trial have been consistently violated," Copson continued. "He has been charged and found guilty of offenses that amount to no more than expressing a non-religious opinion. We call on the Nigerian authorities to quash this completely unjust and entirely disproportionate conviction, and release our innocent friend and colleague."

OUTLAW HYPERSONIC WEAPONS
US, UK, Australia announce collaboration on hypersonic weapons

COLD WAR 2.0
The AUKUS alliance vowed closer cooperation on hypersonic weapons and "electronic warfare capabilities." The move is an attempt to counter China's military influence in the Pacific region.

Hypersonic missiles are maneuverable and harder to detect.

The United States, Britain and Australia said on Tuesday they would collaborate on hypersonic weapons and "electronic warfare capabilities."

The announcement was made by US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison as part of the new AUKUS alliance, which was formed last September.

A joint statement said the countries committed to "commence new trilateral cooperation on hypersonics and counter-hypersonics, and electronic warfare capabilities, as well as to expand information sharing and to deepen cooperation on defence innovation."

The move comes amid growing concern among the US and its allies about China's growing military influence in the Pacific region.

"As our work progresses on these and other critical defense and security capabilities, we will seek opportunities to engage allies and close partners," the statement said.
What are hypersonic missiles?

Hypersonic missiles can fly at more than five times the speed of sound. They, like ballistic missiles, are used to deliver nuclear weapons.

Unlike ballistic missiles which fly high into space in an arc to reach their target, a hypersonic weapon flies on a trajectory low in the atmosphere, potentially reaching a target more quickly.

A hypersonic missile is also maneuverable, making it much harder to track and defend against.

SOME TESTS MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN OTHERS 

NOONE HAS PROVEN YET THEY ACTUALLY HAVE THIS TECH.

The US, Russia, China and North Korea have all tested hypersonic missiles. Moscow announced it had launched them for the first time in its war on Ukraine.

In October last year, General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that China had conducted a test of a hypersonic weapon system.

France, Germany, Australia, India and Japan have been working on hypersonic weapons. Iran, Israel and South Korea have also conducted basic research on the technology.

tg/wd (AFP, AP)

Gas giant AB Aurigae b challenges science of planets

Planet AB Aurigae b is still in its "birthing" stages. But astronomists say it is already nine times the mass of Jupiter and it's forming in a unusual way.

An illustration of AB Aurigae b, a giant gas planet discovered with the help of the Subaru Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope

AB Aurigae b is still only a baby as far as planets go. It's a giant gas planet that scientists have discovered in the early stages of its formation. And it's already breaking records in astronomy. Astronomers say the planet is nine times the mass of Jupiter — and that it is challenging our understanding of how planets form.

Jupiter is our solar system's largest planet. It has a mass that's almost 320 times that of Earth and more than two-and-a-half times that of all the other planets in our solar system combined. It is, in other words, pretty darn heavy.

But AB Aurigae b makes Jupiter look like a little balloon.

"We think it is still very early on in its 'birthing' process," astrophysicist Thayne Currie of the Subaru Telescope and the NASA Ames Research Center told news agency Reuters.

Currie is the lead author of a study on the planet's discovery that has been published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

"Evidence suggests that this is the earliest stage of formation ever observed for a gas giant," said Currie.

Gas giants have a small solid core. But they are mostly made up of gasses — hydrogen and helium — that swirl around that core.

Our solar system has two gas giants: Jupiter and Saturn. The Earth and Mars, for comparison, are known as rocky planets.
A planet with a massive host star

Researchers detected the new gas giant with the help of two telescopes — one on the ground and one orbiting Earth.

The Subaru telescope is located near the summit of an inactive Hawaiian volcano and the Hubble Space Telescope is in a low-Earth orbit.

As the scientists would have expected, AB Aurigae b has a star. When planets form they tend to have a host star. Planets orbit stars. And in this case, the star is called AB Aurigae.

It is itself a very young star. AB Aurigae is only about 2 million years old, whereas our sun (also a star) is roughly 4.5 billion years old.

A disc surrounds a newly discovered planet's host star, AB Aurigae

The planet is embedded in an expansive disk of gas and dust. Planets form from the materials in these disks, with small objects like grain and rocks swirling around, colliding and sticking together.

All that is quite normal. But there is something unusual about the planet and its star.
A planet and star far apart

The planet and its star seem to be far too far apart for any of those swirling bits to stick and form the planet.

AB Aurigae b is three times as far away from its star as Neptune is from our star, the sun. That's three times the distance that astronomers normally observe.

"This process cannot form giant planets at large orbital distance, so this discovery challenges our understanding of planet formation," Olivier Guyon, an astronomer at the Subaru telescope and the University of Arizona, told Reuters.

The researchers believe that the planet may have formed when the disc around its host star cooled and gravity caused it to fragment into one or more clumps ― one of which turned into the planet.

"There's more than one way to cook an egg," Currie said. "And apparently there may be more than one way to form a Jupiter-like planet."

Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany


EARTH-LIKE PLANETS AND OTHER CELESTIAL DISCOVERIES
Another planet Earth?
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has discovered a third Earth-like planet orbiting the star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our sun at four light years away. A planet is considered Earth-like if scientists suspect it provides conditions that could make life theoretically conceivable, such as a certain temperature range, gravity, an atmosphere and the possibility of water.
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GUESS THEY MISSED THE MESSAGE; BDS

In Israel, Ukrainian Eurovision band calls for end to war


AFP - 12h ago
© GIL COHEN-MAGEN

The frontman for the group representing Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest called Tuesday for people across the world to protest Russia's invasion of his country, as he visited Israel.

© GIL COHEN-MAGENUkrainian Jewish refugees cheer during a performance by Kalush Orchestra, Ukraine’s entry to the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest, at a hotel in Jerusalem

"Our message is this: everyone who hears us, who knows about the situation in Ukraine, can help us even if he doesn't solve these issues," said Kalush Orchestra's Oleh Psiuk.

The group is one of 24 Eurovision acts visiting the country for a four-day "Israel Calling" promotional event.

"Everyone has social networks... everyone can just speak about it and write about it, tag people in social networks, talk about how to stop the war in Ukraine," he told reporters.

"If everyone does that, this war will end very soon," he added. "If every day you do something to end the war, this war will not happen in other countries."

The six members of Kalush -- a favourite to win the Eurovision contest in the Italian city of Turin next month -- had to get special permission to leave Ukraine.

The visit was the first time since Russia's February 24 invasion that they could practise their Eurovision entry, hip-hop lullaby "Stefania", together in person after weeks of online rehearsals, Psiuk said.

Kalush Orchestra recorded their song contest "postcard" -- a video clip showcasing Italian scenery -- against a green-screen backdrop at the Jewish Agency headquarters in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

The group arrived in Israel a day earlier after the semi-governmental body, which is primarily in charge of processing immigration for Jews abroad, facilitated their arrival for the event, a Jewish Agency spokeswoman told AFP.

They also met with dozens of thrilled Ukrainian teen refugees who had immigrated to Israel, and performed two songs.

"It's like a therapy, also everybody will see that Ukrainian people (are) not like a tragedy or something," said Anastasiia Yeremenko, a Ukrainian Jewish refugee.

"We are brave, we are smiling, we love each other, we love this world and we don't want war," the 19-year-old said.

Recent arrival Sonya Yevgenieva, 18, said Kalush Orchestra was a big deal back home.

"We all really like their music... Of course we all know them and it's so cool that we can meet them and see them," she said.

Later Tuesday, Kalush thrilled dozens of Ukrainian refugees living in Jerusalem hotels with another short performance.

Kalush and the other 23 groups will be part of a show in Tel Aviv on Thursday, wrapping up "Israel Calling".

osh-dl-jjm/lg

Publisher signs over Russian printing houses to Nobel winner


Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov: 'Independent media are the antidote to war' (AFP/Dimitar DILKOFF) (Dimitar DILKOFF)

Tue, April 5, 2022

Norwegian publisher Amedia said Tuesday it was transferring control over its Russian printing houses to Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov, chief editor of independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

The announcement came as the media group also announced it was leaving Russia over the country's invasion of Ukraine.

"With what we are currently witnessing in Ukraine from the Russian authorities, it is impossible for Amedia to continue the printing business in the country," Amedia chief executive Anders Moller Opdahl said in a statement.

"Amedia is now withdrawing, in a way that leaves control to Peace Prize laureate Muratov," Opdahl added.

Board chairman Andre Stoylen said the company believed this was "the best possible solution given the prevailing circumstances."

"In this way, the printing houses will be able to continue being important for independent media in Russia in the future," Stoylen said.

Muratov, who together with Maria Ressa of the Philippines was awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, would have full control of daily operations and "exercise all shareholder rights at his own discretion" of the four printing houses wholly owned by Amedia's Russian subsidiary.

Novaya Gazeta, which was already using the printing presses of Amedia's subsidiary, announced in late March that it had suspended its publication until the end of Russia's military actions in Ukraine.

"This will support free expression of opinion, and all profits will be contributed to promoting it. Independent media are the antidote to war. We will take care of the open printing business and the employees," Muratov said in a statement, adding his paper welcomed the resource with "great gratitude."

Amedia also said it had written down the value of its Russian operations from 38 million Norwegian kroner ($4.4 million, 4 million euros) to zero.

In total the Norwegian publisher owns six printing houses in Russia, four of them wholly-owned and two together with Russian minority shareholders.

"Amedia is working on a solution with the minority shareholders in the last two printing companies, so that the group can withdraw completely from Russia," the company said, adding that funds from a potential future sale would be used to support independent media in Russia.

jll/po/pvh

THIRD WORLD USA
In a southern US capital, an unending water crisis


Children leave Wilkins Elementary school in Jackson, Mississippi, to use the bathroom at a neighboring school because theirs lacks the water pressure needed to flush the toilets

 

A blue bucket in a bathroom is full of water to be used for flushing the toilet at Wilkins Elementary School in Jackson, Mississippi

Cheryl Brown, principal of Wilkins Elementary School in Jackson, Mississippi, pulls back a curtain to show where they keep their bottled water for students 

The city of Jackson, Mississippi temporarily shut down the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant in November 2021 due to a bad batch of chemicals as well as faulty equipment 

Terun Moore fills a reusable jug with filtered water in Jackson, Mississippi 

Members of Operation Good distribute cases of water at an apartment complex in Jackson, Mississippi 

PHOTOS (AFP/Mark Felix)

François PICARD
Mon, 4 April 2022

Every morning, 180 students at a school in Jackson, Mississippi have to board a bus to be taken to another nearby school. The reason? Their school lacks the water pressure needed to flush its own toilets.

Cheryl Brown, the principal at Wilkins Elementary -- where 98 percent of the 400 students are African American and most come from underprivileged backgrounds -- doesn't hide her frustration.

"It's hard. It's very hard," she told AFP.

"It's taxing on the boys and girls," who spend much of the day at the other school before heading back to Wilkins in the afternoon. "It's taxing on the staff members," she said.

Jackson is undergoing a severe water crisis -- despite its status as a state capital in one of the richest countries in the world.

Late last year, President Joe Biden signed into law a $1 trillion package to address badly deteriorated infrastructure like Jackson's.

The city's water system has suffered "significant deficiencies" since 2016, reports from the southern state's health department found.

Both the causes and symptoms of the crisis are clear: water flows from old and unmaintained treatment plants -- one is 100 years old -- through leaking, century-old pipes. When it comes out of city taps, it's sometimes rust-brown -- and always contaminated with lead.

"The distribution lines are aging, and a master plan for pipe replacement... is not being implemented," the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wrote in a 2020 report.

It said the city loses as much as 50 percent of its water -- a stunning amount -- through the decrepit system.

As a result, "three local hospitals have drilled their own wells... to have access to reliable sources of drinking water."

- No isolated case -

Jackson, a city of 155,000, is not the only US city to face such a crisis.

One of the worst US public health scandals in years came when the details of poor water quality management were exposed in the northern industrial city of Flint, Michigan.

A budget crisis prompted that city to change its water source, leaving thousands of residents exposed to dangerously high lead levels.

Both Flint and Jackson are majority Black, which for many observers confirms the existence of "environmental racism" -- with African Americans disproportionately affected by pollution.

Brown, the Wilkins principal, does not like to dwell on the issue.

But after relying for weeks on portable toilets -- forcing students to stand in long lines to wait their turn -- she now worries that the daily bus trips to another school are cutting into instruction time.

Charles Williams, who will be retiring as Jackson public works director this month after a long, wearying battle with the water crisis, told AFP the problems facing Jackson are complex.

"This didn't happen overnight," he said. "This was delayed maintenance and lack of funding."

He estimated the cost of updating the city's water system at $3 billion to $5 billion -- no small sum for a medium-sized city.

How much help Jackson might get from the big US infrastructure package is not yet clear, though the EPA has encouraged "communities such as Jackson with critical water infrastructure needs" to apply.

A lengthy investigative article in the Mississippi Free Press by journalist Nick Judin identified two problems underlying Jackson's woes: a past drop in EPA funding for local water projects and a  WHITE   population exodus from the city to the suburbs.

Having lost a fourth of its population since 1980, Jackson's tax base has dropped accordingly.

Judin also blames the sometimes chaotic administration of the water system, which has resulted in some residents receiving bills intermittently while "some people don't get billed at all."

- 'This is not normal' -

In late 2012, the city contracted with German technology company Siemens to install new water meters, update the billing system and complete infrastructure work.

But early in 2020, the group agreed to reimburse the city $90 million after the city said Siemens had failed to ensure its water meters and software system were compatible.

An unusually cold winter then resulted in the main water treatment plant shutting down and numerous old water pipes bursting.

Since then, things have gotten no better, local residents told AFP.

"We haven't drunk the (city) water in about 12 years," said Priscilla Sterling, standing on the sidewalk of Farish Street in a once-prosperous Black business district.

"You're still taking a chance when you bathe in it."

Barbara Davis works in a Jackson church. She turns on a tap to show the rust-brown water flowing out.

"This is not how you're supposed to live," she said. "You know, this is not normal. It's not normal at all."

In one hard-hit neighborhood, an NGO called 501CTHREE has brought in a water filtration device where residents can fill jugs with clean water.

"Everybody can’t go to the store and buy water," said Terun Moore, who works with a local NGO, Strong Arms of Jackson.

The city, for its part, insists that Jackson water, brown though it may be, is safe -- except for pregnant women and children.

Not one local resident interviewed by AFP said they trust assessment.

str/iba/bbk/to/caw

MISOGYNISTIC FEMICIDE

Study finds higher homicide risk in homes with handguns

1968 EXPANSION OF HANDGUN RIGHTS
“But what this is showing that having a gun in the home is bad for people in the home.”

FILE - A sales clerk holds a pistol during an auction in Rochester, Wash., on Oct. 20, 2017. A study published in Annals of Internal Medicine on Monday, April 4, 2022, suggests people who live with handgun owners are murdered at more than twice the rate of people who live in homes without such firearms. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)


NEW YORK (AP) — Most U.S. gun owners say they own firearms to protect themselves and their loved ones, surveys show. But a study published Monday suggests people who live with handgun owners are shot to death at a higher rate than those who don’t have such weapons at home.

“We found zero evidence of any kind of protective effects” from living in a home with a handgun, said David Studdert, a Stanford University researcher who was the lead author of the Annals of Internal Medicine study.

The study has several shortcomings. For example, the researchers said they could not determine which victims were killed by the handgun owners or with the in-home weapons. They couldn’t account for illegal guns and looked only at handguns, not rifles or other firearms.

The dataset also was limited to registered voters in California who were 21 and older. It’s not clear that the findings are generalizable to the whole state, let alone to the rest of the country, the authors acknowledged.

But some outside experts said the work was well done, important and the largest research of its kind.

“I would call this a landmark study,” said Cassandra Crifasi, a gun violence policy researcher at Johns Hopkins University. “This contributes to our understanding of the potential causal relationship between guns in the home and homicides,” she said.

California is unusual in that it offers gun ownership data and other information not obtainable in almost any other state. That allowed the researchers to follow millions of people over many years to try to better establish what happens when a person begins living in a home with handgun, they said.

The study focused on nearly 600,000 Californians who did not own handguns but began living in homes with handguns between October 2004 and December 2016 — either because they started living with someone who owned one or because someone in their household bought one.

The researchers calculated that for every 100,000 people in that situation, 12 will be shot to death by someone else over five years. In comparison, eight out of 100,000 who live in gun-free homes will be killed that way over the same time span.

“The rates are low” and the absolute risk is small, but it’s important to consider the increase in a person’s risk of being killed, Studdert said.

Those numbers suggest the risk rises 50%, but Studdert said it’s actually higher: In a separate calculation designed to better account for where people live and other factors, the researchers estimated the risk was actually more than twice as high.

Separately, the researchers found that those who lived with handgun owners had a much higher rate of being fatally shot by a spouse or intimate partner. The vast majority of such victims — 84% — were women, they said.

The study was confined to California, but the risk is likely even greater in states with less stringent gun laws and where gun ownership is more common, Crifasi said.

Previous research estimated that nearly 3% of U.S. adults became new gun owners between January 2019 and April 2021, which translates to about 7.5 million Americans. Of those, about 5.4 million previously lived in a home with no guns.

For decades, studies have shown guns in the home raise the risk of a violent death. Much of that work, including an earlier study by Studdert and his colleagues, focused on suicide.

The new study goes further in addressing the perception that handguns are still worthwhile because of the safety they provide against being murdered, some experts said.

“The reason people have guns in their home is for protection from strangers,” said David Hemenway, director of the Harvard University’s Injury Control Research Center. 

“But what this is showing that having a gun in the home is bad for people in the home.”

___

The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Revolutionary changes in transportation could slow global warming if done right

By Alan Jenn, University of California Davis

A driver uses an electric car recharge station in Beijing. 

File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

April 5 (UPI) -- Around the world, revolutionary changes are under way in transportation. More electric vehicles are on the road, people are taking advantage of sharing mobility services such as Uber and Lyft, and the rise in telework during the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the way people think about commuting.

Transportation is a growing source of the global greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change, accounting for 23% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions worldwide in 2019 and 29% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

The systemic changes under way in the transportation sector could begin lowering that emissions footprint. But will they reduce emissions enough?

In a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released Monday, scientists from around the world examined the latest research on efforts to mitigate climate change. The report concludes that falling costs for renewable energy and for electric vehicle batteries, in addition to policy changes, have slowed the growth of climate change in the past decade, but that deep, immediate cuts are necessary to stop emissions growth entirely and keep global warming in check.

The transportation chapter, which I contributed to, homed in on transportation transformations -- some just starting and others expanding -- that in the most aggressive scenarios could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions from transportation by 80% to 90% of current levels by 2050. That sort of drastic reduction would require a major, rapid rethinking of how people get around globally.

2 / 4Lexus' NX PHEV off-road concept car is displayed at an event in Tokyo. Electric, hydrogen fuel cell and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles from 14 companies were exhibited at the event. Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

Future of EVs

All-electric vehicles have grown dramatically since the Tesla Roadster and Nissan Leaf arrived on the market a little over a decade ago, following the popularity of hybrids.

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In 2021 alone, the sales of electric passenger vehicles, including plug-in hybrids, doubled worldwide to 6.6 million, about 9% of all car sales that year.

Strong regulatory policies have encouraged the production of electric vehicles, including California's Zero Emission Vehicle regulation, which requires automakers to produce a certain number of zero-emission vehicles based on their total vehicles sold in California; the European Union's CO2 emissions standards for new vehicles; and China's New Energy Vehicle policy, all of which have helped push EV adoption to where we are today.

Beyond passenger vehicles, many micro-mobility options -- such as autorickshaws, scooters and bikes -- as well as buses, have been electrified. As the cost of lithium-ion batteries decreases, these transportation options will become increasingly affordable and further boost sales of battery-powered vehicles that traditionally have run on fossil fuels.


3 / 4Vice President Kamala Harris stands beside an electric vehicle while receiving a briefing about the Prince George's County electric vehicle fleet, during a visit to Brandywine Maintenance Facility in Brandywine, Md., in December. File Photo by Michael Reynolds/UPI | License Photo

An important aspect to remember about electrifying the transportation system is that its ability to cut greenhouse gas emissions ultimately depends on how clean the electricity grid is. China, for example, is aiming for 20% of its vehicles to be electric by 2025, but its electric grid is still heavily reliant on coal.

With the global trends toward more renewable generation, these vehicles will be connected with fewer carbon emissions over time. There are also many developing and potentially promising co-benefits of electromobility when coupled with the power system. The batteries within electric vehicles have the potential to act as storage devices for the grid, which can assist in stabilizing the intermittency of renewable resources in the power sector, among many other benefits.

Other areas of transportation are more challenging to electrify. Larger and heavier vehicles generally aren't as conducive to electrification because the size and weight of the batteries needed rapidly becomes untenable.

For some heavy-duty trucks, ships and airplanes, alternative fuels such as hydrogen, advanced biofuels and synthetic fuels are being explored as replacements for fossil fuels. Most aren't economically feasible yet, and substantial advances in the technology are still needed to ensure they are either low- or zero-carbon.


President Joe Biden answers questions from reporters after driving a Wrangler Unlimited 4xe Rubicon around the White House grounds during an event on electric vehicles last August. File Photo by Sarah Silbiger/UPI | License Photo


Other ways to cut emissions

While new fuel and vehicle technologies are often highlighted as decarbonization solutions, behavioral and other systemic changes will also be needed to meet to cut greenhouse gas emissions dramatically from this sector. We are already in the midst of these changes.

Telecommuting: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the explosion of teleworking and video conferencing reduced travel, and, with it, emissions associated with commuting. While some of that will rebound, telework is likely to continue for many sectors of the economy.

Shared mobility: Some shared mobility options, like bike and scooter sharing programs, can get more people out of vehicles entirely.

Car-sharing and on-demand services such as Uber and Lyft also have the potential to reduce emissions if they use high-efficiency or zero-emission vehicles, or if their services lean more toward car pooling, with each driver picking up multiple passengers. Unfortunately, there is substantial uncertainty about the impact of these services. They might also increase vehicle use and, with it, greenhouse gas emissions.

New policies such as the California Clean Miles Standard are helping to push companies like Uber and Lyft to use cleaner vehicles and increase their passenger loads, though it remains to be seen whether other regions will adopt similar policies.






Public transit-friendly cities: Another systemic change involves urban planning and design. Transportation in urban areas is responsible for about 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

Efficient city planning and land use can reduce travel demand and shift transportation modes, from cars to public transit, through strategies that avoid urban sprawl and disincentivize personal cars. These improvements not only decrease greenhouse gas emissions, but can decrease congestion, air pollution and noise, while improving the safety of transportation systems.

How do these advances translate to lower emissions?

Much of the uncertainty in how much technological change and other systemic shifts in transportation affects global warming is related to the speed of transition.

The new IPCC report includes several potential scenarios for how much improvements in transportation will be able to cut emissions. On average, the scenarios indicate that the carbon intensity of the transportation sector would need to decrease by about 50% by 2050 and as much as 91% by 2100 when combined with a cleaner electricity grid to stay within the 1.5-degree Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) target for global warming.

These decreases would require a complete reversal of current trends of increasing emissions in the transportation sector, but the recent advances in transportation provide many opportunities to meet this challenge.

Alan Jenn is an assistant professional researcher in transportation at the University of California, Davis.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.