A farewell to foie gras? There’s a shortage of the fatty favorite in France
Charles Passy - Yesterday 6:53 AM
© Thomas Samson/AFP via Getty Images


THE MARGIN

Sacre bleu! There’s a foie gras shortage in France.

The fatty, unctuous treat, otherwise known as duck or goose liver, is in short supply throughout the country, according to CNN and other news outlets. The culprit: the bird-flu epidemic that has spread throughout Europe. One report says that France has culled 16 million birds, including ducks, in an effort to curb the disease. And that means far less foie gras to go around.

“This week we got none,” said French chef Pascal Lombard in an interview with CNN. Lombard is the owner of Le 1862, a Michelin-starred restaurant in southwestern France.

Of course, many animal-rights activists might welcome this news. Foie gras has long been a controversial foodstuff, since its production requires the force feeding of ducks or geese (that’s what gets their livers extra fatty). As a result, foie gras has been banned in many places throughout the world. For example, New York City has a ban that’s set to go into effect later this year.

Still, foie gras has its many fans. Marco Moreira, chef and proprietor of Tocqueville, a restaurant in New York, once told the Wall Street Journal that his customers can’t get enough of the stuff.

“Some people will have multiple courses of foie gras,” he said, calling the citywide ban “preposterous.”

Meanwhile, as France contends with the current shortage, Marie-Pierre Pé, who directs a committee of the country’s foie gras producers, told CNN that consumers should think in terms of rationing so that everyone is ensured at least a small taste.

“We have to share with each other,” she said.

Appeals court upholds limit on California's foie gras ban


Jorge Vargas uses a funneled pipe to force-feed a measured dose of corn mush to a Moulard duck in its pen at Sonoma Foie Gras in Farmington, Calif. A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling that limits California's 2012 foie gras ban. The court in San Francisco on Friday, May 6, 2022, declined to overturn a ruling the year before that said individual Californians can order the delicacy from out-of-state producers and have it delivered. However, the product can't be produced in California or sold here by restaurants or other businesses. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)More


Fri, May 6, 2022, 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Californians can buy foie gras produced out of state despite California's ban on the delicacy, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 2020 lower court ruling that said Californians can order foie gras from out-of-state producers and have it sent by a third-party delivery service.

The ruling only applies to people who buy foie gras for individual consumption. The 2012 state law still bans foie gras production in California while restaurants and retailers are forbidden to sell it or give it away.

Foie gras is made from the enlarged livers of force-fed ducks and geese. The Humane Society and other groups supported California’s law, arguing the process constituted cruelty to animals.

Producers argued that the force-feeding process mimicked something that happens in the wild, when ducks and geese overeat to store up extra nutrition for their long annual migration.

The law was challenged by producers, including New York-based Hudson Valley Foie Gras, which said it lost nearly one-third of its total sales when the ban took effect.

They argued that the state law conflicts with interstate commerce and federal food regulations that allow force-feeding for foie gras production.

In a 3-0 ruling, the appellate panel upheld the previous ruling but rejected efforts to overturn the entire law.

Ralph Henry, a lawyer for the Humane Society, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the ruling didn't significantly weaken the law.

“Only a narrow form of transaction — a sale by sellers outside the state, shipping to end-use consumers in the state — is still allowed,” he said in an email.

Lawyers for producers said they would ask the appellate court for a new hearing before a large panel.

Chef Sean Chaney told The Chronicle in a statement that while he considers the law unconstitutional, “I’m also glad that 40 million Californians can continue to enjoy the foie gras products they buy online, and I hope to be able to cook it for them soon again.”

UK
Boris Johnson urged to revive ban on fur, foie gras and hunt trophies



Jane Dalton
Sat, May 7, 2022,

Dozens of the UK’s leading animal charities have written to Boris Johnson asking him to include in the Queen’s speech an earlier promise to ban imports of hunting trophies, fur, foie gras and shark fins.

The measures were in the Animals Abroad Bill, which the government dropped earlier this year in a dramatic U-turn to the anger of campaigners who have devoted years fighting for the changes.

The bill also included a ban on the advertising of cruel tourism activities abroad, such as elephant rides and elephant entertainment venues.

The heads of 38 organisations have joined forces to back the letter, including the RSPCA, the Born Free Foundation, Peta, World Animal Protection, World Horse Welfare, Compassion in World Farming, and Whale & Dolphin Conservation.

The sister of a woman killed at an elephant theme park in Thailand last month told The Independent of her bitter disappointment that the government was shying away from a ban, instead stating it expected tourists to do their own research.

“How do holidaymakers know if you don’t tell them?” asked Helen Costigan.

The Independent previously reported that the various measures were agreed at cabinet level, before Jacob Rees-Mogg, Brandon Lewis and Mark Spencer are thought to have vetoed them – even though the changes were promised in the government’s action plan for animal welfare published last year.

Every year, hunters from the UK travel abroad, often to southern Africa, and pay thousands of pounds to legally shoot animals, such as lions, elephants and even baboons.

They are allowed to bring back body parts such as stuffed heads, paws and horns in a grisly trade that critics say is driving wildlife populations towards extinction.

The last Conservative Party election manifesto included a pledge to ban trophy hunt imports. But according to The Times, Mr Johnson has indeed dropped plans to ban the import and sale of foie gras and fur.

Conservationists have made repeated trips to Westminster to hand in petitions and have meetings with government representatives over the issues of the imports and adverts.

The charities’ latest letter tells the prime minister: “We would welcome the opportunity to meet with your office and discuss the government’s plans and ambitions for animals in the next session and look forward to hearing from you.”

Claire Bass, executive director of Humane Society International/UK, said: “Boris Johnson made a promise to the people that after Brexit, Britain would become world leaders in animal welfare.

“He can keep that promise by ensuring that the Animals Abroad Bill with proposed bans on cruel fur, foie gras, shark fins and other horrors, is in the Queen’s speech next week.

Protests outside parliament against the dropping of the bill (HSI/UK)

“These bans would stop Britain propping up animal cruelty that is already banned from happening here, such as killing animals for fur fashion, cutting off the fins of sharks for shark fin soup, or force-feeding ducks to the point of morbid obesity to produce a pate.

“We urge the prime minister to stop hesitating on a Bill of which Britain should be proud, and for which Britain would be applauded around the world.”

More than 200,000 people have signed a petition started by television presenter Chris Packham calling for the government to uphold its pledge to ban fur and foie gras, while a separate campaign petition to end fur imports has gathered more than a million signatures.

A crackdown on foie gras was promised in the Queen’s speech this time last year.

The Kept Animals Bill, which bans live exports, keeping primates as pets and tackles puppy smuggling, was postponed in the last parliamentary session and is due to continue its passage into law via a carryover motion in the next.

The government refused to comment on what would be in next week’s Queen’s speech.

A spokesperson said: “This government is firm in its commitment to upholding its world leading standards in animal welfare.

“The Animals (Penalty Notices) Bill, Glue Traps (Offences) Bill and Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill have now received royal assent, further strengthening the UK’s position as a world leader for animal health and welfare now that we have left the EU.”

‘Like frogs in a slowly boiling pot’: How India’s heatwave is only set to get worse


Stuti Mishra
Sun, May 8, 2022

A workers quenches his thirst next to power lines as a heatwave continues to lashes the capital, in New Delhi (AP)

Naresh Ahirwar doesn’t stop working when the midday sun beats down on his construction site on the outskirts of Delhi, amid the sustained heatwave conditions that have afflicted northern India for well over a month. The 56-year-old feeks like he is going to faint with each heavy load he carries in and out of the half-erected building — yet resting out the afternoon is not an option, even as the mercury soars above 40C.

“Earlier I used to carry everything without any problem, now it feels like every step is a struggle and I am going to die here,” says the 56-year-old. “But people like me working on daily wages don’t have an option [to stop].”

Near the construction site, a shopkeeper who sells earthenware pots shuts down his shop during the afternoon and takes shelter from the scorching sun under the tarpaulin sheet that otherwise serves as his store’s roof, even if it means he will not make enough money to get by.

“My products are made for the summer season,” explains Sunil Kumar. “I can’t sit at home for the whole summer, but it is getting impossible to stay through the afternoons.”

No one in Delhi is a stranger to this kind of heat, but temperatures that were once reserved for the two peak summer months now stretch on for much longer. This April was by far the hottest since records began, and a heatwave was declared in northern Indian as early as mid-March. There was a momentary respite for some areas with brief rains at the start of May, but forecasters say the mercury is set to rise again to 45C later this week.

“If it was just about a few weeks in May and June we could be prepared to stay at home, but how do we shut our shops entirely if the heat begins in March and stays on for most of the year?” asks Kumar, a 36-year-old father of four.

A delivery agent with a popular food chain says he dips a cloth in cold water and wears it on his head like a turban when he is driving during the hottest hours, in order to get through the day.

“That gives some respite, but the cloth gets dry within minutes,” says 21-year-old Varun. “We have some financial problems at home, because of which I had to pick up this job. I can’t quit it even though many delivery boys like me have fallen sick in this season.”

A woman uses her bag to protect herself from the sun in New Delhi on Wednesday. (REUTERS)

The heatwave affects India’s poorest the most, but no section of society is completely immune to its impacts. In the densely populated high-rise societies of Noida, a satellite city of Delhi, residents switched on their air conditioners much earlier this year and parents are demanding schools be shut or changed to a different schedule because many children have complained of weakness.

“Summers have been getting worse for several years now, our electricity bills have skyrocketed because the house feels unlivable most of the day. But nobody complained, you get used to It. It’s like being a frog in a slowly boiling pot,” says Vivek Arora, a resident of Greater Noida whose children have been home all week due to heat stress. “But this year feels extraordinarily different.”

Hundreds of millions of people have been affected by the extraordinary heat seen this year in India and neighbouring Pakistan — where some places have seen temperatures as high as 52C. Scientists have been warning that this level of heat has cascading effects, not just on human health, but also on ecosystems, agriculture, water, energy supplies and even key sectors of the economy.

The country is already suffering from an acute energy shortage as demand for electricity increases, landfills have caught fire amid the high temperatures, wheat crops have been destroyed leading to a shortage and prices of lemons — a popular remedy for the heat — have skyrocketed with rising demand.

Delhi fire officials take a break while dousing a fire at the Bhalswa landfill in New Delhi on Wednesday. (AP)

Government action so far has been limited to advising people to stay inside during afternoons where possible, and a high-level meeting by prime minister Narendra Modi urging states to come up with plans of their own to combat the heatwave.

But scientists say the footprint of climate change is clear to see in these sorts of extreme weather events, and while the heatwave situation has been unprecedented this year, it is only going to be repeated and get worse as the planet warms.

A study by Imperial College London found that climate change has made heatwaves like this year’s much more likely. “Before human activities increased global temperatures, we would have seen the heat that hit India earlier this month around once in 50 years,” says Dr Mariam Zachariah, Research Associate at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College.

“But now it is a much more common event — we can expect such high temperatures about once in every four years. And until net emissions are halted, it will continue to become even more common.”

In the coming year, more frequent and long-lasting heatwave events are projected to affect the Indian sub-continent as a result of the warming of the tropical Indian Ocean and the increasing frequency of extreme El Nino events, according to an analysis by the Delhi-based communications initiative Climate Trends.

The impacts of this heatwave have already extended beyond the dusty plains of northern India to ravage the Himalayan region, with forest fires reported in the hilly state of Uttarakhand. But such events will also come to affect verdant southern India, which is currently not influenced by heatwaves, by the end of the 21st century, according to Climate Trends.

Climate scientists say it is essential to work on both mitigation through reducing carbon emissions, and at the same to develop adaptation strategies to provide relief to people already suffering from global warming. If governments are not careful, rushing to solve one side of the equation can risk making things worse in the long term —such as India’s current scramble to acquire more coal to meet its spiking electricity demand during the heatwave.

Experts admit it’s a tough balance to strike. “While taking mitigation measures is a must to limit future warming, the extreme, frequent, and long-lasting spells of heatwaves are no more a future risk. It is already here and is unavoidable,” says Dr Abhiyant Tiwari, an assistant professor and programme manager at the Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management.

“Our heat action plans must ensure adaptation measures like public cooling areas, ensuring uninterrupted electricity, access to safe drinking water, and changing the work hours of labourers for the most vulnerable ones at the bottom of the pyramid, especially during extreme heat days.”

Rickshaw pullers sleep as they wait for the few customers venturing out in Delhi (PA)

While India is set to face some of the worst impacts of climate change, so far only one city, Mumbai, has come up with a net-zero plan aimed at decreasing the city’s emissions and increasing its adaptability. Climate change rarely finds a mention in India’s political discussions even though the country faces year-round challenges, from extreme heat to monsoon flooding.

“During extreme winters, there are at least shelter homes for the poor and the homeless, no matter how poor their conditions are there is roof to cover your head for most people. But during the extreme heat, which we now know is going to stay on for longer, there is no arrangement for daily wage labourers or homeless [people] to find respite,” says Sunil Kumar Aledia of the Centre for Holistic Development, an NGO.

The impact of heat stress on health is also highly undercounted in India, with the country only tracking heatstroke deaths where they are medically certified as having been caused by direct exposure to the sun. As a result, while more than 2,500 were reported dead during a really intense heatwave spell in 2015, only a handful of such deaths are reported in other years. Doctors say prolonged periods of warm nights can prove deadly as they limit the body’s ability to recover from daytime heat — but such fatalities would be unlikely to be counted as heatstroke-related.

Failure to adapt working practices to extreme heat also has a major impact on the economy. A study by Duke University found that India lost 259 billion hours of labour annually between 2001 and 2020 because of the impacts of humid heat.

Activists say the government needs to carry out a fresh vulnerability assessment and work towards combatting heatwaves at a disaster level.

“In countries like Saudi Arabia where temperatures of 50C and above have been witnessed, the government policies aim at providing relief to the masses, including changing work timings to ensure no one has to toll in the afternoons,” says Lubaina Rangwala, programme head at WRI India. “The Indian government needs to draft new policies like that.”

The question of how to adapt to a warming planet is no longer hypothetical when it comes to India — meteorologists say that erratic and unpredictable weather patterns are here now. Prior to the first heatwave declaration of the year on 11 March, northern India had seen an unusually cold winter season, something which itself brings risks to pubic health and infrastructure in a country not used to such lows.

Experts point to several different reasons for this year’s erratic weather, including the disruption of the cooling Western Disturbance — a phenomenon associated with rainfall in India — a heatwave in the Arctic and the La Nina phenomenon. But the underlying cause in all these situations can ultimately be attributed to climate change, they say.

“There is no doubt that extreme heat events are increasing in India,” says Mahesh Palawat, vice-president of meteorology and climate change at Skymet Weather Services, a private forecaster. “Global warming has a primary role in this, although there are several other factors at play as well.”

The concern now is that India will continue to break heat records into the summer months, further extending the strain on its energy infrastructure and populace.

“Not only are these heat extremes in India and Pakistan record-setting by far for the month of April, but they’re also setting the stage for further and even more extreme heat waves into May and June, which are already typically hotter months,” says Dr Zachary Zobel, a climate scientist who studies the intersection of climate change and extreme heat and precipitation.

“These patterns are expected to continue, and likely worsen, in the coming years,” Zobel adds. “Even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases today, the planet will continue to warm for at least another decade.”

Elizabeth Warren is not happy with America’s banks: ‘They are still squeezing families on overdraft fees’

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a hearing this week to discuss bank overdraft charges

Last Updated: May 6, 2022 
By Zoe Han

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. ‘If Citibank and Capital One can eliminate overdraft fees, so can Chase and BOA and Wells,’ she said Wednesday. AP

The Senate is taking a look at overdraft fees, and how they burden working class families.

Several Senators, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, wrote a letter ahead of the hearing to CEOs of JPMorgan Chase JPM, -0.16%, Bank of America BAC, -0.24% and Wells Fargo WFC, -0.47%, urging them to end overdraft fees.

“Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo are making tens of billions of dollars in profits. And yet they are still squeezing families on overdraft fees,” Warren told the hearing. “If Citibank C, +0.60% and Capital One COF, -2.52% can eliminate overdraft fees, so can Chase and BOA and Wells.”

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which Warren helped create, promised a crackdown on overdraft fees last December after a key report by the government agency revealed that banks were making billions of dollars from overdraft fees and other non-sufficient fund fees. The report showed that JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America accounted for 44% of the profits in 2019 made by banks with more than $1 billion in assets over those fees.

“There is a difference between offering a service that will win the hand and offering a service that will kick someone while they’re down,” Chairman Raphael Warnock, a Democratic senator from Georgia, told the hearing.

He cited studies’ that found overdraft fees disproportionately hurt neighborhoods with people of color. “Customers who overdraft the most throughout the year tend to have lower income, poor credit scores and disproportionately Black and Hispanic,” Warnock said, “So [it’s a] vicious cycle.”

Such fees disproportionately impact Black and Latinx households. They are 1.9 times and 1.4 times more likely to incur overdraft fees, respectively, versus white households, a June 2021 report published by the Financial Health Network, a nonprofit organization that receives funding from Citi Foundation, concluded.

Overdraft fees disproportionately impact Black and Latinx households.

In 2019, U.S. banks charged their customers nearly $15.5 billion in overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees, a report published last December by the CFPB found.

The hearing came as U.S. banks — both traditional and online —- move away from charging overdraft fees to consumers. Ally announced its plan to eliminate the fees across the board last June, becoming the first among the major U.S. banks.

Capital One and Citibank followed suit in the intervening months. Others are lowering their overdraft fees: Bank of America will reduce its overdraft fees from $35 to $10 starting from May; Wells Fargo announced plans in January slashing non-sufficient fund fees and overdraft protection fees, and offered a 24-hour grace period before charging overdraft fees.

JPMorgan Chase also announced last December that it would eliminate insufficient fund fees, and will increase the overdraft cushion from $5 to $50 in addition to a one-day grace period and early access to direct deposit.

Increased competition from the fintech companies in Silicon Valley also prompted more U.S. banks to give up overdraft fees, analysts say. As fintechs offer easier access and services online, mainstream banks have offered more fintech-inspired services in an effort to stay relevant, including no-fee overdrafts.

Thom Tillis, a Republican senator for North Carolina, said the main challenge is to understand how the market is transitioning and whether interference at the federal level is needed.

“It seems like the market forces and innovation are pushing things in the right direction,” he said. “And it always gives me pause when the government wants to come in because when the government comes in, it tends to stifle competition and stifle innovation.”

JPMorgan Chase declined to comment on the hearing and the issues raised by the Senate committee. Wells Fargo and Bank of America also declined to comment.

Spokespeople for JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo previously told MarketWatch that their banks provide services to help customers avoid overdraft fees.

Northern Ireland Protocol ‘to be scrapped’ as Sinn Fein celebrates historic victory


Edward Malnick
Sat, May 7, 2022

Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill - Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Britain is preparing to unilaterally override the post-Brexit border arrangement to avoid the Northern Ireland crisis “dragging on and on”, government sources have claimed, as Sinn Fein won the largest share of seats in Stormont for the first time on Saturday night.

Liz Truss has concluded that negotiations with the EU have almost “run out of road”, after Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s Brexit negotiator, told her that Brussels will “never” back down on its refusal to overhaul the Northern Ireland Protocol, according to government sources.

A source close to the Foreign Secretary described the remark as “alarming” after she repeatedly called for member states to redraw Mr Sefcovic’s mandate in order to allow for a breakthrough in the talks.

Ministers are concerned about disruption being caused to businesses by customs checks on British goods sent to Northern Ireland, and the Democratic Unionist Party has indicated that it will refuse to form an executive with Sinn Fein until the problems are resolved.

Sinn Fein won 27 of the 90 Stormont seats, putting it ahead of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) which fell by two seats to 25.

It is the first time a party seeking a united Ireland will have topped the poll in the elections for the Northern Ireland executive, with a unionist party until now the largest in government since the province was formed in 1921.

Writing in The Telegraph, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, piled pressure on Ms Truss and Boris Johnson to act, saying: “Every unionist candidate standing in the election stood in opposition to the Protocol and attracted some 360,000 votes. Forty per cent of all votes cast were explicitly for parties who opposed the Protocol.

“Given that the political institutions in Northern Ireland operate on the basis of cross-community consensus, the lack of any unionist support for the Protocol means that it is unworkable as it does not command sufficient consensus.”

He added: “The electorate has spoken. The view of unionism is clear. Now is the moment for the Government to act. No more words. It’s time for action.

“The Irish Sea border must go and the Protocol must be replaced by arrangements that restore Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom internal market.”

Sir Jeffrey set out seven tests for any plan to override the Protocol, including that any new arrangement must avoid a border in the Irish Sea.

Liz Truss - Victoria Jones/PA Wire

Government sources indicated that ministers were drawing up proposals for such a move, despite the Conservatives denying reports that a bill setting out a replacement arrangement would be included in next week’s Queen’s Speech.

In a telephone call with Ms Truss on April 28, Mr Sefcovic is said to have “made clear... that the EU did not have, and in his view would never have, a mandate to renegotiate the Protocol or to go beyond their existing proposals”, according to a government source.

A source close to Ms Truss said: “The admission made by Sefcovic on the call is alarming. Liz’s first, second and third priority in all this is protecting peace made and stability in Northern Ireland. Clearly, the situation is getting increasingly urgent, and the feeling is we can’t let this crisis drag on and on.

“It feels like we have run out of road with negotiations unless something significant happens in terms of the EU changing its position.”

Mr Sefcovic is understood to insist that unilateral action by the UK would not solve the problems on the island of Ireland, and that the threat of such a move will not help to strengthen Ms Truss’s hand in the negotiations.

Maros Sefcovic - Julien Warnand/Pool via Reuters

Theresa Villiers, the former Northern Ireland Secretary, said: “We must deal with the Protocol. It must be radically changed or replaced. We can’t continue as we are. The people who really need to listen and wake up as a result of this election result are the EU and the Commission.

“If negotiation isn’t going to do the business, we need unilateral legislation. We need to be getting on with it even if we don’t implement it straight away.”

A Foreign Office source said: “It’s incredibly disheartening that despite the political and economic damage the Protocol is causing in Northern Ireland, the Commission continues to adopt such a rigid and hard-line negotiating position.

“The Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement is being undermined and the situation is now very serious. Both the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have always been clear that action will be taken if solutions can’t be found.

“The Assembly elections are now over and we need to see the EU move significantly. Our focus has been, and will continue to be, preserving peace and stability in Northern Ireland.”

On Saturday, Sinn Fein called for an immediate resumption of the power-sharing executive.

Mary Lou McDonald, the party’s president, urged unionists “not to be afraid”, saying “the future is bright for all of us”.

Ms McDonald said there was a collective responsibility to get the government “up and running quickly”.

She added: “This is not a time for theatrics, this is not a time for playing games, this is the time for grown-up sensible partnership politics, that’s what people want.

“The idea, at a time of a cost-of-living crisis, that people would stand on the sidelines and allow people to struggle, and struggle badly for us is unthinkable, so we would appeal to everybody to take stock.”

A spokesman for the US government said political leaders should "take the necessary steps" to re-establish a power-sharing executive.

Ned Price, from the US Department of State, said: "We call on Northern Ireland's political leaders to take the necessary steps to re-establish a power-sharing executive, which is one of the core institutions established by the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

"Critical and immediate challenges concerning the economy, health, and education are best addressed through the collective efforts of a devolved government chosen by, and accountable to, its people.

"The United States enjoys a deep and long-standing relationship with Northern Ireland, grounded in ties of kinship, culture, commerce, and shared values.

"We remain deeply committed to preserving the peace dividend of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and will always strive to protect these gains for all communities.

"We look forward to continuing our work with democratic partners in Northern Ireland, and with the governments of the United Kingdom and Ireland, to support peace, prosperity, and stability across the region."

‘Look at the water for evidence.’ Data proves Florida pollution prevention not working


Sydney Czyzon and Max Chesnes, Treasure Coast Newspapers
Fri, May 6, 2022

It’s a textbook Florida morning at a ranch just north of Lake Okeechobee. Cattle roam. Herons and egrets hunt for food. Clouds mosey across the sky.

But beneath this idyllic scene, a silent byproduct lurks. Phosphorus levels, mostly from fertilizer and cow manure, exceeded the state pollution limit by 19 times.

The problem is not exclusive to this Rio Rancho Corp. farm. Rainfall runoff that flows into Lake O from hundreds of surrounding properties routinely exceeds the limit — without the state imposing any consequences, a TCPalm investigation found.

All 32 drainage basins around the lake with available data exceeded the limit over a five-year average, according to TCPalm’s analysis of “water year” data from May 2016 to April 2021. Rio Rancho was just the worst in the last two years. Even lesser polluters exceeded the limit by over 100%.

The data proves — for the first time — that Florida’s flagship program to reduce water pollution isn’t working. And that pollution is contaminating waterways and sparking toxic algal blooms in the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers.

“All one has to do is look at the water for the evidence,” said Indian Riverkeeper Mike Conner, who heads a Treasure Coast nonprofit that advocates for clean water. “The impairment of Florida waters is now at an all-time high.”

BMAP fails to curb water pollution

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) oversees the program involving legally enforceable goals and strategies to reduce pollution, called Basin Management Action Plans (BMAPs). There are 38 plans customized to help waterways in their region.

For the Lake O BMAP, the agency set the phosphorus limit at 40 parts per billion two decades ago, but the basins have exceeded that by a median 5.7 times over the five-year average, TCPalm found.

The worst polluter over those five years — 22 times over the limit — was the East Beach Drainage District, on Lake O’s southeast shore, near Pahokee.

State records don’t show that, though. DEP historically touts progress that often doesn’t match reality because it uses models to give credit for pollution-reduction measures — from reservoirs to informational brochures — assuming they produce intended results. DEP’s resulting graphics, used in public presentations, show progress is being made.

The truth is in the data recorded by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) water-quality monitors, which TCPalm analyzed.

DEP has started using some SFWMD data to track pollution entering Lake O, spokeswoman Alexandra Kuchta said. However, many questions TCPalm posed remain unanswered, such as: When did that start? What is modeling still used for? What happens when data and modeling don’t show the same outcomes?

But even data can mask bad practices by individual landowners because the state groups them into basins. East Beach, for example, encompasses dozens of properties. So who’s to blame for exceeding the pollution limit? One of them? All of them?

“BMAPs aren’t working, and we’re having harmful algal blooms every time we turn around,” Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani said. “It’s killing seagrass, and manatees are starving. It’s a bad cascade that’s occurring now.”

BMP lacks enforcement

For BMAPs to work, farmers must agree to follow rules to curb pollution. They don’t always comply, and two state agencies debate which is responsible for enforcement.

The Department of Agriculture oversees the rules, called Best Management Practices (BMP), such as avoiding nutrient-heavy fertilizers, irrigating in ways to reduce runoff, and buffering the land from nearby waterways.

The Florida administrative code says the agriculture department will refer noncompliant farmers to DEP for enforcement. However, the department "has the authority to take enforcement on its own,” but has “simply chosen to rely on DEP to do so,” Kuchta said.

BMP has “no teeth,” said Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.

“That’s how the program unfortunately was designed,” she said. “There’s a carrot and stick. We’re the carrot and DEP is the stick. And the stick is not working.”

The agriculture department needs to crack down, she acknowledged, and is now gathering data to do so.

Nearly 2 million pounds of phosphorus — over four times the weight of the Statue of Liberty — were applied to farmland in the Lake O BMAP region in 2020, agency records show. TCPalm was first to request and receive these records since the Clean Waterways Act required DACS to track the data beginning that year.
Warning letters to farmers

DEP, which doesn’t routinely conduct on-site inspections or fine polluters, said “insufficient data” prevents it from enforcing the rules, according to documents.

DEP mails warning letters instructing farmers to either enroll in BMP or pay for water-quality monitoring. The letters state DEP wants “cooperation” from farmers “without the need for taking formal enforcement against you; however, you must take immediate action to bring your property into compliance with Florida law.”

Farmers have 21 days to respond. If they don’t, they might get another letter. At least 872 farmers had ignored their warning letters as of Nov. 2, according to DEP.

State law gives DEP the power to issue fines up to $50,000, but the agency said it never has, nor has it filed a lawsuit, in the five years the program has been enforceable.

2016: Florida puts polluters on honor system to reduce nutrients

2017: Emails show Florida was on verge of agricultural pollution crackdown, but scrapped plans after letting sugar lobbyist dictate edits to 2015 annual report

2018: After Florida enacted BMAP pollution control in 2014, phosphorus flowing into Lake O increased for 2 years, then spiked to record high in 2017
Farmers like cooperative approach

Lazaro Caballero, who owns one of the 254 parcels the agriculture department referred to DEP on May 3 alone, said he never received a letter and no one told him BMP was mandatory.

Letters to Unlimited Turf LLC were returned “as undeliverable” because he sold the land in 2019, according to the DEP, which said it asked the agriculture department to determine whether the current owner is BMP-compliant, but has not heard back.

“We’re doing what we’re supposed to do. [If] they make it mandatory, then we’ll do it,” Caballero said, mistaken that it became mandatory to enroll in 2016. “But as of right now, we’re doing our best practices to keep everything as good as possible.”

Sutton Rucks, owner of a fourth-generation Okeechobee dairy farm that’s enrolled in BMP, lauded the state’s cooperative approach over “a rule-with-an-iron-fist type program,” saying that would have driven him out of the industry.

“I would’ve sold my cows and turned it into houses and let it be someone else’s problem,” he said. “The cooperative effort has kept my family in the business.”

His Milking R Dairy farm north of Lake O produced 14 tons of phosphorus — over 10 times the limit — from May 2020 to April 2021, according to SFWMD data.

“It’s like a thimble in a bathtub,” he said. “Maybe it’s a little elevated, but a water sample might not tell the whole story of what some of these folks, including us, are trying to do to make things better.”

Adams Ranch, a 40,000-acre cattle and citrus farm west of Fort Pierce, has worked with the state for four generations. President Mike Adams, who remembers more stringent regulations in the early 1990s, agreed with the state’s cooperative approach.

“If you don’t have a strong ag economy, urbanization will be the next use,” he said. “Is a cattle ranch less impactful than urbanization? Or citrus groves or even row crops?”
What happened to DeSantis’ promises?

When Gov. Ron DeSantis took office in 2019, he proposed a slew of changes to improve water quality, including penalties for noncompliant farmers. DEP lauded it as a “deterrent” that would “ensure immediate and continued compliance” with BMP.

It never happened.

Some guidelines were included in the Clean Waterways Act that took effect in 2020. DeSantis praised the law, which requires the agriculture department to inspect farms for BMP compliance every two years, as a “strong step forward for Florida’s environment.”

The department doesn’t have enough staff for that, said Chris Pettit, the agricultural water policy director, but the agency will ask for more when the Legislature convenes Jan. 11.

So is BMP effective? Pettit never gave TCPalm a direct answer, only said the department, the DEP and the SFWMD have “the right people,” who meet monthly and work well together.

“We have very, very good communication as issues arise,” he said. “I think that the program has matured over time. I think that we are getting better.”

The governor declined TCPalm’s request for an interview, and spokesman Jared Williams’ prepared statement does not address the program’s efficacy.

“The state is in the best position it has ever been to take strategic action to improve our water quality, and Florida has done just that,” it reads, referring to a 2019 executive order that created the Blue-Green Algae Task Force and supports $2 billion for Everglades restoration and water protection. DeSantis also wants the Legislature to budget $960 million more for the environment during the 2022 session.

Florida environmentalists maintain the water would be clean if the programs worked.

“Look at the state of some of the waters in Florida right now,” Indian Riverkeeper Mike Conner said. “I don’t think anybody in their right mind will say, ‘Yeah, this is working great.’ I just don’t think anybody could claim victory at this point.”

Sydney Czyzon is TCPalm’s projects reporter. Contact her at sydney.czyzon@tcpalm.com, 772-469-6045, @SydneyCzyzon on Twitter or @ReporterSydney on Facebook.

Max Chesnes is TCPalm’s environment reporter. Contact him at max.chesnes@tcpalm.com, 772-978-2224 or @MaxChesnes on Twitter.

Lindsey Leake is TCPalm’s health reporter. She contributed significant data analysis and digital producing to this report. Contact her at lindsey.leake@tcpalm.com, 772-529-5378, @NewsyLindsey on Twitter or @LindseyMLeake on Facebook.

ABOUT THIS INVESTIGATION

TCPalm’s exclusive investigation of Florida’s flagship program to limit nutrient pollution flowing into Lake Okeechobee is the first to show that every single rainfall runoff drainage basin around the lake with available data exceeds the state’s limits.

Reporters analyzed data, maps, warning letters to noncompliant landowners and hundreds of other documents, some obtained through state open records laws. They also interviewed nearly a dozen farmers, environmentalists and public officials.

Key data and documents are linked throughout the article.

Adams Ranch president Mike Adams, 66, closes a gate separating pastures on his land on Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021, while giving a tour of the land. The ranch, an 40,000-acre cattle and citrus farm in Fort Pierce, has worked with state environmental agencies for four generations. Adams remembers when state officials instituted more stringent regulations. Now, state agencies take a more cooperative approach, informing farmers of needed changes rather than threatening hefty consequences. “We definitely want to be good stewards of the land and that's something we have always strived for,” Adams said.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida’s Lake O BMAP water pollution reduction program isn’t working

Article misrepresents study on Arctic ice to question climate change


Manon Jacob, AFP USA
Fri, May 6, 2022, 

An online article uses a scientific study comparing past and present Arctic ice levels to downplay the significance of glaciers melting due to climate change. This is misleading; the study's lead author says the causes of current and past ice loss differ and that the article misinterprets the research, which uses historical data to forecast the eventual disappearance of Arctic glaciers.

"New Study: Arctic Was Much Warmer 6000 Years Ago… 90% Of Glaciers, Ice Caps Smaller Than Present Or Absent!" says the headline of an April 11, 2022 article on Watts Up with That?, a website that features content describing the idea that humans are causing global warming as a lie, and saying climate science is being misrepresented and exaggerated to cause panic.

"Climate alarmists hate this inconvenient fact: hundreds of temperature reconstructions show that the northern hemisphere was much warmer over much of the past 10,000 years (Holocene) than it is today," the article says.

It refers to a graphic in a March study on Arctic ice caps, saying: "We see that the Arctic region glaciers were much smaller 6000 years ago than today. Many in fact disappeared altogether and so summers were warmer."

A screenshot taken on May 5, 2022 shows an article on the Watts Up With That website

The article has been featured in various social media posts questioning the validity of the widely held scientific consensus that humans are responsible for potentially devastating climate change. One Facebook post said: "Global warming is Gobaloney!" Another claimed: "Here is the data. As usual the climate change alarmists are full of it. We are not warming. In fact the opposite. So, stick that in your igloo."

But the article misrepresents the findings presented in the study, which lead author Laura Larocca said aims to better understand the "rapid, and striking, recent retreat" of the Arctic glaciers "into a long-term context."

The article "completely misrepresents our study and takes information out of context to spread common fallacies," she told AFP. "Evidence of past periods of warmth from paleoclimate archives is not an 'inconvenient fact.'"

Larocca, a postdoctoral fellow at Northern Arizona University, said the notion that climate change today is not caused by humans because there have been periods of global warming in the past is incorrect.

Thousands of years ago, "summer warmth was driven by slow and predictable changes in Earth's orbit resulting in higher summer insolation (more solar radiation) in the Northern Hemisphere," she said, while "it is unequivocal that the burning of fossil fuels/human influence is driving current warming."

Larocca said the current and projected changes to Arctic glaciers and ice caps are even more striking when considered within a longer-term context. "Paleoclimate records tell us that during past periods of modest warmth, dramatic environmental change took place. This information provides a concerning glimpse at where we are headed as the Earth continues to warm," she said.

A map locating the Russian city of Verkhoyansk, in Siberia, where a new record high Arctic temperature of 38°C on June 20, 2020 was validated by the World Meteorological Organization ( AFP Graphics / )

Twila Moon, research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, said: "There is scientific consensus that natural variations are not causing today's very rapid warming."

The natural causes for historical climate change are well known among the scientific community, and climatologists today can measure all of these natural processes to be able to know if any of them are causing current warming, she said.

"Today's loss of glacier ice is occurring for different reasons than the loss that occurred 6,000 years ago. Unfortunately, that means that we cannot expect natural changes to shift us towards glacier stability or growth over coming centuries or millennia, not to mention the next decades," said the scientist, who specializes in ice dynamics and ice-ecosystem connections.

The melting of land-based glaciers and the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are contributing to global sea level rise, endangering coastal populations around the world.

AFP Fact Check has debunked other inaccurate environment-related claims here.

Gubernatorial candidate at Trump rally says he will 'take sex education out of the schools and put it back in the homes where it belongs'

He has been accused of sexual assault by eight women, two of whom have come forward publicly.

Hannah Getahun

Nebraska candidate for governor Charles Herbster greets guests before the start of a rally with former President Donald Trump on May 01, 2022 in Greenwood, Nebraska. 

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Charles Herbster said he would put sex education "back in the homes where it belongs."

The Nebraskan Gubernatorial candidate also said he was going to "quit CRT" in the state.

Herbster has been accused of sexual assault by eight women, two of whom have come forward publicly.

Nebraska gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster said that sex education should be taken out of schools and "put back in the homes" during a Trump campaign rally in Greenwood, Nebraska, on Sunday.

The Trump-endorsed Republican said he was going to "quit CRT" and "cut taxes" before going in on sex education.

"We're gonna take sex education out of the schools and put it back in the homes where it belongs," Herbster said Sunday evening to the Trump crowd.

An April 14 report from the Nebraska Examiner quoted eight women who accused Herbster of sexual misconduct between 2017 and 2022. Many of them had been groped during a 2019 Republican fundraiser in Douglas County, Nebraska. Three people have spoken on the record to corroborate the claims.

Elizabeth Todsen, an employee of State Sen. Dave Murman, who was present at the dinner, came forward as Herbster's second public accuser on Saturday.

Todsen told the Examiner that after Herbster groped her while greeting her table, "it was just all a blur after that happened because it was all I could think about."

"This decision to come forward with my story has been extremely difficult due to my fear of repercussions from Charles W. Herbster, a powerful voice in Nebraska politics," Todsen said to Insider in a statement provided on behalf of her lawyer. "But after thinking about this for years now, I know that it is time that Nebraskans know about the horrible actions made by Charles W. Herbster."

Previously, State Sen. Julie Slama was the only person not quoted anonymously in the Examiner's story. Herbster has since filed a lawsuit against her.

In a press release sent to Insider, Herbster – CEO and President of Carico Farms and Herbster Angus Farms – denied all the allegations.

"Charles W. Herbster has already filed legal action against one of the people named in reports and will be taking legal action against others," the release said. "He will not stop fighting until his name is cleared and he is vindicated."

Trump also defended Herbster during the rally, saying that the accusations were "malicious charges to derail him."

May 1, 2022

The Qatar 2022 World Cup Draw and International Politics: Situating the ‘Group of Death’ in Group B

Thomas Ameyaw-Brobbey examines the interplay of sport and politics to determine how it shapes serious competition in Group B of Qatar 2022.

By Thomas Ameyaw-Brobbey - 02 May 2022

Sports analysts and football fans worldwide discuss the Qatar 2022 World Cup groups, pointing to Group E as the toughest. Nevertheless, this conclusion is based on sporting merits, including FIFA ranking and historical pedigree. In this piece, I turn to international political relationships to situate the ‘group of death’ in Group B. Thus, the purpose is to discuss how politics and sport bound up with one another to draw attention to how politics may shape sport to make Group B the ‘group of death.’ How may politics shape Group B’s strength to influence a ‘group of death’ performance?

Group B encompasses England, Iran, the US and possibly Wales, Scotland, or Ukraine. The US and Iran are geopolitical rivals. The US and England are brethren and allies. England also endures frosty relations with Iran. Although not discounting Ukraine, the group could be joined by Wales or Scotland which have their issues with England. Thus, I argue that there is likely to be more politics – that transcends leaders – than sports in Group B, making the group competitive. First, politics could influence political leaders to invest in the teams to demonstrate superiority beyond power capabilities. Second, it could influence popular national pride to build high national expectations to make the group’s competition more serious.

Diplomatic relations between the US and Iran severed in April 1980 from an Iranian revolution. Revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, turned Iran from a pro-West monarchy to an anti-West theocracy. Relations have been characterized by civilian and military attacks and counterattacks, and increased sanctions. Since declaring Iran as an “Axis of Evil” in 2002 for aggressive pursuing nuclear, the two have continuously battled on a nuclear deal. The US and its allies believe that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a global existential threat. Nevertheless, some scholars argue that the Middle East would be more peaceful if Iran gets nukes because it will ensure nuclear balance and enhance deterrence while others oppose this idea. The frosty relations go beyond the governments. Americans see Iranians as terrorists with about 74% negative views in 2020. Iranians also see Americans as invaders and dangerous with a negative perception of 86% in 2019. Promising revenge for Qassem Soleimani and Mohsen Fakhrizadeh’s assassination in 2020 that resulted in a mistaken shooting of a Ukrainian passenger plane, this negative view is likely to increase.

The US has no closer ally than the UK. Thus, the US-UK “Special Relationship” plays a major role in shaping US-Europe relations and the course of the international system. The two sides have maintained foreign policy congruence throughout modern history, albeit with occasional disagreements. The UK endures a tensed relation with Iran, dating back to after World War I. The two restored limited ties through lucrative defense contracts and investments throughout the 1970s although relations remained beholden to historical mistrusts and grievances. Mostly domestic and regional events, including the 1979 Revolution and its attack on the US embassy, the 1980 Iran-Iraq war, and British hostages in Iran and Lebanon renewed tensions. Starting from 2002 with President Bush’s “Axis of Evil” speech, the UK-Iran strain relations compounded due to the UK’s inability to diverge from the US. The 2003 US-UK invasion of Iraq and issues involving the Iran nuclear deal have entrenched tensions. Recently, Iran resorts to civil attacks such as capturing a UK vessel, and several arrests of British or British-Iranians on spying charges, perceiving the British as foreign interventionists and imperial arrogant.

Historically, the UK’s union has been uneasy. Thus, London promoted devolution to shift powers to the units, allowing them to maintain their unique identities to contain separatist urges. Nevertheless, tensions have persisted with increased nationalists’ nostalgia for independence, although stronger in Scotland than in Wales. The countries harbor some injustices. For example, Scots are aggrieved that their natural resources, for example, the North Sea oil fund are exploited by the Westminster government. In Wales, “Remember Tryweryn: Remember what England does to Wales” – referring to drowning Capel Celyn in 1965 to supply water to Liverpool – remains in memory. Brexit has fueled Scots independence agitation because they voted to stay in the European Union but were taken out against their will for being a UK member. Thus, in 2020, independence agitation edged up to 50%. Ordinarily, Scots and Welsh see English as hooligans. Thus, they support anyone playing against England. They also chafe against the English’s loud-mouth media, obsession with the 1966 World Cup win, arrogance, repression and dominance.

Undoubtedly, the group’s Iran-related tensions are severe. Thus, games involving Iran would not just be football. Moreover, a Wales/Scotland-England match would exhibit unique characteristics. The group is a perfect conduit to assert domination or reject subordination. Likely to use each game to make political statements of strength, political leaders are expected to adequately resource the teams for enhanced performance. Generally, sport functions successfully as a political tool when states have image problems to start with. Thus, Iran is hoping to correct its terrorism image. Wales/Scotland will hope to disabuse the notion of subordination to a brethren. The US and UK would hope to assert strength and disabuse perceptions of loud-mouth paper tigers with nothing, except guns, to show.

The bond between politics and sport is a historical phenomenon. All kinds of states and regimes utilize sport as a means to an end, manipulating it to achieve political objectives or to express political message to domestic or international audiences or both. Thus, I conceptualize sports politics as the interplay and the intersection of sport and politics. Resembling the diversionary politics or theory of war, disgruntled leaders use national sports to entertain their citizens and temporarily distract attention from acute socio-economic and political problems. Domestically, sport engenders an emotional feeling of national pride which provokes a feel-good factor among a dissatisfied population.

The ancient Greeks and Romans used sport as a military training exercise to prepare for war. The Romans even staged large-scale sports spectacles to mobilize large crowds to distract the attention of the war-weary citizens. The 1936 Berlin Olympics is considered the first blatant manipulation of sport for political gains. Hitler sought to propagate the Nazi regime and the Aryan superiority. Nelson Mandela used the 1995 Rugby World Cup to mobilize South Africans around a national consensus that eventually helped unite a divided country on a verge of civil wars. Internationally, East Germany developed an elite sports system and successes in Olympic medals in the 1970s and 1980s became cultural diplomacy to achieve far-reaching foreign policy objectives: increase international authority and image, prestige and legitimacy, and growing strength.

The inextricable bond between sport and politics has induced leaders to influence or enhance the performance of national sports representatives through doping. For example, some scholars believe that state-sponsored doping was a major characteristic of East Germany’s successes. German political elites at least partly tolerated doping to save face. The World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia for state-sponsored doping. Russia is believed to resort to doping because sports successes boost Vladimir Putin’s approval rating.

What makes Group B particularly interesting is that tensions go beyond the state level, expanding to involve ordinary masses. Sport and politics bound up to engender a sense of national pride among people, thus, creating a feel-good factor. This is an emotional phenomenon, relating to the metaphysics of life. Thus, a win for any team in any of the group games would create a feel-good factor and national narratives – stories of triumph – that would make up the country and the people’s past, particularly the weaker sides. Due to the present tensions among the teams, media framings and pundit discussions are likely to create a high public expectations. Thus, losing a game would be humiliating, corresponding to losing pride such as turning superiority into inferiority in the case of the greater powers or affirming inferiority in the case of the smaller powers. Government investments and people’s expectation to settle people-to-people scores would increase pressure on players and make Group B’s competition more serious.

Despite sport’s ability to communicate political messages, I must note that its impact is temporal and unstable. However, it offers long-term bragging rights and assertiveness but it does not win wars. Nevertheless, the desire to transfer off-the-pitch politics to the pitch is likely to make Group B competitive.





Thomas Ameyaw-Brobbey is affiliated with the Faculty of Business and Law, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.

Photo by RGR G.

HATE CRIME COVER UP

Belgian trial shines spotlight on university hazing rituals

Sanda Dia died following a brutal initiation ceremony.

Ousmane Dia, father of Sanda Dia | Eric Lalmand/AFP via Getty Images

BY CAMILLE GIJS
May 2, 2022

Three years after student Sanda Dia died following a brutal initiation ritual carried out by an exclusive club at KU Leuven university, the trial of 18 former students accused of being responsible for his death has been put on hold.

The second part of the criminal trial was meant to kick off on Monday. But on Friday, lawyers for Dia’s family decided to appeal a court decision on the scope of the case, delaying the trial. No new start date has been given.

Here are the key points of the case.


What is the trial about?

The son of a Senegalese immigrant, Dia, then a 20-year-old engineering student at KU Leuven, wanted to join the Reuzegom club, a male fraternity run by students from wealthy Antwerp families.

In 2018, Dia was accepted into the club and took part in a hazing ritual that would have allowed him to become a full member.

The ritual took place over several days in Leuven. During the final part of the ritual, which occurred in a wood in Vorselaar, near Antwerp, in early December 2018, Dia was forced to drink large amounts of alcohol, eat live goldfish, and eat toast spread with blended mouse and eel. Along with the two other students who were also undergoing initiation, Dia was put for hours in a pit filled with ice water. He was also forced to drink large amounts of fish sauce: The high concentration of salt in his blood is what killed him, according to forensic experts.

The trial, to take place in Hasselt, pits the 18 members of the Reuzegom fraternity against 13 plaintiffs, mainly Dia’s family members and relatives (animal rights organization GAIA is also one of the plaintiffs because of the animals killed during the ritual). Well-known Belgian attorneys are representing both sides.
What are the charges?

The charges against the 18 former students initially included unintentional killing and the administration of poisonous substances resulting in death, which together carry a jail sentence of up to 15 years.

As none of the defendants revealed who forced Dia to drink the fish sauce, the judge last week proposed broadening the charges to assault and battery. She subsequently said she could not judge the entire initiation ritual, only what happened in Vorselaar.

But for Dia’s family, this would have excluded too many incidents leading up to the fatal hazing, which could lead to lighter sentences. They therefore decided to appeal the judge’s decision.

Allegations have also been made that Dia received worse treatment than others because he was Black, but these were not included in the official charges because of a lack of evidence. Sven Mary, a prominent Belgian lawyer who is representing the Dia family, said there are not “enough elements to say that it was a crime with an aggravating circumstance of racism.”

Why did it take so long to come to court?

The investigation hit hurdles right from the outset. After the hazing, the Reuzegom members immediately deleted all messages and photos from their phones and websites, and cleaned up Dia’s dorm room.

Dia’s family accused the families of the other club members of a cover-up.

Then the judicial investigation took more than a year and a half. Finally, the hearing was postponed in September last year, because one of the judges involved was affiliated with KU Leuven.

When is the verdict due?

The hearing was paused last week to allow for a revision of the charges to assault and battery. The Court of Appeal of Antwerp will now rule on the Dia family’s lawyers’ appeal against narrowing the scope of the incidents taken into consideration. If it rules in the family’s favor, the case will be heard in the Antwerp court instead of Hasselt, Sven De Baere, one of the lawyers for Dia’s family, said.

It’s unclear at this stage when the trial will continue.

What are hazing rituals like in Belgium?

Fraternities and student clubs are not just an American thing.

Ianja Rak came to Belgium from Madagascar at the age of 18 to study at a management school. “My father had studied here and he had been ‘baptized,’” she said. She explained that this was generally a positive experience because it taught values such as solidarity, learning to say no, and getting to know yourself better.

Depending on the university, rituals last for a few weeks at the beginning of the school year, generally from September to November. People get together for the so-called cantus, where they play games, sing traditional songs and drink beers.

But in Leuven, the Reuzegom rituals were known to be far harsher. Kenny Van Minsel, former president of the Leuven students organization LOKO, said they did everything they could to get non-official regional clubs to sign a “hazing charter,” meant to introduce rules and boundaries during rituals.

Reuzegom was “a ticking time bomb,” Van Minsel said.