It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, May 14, 2022
Europe and US Set for Scorching, Dry Summer, Scientists Say Jonathan Tirone Fri, May 13, 2022,
(Bloomberg) -- Europe and parts of the US are set for a sweltering and dry summer this year, posing risks for crops and boosting demand for energy for cooling at a time when prices of commodities are already running high.
Scientists at the Copernicus Climate Change Service, who published their seasonal outlook on Friday, said hotter and drier weather is highly likely across key agricultural regions in the European Union. It could bring drought conditions for farmers that are already battling the impacts of climate change.
Abnormally high temperatures could also fuel natural gas demand for air conditioning. Russia’s war on Ukraine has already driven gas prices in Europe higher, contributing to a cost of living crisis across the region.
The scientists said there’s a 70% to 100% probability that temperatures across the northeastern US, Spain, France and Italy will be well above average from June to August. At the same time, the chance of below-normal rainfall across swathes of central Europe, France, Spain and the US northwest was more than 50%, the Copernicus team said.
Their model brings together data from scientists in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and the US. The EU program uses billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world for its monthly and seasonal forecasts.
Persistent drought has threatened to stress production of crops like wheat and corn, just as Russia’s war in Ukraine threatens to curtail shipments.. The models developed by Copernicus are intended to help businesses and governments plan for and potentially mitigate weather-related damages.
Birds are falling from the sky in India as a record heatwave dries up water sources Alia Shoaib Sat, May 14, 2022 A caretaker feeds water mixed with multivitamins to a parakeet dehydrated due to heat at Jivdaya Charitable Trust in Ahmedabad.Amit
Dave/Reuters Dehydrated birds are falling from the sky in India as a record heatwave dries up water sources.
In India's Gujarat state dozens of high flying birds such as pigeons or kites are falling from the sky daily.
This month temperatures were expected to peak at around 122°F near the India and Pakistan border.
Dehydrated birds are falling from the sky in India as a record heatwave dries up water sources, veterinary doctors and animal rescuers said, according to Reuters.
In India's western Gujarat state, currently averaging temperatures over 110°F, dozens of high flying birds, including pigeons and kites, have been dropping out of the sky every day, Reuters reported.
Vets in an animal hospital in Ahmedabad said they had treated thousands of birds in recent weeks, the outlet said. A vet provides medicine to an eagle after it was dehydrated due to heat at Jivdaya Charitable Trust in Ahmedabad.Amit
Dave/Reuters
"This year has been one of the worst in recent times. We have seen a 10% increase in the number of birds that need rescuing," Manoj Bhavsar, who works with the trust and has been rescuing birds for over a decade, told Reuters.
Vets have been injecting water into birds' mouths with syringes and feeding them multivitamin tablets.
Other animals, including cats, have also been suffering from dehydration. Vets administer saline drip to a cat that is covered by a wet cloth after it was dehydrated due to heat at Jivdaya Charitable Trust in Ahmedabad.Amit
Dave/Reuters
Since March, large parts of India and Pakistan have been suffering from searing temperatures, which the World Meteorological Organization said was India's hottest March.
This month temperatures were expected to peak at around 122°F near the India and Pakistan border.
The nearly "unsurvivable" heat is increasingly the result of human-caused climate change, according to Yale Climate Connections.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has warned of fire risk from the extreme temperatures, and hospitals in Gujarat have been warned to set up special wards to treat heatstroke and other heat-related diseases, Reuters said.
Tuvalu, sinking in the Pacific, fears becoming a superpower 'pawn'
Tuvalu's Foreign Minister Simon Kofe gives a COP26 statement while standing in the ocean, in Funafut
Thu, May 12, 2022 By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Tuvalu fears that climate change, an existential threat to the Pacific nation, is being forgotten and it worries that fellow island nations could become "pawns" in a global competition between China and the United States, its foreign minister said.
Simon Kofe told Reuters the superpower competition was a concern, distracting attention from climate change, the priority for Pacific islands endangered by rising sea levels.
"It is important that the Pacific handles these issues carefully," he said in an interview on Thursday. "The last thing we want is that countries in the Pacific are used against each other or used as pawns."
Kofe grabbed global attention for his nation of 12,000 people last year when he addressed a global climate conference standing ankle deep in the sea to illustrate Tuvalu was "sinking". Forty percent of the capital district is underwater at high tide, and the tiny country is forecast to be submerged by the end of the century.
Pacific Island leaders will discuss a controversial new security pact between the Solomon Islands and China at a meeting next month, Kofe said. He said he had been briefed on the issue by his Solomon Islands counterpart and that, although Honiara said it was an internal matter, it had regional implications.
"In the Pacific, the way we handle issues, the Pacific way, is by consensus, is by sitting down and face to face," he said. COVID-19 has prevented in-person meetings for two years, and "some of these critical issues can only be resolved when you meet face to face and really have a frank discussion."
The United States has warned the Solomon Islands it would have "significant concerns and respond accordingly" to any steps to establish a permanent Chinese military presence, after it struck the security pact, which has also alarmed allies Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
Beijing says the deal covers internal security, not a base, and criticism by western countries was interfering in the Solomon Island's sovereign decision-making.
Another key issue for Tuvalu is fishing, where China is seeking more agreements with Pacific islands for its fleet. Washington says it will soon announce plans to battle illegal fishing in the region, as part of increased U.S. engagement to counter China's growing influence.
"The Pacific is the richest fishing ground in the world and is said to be the last healthy fish stock of tuna," Kofe said. "That is really a tribute to the conservation and management measures applied by the Pacific island countries."
Tiny Pacific islands, feeding the world from their economic exclusion zones, carry a disproportionate burden, he said.
"Tuna is supporting the economies of Japan, China, many countries around the world," he said. "Bigger players that are coming into the region need to listen and look at what the Pacific is doing right now and use that as lessons for collaboration on issues other than fisheries."
Seeking an international platform on climate change, Tuvalu has proposed its former governor-general, Iakoba Taeia Italeli, become secretary general of the Commonwealth – the first time a Pacific nation has sought the role in the grouping.
"It’s time for the Pacific to have a chance to lead and unite the Commonwealth," Italeli told Reuters in the same interview, conducted remotely.
Commonwealth heads of government, meeting in Rwanda in June, will select the next public face of the 54-member group of countries with ties to the former British empire. The incumbent, British peer Patricia Scotland, is running for another term in the hotly contested race.
The Commonwealth had "failed to speak with one voice" at COP26, Italeli said, despite including 32 of the world's 42 smallest states, which are heavily affected by climate change.
At the next global climate change conference, in Egypt in November, Tuvalu will continue its push for easier financing for small islands states to build the physical infrastructure they need to "save themselves", Italeli said.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by William Mallard)
Outcry after Israel police beat mourners at journalist funeral
(AFP/Jorge NOVOMINSKY) Majeda El-Batsh with Gareth Browne in Ramallah Sat, May 14, 2022,
The US and EU led an international outcry Saturday after Israeli police charged the funeral procession in Jerusalem of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and beat pallbearers who almost dropped her coffin.
Thousands of people packed Jerusalem's Old City on Friday for the burial of the veteran Al Jazeera journalist, two days after she was killed in an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank.
Television footage showed the pallbearers struggling to stop Abu Akleh's casket from falling to the ground as baton-wielding police officers charged towards them, grabbing Palestinian flags from mourners.
The United States said it was "deeply troubled" by the scenes, while the European Union said it was "appalled" by the "unnecessary force".
The Jerusalem Red Crescent said 33 people were injured, of whom six were hospitalised. Israeli authorities said six arrests were made after mourners had thrown "rocks and glass bottles".
Israel and the Palestinians traded blame for the death of Abu Akleh on Wednesday who was shot in the head during the Israeli army raid on the Jenin refugee camp.
The Israeli army said an interim investigation could not determine who fired the fatal bullet, noting stray Palestinian gunfire or Israeli sniper fire aimed at militants were both possible causes.
But the Palestinian prosecutor's office in the West Bank city of Ramallah said later the initial results of an investigation showed "the only origin of the shooting was the Israeli occupation forces".
Al Jazeera has said Israel killed her "deliberately" and "in cold blood".
In a rare, unanimous statement, the UN Security Council condemned the killing and called for "an immediate, thorough, transparent, and impartial investigation," according to diplomats.
- 'Deeply disturbed' -
Abu Akleh, a Christian and a Palestinian-American, was a star reporter and her funeral drew massive crowds.
As her body left St Joseph's hospital in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, Israeli police stormed mourners who had hoisted Palestinian flags.
Police said about "300 rioters" had arrived at the hospital for the procession and "prevented the family members from loading the coffin onto the hearse to travel to the cemetery — as had been planned and coordinated with the family in advance".
The police then intervened "to disperse the mob and prevent them from taking the coffin, so that the funeral could proceed as planned." Glass bottles and other objects were thrown at the police, it added in a statement.
The United States was "deeply troubled to see the images of Israeli police intruding into her funeral procession today," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
"Every family deserves to be able to lay their loved ones to rest in a dignified and unimpeded manner."
The EU said it was "appalled by the violence in the St Joseph Hospital compound and the level of unnecessary force exercised by Israeli police throughout the funeral procession.".
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was also "deeply disturbed" by the violence, according to a spokesman.
Thousands of Palestinian mourners attempted to follow the coffin towards the cemetery just outside the walled Old City.
Police briefly attempted to prevent them but ultimately relented, allowing thousands to stream towards the graveside, and did not intervene as Palestinian flags were waved, AFP reporters said.
- 'Sister of all Palestinians' -
In a sign of Abu Akleh's prominence, she was given what was described as a full state memorial service on Thursday at Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's compound in Ramallah before her body was transferred to Jerusalem.
The United States, European Union and United Nations have backed calls for a full investigation into Abu Akleh's killing.
Israel has publicly called for a joint probe, which the Palestinian Authority has rejected.
Grief over Abu Akleh's killing spilt beyond the Palestinian territories, with protests erupting in Turkey, Sudan and elsewhere.
She "was the sister of all Palestinians," her brother Antoun Abu Akleh told AFP.
- Fresh violence -
Fresh violence erupted Friday in the West Bank, including a raid and clashes around Jenin refugee camp in which an Israeli commando was killed.
The Islamic Jihad group said its fighters were responsible.
The Israeli officer killed was identified as Noam Raz, a 47-year-old father of six. Police said he was wounded "during a shootout with armed terrorists," and later died.
The Palestinian health ministry said 13 Palestinians were wounded in the clashes, one of them seriously.
An AFP photographer said Israeli forces had surrounded the home of a suspect, besieging two men inside and firing anti-tank grenades at the house in an effort to flush them out.
Tensions were already running high after a wave of anti-Israeli attacks that have killed at least 18 people since March 22, including an Arab-Israeli police officer and two Ukrainians.
A total of 31 Palestinians and three Israeli Arabs have died during the same period, according to an AFP tally, among them perpetrators of attacks and those killed by Israeli security forces in West Bank operations.
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Israeli police beat pallbearers at journalist’s funeral
Israeli police confront with mourners as they carry the casket of slain Al Jazeera veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during her funeral in east Jerusalem, Friday, May 13, 2022. Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American reporter who covered the Mideast conflict for more than 25 years, was shot dead Wednesday during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank town of Jenin.
(AP Photo/Maya Levin)
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli riot police on Friday pushed and beat pallbearers at the funeral for slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, causing them to briefly drop the casket in a shocking start to a procession that turned into perhaps the largest display of Palestinian nationalism in Jerusalem in a generation.
The scenes of violence were likely to add to the sense of grief and outrage across the Arab world that has followed the death of Abu Akleh, who witnesses say was killed by Israeli troops Wednesday during a raid in the occupied West Bank. They also illustrated the deep sensitivities over east Jerusalem — which is claimed by both Israel and the Palestinians and has sparked repeated rounds of violence.
Abu Akleh, 51, was a household name across the Arab world, synonymous with Al Jazeera’s coverage of life under Israeli rule, which is well into its sixth decade with no end in sight. A 25-year veteran of the satellite channel, she was revered by Palestinians as a local hero.
Late Friday, the Palestinian public prosecutor said preliminary findings show Abu Akleh was killed by deliberate fire from Israeli troops. The prosecutor said the investigation would continue. Israel’s military said earlier Friday that she was killed during an exchange of fire with Palestinian militants, and that it could determine the source of the shot that killed her.
At the funeral, thousands of people, many waving Palestinian flags and chanting: “Palestine! Palestine!” It was believed to be the largest Palestinian funeral in Jerusalem since Faisal Husseini, a Palestinian leader and scion of a prominent family, died in 2001.
Ahead of the burial, a large crowd gathered to escort her casket from an east Jerusalem hospital to a Catholic church in the nearby Old City. Many of the mourners held Palestinian flags, and the crowd began shouting, “We sacrifice our soul and blood for you, Shireen.”
Shortly after, Israel police moved in, pushing and clubbing mourners. As the helmeted riot police approached, they hit pallbearers, causing one man to lose control of the casket as it dropped toward the ground. Police ripped Palestinian flags out of people’s hands and fired stun grenades to disperse the crowd.
Abu Akleh’s brother, Tony, said the scenes “prove that Shireen’s reports and honest words ... had a powerful impact.”
Al Jazeera correspondent Givara Budeiri said the police crackdown was like killing Abu Akleh again. “It seems her voice isn’t silent,” she said during a report.
East Jerusalem, home to the city’s most important Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites, was captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. It claims all of the city as its eternal capital and has annexed the eastern sector in a move that is not internationally recognized.
The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state. Israel routinely clamps down on any displays of support for Palestinian statehood. The conflicting claims to east Jerusalem often spill over into violence, helping fuel an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza militants last year and more recently sparking weeks of unrest at the city’s most sensitive holy site.
Outside of prayers at the Al Aqsa Mosque, Israel rarely allows large Palestinian gatherings in east Jerusalem and routinely clamps down on any displays of support for Palestinian statehood.
Police said the crowd at the hospital was chanting “nationalist incitement,” ignored calls to stop and threw stones at them. “The policemen were forced to act,” police said. They issued a video in which a commander outside the hospital warns the crowd that police will come in if they don’t stop their incitement and “nationalist songs.”
Shortly before midnight, the Israeli police issued a second statement claiming that they had coordinated plans with the family for the casket to be placed in a vehicle, but that a “mob threatened the driver of the hearse and then proceeded to carry the coffin on an unplanned procession.” It said police intervened “so that the funeral could proceed as planned in accordance with the wishes of the family.”
The police claims could not be immediately verified. Earlier this week, Abu Akleh’s brother had said the original plans were to move the casket in a hearse from the hospital to the church, and that after the service, it would be carried through the streets to the cemetery.
Al Jazeera said in a statement that the police action “violates all international norms and rights.”
“Israeli occupation forces attacked those mourning the late Shireen Abu Akhleh after storming the French hospital in Jerusalem, where they severely beat the pallbearers,” it said. The network added that it remains committed to covering the news and will not be deterred.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the images “deeply disturbing.”
The focus should be “marking the memory of a remarkable journalist who lost her life,” Psaki said. “We regret the intrusion into what should have been a peaceful procession.”
During a Rose Garden event, U.S. President Joe Biden was asked whether he condemns the Israeli police actions at the funeral, and he replied: “I don’t know all the details, but I know it has to be investigated.”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “was deeply disturbed by the confrontations between Israeli security forces and Palestinians gathered at St. Joseph Hospital, and the behavior of some police present at the scene,” according to a statement from his deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq.
Israeli police eventually escorted the casket in a black van, ripping Palestinian flags off the vehicle as it made its way to the church.
“We die for Palestine to live!” crowds chanted. “Our beloved home!”
Later, they sang the Palestinian national anthem and chanted “Palestine, Palestine!” before her body was buried in a cemetery outside the Old City.
Her grave was decorated with a Palestinian flag and flowers. The Palestinian ambassador to the U.K., Husam Zomlot, and Al Jazeera’s bureau chief, Walid Al-Omari, placed flowers on the grave.
Salah Zuheika, a 70-year-old Palestinian, called Abu Akleh “the daughter of Jerusalem,” and said the huge crowds were a “reward” for her love of the city.
“We already miss her, but what had happened today in the city will not be forgotten,” he said.
Abu Akleh was a member of the small Palestinian Christian community in the Holy Land. Palestinian Christians and Muslims marched alongside one another Friday in a show of unity.
She was shot in the head Wednesday morning during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank town of Jenin.
In preliminary findings released late Friday, the Palestinian public prosecutor disputed the military’s claim that Abu Akleh was caught in crossfire. The prosecutor said that at the time she was shot, Israeli troops were the only ones firing, with the nearest forces about 150 meters (yards) away.
The report said Abu Akleh was shot deliberately, citing traces on the tree next to where she was hit which, the prosecutor argued, indicated that the shots were fired directly at her. It said the shooting continued after she was hit, hindering first aid attempts.
Earlier Friday, the Israeli military said it could not could not determine who was responsible for her death without a ballistic analysis.
“The conclusion of the interim investigation is that it is not possible to determine the source of the fire that hit and killed the reporter,” the military said.
Israel has called for a joint investigation with the Palestinian Authority and for it to hand over the bullet for forensic analysis to determine who fired the fatal round. The PA has refused, saying it will conduct its own investigation and send the results to the International Criminal Court, which is already investigating possible Israeli war crimes. Reporters who were with Abu Akleh, including one who was shot and wounded, said there were no clashes or militants in the immediate area. All of them were wearing protective equipment that clearly identified them as reporters.
The PA and Al Jazeera, which has long had a strained relationship with Israel, have accused Israel of deliberately killing Abu Akleh. Israel denies the accusations.
Rights groups say Israel rarely follows through on investigations into the killing of Palestinians by its security forces and hands down lenient punishments on the rare occasions when it does. This case, however, drew heavy scrutiny because Abu Akleh was well-known and also a U.S. citizen.
Palestinians from in and around Jenin have carried out deadly attacks in Israel in recent weeks, and Israel has launched near daily arrest raids in the area, often igniting gunbattles with militants.
Israeli troops pushed into Jenin again early Friday, sparking renewed fighting.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said 13 Palestinians were wounded. The Israeli military said that Palestinians opened fire when its forces went in to arrest suspected militants. Police said a 47-year-old member of a special Israeli commando unit was killed.
___
Associated Press reporters Majdi Mohammed in Jenin, West Bank, Fares Akram in Hamilton, Ontario, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed.
The Problems With Israel's Version of the Killing of Reporter Shireen Abu Akleh
Orly Halpern/Jerusalem Thu, May 12, 2022, Palestinians carry the flag-draped body of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as they walk toward the offices of the news channel in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on May 11, 2022.
Credit - Ronaldo Schemidt—AFP/Getty Images
When word got out on Wednesday that esteemed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed in the West Bank city of Jenin, where Israeli forces has been making military arrest raids, Israel convened its National PR staff to form a plan of action. It decided to circulate a video of a Palestinian gunmen shooting indiscriminately from inside the Jenin refugee camp and blame them for the Al Jazeera reporter’s death. But its strategy fell flat when another video revealed that Abu Akleh died nowhere near there.
Abu Akleh was a 51-year-old Catholic Palestinian who switched to journalism after studying to be an architect and became one of the Arab world’s most famous TV journalists. Most nights for 25 years, her face lit up millions of TV screens as she shared the stories of Palestinian people living under Israeli military occupation. Arab girls and women looked up to her. And foreign journalists who reported from the Palestinian territories held her in high regard. Now Al Jazeera has accused Israel of “assassinating her in cold blood” and Arab journalists from Washington to Tunisia to Syria are staging sit-ins. Qatar lit up a building with her image. Cartoons are circulating of Abu Akleh holding a bleeding microphone with an M-16 rifle pointed at it, the type of rifle used by Israeli soldiers. A few Arab parents have named their newborn daughters ‘Shireen.’ Abu Akleh has become a Palestinian symbol.
To Israel, her death risks damage to essential relationships in the Arab world, while Abu Akleh’s U.S. citizenship brings relations with Washington into the equation, raising both the stakes and the level of scrutiny. The State Department declared ” the investigation must be immediate and thorough and those responsible must be held accountable.”
Back in 2006, Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, initially apologized for the killings of seven members of the Ghalia family in Gaza by Israeli artillery. “But the military swiftly realised it was confronting another PR disaster to rival that of the killing of Mohammed al-Dura,” wrote Guardian journalist, Chris McGreal, referencing the wrenching footage of the Gaza boy killed cowering beside his father during a 2000 firefight. “The army quickly convened a committee to investigate the deaths on the beach and almost as swiftly absolved itself of responsibility.”
Within a half hour of Abu Akleh’s killing, the Israeli state PR machine went to work on a deflection strategy. Israeli journalist Barak Ravid revealed in a Hebrew report on Walla! website that “there was an urgent consultation of the National Hasbara (PR) Headquarters together with representatives of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Defense Forces. They decided that the main goal was to try and fend off the narrative that was emerging in the international media, according to which Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli fire.” (The English version of Ravid’s report on the Axios website did not include this information.) So Israel used a short video that was filmed that morning by Palestinian militants in a residential area, in which the men were heard saying that they had shot a soldier. Bennett posted the video and claimed that, since no Israeli soldier was injured in Jenin that day, the footage was evidence that the militants had mistaken Abu Akleh, in her helmet and body armor, for a combatant.
But then Al Jazeera posted footage showing Abu Akleh face down on the ground in a less built-up area and her colleagues trying helplessly to reach her as bullets continued to fly. The word PRESS was visible in large letters on her protective gear. “We saw the soldiers in the area and there were no Palestinians there,” said producer Ali Samudi, who was also shot. The soldiers were about 150 meters away….I did not see who was shooting, but I see [sic] from where the bullets coming. They coming from the area where the soldiers. There were no fighters in the area.” Two hours later a local researcher for the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem filmed a video geolocating the clip of the Palestinian gunmen in the Jenin refugee camp, hundreds of yards and several turns away from the spot where Abu Akleh was killed. A Palestinian man looks at the front pages of local newspapers reporting on the death of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead while covering an Israeli army raid in Jenin, West Bank, on May 12, 2022.
Hazem Bader—AFP/Getty Images
By then the U.S. Ambassador to Israel had confirmed that Abu Akleh was a U.S. citizen. President Biden is considering a visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories in June. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki called Abu Akleh a “reporting legend.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called her killing a “horrific tragedy.” Congress members Betty McCollum and Mark Pocan condemned it and Rashida Tlaib accused Israel of murder. Israel regrouped, the army quickly backtracking from its claim. On Wednesday evening, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz was on a conference call with reporters, saying he was “very sorry for what happened,” that Israel wants to conduct a full-scale investigation and that he had asked the Palestinians to share the bullet that was found embedded in Abu Akleh’s head, promising to share all forensic findings with the Americans and the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinians declined, saying they do not trust Israel—a point an Israeli minister appeared to concede in an interview with a Israeli radio outlet on Thursday. “Israel’s credibility is not great in situations like this,” said Diaspora Minister Nachman Shai.
When Palestinian Americans come to harm by Israeli forces, Israel is quick to investigate, but the process rarely ends in severe punishment. Four months ago, following a U.S. demand, Israel conducted an investigation into the killing of an elderly Palestinian-American man, who Israeli soldiers detained in the middle of the night. Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad had returned to Palestine after living in Milwaukee for almost 40 years. He died of a heart attack outside in the cold at a construction site where soldiers had left him on the ground, gagged with his hands tied tightly and his eyes covered, after beating him. The top commander of the unit was rebuked; the soldiers were not punished. In 2014, an Israeli policeman beat 15-year-old Tariq Abu Khdeir to a pulp and then put him under house arrest. The attack was caught on video. But it wasn’t until it was revealed that he was a U.S. citizen that he was allowed to return to Florida and Israel opened an investigation, at the demand of Washington. An Israeli judge sentenced the police officer to community service; the State Department expressed disappointment.
Abu Akleh was killed just days after the International Federation of Journalists, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) filed a formal complaint at The Hague for “systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists.” An estimated 50 Palestinian journalists have been killed since 2000, according to the PJS. Israeli forces have a “track record of employing lethal force and systematically targeting Palestinian journalists with complete lack of accountability,” said the ICJP. Four years ago, Haaretz journalist Amira Hass uncovered court files that revealed that in 2012 Israeli soldiers beat Palestinian journalists with batons and arrested them, on their commanders’ orders, with the declared intention of disrupting their coverage of a Palestinian demonstration. Last August, Israeli soldiers detained seven Palestinian reporters covering non-violent protests in the South Hebron Hills of the West Bank. During the May 2021 war, Israel said it bombed the Gaza City media building because it was being used by Hamas. But it produced no evidence, and the devastating strike also had the effect of discouraging reporting from the ground in Gaza, where 254 people were killed. Thirteen people in Israel were killed.
In Jenin, where Israeli forces were carrying out anti-terrorism operations after a spate of fatal attacks on Israeli Jews, hundreds of Palestinians carried Abu Akleh’s corpse from the morgue, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, her press flak jacket laid over her chest. IPriests prayed over her body. In Ramallah, it was received with a state marching band. A state funeral was held Thursday with burial on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem on Friday.
Hours after she was killed, Israeli police shot and severely injured a young Palestinian who shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ and charged at them in the Old City. Police did not say whether he had a weapon, and no police were injured. And in East Jerusalem Israeli police stormed Abu Akleh’s home, demanding that her family and friends remove the Palestinian flag from the building. Visitors shouted at them until they voluntarily left. In the streets outside Palestinians demonstrated carrying Palestinian flags, one attaching a flag to an Israeli police car and getting detained for it. But remarkably, Israeli police did not intervene with force.
The next day, Thursday, unnamed Israeli officials told reporters that soldiers in a military vehicle had been about 150 yards from where the journalists were working, and fired repeatedly about the time Abu Akleh was killed.
With reporting by Simmone Shah/New York
Palestinians welcome foreign support in inquiry into reporter's death
Sat, May 14, 2022,
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The Palestinian Authority would welcome the involvement of international groups in the investigation into the death of an Al Jazeera journalist killed while reporting on an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian official said on Saturday.
The death of veteran reporter Shireen Abu Akleh has sparked an outpouring of grief and Israel police charged at a crowd of Palestinian mourners carrying her coffin through Jerusalem's Old City on Friday, drawing international condemnation.
The violence, which lasted only minutes, added to Palestinian outrage over Abu Akleh's killing, which has threatened to fuel tensions that have escalated since March.
Palestinian authorities have described the death of Abu Akleh as an assassination by Israeli forces. Israel initially suggested Palestinian fire might have been to blame, but officials have since said they could not rule out it was Israeli gunfire that killed her.
The U.N. Security Council has strongly condemned the killing and called for an "immediate, thorough, transparent, and fair and impartial investigation".
Hussein al Sheikh, a senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official, said on Twitter it would welcome the participation of all international bodies in its inquiry.
The authority has rejected an offer from Israel, which has voiced regret over Abu Akleh's death, to cooperate in the investigation.
Israel police initially said some of the mourners near the coffin at Abu Akleh's funeral threw stones at police officers.
In a later statement issued overnight, police said the mourners had not kept to the original funeral arrangement and "threatened the driver of the hearse and then proceeded to carry the coffin on an unplanned procession to the cemetery by foot".
"Israeli Police intervened to disperse the mob and prevent them from taking the coffin, so that the funeral could proceed as planned in accordance with the wishes of the family," police said.
At a hospital in Jerusalem, a Palestinian died on Saturday of wounds inflicted during clashes with Israeli security forces three weeks ago at the al-Aqsa mosque compound.
It was the first fatality from clashes at the sensitive holy site in several years.
(Reporting by Ali Sawafta and Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by David Clarke)
CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M ‘Largest Public Fraud In State History’: Mississippi Lawsuit Against Brett Favre and Others Untangles Web of Squandered, Misspent Millions Intended to Help the Poorest In The State
Nyamekye Daniel Thu, May 12, 2022
This week the Mississippi Department of Human Services sued its former director and a Pro Football Hall of Famer for misusing more than $24 million meant to help the neediest families in the nation’s poorest state.
According to reports, John Davis, who was appointed to lead the state agency responsible for managing welfare programs in 2016, directed millions of dollars to two nonprofits who used the money to purchase luxury items, first-class airfare and pay Brett Favre for speaking arrangements he did not do, among other things. The Mississippi Department of Human Services has sued former NFL Player Brett Favre ad 37 other defendants for misspending welfare funds. (Photo: Twitter/Brett Favre)
Mississippi State Auditor Shad White called it the “largest public fraud in state history.” White is requesting an overall repayment of $77 million. About $1.1 million was paid to the retired Minnesota Vikings quarterback, who lives in Mississippi.
“I applaud the team filing this suit and am grateful the state is taking another step toward justice for the taxpayers,” White said in a statement. “We will continue to work alongside our federal partners — who have been given access to all our evidence for more than two years— to make sure the case is fully investigated.”
U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows that 19.6 percent of Mississippians live below the poverty line. The state’s 2.9 million residents have a median household income of $45,081, or $24,362 per person, according to U.S. Census data.
However, Davis used the public funding from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program that provides cash for families with children under 18 to boost his and his associates’ personal gain.
According to The Clarion-Ledger, the state agency approved 167 out of 11,717 TANF applications in 2016. The Department of Human Health Services is allowed to issue sub grants to supplement nonprofits that help poor families.
Reports show Davis routed about $19 million of the funding to nonprofits ran by mother and son Zachary, 39, and Nancy New, 69, who are also named in the suit.
“That illegal quid pro quo agreement and conspiracy between Davis and New resulted in all of the transfers of TANF funds for non-TANF purposes,” the lawsuit reads.
About $4 million reportedly paid for a volleyball center at the University of Southern Mississippi, which Favre backed.
The mother and son also agreed to give Florida-based pharmaceutical company Prevacus Inc. $1.7 million in exchange for them doing clinicial trials of a concussion drug in the state. Favre reportedly held the largest stake in the company.
Favre was also paid $1.1 million to speak in 2017 and 2018, which reports show he never did. He said he gave the speeches, but he would have never taken the money if he knew it was not being used as intended. He reportedly paid back $500,000. White said Favre still owes $828,000, including $228,000 in interest.
“I have never received monies for obligations I didn’t meet,” Favre tweeted on May 6, 2020. “To reiterate Auditors White’s statement, I was unaware that the money being dispersed was paid for out of funds not intended for that purpose, and because of that I am refunding the full amount back to Mississippi.”
The state is seeking $3.2 million from Favre in the lawsuit.
The News also paid for drug rehabilitation in California for former pro wrestler Brett DiBiase.
DiBiase, his father and his brother Ted DiBiase are among the 38 defendants in the civil suit. Davis also reportedly set up DiBiase with an agency job he was not qualified for but was paid $48,000 for work he allegedly did not do.
The News pleaded guilty to state fraud and bribery charges last month. Zachary New also pled guilty to mail fraud and federal conspiracy charges. His mother pleaded guilty to a state racketeering charge and federal wire fraud. They are now witnesses for the state against their four co-defendants.
“We will not tolerate the powerful preying on the weak,” Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens said following the guilty verdict.
Davis left the state agency in 2019 and misspent the money during his tenure. He was indicted on 20 additional felony charges in relation to the scheme. Favre has not been charged in the criminal case.
Adidas ads celebrating ‘breasts in all shapes and sizes’ banned in the UK
An image featuring women’s bare breasts has been banned in the United Kingdom following several complaints alleging the images cause “widespread offense” and are inappropriate for children.
In February, Adidas launched a campaign on social media as well as billboards and posters, featuring women’s breasts of all shapes and skin tones — with the nipples blurred out. The adidas Instagram that has been banned in the UK. (Photo: @adidaswomen/Instagram
The campaign, shared in the United States as well, was meant to promote and celebrate the company’s 43 styles of sports bras.
“Breasts of all shapes and sizes deserve support and comfort tailored to them,” Adidas shared in a statement, alongside a collage featuring 24 images of women’s breasts. “Which is why our new sports bra range contains 43 styles, so everyone can find the right sports bra for them. In sport, everybody should feel free and inspired by what their bodies can achieve.” However, the pictures weren’t sitting well with a lot of viewers.
According to the BBC, the Advertising Standards Agency, the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media, received 24 complaints claiming the ads's use of nudity objectified women by sexualizing them and “reducing them to body parts.” There were also concerns about whether or not the images were appropriate to be displayed where children could see them.
Twitter had also reportedly received a number of complaints but was quick to clarify that the images were not in breach of its terms of service.
“Although we did not consider that the way the women were portrayed was sexually explicit or objectified them,” the ASA said this week, "we considered that the depiction of naked breasts was likely to be seen as explicit nudity. We noted the breasts were the main focus in the ads, and there was less emphasis on the bras themselves, which were only referred to in the accompanying text."
The statement continued: "The ads must not appear again in the forms complained of. We told Adidas UK Ltd to ensure their ads did not cause offense and were targeted responsibly."
Despite the number of complaints received by the ASA, there was still widespread support from Adidas customers, many of whom applauded the company's stance on body positivity.
"Thanks for keeping us abreast of body positivity, Adidas!" one user wrote in the comments section of the company's Twitter ad.
"This is the breast ever!" Playboy magazine wrote from its official account.
"Despite all the negative comments I love this," one reader added. "My boobies have changed so much over the years and it’s lovely to see a brand catering for changes and seeing all boobies are normal and natural and beautiful."
Following news that the UK would be banning the ad, Twitter was ablaze with an array of opinions on the matter:
Banning an AD for sports bras, because bare breasts might offend people, wtf is wrong with people 🤨🧐😠 https://t.co/kKC2azv9m2
Scientists finally know what triggered the biggest climate catastrophe in history Joshua Hawkins Thu, May 12, 2022
Scientists believe they have finally discovered the trigger for the world’s biggest climate catastrophe. The catastrophe in question took place around 252 million years ago. At the time, the world was going through a “tumultuous period of rapid global warming.”
Many previously believed that a volcanic eruption in Siberia was the cause. However, new evidence shows that the climate of the world was already changing. Researchers published a new study in the journal Nature, which confirms several super-eruptions in eastern Australia could have helped expedite the climate change all those millions of years ago.
Super eruptions may have caused the world’s biggest climate catastrophe
MASSIVE COLLECTIVE COW BURP (METHANE)
The researchers say that super-eruptions shook eastern Australia between 256 and 252 million years ago. These super-eruptions could have been a great primer for the massive climate change that the world was going through at the time.
During these eruptions, researchers believe the eruptions spewed massive amounts of gasses and ash into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gas emissions have always been a leading cause of rising global temperatures. The levels of gas that these eruptions would have unleashed would have easily played a part in the world’s biggest climate catastrophe.
The researchers say that the spread of the ash produced is consistent with some of the largest volcanic eruptions that we know of.
Evidence of catastrophic eruptions in Australia Sediment layers near de road at Teide National Park
Additionally, the researchers say that evidence of the eruptions, and their source, can be found in the eroded remnants of volcanoes preserved in the New England region of New South Wales.
Further, as the researchers note, layers of light-colored volcanic ash can be found buried in the sedimentary rock. They found these layers across massive areas of New South Wales and even Queensland. Even more intriguing, though, is the scale of the super-eruptions. It makes sense that they would have been big, especially if they helped cause the world’s biggest climate catastrophe.
The authors of the study believe that the volcanoes spewed at least 150,000 km³ of material into northern New South Wales over the course of those four million years. For comparison, the deadly eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 was roughly 1 km³ of rock and material. Even the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79AD would have only been around 3-4 km³.
The researchers involved in the study also published a detailed article breaking down their findings on The Conversation. You can read through their thoughts about the research directly. In the article, they share even more information about how these super-eruptions played a role in causing the world’s biggest climate catastrophe to date.
WELL AT LEAST IT WASN'T APOPHIS
No sea serpents, mobsters but Tahoe trash divers strike gold
SCOTT SONNER Thu, May 12, 2022
STATELINE, Nev. (AP) — They found no trace of a mythical sea monster, no sign of mobsters in cement shoes or long-lost treasure chests.
But scuba divers who spent a year cleaning up the lakebed beneath Lake Tahoe’s entire 72-mile (115-kilometer) shoreline have come away with what they hope will prove much more valuable: tons and tons of trash.
In addition to removing 25,000 pounds (11,339 kilograms) of underwater litter since last May, divers and volunteers have been meticulously sorting and logging the types and GPS locations of the waste. The dozens of dives that concluded this week were part of a first-of-its-kind effort to learn more about the source and potential harm caused by plastics and other pollutants in the storied alpine lake on the California-Nevada line.
It's also taken organizers on a journey through the history, folklore and development of the lake atop the Sierra Nevada that holds enough water to cover all of California 14 inches (36 centimeters) deep.
The Washoe Tribe fished the turquoise-blue Tahoe for centuries before westward expansion in the mid-1800s brought railroads, timber barons and eventually Gatsby-like decadence to what became a playground for the rich and famous. Tahoe’s first casino was built in 1902 by Elias J. “Lucky” Baldwin, who owned a big chunk of east Los Angeles and built the prominent Santa Anita horse track in 1907. Massive lakefront estates followed for decades, including one used for the filming of “Godfather II."
Cleanup organizers say one of the things locals ask most is whether they’ve found any gangsters’ remains near the north shore. That’s where Frank Sinatra lost his gaming license for allegedly fraternizing with organized crime bosses at his Cal-Neva hotel-casino in the 1960s.
The recovered debris mostly has consisted of things like bottles, tires, fishing gear and sunglasses.
But Colin West, founder of the nonprofit environmental group that launched the project, Clean Up the Lake, said there have been some surprises.
Divers think they spotted shipwreck planks near Deadman Point, where tribal tales tell of a creature like the Loch Ness Monster — later dubbed “Tahoe Tessie″— living beneath Cave Rock.
They've also turned up a few “No Littering” signs, engine blocks, lamp posts, a diamond ring and “those funny, fake plastic owls that sit on boats to scare off birds,” West said.
“It’s shocking to see how much trash has accumulated under what appears to be such a pristine lake,” said Matt Levitt, founder and CEO of Tahoe Blue Vodka, which has contributed $100,000 to the cleanup.
His businesses is among many — including hotels, casinos and ski resorts — dependent on the 15 million-plus people who visit annually to soak up the view Mark Twain described in “Roughing It” in 1872 as the "fairest picture the whole earth affords.”
“It is our economic engine,” Levitt said.
And while most contributors and volunteers were motivated primarily to help beautify the lake, it’s what happens once the litter is piled ashore that excites scientists.
Shoreline cleanups have occurred across the nation for years, from Arizona to the Great Lakes, Pennsylvania and Florida. But that litter goes into recycle bins and garbage bags for disposal.
Each piece from 189 separate Tahoe dives to depths of 25 feet (8 meters) was charted by GPS and meticulously divided into categories including plastic, metal and cloth.
Plastics are key because international research increasingly shows some types can break down into smaller pieces known as microplastics.
Scientists are still studying the extent and human harm from the tiny bits. But the National Academy of Sciences said in December the U.S. — the world’s top plastics-waste producer — should reduce plastics production because so much winds up in oceans and waterways.
Zoe Harrold, a biochemist, led scientists at the Desert Research Institute in Reno that first documented microplastics in Tahoe in 2019. She was the lead author of Clean Up the Lake’s 2021 report on a 6-mile (10-kilometer) pilot project.
“If left in place, the ongoing degradation of submerged litter, particularly plastic and rubber, will continue to slowly release microplastics and leachates into Lake Tahoe’s azure waters,” Harrold wrote.
The cleanup comes a half-century after scientists started measuring Tahoe’s waning clarity as the basin began to experience explosive growth.
Most credit, or blame, completion of the interstate system for the 1960 Winter Olympics near Tahoe City. The first ever televised, it introduced the world to the lake surrounded by snow-covered peaks.
From 1960-80, Tahoe’s population grew from 10,000 to 50,000 — 90,000 in the summer, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Peak days now approach 300,000.
“The majority of what we’re pulling out is a result of basically just the human impact of recreating, living and building a community here in the Lake Tahoe region,” West said.
His group plans dives this year at other Sierra lakes, including June Lake east of Yosemite National Park, and will expand future Tahoe searches to deeper depths.
The non-profit Tahoe Fund, which also helped raise $100,000 for the cleanup effort, is commissioning artists to create a sculpture made from Tahoe's trash at an events center being built in Stateline, on the lake's south shore.
"Our hope is that it will inspire greater environmental stewardship and remind those who love Lake Tahoe that it's up to all of us to take care of it,” Tahoe Fund CEO Amy Berry said.
