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)
Wednesday, October 12, 2022
N.W.T. reaches temporary agreement with union to address health worker shortages
YELLOWKNIFE — The Northwest Territories government and the union representing health-care workers in the territory have reached a temporary agreement aimed at addressing labour shortages.
Provided by The Canadian Press
The territory and Union of Northern Workers have signed a memorandum of understanding, effective until October of 2024, that says nurses, nurse practitioners, midwives and medical laboratory technologists will get retention bonuses.
They have also agreed on recruitment bonuses for newly hired registered nurses, nurse practitioners and midwives.
The bonuses range from $5,000 for workers in Yellowknife, $6,000 for staff in Fort Smith or Inuvik and $7,000 for those elsewhere in the territory.
In March, the union rejected the territory's offer of bonuses for registered nurses and medical lab technologists, saying it left out many health-care specialists.
Seven communities in the territory are currently experiencing reduced health services, including six where only emergency services are available.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2022.
Fate of $20B compensation for First Nations children in hands of Canadian Human Rights Tribunal
Olivia Stefanovich - Sept 17
Tens of thousands of First Nations children and caregivers are waiting on the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to determine whether Ottawa's $20-billion offer to compensate them for discrimination satisfies its human rights orders.
The panel reserved its decision on Friday after hearing arguments over two days for and against the historic settlement agreement.
"It's not even close to the losses that we've incurred over time," said Carolyn Buffalo, a mother from Montana First Nation in Maskwacis, Alta., during an interview with CBC News.
Buffalo has had to fight a bureaucratic battle with Ottawa throughout the life of her son, Noah Buffalo-Jackson, who is now 20. He has severe cerebral palsy and requires around the clock care.
"I've had to fight for basic things, like wheelchairs, that other people would get without question," Buffalo said.
"We weren't asking for anything extra. All we wanted was just what other kids got."
Even though she wants Canada to pay more, Buffalo said she still supports the agreement because she doesn't want families and children to wait any longer for compensation.
It also demanded the government pay $40,000 to each child affected by the on-reserve foster care system and their parents or grandparents, as long children weren't taken into care because of abuse.
The settlement agreement they finalized in July is the largest in Canadian history. It covers children and families discriminated against from 1991 on — 15 years longer than the tribunal's orders.
"We were able to take a good decision and broaden it," said Stuart Wuttke, general counsel for the Assembly of First Nations, during Thursday's hearing.
"A large number of children will get more compensation and be entitled to compensation than what this tribunal has ordered."
Related video: Growing calls to renegotiate Ottawa's landmark $20B First Nations child welfare deal
The settlement agreement guarantees at least $40,000 to each First Nations child on-reserve, who was forcibly removed from their home, depending on the severity of harms they experienced.
But it cannot make that same promise to other families, like the Buffalos, who might get less.
"The $20 billion seems like a lot," Buffalo said. "But it's really not because the class is so big."
Still, Buffalo signed an affidavit with the AFN to push the deal through.
Seeking an apology from the prime minister
Buffalo said she also wants the prime minister to apologize for all of the losses her family and others have suffered.
"I want the prime minister to look at Noah in the eye and say to him, 'I'm sorry," Buffalo said.
Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller declined interviews with CBC News.
But in a statement, they said the compensation structure was designed by Indigenous partners and "reflects their experiences with other compensation programs."
"We remain committed to ensuring children and families are fairly compensated for past harms," the statement said.
Buffalo said she is not backing down and will continue to fight for her son, who she calls the joy of her family's life.
"Noah is worth everything," Buffalo said.
"We just feel really blessed that he chose us to be his parents and I just hope we're good enough for him because he's so special."
CLEANER, GREENER, GLOW ; IN THE DARK Greta Thunberg breaks ranks with German Green Party and urges Germany not to shut down nuclear power plants
Christiaan Hetzner
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has broken ranks with the German Green Party on the subject of atomic energy and urged the government not to abandon the technology.
Current domestic plans foresee all three remaining nuclear power plants going off line at the end of the year, a legacy of Angela Merkel’s abrupt change of policy following the 2010 Fukushima disaster.
“I personally think it’s a bad idea,” she told a German talk show ahead of its broadcast on Wednesday. “If they are already running, I think it would be a mistake to shut them down in favor of coal.”
The Green’s Robert Habeck, the government’s vice-chancellor and long the country’s most popular politician, has had to sustain criticism over his energy policy.
He wants to fully decommission one nuclear power plant and keep the other two dormant, but on standby next year.
In order to substitute the loss of their combined 4-megawatt capacity as well as reduced output from gas-fired sites, he aims to burn more coal instead.
Finance minister Christian Lindner from the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), immediately seized on Thunberg's comments as an opportunity to outmaneuver cabinet colleague Habeck using arguments provided by the latter's own climate change movement.
He has repeatedly called for keeping all three plants online.
“I welcome the support of Fridays for Future founder Greta Thunberg for the FDP position of allowing our nuclear power plants to remain online. In this energy war, all available sources of electrical capacity must be hooked up to the grid,” he posted.
Thunberg’s support comes at a time when the continent is on high alert over Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, located in Russian-controlled territory.
The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, warned earlier on Wednesday that only backup generators were providing power to the site’s safety systems.
Germany may be one of the few major industrialized countries where there is a broad consensus for exiting nuclear fission, originally thanks to the Chernobyl meltdown of 1986 that spread contaminated dust across Europe.
Parts of southern Bavaria still show above-average levels of the radioactive reading.
Yet the ongoing war in Ukraine has changed popular opinion. Now there is a broad majority in support of running nuclear power plants longer.
That’s because former chancellor Merkel’s attempt to exit both nuclear and coal power simultaneously in favor of greater dependence on Russian natural gas has proven to be a disastrous decision in retrospect. Nuclear power renaissance
On Wednesday, it warned of a €740 million non-cash charge to impair the value of its stake in Wintershall DEA due largely to the latter's exposure to Russian pipeline Nord Stream 1 and announced a half billion euros in annual cost cuts targeted mainly at its home German plant near Mannheim.
Overall nuclear power is enjoying a bit of a renaissance as a low-carbon source of reliable electricity that doesn’t suffer from the intermittent effects of renewables like wind and solar.
NO BIGGIE But it comes with its own special externality: lethal radioactive waste.
The federal government has earmarked almost €1 billion every year to deal with the cost of storing spent fuel rods, according to former environment minister Svenja Schulze.
Castillo claims he is suffering «political persecution» and denounces a «new form of coup d’état».
RIGHT WING CRIES CORRUPTION
FROM DAY ONE
Daniel Stewart - Yesterday -News 360
The President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, has stated that he is suffering political persecution, while denouncing a "new form of coup d'état", all this hours after the Public Prosecutor's Office filed a constitutional complaint before the country's Congress for allegedly committing corruption offenses.
Castillo has asserted that the Government he leads will remain "firm" to continue attending to "the main problems of the country" in spite of the political persecution", as he said in a press conference reported by Andina news agency.
"Today we have a political Prosecutor's Office in Peru, that far from judging the real criminals, today is doing it with the Government that has been legitimately elected by the people to lead the destiny of the country", said the President, adding that "the execution of a new form of coup d'état has begun in the country".
In this sense, Castillo said that the Public Prosecutor's Office is inventing effective collaborators and regretted that people from his entourage have been arrested and described as criminals.
Furthermore, he announced that he will not leave the country in spite of the open investigations against him: "I am here, if my blood has to run in the streets for the benefit of this people, I have to do it, if I have to give my life, I will do it", added the president of Peru.
"We want the accusations to be proven, I am not going to leave my country, we submit ourselves to all kinds of investigation (...) we know that there is no real basis, these accusations are orchestrated and planned, but we will continue to fight", he stressed, according to the aforementioned agency.
However, Castillo has reiterated that his government has been elected "by the natural vote", and has promised the population of the country that he will not let them down.
"A government that came to change the destiny of the country and today is trying to block it with trickery and falsehoods, to continue in the same situation", said the Peruvian president.
The Peruvian Attorney General, Patricia Benavides, has filed on Tuesday afternoon before the Peruvian Congress a constitutional complaint against President Pedro Castillo for the alleged crimes of criminal organization, influence peddling and aggravated collusion.
"I file a constitutional complaint against José Pedro Castillo Terrones in his capacity as president of the Republic of Peru as alleged perpetrator of the crimes against public tranquility in the modality of aggravated criminal organization due to his condition of leader," reads the document signed by Benavides and delivered to the Parliament.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, Castillo would be the head of a criminal organization active in the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in complicity with Silva, as well as with officials of Provías Nacional and Provías Descentralizado, the Presidential Office and businessmen and third parties, to favor the Tarata III Bridge consortium and other companies in public bidding processes.
Castillo accuses prosecutors of endangering her mother’s health in search of her sister’s home Daniel Stewart - Yesterday - News 360
The President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, has accused the Prosecutor's Office of putting his mother's health at risk during the operation carried out at his sister's house, in the framework of the Sarratea case, in which alleged crimes of influence peddling and favored treatment in the delivery of public works are being investigated.
The President of Peru, Pedro Castillo. - EL COMERCIO / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO
"The Prosecutor's Office has entered my sister's house. My mother is there. This abusive act has affected her health. I hold the Prosecutor's Office responsible for the health of my lady mother," Castillo has denounced on his Twitter.
Castillo's complaint comes shortly after Peruvian authorities on Tuesday raided the property, located on Sarratea Street, in the Lima district of Breña (west), where, according to investigations, these meetings between the Peruvian president and his family allegedly took place.
The Judiciary has issued a preliminary arrest warrant for ten days against six other people allegedly involved in this corruption case, among them the owner of this house, Alejandro Sanchez Sanchez, who was not in the house during the search, and Biberto Castillo, alleged member of Castillo's 'shadow cabinet'.
The investigation against Castillo arose after a report on Peruvian television in which he was accused of being behind a corruption scheme to favor construction companies and consortiums in public works processes.
Meanwhile, the country's attorney general, Patricia Benavides, is expected to file an indictment with up to three crimes against President Castillo for criminal organization, aggravated influence peddling and collusion no later than this week, in an attempt to remove him from office.
Benavides' complaint alleges that Castillo committed the crimes of influence peddling and criminal organization in the delivery of the millionaire Tarata III Bridge project and in the purchase of B100 biodiesel by Petroperu, as well as those of aggravated collusion and influence peddling with the appointment of Hugo Chavez Arevalo as general manager of Petroperu.
Alex Jones faces a reckoning, but the style of politics he popularized is here to stay
Analysis by Oliver Darcy, CNN Business Wed October 12, 2022
New York
Alex Jones’ day of reckoning has arrived.
A jury in Connecticut decided that the right-wing conspiracy theorist should pay eight families of Sandy Hook shooting victims and a first-responder a staggering $965 million.
The decision comes shortly after a trial in Texas where a jury found that the Infowars founder should pay a separate pair of Sandy Hook parents who sued him in the Lone Star state nearly $50 million.
In total, the lies told by Jones about the Sandy Hook shooting have so far cost him more than $1 billion.
With its punishing awards, the juries’ decisions could shrink or even doom Jones’ Infowars media empire, which has been at the center of major conspiracy theories dating back to former President George W. Bush’s administration and was embraced by President Donald Trump.
The reckoning for Jones comes at a pivotal moment in American society, where lies and conspiracy theories have flourished in recent years, often enriching and empowering those who peddle them to the public.
Jones has been an avatar for such behavior. He amassed both great influence and wealth by poisoning the online information well, writing a playbook that has been employed and executed throughout the years by others seeking wealth, fame, and political power.
While Jones may face a reckoning, nearly a decade after his heinous lie about the Sandy Hook shooting, the corrosive blueprint that catapulted him to fame and fortune on the political right is here to stay. It is impossible to unwind.
And it is more popular than ever, mimicked by former President Donald Trump, right-wing cable channels such as Fox News, talk-radio hosts (both local and national), and innumerable online influencers who command sizable followings on social media platforms.
Many years ago, “deep-state” rhetoric and conspiracy theories about “false flags” were confined to places like Infowars, where viewers had to sit and watch a hysterical Jones rant against shadowy, globalist forces that he said wanted to upend the American way of life.
That is no longer the case. These conspiratorial elements are now central to the conversation on the American right.
It is simply impossible to quantify or compute the enormous influence Jones has had on the conversation that has entranced the Republican Party. He has pulled the mainstream into the fringe.
Which is all to say that while Judgment Day may have arrived for Jones, the model of information warfare that he popularized endures — now entwined into the very DNA of the American right.
Alex Jones ordered to pay $965 million for Sandy Hook lies
WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) — The conspiracy theorist Alex Jones should pay $965 million to people who suffered from his false claim that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax, a jury in Connecticut decided Wednesday.
The verdict is the second big judgment against the Infowars host over his relentless promotion of the lie that the 2012 massacre never happened, and that the grieving families seen in news coverage were actors hired as part of a plot to take away people’s guns.
It came in a lawsuit filed by the relatives of five children and three educators killed in the mass shooting, plus an FBI agent who was among the first responders to the scene. A Texas jury in August awarded nearly $50 million to the parents of another slain child.
Some plaintiffs hugged in the courtroom after the verdict was read. Jones wasn't there, but live video from the court played on a split screen on his Infowars show.
“Hey, folks, don’t go buying big homes,” he said.
The trial featured tearful testimony from parents and siblings of the victims, who told about how they were threatened and harassed for years by people who believed the lies told on Jones’ show.
Strangers showed up at their homes to record them. People hurled abusive comments on social media. Erica Lafferty, the daughter of slain Sandy Hook principal Dawn Hochsprung, testified that people mailed rape threats to her house. Mark Barden told of how conspiracy theorists had urinated on the grave of his 7-year-old son, Daniel, and threatened to dig up the coffin.
Testifying during the trial, Jones acknowledged he had been wrong about Sandy Hook. The shooting was real, he said. But both in the courtroom and on his show, he was defiant.
He calld the proceedings a “kangaroo court,” mocked the judge, called the plaintiffs’ lawyer an ambulance chaser and labeled the case an affront to free speech rights. He claimed it was a conspiracy by Democrats and the media to silence him and put him out of business.
“I’ve already said ‘I’m sorry’ hundreds of times and I’m done saying I’m sorry,” he said during his testimony.
Twenty children and six adults died in the shooting on Dec. 14, 2012. The defamation trial was held at a courthouse in Waterbury, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Newtown, where the attack took place.
The lawsuit accused Jones and Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, of using the mass killing to build his audience and make millions of dollars. Experts testified that Jones’ audience swelled when he made Sandy Hook a topic on the show, as did his revenue from product sales.
In both the Texas lawsuit and the one in Connecticut, judges found the company liable for damages by default after Jones failed to cooperate with court rules on sharing evidence, including failing to turn over records that might have showed whether Infowars had profited from knowingly spreading misinformation about mass killings.
Because he was already found liable, Jones was barred from mentioning free speech rights and other topics during his testimony.
Jones now faces a third trial, in Texas around the end of the year, in a lawsuit filed by the parents of another child killed in the shooting.
It is unclear how much of the verdicts Jones can afford to pay. During the trial in Texas, he testified he couldn’t afford any judgment over $2 million. Free Speech Systems has filed for bankruptcy protection. But an economist testified in the Texas proceeding that Jones and his company were worth as much as $270 million.
Dave Collins, The Associated Press
NOT PRO-MIGRANT, IT'S UCP SEPARATISM
Alberta ending immigration detention arrangement with CBSA
Brigitte Bureau - Radio-Canada CBC
Alberta is ending its agreement with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to incarcerate immigration detainees in provincial jails.
The agency says Alberta gave it notice to cancel the contract, though the Alberta government won't confirm or deny that.
These foreign nationals, including asylum seekers, are subjected to the same conditions as the prison population, a practice that violates international law.
The Alberta government refuses to say when it handed its termination notice to CBSA and on what date the contract will officially end.
"Currently, Alberta's government has an agreement in place with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)," is all Joseph Dow, press secretary to Alberta Minister of Justice Tyler Shandro, would say.
When prompted for more details, CBSA spokesperson Maria Ladouceur said: "The cancellation notice has been received. The agency will not comment on the state of the negotiations."
Two other provinces have cancelled their agreements with CBSA.
'Victory for human rights'
Human Rights Watch is one of the organizations behind #WelcometoCanada, a campaign calling for the end to migrant imprisonment.
"Alberta's notice of termination is certainly a positive development," said Hanna Gros, an immigration lawyer and expert in immigration detention with Human Rights Watch.
"It's certainly another victory for human rights."
Though Gros applauds the news, she's critical — but unsurprised — of the secrecy surrounding the negotiations.
"The lack of transparency around immigration detention is nothing new,'' Gros said. "CBSA has an immense amount of power and discretion in depriving the liberty and basic rights of people who are seeking safety in this country or coming here for a better life." She's asking the federal government to show leadership and put an end to the incarceration of migrants once and for all. Two other provinces have already announced the end of their contracts with CBSA. British Columbia was the first to do so in July 2022.
A review "brought to light that aspects of the arrangement do not align with our government's commitment to upholding human-rights standards," B.C. Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth said at the time.
Nova Scotia followed suit in September 2022.
In both cases, their agreements required 12 month written notice to CBSA, which means the imprisonment of migrants in those two provinces will remain in effect until 2023. Another province pondering contract's future
The Saskatchewan government has indicated to Radio-Canada/CBC that it's currently reviewing its agreement with CBSA, but would not provide more information at this time.
For their part, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick are resisting calls to end their immigration detention contracts with CBSA.
The three provinces have not given a cancellation notice to CBSA and plan on continuing to imprison migrants in their jails for the time being.
CBSA would not say what type of arrangement it has with provinces that are not bound by an agreement.
Some 2,000 migrants have been incarcerated in provincial jails every year from 2015 to 2020.
Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino, who is responsible for CBSA, told Radio-Canada/CBC on Sept. 29, 2022, that when migrants are being held they are detained in a way that is consistent with international standards.
But Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees all said that international law forbids the imprisonment of migrants for administrative purposes in the same facilities as criminals.
Enormous shipwreck discovered in Lake Superior 120 years after storm sank Whaleback vessel
Miriam Marini, Detroit Free Press - Today
DETROIT — More than 100 years after a storm sank a 292-foot Whaleback ship, it has been found in Lake Superior.
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society discovered the Whaleback vessel, Barge 129, 35 miles off Vermilion Point under 650 feet of water using side scan SONAR technology, the society announced. The society's first SONAR image was in 2021, and it was able to identify the vessel in August 2022 using an underwater drone.
The announcement comes on the 120-year anniversary of the ship's sinking.
In 1902, the vessel was transporting a load of iron ore with another steamer, the Maunaloa, in tow, when a storm struck, according to the historical society. The raging storm caused the towline connecting the ships to snap, leaving them at the mercy of Mother Nature.
The waves and winds ravaged the ships, and eventually, they collided – Maunaloa's port side anchor striking the Barge 129's starboard side. As Barge 129 began to sink, within 15 minutes, the crew of the Maunaloa helped the second crew to board their ship.
“I’ve looked for this ship for so long because it was a Whaleback. I was pretty excited. I couldn't wait to get the cameras on it," said the society's director of marine operations, Darryl Ertel Jr., in Thursday's announcement. "It's totally destroyed on the bottom. It's nowhere near intact. It's at least four to five big pieces and thousands of little pieces. It's just disintegrated.”
A SONAR image of the Barge 129 bow. The 292-foot Whaleback ship has been found in Lake Superior more than 100 years after a storm sank it.
The Barge 129 is one of the last lost Whaleback ships to be discovered, shipwreck hunters have been searching for this vessel for a long time, a spokesman from the historical society said Tuesday.
When the crew returned home after the sinking the vessel's owner, Pittsburgh Steamship Co. of Duluth, Minnesota, gave Captain Josiah Bailey $50 and each crewmember $35 for the loss of clothing.
‘They’re willing to let me throw all that product away instead of paying me to take it back’: Trucker says Sam’s Club told him to dispose of brand-new product from late delivery
Rebekah Harding - Yesterday - Daily Dot
A trucker says that Sam's Club refused to take his delivery after he was 30 minutes late in a now-viral video, later being instructed by the "shipper" to throw out the "brand new" products instead re-delivering.
In the video posted by TikToker Zeek (@qrtrucking) on Oct. 10, he says that he arrived just 30 minutes late to a scheduled delivery at Sam's Club on Sunday but was "rejected." He was told that the earliest he could schedule a re-delivery was Tuesday. In the clip, he shows the back of his truck filled with "brand new" merchandise like diapers and paper towels.
"They said they were not going to unload me and refused to do anything about it. They just told me, 'Call your dispatcher and figure it out,'" Zeek says.
He says that three hours later, they finally "came to a solution."
"The shipper told me that if I wasn't willing to reschedule, just throw everything away and just do whatever I want after that," he continues. "They're willing to let me throw all that product away instead of paying me to take it back to the company."
The video has reached over 1.5 million views as of Oct. 11, with commenters suggesting that he donate the rejected products. Others blasted Sam's Club for rejecting the order and suggesting that he throw away the products.
"In this economy they’re picking and choosing??? Ah hell naw," one commenter wrote.
"Man these people just wasting resources acting [like] they’re infinite," another said.
In a second video, Zeek says that he donated the merchandise to a "local church" that contacted his company. He also clarified that "nobody lost money" due to the rejected delivery.
"I got covered so it's all good guys," he says in the clip.
The Daily Dot reached out to Zeek via Instagram direct message and to Sam's Club via email.
Wildlife populations plunge 69% since 1970: WWF
Wild populations of monitored animal species have plummeted nearly 70 percent in the last 50 years, according to a landmark assessment released Thursday that highlights "devastating" losses to nature due to human activity.
Featuring data from 32,000 populations of more than 5,000 species of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish, the WWF Living Planet Index shows accelerating falls across the globe.
In biodiversity-rich regions such as Latin America and the Caribbean, the figure for animal population loss is as high as 94 percent.
Globally, the report found that monitored animal populations had fallen 69 percent since 1970.
Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, said his organisation was "extremely worried" by the new data.
"(It shows) a devastating fall in wildlife populations, in particular in tropical regions that are home to some of the most biodiverse landscapes in the world," he said.
Mark Wright, director of science at WWF, said the figures were "truly frightening", particularly for Latin America.
"Latin America is renowned for his biodiversity of course, it's really important for lots of other things as well," he said.
"It's super important for regulating the climate. We estimate currently there's something like 150 to 200 billion tonnes of carbon wrapped up in the forests of the Amazon."
That is equivalent to 550 to 740 billion tonnes of CO2, or 10 to 15 times more than annual greenhouse gas emissions at current rates.
The index found that freshwater species had declined more than those found in any other habitat, with an 83-percent population fall since 1970.
The report found that the main drivers of wildlife loss are habitat degradation due to development and farming, exploitation, the introduction of invasive species, pollution, climate change and disease.
Lambertini said the world needed to rethink its harmful and wasteful agricultural practices before the global food chain collapsed.
"Food systems today are responsible for over 80 percent of deforestation on land, and if you look at the ocean and freshwater they are also driving a collapse of fishery stocks and populations in those habitats," he said.
With world leaders due to convene in Montreal for the COP15 biodiversity summit in December, the report authors called for an international, binding commitment to protect nature, similar to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.
- 'Need to act now' -
The Living Planet Report argues that increasing conservation and restoration efforts, producing and consuming food more sustainably, and rapidly and deeply decarbonising all sectors can alleviate the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.
It also calls for governments to properly factor into policymaking the value of services rendered by nature, such as food, medicine and water supply.
"We need to stress the fact that nature loss is not just a moral issue of our duty to protect the rest of the world. It is actually an issue of material value, an issue of security for humanity as well," said Lambertini.
Some areas experienced more population loss than others -- Europe, for example, saw a wildlife population decline of 18 percent.
"But that also masks historic, very extreme losses of biodiversity," said Andrew Terry, director of conservation at the Zoological Society of London, which helped compile the data.
"We know that we're coming out of (a) low point in the state of biodiversity in the northern hemisphere."
In Africa, where 70 percent of livelihoods rely on nature in some form, the report showed a two-thirds fall in wildlife populations since 1970.
Alice Ruhweza, Africa regional director at WWF, said the assessment showed how there was a "huge human cost" when nature is lost.
She said young people in particular were concerned about wildlife preservation, and would push governments to implement greater protective measures.
"We have a young, entrepreneurial and increasingly educated population that is showing more awareness around issues of nature," said Ruhweza.
"So the potential for transformative change is really significant. But the time is running short, and we need to act now."
pg/mh/imm
477 whales die in 'heartbreaking' New Zealand strandings
Yesterday WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Some 477 pilot whales have died after stranding themselves on two remote New Zealand beaches over recent days, officials say.
None of the stranded whales could be refloated and all either died naturally or were euthanized in a “heartbreaking” loss, said Daren Grover, the general manager of Project Jonah, a nonprofit group which helps rescue whales.
The whales beached themselves on the Chatham Islands, which are home to about 600 people and located about 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of New Zealand's main islands.
The Department of Conservation said 232 whales stranded themselves Friday at Tupuangi Beach and another 245 at Waihere Bay on Monday.
The deaths come two weeks after about 200 pilot whales died in Australia after stranding themselves on a remote Tasmanian beach.
“These events are tough, challenging situations,” the Department of Conservation wrote in a Facebook post. “Although they are natural occurrences, they are still sad and difficult for those helping.”
Grover said the remote location and presence of sharks in the surrounding waters meant they couldn't mobilize volunteers to try to refloat the whales as they have in past stranding events. “We do not actively refloat whales on the Chatham Islands due to the risk of shark attack to humans and the whales themselves, so euthanasia was the kindest option,” said Dave Lundquist, a technical marine advisor for the conservation department.
Mass strandings of pilot whales are reasonably common in New Zealand, especially during the summer months. Scientists don't know exactly what causes the whales to strand, although it appears their location systems can get confused by gently sloping sandy beaches.
Grover said there is a lot of food for the whales around the Chatham Islands, and as they swim closer to land, they would quickly find themselves going from very deep to shallow water.
“They rely on their echolocation and yet it doesn't tell them that they are running out of water,” Grover said. “They come closer and closer to shore and become disoriented. The tide can then drop from below them and before they know it, they're stranded on the beach.”
Because of the remote location of the beaches, the whale carcasses won't be buried or towed out to sea, as is often the case, but instead will be left to decompose, Grover said.
“Nature is a great recycler and all the energy stored within the bodies of all the whales will be returned to nature quite quickly,” he said.
Nick Perry, The Associated Press
Hundreds of Whales Wash Up On Ill-fated Island Surrounded by Sharks
Robyn White - Yesterday- NEWSWEEK Hundreds more whales have washed up in another mystery mass stranding on a New Zealand island, known to be surrounded by large numbers of sharks.
Up to 250 pilot whales could have been involved in the stranding that occurred in the Chatham Islands, on Pitt Island, according to stranded whale rescue organization Project Jonah.
The stranding comes shortly after another mass stranding occurred to the northwest of Chatham Island, where 215 pilot whales passed away. It takes the number of stranded whales in the area to 500, all within a few days.
Cetacean strandings—when marine mammals wash up on beaches—happen globally. The phenomenon is common, although scientists do not know why they occur.
Occasionally, we see mass strandings, where a huge number of cetaceans strand at once. Pilot whales are among the species most affected by this phenomenon, along with other types of dolphin.
According to the Department of Conservation, the Chatham Islands are a "stranding hot spot" for whales, with nearly half of the whale strandings in New Zealand occur here.
It is not yet clear how many whales survived the latest incident, but it is likely some will be euthanized. This is due to the remoteness of the area.
"This is an incredibly isolated and remote part of the world, with a small population and known for great white sharks, which pose risk to both people and whales," Project Jonah said on a Facebook post.
Wildlife officials have been sent to the area to initiate rescue efforts. Project Jonah said it will post updates when they become available.
"Whale strandings remain a mystery. We don't exactly know why whales and dolphins do this," Wildlife scientist Vanessa Pirotta of the Marine Predator Research Group at Macquarie University, told Newsweek.
"Several factors might be at play here, e.g. mis-navigation, spooked by something, following a sick leader. There might be many more reasons.
"Pilot whales are social and can be found in large pods at times. Unfortunately, the clock starts ticking when a whale/dolphin strands, the longer they are out of water, the less chance they have at being released. Even if released, there's always a chance they might re-strand," Pirotta said.
Scientists have noticed that certain coastal areas are more prone to mass strandings than others. It is not clear why, but experts have previously suspected that pods can become disorientated in these areas.
Culum Brown, professor at the School of Natural Sciences at Macquarie University told Newsweek that pilot whales appear to be drawn into specific locations that "probably lots of food available."
But then, they are caught out by shifting tides.
"Mass strandings often happen at the same location multiple times, often years apart which strongly suggests they are attracted to these locations for a reason. Once they are stranded they can get re-stranded when they are freed," Brown said.
"This happens because the stranded animals attract the rest of the pod. If the pod is not willing to leave the area because their mates are stuck, that puts the rest of the pod in danger of stranding as well. It's a kind of negative feedback loop."
Brown said pilot whales strong social bonds can be at their disadvantage in this scenario.
"Pilot whales are often found in pods consisting of hundreds of individuals and big pods can also merge to become super-pods. The social bonds are very strong and while this works to their advantage in some contexts, its a big problem in the context of stranding," Brown said.
