RAPE IS RAPE
'A living hell': Former federal inmates describe years of sexual abuse by prison officers

Story by Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY • 


WASHINGTON – Three survivors of sexual assault in federal prison described years of horrific abuse by prison staffers who used their unfettered access to vulnerable inmates and threatened them with retaliation if they reported the attacks.

All three former inmates, their voices cracking with emotion, told a Senate investigative panel Tuesday that the federal Bureau of Prisons had failed them and often shielded their attackers from accountability.

One of the victims, Linda De La Rosa, told the committee, which has been investigating the sexual abuse of federal inmates for the past eight months, that her attacker had full access to her personal files and used the information to gain leverage over her.

BOP director: Officials considering early release for victims of sex assault in federal prison

"My life was a living hell," De La Rosa told lawmakers, describing the abuse that started in 2019 and involved at least three other inmates at a federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky.



Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., delivers brief remarks about a school massacre in Texas before a meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in his office on Capitol Hill on May 25.© Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

The attacker was later charged and is now serving a 135-month prison sentence, but De La Rosa said the officer had been previously accused of sexual offenses against other inmates when he was stalking and attacking her.

Senate committee Chairman Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., said the investigation also concluded that the Bureau of Prisons system has so far proved incapable of detecting and preventing such attacks.

"This situation is intolerable," Ossoff said. "It is cruel and unusual punishment."

The panel's inquiry is yet another assessment of the agency's systemic failure to ensure the safety of inmates, especially women.

Last week, a former warden of a California federal prison, known as the "rape club," was convicted on eight criminal counts for his abuse of three inmates.


Colette Peters, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, speaks during at interview with the Associated Press in October.© Carolyn Kaster, AP

Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters, in an interview this week with USA TODAY, said Justice Department officials are considering the early release of inmates who were victims of the warden and other staffers at the prison.

"I am open to this consideration that is a very complex issue, which is why it’s under pretty significant review,” Peters told USA TODAY. “I think we’re concerned about consistency, I think we’re concerned about fairness, and so I think that each case is unique.”

The testimony of the former inmates, however, represented a powerful condemnation of the agency's past response to such abuse, while the committee reported that the internal investigations unit is plagued by a backlog of 8,000 investigations including hundreds of sexual assault claims.

More: DOJ watchdog: Prison staff failures preceded inmate murder of Whitey Bulger

Peters was appointed as the agency's director in August following years of near-constant turmoil in which staffers' incompetence or misconduct also factored into the 2018 prison murder of mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger and the 2019 suicide of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

At Tuesday's hearing, Peters said she was "horrified" by the accounts of sexual abuse.

"We must train all bureau employees on their obligation to report misconduct," the director told lawmakers, adding that rogue staffers would be "fettered out" and removed from their positions.

The emotional testimony of the former inmates, however, drew most of the committee's focus.

Briane Moore, a former inmate at a prison in Alderson, West Virginia, tearfully described how a captain raped her multiple times, while threatening to deny her appeals to transfer to a facility closer to family.

"While he was raping me, he was raping other women," Moore said. "I'm still suffering. This has changed the course of my life."

Carolyn Richardson, a former inmate in New York, said an officer preyed on her as she suffered from deteriorating eye sight, often threatening to withhold food and medical care as he forced himself on her.

Richardson said the officer regularly visited her cell a night, shining a flashlight to indicate his arrival.

"I felt utterly powerless," Richardson said.

Scientists invent ‘game-changing’ electric car battery that never loses charge capacity

Story by Anthony Cuthbertson 

Scientists have discovered a way to build next-generation batteries for electric cars that do not lose any capacity, even after hundreds of charging cycles.


electric car battery solid state.jpg© Getty Images/ iStock

An international research team from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia and Yokohama National University in Japan claim the breakthrough could provide a viable and vastly superior alternative to current battery technologies.

The researchers investigated a new type of positive electrode material with “unprecedented stability” that can be used in durable solid-state batteries.

Solid-state batteries have been hailed as “game-changing” for their potential to overcome the technical limitations of lithium-ion battery packs that are currently used to power the majority of consumer electronics – from smartphones to electric cars.

However, until now solid-state batteries have faced their own limitations relating to durability. Repeated charges can cause irreversible damage to the interface between the electrodes and the electrolyte, making them inappropriate for commercial use.

The new battery was able to retain its capacity of 300 mAh with no degradation over hundreds of charge-discharge cycles in lab tests by combining the positive electrode with an appropriate solid electrolyte and negative electrode.

“The absence of capacity fading over 400 cycles clearly indicates the superior performance of this material compared with those reported for conventional all-solid-state cells with layered materials,” said Associate Professor Neeraj Sharma from UNSW.

“This finding could drastically reduce battery costs. The development of practical high-performance solid-state batteries can also lead to the development of advanced electric vehicles.”

Solid-state batteries have been described as the “next big thing” in battery development by one of BMW’s top engineers. Simon Erhard recently claimed that lithium-ion batteries had “peaked” in terms of performance, predicting that solid-state batteries would eventually replace them as the industry standard.

A paper detailing the latest breakthrough, titled ‘A near dimensionally invariable high-capacity positive electrode material’, was published in the scientific journal Nature Materials on Tuesday.

The researchers now hope that refining the electrode materials will make it possible to commercially manufacture solid-state batteries for electric vehicles that can match current technologies in terms of price, safety, capacity and charging speed.

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Qatar Accused of Bribing Leaders in Biggest Ever EU Scandal

Story by Barbie Latza Nadeau • 

ROME—Four European Union leaders have been charged with participation in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption, tied to alleged bribes from FIFA World Cup host Qatar,


TWITTER/MINISTRY OF LABOUR - STATE OF QATAR© Provided by The Daily Beast

Raids on diplomats’ homes in Brussels and Strasbourg, where the E.U. parliament meets, uncovered “bags of money.”

Greek EU vice president Eva Kaili—who is languishing in a Belgium jail with three other leaders—was stripped of her position by senior European leaders on Tuesday and all four will face a court on Wednesday. The assets of Kaili and her family members in Greece have been frozen while the investigation continues.

Kaili made several trips to Qatar in recent years and has campaigned for Qatari citizens to be granted visa-free travel to the European Union, citing them as a “front runner in human rights,” despite reports that as many as 6,500 migrants died while the nation prepared to host the World Cup.

The European Commission is also actively courting Qatar as an alternative supplier to Russian liquefied natural gas, which still flows into the bloc. Whether negotiations will continue is now up for debate.

Brussels investigators carried out 20 searches since last Friday, including 19 private homes and one hotel used by traveling diplomats. They said they found around $630,000 worth of euros in bags in one home, and around $175,000 worth of euros in another that was divied up and hidden in expensive liquor boxes. Police also found cash in a suitcase in a Strasbourg hotel room reportedly used by a Qatar operative, and some in a parliamentarian’s office. Police also sequestered phones and computers, and froze the assets and email accounts of dozens of family members and staffers.

Related video: Qatargate: EU parliament to vote on ending VP role of corruption suspect (France 24)
Duration 3:37
View on Watch


Kaili is the only person named officially after her lawyer defended her. The other three arrested are reportedly Italians, including Pier Antonio Panzeri who is a close associate of Kaili’s Italian life partner Francesco Giorgi, who is a parliamentary assistant. Panzeri runs an NGO group called Fight Impunity that is being investigated in the probe. His wife and daughter were taken into custody in Bergamo, Italy, over the weekend. Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, who runs an NGO called No Peace Without Justice is reportedly the fourth suspect in custody. Two other Italians within the EU leadership ranks were released after being arrested Friday

The timing of the arrests and nature of the allegations have been a buzzkill in Qatar, which has fought off a barrage of claims in how it is handling the soccer world’s biggest event, including the death of two journalists, the rough housing of several others and the banning of beer in World Cup stadiums despite Budweiser being a major advertiser.

The EU was supposed to vote on the visa-free travel bill for Qatari citizens this week, but has postponed it indefinitely.

The scandal, indisputably the largest in the history of the bloc, brought jeers from some Euroskeptic leaders, including Hungarian president Viktor Orban, who tweeted a meme making fun of the union investigating corruption in Hungary.

Qatar has adamantly denied allegations that it tried to buy influence in the EU. No Qatari citizens have been arrested in the probe so far.

OUTLAW TOBACCO GROWING
New Zealand passes historic law banning next generation from ever smoking

Story by Alisha Rahaman Sarkar •

New Zealand has passed a bill to ban those aged 14 and under from ever legally buying cigarettes in an effort to make the country smoke free by 2025.

The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill aims to ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009, while decreasing the number of retailers that sell cigarettes.

The Jacinda Ardern government will also cut down the amount of nicotine allowed in smoked tobacco products.

The bill passed its final reading in parliament on Tuesday with the support from the ruling Labour Party, the Greens and Te Paati Maori.

The number of retailers around the Pacific nation that are allowed to sell tobacco will be reduced to a tenth of the current 6,000, associate health minister Ayesha Verrall announced.

The minister added that the legislation, which she said would accelerate the progress towards a smoke-free future, mandates a maximum of 600 tobacco retailers by the end of next year.

“Thousands of people will live longer, healthier lives and the health system will be $5bn better off from not needing to treat the illnesses caused by smoking, such as numerous types of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, amputations,” Ms Verrall said.


Associate health minister Ayesha Verrall speaking about the legislation in Wellington yesterday (AFP/Getty)© Provided by The Independent

The decision represents one of the toughest approaches in the world to curbing smoking deaths, focusing on the disproportionate impact on the Maori population.

The health minister said the measures taken will close the life expectancy gap for Maori women by 25 per cent and by 10 per cent for Maori men.

New Zealand’s smoking rate in 2022 fell to a record low, with 8 per cent of adults smoking daily compared to 9.4 per cent a year and a half ago, the ministry of health data revealed in November.

There has, however, been an uptick in the number of people vaping daily at 8.3 per cent, an increase from 6.2 per cent recorded last year.

The country has also increased funding in the health sector to roll out cigarette-quitting services and a crackdown on tobacco smuggling. More than $10m from this year’s budget was allotted to curb “sophisticated” tobacco smuggling operations.

“Customs has seen a significant increase in the smuggling of tobacco products into New Zealand over recent years,” customs minister Meka Whaitiri said earlier in May. “We also know that as measures in the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan continue to have an impact on smoking rates, there will likely be increased demand for illegal tobacco products.”

New Zealand reports at least 5,000 smoking-related deaths a year, making it the country’s top cause of preventable death. Four in five smokers started smoking before 18, according to the government.

ANOTHER DUMB NO SMOKING LAW
From parks to sidewalks, smoking and vaping will soon be outlawed in public areas of Banff

Story by Olivia Condon •

Residents and visitors to Banff will have to butt out in the new year after a bylaw takes effect prohibiting smoking and vaping in the vast majority of the town’s outdoor spaces.


Banff will soon be a smoke-free zone.© Provided by Calgary Herald

Beginning Feb. 1, 2023, smoking and vaping tobacco and nicotine products will be illegal throughout Banff in parks and green spaces, on trails and pathways, at outdoor markets and outdoor events, at bus stops, on all public sidewalks and pedestrian zones, and in proximity of a child under the age of 10 not in one’s custody, care or control.

The few exceptions are for the ceremonial use of tobacco related to a traditional Indigenous practice or in surface parking lots and alleys, as well as on private property. In those cases, existing municipal and provincial legislation — that smoking and vaping must not occur within five metres of sidewalks, trails, doorways, windows or air intakes — still apply.

Those in violation of the bylaw could face between $250 and $500 in fines.

Council passed second and third reading of the bylaw at its Monday meeting, with Mayor Corrie DiManno, councillors Chip Olver, Grant Canning, Barb Pelham and Ted Christensen in favour. Coun. Hugh Pettigrew was opposed.

Also approved was a $2,400 budget for communication and signage to be installed ahead of the bylaw taking effect.

The bylaw, which was first introduced in September but has been discussed in council chambers since as early as 2018, is in line with the town’s bylaw on cannabis use, which was passed ahead of federal legalization in October 2018.

Present at Monday’s meeting was Les Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). Hagen commended council for its efforts and said passing the bylaw will have a lasting and wide-ranging effect.


“Your actions today will go far beyond this community,” he said. “Banff welcomes over four million visitors each year and it is the most popular national park in Canada. By approving this bylaw you will be reinforcing that non-smoking norm among millions of visitors, including multitudes of children and youth. You’ll be sending a message that public health and recreation go hand in hand to many, many people.”

Hagen said being good role models for children and youth and preventing wildfires are particularly important issues to consider when it comes to such legislation.

Related
No 'Rocky Mountain high:' Banff bans smoking, vaping cannabis in public places

“The social model of smoking and vaping can have a profound impact on children and youth . . . 

The more smoking cues a child receives the more likely they are to become smokers themselves,” he said.

“Smoking in parks is a significant public health concern, however, cigarette butts are the single most littered item on the planet. Careless smoking is responsible for 10 to 15 per cent of all wildfires in Canada.”

DiManno said that by taking the “gold standard approach,” the town of Banff will be leading the way in promoting healthier lifestyles.

“It’s also about setting the tone that when you’re in Banff, we are a community and we value our clean mountain air and we’re respectful of public places and our environment,” she said.

“I believe this will help contribute to the reduction in exposure to second-hand smoke, reduction in litter, and reduces the risk in starting a wildfire . . . This is likely the future, and Banff likes to be ahead of the curve,” she said.

“It’s going to come with some polarization and opposition, but at the end of the day this is about trying to be leaders in this area.”

A dozen other municipalities across Alberta have taken similar steps to reduce the number of places where smoking and vaping nicotine and tobacco are permitted, including Claresholm, Okotoks, Strathmore and High River.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for SMOKING 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for CASABLANCA 

THE REAL DEEP STATE REVEALED

Secret Service Members Found To Be Part of Far-Right Extremist Group—Report

Story by Darragh Roche • 

Members of the Secret Service have been found to be part of the far-right extremist group the Oath Keepers, according to documents reviewed by the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).


Marine One carries U.S. President Joe Biden from the White House as a Secret Service agent stands guard on September 01, 2022 in Washington, DC. New documents show several members of the Oath Keepers identified themselves as having worked for the Secret Service.© Win McNamee/Getty Images

A leaked membership list reportedly shows that seven Oath Keepers said they worked or previously worked for the Secret Service, according to files dating from 2009 to 2015.

The membership list was obtained as part of a leak of Oath Keeper documents, according to OCCRP, and were provided by "a former member of the group's inner circle" who requested anonymity because of ongoing federal investigations.

More than 300 members of the Oath Keepers identified themselves as current or former employees of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or affiliated agencies in the documents seen by POGO and OCCRP.

Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS), chairman of the House of Representatives' Select Committee investigating January 6, 2021, issued an emailed statement to the investigative groups about their findings.

"Extremism within our government is always alarming, but even more so in a department with a law enforcement and national security nexus like DHS," Thompson's statement said, according to POGO and OCCRP.

Hundreds of people on leaked Oath Keepers member list worked for Homeland Security, report finds
Story by Alex Woodward •

 
A membership list for a far-right anti-government militia group, whose leader and several members have been convicted of seditious conspiracy against the US, includes current or former employees of the US Department of Homeland Security, the federal agency tasked with defending the nation against extremist groups.


FILE PHOTO: Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gather in Washington© REUTERS

A report from the Project on Government Oversight and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project discovered more than 300 people previously or currently employed by the DHS listed on a membership list for the Oath Keepers.

Those alleged members include people who have worked for Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Secret Service and other federal agencies under the DHS.

Most of the people identified on the list denied their membership to the group or said their membership had lapsed, though analysts said even the appearance of connections to the group reflects “tip of the iceberg” of the relationships between far-right organisers and federal law enforcement.

Democratic US Rep Bennie Thompson, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee and the House select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol, said in a statement included in the report that “extremism within our government is always alarming, but even more so in a Department with a law enforcement and national security nexus like DHS.”

US jury finds Oath Keepers leader guilty of seditious conspiracy

The leaked list includes identifying information for individuals who signed up for Oath Keepers membership from 2009, the year the group was founded, through 2015.

Last year, Homeland Security Secretqry Alejandro Mayorkas announced that the agency would perform an internal review to address the state of domestic violent extremism within its own ranks, declaring domestic violent extremism “the most lethal and persistent terrorism-related threat to our country today.”

“As we work to safeguard our nation, we must be vigilant in our efforts to identify and combat domestic violent extremism within both the broader community and our own organisation,” he said in a statement in April 2021. “Hateful acts and violent extremism will not be tolerated within our department.”

A subsequent report in March 2022 discovered “very few instances of the DHS workforce having been engaged in domestic violent extremism” but noted that DHS “has significant gaps that have impeded its ability to comprehensively prevent, detect, and respond to potential threats related to domestic violent extremism” within the sprawling agency.

The report followed a similar review from the Pentagon to study “prohibited extremist activities” and “extremist behaviour” within the US military.

A report from the Anti-Defamation League published in September revealed at least 81 people who are currently holding public office or were candidates in upcoming local, state and federal elections who were included on an alleged list of Oath Keepers members.

The membership lists also included more than 370 people currently working in law enforcement agencies and more than 100 active military members, according to the report.

Among those with ties to DHS, at least 40 people claimed to have worked with Border Patrol, seven with Secret Service, and 184 with the US Coast Guard.

Inclusion on the list does not necessarily prove that the named individuals participated or necessarily believed in the group’s causes and actions, which included armed organising at public events and a forcible disruption of the 2020 presidential election in a violent breach of the halls of Congress on 6 January, 2021.

“The range of individuals represented in the Oath Keepers leak shows the extent to which this extremist ideology has gained acceptance,” according to the Anti-Defamation League’s report. “Even for those who claimed to have left the organisation when it began to employ more aggressive tactics in 2014, it is important to remember that the Oath Keepers have espoused extremism since their founding, and this fact was not enough to deter these individuals from signing up.”

But any credible allegation of ties to the group “potentially undermines confidence in these institutions that are so essential to the democratic rule of law,” according to Alejandro Beutel, a domestic violent extremist expert with Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy. “Especially when we come to consider that many of these far rightists have historically targeted minority groups for violence and harassment.”

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was recently convicted of seditious conspiracy for his organising efforts around the 2020 election, had pointed to the important role of maintaining relationships with federal law enforcement to both evade scrutiny and gain internal access to “what’s going on” inside institutions, as he wrote in 2009.

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APOLOGY IS HUBRIS SHE SHOULD RESIGN
Trade minister apologizes for breaking conflict of interest rules

Story by Richard Raycraft •

International Trade Minister Mary Ng has apologized after Canada's conflict of interest and ethics commissioner concluded she placed herself in a conflict of interest through her involvement in a decision by her office to award contracts to a friend's company.


Minister of International Trade Mary Ng speaks during a news conference in Ottawa on May 5. Ng has apologized after the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner found she contravened the Conflict of Interest Act.© Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Ng's office signed contracts for media and communications training with public relations agency Pomp & Circumstance, co-founded and run by Amanda Alvaro.

The commissioner stated in his report, released Tuesday, that Ng and Alvaro are friends according to the definition in the Conflict of Interest Act. Alvaro is a regular panellist on CBC's Power & Politics.

The contracts were signed on behalf of the minister in March 2019 and April 2020.

"Minister Ng twice failed to recognize a potential conflict of interest involving a friend, an oversight of her obligations under the Conflict of Interest Act," Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion said in a news release.

"There is simply no excuse for contracting with a friend's company."

In a statement posted to Twitter Tuesday, Ng apologized.

"I take full responsibility for my actions. I should have recused myself and apologize to all for not having done so," Ng said in the statement.

"At no time was there an issue of any personal benefit for me, nor any intention for anyone to benefit inappropriately."

Conservative MP James Bezan asked the commissioner in May 2022 to examine the April 2020 contract.

Dion's report says Ng told the commissioner the training was needed to deal with an increased number of requests for information to her office from media and businesses following the start of the pandemic. The report says Ng called Alvaro in late March 2020 to talk about the situation.

Ng's office signed a contract worth $16,950 with Pomp & Circumstance on April 8, 2020.


Ng told the commissioner she did not discuss a contract in her phone call with Alvaro.

"The decision to trigger the steps that resulted in obtaining services from a company owned by one of her friends placed Minister Ng in a conflict of interest," Dion said in the report.

"She should have known to instead withdraw from the process that led to the awarding of the contracts and obtain similar services from another provider."

Ng told the commissioner she had no recollection of the earlier contract between her department and Alvaro's company, dated March 26, 2019 and worth $5,840.

Alvaro told the commissioner a member of Ng's office contacted her to obtain media training services. The report said Ng was not copied on any of the email exchanges relating to the 2019 contract, but members of Ng's office were aware of the friendship between Ng and Alvaro.

"In light of the evidence gathered during this examination, I find that Ms. Ng participated in making a decision (in March 2019) and made a decision (in April 2020) to hire Pomp & Circumstance for media training," Dion said in his report.

Section 4 of the Conflict of Interest Act states that "a public office holder is in a conflict of interest when he or she exercises an official power, duty or function that provides an opportunity to further his or her private interests or those of his or her relatives or friends."

A spokesperson for the commissioner's office said Ng is not facing any fines for breaching the act.

"While the Conflict of Interest Act does not provide for any sanctions for contraventions found following an examination, a report is provided to the Prime Minister," the spokesperson said in an email.

"As set out in section 19 of the Conflict of Interest Act, compliance with the Act is a condition of a person's appointment and employment as a public office holder."

Conservative critic calls on Ng to resign

Michael Barrett, the Conservative ethics and accountable government critic, said Ng should resign in light of the commissioner's findings.

"We have a tradition in this country of ministerial accountability," Barrett said in a media scrum Tuesday.

"And while it often seems to be absent in this government bench, under these Liberals, it is of course cause, with this finding of guilt, for the international trade minister, Ms. Ng, to resign."

Barrett pointed to other conflict of interest breaches by members of the Trudeau government, including former finance minister Bill Morneau, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Trudeau himself.

"The trend continues now with their trade minister," Barrett said.

In question period Tuesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre asked whether Ng will be required to pay back the money awarded in the contracts.

Trudeau did not answer the question. Instead, he talked about the Liberals' victory in Monday's Mississauga-Lakeshore byelection.

US achieves first-ever self-sustaining nuclear fusion reaction


Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have achieved a first-of-its-kind fusion ignition that will change the future of clean energy.


Illustration of the inertial fusion reaction by ignition. - LLNL© Provided by News 360

For the first time, researchers in the field are producing more energy from fusion than was used to power it.

The achievement, officially unveiled Tuesday, occurred on December 5. At LLNL's National Ignition Facility (NIF), the first demonstration of 'fusion ignition' was performed in a laboratory device. The NIF is the largest and most powerful inertial fusion power facility of its kind.

Fusion ignition' is one of the most significant scientific challenges ever faced by mankind. It is the point at which a nuclear fusion reaction produces enough energy to be self-sustaining. It simulates energy production in the Sun and is considered the 'holy grail' for clean, inexhaustible energy.

Related video: Watch: U.S. announces nuclear fusion energy breakthrough (CBS News)
Duration 4:26  View on Watch




'A moment in history': US researchers announce major nuclear fusion breakthrough

In the 1960s, pioneering Livermoore scientists led by John Nuckolls hypothesized that lasers could be used to achieve fusion ignition, which has only now been achieved for the first time.

To develop the project over the past 60 years, LLNL built a series of increasingly powerful laser systems, leading to the creation of NIF. Located in Livermore, California, it is the size of a sports stadium and uses powerful lasers to create temperatures and pressures like those found in the cores of giant stars and planets, and inside exploding nuclear weapons.

Fusion is the process by which our sun and all other stars exist. Nuclear fusion occurs when two atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus.

On December 5, the fusion energy released at NIF was greater than the energy of the laser beam applied for that purpose, exceeding the threshold necessary for ignition.

The LLNL experiment exceeded the fusion threshold by delivering 2.05 megajoules (MJ) of energy to the target, resulting in 3.15 MJ of fusion energy production, demonstrating for the first time a fundamental scientific basis for inertial fusion energy (IFE).

Many advanced scientific and technological developments are still needed to achieve a simple and affordable IFE to power homes and businesses, and DOE is currently restarting a coordinated, broad-based IFE program in the United States. Combined with private sector investment, there is strong momentum to drive rapid progress toward commercialization of fusion, according to a DOE release.

As Biden administration Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm explained in the presentation, this milestone also opens up an unprecedented capability to support Stockpile Stewardship, the U.S. program for reliability testing and maintenance of its nuclear weapons without the use of nuclear testing.

U.S. says nuclear fusion breakthrough "will go down in the history books"

Story by Lilia Luciano •

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Tuesday a monumental milestone in nuclear fusion research: a "net energy gain" was achieved for the first time in history by scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

Watch: U.S. announces nuclear fusion energy breakthrough
View on Watch
Duration 4:26

"Simply put, this is one of the most impressive scientific feats of the 21st century," Jennifer Granholm, U.S. energy secretary, said at a press conference, adding that researchers have been working on this for decades.

"It strengthens our national security, and ignition allows us to replicate certain conditions only found in the stars and in the sun," she said. "This milestone moves us one significant step closer to the possibility of zero carbon abundance fusion energy powering our society."

The impact of the scientists' work will assist U.S. industries nationwide, Granholm said.

"Today, we tell the world that America has achieved a significant scientific breakthrough," said Granholm.

The hope is that it could be used to develop a clean source of power that would discontinue reliance on fossil fuels.

"The day you get more energy out than you put in, the sky's the limit," American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson told CBS News.

Nuclear fusion has been considered the holy grail of energy creation that some say could save humans from extinction. It combines two hydrogen atoms, which then makes helium and a whole lot of energy.

It's how stars, like our sun, generate power.

"We've known how to fuse atoms and generate energy. We just haven't been able to control it," said deGrasse Tyson, author of "Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization."

Nuclear fusion technology has been around since the creation of the hydrogen bomb, but using that technology to harness energy has required decades of research.

"They took 200 laser beams, some of the most powerful on the planet Earth, converged that energy down to a pellet, a pellet the size of a BB," said Dr. Michio Kaku, a professor of theoretical physics at the City College of New York. "And just remember, fusion power has no nuclear waste to speak of, no meltdowns to worry about."

Scientists believe fusion plants would be much safer than today's nuclear fission plants — if the process can be mastered.

That's the goal of a multinational, multibillion-dollar project called the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, which is under construction in southern France.


U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm (C) is joined by (L-R) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories Director Dr. Kim Budil, National Nuclear Security Administration head Jill Hruby, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Dr. Arati Prabhakar and NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs Dr. Marvin Adams for a news conference at the Department of Energy headquarters to announce a breakthrough in fusion research on Dec. 13, 2022 in Washington, DC. 

 / Credit: Getty Images© Provided by CBS News

Currently, nuclear power plants use fission, which breaks atoms apart to make energy. Even thought it's not burning fossil fuel, meltdowns like Chernobyl and Fukushima are evidence that our nuclear fission can still harm humans — and our environment.

But now, fusion's moment appears to finally be here.

"We're long overdue to have converted something so destructive that finally it could be used for a peaceful purpose in the service of civilization," deGrasse Tyson said.

Granholm said scientists have achieved a milestone that will reach far beyond Tuesday's announcement.

"This is a landmark achievement for the researchers and staff at the National Ignition Facility who have dedicated their careers to seeing fusion ignition become a reality, and this milestone will undoubtedly spark even more discovery," Granholm said, adding that the breakthrough "will go down in the history books.''

 

Scientists announced that they have for the first time produced more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to ignite it — a major breakthrough in the decades-long quest to harness the process that powers the sun. US Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm hails this milestone as "one of the most impressive scientific feats of the 21st century." For more on the future of nuclear fusion, FRANCE 24 is joined by Kristine Berzina, Managing Director at the German Marshall Fund.

The faces of New Brunswick’s homelessness crisis: ‘We’re being treated as lesser’

Story by Karla Renić and Nathalie Sturgeon • Thursday

At the River Stone Recovery Centre in Fredericton, N.B., dozens of people -- many who are unhoused or have previously experienced homelessness -- come to manage their substance use and addictions.

Director Dr. Sara Davidson said the situation in her city is heartbreaking, and stigma is a big part of the problem.

Read more:
New Brunswick’s homelessness crisis and how it’s reaching a boiling point

"What I see in homelessness is societies that want to pretend that people aren't there ... They just want the problem to go away. But people don't go away -- people are here -- and so they become invisible," Davidson said.

Expert says stigma causing homeless to become invisible

Global News met individuals at the centre who wanted to share their stories of homelessness and addiction. For many, it's a story of survival.

Meet Kayla Tenass

Tenass, from Metepenagiag (Red Bank) First Nation, says homelessness and addiction are like a revolving door.

“You get into a survival mode of just doing what you have to do to get by.”

Tenass moved to Fredericton 15 years ago to attend university, which she did for two years before “life got in the way.”

After she began using drugs, she was incarcerated and the fight to survive began.

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“To just keep on existing in the world and not really living, you know, because it's not a way to live,” she said with tears in her eyes.

“Nobody wants to have to be hooked on drugs and have to hustle every day just to feed your habit.”

Nearly one year ago, her boyfriend passed away from an overdose. Tenass said she’s still not sure whether his death was intentional.

“Having a criminal record and not having a stable place to live at the time, is very hard to keep going," Tenass said. “I can understand why people lose hope, and then you just want to take another way out.”

But she remains hopeful.

“Even before that, I tried to live a hopeful life. And I always tried to live on the bright side of things and just try to keep on going, you know, push through.”

She wants people to stop overlooking mental health and addictions, and to instead “actually look at addiction as a disease,” she said.

“People are so quick to judge and to make us feel like we're less than … If they would actually get to know us, we’re pretty good people, we're capable of a lot more.”

Meet Stephen

Stephen, who Global News agreed to identify by his first name only, has been struggling with substance use, in addition to physical and emotional challenges.

His story began after several motor vehicle accidents left him with physical pain. He was involved with cocaine and heroin, he said, and got in trouble with law enforcement. It’s also when he began drinking, 25 years ago.

“I legally drugged myself with alcohol,” Stephen said.

His wife passed away eight years ago, after which he lost his house and was left couch-surfing for months. It’s been a difficult journey for him -- one of survival, he said.

Stephen is currently living in a rooming house but said it’s expensive. He gets a death benefit pension of $440 which gets taken off of his welfare cheque, leaving him with $630 each month. Of that, $450 goes to rent.

But he said he feels fortunate to have found River Stone Recovery Centre, which helps him be properly medicated.

“I can function better than I could before. I now reduce all my illegal drug usage to maybe once a month, so it's fantastic that way,” he said.

Stephen said people who struggle with addictions or housing shouldn’t all be put into one box.

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“We have complex lives, complex situations – psychological, mental, family, financial, education,” he said. “We have similarities that we might understand between ourselves, but you won’t find two people identical here.”

Meet Francis Nevers

Francis Nevers said though her addiction and homelessness are in the past, the stigma hasn’t disappeared.

Nevers is currently housed and works at a pharmacy in the same building as the River Stone Recovery Centre, with a goal to open up a second-hand shop one day.


The faces of New Brunswick’s homelessness crisis:

 ‘We’re being treated as lesser’© Provided by Global News

She was hired shortly after beginning a treatment program at River Stone.

“The program saved my life,” Nevers said, adding she was infected with severe bloodstream bacteria after using drugs while living in the woods.

She said there are few ways to cope with being homeless in Fredericton that don’t involve substances.

“If you have nothing to do or nowhere to go and you're shunned and kicked out of everywhere you go, then what do you do? You know, you've got to do something to keep sanity out.”

Nevers said she’s a hard worker, like many others who are homeless. She spent many of her days dumpster-diving and recycling bottles to make money while living outdoors. She’s intelligent, she said, and has previously owned a business.

But because of her addiction and lifestyle, Nevers said, she’s still being stigmatized.

“Most people won't hire us, and I can't blame them because ... just hygiene reasons, the lack of sleep, proper rest,” she said. “We're being treated as lesser.”

Nevers said she’s at risk of being out on the streets again as she has to leave her apartment where repairs are needed.

Meet Allan Griffin

Allan Griffin lost everything after he was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 -- including his wife.

“I lost everything that I and my other half had at the time. She passed away in 2017, and it's been a struggle ever since.”

When he finished his cancer treatment, he was living in a tent – it was his home for nearly three years. He was infected with COVID-19 too, which landed him in a hospital for two months.

He was then partially paralyzed for more than three months due to a bloodborne bacteria infection in his spine, which he says was due to living in a tent and having poor hygiene.

Griffin now spends his nights in a shelter with strict rules, making him feel like he’s not wanted. He likely won’t be there much longer, he said, but options are lacking.

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“All the barriers you can throw. It’s like they don’t want me there, I don’t know why. I'm a single male who just wants to have his own little place.”

He said people view those who are unhoused with stigma.

“We’re fathers, we’re sons, we’re mothers, we’re daughters, we’re grandparents,” he said.

Meet Raymond Green

Raymond Green has been living precariously for a number of years. He left his family and the home they provided a decade ago because he didn’t want his addiction to be a burden for them.

Green spent about seven of the past 10 years living outdoors.

Keeping warm was the hardest part, he said. “Especially in the wintertime, it became quite a task.”

Read more:
‘It’s going to save lives’: Emergency shelter opens in Saint John, N.B.

He’s also part of the River Stone Recovery Centre program, where he manages his addiction. “I'm very grateful ... It's been easier on myself and my family.”

Green found his way out of homelessness in the past year, he said happily, adding he also recently got married.

“Me and my wife, we got a small little place, an apartment. Yeah, things changed quite good in the last six months. I’m very grateful,” he said. “I feel like I’m in my element. It's a new world, you know?”

He wants those in power to see first-hand what it’s like to live on the street.

“Spend a week on the street, see how they’re doing. I guarantee they’ll be asking for help,” he said. “It’s a cruel place … It's an unforgiving place.”

If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help, resources are available. In case of an emergency, please call 911 for immediate help.

Crisis Services Canada’s toll-free helpline provides 24-7 support at 1-833-456-4566.

CHIMO hotline (New Brunswick): 1-800-667-5005

Editor’s note: This story is Part 2 of a three-part series on the homelessness crisis in New Brunswick.

Part 1: New Brunswick’s homelessness crisis and how it’s reaching a boiling point

Liberals aim to secure long-term role for feds in national child-care system

OTTAWA — Families Minister Karina Gould introduced legislation Thursday in an attempt to secure a long-term role for Ottawa in daycare and future-proof the Liberal vision of a national child-care system.

The proposed legislation, Bill C-35, sets out the federal government's commitment to long-term funding for provinces and Indigenous Peoples, as well as the principles that will guide those funds. It does not make any specific financial promises.

The Liberal government has brought in a national child-care plan that aims to cut daycare fees by an average of 50 per cent by the end of this year — and down to an average of $10 per day by 2026.

The 2021 federal budget pledged $30 billion in new spending on child care over five years, with another $9.2 billion annually after that.

Enshrining the role of the federal government in the system is one way to make it harder to dismantle should another party win the next election, said Gould.

"We want to protect what we have built," she said at a press conference Thursday.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said in the past that his party, if elected, would abolish the existing child-care plan and replace it with a tax credit that goes directly to families.

The Liberal government of former prime minister Paul Martin signed child-care deals with the provinces with the goal of creating a national daycare system in 2005, but Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper cancelled the agreements after he came to power the next year.

A future Conservative government would not be able to abolish the Liberals' new program as "hastily" as Harper did, said Susan Prentice, the Duff Roblin professor of government at the University of Manitoba.

If future governments wish to renege on the long-term commitments proposed in the bill, they would have to take the step of repealing or amending the legislation, Gould said.

"Conservatives wouldn't be able to hide this," she said. "They would have to very publicly tell Canadians that they do not believe in affordable child care."

In an emailed statement, Conservative families critic Michelle Ferreri did not directly respond to Gould's intention to make it harder for her party to scrap the program if it forms government.

Related video: Liberals introduce bill to protect federal child-care funding (cbc.ca)

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She said her party recognizes that families should have access to affordable and quality child care, but said that care is still elusive.

"Despite Liberal promises, affordable child care continues to be out of reach for many Canadian families, as already-long wait lists for child-care spots continue to get even longer," she wrote.

Government officials who provided a briefing on the condition that they not be named said the bill was drafted to respect provincial and territorial jurisdiction and Indigenous rights. They said it does not impose conditions on other levels of government, which was the top concern of other governments during the consultation process.

All provinces appear on track to reduce their child care fees by 50 per cent by the end of the year except for Manitoba, Gould said. That province already has some of the lowest child-care fees in the country, at about $20 per day, and is likely to reach the benchmark by early next year.

Prentice said the bill shows reticence to step too far into provincial jurisdiction.

Any accountability provisions would be part of the individual bilateral agreements signed with each province and territory, which will need to be renegotiated every five years.

"For the moment, that may be the best we've got," she said, but added that she hopes the legislation is continuously improved over time.

"There may in fact be a point down the road where stronger terms and conditions are built in, but for the moment, I still think that it signals a very important sea change."

The fact that fees have already been reduced will make it politically challenging for provinces to walk away from the program after the current five-year term is up in 2026, Gould said.

"They would be leaving a lot of federal money on the table, but more importantly, they'd be leaving a lot of families in the lurch," she said.

The Liberals had promised to introduce the legislation by the end of this year as part of their confidence-and-supply agreement with the NDP, in which the New Democrats have agreed to support the minority government on key votes in the House of Commons to avoid triggering an election before 2025.

That means the bill is all but certain to pass.

If passed, the legislation would also require the minister to report annually to the public about federal funding contributions, child-care accessibility and affordability.

It also legislates the creation of a national advisory council on early learning and child care, which the government announced at the end of November.

NDP families critic Leah Gazan said her party pushed for human rights to be included in the bill. It makes reference to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and UN conventions focused on the rights of children, the rights of persons with disabilities and the elimination of discrimination against women.

"I think it's a really strong first step," Gazan told reporters outside the House of Commons on Thursday.

Still, she said the bill is not perfect and she'll be putting forward amendments when the it is reviewed in committee.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2022.

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press