BOLSONARO COUP ATTEMPT

Riots in Brazil following arrest of Bolsonaro supporter

A group of demonstrators sympathetic to Brazilian ex-President Jair Bolsonaro have staged riots in Brasilia on Monday night by setting fire to vehicles and attempting to invade the Federal Police headquarters, following the arrest of a Bolsonaro supporter hours after the accreditation of Lula da Silva's electoral victory.


File - Brazilian Federal Police during an operation in Rio de Janeiro.

 - JOSE LUCENA / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO© Provided by News 360

The police used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, who responded by throwing sticks and stones at the officers.

At least one person has been injured in the confrontation, in which several buses have been set on fire and dozens of cars have been destroyed, reports the Brazilian newspaper 'O Globo'.

The District Public Security Secretariat has blocked several streets in the city as a "preventive measure" and to "control disturbances, traffic and possible fires", in response to the vandalism carried out by the demonstrators, reports the Brazilian media UOL.

In addition, the authorities have reinforced security in the vicinity of the hotel where President-elect Lula da Silva was staying.

The protests have started after Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the detention of José Acácio Serere Xavante, known as 'Tserere', for ten days for allegedly organizing protests against the election results.

The PF has indicated that "the defendant is accompanied by lawyers and all the formalities related to the detention are being adopted in accordance with the legislation, safeguarding the physical and moral integrity of the detainee".

It also reported that the disturbances in the vicinity of its headquarters "are being contained with the support of other security forces".

The future Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, condemned the attacks: "The depredation and attempted invasion of the Federal Police building in Brasília is unacceptable", he said.

"Court orders must be complied with by the Federal Police. Those who consider themselves harmed must offer the appropriate remedies, never to practice political violence", Dino assured.

For his part, the current head of this portfolio, Anderson Torres, said tonight that "everything will be investigated and clarified", in the context of the protests in which the Federal Police has tried to contain the violence and restore order together with local and national authorities.

"Nothing justifies the regrettable scenes we saw in downtown Brasilia. The federal capital is traditionally the scene of peaceful and orderly demonstrations - and it will continue to be!" he added, while showing his support for the police officers.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received this Monday the credentials as future president of the country, thus certifying that the elections of last October were legal and that the inauguration will be held on January 1.

Moraes, at the ceremony held at the organization's headquarters in the Brazilian capital, stressed that those responsible for the attacks on democracy will be identified and held accountable.

Supporters of Brazil's defeated Bolsonaro attack police headquarters

Story by By REUTERS • Yesterday

Supporters of far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday attempted to invade the federal police headquarters in the capital Brasilia, in a flash of post-election violence on the day the president's electoral defeat was certified.




A supporter of Bolsonaro© (photo credit: UESLEI MARCELINO/REUTERS)

Reuters witnesses saw Bolsonaro supporters, many in their trademark yellow national soccer jerseys or draped in Brazilian flags, confronting security forces at police headquarters. Police fired stun grenades and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Nearby buses and cars were set on fire.

Federal police said "disturbances" near the headquarters were being handled with support from capital security forces.

The violence unfolded after a Bolsonaro supporter was detained for allegedly organizing violent "anti-democratic acts," according to the judge who ordered his arrest.

Earlier on Monday, the federal electoral court (TSE) certified the Oct. 30 election victory of Bolsonaro's leftist rival, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as president. After months of baseless suggestions that Brazil's voting system is vulnerable to fraud, Bolsonaro has neither conceded defeat to Lula nor has he formally blocked the handover of power.

People attend a protest over Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro's defeat in the presidential run-off election, in Anapolis, Goias state, Brazil, November 2, 2022. 

(credit: REUTERS/UESLEI MARCELINO)

But some of the president's most diehard supporters have blocked highways in protest and camped out in front of army barracks, calling for a military coup to bar Lula from office.

Hundreds of Bolsonaro supporters gathered outside the presidential residence on Monday afternoon with banners calling for "military intervention." The president joined them for a public prayer but did not address the crowd.

"There's not going to be an inauguration," said Jose Trindade, 58, one of the Bolsonaro supporters in the crowd. "Bolsonaro was re-elected, but they stole it. So only the army can put things in order."

Related video: Brazil: Bolsonaro breaks post-election silence, calls for 'military coup' (WION)
Duration 2:28
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Supporters of outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro clash with police in Brasilia

The conspiracy theories and subsequent violence have rekindled memories of the January 2021 invasion of the US Capitol by supporters of former US President Donald Trump. It also raises security concerns about Jan. 1, when Lula takes office in a public ceremony in Brasilia.

Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, a key Lula aide, said there were concerns about the physical safety of Lula and Vice President-elect Geraldo Alckmin, as protesters had surrounded the hotel where he is staying in Brasilia. Lula's team denied reports that Lula would be removed from the hotel by helicopter.

"There's not going to be an inauguration, Bolsonaro was re-elected, but they stole it. So only the army can put things in order."Jose Trindade, 58, riot participant

Brasilia's public security officials said they had secured the area around Lula's hotel, and urged motorists to avoid the center of the city where many roads had been closed.

Sparked by arrest

The violence in Brasilia came after Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has led probes into Bolsonaro and his allies, on Monday ordered the temporary arrest of José Acácio Serere Xavante for allegedly carrying out anti-democratic acts.

Xavante, an indigenous leader, is among the Bolsonaro supporters who have protested in defiance of the Oct. 30 election result.

"I cannot accept criminals reigning in Brasil," Xavante tweeted last month. "Lula cannot be certified."

Last week, Bolsonaro broke weeks of post-election silence to say that his situation "hurts my soul."

"Who decides where I go are you. Who decides which way the armed forces go are you," Bolsonaro told his supporters at the gates of the presidential residence on Friday.

In a statement, the Supreme Court said Moraes "decreed the temporary arrest, for 10 days, of the indigenous José Acácio Serere Xavante, due to evidence of the commission of crimes of threat, persecution and violent abolition of the Democratic State of Law."

It said Xavante had led protests across Brasilia and had used "his position as chief of the Xavante people to enlist indigenous and non-indigenous people to commit crimes," threatening Lula and Supreme Court justices.

Xavante had "expressly summoned armed people to prevent the certification of elected" politicians, the statement added.

UPDATED

Peru's former President Castillo denies charges as protest death toll rises

Story by Claudia Rebaza • CNN 

Peru’s former President Pedro Castillo has denied allegations of conspiracy and rebellion, following his dramatic ouster and arrest last week. His appearance in court on Tuesday came amid ongoing protests by Castillo’s supporters that have seen at least six killed.

Castillo was impeached and arrested on Dec. 7, after he announced plans to dissolve Congress and install an emergency government ahead of a looming impeachment vote by lawmakers.

Dina Boluarte, his former vice president, has since become president. On Monday, Boluarte proposed bringing general elections forward two years to April 2024 during a televised speech.

Castillo appeared in a virtual court hearing on Tuesday to appeal his seven-day detention order, an appeal which was ultimately rejected by Judge Cesar San Martin.

During the hearing Castillo told San Martin, “I have never committed the crime of conspiracy or rebellion” and described his detention as arbitrary and unjust.

Dressed in a blue jacket and sitting next to his lawyer Ronald Atencio, Castillo also said, “I will never resign and abandon this popular cause.”

“From here I want to urge the Armed Forces and the National Police to lay down their arms and stop killing these people thirsty for justice. Tomorrow at 1:42 p.m. I want my people to join me…” he also said, before being interrupted by the judge.

Since last week, demonstrations have erupted in cities across the country in support of Castillo, sometimes marked by clashes with Peru’s security forces,

At least six people have died in the demonstrations, including two minors, Peru’s ombudsman’s press office said on Tuesday. And at least 47 individuals were hospitalized as a result of protests in the cities of Lima, Apurímac, Huancavelica and Arequipa, Peru’s Health Ministry tweeted.



Peru's former President Castillo denies charges as protest death toll rises© Provided by CNNProtests in Arequipa, southern Peru, on Monday. - Denis Mayhua/picture alliance/Getty Images

Demonstrators have called for a general election, the dissolution of Congress, and the creation of a new constituent assembly, according to the radio and television broadcaster Radio Programas del Perú.

Boluarte on Tuesday called for calm to be restored to the country, and said that she had instructed police not to use any lethal arms against protesters.

“Everyone has the right to protest but not to commit vandalism, burn hospitals, ambulances, police stations, assault airports, (these) are not normal protests, we have reached the extreme,” Boluarte added.

Travel disrupted

Trains to and from Machu Picchu will be suspended from Tuesday due to Peru’s protests, railway operator PeruRail said in a statement.

“We regret the inconvenience that these announcements generate for our passengers; however, they are due to situations beyond the control of our company and seek to prioritize the safety of passengers and workers,” the statement read.



At least seven dead as Peru protests disrupt flights and train travel© Provided by CNNDemonstrators clash with police in the Peruvian capital Lima on Monday. - Aldair Mejía/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Flights have also been disrupted due to protests, with LATAM Airlines Peru announcing the temporary suspension of services to and from airports in the cities of Arequipa and Cuzco.

Protesters attempted to storm the terminal at Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport in Cuzco on Monday, according to the Peruvian Corporation of Airports and Commercial Aviation (CORPAC).

So far there have been no reports of injuries, arrests or damage to the airport, according to CORPAC.


At least seven dead as Peru protests disrupt flights and train travel© Provided by CNNProtestors at the Alfredo Rodriguez Ballon international airport in Arequipa on Monday. - Diego Ramos/AFP/Getty Images

LATAM called on Peruvian authorities to take “corrective measures to ensure safety” for the operation of its flights.

“We regret the inconvenience that this situation beyond our control has caused our passengers,” it added.

Peru’s National Police said that, as of Monday evening, there were blockades on national roads in at least 11 regions of the country.

In addition, the government has declared a state of emergency in seven provinces in the Apurimac region in south-central Peru.

A country on the brink

Peru has been racked with political instability in recent years, with many Peruvians calling for political change, according to a September poll by the Institute of Peruvian Studies, which found 60% of those surveyed supported early elections to refresh both the presidency and Congress.

It is unclear if Boluarte’s ascendancy to the presidency can gain widespread political buy-in.

Boluarte “does not have a recognized political career,” said Fernando Tuesta Soldevilla, professor of political science at Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. “And without partisan support, political party or social organization behind her, she is weak from the beginning.”

“Everyone knows when Dina Boluarte’s government began, but no one can be sure how long it will last,” he told CNN.

CNN’s Andy Ortiz, Hira Humayun, Sahar Akbarzai and Gerardo Lemos contributed to this report.

Peru explodes into fiery protest as anger over political crises ignites

Story by By Marco Aquino and Adam Jourdan 

Protest demanding the dissolution of Congress and to hold democratic elections, in Lima© Thomson Reuters

LIMA (Reuters) - As Peru careers from one political crisis to another, the country has exploded in protest, with at least seven dead in the last week and the smoke of fires and tear gas hanging over city streets. A way out seems distant.


Protest demanding the dissolution of Congress and to hold democratic elections, in Lima© Thomson Reuters

The spark of the current unrest was the ouster and arrest of leftist leader Pedro Castillo after he tried to dissolve Congress illegally. It followed a months-long standoff where lawmakers impeached him three times, the final time removing him from office.

Peru has been one of the economic stars of Latin America in the 21st century, with strong growth lifting millions out of poverty. But the political turmoil is increasingly threatening to derail its economic stability, with ratings agencies warning of downgrades, blockades impacting major mines in the world's no. 2 copper producer, and protesters demanding Congress and new president Dina Boluarte step down.



Protest demanding the dissolution of Congress and to hold democratic elections, in Lima© Thomson Reuters

For those watching closely it should be little surprise. Voters are fed up with the constant political infighting that has seen six presidents in the last five years and seven impeachment attempts.

The heavily fragmented unicameral Congress is loathed - with an approval rating of just 11%, according to pollster Datum. That is below Castillo's, which despite a string of corruption allegations was 24% just before he was removed.

"The Peruvian people are just exhausted from all the political machinations, the crime, uncertainty and stalling growth," said Eric Farnsworth, a vice president at the Council of the Americas and Americas Society.

He said Boluarte's pledge to hold early elections in April 2024 could help calm things in the short run, but that would not solve entrenched issues of a divided electorate and infighting between the presidency and Congress.

"It's a toxic soup, with a weak president, a dysfunctional Congress, the deposed president seeking to generate a popular resistance to his legitimate removal, an agitated populace, and little vision from anyone on how to get out of this mess.

Peru's constitution makes it relatively easy for an unhappy legislature to initiate an impeachment, while a lack of dominant political parties - the largest, Popular Force, controls just 24 of 130 seats - means agreement is thin on the ground. Corruption has also been a frequent problem.



Protests despite a government proposal to bring forward elections, in Lima© Thomson Reuters

The only way many Peruvians feel they can make their voices heard is in the street. In recent days, protesters have blocked roads, set fires, and even taken over airports. Police have come under criticism from human rights groups for use of firearms and teargas. At leave seven people, mostly teenagers, have died.



Demonstrations demanding dissolution of Peru's Congress and democratic elections, in Cuzco© Thomson Reuters

There are echoes of protests in 2020, when thousands took to the streets after the impeachment and ouster of popular centrist leader Martin Vizcarra, who was succeeded by Congress leader Manuel Merino. After two died he also was forced to resign.

Castillo, less popular but with a support base in rural regions that helped him to a narrow election win last year, has looked to stoke things from jail, where he is being held while he is investigated over accusations of rebellion and conspiracy.

On Monday, he called Boluarte, his former vice president, a "usurper" in a written letter to the Peruvian people where he claimed to still be the country's legitimate leader.

"What was said recently by a usurper is nothing more than the same snot and drool of the coup-mongering right," he wrote, adding a call - long popular among a younger generation of Peruvians - for a new constitution.

"The people should not fall for their dirty games of new elections. Enough abuse! A Constituent Assembly now! Immediate freedom!" he wrote.

Boluarte, a former member of Castillo's far-left party who fell out with its leader and criticized Castillo after his attempt to dissolve Congress, has called for calm around the country and pledged a government of all stripes. But she faces a tough reality, caught between protesters and a hostile parliament.

With the recent history of Peruvian leaders littered with impeachment and jail, it is questionable whether Boluarte can hang on until new elections are held.

"Dina Boluarte is a murderer. Five people have died, and they say nothing. Nothing matters to her, she is shameless, treacherous," said Guadalupe Huaman, a Castillo supporter protesting with a Peruvian flag and hard hat in Lima.

Cutting Peru's outlook to negative and threatening a potential downgrade, ratings agency S&P said in a report on Monday that there seemed to be little to be hopeful about.

"The way Peru's most recent change in power occurred reflects heightened political deadlock, and it increases risks ahead," it said.

Farnsworth voiced similar concerns. While Peru had a history of volatile politics, it was unclear how things would resolve this time, he said.

"I think this time is somehow different," he said. "There is no real path forward it seems."

(Reporting by Marco Aquino and Adam Jourdan, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

 LIVE: Peruvian protesters demand election after former president’s impeachment

2 Killed, 4 Injured In Peru As Protests Demanding Elections Turn Violent

Violence erupts in deadly protests in Peru

Protests grow in support of Peru's ousted president Pedro Castillo

Peru armed forces to take control of infrastructure as protests rage on

LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's armed forces will take control of the "protection" of key infrastructure like airports and hydroelectric plants as protests continue across the country, the country's defense minister said Tuesday.


Protests despite a government proposal to bring forward elections, in Lima© Thomson Reuters

The government will also declare the country's highway system under a state of emergency in order to guarantee free transit, Defense Minister Alberto Otarola said.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Sarah Morland)

Peruvian police justify violence at pro-Castillo protests as raising «risk of death

The general of the Peruvian National Police, Víctor Zanabria, justified on Tuesday that the acts of violence directed against agents "increase the risks and possibly death", after seven deaths were confirmed in clashes with security forces in the protests in support of former president Pedro Castillo.


Demonstrators march in Lima demanding the release of former president Pedro Castillo and the closure of the Peruvian Congress. - Gian Masko/dpa

"Acts of violence against police personnel increase the risk and possibly death. We have the ownership of the use of force", said Zanabria, who said that they will increase the level of response and will begin to use rubber bullets "given the level of violence".

However, General Zanabria's announcement contrasts with the statements of the President, Dina Boluarte, who assured this same Tuesday that she has given orders to the police not to use any lethal weapon, not even rubber bullets", reports the Peruvian newspaper 'La Republica'.
Related video: Violent protest erupts in Peru demanding re-election (WION)
Duration 0:54
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Peruvian protests against new President Boluarte enter fourth day


Zanabria has detailed that more than 5,000 members of the National Police have been permanently deployed in different points of the historic center of Lima to contain the protests that for days have been registered in the capital in support of Castillo, imprisoned and accused a few days ago of a crime of rebellion.

For now, the new government of Boluarte has ruled out the presence of the Army in the streets of the country. "There will be no militarization and repression of the Armed Forces", said the Minister of Defense, Alberto Otárola.

Castillo has been in prison since last Wednesday, December 7, awaiting a judicial decision to confirm or not his release while he is being investigated for an alleged crime of rebellion after unsuccessfully announcing his intention to dissolve Congress and call legislative elections to initiate a new constituent process to change the Magna Carta inherited from Fujimori's regime.

The arrest took place when he was about to go to the Mexican Embassy to request asylum. In the meantime, Congress approved his dismissal through a motion of censure, the third he has faced since he took office a little more than a year and a half ago.

Since then, there has been a succession of protests in support of him and in favor of shutting down a Congress that from day one has been maneuvering to get him out of office. The current toll is seven dead and fifty injured between police and demonstrators. The new government of Dina Boluarte has called for dialogue and has convened a crisis cabinet to deal with the situation.

Peru: Seven dead and 119 police officers injured in demonstrations against the Peruvian government

Peruvian authorities have confirmed the death of at least seven people as a result of clashes between the country's police and demonstrators in ongoing protests in southern Peru demanding the release of former president Pedro Castillo and the calling of presidential elections.


Archive - Protests in Lima (FILE) - MARIANA BAZO / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO© Provided by News 360

Of the total number of deaths, six have taken place in the Department of Apurimac, while another has occurred in Arequipa, as reported by the regional health directorates of both regions in statements reported by the radio station RPP.

Among the dead are two minors, aged 15 and 16, who reportedly lost their lives in demonstrations in the towns of Andahuaylas and Chincheros, both in Apurimac.

Likewise, the Regional Government of Apurimac has detailed that 28 people have been reported injured on Monday.

For its part, the Regional Health Management of Arequipa has reported that 26 people have been injured during the protests, of which 16 are men and eight are women.

In addition to the civilians, up to 119 police officers have been injured throughout the country, among whom one remains seriously injured and six have been held hostage for several hours, a police official told RPP.

Likewise, 15 police officers have been injured after being attacked with pyrotechnic devices and explosives during a confrontation in Andahuaylas, in Apurimac, the Peruvian National Police said in a statement.

Thousands of people are protesting in the south of the country against the dismissal of Pedro Castillo, asking the new government to call for presidential elections.

The clashes between police and demonstrators have led the president of the Andean country, Dina Boluarte, to declare a state of emergency in three regions of the country: Ica, Arequipa and Apurimac.

"I announce the declaration of a state of emergency in areas of high social conflict. I have given instructions to peacefully recover the control of internal order, without affecting the fundamental rights of the citizens," said the newly appointed Peruvian president in a televised speech on Sunday night.

60 DAY STATE OF EMERGENCY 

A day after Boluarte announced the declaration of a state of emergency in the south of the country due to the turbulent protests, the Executive has detailed that the measure will last for 60 days.

This state of emergency will be maintained for a little more than two months in the departments of Ica, Arequipa and Apurimac, as reported by Andina news agency.

In this context, the Peruvian National Police will be able to maintain "the control of internal order", all this with the support of the Armed Forces, according to a decree published this Monday afternoon by the Executive.

ARE THERE NO NEO NAZI'S TO HARRASS

German climate activists say police searched properties in criminal probe

BERLIN (Reuters) - Police searched the homes of 11 environmental activists across Germany on suspicion of "formation of a criminal organization", a spokesperson for the "Last Generation" group said on Tuesday.


FILE PHOTO: Last Generation activists protest near Munich© Thomson Reuters

"There is little connection between these people, this is clearly an intimidation attempt," Lilly Schubert told Reuters.

The prosecutor's office in Neuruppin north of Berlin, which Schubert said was leading the investigation, was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.

Five of the people whose homes were searched were in custody at the time in the southern German state of Bavaria in connection with a separate investigation, she said. Nobody was arrested as part of Tuesday's searches, she added.

Climate activists in Germany and elsewhere in Europe have drawn the scrutiny of authorities with increasingly bold stunts, from blockading airport runways to hurling paint at priceless paintings in museums.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in late October took aim at climate protesters after a demonstration by two climate activists on a Berlin motorway was blamed for slowing emergency services' response to a traffic accident, after which a cyclist died of injuries.

German daily Welt reported that Tuesday's investigation was in connection with suspected sabotage of an oil pipeline in Schwedt, home to the refinery which provides 90% of Berlin's fuel, without citing sources.

Asked about a possible connection between the police searches and the pipeline, Last Generation's Schubert said: "That is possible, we don't know."

The Schwedt refinery was not immediately available for comment.

Carla Hinrichs, a member of the group, said on Twitter that her home was one of the properties searched by police.

"Now what? Yes, it's scary when the #police go through your closet. But do you seriously think we're going to stop now?," she said.

(Additional reporting by Alexander Ratz; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

Canada signs onto global forest restoration challenge at COP15

Canada promises to restore 19 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2030 as international negotiations to save the world’s rapidly dwindling biodiversity carry on in Montreal.

The Dec. 12 announcement makes Canada the 62nd country to sign onto the Bonn Challenge, an initiative launched in 2011 by Germany and the International Union for Conservation of Nature that aims to restore 350 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes by 2030 to tackle the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change.

With the inclusion of Canada’s commitment, almost 230 million hectares have been pledged for restoration across the globe as part of the Bonn Challenge, according to the federal government.

The pledge comes just days before international ministers are set to descend on Montreal and hammer out an agreement to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 — something scientists say is necessary to avoid critical tipping points.

“We are working with Indigenous communities, provinces and territories to protect and restore nature, including through our commitment to planting two billion trees,” Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in a news release. “As the world gathers in Montreal for COP15, we look forward to others joining us in the Bonn Challenge to protect nature globally.”

The same day, Natural Resources Canada announced over 50 new agreements under the Two Billion Trees program, a key campaign promise the Liberals made in 2019 to plant two billion trees by 2030. Representing more than $37 million in funding, the new agreements are expected to plant more than 12.5 million new trees across three different provinces, the majority of which will be planted by the McLeod Lake Indian Band of McLeod Lake, B.C., to help reforest its reserve forest that was destroyed by a spruce beetle infestation.

In the same news release, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault urged other countries to follow Canada’s lead and “join the global efforts to restore healthy and protected ecosystems.”

Other large Bonn Challenge pledges include Ethiopia with 15 million hectares, India with 26 million and the Republic of Sudan with 14.6 million. Ottawa’s initial pledge of approximately 19 million hectares is based on federally funded programs that support on-the-ground ecosystem restoration activities in forests, grasslands, peatlands, wetlands, agricultural lands and urban areas across the country.

Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) are “an important component of Canada’s pledge,” Amelie Desmarais, Environment and Climate Change Canada spokesperson, told Canada’s National Observer in an emailed statement.

“Post-COP15, Canada will actively engage with non-federal partners and explore other restoration initiatives in order to surpass its initial pledge.”

While restoration is important, the best thing we can do is keep our forests standing, especially old and primary forests, said Tegan Hansen, forest campaigner with Stand.earth.

“The unfortunate reality is that planting trees right now is not going to do anything to mitigate … the ongoing climate catastrophe or to protect biodiversity. That's just the simple truth. Seedlings can't do anything in the next 30 years to absorb enough carbon that we need to stabilize our climate,” said Hansen. “The government's commitment to plant two billion trees rings a bit hollow when our government is still allowing the most carbon-rich, biodiverse forests to be clear-cut.”

Before COP15 began, a leaked letter first reported by The Guardian revealed Canada’s attempts to water down European Union forestry trade regulations, which environmental groups say is emblematic of Canada’s tendency to say one thing and do another in regards to sustainability.

Shortly after, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked about the leaked letter and how Canada’s “green promises” align with industrial practices like clear-cut logging, and told media Canada is a leader in biodiversity and that “the government of B.C. is a strong, steadfast partner when it comes to protecting nature, and that's just an example of the great work we will continue to do and lead on.”

Hansen said Trudeau’s statement was “pretty laughable” and that “it's a pretty terrible look for Canadian officials to be trying to water down regulation that could help with better sourcing and forestry practices.”

Another restoration-related announcement accompanied the Bonn Challenge pledge.

Wilkinson simultaneously announced $18.7 million of Canada’s $5.3-billion climate finance commitment will be allocated to eligible countries for efforts to scale up forest and landscape restoration, enable inclusive landscape governance and equip the next generation of forest leaders to address the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.

When Ottawa earmarked $5.3 billion for international climate finance, it committed that 20 per cent of those funds would go toward nature-based climate solutions and projects that contribute biodiversity co-benefits. This announcement represents that biodiversity stream.

Because forests house 80 per cent of all terrestrial biodiversity, forest and landscape restoration is an important nature-based solution, the release noted.

A new international alliance is calling on countries to include explicit protection for primary forests in the final text of the global biodiversity framework currently being negotiated at COP15.

With over 100 signatories and counting, the Primary Forest Alliance wants to see an immediate moratorium on industrial development in primary forests, such as Canada’s old-growth forests in B.C. or carbon-rich boreal forests.

“First and foremost … throughout the targets, there needs to be explicit recognition for Indigenous rights and Indigenous territorial rights,” said Hansen. Secondarily, Hansen wants to see recognition of the critical role these ecosystems play and the need to keep them intact.

“If you think of places like British Columbia, where the forest has been extremely fragmented by industrial logging, and there's really small pockets of old-growth left, those small pockets are so essential to be kept standing so that the forest has a better chance of recovering, especially as we deal with climate change,” said Hansen.

Natasha Bulowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer

Ancient coins unearthed in desert cave could point to evidence of Maccabean revolt

Story by Patrick Smith • 11h ago

An ancient treasure trove of silver coins dating back 2,200 years found in a desert cave in Israel could add crucial new evidence to support a story of Jewish rebellion, archaeologists said Tuesday.

The Israel Antiquities Authority announced that earlier this year, a team of experts found 15 silver coins that they say were hidden by a refugee fleeing the turmoil of the Maccabean revolt from 167-160 B.C., when Jewish warriors rebelled against the Seleucid Empire.

The small wooden box, found in the Muraba‘at cave during an excavation in the Judean desert near the Dead Sea in May, is dated between 10 and 15 years before the revolt.

The find represents the “first evidence in the Judean Desert for the Maccabean revolt against the Greek Seleucid Kingdom,” the authority said in a press release Tuesday.


The Muraba‘at cave where the coins were discovered. (Israel Antiquities Authority)© Israel Antiquities Authority

The Maccabees revolted against the Seleucid king — Antiochus IV Epiphanes, referred to in Jewish sources as “The Wicked” — and his banning of Jewish practices.

The Seleucid Empire, covering large swaths of the Middle East and Central Asia, was one of several powers that succeeded the empire of Alexander the Great after his death in 323 B.C.

Eitan Klein, part of the team who studied the coins, said the discovery confirms the narrative that many fled the fighting and may have hidden their valuables.

“It is interesting to try to visualize the person who fled to the cave and hid his personal property here intending to return to collect it. The person was probably killed in the battles, and he did not return to collect his possessions that awaited almost 2,200 years until we retrieved it,” he said in a statement.

Klein described the find as “absolutely unique” and said it was the first archaeological evidence that the Judean Desert caves played an active role in the early days of the revolt, or the time just before it.


Excavation teams examine a wooden box containing the coins upon its discovery. (Israel Antiquities Authority)© Israel Antiquities Authority

Historians disagree over various details of the revolt, including its root cause; the Maccabees’ recapturing of Jerusalem and the rededication of the Second Temple are the origin of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, which begins Sunday.

According to tradition, a priest called Mattathias sparked the revolt in 167 by refusing to worship Greek gods, killing a Jew who tried to take his place then destroying an altar. He and his five sons then fled and went into hiding.

The Books of the Maccabees — which are not part of the Hebrew Bible but are considered canonical by Catholic and Orthodox Christians — describes Jews hiding in caves to escape repression.

“Then many who were seeking righteousness and justice went down to the wilderness to dwell there: they, their sons, their wives, and their cattle, because evils pressed heavily upon them,” the first Maccabees book says.

The box was made with a lathe and was packed with earth and stone, below which was a purple woolen cloth covering the coins. The impeccably well-preserved tetradrachm coins — large silver coins commonly used in the ancient Greek world — are from the reign of Ptolemy VI, who ruled Egypt at the same time Epiphanes, his uncle, ruled the Seleucid Empire, including Judea.

The three earliest coins were minted in 176 or 175 B.C., while the latest was made in 171 or 170 B.C.


Amir Ganor, head of the Murba'at excavations team, inspects the coins within an ancient wooden box. (Yoli Schwartz / Israel Antiquities Authority)© Yoli Schwartz

Not all scholars agree on the coins’ significance, however.

While he agreed the new find was an important discovery for the understanding of the period, Benedikt Eckhardt, a senior lecturer in ancient history at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, said the Israeli interpretation of them belonging to a refugee fleeing the Maccabee revolt was just one possibility.

“What we have here is Ptolymaic coins that are obviously a refugee hoard. I agree with that, I think they fled from somewhere, otherwise there’s no reason to leave the box there,” he told NBC News by phone.

“But it doesn’t indicate to me that these are people fleeing because of persecution. It would rather indicate to me that these might be people who are connected to the earlier Ptolymaic structure and were deposed or otherwise fell out of favor with the Seleucids. And that would have possibly been before the revolt.”

Eckhardt added that this was a vast amount of money to be found in one place — the equivalent to two months’ wages — which along with the scarce purple cloth suggests the items may have belonged to a high-ranking official.

“There is very close proximity in time between these coins and the revolt, so it’s not absurd to think that there is a connection. It’s just that there are already similar coin hoards east of Jerusalem that are not connected to the revolt.”



The coins are inspected before being cleaned. (Yaniv Berman / Israel Antiquities Authority)© Yaniv Berman

Eckhardt was nonetheless excited to learn more about the hoard.

“Other hoards that have been found are reconstructed by specialists based on what came onto the antiquities market at a certain time, so it’s subject to some speculation. So in this sense, it’s very interesting and I will certainly read up on it further,” he said.

The coins are to be shown to the public over Hannukkah in the Hasmonean Heritage Museum in Modiin, central Israel, as part of Israel Heritage Week, the authority said.

The authority has announced a series of major discoveries this year, including a 1,500-year-old winery capable of making 2.5 million bottles a year.

Palestinian authorities have also announced a string of finds in Gaza, such as an ornate Byzantine-era mosaic found under a garden.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

An Atmospheric Trick May Have Helped A Ukrainian Missile Battery Find And Sink The Russian Cruiser ‘Moskva’

Story by David Axe, Forbes Staff 

In days and weeks after a Ukrainian navy anti-ship missile battery sank the Russian Black Sea Fleet cruiser Moskva on April 13, a lot of rumors circulated.


'Moskva' sinking. Via social media© Provided by Forbes

Many of the rumors attempted to explain how a navy with virtually no big ships or aircraft could defeat a navy with lots of big—and heavily-armed—vessels and planes. Some of the rumors hinged on the assumption that the Ukrainians required foreign help in order to strike Moskva.

Did one of the Ukrainian navy’s Turkish-made Bayraktar TB-2 drones sneak up on Moskva and pinpoint her location, 80 miles south of Odesa, for the Neptune battery? Did a high-flying U.S. Navy Boeing P-8 patrol plane relay the critical coordinates?

Neither, apparently. According to an eyebrow-raising new story in Ukrainska Pravda, the Neptune battery—a quad launcher and its associated radar—found and hit Moskva mostly on its own.

The assistance the battery did receive ... came from nature. An atmospheric phenomenon called “temperature inversion” created a kind of channel for radar waves that allowed them to travel over the curve of the horizon and back,

“Nature itself unexpectedly helped Ukraine on April 13,” Ukrainska Pravda reporter Roman Romaniuk wrote. “The operators of the Neptune should not have reached Moskva with ordinary radar, but this is exactly what happened.”

On the afternoon of April 13, the Neptune battery’s radar operator registered, on his screen, a large blip south of Odesa. “There could be only one object of a similar size in this sector of the Black Sea—the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation, the cruiser Moskva,” Romaniuk wrote.


A Neptune battery. Ukrainian defense ministry© Provided by Forbes

“But how could an ordinary radar show an over-the-horizon target at such a distance?” Romaniuk asked. “As Ukrainian rocket engineers are convinced beyond doubt, nature itself sided with the defenders.”

An atmospheric inversion is a boundary layer in the air where the usual temperative dynamic—warmer air below, cooler air above—switches. Above the inversion, the air is warmer than it is below the inversion.

The inversion, which might occur hundreds or thousands of feet above the surface, is only so thick. A few hundred or thousand feet higher, the atmosphere reverts back to its usual temperature dynamic: higher is colder.

Think of the inversion as an invisible ceiling. Stuff tends to accumulate at the altitude where the temperature abruptly changes. Clouds and pollution, for instance. Electromagnetic waves, too.

When the weather is just so and an inversion forms at the right place and altitude, a radar that normally sees only as far as the horizon—30, 40 or 50 miles, depending on the radar’s height—might suddenly see over the horizon. That’s because the radar waves are channeled over the curve of the Earth by the inversion.

It’s hard to anticipate these conditions. So the Ukrainian radar operator was understandably confused when Moskva first appeared on his scope that April afternoon.

But not for long, Romaniuk explained. “After a few minutes of heavy hesitation and consultation, he gave the command ‘launch’—and two missiles flew towards the Russian cruiser.”

CUT NOSE TO SPITE FACE

No co-pilot? Airlines lobby for change in regulations

Story by Peter Greenberg • 


In the airline business, there are two cost factors the airlines can never control: fuel and labor. And as technology improves — and pilot salaries increase — there's been a controversial move lately by the industry to try to amend what's known as part 121 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. That's the federal air regulation that requires air carriers to have two pilots in the cockpit at all times.


miracle-on-the-hudson.jpg© Credit: CBSNews

The airlines have been quietly lobbying that the single-pilot approach would quickly solve the staffing problem caused by the pilot shortage and that technology has vastly improved to allow for safe operation of a single-pilot flight.

There's language in a new bill now introduced in Congress — the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill — asking the Federal Aviation Administration to reconsider part 121 and to allow the use of a single pilot operation, first in cargo aircraft.

Not surprisingly, airline pilots are loudly protesting this idea, claiming that it would diminish a safety discipline and culture that has been responsible for the safest 25 years in commercial aviation in the history of aviation. Pilots unions argue it's all about the airlines saving money and could compromise safety.

But many recent examples tend to confirm the unions' argument, including a 2015 crash in Europe. A co-pilot of a Germanwings flight locked the pilot out of the cockpit and deliberately crashed the plane, killing himself and 149 other people, giving credence to the ongoing argument that in an airborne crisis you need two pilots working in concert to save the aircraft — as was the case in the "Miracle on the Hudson," when pilots Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles successfully ditched a U.S. Airways flight in New York's Hudson River after the plane hit a flock Canada geese on takeoff and subsequently lost power. All 150 passengers as well as the crew were successfully rescued.

And most recently, an incident about 10 days ago occurred on an American Eagle flight from Chicago to Columbus. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot became incapacitated. The co-pilot was able to regain the controls, declare an emergency, turn the plane around and make a safe emergency landing back in O'Hare, and the pilot died later at a hospital. Had there not been a two-person crew in the cockpit, the story would have had a tragic ending.

In any case, more than 40 countries have appealed to an international aviation agency to revise standards globally to give airlines the option for a one-person cockpit crew, so the fight is just getting started.

Fire department saves eagle impaled on lightning rod atop 120-foot radio tower

Saturday, Deec.10,2022

First responders rescued an eagle impaled by a lightning rod atop a 120 -foot radio tower at St. George Elementary in MacClenny, Florida.

Fire department crews responded to a call Friday about the eagle stuck on top of the tower and contacted wildlife authorities from the scene. It was determined that someone would need to go to the top of the tower to help the eagle, MacClenny Fire and Rescue Department said in a post on Facebook.


In this photo posted to the FaceBook account of the Macclenny Fire and Rescue Department, the impaled eagle is shown.© Macclenny Fire and Rescue Department/FaceBook

MORE: Video Bald eagle spotted going through airport security

Engineer Louis Castle and Lt. Garret Williams loaded up into a 100-foot tall tower and headed toward the elementary school, according to the fire department.

Crews gained access to the area by cutting a fence then went up 100-feet in the tower, the department said in a statement on Facebook.


In this photo posted to the FaceBook account of the Macclenny Fire and Rescue Department, the impaled eagle is shown being rescued.© Macclenny Fire and Rescue Department/FaceBook


In this photo posted to the FaceBook account of the Macclenny Fire and Rescue Department, the impaled eagle is shown being rescued.© Macclenny Fire and Rescue Department/FaceBook

Castle then exited the bucket of the fire department's ladder and hooked himself onto the tower, using safety equipment, and climbed the remaining 20-feet, according to the department.

The eagle was found in "obvious distress," according to the department

MORE: Why a bald eagle was seen traveling through a North Carolina airport this week

Once he was at the top, Castle was able to free the bird of its impalement. It then soared down and was captured by wildlife rescuers.

As of Saturday afternoon, the fire department did not have an update on the eagle's health status.

DECRIMINALIZE DRUGS

Is safe supply for opioid use effective? Here’s what the experts, data say

Story by Teresa Wright • Saturday, Dec. 10,2022

Front-line workers of Canada's opioid crisis say harm reduction approaches like safe supplies for those navigating substance use are clear even amid renewed political debate around the issue.


People hold a banner during a march to remember those who died during the overdose crisis and to call for a safe supply of illicit drugs on International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver, on Tuesday, August 31, 2021.

© THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Debate around safe supply recently reignited after Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre posted a video to his Twitter account saying initiatives like safe consumption sites and offering a safer supply of drugs to people in the throes of addiction "will only lead to their ultimate deaths."

Read more:
Amid grim opioid death projections, Ottawa faces calls to move faster on safe supply

Global News spoke to experts who have been working on the frontlines of the opioid crisis to hear their experiences, and those who weighed in voiced concerns. A growing body of data, experts suggested, indicates initiatives like safe supply and harm reduction actually decrease overdose deaths and hospitalizations and help connect people to more health care and treatment options

“To describe safe supply as causing homelessness, as causing an increase in crime is really just the opposite of what we're seeing from the research itself,” said Mish Waraksa, clinical lead for the Parkdale Queen West Safer Opioid Supply Program in Toronto.

Here's what the data and experts say about the effectiveness of safe supply.

The video, “Everything is broken,” was shared in November on the Conservative leader’s Twitter account.

It shows Poilievre in the foreground, pointing behind him to a collection of tents along a shoreline in Vancouver, B.C., saying the people in the tents are “hopelessly addicted to drugs, putting poisons in their bodies.”

“The addictions that we see, that have terrorized these people and our communities, they are the result of a failed experiment,” Poilievre says in the video.

“This is a deliberate policy by woke Liberal and NDP governments to provide taxpayer-funded drugs, flood our streets with easy access to these poisons.”

The video drew criticism from many in Canada’s political realm, including a former adviser to former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, Ben Perrin, who said it reflected “tropes that have long been discredited.”

Read more:
Safe consumption forefront of countering the overdose crisis, prime minister says

Federal Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett, called the video “irresponsible.”

“Using (people living in tents) as props to peddle his snake oil was disgraceful,” Bennett said at a House of Commons committee meeting on Nov. 29, stressing that all federally-funded harm reduction initiatives are rooted in evidence-based outcomes.

“This is about creating a community of compassion… this is about the toxic drug supply, but (also) it’s understanding addiction.”

A request for comment from Poilievre for this story went unanswered.

Looking at the data on opioid deaths does paint a grim picture of the fatal and growing toll the opioid crisis is having on Canadians.

A total of 29,052 Canadians have died due to opioids since 2016, according to the latest federal data released in June.

In 2021, the number of deaths reached an all-time high: 21 Canadians per day died from opioids, which represents a 162 per cent increase from 2016, and a 101 per cent increase from the year before.

A total of 7,560 Canadians died from opioid use last year, up from 3,747 in 2020.

While these statistics are sobering, there is also data to suggest some harm reduction measures that have been implemented are saving lives.

For example, supervised consumption sites across the country received almost 2.2 million visits between 2017 and 2020, where nearly 17,400 overdoses were reversed without a single death at a site, federal data shows.

Video: Advocates say Alberta should revisit safe supply in light of new research

These visits also led to approximately 84,400 referrals to health and social services.

And when it comes to safer supply programs, where patients are given access to prescriptions of pharmaceutical-grade opioids, some recent studies have also shown positive outcomes.

A review of 10 federally-funded safer supply pilot projects in three provinces, commissioned by Health Canada and released earlier this year, cited participants reporting improvements in their lives and well-being.

Clients said having access to a safer supply of drugs saved their lives, created more stability, allowed them to become housed and employed and gave them hope for their future.

Another independent study published in September in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) found safe opioid supply programs can significantly cut down on emergency department visits and hospitalizations for people at high risk for overdose.

Read more:
Safer opioid supply program leads to drop in Ontario hospitalizations, ER visits: study

That study looked at individuals who used a safer supply program in London, Ont., for three years, and found ER visits and hospital admissions declined one year after participants entered the program.

It also found no increased risk of infections or overdoses and a decline in health-care costs unrelated to primary care or outpatient medications after a year.

In addition, there were no opioid-related deaths among those who were part of this program.

Video: Safe drug supply key recommendation in reducing toxic illicit drug-related deaths

The biggest driver of the overdose crisis in Canada since 2016 is the contamination of the street drug supply with more potent drugs like fentanyl, says Cheyanne Johnson, executive director at the B.C. Center on Substance Use.

But this has also shifted over time, notably accelerating as a problem during the pandemic, when closed borders and suspended treatment programs caused even more contamination and overdoses, she said.

For example, preliminary data for 2022 released by the B.C. Coroner’s Service has found that fentanyl or related drugs have been detected in 81 per cent of all illicit drug toxicity deaths in that province.

While Poilievre contrasted statistics on opioid use against data from before 2015, which is when the Liberals won government, Johnson said the spread of fentanyl has changed the realities on the ground.

Read more:
New study highlights effectiveness of Halifax safe supply drug program

“It's very difficult to compare pre-2015 levels of overdose to what's happening now because the supply chain has totally changed,” she said.

Blaming harm reduction programs that have reversed overdoses and that provide access to drugs that are not “poisoned” shows a misunderstanding of the realities of this crisis, said Rob Boyd, CEO of Ottawa Inner City Health, which runs a safer supply program and other harm reduction initiatives.

Virtually any front-line worker who supports programs for drug users would agree with Poilievre that more funding is needed for detox and in-patient rehabilitation treatment programs, he said.

But it doesn’t have to be a binary choice of “either” treatment programs “or” harm reduction initiatives like safer supply, he said.

Low-barrier programs that don’t require complete abstinence have proven effective at helping people who may not otherwise be able to receive help, Boyd said.

Read more:
More doctors are prescribing opioids to prevent their patients from dying of overdoses

“That is too high a threshold for somebody who is injecting fentanyl five or six times a day. We have to be able to start conceptualizing treatment, starting where people are at,” he said.

“In some cases, safer supply can be a treatment for somebody because it brings them a little bit of stability in that moment or in that day in their lives.”

Since most safer supply pilot programs across Canada have wraparound supports, such as housing, health and social supports, clients who regularly receive non-toxic drugs can gradually increase their capacity and motivation for change, he said.

Waraksa echoed this, saying safer supply “keeps people alive until they are able to access other forms of treatment.”

Overall, Johnson says she finds it “disheartening” to see the opioid crisis being politicized.

“It really further stigmatizes them and creates more shame around substance use.”

Tens of thousands protest in Bangladesh to demand resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Story by Vedika Sud • Saturday December 10, 2022.

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Dhaka on Saturday calling for the dissolution of parliament to make way for new elections, and demand the resignation of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The mass protest in the capital was organized by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which accuses Hasina of failing to address rising fuel prices and the cost of living.

Saturday’s protest comes amid a flurry of demonstrations in Bangladesh calling on Hasina to step down and demanding new elections.

Hasina has responded by calling the opposition leaders “arson terrorists” and warned people against allowing the BNP – the largest opposition party – back into power.

Several arrests were made in the lead up to Saturday’s protest.

Police arrested two top BNP leaders, including party secretary general Mirza Alamgir on Friday. Authorities said Alamgir was facing charges, without giving more information.

At least one man died during clashes between protesters and police on Wednesday when security forces fired tear gas to disperse people gathered in front of the BNP’s office in the capital.


Bangladeshi policemen disperse Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists on December 7, 2022. - Stringer/Reuters

Hasan Mahmud, Bangladesh’s Information and Broadcasting Minister, said authorities believe the man died after being injured by [Molotov] cocktails made by the activists and blamed the BNP for “creating chaos,” according to a report in state media outlet BSS.

The Bangladesh Election Commission has not announced a date for the next general election, which is due by the end of 2023.

The Bangladesh Awami League, led by 75-year-old Hasina, has been in power since 2009.

Hasina won a third consecutive term as Prime Minister in 2018 in a national election that was marred by deadly violence and allegations of rigged ballots.


Tens of thousands protest in Bangladesh to demand resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina© Provided by CNNSupporters of Bangladesh's opposition party protest against the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on December 10, 2022. - Mamunur Rashid/NurPhoto/AP

Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, criticized the government’s response to the protests.

“Concerned governments should publicly call on the prime minister to allow Bangladeshis to freely engage in peaceful political activities,” she said.

“Sheikh Hasina should accept the challenge of democratic rule, not authoritarian abuse.”

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter D. Haas said in a statement Thursday that the embassy is concerned about reports of intimidation and political violence and urged authorities to investigate and protect freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly.