ZIONIST ETHNIC CLEANSING

10 PALESTINIANS KILLED 
What's behind the Israeli army's deadly Nablus arrest raid?





Palestinians carry the bodies of 10 men killed in clashes with Israel troops in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023. Palestinian officials say that at least 10 Palestinians have been killed and 102 were wounded during a rare daytime Israeli army arrest raid in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Health Ministry says a 72-year-old man was among the dead. 

(AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

ISABEL DEBRE
Wed, February 22, 2023 

JERUSALEM (AP) — The northern West Bank city of Nablus, the Palestinian commercial center, resembled a war zone on Wednesday, after a daytime Israeli military raid triggered a firefight that killed at least 10 Palestinians and wounded more than 100 others.

It was the latest bloody escalation in a monthslong surge of Israeli raids into the the occupied territory that has led to the deaths of some 200 Palestinians and the arrest of at least 2,600 others. Last month, a similarly deadly raid in the northern West Bank city of Jenin triggered a Palestinian attack outside a synagogue in Jerusalem and a burst of rocket fire from Gaza.

This period of heightened violence in the West Bank and east Jerusalem has prompted comparisons with aspects of the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, in the early 2000s and stoked fears of further bloodshed under the most right-wing government in Israel’s history. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new ultranationalist coalition has vowed to take a hard-line stance against the Palestinians and to entrench Israeli rule over lands they seek for a future state.

WHY DID THE ISRAELI ARMY ENTER NABLUS?

Much of the violence between Israelis and Palestinians for the past year has focused on Nablus, along with the nearby city of Jenin. The Israeli military said Wednesday's daytime raid targeted a Nablus-based armed group of young men known as the Lions’ Den, which emerged last year. The group has surged in popularity among Palestinians who see them as heroes for fighting Israel’s open-ended occupation of the West Bank, now in its 56th year. Although the Lion’s Den portrays itself as independent of established Palestinian factions, experts say the group is funded by Islamist militant groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Israel has blamed the Lion’s Den for a string of shootings aimed at troops and Israeli settlements in the past months, including one that killed a soldier last October.

WHY DID THE RAID TAKE PLACE DURING THE DAY?

The Israeli army usually raids cities in the West Bank late at night in what it says is a tactic meant to reduce the risk of civilian casualties. But on Wednesday, as Israeli military vehicles rumbled into Nablus' Old City, its warren of homes and shops teeming with vendors and residents going about their routines under the bright sky. Fighting between Israeli security forces and Palestinian gunmen erupted in the stone alleys and the Israeli army even fired missiles at a house after the militants holed up there refused to surrender. The Israeli military said intelligence services had tracked down three wanted members of the Lion’s Den, including one involved in the killing of the Israeli soldier last fall, and determined they were all in the same house — offering a rare window of opportunity to target them. The army claimed the militants posed an immediate threat to Israeli lives, without providing evidence.

WHO WAS KILLED IN THE RAID?

At least 10 Palestinians were killed, including a 16-year-old boy and older men 72 and 61. The Lion’s Den claimed six of the dead as its members. A 66-year-old later died from tear gas inhalation, officials said. Other men were killed in unclear circumstances that the Israeli army said it was investigating. CCTV footage widely shared online showed two young men, apparently unarmed, shot after sprinting down the street, away from echoing gunfire. Another video circulating on social media, confirmed by witnesses, shows the body of 72-year-old Adnan Baara inert on the ground of the Old City market, his clothes covered in dust, beside a cart of bread. “We’re looking into everything,” said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an army spokesman. So far this year, at least 59 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, according to a tally by The Associated Press. While many of those killed in recent army raids are militants, stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killed.

WHY WAS THE DEATH TOLL SO HIGH?

The Israeli military said that its troops came under heavy fire as they stormed into the city. Young Palestinian men are increasingly taking up guns and organizing into small militant groups. The Israeli army’s escalating efforts to pursue them last year led to bloodshed in the West Bank at levels not seen since 2004. Fed up with the Israeli occupation that constrains their lives and disillusioned by the long-stalemated peace process and the unpopular Palestinian Authority that exercises limited control in parts of the West Bank, many young Palestinians have gotten their hands on M-16s, often smuggled from Israeli army bases or neighboring Jordan. Instead of slinging stones at troops entering their towns, they open fire. Israeli forces fire back. During a raid into the Jenin refugee camp last month, 10 Palestinians were killed, including a 61-year-old woman peering out at the chaos from her apartment window.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The Islamist militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, Hamas, issued a veiled threat after the deadly raid, saying its “patience is running out.” Senior Palestinian official Hussein al-Sheikh said that the Palestinian Authority is “considering taking steps at all levels in response,” without elaborating. Its options are limited. After last month’s raid in Jenin, the PA suspended security coordination with Israel, a move it has announced before with little impact. Although Israel says that its stepped-up arrest raids in the West Bank are intended to prevent future attacks, Palestinian residents and critics say the operations only inflame a ceaseless cycle of hatred and bloodshed. The Lion's Den on Wednesday promised revenge. “The size of the pain that befell Nablus today," it warned, “Israel will swallow twice as much.”

USING THE WEAPON OF DAVID AGAINST THE ZIONIST GOLIATH

Israeli troops kill 10 Palestinians, hurt 100 in West Bank clash -medics



Wed, February 22, 2023 
By Ali Sawafta

NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli troops killed 10 Palestinians, including at least three gunmen and three civilians, and wounded over 100 others during a raid on a flashpoint city in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, witnesses and medical officials said.

The Israeli military confirmed the operation in Nablus, saying troops shot back after coming under fire while trying to detain militants suspected of planning imminent attacks. There were no Israeli casualties, an army statement said.

Palestinian militant faction Islamic Jihad said two of its Nablus commanders had been encircled in a house by Israeli troops, triggering a clash that drew in other gunmen. Explosions sounded and local youths pelted armoured troop transports with rocks.

Palestinian sources said the two Islamic Jihad commanders were killed along with another gunman. The fatalities also included at least three civilians, among them a 72-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy. Medical officials said 102 Palestinians were wounded, six of them critically.

In a briefing with reporters, a senior Israeli military official said the raid lasted around four hours, with troops coming under heavy fire from rooftops and armoured gunmen on motorcycles.

Nablus and nearby Jenin have been a focus of raids that Israel has intensified over the last year following a spate of lethal Palestinian street attacks in its cities.

Sixty-one Palestinians, including gunmen and civilians, have been killed in 2023, the Palestinian health ministry said. Ten Israelis and a Ukrainian tourist died in Palestinian attacks in the same period, according to Israel's foreign ministry.

"We condemn the occupation's raid into Nablus and we call for an end to the continued attacks against our people," said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas, another Palestinian militant group that sometimes fights alongside Islamic Jihad, said there were four gunmen, one from its own ranks, and hinted at possible reprisals from the Gaza Strip, a territory that it controls.

"The resistance in Gaza is monitoring the escalating crimes conducted by the enemy against our people in the occupied West Bank and is running out of patience," Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Hamas armed wing, said on Telegram.

In a statement Saudi Arabia condemned the raid. The foreign ministry of Egypt, which often acts as a broker between Israel and Hamas, in a statement "expressed extreme concern" over the escalation and its potential to "undermine the efforts to achieve calm between the Palestinian and Israeli sides."

Hamas and Islamic Jihad are sworn to Israel's destruction but have in the past observed Egyptian-mediated truces with it.

U.S.-sponsored Palestinian statehood talks have been stalled for almost a decade.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Dan Williams; editing by Mark Heinrich and Bernadete Baum)

10 Palestinians killed, scores hurt in Israel West Bank raid

PHOTO ESSAY


2 / 15
A Palestinian gestures to Israeli military vehicles during clashes in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023. Israeli troops moved into the city, setting off fighting that killed several Palestinians, including a 72-year-old man, Palestinian health officials said. The Israeli military gave few details about its operation in the northern city, which is known as a militant stronghold, and the army frequently operates there. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

AREF TUFAHA and JOSEF FEDERMAN
Wed, February 22, 2023 

NABLUS, West Bank (AP) — Israeli troops on Wednesday entered a major Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank in a rare, daytime arrest operation, triggering fighting that killed at least 10 Palestinians and wounded scores of others.

The raid, which reduced a building to rubble and left a series of shops riddled with bullets, was one of the bloodiest battles in nearly a year of fighting in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Two men, ages 72 and 61, were among the dead, and 102 people were wounded, Palestinian officials said.

The Israeli operation, coupled with the high death toll, raised the prospect of further bloodshed. A similar raid last month was followed by a deadly Palestinian attack outside a Jerusalem synagogue, and the Hamas militant group warned that “its patience is running out.”

In a move that could further raise tensions, Israel's West Bank settler organization said that Israeli officials had approved construction of nearly 2,000 new homes in West Bank settlements. The Israeli government did not immediately confirm the decision, which came just two days after the U.N. Security Council approved a watered-down statement opposing settlement construction.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Wednesday that the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory “is at its most combustible in years,” calling Israel’s operation in Nablus that left 10 Palestinians dead and over 80 injured “deeply concerning.” He urged stepped-up efforts to prevent the further escalation of violence, reduce tensions and restore calm.

The Israeli military said it entered Nablus on Wednesday to arrest three wanted militants suspected in previous shooting attacks in the West Bank, including the killing of an Israeli soldier last fall.

The military usually conducts raids at night in what it says is a tactic meant to reduce the risk of civilian casualties. It said it took advantage of a rare window of opportunity after intelligence services tracked down the men in a hideout and warned they posed an imminent threat.

The army said it surrounded the building and asked the men to surrender, but instead they opened fire. When one of the militants tried to flee the building, he was shot and killed, said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, a military spokesman. The military then fired missiles at the house, he added, leaving it in ruins and killing the other two men.

A recently formed armed group based in the Old City of Nablus called the Lion's Den, which has surged in prominence over the past months, confirmed the militants were its members.

During the raid, the military said armed men in the city “shot heavily toward the forces,” which responded with live fire. It said others hurled rocks and explosives at the troops. The military released a video taken from inside an armored vehicle as crowds of Palestinian youths pelt it with stones. There were no Israeli casualties.

Time-stamped security footage widely shared online appeared to show two unarmed young men running down a street. Gunshots are heard, and both fall to the ground, with one’s hat flying off his head. Both bodies remained still.

Hecht called the video “problematic," and said the military was looking into it.

In the Old City of Nablus, people stared at the rubble that had been the large home in the centuries-old marketplace. From one end to the other, shops were riddled with bullets. Parked cars were crushed. Blood stained the cement ruins. Furniture from the destroyed home was scattered among mounds of debris.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said 102 people were wounded, and six of them were in critical condition. Various Palestinian militant groups claimed six of the dead — including the three from Lion's Den targeted in the raid — as members. But two men, ages 72 and 61, were also killed. There was no immediate word on whether the others belonged to armed groups.

Last month, Israeli troops killed 10 people in a similar raid in the northern West Bank. The following day, a lone Palestinian gunman opened fire near a synagogue in an east Jerusalem settlement, killing seven people.

Days later, five Palestinian militants were killed in an Israeli arrest raid elsewhere in the West Bank. That was followed by a Palestinian car ramming that killed three Israelis, including two young brothers, in Jerusalem.

The fighting comes at a sensitive time, less than two months after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new hard-line government took office. The government is dominated by ultranationalists who have pushed for tougher action against Palestinian militants. Israeli media have quoted top security officials as expressing concern that this could lead to even more violence.

Israeli police announced they were beefing up forces and going on heightened alert in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

The Cabinet includes a number of West Bank settler leaders, one of whom has been promised authority over settlement construction.

Yesha, the settlement council, announced that Israeli planning officials had granted approval to nearly 2,000 new homes in settlements across the West Bank. The defense body that grants the approvals, the Civil Administration, said the meeting was still underway Wednesday and that an announcement would only be issued on Thursday, after the two-day session is over.

The Palestinians and most of the international community say settlements built on occupied lands are illegal and obstacles to peace. Over 700,000 settlers now live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by the Palestinians for a future state.

The Israeli decision comes in the wake of the U.N. presidential statement that strongly criticized settlements. The U.S. blocked what would have been a legally binding council resolution.

American diplomats claimed to have extracted an Israeli pledge to halt unilateral action in order to block the resolution. The approval of new settlements by Israel would appear to defy that claim.

In the Gaza Strip, a spokesman for the ruling Hamas militant group issued a veiled threat following the Nablus raid.

“The resistance in Gaza is observing the enemy’s escalating crimes against our people in the occupied West Bank, and its patience is running out,” said Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the group.

Late Wednesday, Palestinian activists burned tires along Gaza's frontier with Israel in protest.

Hamas has battled Israel in four wars since seizing control of Gaza in 2007, and Israeli officials have expressed concerns about rising tensions ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins in the second half of March.

At least 55 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem this year, a pace that could exceed last year's death toll. Last year, nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, making it the deadliest year in those areas since 2004, according to figures by the Israeli rights group B’Tselem.

Israel says that most of those killed have been militants but others — including youths protesting the incursions and other people not involved in confrontations — have also been killed. An AP tally has found that just under half of those killed belonged to militant groups.

Israel says the military raids are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks while the Palestinians view them as further entrenchment of Israel’s open-ended, 55-year occupation.

Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war, territories the Palestinians seek for their hoped-for independent state.

___

Federman reported from Jerusalem.

HUMAN RIGHTS VS GLOBAL FUNDAMENTALISM

Rights group: Mideast governments target LGBTQ people online






Lebanon Egypt Iraq LGBTQFILE - 

Activists from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBTQ) community in Lebanon shout slogans and hold up a rainbow flags as they march calling on the government for more rights in the country gripped by economic and financial crisis during ongoing protests, in Beirut, Lebanon, June 27, 2020. Security agencies and government officials across several countries in the Middle East and North Africa have been using social media platforms and mobile dating apps to track and crack down on LGBTQ people, international rights group Human Rights Watch said Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023.

 (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

KAREEM CHEHAYEB
Tue, February 21, 2023

BEIRUT (AP) — Security agencies and government officials in several countries in the Middle East and North Africa have been using social media platforms and mobile dating apps to crack down on LGBTQ people, a rights group said Tuesday.

The findings of a new report by Human Rights Watch exposed digital methods of clamping down on the LGBTQ community in the region. For years the community has relied on online platforms for safety and privacy to sidestep oppression and discrimination due to social stigma and laws that criminalize their expression.

The report, “'All This Terror Because of a Photo': Digital Targeting and Its Offline Consequences for LGBT People in the Middle East and North Africa," documents dozens of cases of security agencies in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Tunisia extorting, harassing, publicly outing, and detaining LGBTQ people based on their activities on Facebook and Instagram, as well as queer dating app Grindr. The publication also questions major tech companies for not investing sufficiently in Arabic language content moderation and protection.

“This type of social media frenzy really had implications on people’s lives,” Rasha Younes, senior researcher with the LGBT Rights Program at HRW, said at the press conference.

One case the report documents is a 27-year-old gay man from Egypt named Yazid who said he was arrested and beaten in prison until he would sign papers that said he was “practicing debauchery” and publicly outing himself. He said one of the officers was someone impersonating a gay man who he met on Grindr. Human Rights Watch documented several cases of ill-treatment and sexual assault among other detainees.

In some cases, private individuals and gangs were involved in the extortion. In Lebanon, some people who were extorted online told HRW that they were threatened with being outed to their families and the authorities if they did not pay them a certain amount of money.

Younes added that many of the victims lost their jobs, faced violence and deleted their online accounts, while some opted to leave the country. Many of the victims say they suffered depression, anxiety and distress, while some reportedly attempted suicide.

Mohamad Najem, executive director of the Beirut-based digital rights organization SMEX, accused tech companies of a lack of transparency on their content moderation process. Content moderation is when a company monitors what is published on their platforms to ensure they are not abusive, illegal or in violation of their rules and guidelines.

“The problem with these tech companies is that you start a process with them and they disappear in the middle of it (and) you don't know what happened with them,” he said at the news conference.

While Human Rights Watch called on governments to respect LGBTQ rights and end the criminalization of their expression, they also called on major tech companies, notably Meta, Twitter and Grindr, to invest in stronger Arabic-language content moderation and respond more proactively to these incidents, as many of the victims who reported harassment and threats say they received no answers from the companies.

Younes said it was unclear whether tech companies are doing the best they can to protect users from online harassment and other abusive practices, especially in the Middle East and North Africa.

“In my brief engagement with platforms there is a repetition of how policies are meant to account for hate speech for everyone,” she said, but that there is “inequity in moderating content."

'A pivotal time': LGBTQ Task Force enters 50th year fighting blitz of anti-LGBTQ bills

LGBTQ communities face increased hate crimes as 'rhetoric drives violence,' says GLAAD CEO

Susan Miller, USA TODAY
Wed, February 22, 2023 

In 1973, LGBTQ activists took a bold step.

Four years after the roots of resistance ignited the Stonewall uprising, most states still had anti-sodomy laws on the books. Homosexuality was considered a mental illness, and violence against LGBTQ people was routine.

An arson attack at a New Orleans gay bar killed 32 people – and barely made headlines.

Advocates decided to form a task force with an urgent mission: Push for equality at a national level.

Now, 50 years later, activists from that same task force say they are at another defining moment – and they are mobilizing again.

“I’m struck at how many arguments in the past that were focused on our community have been refreshed to target LGBTQ people again,” said Kierra Johnson, executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force.

The task force, the nation’s oldest LGBTQ advocacy group, is marking its 50th anniversary waging a battle over a cascade of bills that have put the community in the crosshairs, Johnson said. “To be really specific, the legislation is targeting transgender and nonbinary people. … And they are targeting children.”

STUDENTS FEAR BACKLASH: LGBTQ students share their plans, fears for new school year

A memorial grows outside of Club Q on Nov. 22, 2022, in Colorado Springs 

after a gunman opened fire inside the LGBTQ+ club on Nov. 19.

More than 300 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced this year

Just two months into 2023, the landscape has already seen a wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) said last week that that it is tracking 340 anti-LGBTQ bills that have been introduced in statehouses. About 150 of those would restrict rights of transgender people, the highest number of bills targeting the trans community in a single year to date, according to the HRC.

Ninety of those bills would prevent transgender young people from being able to access age-appropriate health care, the HRC said.

Utah become the first state this year to ban gender-affirming health care for trans kids – which has been supported by major medical groups such as the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association.

The bill prohibits transgender surgery for those under 18 and bars hormone treatments for minors who have not yet been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, defended the bill last week on NBC's "Meet the Press," saying he wants more research into such treatments.

"We take power away from (parents) on a lot of things involving our young people. If there is potential long-term harm for our kids, we need to find that,” Cox said. “And what Utah did was just push pause until we get better data."

BANS CALLED 'CRUEL'': Should transgender kids have access to gender-affirming care?

Other bills tracked by HRC would ban transgender students from playing sports consistent with their gender identity; some would ban transgender students from using bathrooms and other school facilities that align with their gender identity.

Johnson says the "community builder" in these bills is fear. "You should be afraid of trans kids, you should be afraid of parents of LGBTQ people because they are going to be coming for your children,” she said. “They are coming for your kids in school, they are coming for your kids in bathrooms, they are coming for your kids in locker rooms.”

In 1973, LGBTQ people were painted as “degenerate, not normal,” Johnson said. But in 2023, the focus has shifted and the community is being portrayed as “predators.”

 

David Rothenberg, left, with David Dinkins in 1984.

'Ignorance has always played a part, 50 years ago and today'

David Rothenberg, now 89, was “classic closeted” in 1973, living a double life in New York City as a successful playwright, producer and founder of The Fortune Society, which advocates for prisoners and the formerly incarcerated.

“You lost jobs, you committed suicide, you lost housing, you lost friends and families – you didn’t come out,” Rothenberg said.

When Rothenberg was asked to join the original board of the task force because of his criminal justice expertise, he made a monumental decision at age 39: to come out in a very public way on "The David Susskind Show."

LGBTQ ELDERS' CONCERNS:Stonewall generation has a warning for the LGBTQ community post-Roe: 'Be really afraid right now'

The task force soon went full throttle, he said, marching, protesting, writing letters and testifying. And there were many successes, including the group’s role in persuading the American Psychiatric Association to declare by December of that year that homosexuality was not a sickness or mental illness.

Rothenberg sees parallels in today's climate and that of 1973. “There is a political component to homophobia,” he said. “But ignorance has always played a part, 50 years ago and today.”
Bills are part of a 'continuous pattern'

Dee Tum-Monge, 25, a digital organizer and senior communications manager for the task force, says there are some key differences in how advocates handle challenges today. Issues such as abortion rights, gun control and racial justice intertwine with the fight for LGBTQ equality like never before, they said.

“I think the way it’s being approached is new. The task force has been a leading voice in building intersectionality and how we approach advocacy on these issues. But the way people experience these issues is not new,” they said.

Tum-Monge said the bills are an attack on young people who can’t advocate for themselves, and they are bolstered by swirling rhetoric and misinformation. It’s part of a “continuous pattern that has just found a new light and new platform to spew a lot of LGBTQ hate” through the internet, they said. “People my age are just sick of it.”

'STILL LIVE IN FEAR': LGBTQ Americans hope push for Equality Act will finally end bias
Task force confident the tide will turn

The task force is combating the blitz of bills by collaborating with other national organizations and engaging with the people most affected, Johnson said.

This year is "a pivotal time," Johnson said, but she is confident LGBTQ advocates will prevail. “I fundamentally believe that the ferocity at which the opposition is coming at us is because we are winning. You don’t get this kind of anger, this kind of vitriolic energy … and creation of lies unless it’s your last-ditch effort.”

After decades of activism, Rothenberg offers a simple motto he has leaned on for years: “While you are waiting to change the world, deal with the one person in front of you. … You deal with them one at a time, and you build an army of change.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LGBTQ Task Force enters 50th year fighting blitz of anti-LGBTQ bills

LGBTQ Rights Take Center Stage in Scottish Leadership Race


Olivia Konotey-Ahulu
Tue, February 21, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- Health Secretary Humza Yousaf is favorite to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party and Scotland’s semi-autonomous government after his main rival lost support by saying she would have voted against same-sex marriage.

Bookmaker William Hill put Yousaf at 8/15 to replace Sturgeon after her surprise resignation last week while Kate Forbes, Scotland’s finance and economy secretary, was second on 15/8.

Both candidates kicked off their campaigns on Monday. They fielded questions about their position on Scotland’s controversial gender recognition reform bill, which Yousaf, 37, backed and Forbes, 32, said she would have voted against. The bill would have made it easier for people to legally change their gender.

Forbes, a member of the socially conservative Free Church of Scotland, also suggested she wouldn’t have supported single-sex marriage, though would defend the policy as leader. Some SNP politicians, including the public finance minister and the minister for children and young people, withdrew support for her after the comments.

Forbes said she would have “respected and defended the democratic choice that was made” on same-sex marriage, but the issue was “a matter of conscience”. Scotland passed the law introducing marriage for same-sex couples in 2014.

LGBTQ rights were already set to be a contentious issue in the race for the Scottish leadership, with Forbes on maternity leave when the Scottish Parliament passed the gender reform legislation. In addition to lowering the age at which transgender people can legally change their gender, it also removed the need to have a medical diagnosis of “gender dysphoria.” Sturgeon stepped down from power weeks after the UK government blocked the bill, the first time it had used such powers against the Scottish Parliament.

Yousaf said that he backed the former First Minister on a range of LGBTQ issues, including same-sex marriage and the gender recognition reform bill, and would challenge the UK’s decision if elected leader.

“I’m a Muslim. I’m somebody who’s proud of my faith,” Yousaf said in an interview with LBC on Monday. “But what I don’t do is, I don’t use my faith as a basis of legislation.”

A survey of the Scottish public last week by Savanta for Scotland found that Sturgeon’s successor will face a difficult choice over the trans rights bill. 53% of the Scottish public think the Scottish government shouldn’t proceed with a legal challenge over the UK government’s decision to block the legislation. A similar proportion of SNP voters took the opposite view, with 51% wanting the government to stand up to Westminster.

The race to replace Sturgeon so far is seen as being between Yousaf and Forbes after Angus Robertson, a former UK parliamentarian who now serves in the Scottish government as cabinet secretary for the constitution, culture and external affairs, said the time wasn’t right to seek the post.

Ash Regan, a member of the Scottish Parliament who stepped down from a ministerial role over the gender reform bill, is also running. William Hill on Tuesday put her odds of winning at 6/1.

The deadline for nominations for the SNP leadership is Friday, Feb. 24, at noon. The party will announce the winner on March 27 after a vote by members.

Despite the criticism, Forbes said on Tuesday that her campaign was “absolutely not” over.

“I think the public are longing for politicians to answer straight questions with straight answers,” she said in an interview with BBC Radio. “My position on these matters is that I will defend to the hilt everybody’s rights in a pluralistic and tolerant society, to live and to love free of harassment and fear.”

People of faith must be respected in any conversion therapy ban, says Kate Forbes

Ross Hunter
Tue, 21 February 2023

SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes (Image: PA)

THE views of people of faith must be respected in any legislation which seeks to ban conversion therapy in Scotland, according to SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes.

Last year, the Scottish Government’s expert advisory group on ending conversion practices published a report which recommended the measures that should be taken to end conversion therapy in Scotland.

It defined conversion therapy as any practice which aimed to “change, suppress and/or eliminate a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression”.


Some faith groups have criticised the move to ban the practice, claiming that it would criminalise their religious work.

The UK Government has previously committed to implementing a ban but the Scottish Government said that it would also bring forward legislation if a UK-wide ban was not forthcoming.

READ MORE: Kate Forbes loses SNP endorsements following equal marriage comments

Speaking to The Scotsman on Monday, Forbes was asked for her views on the prospective ban of conversion therapy practices in Scotland.

She said: ““As somebody of faith, the concept of coercion is absolutely abhorrent. I strongly condemn the use of any coercion when it comes to people's sexuality or when it comes to people's faith.

"I would argue that in a pluralistic and tolerant society I would certainly defend to the hilt everybody's right to live and to love free of harassment.

"The conversion therapy bill hasn't been introduced yet as far as I know. But equally we should defend the rights of other minorities like people of faith, as well, when it comes to their freedom of expression, their freedom of speech and their freedom of practice.

"I think there's a way for a bill to respect that whilst at the same time ensuring that coercion has no place in Scotland."

The Finance Secretary also cast doubt on the bill being brought forward by Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur which aims to legalise assisted dying in Scotland.

She said she had “never seen a law” on the subject with “sufficient safeguards” in place to avoid people being exploited.

Kate Forbes: I would have voted against gay marriage in Scotland

20th February


By Abbi Garton-Crosbie@agc_reports

Multimedia Political Reporter


The Finance Secretary told The Scotsman that she would not have supported equal marriage as a 'matter of conscience'

SNP leadership contender Kate Forbes has said she would have voted against gay marriage in Scotland.


The Finance Secretary told The Scotsman that she would not have supported equal marriage as a "matter of conscience" if she had been a member of parliament at the time.

Equal marriage was made legal in Scotland in 2014 with an overwhelming majority of 105 votes to 18, while Forbes was not elected to Holyrood until the 2016 election.

READ MORE: Kate Forbes: Scottish independence strategy needs a 'reset'

Forbes said while she wouldn't have backed the legislation, she would have "respected and defended the democratic choice that was made".

A senior member of her leadership campaign team said Forbes had "f***ed it" by making the comment, according to The Scotsman's Alexander Brown.

The 32-year-old said: "I believe that it should be a conscience vote because of its profound significance in all mainstream faiths.

"I think for me, Angela Merkel is the example I would follow, I would have voted, as a matter of conscience, along the lines of mainstream teaching in most major religions that marriage is between a man and a woman.

"But I would have respected and defended the democratic choice that was made.

"It is a legal right now and I am a servant of democracy, I am not a dictator.”

Forbes previously said she wouldn't have voted for Scotland's gender reforms (Image: PA)

Forbes was earlier asked by BBC Radio Scotland if she believed a man could marry another man.

She said: "I do, under the legal provisions in this country.

"I am a servant of democracy in this country, equal marriage is a legal right and therefore I would defend that legal commitment.

"Incidentally, though, I would hope that others can defend the rights of other minorities, including religious minorities that might take a different view."

Asked about her position on the morality of the issue, she added: "In terms of the morality of the issue, I am a practising Christian.

READ MORE: Scottish independence strategy: Where the SNP leadership candidates stand

"I practice the teachings of most mainstream religions, whether that's Islam, Judaism, Christianity, that marriage is between a man and a woman.

"But that's what I practice.

"As a servant of democracy in a country where this is law, I would defend to the hilt, your right and anybody else's right to live and to love without harassment or fear."

Forbes was asked by The Scotsman newspaper why she would defend the right to gay marriage but not challenge the UK Government's blocking of Scotland's gender reforms from becoming law.

The SNP leadership contender said she didn't "see that contradiction".

She said: "I do absolutely believe that Holyrood should pass its own laws, but the question right now for any future leader is, do we, obviously after seeking legal advice, challenge it in the courts at a time when people want us to focus on the NHS and cost-of-living?

"Do we do that, or do we find a way to work with the UK Government to make the amendments required to enable it to pass.

"I think it is a question of how we govern, right now, at a time of difficult choices in a way that most aligns with the people who sent us here to govern.”

Speaking on BBC radio, earlier Forbes said that it was "right" she was under greater scrutiny after deciding to run in the contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon.

She said: "I think we get into very dangerous territory when we say that certain public offices are barred to certain minority groups.

"Now, that could include anything under the Equality Act in terms of protected characteristics.

"I'm talking to you as somebody who has a Christian faith, I've never kept that a secret, but I would like to ask in six years, when have I ever imposed that on other people?

"I think it's possible to have a confidence vote on certain matters, and also to hold high public office."

Referencing Merkel's stance on equal marriage again, Forbes added: "Now Germany has obviously been able to cope as a genuinely pluralistic and tolerant society with that.

"I guess what the next few weeks will demonstrate is, can Scotland cope?"

It comes after Forbes said she would not have voted for the Scottish Government's gender reforms in its current form and said she does not support self-ID.

Rare blizzard warning issued for Los Angeles area, officials say: California weather updates



Orlando Mayorquin, USA TODAY
Wed, February 22, 2023 

Blizzards and winter weather are overtaking parts of Southern California, a region most known for its inviting weather.

Snow and freezing temperatures are expected throughout much of the state over the next few days, with advisories in effect in the Bay Area near San Francisco and further north through to the state line, according to the National Weather Service.

Californians join the more than 20 million Americans under winter storm warnings and 35 million people across the country under winter weather advisories this week, according to NWS.

Here’s what you need to know about California’s winter weather.

Winter storm: 20 million Americans under winter storm warnings as blizzards barrel across Midwest, West

Blizzard warnings in the mountains over Los Angeles

Los Angeles and Ventura County residents living in mountains above the city of Los Angeles were advised to travel only for emergencies Wednesday morning as the area expected wind gusts up to 75 mph to whip in heavy snow and virtually eliminate any visibility. The blizzard and winter storm warnings, in effect until Saturday afternoon morning, said 2 to 7 feet of snow was expected to accumulate by Saturday night, with up to 12 inches at higher elevations.

Some areas also expected rains on Thursday and Friday. The Los Angeles NWS said Wednesday it knew of only one other blizzard warning issued for the area, in 1989.

Light snow had begun to fall on the Interstate 5 Grapevine mountain pass connecting the Los Angeles area to central California, the weather service said.

Winter weather and winter storm advisories were also in effect for San Bernardino and Riverside counties further inland from Los Angeles, and for parts of San Diego county further south.

California drought eased?: Before and after photos show recovery at drought-stricken California reservoir

Freeze warning in San Francisco Bay area

Sub-freezing temperatures as low as 20 degrees were expected in some parts of the Bay Area along with wind gusts up to 50 mph, the NWS said.

Freeze warnings were expected to remain in effect until 9 a.m. Thursday.

Residents were advised to move vulnerable plants and pets indoors to protect them from the freezing temperatures, and to prevent any outdoor pipes from bursting by draining them.
Most of Northern California under severe weather advisories

Eureka, Redding, Chico and other communities in northern California were all under winter storm, winter weather watches or advisories Wednesday.

NWS said all of northwestern California expected hail and light to heavy snow from Tuesday night through Thursday.

Power outages across California amid strong winds

Close to 100,000 customers were without power in California Wednesday morning, according to PowerOutage.Us, as parts of the state contended with strong winds.

The Pacific Gas and Electric Company said Tuesday night it would mobilize personnel to prepare from outages resulting from poor weather conditions.

California power outage tracker: Over 110,000 customers without power as strong winds hit
US weather watches and warnings

Contributing: Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Los Angeles County blizzard warning: California winter weather updates

Before and after photos show recovery at drought-stricken California reservoir

Camille Fine, USA TODAY
Wed, February 22, 2023 

Recent downpours in critically drought-stricken California have helped to replenish reservoirs — but scientists caution people to not get the wrong impression from images of areas with seemingly abundant amounts of water.

A series of damaging winter storms from December 2022 into January provided some sorely needed resources for farmers, wildlife, and residents — who have faced among the lowest precipitation and lake levels since the 1970s. But it’s unlikely to reverse the region’s decades-long decline in water reserves that supplement surface sources used for irrigation and other purposes, according to NASA.

A caution sign is posted at the Castaic Lake reservoir in Los Angeles County, with hills scorched by the recent Route Fire in the distance, on October 4, 2022 in Castaic, California. The reservoir, part of the State Water Project, is currently at 35 percent capacity, below the historic average of 43 percent.

“The abundant water is expected to recharge the groundwater in the next few months, as we have seen during similar events in 2011 and 2017,” said Pang-Wei Liu, a scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “However, if the climate pattern is the same as before — dry and hot in summer followed by low precipitation — and the water demands are still high, then we expect the groundwater drawdown will continue.”

Side by side images of one of the two largest reservoirs in the state, Lake Oroville, show the impact of recent winter storms.

Lake Oroville's capacity rose 36% from November and was at 64% capacity as of January 30, or about 111% of the historical average for the time of year, NASA said.

As of this week, levels stood at 115% of the historical average for the date — a notable jump from just 61% in February 2021 and 77% in 2022.

Water crisis in West: Massive reservoir Lake Powell hits historic low water level

'Dead pool' approaches: Western water crisis looms as California complicates critical water deal

The tan fringes around the lakes known as “bathtub rings” — which appear when calcium and other mineral compounds attach to the sandstone during instances of higher water levels — were mostly underwater again by late January.

“Even the wettest wet seasons are simply never enough to make up for the far greater amount of groundwater that California extracts each year,” said Arizona State University Professor Jay Famiglietti.

Camille Fine is a trending visual producer on USA TODAY's NOW team.

What's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Drought-stricken CA reservoir recovers after barrage of winter storms

Peru protesters temporarily lift mining highway blockade, sources say



 Protest against the suspension of the Las Bambas mine, in Lima

Wed, February 22, 2023
By Marco Aquino

LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian protesters have temporarily lifted blockades of a key mining highway in the country's south, sources told Reuters on Wednesday, a boost for activity at major copper mines that saw activity hit in recent weeks as supplies were choked off.

The "mining corridor" highway, an important transport route for mines including Glencore Plc's Antapaccay and Las Bambas, owned by China's MMG Ltd, has in recent days been unblocked after weeks of protests, the sources said.

"The corridor is clear, some sections are damaged, but it is free," said a source close to Las Bambas, which normally provides some 2% of global copper supply, though saw mining activity significant reduced in recent weeks.

"We were in a state of maintenance care, with minimal production so as not to have to stop," the person said. Las Bambas has a long history of dealing with community protests that have at times stymied operations in recent years.

Las Bambas: maintenance mode?

 https://www.reuters.com/graphics/PERU-MINING/klvygdlojvg/chart.png

Anti-government protests have hit Peru, the world's no. 2 copper producer, since the Dec. 7 ouster of leftist President Pedro Castillo, who illegally tried to dissolve Congress and reorganize the judicial system. Blockades have affected mines, hitting shares and buoying prices of the metal.

The number of blockades has declined over the last week to around 37 on Wednesday from more than a hundred in January, with talk of a "truce" around the recent festive Carnival period, an important holiday in the region.

"With this truce we are gradually returning to operations, progressively, but we don't know what will happen next," said a source close to Antapaccay, who said the mine has stopped production in mid-January but since resumed at minimum levels.

Publicly available power use data analyzed by Reuters shows that Las Bambas has seen sharp swings in activity since a drop in early February due to a lack of key supplies. Power use at Antapaccay has been under 50% normal levels since Feb. 9.

Antapaccay: 

Protest hit https://www.reuters.com/graphics/PERU-MINING/mopaklewlpa/chart.png

The sources said community members involved in protests were planning meetings in coming days and blockades could be resumed. Several communities in the southern Cusco region are expected to meet on Thursday to discuss their next steps.

The protests, which are calling for the resignation of new President Dina Boluarte, the closure of Congress, a new Constitution and early elections, have left 49 dead in clashes and 11 dead in accidents linked to the blockades.

Boluarte has looked to rally political support in recent days amid infighting amongst lawmakers over plans to bring elections forward to this year. She has also authorized payments to relatives of those killed on injured in the protests.

Peru Mines: 7-day average power use 

https://www.reuters.com/graphics/PERU-MINING/gdpzqdxqjvw/chart.png

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Editing by Adam Jourdan and David Gregorio)

CASTEISM IS ARYANISM
Seattle becomes first U.S. city to ban caste discrimination

 

DEEPA BHARATH
Tue, February 21, 2023 at 9:53 AM MST·6 min read

SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle City Council on Tuesday added caste to the city’s anti-discrimination laws, becoming the first U.S. city to ban caste discrimination and the first in the world to pass such a law outside South Asia.

Calls to outlaw discrimination based on caste, a division of people based on birth or descent, have grown louder among South Asian diaspora communities in the United States. But the movement has been getting pushback from some Hindu Americans who argue that such legislation maligns a specific community.

Tensions within the community were visible at Seattle City Hall on Tuesday as a noisy hearing culminated with a 6-1 vote with a majority of the council agreeing that caste discrimination crosses national and religious boundaries and that without such laws, those facing caste discrimination in the U.S. will have no protections.

The packed room, which overflowed with activists from both sides bearing banners, chanting slogans, challenging speakers and city officials as they made their comments, laid bare stark divisions over this issue within the South Asian diaspora. A majority of those present in council chambers were supporters of the ordinance and those opposed were a vocal minority.

As council members voted in favor of the ordinance, the chamber erupted into cheers of “Jai Bhim,” which means “victory for Bhim” a rallying cry adopted by followers of B.R. Ambedkar, an Indian Dalit rights icon whose given name was Bhimrao. Dalit groups and their supporters say caste discrimination is prevalent in U.S. diaspora communities, manifesting itself in the form of social alienation and discrimination in housing, education and the tech sector where South Asians hold key roles.

Yogesh Mane, a Seattle resident who grew up as an untouchable in India, broke into tears as he heard the council's decision.

“I'm emotional because this is the first time such an ordinance has been passed anywhere in the world outside of South Asia,” he said. “It's a historic moment."

Thenmozhi Soundararajan, executive director of Oakland, California-based Equality Labs, whose advocacy work along with community partners continues to push caste discrimination laws forward, called the council vote “a culture war that has been won.”

“We got the support of over 200 organizations from Seattle and around the country,” she said. “It's a powerful message that Dalit people are not alone. The South Asian community has united to say we want to heal from the trauma of caste."

Council Member Kshama Sawant, a socialist and the only Indian American on the City Council, said the ordinance, which she proposed, does not single out one community, but it accounts for how caste discrimination crosses national and religious boundaries. Sawant said the council received over 4,000 emails in support of the ordinance.

“We've heard hundreds of gut-wrenching stories over the last few weeks showing us that caste discrimination is very real in Seattle,” she said.

Council Member Sara Nelson who cast the lone dissenting vote agreed with opponents calling the ordinance “a reckless, harmful solution to a problem for which we have no data or research.”

“This could generate more anti-Hindu discrimination and could dissuade employers from hiring South Asians,” she said. “The community that is being impacted is deeply divided on this issue.”

Nelson also said the ordinance would also get the city entangled in legal battles to which Sawant responded: “Bring it on.” Sawant said being fearful of lawsuits is not the way to effect progress or change.

Council Member Lisa Herbold questioned opponents' logic that the law singles out Hindus and people of Indian descent.

“That's like saying gender discrimination laws single out all men,” she said. “And just because we have a small population that is experiencing (caste discrimination) that doesn't make it any less important.”

Shobha Swamy, a representative of the Coalition of Hindus of North America said she was disappointed by the council deliberations and line of questioning. The group said they received a show of support from over 100 organizations.

“Due diligence wasn't done,” said Swami, who flew in from Atlanta.

C.H. Srikrishna, a San Francisco Bay Area-based tech worker, said he is worried about the ramifications this ordinance might have for the South Asian community.

“I too want discrimination to end,” he said. “But we need to first determine that widespread discrimination exists."

Srikrishna, who is Hindu, believes the ordinance does target his religion.

“When you say it originated 2,000 years ago, that is implicitly blaming Hinduism,” he said. "That bothers me. I feel betrayed.”

Sanjay Patel, a tech company owner from the Seattle area, said he never felt discriminated against in the U.S. as a member of a lower caste and that the ordinance pained him because it reminded him of a caste identity, which he thought had become obsolete.

“I fear with this law, businesses will be afraid to hire South Asians," he said.

Earlier Tuesday morning, several activists braved cold temperatures and wind gusts to line up outside City Hall so they would get a chance to speak to the council before the vote. But the council restricted public comment at the meeting where more than 300 people had requested to speak virtually and in person. They heard about half of the comments before moving on to deliberations and the vote.

The origins of the caste system in India can be traced back 3,000 years as a social hierarchy based on one’s occupation and birth. It is a system that has evolved over the centuries under Muslim and British rule. The suffering of those who are at the bottom of the caste pyramid — known as Dalits — has continued. Caste discrimination has been prohibited in India since 1948, a year after the nation’s independence from British rule.

The U.S. is the second most popular destination for Indians living abroad, according to the Migration Policy Institute, which estimates the U.S. diaspora grew from about 206,000 in 1980 to about 2.7 million in 2021. The group South Asian Americans Leading Together reports that nearly 5.4 million South Asians live in the U.S. — up from the 3.5 million counted in the 2010 census. Most trace their roots to Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Over the past three years, several colleges and university systems have moved to prohibit caste discrimination.

In December 2019, Brandeis University near Boston became the first U.S. college to include caste in its nondiscrimination policy. The California State University System, Colby College, Brown University and the University of California, Davis have all adopted similar measures. Harvard University instituted caste protections for student workers in 2021 as part of its contract with its graduate student union.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Seattle Caste DebateSupporters and opponents of a proposed ordinance to add caste to Seattle's anti-discrimination laws protest at a rally at Seattle City Hall, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in Seattle. Council Member Kshama Sawant proposed the ordinance. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

Where in the world will you find 'forever chemicals'? Everywhere, new analysis suggests.

Mike Snider, USA TODAY
Wed, February 22, 2023 

"Forever chemicals" are not only enduring, but they're also pervasive.

A new analysis finds that more than 330 species of animals across the globe – from polar bears to squirrels – carry in their bodies a class of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also called PFAS.

Known as "forever chemicals," because they do not break down as many others do, the substances have been linked in humans to risks for cancer, low birthweights, weakened childhood immunity, thyroid disease and other health problems.

Research has already shown that 99% of Americans have PFAS in their bodies. But this report released Wednesday by the Environmental Working Group shows more than 120 different forever chemicals were found in the blood serum or bodies of birds, tigers, monkeys, pandas, horses, cats, otters and other mammals.

Ohio derailment: EPA steps up cleanup oversight at Norfolk Southern train site

Catalytic converter thefts are up: How to protect yours from being stolen

The EWG, a nonprofit that tracks governmental action on environmental issues, collected the findings of more than 100 studies in the last five years to create a map showing where researchers have found forever chemicals in animals across the world. The chemicals were found on every continent except Antarctica – however, no tests have been conducted there.

The map also incorporates another EWG analysis released last month, which found freshwater fish contaminated with PFAS in almost every state.

Most people in the U.S. have been exposed to PFAS, the Environmental Protection Agency says. That means the chemicals are found in the blood of virtually everyone, including newborn babies.

“PFAS pollution is not just a problem for humans. It’s a problem for species across the globe," said David Andrews, a senior scientist at EWG, in a statement.

"PFAS are ubiquitous, and this first-of-its-kind map clearly captures the extent to which PFAS have contaminated wildlife around the globe."

(To see interactive map, go to ewg.org/interactive-maps/pfas_in_wildlife/map)

A screenshot of an interactive map shows where PFAS chemicals have been found in wildlife across the world. The interactive map can be found at ewg.org/interactive-maps/pfas_in_wildlife/map

What are PFAS and what products are they in?

There are about 12,000 different kinds of PFAS and they're used in all kinds of commercial, consumer and industrial products, the Environmental Protection Agency says. They are used in water-resistant clothing and carpeting, paint, cleaning products, and fire-fighting foams.

The Food and Drug Administration allows some to be used in cookware, food packaging and food processing equipment.

Last year, the EPA issued a new health advisory for drinking water concentrations of two of the most commonly noted PFAS chemicals – perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, which is found in Teflon; and perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS. Both chemicals were used to make consumer goods but were phased out of production in the 2000s.

How do PFAS get into the air, water, animals and fish?

All PFAS include a carbon-fluorine molecule bond, one of the strongest known in chemistry. That makes them good for nonstick cookware, for instance, but also makes them virtually indestructible because they do not fully degrade in the environment or within living tissue.

PFAS were also used in stain-resistant and water-resistant compounds to protect clothing, fabrics, upholstery, shoes and other products.

A March 2022 study from Consumer Reports found PFAS in many takeout food wrappers and packages. It also noted a specific concern: packaging in landfills can eventually contaminate the water and soil, and if incinerated, can spread in the air.

EWG’s research has found PFOS levels in fish so high that even infrequent consumption would significantly increase the chemical's levels in people.

A 2019 study suggested cardinals around Atlanta were being exposed to "forever chemicals" or PFAS fromsoil, groundwater and air, with 12 different PFAS found in their blood serum.

What are the health risks of PFAS?

Studies have linked PFOA to kidney and testicular cancers, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, and other serious ailments in highly contaminated communities such as Parkersburg, West Virginia.

Very low doses of PFAS in drinking water have been linked to immune system suppression including reduced vaccine efficacy and an increased risk of certain cancers, studies have found. PFAS are linked with reproductive and developmental problems as well as increased cholesterol and other health issues, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Exposure to high levels of PFAS poses a health risk for both humans and animals," said Dr. Patricia Fair, a professor of public health at the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston, who was given an early look at the study and provided a comment in its release. "Many wildlife species, particularly fish, are an essential part of the diet of people serving as major sources of these chemicals."

'Forever chemicals': EPA finds no safe level for toxic 'forever chemicals'

PFAS foam floats along Van Etten Creek after being dumped from a storm pipe of water treated at a granular activated carbon GAC plant from the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda on Wednesday, March 13, 2019.

What are state and federal officials doing about PFAS?

Last June, the EPA issued a new drinking water advisory warning that negative health effects could occur at levels of PFOA and PFOS near zero and below the agency's ability to detect. The advisory set the suggested concentration of PFOA at 0.004 parts per trillion (ppt) and 0.02 ppt for PFOS; the previous 2016 advisory set levels of 70 ppt for both chemicals.

By the end of the year, the EPA is expected to issue an official rule taking its findings into account and that would make its advisory enforceable.

At least 31 states are expected to consider about 260 bills on toxic chemical policies in 2023 – and at least 28 specifically considering PFAS-related policies – according to Safer States, a nationwide environmental health alliance.

Seventeen states are also pursuing litigation against the makers of PFAS chemicals found to be contaminating water supplies, the group says.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has allocated $5 billion over five years from the infrastructure package to help communities reduce PFAS in drinking water, including funds for water quality testing.

“Too many American communities, especially those that are small, rural or underserved, are suffering from exposure to PFAS and other harmful contaminants in their drinking water,” said EPA administrator Michael Regan said in announcing the effort Feb. 13.

The support to these communities is "really important," Sarah Doll, national director of Safer States, told USA TODAY. "Because the Biden administration is starting to push to regulate at least these two PFAS out of any enormous class (of chemicals), it's telegraphing that this is coming and forcing communities that haven't already started to look (for PFAS), to look and to do the testing."

But some criticize the administration from moving too slowly. Biden said it would be a priority while campaigning, said Scott Faber, the EWG's senior vice president of government affairs.

In the meantime, "millions of Americans are drinking water contaminated with toxic forever chemicals and thousands of communities are downwind and downstream of polluters that are dumping and pumping PFAS into our air and water," Faber said in a media briefing earlier this month.

Signs from the Michigan Department of Community Health warn to not eat fish from Clark's Marsh in Oscoda, Michigan on the grounds of the decommissioned Wurtsmith Air Force Base due to unsafe levels of PFCs in fish and the surface water. The water tested at least 5,000 ppt for total PFAS due to the contamination at the former base.

Dig deeper

3M will stop making forever chemicals. What to know about their health risks


Testing for 'forever chemicals' lacking for tribal water systems


High levels of toxic ‘forever chemicals’ found in deer and fish


North Carolina: Are there PFAS in Asheville's water supply?


Wisconsin: 'Forever chemicals' standards in groundwater moves forward


Oregon: Drinking water systems mostly free from 'forever chemicals'


California: 3M sued over ‘forever chemicals’ that taint water

Contributing: Kyle Bagenstose, Marina Pitofsky, Scott Gleeson; The Associated Press.

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @mikesnider.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Animals have toxic 'forever chemicals' called PFAS in bodies: Report

Animals full of PFAS 'forever chemicals' have been found on every continent except Antarctica, new report finds

Morgan McFall-Johnsen
Wed, February 22, 2023 a

One study found PFAS in Florida's manatees.

James R.D. Scott/Getty Images

Animals, birds, and fish across the planet are contaminated with forever chemicals, a new report found.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pose health risks to humans, and could also harm animals.

A map of 125 peer-reviewed studies reveals the widespread contamination of wildlife on Earth.

Animals are contaminated with hazardous forever chemicals on every continent except Antarctica, according to a new report.

Creatures ranging from tigers and polar bears, to red pandas and voles, to plankton in the sea, are likely accumulating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by eating fish, drinking water, or simply breathing air, and it could put them at risk.

PFAS can be found in tons of manufactured goods, from food packaging and clothing, to firefighting foam and (formerly) Teflon pans.

Though they're useful for resisting water, heat, and stains, PFAS do not break down in the environment, earning them the "forever chemicals" nickname.

Rainfall and soil across the planet may contain unsafe levels of the substances.

A red panda cub photographed in Seattle, Washington. In China, these animals have been found to contain PFAS.

Elaine Thompson/AP

That has led to widespread contamination of living creatures, according to a report published Wednesday by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit specializing in research and advocacy on household chemicals.

Researchers there gathered 125 peer-reviewed studies that tested wildlife for PFAS over the last five years. Not a single study in the assessment failed to detect PFAS in the animals, birds, or fish tested, according to David Andrews, a senior scientist at EWG.

Locations where PFAS-contaminated wildlife have been documented.

Many of the studies were testing near a known PFAS site, such as a firefighting base or industrial facility.

But often, Andrews said, those studies couldn't find an uncontaminated animal population to serve as a control group — a baseline far from the site for comparison.

"This is really a global contamination issue, and it's likely impacting wildlife everywhere," he told Insider.

Wildlife worldwide struggle against habitat loss, climate change, and sometimes poaching. The new report suggests that contamination from forever chemicals may pose yet another threat to many species' survival.

PFAS could pose a threat to animals' health

Polar bears in the Arctic also had PFAS in a study.

Mathieu Belanger/Reuters

The impacts of PFAS on animals' health are not well-studied, but for humans, research has linked exposure to the chemicals with some cancers, thyroid disease, decreased fertility, developmental delays, liver damage, high cholesterol, and reduced immune responses.

As a result, the US Environmental Protection Agency has deemed the two most notorious PFAS as "hazardous substances" and is working on rules for reducing their presence in drinking water.

Andrews fears animals across the globe could face similar health risks to PFAS-drinking humans.

Some research hints at this. One study in North Carolina found alligators with high blood levels of PFAS showed signs of weakened immune systems.

An alligator swallows a catfish, which could be full of PFAS.

Getty Images

More research is needed to understand the stakes.

Just as studies in rats can't predict human health outcomes, studies in alligators can't predict polar bear health outcomes.

"There's definitely some uncertainty and likely some variation between species in terms of how these chemicals are causing harm," Andrews said. "That is also a unique aspect of these chemicals: how many different parts of the body and our biology they can impact and cause harm to."

Phasing out forever chemicals is a slow process so far

US Environmental Protection Agency officials listen to members of the public comment during a PFAS Community Stakeholder Meeting, in Horsham, Pennsylvania.

AP Photo/Matt Rourke

US manufacturers have already phased out a few PFAS, but many of the thousands of varieties are still in use. Andrews called for replacing them with alternative substances.

At the same time, industrial facilities are burping PFAS into the air and leaking them into waterways. Cleaning up these emission sites is key to stopping more forever chemicals from building in the environment.

Last month the European Union released a proposal to ban the production, sale, and use of 10,000 PFAS. The proposal is currently under assessment.

In the US, the EPA expects to publish a national drinking-water regulation for PFAS by the end of 2023, including an enforceable maximum contamination limit.

"It will take regulatory action to move the entire market and country away from dependence on these chemicals," Andrews said.

Wildlife species worldwide exposed to ‘forever chemicals,’ survey shows



Sharon Udasin
Tue, February 21, 2023 

Wildlife from around the world — from polar bears, to monkeys, to dolphins — may be exposed to cancer-linked “forever chemicals,” a new survey has found.

A comprehensive map curated by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) provides a window into just how many kinds of animals, including some that are endangered or threatened, may be contaminated by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

Hundreds of studies have already identified these so-called forever chemicals in wildlife populations around the world, but the new map aims to consolidate that research into one interactive, accessible venue, according to EWG.

David Andrews, a senior EWG scientist, expressed his initial surprise at lack of any unified database for the “incredible amount of research that’s been done globally, documenting PFAS contamination in wildlife.”

“Everything from studies of crocodiles in South Africa, ticks in New York State and along the East Coast and scorpions in the Midwest,” Andrews told The Hill, listing animals whose exposure levels have been tested.

While the most common type of animals to appear on the map are fish, the data also includes many birds, as well as both land and aquatic mammals, according to Andrews.

The work builds upon an EWG study released in January that showed the extent to which PFAS are contaminating U.S. freshwater fish from coast to coast, the group explained.

In humans, scientists have linked PFAS exposure to many illnesses, such as kidney cancer, testicular cancer and thyroid disease. True to their nickname, forever chemicals are notorious for their ability to persist in the body and in the environment.

Known for their presence in both industrial discharge and jet fuel firefighting foam, these synthetic substances are also found in common household products, including nonstick pans and waterproof apparel.

Among the more than 330 species identified on the EWG map are polar bears, tigers, monkeys, pandas, horses, cats, otters, squirrels and other small and large mammals. Also exposed are many types of fish, birds, reptiles, frogs and other amphibians.

“From country to country, and across continents, PFAS pollution is everywhere,” a statement from EWG said. “No matter the location, no matter the species, nearly every time that testing is done we find contamination from these toxic chemicals.”

The researchers emphasized that the map is by no means an exhaustive list of all studies on animal exposure to PFAS and that it doesn’t reflect the totality of contamination worldwide.

But it does show that more than 120 different types of PFAS compounds — of which there are thousands — have been found in the animals that have been studied.

Although definitive health impacts have thus far only been demonstrated in humans, EWG researchers noted that science suggests that wildlife could suffer from similar effects.

Such consequences could be of particular concern for threatened species, who are already contending with problems like habitat loss and ecosystem destruction, according to EWG.

The map depicts how global PFAS exposure knows no limits — geolocating studies of birds, beluga whales, polar bears, dolphins and seals in places as remote as the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and on the shores of Greenland.

“It highlights the extent that these chemicals can be transported,” Andrews said.

The contaminants also show now respect for international boundaries. Tilapia and perch that inhabit the Nile River — which runs through a variety of countries — had measurable levels of PFAS in multiple studies.

“A lot of this is cross-border, and as far as we know, pretty much everywhere you test for PFAS contamination, you will find it,” Andrews said.

While the pollution is pervasive and reaches almost every corner of the world, Andrews stressed the importance of acting on the issue at the national level.

“No one country can fix this problem,” he said. “But at the same time, countries like the United States can take a leading effort in researching, identifying alternatives and moving the market away from the chemistry.”

 The Hill.